Region 5 Championships....... The Colt's Class...Placings

Part 1

The colt after Rhet was led by Cheryl Fletcher, Rhet's handler at Region 4. By Khadraj NA this colt looked like a horse you could ride later down the rode. I think he was a little rattled by all the commotion in the ring. He was a bit naughty. Looking at the way he trotted away, I'd say a western horse.

After that there was another colt by NYN Hisani. It seems to me there were also colts by Marwan El Shaquab, Magnum Psyche, Magnum Chall, Out of Cyte, QR Marc and of course, the Enzo colt, I'd seen schooling earlier in the day. The second Marwan El Shaquab colt nor the Jakarta colt I had been waiting to see never did make the ring. None the less it was a class packed with offspring of some real powerhouses in the Arabian industry. It would be interesting to see where Rhet fit into this group.

The handler stood the Enzo colt up at an odd angle for me to really see him. I was glad I'd had the opportunity to see him earlier or I wouldn't have any idea what kind of horse he was. Only as the handler trotted the horse away from the judges and down the rail was I able again to see that beautiful face. Looking at these judges, is was still betting this colt would win the class.

From there I really didn't know what to think. I had my own idea of how I would place the class but just exactly what this panel of judges would do was beyond me. I'd have to wait with the rest of the crowd to see what horses they'd picked.

There were only two more colts to show after the Enzo colt. Both of these colts were owned by friends of mine. The first one, by Out of Cyte, I had heard about but never seen before and frankly it wasn't until later that I even knew this was the colt I had been told about. A little odd, I guess, but one of those things that can happen in horse showing.

The second one, by QR Marc, I had seen as a weanling. Now he had a big name handler on the end of the lead. His owner had told Rhet's breeder that he thought Rhet was an ok colt but he didn't hold a candle to his QR Marc son. It would be interesting to see how he fared with the judges now.

When the judging was done, all the colts were ushered to the opposite end of the arena. There almost immediately the top ten was placed. I don't know if that was because the scorer for the class was quick or because there were only ten colts in the class but at least there wasn't much standing around for the colts to get bored and begin playing games like they had a Region 4. The handlers were pretty prompt at getting their colts up to accept their lavender Sweepstakes ribbons.

Almost immediately, the announcer moved on to calling out the top five horses. Those numbers are always called in alphabetical order. When the first number started at 390 with the colt led by Robin Hopkinson, I figured it was a pretty good chance that Rhet had received a top five.

The next number called was 404. This was the colt by Magnum Psyche led by Terry Holmes. The next number in the class was 444. They'd told me in the office when they handed me that number that it was a "good" one. Now as I heard it called by the announcer, I guessed maybe they were right. Rhet had at least earned a top five.

As Jesse took Rhet up to claim his prize, the colt perked up. He was getting the hang of this neck ribbon thing.......standing there quietly while it was hung around his neck, then charging off with his tail over his back proudly strutting his stuff.

After him there were two more horses numbers called out. Horse number 445, the Magnum Chall colt, was lead by Sandro Pinah and owned by Travis Hansen (another big halter name). He was followed by 449, the Enzo colt. I was pretty sure when I heard that number I'd been right about these judges.
The only question in my mind was who was going to be the reserve champion.

It didn't take long for the answer. The announcer caller out number 390.....Auston DPA shown by Robin Hopkinson and owned by Kristi Hopp. Then I took a deep breath......hoping I was wrong.........waiting for the annoucement of the winner..........knowing what I would hear..........Leander PA by Enzo,shown by Joao Rodrigues and owned by Pomeroy Arabians of Scottsdale, Arizona, colt number 449.

I felt a brief twinge of disappointment but it was ok. There's always that hope of winning but the winner was as I expected. I had hoped Rhet just might get another reserve. Now I was on to other things. Having slept in the back of my horse trailer for four nights (there were no rooms available at the last minute), I was focused on packing up and heading home.

I didn't even wait around for the victory pass of the top five horses. I scurried down out of the stands to meet Jesse at the out gate when he arrived. I'd already asked Dave to stop by the show office to collect a copy of the score sheets for the class. Where Rhet placed in this top five would affect my decision about going to nationals........but for now, I wasn't thinking about nationals.........or scores.............only about sleeping in my own bed.

As I reached the gate, Jesse was just coming out with Rhet. He handed me the lead and my lavender ribbon and turned to talk to another handler. I didn't wait around for any casual conversation.I needed to get my horse back to his stall so I could get our stuff packed and headed down the road.

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

The Placings Part 2



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