abbijay
Well-Known Member
I haven't posted for ages but I'm back from 2 days at Cheshire Show and thought you lot might enjoy an event report.
It was the first big ridden outing for my young (well he's 6 but not done much yet) clydesdale, Ace. There were hours of bathing to get him looking less "swamp donkey" and more "elegant show horse", no mean feat given than 2 months ago he wouldn't stand in the washbox without trying to kick seven shades out of me!
Tuesday was demo day with our friends from the Farm at Tatton Park. I was most impressed that Ace happily spent several hours tied to the wagon with horses he's only met once and didn't get bored or upset at the gun dog and clay pigeon shooting happening just a few yards away. Our ring was running late so we were mounted for longer than I wanted before going in but he kept a lid on his enthusiasm as long as we didn't stand still and he got regular sweets. We rode into the ring accompanied by our 2 shire horse friends, the music blared from the speakers and as the other 2 picked up trot Ace got all giddy with himself and launched himself forward into canter. He couldn't stand still while the horse's prayer was read but that was ok, then we had a bit more launching ourselves around before it was our turn to show a little of his work. On watching the video back I can't quite believe how beautifully he went for me! Soft, rhythmical and balanced. We then did our ride to music which, considering we have never done a ridden practice, went really well. All back to the wagon to celebrate our success, cool off from the mega sun and pack up ready for home.
Wednesday was the ridden heavy horse class and, seeing as he'd been so good the day before, I decided to go forward to the class. When I confirmed with the steward there were only 3 forward but by the time I got to the gate there were 5 of us. It was roasting hot and we all had tweed jackets on - why oh why do we do this to ourselves?! As we were going through the gates the steward announced "make sure you have your grooms ready with head gear on as the judge will ride and we're stripping for confirmation" WTAF!!!! The schedule says "the judge will not ride the horses in this class". I didn't have a groom ready and I certainly hadn't prepped my baby pony for a ride judge and trot up. My Tatton team were helpfully by the gate so they stepped in and one of them ran off to grab a hat but I was utterly thrown by this and couldn't relax which in turn meant Ace was on edge and a difficult ride. We jogged the walk, we barely stayed in trot but when we did canter he picked up beautifully and was off. After 2 sides of canter, before we got in front of the judges he performed the perfect (but completely unrequested) flying change so suddenly we're coming in front of the judges looking like we've wrong legged it. Change rein and he's still giddy as hell but the canter doesn't look as unruly as it felt. We line up and he won't stand for love nor money. Thankfully my "groom" got hold of him and set to work giving him a fuss and calming me down. The ride judge came over and I apologised that he was a little forward, hadn't been expecting a ride judge and had never been in a show ring before. But she is a highly competent rider of workers horses and has judged at the highest level, hopped on and set off. Ace was more perfect than i could imagine. He walked, trotted and cantered as asked in lovely balance and even stood well for her at the end. She rode back to us and my friend said "look, she's smiling that's a good sign." I thanked her for riding him so nicely (yes I'm a suck up). Then it was strip for confirmation. We sometimes practice a bit of trotting in hand but it's not something I've worked on. His trot was HUGE on the return leg and he got ahead of me and rather than heading to the judges he headed back to my groom! I pulled up and returned to the judges with an apology.
We saddled him back up and the judges had a right conflab - pointing at Ace and eventually coming over to inspect his hooves again.
We finished 3rd and I was over the moon! My baby was ACE! The ride judge came straight over to me once I had my rosette and said "I wanted him higher, keep doing what you're doing." The confirmation judge came over too and said that if we shaved his tail and put shoes on him he would have placed us "at least one place higher", and to watch a few in hand classes to see how the heavy lot do it. I'm not shoeing perfectly good hooves for 1 class nor shaving his tail for the same just to get an extra tenner in prize money. Maybe if this is his job for one year but it's not this year!
The team sorted my horse while I changed out of my super sweaty clothes and we grabbed a lunch break before our final demo. I expected an exhausted Ace but all he wanted to was canter so we did, a lot. Our friends dashed off pretty much straight after as there was hay making to get on with. My dad and i hung on to have a cheeky drink and let Ace enjoy the grass before taking him home to be turned out naked and have a day off!
