Pretty Is As Pretty Does

Years ago (many, many years ago) I read an article in the Chronicle entitled "Pretty Is As Pretty Does". It was written by a Pony Confirmation Hunter judge who was concerned about the ponies being bred for confirmation and movement but not necessarily temperament. This judge was seeing a lot of beautiful ponies on the line, but many (not all) were just rank and ill behaved under saddle. Hence the title.

I've carried that phrase with me over the years because I found that it applies to a lot in everyday life - human and horse. But I am especially finding it applicable now that Molly has really gotten into riding. I'll be the first to raise my hand - our pony can be a BEAST! She can also be absolutely spectacular. It's a matter of setting limits and ground rules. I have to admit, she is really pretty easy and does have a wonderful temperament - however, she is a pony - she is ridden by a child - she will try to take advantage of a situation given the opportunity.

Today was another show day for us. It was a local show so we did not have a crack of dawn morning. It was raining when we got to the barn, but by the time we got to the show, it had stopped and stayed dry for the rest of the day.

As we were getting Treenie wrapped in the AM, I noticed that she was shivering - not all over, just her hind end. She was covered and felt warm under her sheet. The temp had gone down about 20 degrees from earlier in the week so it was a bit understandable. However, like I said, she felt warm underneath so I began to wonder if she was just anxious (do horses get nervous in anticipation??) I did not want to alarm Molly so I quietly brought it to her trainer's attention who was not worried and told me to make sure I brought another blanket just in case. Treener's seemed eager to go and walked right up the ramp into the van - she practically self loads!

The ride to the show was uneventful - we actually left 12 minutes ahead of schedule -unfortunately, my friend Michelle had planned to drive with us (I misunderstood) and we left without her! And, I did not hit the guard rail crossing the bridge at the end of our street (I did this with the barn owners trailer taking my horse to the clinic. It was really not a big deal but I was mortified!) This is why I like my van - it's all 1 piece!!

Anyway, ho hum - got to the show, checked in and began to get ready - they actually were running on time! I had heard horror stories about last year and how behind they were because of conflicts. Treenie came down the ramp, took a look around and you could almost see her immediately settle in - "Oh, I know where I am - all's cool!" I think she used to show at this show a lot with her old owner so she must have felt at home.

In the warm up ring she marched around like a carousel horse - any direction - with traffic, against traffic across the center - didn't matter. Both Treenie and Molly were just really together and content. It was a really NICE picture. Treenie was so mellow that Molly even cantered in the warm up ring. Since the Mini's do not canter, I don't ask for this if Treenie has her "she devil" look in her eye. She is actually a little better after she canters, so it's good if she can, but not worth risking getting taken off with. Also, no stick needed today.

Things were clicking right on schedule until the Pleasure division - can you believe that they actually held a schooling break before the xc pleasure class because it had 2 cross rails??? The same 2 cross rails that these horses just jumped in the division before - Give me a break! Okay Molly, jump down this is going to take a while! We hung out for a while until the FINALLY pinned the class.

We walked to the ring as they were calling the division - it seemed like mini stirrup kids started coming out of the woodwork! It was really like watching ants get flushed out of their hill. There were 16 mini's. I'm looking at my friends saying - they're going to have to split this - there is no way these kids can stay out of each other's way. Thankfully, they did - they lined everyone up and randomly picked numbers to make 2 divisions of 8 each. Phew! That's better. Of course, Molly winds up in the B group which means another 30-45 minuted before she goes.

So we hung out some more, took some pix and both Molly and Treenie had a potty break (better now than in the ring!)

FINALLY it was Molly's turn. (And I'm getting to the reason for the title) She went in and immediately started to trot around so Miss Treenie could see all the sights. I was really proud that she was all business. Treenie was practically a push button pony! They looked great, rode great and were a really a nice overall picture. Treenie was a Very Pretty Pony!

Schooling for the cross rail class was a little tricky as Treenie LOVES to follow other horses - she pulled Molly down the lines a few times but she did go to all the jumps and never tried to duck out. When it was their turn I told Molly t0 pick a plan ans stick with it (either trot in and canter out both lines or trot the whole thing - trotting is my preference because 1) that is what a mini is technically supposed to do and 2) it give Molly a little more time to react if something goes awry) .

To my HUGE surprise, she trotted in and trotted out both lines AND got her diagonals in between the jumps! Woo Hoo! She's really getting it! It was a really nice, respectable round.

In the end, Molly was 4th in all 3 of the flat classes and 5th in the over fences class. Not too bad for her second show. AND, she did not lose any teeth this time!

See, pretty really is as pretty does!