I actually made it out of the house on time, which almost never happens. I made good time even with it raining all day. I found a table close to the performance ring, which I thought would be good since I was going to be bouncing from there all day. I waited for my partner in crime and got started setting up my table. Getting half a table was a bad idea with all the stuff that I had. I would have been fine if I hadn't brought all the sales stuff. Which turned out to be mixed since I only sold 1 thing. But anyways, onto the show.
Halter went about as well as it normally does. I had some good placings and some no placings, but overall I am pleased. I got a few more horses qualified for NAN and got to see some great models.
I didn't get pics of all the card winners, but I got a few. Maybe tomorrow I can get a some glamor shots. But here are the notable placings:
On a Whim - 2nd & NAN CM European Warmblood/Sport
Sinful Addiction - 1st & NAN AR North/South American Warmblood/Sport
A Little Moe Money - 1st & NAN AR Quarter Horse
Sticky Bun - 1st & NAN AR North/South American Pony
Conquistador - 3rd AR North/South American Pony (I pasteled him)
He's Out Again - 1st & NAN CM North/South American Pony
Reserve Champion Cm Pony/Long ears
Performance had some mixed results. And some lasting anger.
Other Performance - I ended up only doing Scene, I didn't have handlers that I liked enough. I ended up 3rd out of maybe 4. This was my first look at the horses that I was going to be seeing a lot. First thought - this is not going to end well.
Western - Didn't place in Western Pleasure, not surprising since there was 12 in the class. Ranch work got a 3rd, Stock work got 5th, Gymkhana Elimination was 4th and nothing in Gymkhana Timed. Its hard to compete with $1,000 set-ups. Western Natural trail was 5th and Western Arena Trail got 3rd. I didn't put him up on the class-backs table since I didn't get any good placings.
English went a little better. I didn't have a class that I didn't place in for English. Here is the run down
English Pleasure - 2nd, English Gymkhana - 3rd, English Trail - 2nd, Hunter/Jumper/CC - 4th, Dressage - 3rd, Other English - 2nd.
I was pleased with my english placings, I put him on the Call-backs table because I was the only horse that placed in every class and the next best horse had 2 1sts and a 2nd. Point wise, I was champion. Realistically, I didn't even get a second glance. Both champ and reserve went to horses that each got a 1st in one class. The judge was picking champ/reserve based on which ones she liked the most. I was angry.
I'm still kinda angry. I think with time I will get over it. The hardest part about it for me is all the behind the scenes stuff. I had to really try and push myself to get this all done. There was a lot of days that I was ready to put it all back in the closet and be done. It may seem like a silly thing to get worked up about, but earning that ribbon would have proved to me that it was worth the struggle. I have been reminding myself that a ribbon doesn't mean anything, but it still kinda stings.
Overall, it was mixed. It was great to reconnect with friends and make a new one. I forget how much fun it is getting to talk models and random things about jobs and live. It was great to get away from live for a day and just be in a mentally different state.
Sunday I got a wild idea after looking through all my stuff. I decided that I am going to do the performance classes in Iowa. It is a small class list, but I think that I have a good group of classes. I also got a crazy idea that I was going to make a new horse for it. Oh dear lord. So, I took a Dungaree body and put a Driving horse neck/neck on it. I am happy with it so far. He is ready for paint, once I decide what color to do. I think that he would look amazing as a bay with some higher whites, but the chances of me being able to do a nice bay and very low. At this point I can do black and dapple grey. I know that there are people out there that would be super happy to be able to paint a dapple grey, but I'm not sure if its going to work on this horse. I am going to sleep on it and work on him tomorrow. Tonight I hope to make the hunter jump and the few things I need for Dressage tonight.
Here are a few pics from the show.