Ontario County Fair: English Day, July 24th

After deliberation, I've decided to make posts for each individual day of fair. . . that way, it's less work for me, less reading at once for you, and. . . etc.

The first day of fair was English day. I only decided to take Daisy a couple days before. I've received a lot of criticism lately about how Daisy and I look english (awkwardly paired), so first I thought I wouldn't bother, but then I did anyway. The fact is, I'm borderline too big for her. . . in an English saddle. Put me in a dressage saddle or western saddle with long stirrups, and somehow it looks fine. 

Daisy was lovely for English day. We ribboned mostly in the top 5. We didn't have many firsts and seconds, but we did decently well and I was pleasantly surprised with how the day panned out. 

Our best class, as usual, was trail class. The fact is, we win first 99% of the time ;), thanks to the work I put in with Daisy teaching her to sidepass over a ground pole. 

The jump course for the seniors was 3' max. . . which is too high for Daisy and I. I asked to be allowed to do the junior course (2'6") exhibition style, with no ribbons, just for fun, and we were allowed to. The course was perfect and Daisy was really lovely. She's turned into a steady jumper, which is so surprising compared to how she used to be. She has gotten soo much better at not rushing between jumps and just popping over them as-is. Unfortunately, we have a limited number of jump pictures. . . In fact, the photo below is basically 'it'.

Trust me, she sticks her ears forward once she's mid-air and looks much happier ;).
Overall, I was very pleased with the way the day went, and we did walk away with two blues. A good start to the long week ahead. . . 

P.S. I should probably include this in the Thursday post. . . however, I think containing my excitement for that long could be detrimental. Therefore, with great pleasure I present to you the official Daisy Mobile of Red Gate Ranch: 

My dad broke the news to me on Thursday that we could begin trailer shopping. Yesterday, we took a road trip and signed the papers for this baby. A complete tour will be provided once we bring it home sometime this week. I am SO. THRILLED. :) 

County Fair is Going Well

:) More details later this weekend :)
(First post from my mobile phone!)

County Fair is Going Great!

Just a few teaser pics; had a great day on Ladd, and LOVING my mare as much as ever! More details to come. Tomorrow is Gymkhana (barrel racing) with 4H, and Saturday is an open gaming show--then we are done!

The Month of July So Far

So many things to post about. 

I was riding Ladd regularly at Jean's for about a week.

My mom was kind enough to take photos of us, as she did last year.

Every morning I went and rode him, first warming up in the arena, then heading out on the trails. This is Ladd's tattoo ;)

Last week I rode him a couple days in a row and had good rides, but then Thursday he completely changed. We headed out on the trails, cantering along as usual, but he was stronger than the other days. I had trouble slowing him down to make a turn so we were trotting quickly as we turned, right into a field of freshly cut hay. He sidepassed madly into the field, his legs getting tangled up with hay, and he hopped on his hinds and spun and turned. He was flipping out, for no reason. I mean, yes, there was hay on his legs, but I could feel it happening before we even hit the hay field. I turned him around, to head home back the way we came. He wouldn't have it; he didn't want to go forward, nor backward. He sidepassed the length of the field we had just cantered up, and I decided to just give up and let him cross the field and head straight home; I was trying hard to balance and not come off, and I just wanted him to stop. We weaved in and out of big round bales, and I tried to get him a job to do in the middle of the field, to teach him that his behavior wasn't acceptable.

I tried big and small trot circles, canter circles, etc, but nothing worked. He planted his feet, and spun, and backed up, and rocketed forward, completely ignoring all my requests. It was all I could do to stay on him pretty much. I finally gave in completely and headed back to the indoor, intending to work him there.

He refused flat out to give me any sort of calm walk circle worth mentioning. I finally got off and found him dripping sweat. It was crazy.


Then he was moved to my friend Katie's barn, where we have been riding together almost every day.

