On 5/14/07, Virginia Tupper <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Overall, though, it was a good day--Alex got to ride with her friends, > be with horses, experience something new--but I think her innocence > was shattered because I don't think she realized the competitive > spirit of some of the kids she would be riding with. > > I reminded her that she was only in it for the fun -- she had only > decided last minute to enter because her friends were going, but once > ribbons were being given and she wasn't getting one, her feelings were > hurt.
I told my husband while brushing Gloi this morning that I was looking forward to hearing about Alex and Gat's show today. I have no kids so any shows I did were with me, age 40 something, riding my QH/TB ex-racehorse, ex-jumper. He had a lot of show experience. I had none. I always went to the shows with the attitude that I got to spend the whole day with my horse and my friends. I would show in anything that I qualified for except for jumps. We only did hunter hack classes where there were two low jumps. Calvin would get so fired up doing jumps, and I wasn't that experienced at jumping. Most times we would get no ribbon, but sometimes we would be surprised with one or two. Some of my happiest moments were at the end of a class that we didn't place in, but I felt a real sense of accomplishment or camaraderie with my horse. I know many times, I had much more fun than those that got ribbons. Of course, I'm not a little girl who had high expectations and sometimes even as an adult I would feel disappointed for not being acknowledged. Sometimes I swear Calvin and I got in the ribbons, just because we were having so much fun. Please send Alex my best and remind her that she got to spend the whole day with her horse and her friends, what could be better than that. Maybe next time don't let her do so many hard jump classes. Were there any fun classes, like egg and spoon, ribbon race, etc. 4-H fun shows are great for having a lot of these type of classes. After a few years I would only do fun shows where you didn't have to be all dressed up and the emphasis was on fun. Hoping to do that some day again with Gloi. Anna
