Monday, September 15, 2008

The Open House continues on..............



When the mare and foal came into the ring I was surprised to see that Lucy was being led by Kaitlyn. She had been the girl worried about brushing out tails because she had to stand at the back end of the horse.

Seeing her lead this mare into the ring wasn't quite what I had expected. I would have thought someone with more experience to be on the other end of the lead. I remember doing a double take and wondering if this was really wise. Later I was to get my answer...........

Scandalous MizScarlet was really a good girl about coming up to the presentation ring. Rachel had her arm wrapped around the filly's neck as she led her along and the filly seemed to get confidence from that despite all the strange sights everywhere.



In the ring Rachel and I moved the horses around while Kaitlyn stood by watching. The filly was very sensible staying close to her mother. Much of the time she was on the off side of the mare not giving the people much view of her. It was clear the filly was taking her cues from the mare and I was glad to see that this filly was playing it smart although there was this incident when the filly misjudged the mare's turn and she went down in a heap underneath the mare's feet.




When it came time to catch them up, I expected that Scarlet might be a problem. Even in the stall the filly is hard to catch. But she clearly understood the way back to her safe stall was wearing that halter and she was right there to get it placed on her head.

I watched the pair of girls and their charges leaving the ring. Everything seemed to be fine. Lucy was definitely listening to Kaitlyn and Scarlet was right there with Rachel. It looked to me like everything was under control.

It wasn't until a couple of horses later that I began to notice a "drag" in the timing getting horses up to the ring. It was then that Crystal told me that someone was hurt back in the barn. I didn't have details.........only that someone was hurt and it had slowed things up.



You can imagine what it must have been like being stuck in the presentation ring trying to find out about the accident in the barn, not to mention wired for sound.

I wanted details but I didn't want to freak anyone out. I had no idea if the injury was major or minor. I had to settle for bits and pieces of information coming up with each new horse.

The most important question to me was did we need to call 911. For that I got a negative. From then the information was not so clear. Someone got stepped on and was lying down.........that was the extent of what I knew. I had to trust that Colleen when let me know if we needed to stop the show. I was relieved that we only had about four horses left to show.

I had added a horse that wasn't on the sales list. That was Dandy. Even though I don't want to sell the horse I wanted to make a point about Arabians. I get so sick and tired of hearing the trash talking that happens about Arabian horses, I just couldn't pass up the chance to make my point.



Earlier in the week I had received phone calls about the open house. During two of those calls people had mentioned wanting an Arabian horse but being discouraged from buying one because..................

You all know the "because." The horses are too wild, too crazy and all those things for anyone let alone a beginner to own. If there ever was a horse to show that's just not true, Dandy would be it. So Dandy was presented with all the confusion and chaos by my granddaughter, Rachel, who rode the horse bareback through the maze of people and into the ring.

Of course, I had to do my little spiel about crazy wild Arabians and tell the crowd a little bit about Dandy as Rachel proudly rode the horse into the ring right past my blaring speakers without even so much as a flinch. Once in the ring, the pair worked around in a jog that would make any western competitor envious.

The horse is clearly a great advocate for the breed. I also made that point that it's not just this horse's age that makes him so great for Rachel. He was ready to do this job when he was 8, it's taken this long to get Rachel's family to let her ride. She missed out on many years she could have been showing.

By the time I ran out of things to say, I had Rachel ride Dandy back out of the ring and on up to the barn. The next and final horse was Scandalous Legacy. I was looking forward to getting this show over with and I was relieved that Legs was the final act. At least I didn't have to worry about anything unexpected.................or so I though....................

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

The first picture of Lucy and Scarlet as well as the first one of Dandy and Rachel were taken by my SIL, Ray. The rest of the pictures were taken by Lady of Chaos.

The Open House continues on and on

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8 comments:

  1. Scarlet looks great and is so big! Hope she's OK after her fall.

    I've been eagerly waiting to see more photos of Scarlet. She was the first foal I've ever seen born in real time on MareStare. Also, thanks to the photographers and for sharing your photos! Love the open house story, too, MiKael. I'm on the edge of my seat!

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  2. Oh and here I was thinking I was going to hear the end of the story!! Leave us hanging why dontcha! =)

    Hoping things didn't turn out too bad!!! =S

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  3. MiKael MiKael MiKael ... the mistress of suspense!!!! I am very distracted at the moment as you know so look forward to hearing some more and then hearing LOC's take on the whole thing LOL.

    LOC great photos and also the ones by your SIL, together you are gonna have a great collection of pics for the website I am sure.
    (((Hugs))))

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  4. Ray and I were at opposite ends of the ring, same side, but opposite corners, so we got completely different angles.

    I have to say my heart about stopped when Scarlett went right under that mare... But she popped right up and trotted off like she was saying... nope wasn't me that did that. :) She sure is a cute little foal, she came right up to the stall door and gave me a good look over.

    Rachael did great on Dandy! They were both so calm and cool about all the noise and people. It was a great ride and I heard someone say - now that's how it's supposed to be done, followed by a few 'yeps'.

    And Legs... Well, I let MiKael tell that one... :)

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  5. The control freak inside of me hates what you're going through. Somebody else is running the barn and kids you don't really know are leading your horses and now somebody is hurt but you don't know who and you don't know how badly AND you're wired for sound. Seriously, my control freak might just pass out at this point!

    Way to keep it all together and allow the show to just keep moving forward. You show so much trust in Colleen and Rachel and Dave and Lindsay. They are lucky to have someone who loves them and trusts them so much!

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  6. All of your photos are really nice and the filly and the mare are just perfect for me. I like the two of them. So proud.

    I published a post about squirrels and other animals and some of the problems they have. I hope you can take the time to read it. That animals suffer and we do not seem to notice seems so sad. Look at my Dances on Sunshine

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  7. oh Mikael! These cliff hangers kill me!

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  8. All your Arabian horses are so beautiful, MiKael!

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