This month of July I've ridden him 16 times so far. I had a riding lesson on him yesterday with Karin, an instructor I've lessoned with a handful of times. I left yesterday's lesson feeling bummed about my ability to ride Ladd. I do feel I learned more about how to correctly ride and jump him, but I realize now that I'm more in over my head than I thought. He's not a horse that jumps just because you point him at something; his striding, lead, take off, landing, etc, must be perfect, or else he throws a fit of sorts. He's very in-tune to the rider's body position, and I'm not very good at controlling every small motion that I make. He's a difficult horse, and though it's been a pleasure to ride him this month, I'm not cut out for him in the long term.


I posted two videos to youtube, one of Katie and I doing flatwork at her farm, and one of us jumping. 
Flatwork:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40JApHryL4

and jumping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUPI0EHjWvc

I went to my first pony club dressage rally at the beginning of July. I went as stable manager, meaning I didn't ride, only helped the other riders with whatever they needed. It was a lot of fun! On August 13th there will be a show jumping rally 3 1/2 hours away that I had planned on taking Ladd to, but I've decided to take Daisy instead. I'm excited for it! We will be trailering over the day before and leaving the horses in a stable overnight. The jumps aren't going to be higher than 2' for my division, so Daisy can definitely handle it.

This was our club at Dressage Rally: 

I've taken two lessons through pony club with an instructor named Abby who actually instructs hunter-jumper riders. I love her! I'm excited to take a few more lessons with her before show jumping rally; she's very positive and a great teacher. 

Today I rode Daisy with western spurs because she was being incredibly bull-headed. Once I got her through that, she was excellent! I have been struggling to train Daisy to give me specific leads on a straight away, and it's been very frustrating. I was getting the impression that she either didn't understand what I was asking, or knew very well but was just being her stubborn self and refusing to do it.

It was the latter. Today with the western spurs; voila! We have our leads! I'm so excited to say that she totally knows what lead I'm asking for when I press her with certain legs with the spurs on. I don't even need to touch her with the spurs, just their presence makes a huge difference! Success at last. I have a feeling the flying lead change is in the future :)

County fair is this coming week! I will be showing Ladd on English day, Tuesday, and Daisy Wednesday through Saturday in mounted games, western, and barrel racing. 

A fellow 4Her has also offered one of her draft horses for me to show in a draft horse show Wednesday night. I'm going over to ride him today to get to know him a little; the classes are very laid-back.
I probably won't post for a bit; busy week ahead! 

Swimming & Trailing & (Upcoming) Showing

Hellloooo blogger world!
I went swimming with Daisy in the lake again today! We dodged the paparazzi this time and headed to a privately owned beach. (We will not be making front cover of the paper this time. (Did I ever share that article? See here. The comments are pretty ridiculous there too :P) It's been in the high 80's, low 90's since Monday....so it was necessary. Bubba [The Great] went in just fine like last time :) and Daisy reluctantly followed suit. Twice, I took her deep enough so that she had to truly swim...the second time, we swam a good bit out from land before turning around. It was CRAZY! It sounds silly, but it felt like what I imagine it would feel to ride a seahorse (if I was small enough to do so :P). She was plunging through the water, up and down and up and down...the first time, I was caught off guard. I grabbed her mane and just hung on, trying not to slide of the side....so funny! I wanted to get her out a 3rd time to get it on video, but Daisy was adamant and refused to do it....Pictures to come.

I also received permission this week to ride on our one neighbor's property. I went there yesterday for a walking trailride (it was so hot out, but I really wanted to explore) in the cool woods and I'm thrilled with the land! There are a lot of nice wooded trails, and a meadow for nice gallops. Best of all, the start of the trails is very close to our house...just a short distance down the road.

