Week 7 = Show week 5

Not as much this week.

Torrential downpours on Thursday led to our clients scratching their classes, and rain on Friday meant the rings were horrendous so they scratched again. Pretty slow days, and the worst part was the care of not wet but saturated leather. Everything was soaked. Not exactly much fun, but due to spring break and a "lack" of work to do outside of the horse show stuff, I was able to start watching tv rerun episodes on my computer to relax in the evening. A few of us were even able to relax and "go out" to a club Friday night! It was a bunch of fun.

Saturday was sunny and windy, so the rings were able to begin to dry, but that doesn't mean they were dry at all. Saturday was my big "experience" day this week. I know what shoe studs are and that they give more traction when riding, but I've never had to use them. Since the rings had horrible footing and we were jumping between 3'6" and 4'3" for our jumpers, I learned how to put studs in! We didn't have plugs in the holes to keep them clean so we picked the dirt out of the holes then used a tool with screws and trenches down to clean out the rest of the dirt. Then the studs are put in and gently tightened using pliers. We only did the back feet with the jumpers, and if you can't find a matching set in the stud box then the slightly larger stud goes on the outside of the horse.

I also found out what "breaking the timers" means. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the classes. One jumper shows in the Adult High Jumpers (3'6") and the other in the Amateur Owner Low Jumpers (4-4'3"). Sunday they have the regular classes, but also a "Classic" with substantial paybacks. To ride in this classic, a rider and horse must have a score from one of the three previous days. Since we didn't show thursday or friday, we only had saturday (this usually isn't an issue since they show all three days anyway). The AO Lows went early in the morning, and the footing was still awful and the wind was literally blowing jumps over. Kristin had two (Wildcat and Lou) to show here, and she and Elizabeth decided for saftey reasons to just break the timers to get a score. I learned that this means going into the ring, paying for the class, and riding through the start and end timers to "get a score" but simply not do any jumps.

Also learned this week: Jumpers (at higher levels) are not allowed to tie a horses head down, which is why so many jumpers use running as opposed to standing martingales. They also help with turning and control. All our jumpers show in flash nosebands too, which I know helps keep the horses mouths shut and gives more control. However, flash nosebands aren't allowed in the hunter rings which is why I've never used one before.

The classics went well on Sunday and Lou even placed 2nd! Overall though this was a slow week, due to the rain and the low number of horses showing. Week 6 will be a bit more work, since Liza will come back to show Lennon and we will be packing and leaving Sunday night!