Baby Ketel's First Show!!

***Warning: this is a brag post!!***

Last Thursday I got off of work early so I could make sure I was able to get Ketel ridden thanks to the time change.  I lunged him before I rode since he had a few days off and he was about as full of himself as I expected.  Some glorious leaps and bucks that I was glad were done on the lunge and not under saddle with me.  When I got on him he was still full of himself.  I worked him in draw reins and although he wasn't bad he just never quite settled down and wanted to bend or stretch down like we typically work on.  There is no point in running a baby into the ground so I let him be done after I felt I was getting the best I was going to get for the day.

This left me with some apprehensions about going to the show Friday morning but like I said in prior posts, the plan was to be flexible and see how he is at the show.

I got there early Friday which gave him time to settle in.  He didn't seem to care about his surroundings and was only interested in his hay.  Of course we had a cold front roll in so the temps were brisk (for FL) and it was WINDY.  Great.

I started him out on the lunge and he ran, snorted, bucked, and had full on "Arabian tail."  Eventually he relaxed and had his nose to the ground.  I let him cool out and relax a bit more before I climbed on.

Our ring was in an indoor (baby's first indoor) and he hacked around like a champ.  No spooking, nothing.  I jumped him around the course of cross rails and he marched around like it was his J-O-B. Woo hoo!

I did let him spend the night at the show to get the whole experience (I've mentioned before I normally like bringing my horses home).  I got there early Saturday morning so I could lunge him.    All the shavings in his tail told me he rested that night.  He was a bit wild on the lunge but it was early and cold.  

We did a warm up and 3 o/f cross rails classes.  He went around as good as I could have hoped.  He was not flawless. We don't have lead changes yet so we had to trot changes.  We still need to work on this as it takes some steps to get him to canter again.  I was nervous about the under saddle.  15 cross railers, mostly beginner children, all in the ring at the same time.  I gave it a go and he didn't blink an eye, picked up his leads, and I even had to cluck to keep him going.

He placed under saddle (6th) but didn't pin in the o/f.  I'm sure the trot changes were the reason.  But most importantly in my eyes he exceeded our goals.  He marched around, jumped everything I asked, didn't spook, got all the numbers, and was perfect in the hack.  I am thrilled!

The only disappointment was that I have no video.  My trainer had 20 horses there so we were slammed.  There wasn't a spare person to play photog or video.  My S.O. was conveniently out of town too.  Sad face,

This was the last unrated local show of the year so Ketel will get a break from his new show horse life until March.  I will be refocusing on Poppy as we have 2 AA rated shows coming up next month.

Being the month of Thanksgiving I do have to say I am so thankful for getting home from the show safely and for my husband.  On the way home I felt some shaking from the trailer but figured he was pawing.  Tires and trailer looked normal as I checked them in my mirrors.  When I got home my husband noticed one of my trailer tires was completely flat.  I am so thankful it did not blow.  He took the tire off and found that the valve stem was leaking.  This must be why I had the blow out in July and the stupid tire place I found in SC didn't check the valve stem. I am so thankful my husband is so mechanical and could figure this out.  Whew!!!  If you have not had a tire blow while towing let me tell you, it is scary.