The Morgan Show...........Dressage Day

Thursday morning the show was to start off with dressage classes at 8 according to the prize list. Since there was a decline in entries that time was adjusted to 8:30. That was probably a good thing because it gave us time to "fix" a couple of small problems.

We had neither a bell or a whistle to indicate the warm-up for each horse was over. We also had no gloves for the steward to wear as she checked bits after the rides.......small little bumps typical of any horse show.

Other than those little things and some minor issues with the public address system, the show rolled smoothly along. Dressage classes wrapped up around 2:30 and high points were awarded shortly after those last rides.

The prize list had originally stated the awards would be at 6:30 but that had been changed due to the low number of rides. We announced all through the day about the change and yet one of the winners was unprepared. That led to an upset exhibitor and upset parents spouting about missed pictures and unclear announcements.

The usual kind of thing when schedules get changed and really an easy thing to fix. I just sent the kid off to get her horse tacked up and herself dressed promising the photographer would still be there when they returned. I knew full well it was going to take at least that long for the photographer to finish with the people who were already lined up for their win pictures.

Then I headed off to get more of those baled shavings for late arrivals. By the time I returned to the arena the kid was leaving the arena all decked out in her show clothes with her horse sporting high point garlands around his neck. The kid saw me and waved with a huge smile on her face. The problem had definitely been solved in a satisfactory manner.

Now if I could just figure out how to find a better solution for handling those 80 pound bales of shavings than me pulling them down off the pallets and loading them into my truck to be delivered. At this rate, my poor body was going to be shot long before the show was over.

Once the dressage ring was dismantled, the judge's platform was moved from the end of the arena to it's new location in center ring. The two pieces were placed side by side to form a base for a gazebo. A horse trailer was brought in with fencing and other decorations with a crew of busy little bees and even a landscaper putting things in their proper places.

While this transformation in center ring went on, horses moved back into the arena for schooling. Next thing you know I've seen my second loose horse in as many days. A little girl was in the dirt and not so sure she wanted to get back up, let alone get on that horse.

She sat on a coat right there in the dirt where she had been deposited by the horse. I watched closely to see if medical intervention was necessary but it seemed the only thing hurt was the little girl's pride. She finally did get back up and walk out of the arena with no visible sign of injury. From what I could tell, the horse continued schooling with an adult rider. No one but me seemed to be all that concerned about the incident.

I must admit it still bugs me just a bit. I've seen way too many adults putting hurt kids back on horses when they should have been getting medical attention. While other adults have not forced the kids back on the horse, they've discounted the child's complaints about injury. Either way is not good for the riders. We all want to appear tough and sometimes safety is what suffers. Knowing a person can be seriously injured by a horse while not showing symptoms, these kinds of "accidents" are always cause for concern.

Not long after that incident, we closed the show office down and headed off to get some dinner. Friday would be our first full day of classes. The scheduled start up time was 8..........or at least that's what we thought. You just never know about horse shows. Unusual things happen...........but one thing was for sure, I was keeping my fingers crossed we'd seen all of the rider upsets we were going to, two in two days was more than enough in my book.

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

Night Duty

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