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Sep. 25th, 2011 06:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickCompetitive trail ride.
Well enough. Two of my three first-years finished. Jaice and Olivia sailed through. Alannah was crying by mile 10, rider-optioned to stop competing at the midway point. Her mother strongly encouraged her to ride non-competitive sweep for the remaining fifteen miles, which Alannah did. I am of the opinion that if one's child is streaming tears down her face at mile 10, she is probably pretty well knackered by mile 15 and should stop riding. However, the mom did not listen to me. :( Alannah rode sweep with Lynn and Anna, thus slowing them down and making them take about forty minutes longer than they would have without her. Lynn was not particularly happy about this but there wasn't much to be done about it.
The other kids... Olivia and Jaicey did not place because they got time faults. Olivia has girth issues on Ceres -- we need something that isn't neoprene for her b/c the neoprene girth just is not working for the horse. I'd like a selection of girth materials (flat leather, webbing, string and neoprene) so that we can switch stuff up and find what works for each horse. Also, let Theron girth up Ceres. He did her a bit tight so she had swelling on the bottom of her girth area. :( I didn't check Jaicey's horse Charisma, not sure how she looked afterward.
Waylon, for whatever reason, won his class and high point junior rider. I think Eikon was still conditioned from the work Olivia did with her last year b/c he rode that horse precisely six times this year for "conditioning". I don't know why he didn't get time faults and the other two kids did. Maybe they messed up on his paperwork or something. It happens. Anyway, he took home the big blue ribbon and the trophy despite not doing any work with his horse. *sigh* The world is not particularly a fair place. Waylon asked me why I rode to condition every year if horses hold conditioning for a year and I could win without having to condition. My answer, Because I like spending time with my horse, caught him by surprise. Wtf? If I didn't LIKE doing it, I would not do it. Waylon was all I like to WIN and yeah, okay, I like to WIN too, but it's meaningless if you don't deserve to win. Winning is only official recognition of your own hard work, preparation, and skillful management. If you didn't actually DO anything to win, then winning don't mean shit.
Cass didn't work with Thyme enough and it showed. She placed, but not first. She won 3rd place Horsemanship Award for seniors, though, which we've never done before. The judge complimented her on her quiet hands, effective seat, and bright, happy-looking pony. :) (Thyme does enjoy getting out on the trail.) Cass was sort of pissed that we'd entered her in horsemanship judging but pleased that she won something (and pleased with WHY she won something), so I figure it was a wash.
Overall, it was another good year for Bedford at the ride: six categories (jr. pony, sr. pony, jr. horse, sr. horse, skinny adult, fat adult) and six Bedford County victories. Jr. pony was Waylon. Sr. pony was (I think) Ayrian. Jr. Horse was (probably) Brittany. Sr. Horse was Abby (high point senior, too). Skinny Adult was Tasha. And I won Fat Adult and high point adult rider and (according to Spring who gathered up the folders) had the highest score awarded for the ride this year with a 99.25 (out of 100). Go me.
In another post: How to win at the competitive ride. No, really.
Well enough. Two of my three first-years finished. Jaice and Olivia sailed through. Alannah was crying by mile 10, rider-optioned to stop competing at the midway point. Her mother strongly encouraged her to ride non-competitive sweep for the remaining fifteen miles, which Alannah did. I am of the opinion that if one's child is streaming tears down her face at mile 10, she is probably pretty well knackered by mile 15 and should stop riding. However, the mom did not listen to me. :( Alannah rode sweep with Lynn and Anna, thus slowing them down and making them take about forty minutes longer than they would have without her. Lynn was not particularly happy about this but there wasn't much to be done about it.
The other kids... Olivia and Jaicey did not place because they got time faults. Olivia has girth issues on Ceres -- we need something that isn't neoprene for her b/c the neoprene girth just is not working for the horse. I'd like a selection of girth materials (flat leather, webbing, string and neoprene) so that we can switch stuff up and find what works for each horse. Also, let Theron girth up Ceres. He did her a bit tight so she had swelling on the bottom of her girth area. :( I didn't check Jaicey's horse Charisma, not sure how she looked afterward.
Waylon, for whatever reason, won his class and high point junior rider. I think Eikon was still conditioned from the work Olivia did with her last year b/c he rode that horse precisely six times this year for "conditioning". I don't know why he didn't get time faults and the other two kids did. Maybe they messed up on his paperwork or something. It happens. Anyway, he took home the big blue ribbon and the trophy despite not doing any work with his horse. *sigh* The world is not particularly a fair place. Waylon asked me why I rode to condition every year if horses hold conditioning for a year and I could win without having to condition. My answer, Because I like spending time with my horse, caught him by surprise. Wtf? If I didn't LIKE doing it, I would not do it. Waylon was all I like to WIN and yeah, okay, I like to WIN too, but it's meaningless if you don't deserve to win. Winning is only official recognition of your own hard work, preparation, and skillful management. If you didn't actually DO anything to win, then winning don't mean shit.
Cass didn't work with Thyme enough and it showed. She placed, but not first. She won 3rd place Horsemanship Award for seniors, though, which we've never done before. The judge complimented her on her quiet hands, effective seat, and bright, happy-looking pony. :) (Thyme does enjoy getting out on the trail.) Cass was sort of pissed that we'd entered her in horsemanship judging but pleased that she won something (and pleased with WHY she won something), so I figure it was a wash.
Overall, it was another good year for Bedford at the ride: six categories (jr. pony, sr. pony, jr. horse, sr. horse, skinny adult, fat adult) and six Bedford County victories. Jr. pony was Waylon. Sr. pony was (I think) Ayrian. Jr. Horse was (probably) Brittany. Sr. Horse was Abby (high point senior, too). Skinny Adult was Tasha. And I won Fat Adult and high point adult rider and (according to Spring who gathered up the folders) had the highest score awarded for the ride this year with a 99.25 (out of 100). Go me.
In another post: How to win at the competitive ride. No, really.