And last but not least...there is a show September 12th. I will be riding in it. And I will not be riding Daisy. And I will not be riding Bubba....I'm taking...LADD! :D
Should be tons of fun...like, really fun. We're already tentatively talking about him being my county fair English mount next year....we shall see. :)

Cavorting with Missy

Alright...I lied. I wasn't going to post anymore, but just after the last post these pics showed up on facebook, and...I need to share them.
This is me and my friend Lisa doing pick-up on her draft horse, Missy, that I rode Friday evening (this picture was from Saturday afternoon of fair week). (All photos by Gracie Seely). We had so much fun doing this...I was BOUNCING like crazy in the back but I stayed on :)

Then came ribbon race. I did ribbon race a few years ago on Daisy with Lisa and a different draft that she rode back then...so we did a replay ;). Daisy was funny. You can see it in the picture below...Missy was interested in making friends and Daisy sort of decided to pretend it wasn't happening "I'm just not gonna look. I don't wanna see it. I am not making friends with this horse!" x)

Ahh, the ribbon broke...but I let Daisy have the pleasure of racing back anyway :)

For real now, I'll talk to y'all Friday :)

Random Ramblings

I don't have anything new to report, but I feel like posting...

I thought about posting pictures of Daisy and I at fair..buuuut...I'm just going to post one. I posted a lot of photos on my facebook and I don't feel it's necessary to post them here too. I am under the impression that people don't care that much.
This one is of Daisy and I during the reining pattern...I'm thinking of actually teaching her to do good rollbacks and spins this winter. May be fun! If I recall correctly, her mom went to state for reining quite a few times...maybe she has it in her ;)

Notice me, the loser, was so worried about the pattern and such that I forgot to pull the chaps down for that class :P

I did a spider weave pattern with her mane that day ("spider weave pattern"...is there a real official name for it? :P), used 57 rubber bands (one more then 2009 :P) and got a lot of compliments...and a lot of kids stopping and pointing "LOOK AT THAT HORSE'S HAIR!" like they thought it came that way. So cute :) It actually lay flat this year. Loved it.

Other news...I've been looking into Tipperary jump vests, but they were all super expensive ($150-$200). I put an ad on craigslist in the "items wanted" section for a vest for up to $80 or cheaper. I received the phone number of a lady 20 minutes away who has a used clothing and tack shop (equestrian clothing) and had a few vests. I went yesterday (she's only open 4 days a month... :P) and she had two vests available: a flexrider one (which looks dorky, but I would have taken it if I had to) and a tipperary that just came in the day before. The tipperary fit! And, as a bonus, it's red with black trim! Red is our club color, and one of the combos I thought of doing for cross country *some day*, and it's sort of ironic that the trim is black because Jean always does XC in black and red..pretty cool. :) I love it.

Otherwise, camp is one week from today (!!!) and I might be doing a schooling with Jean on Wednesday! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) :)
I'm pretty excited. Daisy's such a good girl :))
I've been using the boots...without the power straps. (I put them on, but the boots were pretty much impossible to get on with the power straps, and even WORSE to get off...I felt like I was gonna pull her hoof off altogether!) I did 2 pretty serious road rides with them, and I love them. Daisy loves them too. She steps much more confidently, and she feels better too...like she uses her body more. Pretty neat.

The horse flies are back again (started on the 1st of August. You think they understand calenders?). I always say they come in August, and here they are. They are vicious beyond belief...I put Daisy's fly sheet on, but they are relentless on her exposed neck. The only good thing is that they are super easy to kill. :P

I received my school schedule in the mail. *Shudder*.... as of tomorrow...one month left. That's a lot though! A WHOLE MONTH! :)...but yeah. It's goin' down soon.
ANNDDD! I registered to do a trail trial in our area (Like ACTHA but not) and I'm looking into doing a hunterpace in September too. I'm happy not eventing as long as I still get to play around cross country. I don't need stadium and dressage :P Not now, anyway. :)

And so...3 days to schooling, hopefully....7 to camp.

Until my next post,

Jumping Bubba Fair 2010 Video

I personally really love this video. I originally had "Superman" by Five for Fighting playing, but it made me too sad listening and watching :( Now looking back, I realize maybe I should have chosen a song that doesn't sing about beer...whoops. :P I can't figure out the way to use iTunes music in videos like this (made on Windows Movie Maker) so my song choices are very limited :-/

Anyway, watching makes me realize there's a good chance that that's the last time Bubba will have jumped a course like that, being judged (and 3 times at that)...*sniff* He was soo good. What a good boy he is. He's super-duper.
Anyway, enjoy.

