Sunday, June 5
Jun. 6th, 2022 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
River doing a very good job for me at Liberty. I'm proud of us.
The bigger story, is that today was the "Fun Show" at the riding barn. At first, River was nervous because of all the people and strange horses, the trailers, and so on. It was also really windy, lawn chairs were blowing over, etc. I didn't know if he would be rideable.
He did settle down after a while, and was relaxed, and this was a big deal for me. At the other barn, a few times we had small shows, and he spooked at all the people at one end of the arena.
Today he really didn't do very well in the obstacle class, which was disappointing because we have done so much work lately on this same course. He was just too distracted to pay attention.
Then there was some pole bending, which he did just fine at, but I didn't realize that if you trotted the course, you were still going to be lumped in with those who cantered it, and it was a timed event. That actually pissed me off, because that meant we would have had a better chance of getting a ribbon if we had entered the walking class. Why would you tell a rider that they had the option to trot, but not tell them they would be in the same class as those that cantered?
What really hurt, was the liberty class. River and I went first, and I had a few minutes of warm up where I really wasn't sure if I had his focus, because inconsiderate people brought their horses right up to the edge of the round pen used for the class. Horses that River didn't know. I felt that they did that deliberately to throw off other competitors, and it shouldn't have been allowed. They were letting their horses stick their noses through the bars at River.
That said, when I asked for his focus, he gave it. He worked without any halter or anything at all, and we did the pattern very well, in front of a whole bunch of people, kids running around, noise, and horses fighting for his attention. I was truly amazed and proud of him, and we did the pattern very well.
Then he also worked very well to the young student who uses him for lessons, though her communication wasn't that good. What I saw was how calm he stayed for her, and he did his best to stay with her though she kept getting too far ahead of him and blocking him, causing him to switch sides or halt. He was doing his very best.
So, it pissed me off again that we were somehow lumped into one big class with people who were allowed to use halters and ropes, which isn't even Liberty. It is LEAD LINE. I didn't know that this was the case, or I might not have risked working with him at Liberty, and played it safe. I thought it would give me an advantage to work completely at Liberty.
So, though to be fair the first two placings I felt truly deserved the win, we did not place at all, even though there were ribbons to fifth place. The third place winner had her horse stop to graze at the edge of the round pen, which River did not, he followed me perfectly. As did the fifth place person, who did not do better than River and I at all.
I don't know what to make of it. Sure, this was supposed to be a fun show, but some of the placements in the Liberty class were NOT better than River and I. They just weren't.
It made me very upset, to think that our very good performance was completely overlooked by my TRAINER, who judged the event.
What I am proud of, is River. For him to calm down and do his job in that environment, when we don't really do this kind of thing, is great. For him to work for a kid using a bitless bridle and a bareback pad (she did the pole bending with him), and then at Liberty calmly, is great. For him to work for me completely at Liberty and really stay focused for me with strange horses around the sides, twenty people milling around, a bunch of kids running around, was great. I am proud of us.
Nonetheless, I was very let down by the experience.
When we were done, we just went home because I really didn't feel like being social afterwards.
Good news: my husband built the wooden frame for a wall that will form part of the utility room and the half wall frame that will be beside the stairs.
We watched the "Corner Gas" movie, and really enjoyed it.
I learned that the entire native population of Madagascar can be traced to only 30 women (since mitochondrial DNA only comes from the mothers, the diversity can be tracked this way). Obviously there must have been men as well, but the evidence points to a small group colonizing all of Madagascar, perhaps from being shipwrecked or a lost group.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2012.0012
River doing a very good job for me at Liberty. I'm proud of us.
The bigger story, is that today was the "Fun Show" at the riding barn. At first, River was nervous because of all the people and strange horses, the trailers, and so on. It was also really windy, lawn chairs were blowing over, etc. I didn't know if he would be rideable.
He did settle down after a while, and was relaxed, and this was a big deal for me. At the other barn, a few times we had small shows, and he spooked at all the people at one end of the arena.
Today he really didn't do very well in the obstacle class, which was disappointing because we have done so much work lately on this same course. He was just too distracted to pay attention.
