Sunshine Tour showing report

Sussexbythesea

Sussexbythesea

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Well the story started a couple of months ago when after a 3 year hiatus from any sort of competing I decided to take my old boy to a local RC show. To my surprise we managed to win 3 classes and come 2nd in another. We also qualified for the Sunshine Tour at Hickstead.

My lovely friends decided to persuade me to go for it and thinking that maybe it may be our last chance as my boy is 22 this year I went for it and entered. I had never done much showing so after getting some great advice on here and from friends I spent a small fortune on the appropriate attire for both in hand and ridden classes. Blue velvet hat, tweed jacket, show shirt, showing cane, velvet brow band, hat for in hand, trousers, tie, showing cane. I borrowed an in-hand bridle and my friends Pelham for the ridden. All made possible by Tesco MasterCard :D Transport was to be provided by one of my friends.

The day started on a dark, chilly Saturday at 4.30am! I wondered at that moment what the hell we were doing but soon the adrenaline kicked in and we were all up the yard by 5.15 to get ready. My first class was at 8.30am. I had my two awesome friends as driver and grooms and they were amazing!

Everything went smoothly and we got to the ring on time and in we went. It was a large class with around 25 competitors. At first S was quite tense and on his toes, he wasn't sure what was going on behind the hedge and he kept turning to look. We did our trot up and then waited for our inspection which was a long time as we were near the end of the line.

I couldn't believe it when the steward called us and we were pulled in - we'd only gone and won it! My first ever sash! I was over the moon and my friends were cheering in a most un lady like manner :D.

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I also got a lovely goody bag and qualified for a championship.

I then went to my next class the in-hand veteran. Unfortunately the championship clashed with that class. I got permission from the judge to leave for the championship but I couldn't get back in time for the final line-up so I'll never know if I would have got placed.

Overall I came 4th out of 6 winners in the turn-out championship. Two cutesy tiny children from the ridden lead-rein turn-out classes were placed 1st -2nd and another child 3rd which I'd been placed above in the in-hand turn-out, odd considering the only difference was her horse was now wearing a saddle? Still it was fun and I got another rosette.

We then headed back to our trailer to prepare for the ridden veteran. Apart from changing into my riding clothes I took several doses of Rescue Remedy and a snifter or two of Glayva :D. I was really nervous because he can launch when he gets over excited and I wasn't sure how he would react cantering around with 20 other horses :o.

We warmed up in a busy collecting ring and he was excellent. We then went in and he was ok in the walk and trot and also canter but a group of about 5 horses suddenly galloped past us and that upset him however he just propped and lost his canter. I found he propped/ jibbed a few times and I'm wondering if it was the Mullen mouth Pelham as it's not a thing he usually does.

Anyway it was a strong class and we were not placed.

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Overall we had an absolutely fantastic day and everything was very well organised. Even the weather was great. My only feedback will be not to have a Championship that clashes with another class as I had to forfeit one or the other and entries were £25 a class so not cheap.
 
Well done SBTS! Fantastic result! And lovely photos. I haven't seen our pictures yet as there was nobody in the photo tent on Thursday and they aren't online yet. I'm hoping they are as good as yours :-)
 
Cowpony said:
Well done SBTS! Fantastic result! And lovely photos. I haven't seen our pictures yet as there was nobody in the photo tent on Thursday and they aren't online yet. I'm hoping they are as good as yours :-)
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Thanks :) I looked on line last night but couldn't wait so I drove back up today to get them. I'm so high on adrenaline and happiness at winning a sash :D
 
LeannePip said:
Awesome report! Fabulous pictures too, very well done :D

Will you carry it on now you've invested in all the kit?
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Thanks, I think I might but I don't have my own transport any more and I'll have to see how he is next year but it would definitely be a shame not to get more use out of it. :)
 
Well done, great report :cool3:
Once the v early fog cleared it was lovely weather (but chilly if standing in the shade).
We popped down v early too, managed a clear in the eventers challenge, but jyst out if the placings as I decided to take things steady as NF is a complete novice at this lark!

