Show report!! (with piccies)

[Sparklie]

Well where do I begin...we had quite an eventful day at our farm's summer show yesterday and the lovely Twig was on his best behaviour which makes a nice change.

This is going to be long!! :rolleyes:

I got up at 7:30 so that I could get him ready for the tack and turnout class. Now Twig's mane looked lovely when I pulled it last winter however over the course of the summer he's decided to do a bit of self pulling and as one of the liveries helping pointed out the other day, he permanently looks like he's just stuck his hoof in a plug socket!! :eek: Somehow though I managed to plait his monstrosity of a mane and it took 17 plaits!!!! He's obviously got quite a bush going on there. I even attempted tail plaiting which I'm terrible at and I managed a half decent effort...go me!!

So here we are in the tack and turnout class. The show is quite an informal thing as you can probably tell by what the judges are wearing!! It's all for good fun. Still the judges were from a different farm so it was very impartial which makes it nice and fair.

Twig being judged the first time he was pulled in
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010248.jpg

We got pulled in again and he thought he'd better show off his angelic look!! ;)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010249.jpg

Did you notice the starange looking pair behind us? :p Well that was Mandy one of the other liveries on the farm. The kids usually think that she's strict and quite stuck up (where as others like me know different!!) so she thought she'd give them all a laugh. She came wandering in (on the end of a leadrope which her daughter had tight hold of...she's another nervous nelly like me!!) with her horse kitted out in western tack, her in western gear and a blonde wig...Dolly Parton!!!! :D As you can see she was tough competition...here she is being pulled in...
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010251.jpg

and a close up of the handsome fella to keep all his mare fans happy
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/TnTcloseup.jpg

[Sparklie]

So how do you think we did? Do we look smart!?!

Well.................











Tada!!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/twig1sttnt.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/twignme1st.jpg

We won!! :D :o I was so chuffed. My first first rosette with Twig!! I thought he looked super smart and it was well deserved. Now we just had to sort ourselves out ready for jumped ooooh scary!! Twig looks asleep in those photos (as do I!!) but trust me...he woke up when the jumping started.

So onto the jumping. We warmed up and then we got called on for baby sitting duty!! :cool: One of the kid's ponies, Ellie would not go into the ring and she definately would not jump the jumps. They had already tried to get her to follow another pony around the course but Ellie was having none of it. However she likes Twig and I've given her a lead several times when she's been praticing so I was sent into the ring for her to follow. Ellie perked up and followed me round the diddy jumps with only a few mishaps where I had to go back and collect her. The little girl was over the moon :)

Then the jumps went up to proper clear round height (they were virtually poles on the floor for the little kids) and we went in for our round. My photographer was a little hungover after a wedding party the night before so we have none of me jumping over fences :rolleyes: but lots of me after them!! :o sorry but it's the best I can do and atleast you can see what kind of fences we jumped.

This is the last jump of the clear round...
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010257.jpg

We managed to go clear which is more than we did in the last show. Then we just got a rosette for 'trying really hard to go clear'!! So already I was chuffed to bits and really pleased with my boy.

[domane]

Big YEAY!!! Congratulations on your fantastic achievement... he looks sooooo posh.... and doesn't it make it worth all that effort.

Very well done for what sounds like a fabby day.... (not too sure about the Dolly Parton-a-like though :p )

Brilliant :D :D :D

ETA...Oops... there's MORE....

[Sparklie]

Then we went on to the triers. We were first in the ring and we went clear :D so we had to go into the jump off first which wasn't the best position to be in. I went quite sensibly as I didn't want to wind Twig up too much...here we are popping over the first fence (see the scary filler stuck at the side of the jump...that didn't make an appearence til the intermediate...phew!)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010259.jpg

And here we are wizzing around a corner after jumping the double
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010258.jpg

And we placed 6th!! :D I got a lovely purple rosette and I was so pleased with my boy, he was a star!!

So the jumps went up and being brave we entered the novice. We went clear again :eek: Helen is in absolute shock by this point!! Most of my photos of last show were of Twig knocking things down!! We went into the jump off but had a pole down. There was a double which could be one stride or could be bounced...we attempted to bounce it and didn't make it so knocked it down :o So we didn't place but I was on a high.

Then we entered the pairs. Sadly my usual pairs partner Robin had decided to already retire her horse and she felt that it was a bit much for him (he's only 3 and a half and the fences had got a bit too big, she didn't want to push him) so I needed a new partner. So Lorraine on her lovely thoroughbred Julien partnered me :) As we rode into the ring someone shouted 'do it for the old farts!!' Oh dear...I suppose it happens when you're on a yard full of 15 year olds though :rolleyes:

Me and the Twig jumped round clear and at quite a lick. He'd already seen the fences in the novice so he was ready for them!! Sadly Lorraine had 3 down so we thought we were out of it. But they called the placings and as we'd gone so fast our time was still quick enough (even with faults added on) to place 6th!!!! Another purple rosette for Twig :D

And then the last class before the fences were to be raised again was the scurry. This class is perfect for Twig!! He looses his brakes by the end of the round so to then have to take him into a jump off is a nightmare, I find myself having to try and anchor him so that he doesn't take off with me :o So the scurry where you go as fast as possible for the whole round is perfect, he loves it. It's a bit hairy but still good fun so I thought I'd give it a whirl

next post...wow this really is long, it's all the photos, sorry!!

