[belle4]

It is Monday morning and we are home from the long awaited POA show. We arrived at the show on Friday afternoon after nearly 6 hours of travel. We took 2 cars because I had to go to a wedding shower for my neice. We unloaded, got the pony settled and worked him western and english. Went back to the hotel room, had dinner, went to bed and woke up at 3 am to thunderstorms. Got pony fed at 4:30 and back to hotel room to wake the family, get cleaned up and off to show. The show was sopposed to start at 8, but due to the rain, they delayed until 10am. At about 9:30, they cancelled the show. My girls were dressed for halter and showmanship and the pony was ready to go in the pen. At this point, the rain had stopped, but the arena was flooded, so no show!!! We were all very disappointed! All that work, time, effort, travel, hotel room, gas for 2 cars, eating out, all for nothing!

On the brighter side, we did meet a lot of very lovley, welcoming people. The president of POAC for the entire United States paid our pony and my daughters some very lovely compliments. He personally applolgized to me for having to cancel the show and practically begged us to come to the next one in July. He also waived all of our fees for the weekend, (stalls, camping, parking, grounds etc.)

We were also able to get the pony inspected by the same president. During every POA's 6th year, they have to be inspected to get permanent registration papers or you loose your national points. Also, they become non-registered ponys without this inspection. They are looking for height and color requirements as well as any "defects" like parrot mouth etc. So we passed (I wasn't too worried). He was also measured and we can now apply for his permanent height card. He is a whooping 53 inche which makes him a medium pony.

Another good thing was we got to see all of the beautiful POA's. Every single pony was outstanding. I was really surprised at how big they all were. They all looked like mini versions of colorful quarter horses. I guess the large ponies are really sought after, especially for the 13-18 age group. I was told by many long time POA members that the club in general is lacking in the medium and small size and that would make our pony especially valuable for the 8 and unders and 9-12 age groups. Loads of people made comments on how beautifully he was trained, conditioned, turned out, and ridden by my girls. I think we would have been very competitative in the pen. All in all, it was a positive experience. Our family met tons of helpful, friendly people that want us to keep up with their breed. I found that refreshing as many times the newcomer would be looked at as a threat. The club in general revolves around children and their families. They breed for children. Everything is about the children.

So here we are. Sorry, no pictures and no blue ribbons to brag about. Look out July!! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Maybe one weekend we can go to a show and it won't rain. The gray skies seem to follow us no matter how far we travel. We are now 7 out of 7 for rain. When will it stop?

[whoaboy]

Guess you can't even call this one a "dry run"! Sorry about your cancellation, that had to be a bummer but it sounds like you found lots of positives anyway and so it wasn't a total "wash"!!! I have the same luck everytime I take my horse camping. I'm like an omen with the rain and record setting low's!

[gallop3337]

Sorry to hear that! What a disappointment, but at least the trip was not a complete waste. You met some great people and got a small idea of the circuit shows, right? Well I wish you guys the best of luck in your upcoming July show

[QHGirl]

Oh that sucks, is the poa show in July in the same place??? That sounds great that you had met a lot of great people... and btw.. did you doubt your girls were nothing but wonderful at least others see it too... Well at least you had a "interesting" weekend to talk about.. OH MY GOSH BELLE4... I just realized where you went... that is like 3 hours from here, and 1 hour from my parents... I was gonna go home this weekend but didn't. I wish I would have, then I would have come to see you guys. OH MAN.. hope the show is there in July!!! I am so there!!!

It rained down here too all weekend, let me tell you, I have two "MUD" colored horses!!!

[Lou3]

Thats such a shame. I'm sure the little guy will do great in july though.
Lou

[belle4]

QHgirl,



The show in July is not in the same place unfortunately. I will pm you with the exact location. Instead of being an hour drive from you parents it would be like 2 hours. The show in July is called an IBC Show. It stands for interbreed something or another. I am still learning about this association. Anyways, it's basically an all breed show with POA's. Any registered horse can show and compete with the POA's. So a quarter horse could win, a TB could get second and a POA could get third. The only difference is the POA would get points in the POAC for a third place and the other breeds, of course, would not get points that count for their respective breed. So it's just like an open show where POA's can earn points. Make sense? Would be cool if you could come. Or anyone from the forum for that matter. The show is in south west Michigan. If anyone is interested, I can pm you the information.

[QHGirl]

OH an open show... HOW fun would that be if I brought my guy up to show too!!! SO COOL, even if not just to come and say hi an see you guys!!

OK PM me with dates and location... I will see what date it is and try to come... July is booking up but still!!!

Look at all that you have gained from the show.. great info!!!

[arabianlvr87]

Oh belle! I am so sorry to hear this! Your poor daughters. They must be so devastated. Poor things. Well, everything happens for a reason. And on the bright side, it sounds like y'all had an awesome time anyway! Seeing all the beautiful show POAs and meeting the president of the POA club, WOW you've been busy!

Best of luck next time!

[spyro1]

ya know belle, I got the same reception when I went to my first app show (must be a spot thing!!) That is really a shame that the show was cancelled, but at least the POAC will waive fees for the next show, that is awesome. I know you take well deserved pride in your girls adn your POA, and just having the President of the POAC confirm that he is the *you know what* must have you floating on cloud 9 It is hard to find shows where it is all about the kids, aside from 4-H. WIN BIG in July

[belle4]

Thanks so much all of you. It seems the summer is already in full swing. We haul Dew tomorrow for the ultra sound, Wednesday is a training, schooling show, and this weekend we are off again for a 2 day show.

I am seriously considering hauling to the POA regional show at Hoosier Horse Park July 3-5. It would be a huge undertaking, but everything points to us having a sucessful outing. Talk about jumping in head first. It would have been nice to see how he placed at a smaller breed show, but what the heck.