Rainy Day at the show

Saturday morning when I woke up, the entire farm was frozen dew. Our first frost.. although not a bad one, as some of the flowers survived. When Zoe told me rain was forecasted for Sunday, all day- I thought.. it's going to very cold and nasty. Turned out, the temperatures were milder - so with thick socks and two sweatshirts I survived :) The grounds were a mess; the rings were wet, slippery snotty clay. Many horses were anxious about their footing- for good reason.

Zoe chooses to do warm up on the grass- usually schooling is in the "dustbowl" - which of course is not resembling its nickname today.

just a light foggy drizzle- not so bad I guess. Lots of umbrellas on the grounds, and brightly colored rain gear flapping..

This is our last show of this season.

here's a clever idea for a rainy day - but your horse has to be quite short.

This little fellow did the training level test-- what a cutie he was.

After the ride, the judge has many wonderful comments for our beautiful girl, lovely horse, good mind and nice movements.

You can see the little girl in pink to the right-- she ended up being our biggest obstacle of the day as she ran, laughed, and splashed through puddles ringside all day ! :) She even had an umbrella of her own.

By the second ride time, the rain picked up to become a fairly steady downpour. I am surprised there were not more scratches.

The judges all huddled in their booth like some Star Wars characters.

Some of the horses did not care for the plastic covering they rigged up to protect the scoring paperwork. Each time they entered a score or comment.. they lifted the plastic.. and a few horses spooked, almost going down on this sloppy clay.

Elektra and Zoe did very well in both tests, winning a first place ribbon for each. Their test scores were 10 points above the next below score-- which made us happy. And Zoe and Elektra missed the high point score of the day by 2 points. They scored a consistent 7 on their circles -- pleasing Zoe. A very good day and a great last show of the season.

I put together a short video of clips from each test --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b9QJI4ZTpM

While it would be fun to take Elektra and work our way up the levels - as a breeder I need to showcase more than just one horse... so Zoe will be riding a different horse for next year-- starting all over with training and conditioning. We have one picked out for her already. I think Elektra is going to miss the activities tough - so hopefully... she'll find a show home when she sells. But-- she does also make a superb trail horse !

Last week, we took the time to photo and video Zoe's son Dominic (age 6) on two of our ponies.. OYY Arcus - 12.2 hand curly pony who is 4 years old and OYY Pal's Job - a smooth coated curly pony, 13.3-14 hands and 5 years old. Dominic is a somewhat timid rider with very little experience... but he did well and so did the ponies. He started in the indoor with some pointers, moved out into the outer ring-- then on a small 'trail' course.

You can see the little video here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuKEPEGazfg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUQf00H_Zp4

We also had a chance to get OYY Salvadore out for a quick schooling. He was glad to be out and pampered - it's been since spring that someone saddled him up-- we've been busy !

He is so handsome !! We just love this fellow. And he has not forgotten a thing.

he is always ready to put on a good show.

Today-- Monday... we are planning a nice pleasure ride out. Not sure yet where we are headed but after last week's river run-- we need to come up with something equally as exciting !

Enjoy your day ~