I'm too tired to post pictures so HERE is a link to my page that already has pictures posted to it.
It was the first big ridden outing for my young (well he's 6 but not done much yet) clydesdale, Ace. There were hours of bathing to get him looking less "swamp donkey" and more "elegant show horse", no mean feat given than 2 months ago he wouldn't stand in the washbox without trying to kick seven shades out of me!
Tuesday was demo day with our friends from the Farm at Tatton Park. I was most impressed that Ace happily spent several hours tied to the wagon with horses he's only met once and didn't get bored or upset at the gun dog and clay pigeon shooting happening just a few yards away. Our ring was running late so we were mounted for longer than I wanted before going in but he kept a lid on his enthusiasm as long as we didn't stand still and he got regular sweets. We rode into the ring accompanied by our 2 shire horse friends, the music blared from the speakers and as the other 2 picked up trot Ace got all giddy with himself and launched himself forward into canter. He couldn't stand still while the horse's prayer was read but that was ok, then we had a bit more launching ourselves around before it was our turn to show a little of his work. On watching the video back I can't quite believe how beautifully he went for me! Soft, rhythmical and balanced. We then did our ride to music which, considering we have never done a ridden practice, went really well. All back to the wagon to celebrate our success, cool off from the mega sun and pack up ready for home.
Wednesday was the ridden heavy horse class and, seeing as he'd been so good the day before, I decided to go forward to the class. When I confirmed with the steward there were only 3 forward but by the time I got to the gate there were 5 of us. It was roasting hot and we all had tweed jackets on - why oh why do we do this to ourselves?! As we were going through the gates the steward announced "make sure you have your grooms ready with head gear on as the judge will ride and we're stripping for confirmation" WTAF!!!! The schedule says "the judge will not ride the horses in this class". I didn't have a groom ready and I certainly hadn't prepped my baby pony for a ride judge and trot up. My Tatton team were helpfully by the gate so they stepped in and one of them ran off to grab a hat but I was utterly thrown by this and couldn't relax which in turn meant Ace was on edge and a difficult ride. We jogged the walk, we barely stayed in trot but when we did canter he picked up beautifully and was off. After 2 sides of canter, before we got in front of the judges he performed the perfect (but completely unrequested) flying change so suddenly we're coming in front of the judges looking like we've wrong legged it. Change rein and he's still giddy as hell but the canter doesn't look as unruly as it felt. We line up and he won't stand for love nor money. Thankfully my "groom" got hold of him and set to work giving him a fuss and calming me down. The ride judge came over and I apologised that he was a little forward, hadn't been expecting a ride judge and had never been in a show ring before. But she is a highly competent rider of workers horses and has judged at the highest level, hopped on and set off. Ace was more perfect than i could imagine. He walked, trotted and cantered as asked in lovely balance and even stood well for her at the end. She rode back to us and my friend said "look, she's smiling that's a good sign." I thanked her for riding him so nicely (yes I'm a suck up). Then it was strip for confirmation. We sometimes practice a bit of trotting in hand but it's not something I've worked on. His trot was HUGE on the return leg and he got ahead of me and rather than heading to the judges he headed back to my groom! I pulled up and returned to the judges with an apology.
We saddled him back up and the judges had a right conflab - pointing at Ace and eventually coming over to inspect his hooves again.
We finished 3rd and I was over the moon! My baby was ACE! The ride judge came straight over to me once I had my rosette and said "I wanted him higher, keep doing what you're doing." The confirmation judge came over too and said that if we shaved his tail and put shoes on him he would have placed us "at least one place higher", and to watch a few in hand classes to see how the heavy lot do it. I'm not shoeing perfectly good hooves for 1 class nor shaving his tail for the same just to get an extra tenner in prize money. Maybe if this is his job for one year but it's not this year!
The team sorted my horse while I changed out of my super sweaty clothes and we grabbed a lunch break before our final demo. I expected an exhausted Ace but all he wanted to was canter so we did, a lot. Our friends dashed off pretty much straight after as there was hay making to get on with. My dad and i hung on to have a cheeky drink and let Ace enjoy the grass before taking him home to be turned out naked and have a day off!
I'm too tired to post pictures so HERE is a link to my page that already has pictures posted to it.
