We Actually Got To Show!!

Overture - Back; catching up
March 29th, 2015 12:51:20am
402 Posts

I was able to switch shifts and actually show my horse and the red mare today!
Catt has been a TOTAL JERK the past two weeks. He has developed this lovely thing where once I warm him up and then let him walk he thinks he is done. So when I go to actually make him work on his reining or his cow work or anything he grabs the bit and bends in half and tries to run and hop out of the arena. He also gets super fussy and upset if a horse that is in the ring with him gets to leave before him or if he walks close to another horse and then has to walk away from it. My horse has never been allowed to decide when he's done or be gate sour or barn sour or even walk slightly faster out of an arena before - I've known him since he was four months old and I know the two trainers he's been under - he has never been allowed to be like this. It started after he went back to full work after he got a month off for a slightly sore muscle. It has been a really frustrating three weeks. Ugh.

But today he was pretty good. First two flat classes went well - he did not like the four year old trying to hand him ribbons because bouncying small humans handing him flappy blowing things is awful and may cause him great harm. So that was not fun. His third class was right after his second so he had to stay in the ring while the other horses left because his second class was western pleasure open and the third was western pleasure novice horse. I got him through the class though and stayed with him and really made him bridle up and focus on his job and he ended up winning the class so that was good.

Got off of him to go show Moxy. She was so good!!! She got third out of three in her reining pattern but she did her pattern!! This mare usually bucks the entire way through anything even remotely due to reining because she hates it so much. Its the reason she is straight cutting and not reined cow horse haha. But she was good!! She traveled a lot on her spins so she got dinged on that, but her changes and roll backs were awesome!

Catt was a total little turd in his pattern. He grabbed the bit and tried to run towards the gate in his circles to the right, but I kind of knew he was going to so I made him start to turn super early so our large fasts were just very very large on the right, at the end of the small slow he got hoppy, but he got through the change (head up, tail up, I'm sure it was beautul to watch haha) and finished his pattern. The judge told me she liked how I stayed with him and didn't get angry and pop him in the face or beat him - so that was nice to hear. I can't do anything fast or harsh on him correction wise, even with my legs because he's so reactionary and just loses all focus and goes into panic mode, which is never good haha. We won that class somehow though!! The two horses after us zereod because they over spun and the two after that must have just been worse than Catt because they placed second and third. I was laughing the entire time they were handing out ribbons. How the heck did that horse win an open reining class? hahaha

Someone took photos and she said she would post them! So I'll have them soon!
But here are some of Catt with his ribbons. He did not understand why he needed to have ribbons on him.