Can I Help You?

This is what we see when we go out to get our pony every day! I had seen these fly masks on the web and thought they were really cute, but they were really expensive. I immediately thought - hey, I can do that! So I picked up a cute pony size fly mask and some cool colored permament markers and let Molly go to town with her design. She was really excited to do it and it is kind of cute - especially with the pink floppy ears! By pure luck, we managed to get the "glasses" right where Miss Treener's eyes are.

Molly showed again this past weekend - it was our local hunter show. Because of the holiday weekend, I really did not know what to expect as far as turnout - well, I guess the "staycation" theme has caught on because the show was packed! I could hardly find a spot to park our van and unload! The classes were huge and as a result, many of the divisions were split into 2 sections. It seems like they split the mini's by age as Molly was again in the B section. The first group of kids seemed young compared to Molly's group and they only had 7 kids while Molly's group had 9. Also, all the kids in Molly's group were pretty much at the same skill level. I have to say, it was good company this weekend because the kids were all competent mini riders. Once she finally got going, the classes ran pretty quickly - Molly was 3rd in the Eq, 4th in the pleasure and 5th in the figure 8. For some reason, she just can't seem to get the figure 8 down - the shape was better but still not 100% - oh well, something to work on.

Molly also won her cross rail class! It is the 3rd jumping class in a row that she has won - it seems like we have figured out the secret formula for this class!

This is my first attempt to upload video - it is from the FOD show a few weeks ago - Molly won this class also. At least you can finally see some action!

Thursday is our local dressage series again - I was hoping to make a nice Mom/Daughter day of it as I was scheduled to ride my musical freestyle. Unfortunately, my horse slipped and has 8 stitches on his ankle! So I guess it's pony groom for me! I am sure that Molly will do well - if only she can figure out how to make ROUND circles!!

Why I Hate the Hunters!

Warning: This post may offend some die hard hunter fans - sorry, I have to get this off my chest!



Preface - I was a hunter rider for 20+ years, children's hunters, schooling hunters, pre-adult hunters, adult amateurs etc - been there, done that - and I was perfectly content while I was doing it. The turning point came during a lesson. I had been jumping a course that turned out really well - I hit every distance and it felt great. I turned to the instructor and said "that felt really good" - her response was "you could have been 6 inches closer to the last jump". That's it, I was done. I was not interested in having to be that perfect. I stopped riding for a while shortly after that. I had just had a baby (Molly) and life was too complicated to fit in riding that was just frustrating so I took a break. I started again after reconnecting with a friend who had moved onto eventing. I evented a little as a junior - it was fun and in the lower levels, you just had to get from one side to the other. Maybe this is what I needed. My friend set me up with an event barn and that was it I was hooked! I have not been back in the hunter rings since. I LOVE the fact that you get an actual score and on the dressage test there are comments along with the scores. You know exactly why you got what you got.



So, Molly is now doing the mini stirrups which brings me back to the hunter shows. Almost every time we go I think "God, I HATE this." There is no sense to the judges' picks. At least not that I can see and I have a good eye. At one show, the judge pinned a short strided horse that limped in the corners in the pleasure class - can someone please explain that? At another, a pony stops twice to poop in the middle of the class and that kid is in the top 3 - I'm sorry, I just don't get it.



Molly showed again on Saturday. It was another HUGE division - 10 in each class. She was 4th in the pleasure, nothing in the Eq, 6th in the Figure 8 and 4th in the cross rails. I can't really say why she got what she got. Treenie is a decent mover so I thought she should have been higher in the pleasure. They asked for a sit trot in the eq which Molly does great - more than half of the kids bounced around like jumping beans - but Molly got nothing. In the Fig 8, I expected her to get nothing because one of her circles was really lopsided but she managed to pick up 6th. I REALLY thought she won the o/f class but was 4th.



On the way home she asked me why she only got the places she got - I had no answer. I told her that the judge picked the ones she liked best. I also told her that there was nothing that she really should have done differently - she is riding really well and there is nothing we need to change. She really is on the right path, in the right program and has the right pony.



