Daffodil All Arabian Spring Show - Saturday Afternoon

Part 1


Obviously, I did make it through my class with my Arabian horse despite my too tight wrangler jeans. I also poked fun at myself a lot over the adventure. I really did feel like the Pillsbury Dough Boy in drag.

Thankfully I was riding a kind horse who didn't need much to keep him on task. He may not have been going his best but he wasn't getting much efficient help from me. Those jeans sure didn't let me do much in the way of using my legs as aids.

The jeans actually got in my way more than they were helpful. It wasn't just that I couldn't bend my legs at the knee, I didn't have much motion for gripping either. They stuck out nearly straight on both sides of my horse or at least that's how it felt. If my horse had done anything unexpected like buck or shy you can bet I'd have been in the dirt.

I was not looking forward to Saturday afternoon's ride. Heck, I was even less looking forward to dressing for that ride. The very thought of facing the struggle pulling up those jeans again was enough to make me squirm. I was nearly hoping for something to happen to interfere with my ride so I could just be put out of my misery.

That particular class was the amateur owner to ride 40 & over western pleasure and Angie was riding as well on her gelding, Midnite Eclipse. That meant we were getting ready at the same time and sharing the dressing room. My "secret" was out and Angie confided one of her own. She doesn't wear jeans or riding pants at all, instead she has a secret weapon, Push-Up Leggings that Put Every Body in Perfect Shape or so the catalog reads.

The following day Angie brought me an old pair of these leggings to try. I must admit after getting over the feeling I was committing some kind of sin because the leggings felt like I was wearing my pajamas or maybe even some luxurious lingerie, I really liked the feel of riding in them. An added plus was that they are much thinner than my jeans so my chaps were easier to zip as well. I think that my wrangler jeans are history.

So Grey Horse Matters who commented that i should be riding english because the breeches are stretchy fabrics. Just for the record, these leggins come in a soft gray which is suitable for hunter. My breeches are toast as well.

But for this class I still had to deal with those darn Wranglers and their over the top fit. Thankfully, they had stretched out a wee bit from riding the previous night. They were, however, way to tight to be the least bit comfortable. I'm sure that even my horse could tell that something was different.

The 40 & over purebred Arabian division is the toughest class out there. I don't think anyone would deny the quality of the horses these baby boomers are riding. Because there is Sweepstakes money riding on this class as well, it's always going to be one of the bigger classes at the show.

I knew going in that the current status of my horse put the likelihood of us doing anything right up there with the long shots at any horse race. But schooling was important and that's what we were going to do despite my too tight jeans interferring with my leg movement. Legs would just have to figure it out.

I remember as we jogged through the gate noticing all of the swishing tails. Looking around the arena there seemed to be more horses flipping their tails around than not. It was clear from the start that I just schooling my naughty horse wasn't going to be my only challenge. Keeping my horse out of trouble with these tails was going to be interesting as well. The tails going sideways closed up passage ways normally used for maneuvering between horses.

Not only were there lots of horses with flying tails, the amateurs for some unknown reason were circling around the center of the arena instead of sticking to the rail. They weren't just cutting the corners and ends of the arena but both sides as well. That left only the outside of the ring available for passing. Not a position anyone wants to be in, I can assure you. The size of the arena had just gotten a whole lot smaller to be navigating an unproperly rated horse.

Despite the bunched up horses and tails flying, we managed to get through the jog ok even though my horse was still moving faster than most. Sometimes he slowed to their pace but not for long. A number of times I found myself heading through that outside hole hoping I could make it through before another horse and rider drifted momentarily to the rail.

Riding up behind a slower horse would have brought Legs right down to his normal speed anytime before but it wasn't working now. As long as he was worried about this bridle he was going to be compensating with more forward and less round. I was going to have to be really really careful at the lope if I wanted to keep my horse out of trouble.

I was doing pretty well with that until just before the lope to the left was finished. I'd come around the corner of the far end of the arena on the outside trying to stay as deep in the corners as possible to buy myself some time. That extra ground can make up for a few longer strides if used properly.

As I rounded the corner I surveyed the ring looking for a safe line of travel. All I saw seemed to be tails going sideways everywhere. The only opening at all was along that rail. But that wasn't as clear as I would have hoped. There were a couple of horses off of it but not really dedicated to their line.

I decided to take the risk and go for that outside line. After I committed the front horse began to head for the rail with the one right behind following. By this time the hole I had left was now filled with another horse and everywhere in front of me it seemed like the horses had all drifted towards the rail. There was no place for me to go.

I tried to get Legs as slowed as possible and hoped they'd call for a change of gait soon. If they didn't, I was going to be stuck. Riding my stallion right up the butt of that slower horse in front.

To be continued............

Part 2 of Saturday Afternoon
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