County Fair Week Daily Overview

Fair week is over...it was jam-packed. I'm going to attempt to summarize the main points of each day.

Tuesday: English Day (on Bubba)
I was in the senior division for the first time this year. In past years, there was always this one girl who won every single class, it seemed, with ease, and I was sort of jealous of her...or impressed...or felt she was arrogant...etc. She "graduated". This year, I was her. Bubba and I took blue in all the flat classes...no kidding. Class after class after class Bubba and I got the blues....I was tempted to go into a class and do everything wrong (wrong diagonals and ask for counter-canter ;)) so someone else could win for once. I felt bad! Bubba was amazing as he generally is. I rode him in a Kimberwick...and my arms were saved. Thank God.
We moved on to jump classes. Turned out max height for seniors is 3 feet. I've barely jumped 2. Jean coached me over the jumps in the schooling before the classes, and he jumped everything, including the "scary, big oxer"... (we all got cheers after getting over the oxer :P). I was pretty nervous...just ask Bethany, my friend who came to visit ;) I did the two jump classes, hunter over fences and hunt seat equitation, and got 2nd out of 3 in both classes. The other two riders were very good, too...competition was close. Looking back, I guess it's pretty cool that I got 2nd because I always thought my jump equitation was really bad. :P I was invited back for the judge's invitational jump class. Bubba was tired by then (an ex-event horse in semi-retirement; he's not used to jumping so much) and he knocked two jumps I think...so we got last place, but that was ok. I was still immensely proud of him; and proud that I actually got over those jumps---3 feet! It was incredible to jump them. Bubba was sooooo good. We received Senior Divison English Day High Point. :) We qualified for state in quite a few events....we are considering going.

Wednesday: Mounted Games Day (teams) on Daisy
Not much to say...our team wasn't that fast but Daisy made up for the other member's and we placed in 1st and 2nd a few times. She was funny; we always ran last in the relay races, and as soon as the first horse left, Daisy couldn't stand still, moving all over the place. I had to turn and face the fence to keep her from taking off.

The loudspeaker had problems all week...making crackling noises for no reason. It didn't bother Bubba, so it didn't occur to me that it would bother Daisy. Learned the hard way that it did :P I lead her through the barn aisle one of the first times that I went out to the practice arena, and it crackled behind me, and another club member was swinging a rope behind Daisy...this all unbeknownst to me. All I know is, Daisy shot forward behind me, and ran me over. I fell, and Daisy stepped on my ankle, stopped, with me pulling my boot out from under her. My ankle swelled up and hurt. It's still swollen today, but at least it's not painful. Later that day, Daisy walked through the same aisle, and put her head up just as we passed under our club banner hanging from the ceiling...I looked back, saw her ear touch it, and instantly she tensed up...and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before she exploded. Explode she did, forward, luckily not on top of me that time. She was alright, too.

Thursday: Western Day on Daisy
Western day started out with Daisy in a pretty frustrating frame of mind. First class, after showmanship, equitation, got us a 2nd but I didn't feel we deserved it. I guess I deserved it as a rider, but Daisy was being dumb. She was spooky for no reason, her trot was too quick, she was ignoring me...it was the worst she ever was in the show ring. Needless to say, I was annoyed. I took her to the warm up ring after that class and worked her. 8 steps forward, 5 steps back, literally, to get her mind on me. Then the same at the trot and canter. I did that in both directions...and after all that good mind work, she was focused back on me and she shined the rest of the day. :) Each year there's a reining pattern, but I've never done it because I didn't want to memorize it, and I thought I couldn't do it. I wasn't going to do it this year, but...I sort of accidentally memorized it by watching all the other seniors go. By the time they were at the second to last, I changed my mind, bridled, and went out. I had the whole pattern right...except part of it. You had to do circles, and after two circles in each direction you would do 4 small, tiny ones (like pivots) in a row. I accidentally did 5 once :-/ and so we were DQed for being off pattern :( She was so good otherwise! I was actually surprised how good her roll-backs were. I'm definitely doing it next year :).
Daisy and I always shine in trail classes. I worked hard one winter teaching her to sidepass over a groundpole, something that all the horses seem to balk at, and since she knows that, we generally have trail in the bag. We went out as the first seniors to do the trail, and we seriously breezed through...walk over bridge, trot poles, sidepass over a pole to a mailbox, get mail, put back, sidepass back over, pick up a slicker from a pole and move to another pole, go through a "bent" back up station, canter a crossrail...it just went perfectly. We got first :)
There's also a class called versatility. You go out, starting in English tack and clothes, do an English flat class, and then you have 2 minutes to switch clothes and tack. "Pit crews", including 2 people, are at the edge of the ring to help, one to tack and re-tack the horse, the other to help the rider change. Once they change to western, you ride a western flat class and run a cloverleaf pattern. There were 10 people in our class this year. Last year Daisy and I had 2nd. This year, we got 1st :), and a nice plaque. And we got Senior Division High Point for the day again :)