*why can't I see pics? :confused3:
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Well done, great report :cool3:
Once the v early fog cleared it was lovely weather (but chilly if standing in the shade).
We popped down v early too, managed a clear in the eventers challenge, but jyst out if the placings as I decided to take things steady as NF is a complete novice at this lark!

*why can't I see pics? :confused3:
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Thanks, glad you had s good day too. Not sure why you can't see pics.

Even after years on this forum I still don't know how to do multiple quotes hence individual replies :D
 
Congratulations!! I was stood next to you in the top turnout, and I must say I loved your reaction when pulled in/ meeting the judges 😁 well done on the sash, makes it all worth the early start. And bring your friends along again 😀 we needed more people happy to cheer and shout.


I believe they said photos would be up at some point on tuesday
 
Smooshy said:
Congratulations!! I was stood next to you in the top turnout, and I must say I loved your reaction when pulled in/ meeting the judges 😁 well done on the sash, makes it all worth the early start. And bring your friends along again 😀 we needed more people happy to cheer and shout.


I believe they said photos would be up at some point on tuesday
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Aww thanks. Which horse did you have? I must admit it was a bit of a blur! There was a sweet girl with a little coloured on my right who gave me a treat to settle him as he was a bit agitated at first. We were also next to some lovely people in a trailer in the car park and I have no recollection of the lady or her horse who was in my class just her husband who sat and talked to us. Was that you?
 
Sussexbythesea said:
Aww thanks. Which horse did you have? I must admit it was a bit of a blur! There was a sweet girl with a little coloured on my right who gave me a treat to settle him as he was a bit agitated at first. We were also next to some lovely people in a trailer in the car park and I have no recollection of the lady or her horse who was in my class just her husband who sat and talked to us. Was that you?
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No, I had the bay with navy/ burgundy browband 2nd in the final line up of the turnout class. But there was a fair few of us so you may not remember me. Will need to learn to upload pics 😣
 
Smooshy said:
No, I had the bay with navy/ burgundy browband 2nd in the final line up of the turnout class. But there was a fair few of us so you may not remember me. Will need to learn to upload pics 😣
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Well I've only just managed it uploading to Imgur first however then they are public and people rate them and comment on them!

You must be the person who was behind me shouting to carry on when I stopped to pick up my fallen rosette? :D
 
Sussexbythesea said:
Well I've only just managed it uploading to Imgur first however then they are public and people rate them and comment on them!

You must be the person who was behind me shouting to carry on when I stopped to pick up my fallen rosette? :D
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Lovely report - congratulations on the sash and what sounds like a fantastic outing. Great pictures too :)

When you're uploading to imgur there is a drop down box where it says 'public' and you can change it to 'only me', so that you won't get other people viewing and rating them and all that malarkey :D
 
DabDab said:
Lovely report - congratulations on the sash and what sounds like a fantastic outing. Great pictures too :)

When you're uploading to imgur there is a drop down box where it says 'public' and you can change it to 'only me', so that you won't get other people viewing and rating them and all that malarkey :D
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Thanks - if it's 'only me' will the link work on here?
 
Can I join in?
I was there too but was in the young veterans, was a lovely ring there were 19 of us, sadly we were not placed. Then on Sunday we did the fun class "delightfully dapper horse inhand" it was an odd one as we all walked in and did a couple of laps then were pulled in and given our places. Just previously this chaps piebald was misbehaving and walked out then as I was crossing the diagonal in front of the judge as directed by a steward (the closest any of us got to her before placing) another steward came over to ask her something about the piebald and so I didn't feel able to interrupt and say "good morning" so I felt we were not really looked at sadly.

Then later in foreign breeds we were pulled reserve champion by the same judge, she spent a nice bit of time asking about her and was really complimentary about her so I'm wondering if in the earlier class she hasn't really seen us.

