Pacific Rim All Arabian Horse Show - Saturday Morning

Part 1

The first class I rode my Arabian horse in was class 21, western pleasure adult amateur owners to ride 40 & over. Even by that time of the morning it was still freezing out. I had opted to forgo my regular show clothing and instead went for warmth.........well warmth while still looking like I was dressed to show.

I picked out a nice red fully lined suede jacket to where over multiple layers. I do mean multiple............I was wearing 2 long sleeve cotton shirts (the outer one a turtle neck) and a fleece vest. On the bottom I had long underwear, the heaviest jeans I could find and my black chaps. Even at that I didn't take off my regular coat until the last minute. It was so cold out I could still see my breath.

Of course, once I began riding I warmed up a bit.......but not enough I ever wished I was wearing less clothing. My horse was nice and round and slow in the warm up. I was really looking forward to having a nice class.

I was the first exhibitor to ride my horse into the ring. The horse stayed nice and slow. His jog felt so easy. I was really pleased at the progress the horse has been making in the last weeks since the Daffodil All Arabian Horse Show. The help I've gotten from Richard has really paid off.

While the horse still isn't ready to go on a draped rein, he was responsive and soft. He seemed so attuned to me I felt it wouldn't be long before we'd be ready to begin working on that loose a rein. Each time I squeezed the horse up with my legs he moved right into the bit without needing any additional aids.

When the announcer called for the lope, my horse transitioned nicely. He moved off at the slowest lope he's done in a class this year. I couldn't have been happier with the ride we were having.

Everything seemed like it was going just great. We transitioned down to the walk, changed directions and loped off with another great transition. The horse continued on nice and slow with little reminder from me to maintain his rate.

It was overall a really nice ride until we hit that dreaded corner. Kids came through the outer doors with a slam and a bang as they dropped something on the ground and my horse exploded.

Just like the last two horse shows, something scared my horse and he leapt into the air and took off. It took all I had to stay balanced and get the horse back under control.

It didn't take but a few strides and the horse was again loping almost like nothing had happened. He was nice and slow but somehow something was missing. That easy fluid movement that I had been experiencing was replaced by something a little more mechanical. The horse was doing his job but he definitely was rattled.

The next lap around the arena, the horse against started at the same corner. This time his recovery was quicker but it was clear that my horse had not "developed" a very bad habit..........running through the bit when something caught him off guard. It was definitely something that would need to be addressed.

It wasn't until the line-up that I realized Legs's little wreck had taken it's toll. I had been holding the scalloped edge of my chaps to remind me to keep my "free" hand quiet. The force of the horse's eruption caused me to rip that about 6 inches worth of scallop right off my chaps. Both my horse and my chaps were going to require some fixing.

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

Part 2

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