Springtime Open Horse Show

The endurance horse was a show horse over the weekend! Octopelle went to the Springtime Open in Pasco, WA. He earned a few ribbons and some crystal glasses, and we were also very honored to be invited by the judge into the "Battle of the Breeds" special invitational classes in both the english and western categories. There were several very nice breeds of show horses that were there to compete, and I was very pleased with my little rangey fellow. Two weeks ago he top-tenned at an endurance ride, and this weekend he was successful as an all-arounder at an open show. He's a good-hearted adaptable little trooper!

I was honestly surprised at how well we placed over the weekend. We were kind-of the "ugly ducklings" at the show. Ox is right in the middle of shedding his winter coat out, so I had to clip him in order to try and get some of the darker points of his hair to come out better. (Even with the body clipping attempt, he was still very rough around the edges in the appearance department.) There were some ultra GORGEOUS polished show horses that were there to compete! But the judge still liked my guy a lot. Candace Morasch has been a judge for over 40 years and has seen a lot of horses. Her exact words about him were, "He is a very honest guy and a pure mover." I was happy that she recognized that. We showed against a myriad of slow shuffling peanut rollers in the western classes: lots of quarter horses, paints, arabs, and appaloosas. And there were some stunning thoroughbreds, arabs, and two very lovely showey saddlebreds in the open English classes. Ox did pretty good with all of the stiff competition against the other breeds. Out of the 50+ horses that were at the show, we were invited by the judge to participate in the special invitational "Battle of the Breeds" classes in both the English and western divisions. I was really surprised! There were horses that were much better than us there that I was sure that she'd pick - but she picked us. It was a great honor.

There will be more pictures to post soon, as Adam Hutson of "Hutson Imaging and Photography" was there at the show taking pictures of everybody that participated. And we do have some video footage on Youtube that my husband captured of the western classes. (Unfortunately Craig wasn't able to be there in the mornings, so we don't have any video clips of the English classes...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCUbQ7ElLw

As a side note: I had a hell of a time keeping the cowboy hat on my head on Saturday with the wind blowing. I stuffed it with extra tissues and bobby pins to keep it on my head, but if you've ever been to the Tri-Cities area - everybody knows that the damned wind blows ALL THE TIME there. It was really annoying and I kept jamming the hat down as far on my head as it could go on Saturday. But on Sunday I chose to wear my English helmet instead of fighting with the cowboy hat anymore. It is very acceptable at shows to do this, so I went ahead and did it. Kind-of a dorky look, but it gives us more of a "western dressage" appearance I guess....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK4k3QM_G00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB0h6ojfk0Q

Otrar Revisited

I pulled the painting of Otrar, (the akhal teke stallion from Turkmenistan) from out of the storage closet last week. I wasn't thrilled with the outcome when I put it away and out of sight in 2012. I couldn't quite put my finger on what I didn't like at the time, so I just stuffed him into a deep dark corner. When I un-earthed him last week the problems were very obvious and were staring me right straight in the face. (It is good to put things away and get a fresh eye on them later on after you've forgotten totally about them...) The issues were RIGHT THERE like a bad penny.

Background and Frame!

After re-painting the background of the picture into a cold tone of blue sky (instead of the old busy brown hills), I got a new frame that helped to accentuate the silver tack and black coat more. I am liking him much better now. It is interesting how some small changes will make all the difference in the world. This little 8x10 painting will now go into my "micro" gallery in the back room to hang on the wall, instead of hiding in the dark nook of the storage closet.

A music video about the Turkmen racer, the akhal teke:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIhDRuOQJdw#t=40

Nettie and I starting out down the trail on Easter Sunday at the Grizzly Mountain ride. Photo is courtesy of Laura Spear.

Grizzly Mountain

We're back from the Grizzly ride this weekend. The horses did wonderfully! It was great riding on both days. The weather was nice and sunny, and I was very happy with how things went.

Ox standing for the BC completion exam on Saturday with Dr. Terry.  I managed to top ten both days, so we tried for the BC.  (Of course I never can manage to get it, but it's fun to try anyway...)  Octopelle did really well and was very strong on the first 22 mile loop.  He was still on a tight rein when we came back into camp with energy to spare, so the second 10 mile loop went like a breeze.  I was happy with his level of conditioning and fitness.   

Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera at home this weekend, so there are only two pictures that Craig got with his cellphone.  The one above is of me and Ox heading back to the trailer. 


Nettie did really well on the second day, Easter Sunday.  We came in 7th.  This was a "redemption" ride for her coming back this year.  Last year we were plagued by some hind leg soft tissue (muscle) problems, but this year she's come back like a little yellow ball of fire.  She rocketed down the trail like a fire breathing dragon for most of the first loop, but I was very conservative on the second loop and held her back at a much slower pace.  I wanted to be careful, because this was a long first ride of the season and I didn't want to over-do it with her.  She handled it very well and had some energy to spare at the end of the ride.  The map read this one as a 32 mile LD ride, but most people I talked to had GPS's that read it as a 35 mile ride - mine included.  It was a long first ride for horses just getting back into the game.  But all went well, so it was a fun happy weekend.

Note To Self....

Something to do that is on my bucket list before I die: 

1.  Attend the Scottsdale Westworld show in Arizona.
2.  Also the World Cup show in Las Vegas.

These people know how to put on a good show! 

I'm not much of an Arabian horse fan - in fact, it's quite the contrary.  But I am definitely a huge fan of the marketing strategies and professional productions put forth by the owners of these horses.  They put a ton of effort into creating an amazing and entertaining environment for potential buyers and enthusiasts of their breed.  It's a fantastic spectacle!  (I've heard the stallion auctions are totally epic to behold as well.....)
https://vimeo.com/39943956
https://vimeo.com/1710256
https://vimeo.com/30564727
 

Home On The Range 2014

A few photos from the HOTR endurance ride from last Saturday.

Ride camp.  The vet check, meeting building, and start/finish line - were way up by the row of trees on the right.  I got a good workout walking back and forth from our truck to the vetting area!

A random photo that I took of some people warming their horses up on the hillside.  The CRP grass is pretty this time of the year.

Ox munching on his hay before the ride.  Thanks for the garden flag Carol!

Monica was the official ride photographer and got some good ones of everybody going down the trail!  (I like the lighting and background on this one above.) 

Ox was happy to get back into endurance after some time off.  I had kind-of forgotten how great his slow lope is.  It's definitely his best gait - and very comfortable to ride going down the trail. 

With spring here, he's started changing colors again.  His smokey black coat has gone from a subtle shade of ebony black into a mealy mushroom brown.  (If you look at the March BITS show post, he looks like a different colored horse in only a few weeks!)