2009 AHACO Arabian Horse Show in Salem -AAOTR cont.
We finished the rest of the class without incident. I could feel a sort of tension in my Arabian horse but it was different from other times. When we were asked to come down to the walk, my horse sighed as he went into the transition. A simple clue the horse knew slower was better.
We reversed at the walk and our transition into the lope was just as pretty as the one before the wreck. Still there was this slight little edge that told me both of us were hypervigilant...........watching...........waiting...........for the other shoe to drop. It was a relief when the announce called for the line-up.
When we pulled into line, my horse sighed his own brief sense of relief as he came to a halt. Then that relief was shattered as that same chestnut stallion jogged in behind us. Legs looked over at the horse warily so I reached down reassuringly patting him on the neck. Then the horse gave another small sigh as he side stepped just a little away from the direction of that horse.
Thankfully the rider chose to line-up at the opposite end of the formation. I'm not sure how Legs would have felt to have that horse standing right next to him. And me, I'm not sure how I would have felt either. All I can say for sure is I was relieved to see them by the in gate and us by the gazebo.
As we stood there my mind kept racing back to that scene wondering if there had been any way I could have avoided this wreck. Playing it over and over as they placed the class, none of it made sense to me. Also I couldn't help but wonder what it was going to take to fix this for my horse.
I listened as they placed the class through to five places. At that I got caught up in the fact it was a Sweepstakes class and it should have been placed to six. I don't know if it was my show management instinct or just a good diversion but I came out of the class talking about how the class should have been placed to six for the Sweepstakes payout instead of anything about the wreck.
I saw Donna Fletcher from Silver Aspen Ranch as I exited the arena. I knew she would understand the importance of this error so I caught her attention and told her about the placings to five in this Sweepstakes class.
Donna said she'd go right to the office and let them know about the error. Then I went back to thinking about the wreck in the class. The people from my barn swarmed around us as we cleared the out gate. I think they were all just as stunned as Legs and I.
I heard Melanie ask me if I hadn't known ahead of time that horse was in the class. When I confirmed I hadn't she apologized for not warning me.....she had noticed the horse immediately in the warm-up and remembered the pair having issues from last year. You could bet from this point forward I'd be watching for them.
We passed Donna Fletcher as we headed back to the barn. She let me know the office was going to take care of their error and award a sixth place ribbon.
Just about the time we reached the stalls, I was paged to the back gate. Rachel took my horse and I headed back to the arena wondering if, after all of this, my horse was going to be the one to fill that sixth place.
When I reached the out gate, they had no idea why I had been paged. I told them about the sixth placing and they handed me a ribbon. But getting a ribbon wasn't really what I had in mind, I only want them if they are really mine to have so I headed to the office to see if they knew why I'd been paged.
As a walked by the in gate, the show manager noticed me and said, "Oh I see you've already got your ribbon." Not the usual way to "officially get placed sixth but I'd take it none the less. This green ribbon represented not only 5 more points towards qualifications but at least 50 bucks from the Sweepstakes points program. At least this class wasn't a total loss.
To be continued........
A Little about Fate
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Oh, you do have a way to keep me holding my breath till tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI hope I don't turn purple from lack of oxygen :)
Man, I bet if you'd of known about them having trouble in the warm-up, you'd of kept your distance from them!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think if you have that much trouble with your horse in the warm-up, it'd probably be best you not show, to avoid causing others problem in the ring! If they weren't in there, you'd of had a nice ride! But it seems like if it's not one thing causing you problems in the ring, it's another!
Glad you placed after all that! Did the chestnut stallion place? I would hope not!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the 6th place, that's good news. It sounds like Legs is really getting alot better in the show ring, I'm excited to hear of his progress throughout the rest of the show season.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that a few weeks ago I was at a Morgan show. My horse has been giving me some problems in that he wants to go to the center. He almost always pulls some kind of stunt along the long side of the ring after the reverse. The last show we were at, I took the initiative to school him and blew the class riding two handed in a romal rein/curb bit. I was upset as I spent alot of money to compete and it's important to me that he does a good job. I also worried that people would see me as a bad rider. It's funny, I even wondered, "what would Mikeal do in this situation." Don't tell my trainer though ;).