The Region 4 Championships....Placings

The rest of the colts took their turns in the middle and I studied each of them carefully. I listened for their breeding and who their owners were. Then I made mental notes of how I thought each compared to Rhet just like I had with the earlier colts.

Once the colts had finished their presentations, they all were moved to the far end of the arena. It takes a while for the judges scores to be added and the numbers verified. During this time the handlers and horses all let down a bit.

It's usually during this wait that the colts can get a bit rowdy. Some of the other colts began to play a little game of "you show me yours and I'll show you mine." At one point there were three colts dropped at the same time, but mostly it was just one here and one there. I'd never quite seen so many colts involved in this activity in one class before.

I watched Rhet to see if he'd remembered his lesson in the groom room back at the Silver Aspen stalls. At one point it looked like he was thinking about doing a little exhibition of his own. I headed down to Cheryl and let her know what Rhet was thinking. It only took one verbal correction for Rhet to decide it wasn't a good idea to join the other boys in their game. I definitely appreciated the schooling opportunity I'd been given before the class.

Once the numbers had been verified, they began to award the lavender Sweepstakes ribbons to the top ten horses. Since there were only nine horses in this class, each horse received one of the awards. Rhet had one of the lowest numbers in the class so his award was given early on in this process.

Once he had his ribbon I made my way to the other side of the arena. I wanted to be at the out gate to catch Rhet when Cheryl exited the arena. I found my way to the rest of the group from our barn and there I waited for the calling of the top five horses.

It's those top fives that win Sweepstakes money in the yearling halter classes. In my years of showing those breeding entries, my horses have easily won lavender ribbons even in large classes. I've even had a couple of horses be sixth but I've never managed to break the barrier and get into the green money ribbons. I was really hoping that Rhet would be my first.

In placing top fives and top tens, the numbers are always called numerically from lowest to highest. That way the horses whose numbers have been skipped know they're out and it's time to exit the arena.

I was talking with JP about my impressions of this class. He was telling me how he thought Rhet should win........and I was telling him there were no such things as "shoulds" in the show ring when the announcer began to announce the winners of the top fives. I must admit I'm not very good at remembering the numbers of my horses so when the announcer called out 98, it meant nothing to me.

JP and the others from our barn began screaming and yelling along with what seemed like the entire rest of the arena. I was still wondering who 98 could be getting all this response from the crowd. Then JP said something like, "I told you." I looked around to see Cheryl moving forward with Rhet. Then and only then did I finally realized that 98 was indeed my horse, Secret Envy.

I was exited to see the horse had finally garnered the illusive top five green sweepstakes ribbon for my farm. It was a first step to a bigger dream. I realized from something he said that JP thought the horse had won something more so I explained to him why they had awarded a top ten followed by a top five. They would have to award the complete top five before they moved on to a championship or reserve.

While I went over this stuff with JP, I watched my colt closely. I wondered how Rhet was going to handle receiving that neck ribbon. Many a young horse without issues like Rhet's have freaked out getting a ribbon tied in place.

Rhet just stood there like he wasn't quite sure what to think as the people approached . His eyes got big and his body tensed at the dangling ribbon and the big hurken camera of the photographer. But Rhet stood like a rock as the ring steward reached around him to hang the ribbon in place.

Once it was fastened and Rhet felt the ribbon fluttering on his neck the horse suddenly got taller......... prouder.......yep, Rhet was proving he's a show horse through and through. He stood there for his picture then trotted back to his position on the rail pretty darn proud of himself. He continued to strut just a bit as the rest of the horses were awarded their ribbons as well.

I watched closely as the other four horses were awarded their top five ribbons. Would the rest of these colts be the horses I would had picked? Or would the judges see things differently? That always seems to be the $64,000 question in halter.

There was the colt that Paul Mayhew led by MPA Giovanni and the other colt shown in the program to be led by Paul Mayhew as well. The man on the end of the lead is not someone I am familiar with, but he thought he'd gotten the gate and had to come back to claim his prize for the cute bay colt by Noble Rhyton. Then Jay Smith stepped up with his A Jakarta colt followed by Dale Worthington's flashy Baywatch colt.

These colts were actually the exact horses I had picked to be in the top five. It doesn't always happen that way. Lots of times I end up scratching my head looking at whose been selected. Next it would be interesting to see which horses would be the champion and the reserve.

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

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