The Daffodil All Arabian Summer Show 2010.....Getting Started

Part 1

Once I finished my late night post and played a little Spider Solitaire to unwind, I went back to my bedroom because I was cold. Looking at the clock it was only about twenty minutes until time to rise but I still climbed back into bed to warm up my toes.

I really should have known better. I've plenty of experience with late night sleepless sessions followed by morning sleep when I need to be up. Twenty minutes was more than enough time for me to nod off and ignore my alarm. Luckily for me I was not the only one with an early morning alarm, the sound of a closing door awoke me only about 15 minutes than I'd planned to rise.

Still the fog in my brain slowed me down so I was late heading out the door. By the time I arrived at the fairgrounds it was nearly 7. Because I was supposed to be the first to arrive, I was the designated "feeder" of breakfast for our group of horses. Luckily for me, Vanessa had arrived when I was supposed to and she'd feed everyone so I could get straight to the tasks I needed to accomplish if I was to make the morning session.

With classes beginning at 8, I'd wanted to be close to done riding near 7 because I figured that's about when the show office would open. With the prize list reading that post entries must be completed a session before, I knew I was pushing it.

With the show beginning that day, I thought I had a little leeway but I didn't want to push it beyond reasonable. Bringing in entries just before 8 would not be a reasonable request. Before I even began saddling my horse, I ran to the show office only to find it wasn't open yet, but then it wasn't quite 7. I was sure 7 would be the official hour.

I ran back to the stalls to saddle my horse. Once that was completed I headed back to the office hoping I'd be the first in line. The office was open by then but I was not the only person wanting to enter for a morning class. There was someone in front of me asking the very same question.

As the woman received a positive response, I reached around her and handed my fistful of papers and open check to another person at the counter. I told her I also had a class in the morning session and could I leave my entry and come back in a bit to pick up my number. With a nod of the head from the receiving party, I was out the door and headed back to school my horse.

There's nothing like leaving things to the last minute to get one's blood pumping. I had sweat running down my face by the time I arrived at the stalls to retrieve my horse. Then Legs and I were headed off to the arena hoping it would be vacant enough for us to work on the hand gallop.

Sometimes schooling time in the arena can be pretty crazy. When horses are going two directions, someone is schooling a reiner and maybe a trainer giving a lesson or two it can be too congested for any kind of gallop. I knew my already hesitant horse would not move out if there was any kind of traffic. I really didn't want to attempt to hand gallop in a class if we didn't have a chance to work on it ahead of time. The last thing I wanted was to get my horse moving forward without having the opportunity to practice coming back from it in a manner suitable for a class. I sure didn't need Legs confused by anything having to do with the bridle at this point.

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

Early Morning Schooling

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