[BlingRacer]

I took Xander to his first show today. We only did 3 classes, because I haven't had him long and I didn't feel ready for anything more. I mostly wanted to get him out and about.

Overall, I think it was a good experience. He acted beautifully and took to the show ring like an ole pro!

We didn't do so well in Halter (6th out of 7.) I've shown under the judge a few times before and I know she's always really fair , and always willing to talk to you about your class, so I talked to her later on and she said that she actually REALLY likes him, thinks he's a great mover, and has a lot of the traits she looks for in a WP/HUS horse, but just isn't a "halter-type" horse in her opinion. She thinks he's a great performance prospect though!

We got 2nd out of 4 in Novice Showmanship (handler error...I almost forgot the pattern and trotted too soon when I should have still been walking).I also got 5th out of 12 in open showmanship, and again, my fault, not his (I didn't position him as well as I should have.). Not bad for our first try!

What really impressed me though was how well my mom did. She's only showed about 5 times in her life, as she's mostly a barrel racer.

She took her one-eyed barrel horse and showed him and they did GREAT. They showed in open and novice. Both divisions had about 12 or 13 people in them (except for that one novice showmanship class that almost no one did for some reason.)

She got:

1st in nov. showmanship
4th in open showmanship

1st in nov. western pleasure (out of 12 horses! On her barrel horse!)
3rd in open WP

3rd in Nov. Horsemanship
5th in open horsemanship

2nd in nov. trail
3rd in open trail

2nd in nov reining
3rd in open reining

1st in nov barrels
1st in open barrels

1st in nov poles
1st in open poles

And guess what? She got high point in both divisions. She's never won a show high point in her LIFE. Just barrel stuff. I figured she had a good shot at the nov. hi point, but the open came as a shock since she didn't have many firsts in it.

Unfortunately our club has this rule that you can only win one hi point award, and you have to declare which division you are trying for hi point in at the start of the show. She listed the nov. class for that....so even though she had the highest points in both divisions, she didn't actually get the prize money for the open division. The reserve person got it instead, which I think is kind of wrong....

I have to say though that I am SOOOOO proud of her! I couldn't be prouder if I'd won it myself

[Quick2Skip01]

Congrats to both you and your mom!

the only reason that have that rule is because otherwise you get people trying to show in multiple divisions, trying to take multiple hi-pts just @ that show... so its not really fair to the other people trying to go for hi-pt. Definitely a bummer for your mom though!

[Smoke N Lace]

Oh, wow! Go, Mom!! You both did great. I can just imagine your mom's excitement. What were the WP people saying about the barrel horse winning WP? Have things changed that much in WP? I have to admit I haven't gone to a show in a long time.

[BlingRacer]

No one guessed he was a barrel horse actually :P They were all saying , "How does she get her show horse to go that fast!" (while I'm thinking..."How is she getting her barrel horse to go that slow", lol)!

It was a local show, so there weren't any breed show level WP horses there. But there were an awful lot of horses, so I was still pretty proud of her!

I heard the judge saying that she was "tired of seeing people fiddle with their horses too much in WP, especially at an open show" and that at this level, she's looking not so much at who's the prettiest mover or who has the prettiest head set, but more "The horse who looks the same every time I look at him, on a relatively loose rein, and is calm, consistent, and obviously a pleasure to ride."

That definately is my mom's horse...He goes on a loose rein very well, and although his head set needs some work, he carries his neck nice and level and has nice, even smooth strides. He's actually pretty slow strided too, especially at the lope. Personally, I can't stand his trot, but his lope is very, very nice.

We've actually been trying to sell him because he's not got as much speed we wish he did in barrels...but now mom is thinking about putting some more show training on him so she can just show him and tag along with me when I show Xander.

Here's an old pic of her horse:




Doing his barrel thing:


And a couple more:

[Quick2Skip01]

Hes a very pretty boy! I love the medicine hat marking!

[BlingRacer]

Thank you

[Smoke N Lace]

He is an eye-catcher! I expected some plain bay TB type. What a surprise when you posted his pic. LOL. I like her idea. If he does that well with little training, imagine what he will do if she works with him. You have to keep us posted on how they (and you, of course) are doing at the shows.

[mustang_dodger]

congrats on your show