The Region 4 Championships......Rhet's Big Day

It's hard enough getting yearlings ready to show but dealing with a colt like Rhet meant there were added issues. Ever since that day when he'd broken my nose coming anywhere near the colt with a halter had again become a major test.

The very sight of a halter of any kind caused the colt to run to the back of the stall climbing the walls to escape. With the stalls in the race horse barns at the Region 4 All Arabian Championships being made of cinder blocks I was particularly worried about Rhet doing more damage to himself. He was already wearing enough jewelry as it was from his injuries html before he left home. I was really hoping to get through this show without anymore war wounds.

There was a lot to do to get the horse ready to show on that Friday. I was glad the yearling colt's class was in the evening session. That gave me plenty of time after my class with Legs to get everything done with Rhet. Choosing the best order for the different tasks was going to be important but other than that I felt comfortable we had more than enough time to get everything accomplished........even if Rhet turned out to be a bit difficult.

I knew we needed to get his bath done early. Having hooves dry enough to sand is always an issue but then having them dry enough to polish can cause even bigger problems. The timing of the bath in this whole sequence seemed to be what bothered me most that day. Looking back I was sure taking some things for granted.

Because I had clipped Rhet's face before without issues, I was assuming that I would have no problem clipping him at the show. Then because I was hosing the horse off regularly at home without problems, I was assuming that the colt would stand still to be bathed. You know what they say about assuming...........well, it's true...........and it sure was true in this case.

Rhet hadn't just regressed in his halter training........he had regressed in most everything to do with me. His halter schooling with Cheryl Fletcher was going just fine.........once I could get him caught.......but for Cheryl, he was a good boy. For me..............not so much.

I remember I asked Jessica to come with me when I went into the stall to show clip the horse. It really had been just as a precaution, in case I might need help. Don't know what I was thinking, if I could barely get a halter on the colt why did I expect he would let me clip him??

It's a good thing Jessica was there. The minute I turned the clippers on Rhet wigged out. He reared straight up into the air and tried to flip himself over onto his back. Jessica had to grab his nose for me to get anywhere near clipping on his face. It was a good thing that his ears and bridle path were already done.

I can't even tell you how long we struggled with the colt before we actually got him clipped. It wasn't my usual exotic clip job. There was no way that was going to happen with the horse bouncing off the walls. No fancy blending, no use of multiple blades.......just as basic clip job with no 10 blades on his face and no 40 blades over the eyes......not the usual for a halter horse for sure............but respectable.

To do his muzzle I had to use a bic razor. Balding of halter horses is against the rules but that's what bics are usually used for in halter horses. BUT for Rhet, I needed the bic to just get the stubble off his muzzle.

The horse wouldn't stand for the clippers without someone grabbing onto the end of his nose. I was hoping to take those hairs off one at a time as I carefully used the little disposable razor. I had to be extra careful not to take off any of the other hairs............I didn't want it to look like a bic had been anywhere near his face.........I just needed the stubble gone.

When it was done I had a couple of little gouges that just couldn't be helped. Rhet had thrown his nose right into the razor not liking the feel of the razor on those feeler hairs. But the gouges looked like they could have been caused by a no 40 blade. Normally, I would have blended those right out but not with Rhet. He was going to have to go with what we had.

After this fiasco with the clipping, I was really dreading sanding the horse's hooves and giving him a bath. If he reacted to either of these tasks like he had the clippers it was going to be tough having the horse ready in time. I was beginning to think I had misjudged how much time it was going to take to have this horse ready to show after all.

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

Part 2



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