[Sparklie]

Domane behave yourself...there's more to go ;)

I lost my brakes completely in the scurry!! We've recently changed from a dutch gag to a kimblewick as he likes it so much better. It leaves me with iffy brakes though when he gets excited. I'm building up some amazing arm muscles.

Only 2 went clear so I was going to go for a steady clear, sadly we knocked the first fence so that idea when out of the window and I put my foot down. Oh my gosh I've never flown round a course so fast!!

Photos...suprised they're not blurry!!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010260.jpg

I was amazed he jumped those tyres. He usually stops at fillers that he hasn't seen before and that really knocks my confidence but yesterday he just flew over them without a second look!!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010261.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010263.jpg

Somehow we managed to clear 8 fences in 45 seconds...wow!!
We placed 5th!!!! Pretty pink rosette to go with the purples :D I was so so pleased. I got up and untacked straight after and Twig got lots of fuss and treats.
Here's the man himself with his winnings
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a231/SparklieH/P1010265.jpg

We also got given a special rosette for the best improvement and for the fact that I've gained so much confidence since the last show. It really showed in my riding, I don't look nervous at all...I didn't feel nervous at all. My pony is fantastic and finally it's all coming together for us!!!! :D

[kyanya]

Well done you two! A very nice haul of rossies :) Twig doesn't look too impressed with them in the last piccie though - it looks like he'd prefer a snooze rather than a photo session :D Bless him, he'd obviously had a tiring day!

[Sparklie]

I think he was less than impressed with the curly perm that his plaits had left him with...he doesn't like looking girly and the pink and purple rosettes were the last straw. As soon as I took the photo he shook them all off!! :rolleyes:

He perked up again when I offered him an apple though!!

[Imp]

And well deserved that apple was too - Bless him :D

Well done both of you; I loved the pictures and he looks so stunning standing for the judges :D

[Sammii]

Wow, what a great thread :D:D

Well done well done well done :D:D

[Cool Rider]

Great Pictures
Well Done :)

[coblover26]

Well Done :) You did great :)
Lovely pics :)

[domane]

Well.... even though I was so excited I couldn't contain myself until you had finished ALL your postings... I will say it again ...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! :D :D :D

I bet you are floating on a cloud today.... FOUR rosettes.... what a gooooood boy.... :p

[Sparklie]

I bet you are floating on a cloud today.... FOUR rosettes.... what a gooooood boy.... :p

not four but six :D The ones on his headcollar are from the jumping. We also got the 1st for tack and turnout and a special because he'd (and me!!) improved so much since the last show and because we tried our hearts out. It's a really pretty one...black and silver!!

[chickflick1066]

Ahh absolutely FAB results Helen, I'm chuffed to bits for both you and Twig :D

[miggy]

Well done, he looked really smart
Did you jump that scarey cone jump thingy?

[NoviceNic]

Blimey, hope you dont come to one of my local shows there will be no rossettes left for me and Captain by the time you've won them all. :D ;) What a fantastic start. I am envious, jealous and right now I am putting a balaclava on and coming to steal the lovely TWIG from you for my next local show. :p :D Well Done to both of you.

[WYORider]

Congratulations!! Twig looks lovely! I will need to find out how to braid mane like you did on Twig. I think it's easy but I've never done it before. It surely shows off his neck!

[Sparklie]

Yes we jumped the scary cone thingy :) Our farm is running low on fillers so the cones were an ingenious idea from one of the liveries. Only a few of the horses weren't keen...most popped over first time :) It was the tyres that scared me...they looked huge!! He just flew them though :D

WYOrider...it's not that hard to do the mane. I didn't take a photo of my tail plait as that looked pathetic!! A few of the bands pinged off his mane as we jumped so he looked a bit funny by the end of it. I was more worried that I had nothing to grab onto!!!!

NN...if you were a bit closer I'd offer to be your pairs jumping partner. I think Twig and Captain would make an unbeatable team!! Roll on the next show!! :)

[rowdent]

WOW! All that at a first show... so amazing! :D and he is a totally beautiful horse.. fantastic...

[Whatanejit]

Can't believe I missed this sparklie - must be something to do with having the parents staying.

How blooming wonderful are you two?

That was such a fab day out for you both. Really, really, really well done. Pat on the back and a big hug for you both.

Thanks for the story and the pics it was fab.

XX
DEE

[CurlyWurlyRach]

exellent!!!