Friday: Gymkhana Day on Daisy
The day started off with Daisy stepping off the trailer with an injury. It seems Laredo the Evil (who kicks and bites other horses a lot) snapped at Daisy on the trailer...

It was a surface wound. I washed it out (to Daisy's dismay) and tried to put ointment on it, but it was too wet to stay on...so I let it just stay. It dried into a scab now, with hay unfortunately stuck in it because Daisy was eating :P. I'm curious...will it scar? Horses grow white fur in when their hair gets rubbed out...with this get white skin? ;) haha.

Gymkhana day wasn't as good as past years. We did get some great advice though from one of the people timing. This guy watched a few runs, and then as I came in for one he stopped me. He said that he was watching and that Daisy is really responsive to me, but that I move my hands around to much and so make her worked up. He said if I hold them completely still and give short, small tugs just as we get in the pocket of a barrel, our runs would be smoother...I put that to the test Friday and Saturday. It definitely helped a lot! Daisy's turns around barrels were much tighter and smoother. Daisy gave me trouble the whole day with taking the bridle on and off because it touched her fat swollen lip.
We had done costume on Thursday as biker chicks. I joked that Daisy took her Harley out to a bar that night and got in a bar fight, hence swollen lip. ;)

Friday ended with me getting the Overall Senior Division High Point trophy. I got it for junior last year. It means we accumulated the most points for the week (points are accumulated based on placings in class...the better placing, the more points). I'm so proud of Daisy-Mae! :) We were also published in the paper again on Friday, with the same article. :)

I also got to ride a draft on Friday...eek! It was comparable to the lake swim-SO. FUN. It was "bareback", but with harness everywhere...I got her to canter a few times, but I was swinging my legs out and hitting her in the side just like a little kid trying to get the lazy lesson pony to trot. So funny! They are SO SMOOTH and very light in the hands-I was surprised!

Saturday: Open Game Show on Daisy
This game show was fun, as it is each year. They do some really unique patterns, which is nice, and sit-a-buck (we got 3rd this year). Daisy actually got 1st once, in Quadrangle barrels! I was SO proud! ;) Her turns remained tight and quick. The rider teacher that I had from the time that I was 4 'till I was 12 was there, her daughter showing the pony I started out on way back then. It was pretty cool to see the little pony going. :) I did pick-up race on Daisy with Sara, from our club. I also did pick-up, as the pick-up person, with a friend of mine and her draft mare(that I rode Friday). Pick up requires one person to ride down to the end of the ring and let another person waiting at the end swing up behind them in the saddle, and then race back riding double. It was a riot doing it with the draft! We actually placed 5th out of 9, too :) Daisy was a really good girl as the pick-up pony, too.
I did ribbon race, too, with three different partners (racing around the ring to the timer holding a ribbon between two horses; not letting it break or fall). I did it paired with Lydia (on Stewy), and my friend and her draft, and Jean on Bubba. Going with the draft was funny; I put Daisy next to it, and Daisy sort of turned her head away standing there like "Oh man...I'm not even gonna look." :P Daisy ran the fastest I think she's ever ran with me on her when we did ribbon with Bubba and Jean...she was HAUL.ING. Crazy!
It was a really fun open show...definitely the best of the year. :)

Daisy got today off. She's exhausted.
I'm going to put together a video of Bubba and I jumping...and maybe post some pics from the other days. There are so many!

