Halloween Fun Show

On Saturday the 30th, the Richland Riders club held their second annual Halloween fun show in Richland, Wa. It was an open show for everybody to get dressed up in costumes and have a blast at! The club also featured some special classes for the "strides" challenged riders, which I thought was a really great idea. Not many horse shows around our area have classes for everybody to participate in, so it was good to see everyone being included. There were around 30 entries for this fun little show, and it was great experience to practice at without a lot of excess pressure.

The Richland Riders club has some great grounds with a big outdoor arena, two round corrals, warm-up ring, trail course, barn rentals, lots of boarding runs, and plenty of trailer parking for competitors and boarders alike. If I lived in the Tri-Cities area, I would definitely want to ride here everyday! The show was really fun, and the clouds only spinkled a few tiny rain drops here and there. Nettie and I went as the wicked witch of the west and her big trusty yellow broomstick. =:)

I had ordered a black knit witches cape, but it didn't arrive in the mail in time before for the show. So, a red knit blanket had to fill in to keep me warm. It worked out pretty good on a chilly day.
We participated in the costume parade and costumed open showmanship. We came in second for our age category in the costume judge off. There was a lady with some REAL traditional mongolian trappings and garb that won the class. She had a very impressive gorgeous outfit.

Here we are getting ready for the english classes. I rode my old 1800's victorian english sidesaddle for the english pleasure, english equitation, and creepy command. I had to get rid of the knit blanket in order to ride, and put on a jacket because it was getting very cold. Also, the witches nose kept fogging up my glasses, so those had to get put away as well. =:)

A week before the show, I had called up Louise Beach to come and ride with me here. Louise is an ISSO certified sidesaddle instructor who lives in Pendleton. I had never met her before, and had hoped that it wasn't too forward of me to call her up and ask her to come. It was a really great day to meet her, and she helped me with some posture positioning in both of my sidesaddles for the english and western classes. I got to meet her gaited walking horse Bo, and she even let me borrow one of her handmade western riding habits that she had brought. (Ironically, we are about the same size, so her habit fit me great. What are the odds of that happening with someone you've never even met before?)

The show hostess was thrilled to have sidesaddlers participate at this show, and both Louise and I had a lot of fun riding alongside the normal astride competitors.

Nettie does great with the sidesaddle and is as honest and trustworthy as the day is long, but I am going to have to work harder on her headset. She is so used to getting ridden in a bosal everywhere that she forgets to collect up and tuck her nose in. This is something that we are going to work on for the future. Lots more practice...

But, we ended up doing great with the western pleasure, western equitation, and pumpkin patterns. And, we WON the rotten egg on a spoon race - sidesaddle no less! We managed to pick up a lope and hold onto the egg for a half a lap before we dropped it. Nettie and I won a bridle rack for being the last ones to bumble our egg into the dirt. We were really close to winning the ride a buck, but lost our dollar when the judge asked us to do a hand gallop! What a hoot. Imagine a bunch of 4-H kids and Nettie and I tearing around the arena bareback at a wild gallop madly clinging to the dollar bills clinched under our butts.... It was great!!!!
-Shannon.