Our First Show!!?!

Chica has always been the horse that I could take to a show, unload, tack up, and hit the show ring with. We'd probably walk away with a high placing, and if we didn't, it was because of something I did, not her. She has always been on her best behavior away from home, and I could generally sleep easily the night before a show without worrying that the next day would be my last on Earth.

Last Thursday, the 19th, I found out about a low-key open show that was happening on Sunday, the 22nd. Three days later. I waffled over going, but the desire to start taking Sienna to shows and expose her to that environment won out, and before I knew it, I had sent in my registration form.

The three days leading up to the show were embarrassingly uneventful. I didn't get home Thursday night until dark, so we didn't get to work then. I had to work Friday night and only made it back at dusk, so we only worked on showmanship. Saturday, I only had time to clip Sienna and practice trailer loading, again due to work. Which left Sunday morning, before the show, for me to bathe, ride, longe and finish clipping... after she hadn't been ridden since Tuesday. Yikes. Fortunately the show didn't start until 1 in the afternoon, and I wasn't leaving until 11:30 that morning.

I tossed and turned in bed Saturday night, wondering if I was making a mistake. I tried telling myself over and over that I was fully able to deal with her if she acted up... and I must have fallen asleep praying that God would protect us and use this show as a great learning experience for her.

Sunday morning, I got up before 8 and went and got Sienna. I tacked her up, hooked up a longe line, and off we went. She was... not good. A period of fighting ensued, including a moment when I was snapping the whip like a mad woman, trying to get her to canter, and a huge group of bicylcists rode by (and probably called PETA afterward). I finally moved to the round pen to longe her further, and then I got on. Suffice it to say, she was terrible. She was anxious and jittery, and I was like, "If you're going to act this way at home, on familiar territory, then I am NOT riding you in any show classes!". To which she probably responded, "Good, that's exactly what I was going for". I ended us on the most positive note I could manage, scrubbed her clean, and began loading up the truck.

She loaded with only a minor incident (she half-loaded and then backed out, with me following at a run while shoving her backwards as a car drove by), and then we were on the road. We followed a new friend to the grounds (she took a very back roads way that made me start to wonder if Death by Sienna at Horse Show was the least of my problems), and I know I talked my roommate's ear off the whole time, I was so nervous.

We got to the place, and it was basically this lady's house. She had a nice sized arena, a trail course, an announcer's box and TONS of parking. Unfortunately, none of it was in the shade. Remind me to train Sienna to ride while I wear one of those umbrella hats.

Not surprisingly, taking a very green horse to a show is VERY different than taking a seasoned horse that you have had 11 years. At first, I was afraid to even unload her- the first time I tried to unhook my divider, she ran backwards while still tied, and I had to slam the divider back shut on her. After she calmed down (and my heartbeat calmed down), I managed to squeeze alongside her while my roommate held the divider in case she tried that again, and then we were able to get off the trailer without further... terror. I immediately grabbed my longe line and whip and headed for the arena, while Sienna screamed her head off (HELP! HELP! WHERE AM I??!). I chose the far back corner of the arena, away from anyone else that might come in, hooked up the longe line, and braced myself... and my little pony just walked off calmly. She looked around, but she just plodded around me a few circles. I tentatively asked for a trot, and she did the most western pleasure, slow jog I have ever seen her do. Someone else came in and started longing her horse too, which Sienna nickered at, but otherwise, she never broke stride. We went the other way, and it was the same thing. She watched other horses that walked by, but she still listened to me when I asked her to whoa/change speed. After 10 minutes of this, there really wasn't anything else I could do, so we walked back to the trailer.

That was just a precursor for the rest of the show. Besides calling to the other horses anytime we were at my trailer, she was WONDERFUL. She didn't fight the show chain in any of the classes. She fell asleep in her halter classes. She set up, pivoted, trotted off, backed, and even trotted in a circle with me (her least favorite thing to do). She did rear a little over by my trailer when we were practicing for our showmanship class and I got her a little too hard with the chain, but I ignored it and continued on with what I was doing, and she quickly forgot about it. There were two judges, and we placed in all of our classes. Jr and Senior mares (out of 9): 3rd under one judge, no place under the other. Showmanship (out of 6): 4th under one judge, 5th under the other. Color Halter (out of 8): 5th under one judge, 6th under the other. I kind of thought we would place higher in showmanship, but I have never had any formal training in it, and so I know I was sloppy. Still, I didn't really care about our placings- I was just tickled to death that she was behaving so well.

They had a 10 minute free ride in the arena after halter. When I first got on, I just walked her around the grounds by my trailer, because I wasn't sure what she was going to do. However, she was behaving so well, I decided to try jogging. And then, because that went so well, we walked over to the arena to try riding with other horses for the first time. She looked around at a lot of them ("What are we doing here?? Why are you here? We're all being ridden now! This is the craziest thing I've ever seen!"), but after a lap, she was listening to me very well. So, we tried jogging around the other horses. She was perfect. I did two laps, and then I was done. She could not have behaved better. One lady tried to talk me into taking her into the riding classes, but I didn't want to push her limits too much when she was being so good. So, we packed it in, and went home.

I am still bubbling with happiness over how well she behaved. I am SO proud of her! It is such a fantastic feeling knowing that my hard work put her there. My roommate took pictures, so I will try to post some asap. And video!

On a different note, Chica got new injections on Monday, so hopefully I can start riding her again soon! Nothing too big, mostly just riding around the pasture... but I miss it so much!!