Then there was some pole bending, which he did just fine at, but I didn't realize that if you trotted the course, you were still going to be lumped in with those who cantered it, and it was a timed event. That actually pissed me off, because that meant we would have had a better chance of getting a ribbon if we had entered the walking class. Why would you tell a rider that they had the option to trot, but not tell them they would be in the same class as those that cantered?
What really hurt, was the liberty class. River and I went first, and I had a few minutes of warm up where I really wasn't sure if I had his focus, because inconsiderate people brought their horses right up to the edge of the round pen used for the class. Horses that River didn't know. I felt that they did that deliberately to throw off other competitors, and it shouldn't have been allowed. They were letting their horses stick their noses through the bars at River.
That said, when I asked for his focus, he gave it. He worked without any halter or anything at all, and we did the pattern very well, in front of a whole bunch of people, kids running around, noise, and horses fighting for his attention. I was truly amazed and proud of him, and we did the pattern very well.
Then he also worked very well to the young student who uses him for lessons, though her communication wasn't that good. What I saw was how calm he stayed for her, and he did his best to stay with her though she kept getting too far ahead of him and blocking him, causing him to switch sides or halt. He was doing his very best.
So, it pissed me off again that we were somehow lumped into one big class with people who were allowed to use halters and ropes, which isn't even Liberty. It is LEAD LINE. I didn't know that this was the case, or I might not have risked working with him at Liberty, and played it safe. I thought it would give me an advantage to work completely at Liberty.
So, though to be fair the first two placings I felt truly deserved the win, we did not place at all, even though there were ribbons to fifth place. The third place winner had her horse stop to graze at the edge of the round pen, which River did not, he followed me perfectly. As did the fifth place person, who did not do better than River and I at all.
I don't know what to make of it. Sure, this was supposed to be a fun show, but some of the placements in the Liberty class were NOT better than River and I. They just weren't.
It made me very upset, to think that our very good performance was completely overlooked by my TRAINER, who judged the event.
What I am proud of, is River. For him to calm down and do his job in that environment, when we don't really do this kind of thing, is great. For him to work for a kid using a bitless bridle and a bareback pad (she did the pole bending with him), and then at Liberty calmly, is great. For him to work for me completely at Liberty and really stay focused for me with strange horses around the sides, twenty people milling around, a bunch of kids running around, was great. I am proud of us.
Nonetheless, I was very let down by the experience.
When we were done, we just went home because I really didn't feel like being social afterwards.
Good news: my husband built the wooden frame for a wall that will form part of the utility room and the half wall frame that will be beside the stairs.
We watched the "Corner Gas" movie, and really enjoyed it.
I learned that the entire native population of Madagascar can be traced to only 30 women (since mitochondrial DNA only comes from the mothers, the diversity can be tracked this way). Obviously there must have been men as well, but the evidence points to a small group colonizing all of Madagascar, perhaps from being shipwrecked or a lost group.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2012.0012
no subject
Date: 2022-06-07 07:11 am (UTC)But huzzah for some hometime progress. Hopefully, spouse will keep going.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-07 07:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-08 06:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-08 07:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-08 07:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-08 07:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-08 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-08 10:34 pm (UTC)I think me doing so set the bar for the others, because several decided to try it without tack either, and I know very well that they normally wouldn't have done so. Some of them would have, but several might not have even tried it before. I guess they were gutsy too.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-09 06:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-09 06:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-19 03:57 am (UTC)I wonder if your trainer judged you more harshly to try and appear less biased. Still a bummer, though.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-19 08:52 am (UTC)I didn't expect to place in the other classes, because we really didn't do well, but I thought we did a good job at Liberty and should have at least placed in the top five.
She was the trainer for all of us, but you can't help but think she was playing favorites a bit. She was literally watching one woman show, and telling another person an emotional story about the horse, and even crying a bit. Those two got third place, and her horse had stopped to graze.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-21 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-21 05:38 am (UTC)I know that's why some shows also have a panel.
BUT, this was supposed to just be a fun show. She isn't going to have a panel of serious judges for this.