May CREC Schooling Show

The May CREC show was held last sunday on the 20th, and Tommy did great.  He preformed the best that he's ever done at a show yet!  Wahoo!  Both of us showed great improvement - (yes, me too - I know, it's hard to believe...)  But it was nice.  =:)

Lined up in one of the english classes.  Our judge was Shasta Grimes from the Tri-Cities.  She was very nice, cheerful, and helpful.  Louise is on the palomino foxtrotter mare beside of us in line.  (Remember the Halloween show post from a few years ago when I showed Nettie sidesaddle?  Louise is the other sidesaddler that lives in Pendleton.)  The girl on the bay mare at the end of the line did really well.  Her horse was nice and consistant.  Something that I need to work further on....  

At this show, I made a conscious effort to avoid leaning forward at the "go" and to stay the hell out of my horses way.  Every time that I thought I was rocking too far forward and hunching my shoulders, I'd over-exaggerate and lean back into the saddle even farther.  It helped greatly, because Tommy is starting to develop an OUTSTANDING strike off into the canter.  My bad habit of leaning forward isn't helping him very much in that department, so I tried very hard to curb it to a minimum this time. 

He did the best in the western classes that he's ever done before.  I put the martingale on him and he managed to keep his headset and collection for most of the time.  Tommy has a bad habit of popping his head up and hollowing his back out sometimes in the transitions - but for the most part he kept it fairly level and rounded-up this time, which was an improvement.  The judge said that she liked him better in the western than in the english!  That was a totally awesome comment to hear!

"Ribbon boy".  These are just a few of the ribbons that we won at the show.  Tommy got 3 first places and several more second places in the western events, but Julie ran out of ribbons halfway through the show.  So, we didn't get to decorate his tail after all..... =:)  We entered a bunch of classes, and he did really well.

Which gave me an idea.....

The CREC facility is on a tight operating budget, and since they hold several schooling shows per year - sometimes the extra funds aren't there for a few things.  I REALLY appreciate the schooling shows in this area, and I don't want to see them go away.  (These shows have helped my horse and myself immensely!) 
So, in a small effort to pitch in and help out, I donated some "thrift store" ribbons that I made.  There are around 30 first place flower ribbons that I put together from materials that I purchased at the dollar store for under $10 bucks.  The little leather circles have "CREC" stamped on them, and the backs of the ribbons read "donated by the FOTATA".  These ribbons aren't much, but the competitors (and especially the little kids), will be happy to win something and not go home empty handed.