Boot Update, Fair to Start...TOMORROW. :D

Sooooo....guess who was on the front page of the paper today?! ;)
ABOVE the fold. Mmmmmhm. Moi. ;) It was pretty cool.

I took the boots for a real spin today once Daisy was at Jean's. One sounded loose as I was cantering, and it suddenly came off, stuck still to Daisy's pastern...she just sort of spooked, but I got off. It was loose...only on one hoof. (her front left). The trimmer came out 20 minutes later (he was in the area) and got me a 1/2 size smaller boot to exchange for that left boot, and some Power straps for the boots. Bright green :) (He had no black). Otherwise...I liked how she rode with the boots on the flat. She seemed to be stepping lighter.....

I'm going to enter Costume Class with Bubba tomorrow as a headless horseman ;). And Daisy and I will be biker chicks on Thursday. Should be fun!

Until...some other time,

Fair Prep: t-6 days!

County Fair officially starts on Tuesday! Tuesday is English day, on Bubba, Wednesday is mounted games on Daisy (the rest of the week is on Daisy), Thursday is Western Day, Friday is Gymkhana...
Jean and I are discussing doing costume classes with the horses...I wanna dress Daisy and I up as biker chicks...any suggestions as to how to do that? Or what music to play (as we gallop around the ring)? I wanna dress up in all black, and her too....makes me wish I had a black quarter sheet ;)

I've also been working with her walking (and trotting) over a tarp...The first day, I started out over a blanket, then progressed to a folded up, 1 ft wide tarp, and made it wider and wider as she got comfortable...but when it was full sized, after walking over it a few times, I had her stop in the middle and I let her smell it, and she flipped...back to square one. I took her back to the blanket, and she was skeptical, but went over and we ended on that good note...I went back the other day and did it all over again... She's alright with it, but you can tell she's not comfortable. One time she'll walk over, the next she insists on rushing over. If I ask her to stop, she'll either stop, and then shift all her weight back and suddenly shoot backwards, or she'll stop and walk over fine...it's always different. I've been using food rewards for each good step she takes...but she's still not totally comfortable. The only thing I can think is that at least if it were to come up to a tarp in a trail class, I could probably handle walking her over...but not if we need to stop in the middle ;) :P.

So...I would love suggestions for the costume class Thursday... ;)

P.S. We sent pictures of our lake swim to the paper...and a reporter emailed and said that our swim was legal, but they brought the subject up before a city meeting to decide whether or not an amendment should be made to ban the swimming...I don't know yet what the outcome was. But we'll be in the paper with an article and interview :) Daisy goes public. haha

Recap Oh Nine & Two Thousand Ten Goals

It is currently 29 minutes away from the new year...so I figure I'll do a quick post to say just recap some stuff and such...I'm not going to bother making this all sappy. Lets just cut to the chase.

Best Events of 2009:
1. Junior Division Overall High Point at county fair...true, our county fair has some pretty sad competition (no offense people....just saying, we all aren't the very best :P) but it was still an accomplishment; second year of fair that I did, first year that I rode Daisy every day for everything (english and western, games and gymkhana) and we got high point. Together, we made it there.
2. The right lead canter and side passing over poles; that was our goal for the year, and we met it head on; Daisy's great at both now, and that's really what made the difference at fair.
3. Hunterpace...*much* different then I thought it would be, but very very fun none the less; great experience, and I hope to do it again.
4. Cross Country Schooling. Currently one of the best days of my life. Enough said.

Goals for 2010:
1. Skills: Turn on the hindquarter and forehand, hopefully flying lead changes.
2. Events: Eventing. More schoolings, lessons, boarding, jumping, 3 phase eventing...that will be *quite* an experience. But I'm up for it, and I'm pretty sure Daisy is, too.
3. Personally improve in the english riding department :P and work with Daisy to improve dressage.
4. Do incredibly at county fair, SENIOR level this year...but we'll see. :P
5. Excel at everything *despite* (because certain people think it's a bad thing) being barefoot. Advance my barefoot knowledge and be able to show others the benefits.

