September 17, 2011 - Off to the Qualifiers

We went and picked up t the trailer this morning and discovered the right taillight didn't work (Brake and turn).  It turns out that the rental trailer had blown a fuse and once that was replaced everything worked
properly.

I brought Rory in, rinsed the mud off his heels, groomed him, wrapped his legs and hand grazed while waiting for the trailer light/truck fuse issue to be resolved.  It didn't take long to long my gear into the trailer, and once Rory was on board we were shortly on our way.  The nice thing about this trip was that we didn't have to be there until tomorrow morning so there was no major stress over the delays.

We arrived late in the afternoon. Rory travelled like a pro and ate almost all of his hay.  He refused water when we stopped partway, but accepted a couple of carrots.  Before I unloaded him I took the shavings into the barn and set up his stall.  The floors were concrete so I dumped part of a bucket of water on the floor first so the bottom layer of shavings would get a bit damp and be more stable under his feet.  I also put several flakes of hay into the stall before bringing Rory in.  He was interested and looked at everything as we went down the barn aisle.  One horse screamed at Rory as we went by and Rory speeded up a little to get past.  In the stall Rory looked around, peeked out the window and then started munching his hay as if he'd been doing this for years.  I went and got him a bucket of water and he couldn't even wait for me to hang it up before he had his nose in the bucket.  The fact that the water wasn't "his" didn't bother him a bit.

After I unloaded the rest of my gear I rode him in the show arena for about 20 min. There was another horse just finishing up as we went in and the company helped Rory settle.  He was really good with all the sights and the strange venue.  There was a young boy lying on the top of the half wall between arena and bleachers playing video games on his notebook.  The video games must have gotten boring as the boy started scrambling around the bleachers, trying to get all the way around the arena without touching the ground.  Rory didn't mind him at all.  The right lead canter was a little sticky again, but we got it.  At the end Rory settled enough to give me a nice stretched outline at the trot.

I fed him and settled him for the night after deciding to bath in the morning.

September 4, 2011 - It's show time!

All braided up!

I brought Rory in this morning and fed him before starting the grooming and braiding.  He stood reasonably well for the braiding process.  I know he'll get better and learn to snooze while I mess with his mane.  I wrapped his legs and loaded my gear into the trailer before taking Rory out.  Rory discovered that having his braids scratched was very nice and contorted himself to try and get my fingers into just the right spot - the spot I was avoiding so I didn't scratch out the braids.  He'd even lift his hind foot up to try and join in the scratching.

Looking around before going in the trailer

Going into the trailer was easy.  Rory stopped and looked, and sniffed and thought before cautiously setting foot onto the ramp.  Once he had his front feet up he took a look around before coming the rest of the way in.  I backed him out and reloaded before we headed off.  Rory travelled well.  He was a little uncertain about the bangs and bumps, but didn't get upset even if he didn't relax enough to nibble on the hay.  The show we went to is very close to home so it was a nice short ride.

A little tour of the grounds

Once we arrived I unloaded Rory and walked him around the trailer parking allowing him to look, and whinny.  He was very interested in everything around him but still listened to me for the most part.  There were times he was looking past me so intently that his feet drifted towards me and I had to give him a little reminder to not push into me.  When he'd settled a bit we went for a walk to pick up our number and see the rest of the show grounds.  Anticipating that he might try his signature "I'm leaving" move and knowing that I'd have to let someone else hold him for a minute at some point during the day I'd put a chain over his nose.  Rory was very good and I never needed to use it.

Rory looks like a pro in this shot

Back at the trailer we walked a bit more before it was time to tack up and longe a little.  Longeing took more time than I'd expected because Rory went right up to canter and didn't want to slow down.  I had to reel him in to a smaller circle to get the trot and then he settled a bit.  On the other rein he went right up to canter again and was less inclined to come back to trot as he just kept speeding up.  I tried not to pull him off balance but his feet slipped several times before he had a bad slip.  He didn't go down, but got his right hind leg out behind him.  I was afraid that was going to be the end of our show, but he trotted okay when I asked him to move out.  I kept an eye on him as we walked back to the trailer and I thought he was stepping a little short with the right hind the odd time, but the ground was sloped and uneven so I wasn't sure.

Here I'm telling Rory he has to be mroe careful after his slip

Everything is new and strange!

I took the longeing gear off Rory and got myself changed then headed off to the warm up ring.  There was only one other horse in the ring when we arrived and it left shortly afterwards.  The show was running a little early which meant that I could go up to the ring as soon as I felt Rory was ready.  He stood well for mounting and then we walked into the ring.  Rory's head was up high and he was trying to look at everything at once.  There were some barrels and jump equipment tucked under the trees at one side and he took a good look at those as he scooted sideways away from them.  I halted him, he looked and I got my friend to go and stand in front of the barrels to show Rory that they were okay.  He walked over a few steps at a time and touched one of the barrels.

We walked around the ring doing some circles and working towards the new areas as he decided they were okay.  Sitting on him I began to wonder if he was ready enough to be at a show and considered that maybe he's not ready for the cup qualifiers.  Gradually he relaxed a bit, and showed me that he was listening to me and trying to be good.  I talked to him and reassured him.  We trotted a bit and he was very uneven in rhythm and pace but got better.  At times he whinnied but wasn't sure what he wanted and would start with a little squeak, change his mind, wind down, then decide that he did have something to say and get louder again.  Once my friend burst out laughing at the noise he was making.  I was laughing too.

