Now, I am not at all complaining. Many of you reading this I'm sure are my friends and family from the northern part of this country that had to deal with Nemo. Three feet of snow for you was a day of rain for me. I'll take a day of rain over snow ANY day of the week.Unfortunately though, I am still not acclimated to the heat. 80 degrees isn't so bad on it's own, I must admit. BUT! Add into it a high percentage of humidity, aaaand I am quickly a puddle in the sand. Therefore, shortly after arriving at the barn, I decided that the girls deserved a day off. This might be partially... ok, entirely, due to aforementioned heat. Ellie has cantered for me the past two days in a row, and Tiger jumped a gymnastic yesterday on top of a few courses the day before that... so I left the girls in their shady paddock with some pats and quickly retreated back to my nicely air conditioned house.
On a side note - I'm not one to sit around idly. I just can't. It literally drives me nuts. Anyone who has watched a movie with me before will attest that if it doesn't hold my attention (or possibly if it's not one of my absolute favorites or I've seen it a thousand times before) I'm off puttering around or playing on my phone. It is just not in my nature to sit and do something that doesn't require a whole lot of brain function. Therefore a good portion of the afternoon today was focused on show schedules!!!
Besides a single fundraising show back in 2009 (in which ribbons were not even issued), I haven't shown seriously since the summer of 2008 when I was doing my last show season with my old horse AJ.
New Hampshire Hunter Jumper Summer Festival 2008 - I won this class
The prospect of showing this year is very exciting to me. Until this year I have either A. not had a suitable mount, B. not had the money, or C. been hugely pregnant or dealing with a newborn. Life has just stacked against my showing prospects the past few years. I've been doing a fair bit of research into the local show circuits (H.I.T.S. is just too expensive and I don't feel I've done nearly enough prep work with Tiger yet to even think about dropping that kind of cash, even if it is right down the street) and I've decided on the Horse Show in the Park series and the small shows put on by Sumter Equestrian Center. Both have year end awards and a local following to get my name out there and (hopefully) noticed. Tiger and I will be doing the three foot "training jumper" division (which is cake for her) and I'm crossing my fingers we will do well. Schooling this height at home we are doing very well and getting to know each other better each day. Only time will tell.
As for Ellie, I've decided to do at least one, hopefully two, in hand shows before her inspection in October. The idea is that I'd like her to get some experience away from home, as well as get my name and face into the eyes and ears of a different crowd. The USDF offers classes for maiden broodmares, which is what I'm hoping to enter Ellie into. These classes judge the mare on her suitability to produce quality sporthorses, and she would be judged on much of the same things she will be at her inspection (hence why I'm interested in bringing her to these shows). There are two shows at the Canterbury Equestrian Showplace (one of the two venues for the Horse Show in the Park series, however part of a completely different series hosted by the farm) that have these classes and aren't too far away. Again, crossing our fingers that works out. Poor miss Ellie will be getting fewer and fewer days off in the coming future. In hand work starts ASAP.
So, that's the plan for now. Fingers crossed all things go well financially (showing is bloody expensive!!!) and we can stick to this plan. It would mean about two shows a month starting mid-March, but I'd have both girls out in a total of three different circuits. Here's to hoping. For now, signing off. Heels down my friends.
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