PolarSkye
Well-Known Member
We went to a local show yesterday to support the many children from our yard who were competing. Mostly I was really pleased and proud of them - their ponies were beautifully turned out (as were they), they rode really well in all their classes and were good sports about the results (no whining when they had fences down or didn't place, etc.). Most of the girls (no boys - where DO these young men learn to ride?) took excellent care of their ponies at the show - giving them adequate breaks between classes, water, hay, etc.
However.
One girl really disappointed me. She and her family have 5 horses between them at our yard . . . two of them belong to B - a 17.1hh, 15-year-old sport horse gelding and a 14.2hh, 21-year-old mare. She took the gelding on Day 1 of the show and did a couple of classes on him - fair enough. Yesterday she took the mare and did SEVEN classes on her . . . yes SEVEN. Not only that, but she hacked the mare to the show - was already there and on board when we got there at 9.30 and I didn't see her dismount (even to eat lunch) until about 3 p.m. The mare spent much of the day either in classes or in the warm up ring - she had sores in the corners of her mouth from the bit rubbing (she's grey and has sensitive skin). I was so, so cross. I did say something to her about the number of classes and got a rather tart response about this being the ONLY show she does so she would be making the most of it. This isn't true - she is regularly out and about at Tweseldown, Wellington and Merrist Wood with her gelding. Her mare is really too small for her (B is tall rather than heavy - but the mare increasingly finds it difficult to balance with B on board) and should really be given to her younger sister to ride and compete - the little mare is in fantastic shape for her age (no sway back at all!), but needs a quieter life with a smaller jockey.
I was disappointed in the girl (who I quite like) - but more disappointed by both her mother (who is otherwise really sensible) and the YO (although I suspect she was very bbusy wrangling all the younger kids and probably didn't know how long B was on board).
Sigh. It really marred an otherwise lovely day.
P
However.
One girl really disappointed me. She and her family have 5 horses between them at our yard . . . two of them belong to B - a 17.1hh, 15-year-old sport horse gelding and a 14.2hh, 21-year-old mare. She took the gelding on Day 1 of the show and did a couple of classes on him - fair enough. Yesterday she took the mare and did SEVEN classes on her . . . yes SEVEN. Not only that, but she hacked the mare to the show - was already there and on board when we got there at 9.30 and I didn't see her dismount (even to eat lunch) until about 3 p.m. The mare spent much of the day either in classes or in the warm up ring - she had sores in the corners of her mouth from the bit rubbing (she's grey and has sensitive skin). I was so, so cross. I did say something to her about the number of classes and got a rather tart response about this being the ONLY show she does so she would be making the most of it. This isn't true - she is regularly out and about at Tweseldown, Wellington and Merrist Wood with her gelding. Her mare is really too small for her (B is tall rather than heavy - but the mare increasingly finds it difficult to balance with B on board) and should really be given to her younger sister to ride and compete - the little mare is in fantastic shape for her age (no sway back at all!), but needs a quieter life with a smaller jockey.
I was disappointed in the girl (who I quite like) - but more disappointed by both her mother (who is otherwise really sensible) and the YO (although I suspect she was very bbusy wrangling all the younger kids and probably didn't know how long B was on board).
Sigh. It really marred an otherwise lovely day.
P