Rory's watching the other horse in this shot

Another horse joined us in the warm up ring and Rory looked at him, watching closely but didn't try to go over and say hi.  He did seem to relax a bit more with the other horse's company.  I decided that he wasn't going to get to ho-hum relaxation today, and that he was listening well enough to head up to the show ring.  When we got within sight of the ring Rory had to stop, look and think about it for a minute before going on.  I let him have the time, patted him and he went forward easily.

Taking a look at the show ring area.

Checking out the judge's booth

At this show the spectators and horse approach are at the C-M end of the show ring.  As we headed down to the far end of the ring I took Rory in between the ring and judge's booth first.  Someone made a noise inside and he looked, but didn't spook or refuse to go past.  The booth was just one more new thing to him.  The ring does double duty as a 20x40m ring in the morning, and is changed to a 20x60m later on.  The 20x40m ring is at the C end so there is a 20x20 space at the A end between the long sides.   We walked down the far side of the ring (HEK) and into the space at the end.  The bell rang before we got into the space but I walked Rory in a couple of small circles before heading for the gap in the fence.

More relaxed after the test

I decided to walk to the gap and then trot from there rather than worry about Rory taking a peek at the fence or wobbling into it.  He was looking around as we entered and was slow to get to trot, then wobbled off the centreline and got past X before he halted.  Our circle at B wasn't quite round - it had a distinct corner on the last quarter as Rory stared up at the spectators, horses and various booths.  The KXM diagonal was fairly straight and he walked well before we got to C.  The free walk loop HXK was wobbly and not at all "free".  I had thought Rory might try to leave the ring when we passed A but he wasn't even considering it and trotted on when asked.  The circle at B was worse than the first as he failed to turn after crossing the centreline en route to E, then did a very sharp turn and broke to walk when he reach the fence.  I got him trotting again and he drifted out as we passed B and again I thought he was going to hop the fence.  He was more likely just letting his feet follow his attention and side stepped away from the fence just before he got to one of the supports.  The HXK diagonal was pretty good, and he made a good turn onto the centerline, then wobbled down to X and into the halt.  This halt was close to X, but he did step sideways with his hind end as he came to the halt.

The judge's comments summed it up nicely "A lot of tension so it is good you were able to ride it through without big problems. Some definite potential though!" A couple of 4s, mostly 5s and 5.5s with one six gave us a score of 50.952%, placing second out of two.  I was hoping he'd be more relaxed and get a better score, but I was taking him for the exposure and not for scores so I'm not disappointed at all.

I dug the carrot stick out of the top of my boot and gave it to him before we left the ring and he was much more relaxed leaving the show ring.  We went back up to the on deck area and the whip suggested running the walk/trot equitation class early.  One entry wasn't there and we had to wait ten minutes for them to arrive.  I dismounted while I waited.  Rory stood quietly as he looked around.  He was still very interested but not nearly as tense.

We were the last of the six riders to go down to the ring for the equitation class.  Rory was happy to go forward without trying to catch up to the other horses.  In the ring we spaced out and walked round together.  Rory was very good during the whole class.  The horses trotted at different speeds so we got passed and did some circles ourselves to gain room.  He had horses come up beside him and didn't worry about them at all.  In the line up at the end he looked at the horse beside him then stood quietly as I patted and rubbed his neck.  As the only Open rider in the class I declined to take the ribbon for it since I was only out to give Rory the exposure.  We waited while everyone else got their ribbons and then left the ring in good order.  I was super happy with how well he'd behaved in the group.  He'd relaxed enough during this class to feel the strain of his longeing slip and was stepping a little short on the right hind.

The inevitable post braid hairdo

A lot of good things happened today. Rory DID stay in the ring. He DID follow the pattern of the test with transitions and figures roughly in the right place. He DID listen to me. He DID have moments of brilliance (very brief, very shiny, blink and you missed it moments). He DID relax a lot after he got his carrot at the end of the test. He didn't have a meltdown. He didn't panic. He didn't spook at anything. He didn't try to attach himself to another horse. He didn't try his signature "I'm leaving" trick. He did go in the trailer several times. He didn't stress out about going somewhere. In the Eq class with six other horses he was excellent. Super well behaved through all the various jockeying for position, and attentive to me. I was really pleased with how good he was.

Before we returned to the trailer I took the number off my saddle pad and my friend handed it in and picked up our test and ribbon.  At the trailer I untacked him and cut the knots off his braids.  Another friend pulled the braids out and then scratched Rory's neck much to his pleasure.  I showed him the water again, but Rory wasn't interested in having a drink.  I sorted my stuff out, wrapped Rory's legs again, packed up and reloaded the trailer.  He was a little unsure about getting back into the trailer and went in and out a couple of times before staying in.  I didn't try to hold him and he didn't get upset about it.  He was hungry and started munching on the hay once he did get in.

Hungry Rory at his own haybale again

Back at the farm I unwrapped his legs and then gave him a good hosing down to cool him off.  It was another hot and humid day and he'd gotten warm in the trailer.  I turned him out and he headed right for the hay.  Totyo came running to see him, but Rory turned his bum and told Totyo to leave him alone.  After I took care of unloading my stuff, cleaning the trailer, and sorting out the laundry and tack I took Rory's post ride snack out to him and kept the other two away while he ate it.