Anyways still came home with rosettes and a sash :) my horse is an ex polo pony with a lot of leg issues so to be honest it's a victory when she is consistently sound let alone getting a rosette!!

Did see a bit of a domestic after the mini class which I felt was better had back at the lorry than in front of everyone, after all this is meant to be fun.

Was our first season showing and only our fourth outing and this was our first away show and was happy with everything really. The only bugbear was the stables as had to clear out some rather old, wet straw from mine before putting a shavings bed down, also was instructed to clear stables at the end which felt odd considering I had actually improved the bed!!

If my girl is doing good next year then I would love to go again it was a lovely weekend and met so many lovely friendly people. Also got to weigh madam who was close to my predicted weight of 550 (she weighed 546) .
 
Haphazardhacker said:
Can I join in?
I was there too but was in the young veterans, was a lovely ring there were 19 of us, sadly we were not placed. Then on Sunday we did the fun class "delightfully dapper horse inhand" it was an odd one as we all walked in and did a couple of laps then were pulled in and given our places. Just previously this chaps piebald was misbehaving and walked out then as I was crossing the diagonal in front of the judge as directed by a steward (the closest any of us got to her before placing) another steward came over to ask her something about the piebald and so I didn't feel able to interrupt and say "good morning" so I felt we were not really looked at sadly.

Then later in foreign breeds we were pulled reserve champion by the same judge, she spent a nice bit of time asking about her and was really complimentary about her so I'm wondering if in the earlier class she hasn't really seen us.

Anyways still came home with rosettes and a sash :) my horse is an ex polo pony with a lot of leg issues so to be honest it's a victory when she is consistently sound let alone getting a rosette!!

Did see a bit of a domestic after the mini class which I felt was better had back at the lorry than in front of everyone, after all this is meant to be fun.

Was our first season showing and only our fourth outing and this was our first away show and was happy with everything really. The only bugbear was the stables as had to clear out some rather old, wet straw from mine before putting a shavings bed down, also was instructed to clear stables at the end which felt odd considering I had actually improved the bed!!

If my girl is doing good next year then I would love to go again it was a lovely weekend and met so many lovely friendly people. Also got to weigh madam who was close to my predicted weight of 550 (she weighed 546) .
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Well done ☺ who did you have in the dapper class, I may remember you
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Haphazardhacker said:
Can I join in?
I was there too but was in the young veterans, was a lovely ring there were 19 of us, sadly we were not placed. Then on Sunday we did the fun class "delightfully dapper horse inhand" it was an odd one as we all walked in and did a couple of laps then were pulled in and given our places. Just previously this chaps piebald was misbehaving and walked out then as I was crossing the diagonal in front of the judge as directed by a steward (the closest any of us got to her before placing) another steward came over to ask her something about the piebald and so I didn't feel able to interrupt and say "good morning" so I felt we were not really looked at sadly.

Then later in foreign breeds we were pulled reserve champion by the same judge, she spent a nice bit of time asking about her and was really complimentary about her so I'm wondering if in the earlier class she hasn't really seen us.

Anyways still came home with rosettes and a sash :) my horse is an ex polo pony with a lot of leg issues so to be honest it's a victory when she is consistently sound let alone getting a rosette!!

Did see a bit of a domestic after the mini class which I felt was better had back at the lorry than in front of everyone, after all this is meant to be fun.

Was our first season showing and only our fourth outing and this was our first away show and was happy with everything really. The only bugbear was the stables as had to clear out some rather old, wet straw from mine before putting a shavings bed down, also was instructed to clear stables at the end which felt odd considering I had actually improved the bed!!

If my girl is doing good next year then I would love to go again it was a lovely weekend and met so many lovely friendly people. Also got to weigh madam who was close to my predicted weight of 550 (she weighed 546) .
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Yay! Another sash winner! Well done - it was a lovely show.

I waited for S to get weighed but they took so long I gave up.
 
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