I thought a lot about her question on the ride home. To put everything in perspective:



1-This is her 1st year of showing (her 5th show to be exact)
2-This is the mini-stirrups - not the Maclay's!
3-She manages to get a piece of the ribbons almost every class
4-She is usually in the top half of the class
5-She said - out of the blue - that she loves to horse show



I felt a lot less frustrated after I came up with my list. I think it was bothering me more than it was her. Still, I can't help but wonder if we are doing anything to help these riders along by handing out arbitrary ribbons with no reasoning? Would it be so terrible if the judge handed out the ribbons and gave each rider a little comment? Like they do at a schooling dressage show? Nothing too deep, but just a little hint "try to keep your heels way down" or "make sure you don't let your reins get too long". Something - anything to give a clue on what the judge was looking for.




So, that's my soap box for the week. As parents, we shell out a lot of money for our kids to show, I don't think it is too much to ask for a little feedback.



If the weather holds out, Molly will be going cross country schooling on Friday. It should be really fun. I know once she gets a taste of it and realizes she can stay in control, she will love it. She also has a dressage show coming up on June 12 - scores and feedback to make Mom happy!



Will try to take a lot of pics of the xc day!

Sit Up and Steer!

Wednesday is lesson day - sometimes it is Thursday, but it is usually Wednesday. It is an especially good lesson day when Molly's to best barn buds K and S are there also. Today the three musketeers were together.

Lesson days are a little hectic - Molly gets off the bus at 3:15 and we REALLY need to leave by 3:30 in order for her to get Treeners out of the field and tacked up on time - we're usually late but so it everyone else. The bottom line is that 4pm really doesn't work for us. In fact, K gets taken out of school early in order to get there somewhat on time. However, that seems to be the only slot they have available for us - it used to be a 4:30 slot, but over the winter it changed and now we really have to hustle to make it work. Unfortunately, neither of my kids are good about hustling... Tim ALWAYS takes off his shoes and loses one just as Molly walks in the door from school. Molly, needs to rifle through her drawers to look for the one pair of breeches that are usually in the wash - she has like 6 pair, but the ones she wants each week (and it differs from week to week) are the ones that are NOT in her drawer. So, she has no choice but to throw all of the breeches on the floor - yell at me that she can't find the ones she wants and then watch TV until I start yelling that we're late - Meanwhile, Tim starts yelling that he's not going to the "stupid barn" because he's watching something and is not going to miss it - Calgon - take me away!

Once we get there, things are much more mellow - we need to tack up quick, but I'm pretty good with that and Molly and I seem to be able to work off of each other. Hopefully, Tim stays in the car and watches a DVD. At 5, he really has not interest nor sense around horses and just doesn't get it that he has to be careful.

Finally, everyone is up and the lesson starts - I can breathe again. Just writing this has made my chest tighten with the stress!

Since some of the shows with mini stirrup ask you to actually jump a course (4 jumps usually once around the outside), Molly is doing regular courses in her lessons - today she did diagonal, diagonal, outside, outside. 8 jumps in total. That's a lot to put together when you have only been jumping for a few months - all winter it was really only single jumps because our indoor is a little small. So, 8 jumps in a row in a big ring is a big accomplishment. Treenie is not the most honest pony in the world either - you absolutely MUST sit up and steer - if you hang out in your 2-point and loop the reins you can bet she'll duck out. I've seen this enough times that I can pretty much tell 3 strides out if she's going to jump or run out. Molly too will figure this out some day - we all keep telling her to "sit up and steer!" but it seems to fall on deaf ears. I'm afraid she is going to have to learn by hitting the ground a few times. Right now, she thinks she is too cool because she can get over these jumps - it make take several attempts, but she does get over them. It would be nice if she got over them on the FIRST try. Miss Treenie can really jump when she wants to - actually, once she gets going she is a very cute little jumper ...

We all laughed today because we thought she may also have a future in the pony jumpers...

Amazingly, Molly seems to have a natural ability to stick to her back even when she jumps huge. Wish I had that same ability - oh to be 8 and fearless again....