Well...that's about all I wanted to say. December 31, 2010, I will look back on this and see what I can check off. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Currently 22 minutes away now)

County Fair: Friday; Gymkhana

Gymkhana day is, as always, the very best. The day started out with Egg on Spoon race, which we didn't get first in...we didn't drop the egg, but neither did anyone else in my division :-P so it was all based on time.

Then we had "Feely Mealy" where you have to ride to the end of the ring to two spotters. One holds your horse, the other holds up a cardboard box to you. There's a slit in it to stick your hand in. The box is filled with lots of random objects: batteries, flashlights, pens, hole punchers, corks, bouncy balls, erasers, you name it, it's there. I rode across the ring and was told to find a pine cone, by feel. EASY! It was huge; I finished in 17 seconds, so I won by a landslide...kind of a hollow victory, though, because I had an easy object :P.

After that, Daisy and I really got into it. She was amazing; I never told people I had a "gamer", but now I can! She was a ball of energy at the start line. A few times I had to wait for a minute for the timer to get ready, or to fix the course, and Daisy had to pace back and forth, ready to run. She loves the patterns. Ones like quadrangle and texas t bother her because they're not that simple; it seems to annoy her that she has to listen to me tell her where to go, verses just run it herself :-P. She's great, though. I think there were 12 or 13 classes; we won 7 of them. Bam, bam, bam, we racked up the points. She was awesome. At the end, they have one called Ready, Aim, Fire, where you ride around shooting balloons on the outside of the ring with a squirtgun; that was fun! Daisy didn't know what to make of the balloons, but she was fine in the end.

At the end of the day, we had an awards assembly. Oliver, Jean's son, got Most Improved Rider. "S", who was riding Mouse (From a few posts ago where we went trail riding) got a few high points for the day. Another member who didn't ride this year still got Most Helpful . :)

High point is determined by who got the most wins in a day; the better placings you have, the higher "points" you have. It's pretty special when you get a high point. I ended up getting High Point for Western day (Which I had NO idea I was getting) and Gymkhana (Which I did figure out)!!! That was cool; two trophies. Then I ended up getting the Overall Jr. Division High Point Champion trophy, for high point for the entire week. That's because I rode in almost every class, every day...it's pretty nice to be awarded stuff like that. "S" also got Overall High Point for her walk/trot division. YEY for the Yautzy Road Yahoos! :D I LOVE county fair! It was awesome!

I was overall very impressed with Daisy this year. She was awesome already last year, but this year, without THAT much work, we really improved. She was much less fore-handy, she had her leads correct 98% of the time, and she sidepassed over the ground poles in trail class like they owed her money. She was awesome. She listened SO well. I was soooo proud of her. Plus, for a horse with slightly bad conformation, she looked beautiful. I love how much she's improved apon this last year, and how willing she is. The best horse ever. Maybe not in looks or breeding, but for me, she's perfect.

County Fair: Thursday; Western Day

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Western day was GREAT! I didn't think we'd do as well as we did. I had a bit of time in the beginning of the day, so I did a kinda 'spider web" pattern with Daisy's mane. (More pictures on my mom's blog, http://cdgagudl.blogspot.) I love how it turned out!

We went in the classes feelin' pretty good...Showmanship kinda messed me up because we entered the ring one at a time, which was weird, so I didn't do well...I think I got 4th, I don't really remember.

I don't remember what we actually placed in classes, but we must have done well. Daisy got her leads right the ENTIRE day! She was awesome.

One of the best parts of the day was when we lined up to speak with the judge after one of the first classes. The judge went to the first person and informed her she had had a wrong lead. She got to me and simply said "You were fine", then moved on to the other 3 people. Each person she said either "You had a wrong lead" or "You didn't canter well". But with me I was just fine. :) I got first in that class! It was a great feeling, but I could so sympathize with the other people; I was in that situation last year!

