Yesterday was a day of many firsts--the first time I drove a horse trailer by myself, the first time Blessi and I participated in an English competition (only my third such competition), the first time I went to an event all by myself, the first trail competion. Blessi was awesome--so calm and steady throughout the event. We attended a small, local schooling event. During the warm up in the parking lot, one western rider's horse kept rearing at everything--kids running, trucks going by, etc. Blessi just didn't react to the horse rearing almost right beside him let alone the trucks or kids. I think he tossed his head once. Blessi really seems to enjoy these events. He likes people, the activity, and the challenge. He is convinced that every new person has an apple in his or her pocket just for him. Plus I was nervous, not scared, (I was grabbing some mane during the English 2-gait class) but Blessi was not fazed.
So I thought that I would share this with the group. All of my earlier posts were about the few things Blessi did that made me fearful but I never really talked about the 1000s of things he does to take care of, partner with me, and reassure me. I totally underestimated the amount of time it would take to pack up a horse and trailer so we missed both beginner rider classes and ended up in an intermediate event 2-gait English class(with a pink ribbon). It was kind of funny. Blessi was by far the shortest horse in this event--some of the horses were 17 hands--but he had the fastest trot. Of course I should have had him a little more collected which would have slowed down the trot a bit. But we still would have been passing all the other horses. It is so funny how trotting is fun now after all that fear from last year. We really enjoyed the trail competition. It was our first such event and we had fun even if we weren't very precise. You can't expect perfection if you are practicing a leg yield over a pole for the first time at an event (written with amusement and a chuckle). ;-) However, Blessi kept trying to figure out what I wanted--which meant that I got some backs when I was asking for a sidepass, etc. He tried so hard for me even when my signals weren't clear and he did it so calmly in an arena show environment. (He was stellar on the trot/walk transitions among all the other riders during the other classes). Plus he really shone on the diabolical bridge--a 7-foot long, 2 foot wide, 6 inch high wood platform leading to a tarp square surrounded by 2 by fours that you had to ride the plank. I just pointed him at the bridge and he crossed it. He was only 1 of 2 horses who walked over the bridge calmly. (I really think all the ground exercises help with this type of thing.) Every other horse really freaked over this obstacle. I cringed at the riders who resorted to striking with whips/reins or spurring to try to get their frightened horses over this obstacle. The judge even tried to lead one horse and rider over the bridge and the horse flipped out. The trail event was really helpful in pin pointing stuff I need to practice in the home arena--backing through ells, leg yield over two poles arranted in an ell, etc. It was also a pleasure watching the really skilled horses and riders, both Western and English, who were able to partner with their horses and achieve sidepasses, collected stops, turn on the forehands, etc., with few visible aids. I was awed at one Western rider doing the equivalent of an English sidepass with no aids that I could see. Her appy was just so relaxed and graceful. I am just setting the record straight telling some good Blessi stories. I have lots of things to work at before the next show. Blessi is in good shape as he is. He has all the skills, I just need to work on my communication. Take care everyone! Pam