Trail class was GREAT, we got 1st place as expected! We side passed over a pole (OH YEAH!) which is something I had worked on with Daisy first with groundwork and then on her back last winter. I think I was the only one who could side pass. Then she barely hesitated going over the bridge, backed in a crooked back-up station, went to a mailbox, trotted over poles, etc. She was great; that's the class we really shine in :).

At the end of the day I did a Versatility class! In the class, you started out riding English and did a flat work English class. Then all the riders in the ring (7 maybe?...8?) went to the edge of the arena to meet their "pit crews" and changed into western clothes and western tack and did a western flat class and a timed barrel pattern. I luckily got some AWESOME fringed half chaps just the day before (first picture) so I only switched regular half chaps on my breeches to fringed and pulled off my English show coat to show my western shirt. I had one of my 4H member's Dad on my pit crew, and I grabbed Lydia last minute and she very willingly helped me out, too (THANK YOU, Lydia! :D). It was SO fun! Once everyone started changing, people always cheered really loud when another rider finished and mounted again...the first rider to get re-mounted finished in about 60 seconds! Daisy had been getting more and more edgy and excited as the day wore on; our cantering wasn't as good because she only wanted to run fast, so she was in the perfect mood for a barrel pattern. We did it (FAST :D) and in the end, we got 2nd place in the class!!!! It was SO much fun; really worth it.

My Mom took the first two pictures, the second picture is of my trainer, Jean, and I...I lived in her house for the week, too...she's great, many thanks to her! :)

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th pictures are by Lydia! OH! I forgot to mention that class. There's a class called Western Riding where you go through a pattern where you weave cones at a canter, serpentine cones at a canter, and back up. It's SO fun! Last year I loved the class even though I think I only got last place; it's just fun! This year Daisy did FLYING CHANGES throughout it! :D It took her awhile each time we changed directions for her to realize she had to change leads, but she pretty much got it; it's a great class. So Lydia's pictures are of that class :).

The last pic is by Jean's mom, who took pictures EVERY DAY all week long! She's great; our club is soooo lucky to have her! Anyway, it's from the Sunday game show before the fair; it was a sit-a-buck class, bareback :). I love the photo, and how Daisy's really stepping under!

That's about it!

Until later,

County Fair: Wednesday; Mounted Games

Wednesday was mounted games day at the fair. Junior and Senior members were combined and divided into two teams to compete against each other; walk/trotters were divided into two against each other as well.

We did fun relay games. One was "baton race"; you weaved poles holding a baton and handed it off to the next person. Another was "Special Delivery" where you had a mail bag with magazines in it. You had to weave down some poles, stop, put a magazine in the mailbox, and weave back. I love the picture of Daisy and I; Daisy's just standing there, all patient. That's only funny because she goes racing back like a mad women as soon as I'm ready for her; she's a good listener. :)

One of the last games was "Tennis Tournament". You had a tennis racket and had to carry a ball on it to the end of the ring, drop it in a bucket, and run back. Daisy would have nothing of the racket. Normally when she's afraid of an object (like the mailbag) she gets over it after you wave it around a little, let her smell it, and talk to her. NOT so with the racket! She didn't like it at all; I had to be really careful that I didn't move fast with it or let her see it too often :-P.

The 4th picture is of Can Stack race...

The first picture is (kinda blurry) of the team I was on; the second is of our "rival" team. They ended up winning most games and got high point for the day, but oh well. It was still fun; mounted games day is always laid back and fun :).

One of the races was "Potato Race" which I think we won, but you had to run down to one barrel, pick up the single potato on it, run to another barrel, and drop it in...I have a great picture somewhere where I'm practically falling off Daisy leaning down for the potato, and I missed it :P. I didn't at the time think I was falling, but the pic makes you think I am! I'll try to find it. :)

Next is Western Day...hopefully tomorrow I can find the photos for western day...they aren't in my possession so far :-P.

Until then,



In case anyone wonders, this is my 200th post! I started this blog May 4th, 2007...See the first month of blogging here.