October 21, 2013

Its been nearly a month, and more than enough time for me to have posted about Mid-Atlantic #4 Competition.  It was held in Centre Hall, PA the last weekend in September.  It was Poe’s first team competition, his first two day competition, it was basically his first real competition.

I arrived on Friday afternoon, after a fun stop at the Hagerstown ribbon factory and lunch with my parents in Maryland, and got my ponies settled in and my camp set up.  The Lockyer family showed up and Emma and Sophie helped me take the ponies for a short hack, and then we headed out to dinner.  This was the Lockyers first US games competition since their recent move from England.  Emma was riding with Whiplash in intermediate and Rob was riding with my team!

When we got back to the grounds everyone else was arriving, there was a lot of socializing and before long it twas time for bed.  Saturday morning comes early when your ride at 8am.

I got tacked up early, and was in the ring with Poe before most of the other competitors in my division.  This was going to be his first time in an arena with around 30 other ponies at the same time so I wanted to give him time to adjust.

The first session went well.  Poe improved his handoffs from race to race, moving out more and more when he was taking them.  He is fearless.  Our end turns were still a little slow, but I was not asking for more.  He continued to improve from session to session.  I eventually asked him to move out more, and move out he did.  I hung my mouth open at one point, in excitement at him picking up his pace.  It had been a while since I went that fast! I never actually got to the point of kicking for more speed, but he was certainly getting the idea.

The other thing I noticed, we needed to put some work into was our whoa.  Poe stops and checks, but he did not quite have the “games whoa” yet.  So when I had a skill that required me to pull up, I had to prepare more in advance than I would have liked.

All in all, Poe was fantastic.  Even better than I expected.  He really loves this job.

I honestly cannot remember all the details of our ride, which is why I need to be more on top of these posts!  But we did end up winning our division by about 20 points with lots of hard competition from our fellow teams.

Simon got to be part of team Antiques Roadshow, ridden by the lovely Stephanie, and they looked great together.  I was so happy for him to be there and for someone getting to have fun with him.

This was also my first time as chief referee of the Masters division at a regional competition.  I started a little bumpy with a rough start or two, but I think I got my timing and technique worked out.  I hope the riders agree.  I really enjoyed the job, and hope I get to do it again.

So, great weekend all around.  And here are some photos, from Genevieve of EquiStar Photography.  Sorry, its all Poe on this post.

September 9, 2013

It appears I took a little time off from blogging.  But its time to start typing again.

Fun things have been happening.  I had two games practice on Poe with Carol Ann.  Both went well.  We worked on hand offs with Carol Ann on her newer pony Jinny, and it was ‘no thang’ for Poe.  The pony didn’t bat an eye.  So for the next practice Carol Ann brought out Zeke, her white-lightning-charger.  I swear the pony puffs himself up when he rolls in at full tilt, intimidation factor on max.  But Poe was not impressed and rolled on as well.

Poe continues to amaze me with his brilliance and his aptitude for games.  It really is like he was born for the sport.

I took Poe to the Blue Ridge Games demo at the Shenandoah County Fair two week sago.  He did fantastic.  It was the first time I really let him move out through the races and he really was fantastic.  He did some greeny things, like anticipating turns incorrectly, and he did haul off bucking into the first race.

I in advertently gave him a week off after Blue Ridge.  But I hopped on him this evening and he was right there for me.  I set up litter for individuals play, which means you go down, scoop a litter, drunk it, turning the barrel, retrieve another litter, dunk that one too and then pick up a third, dunking it on the way home.  We rode down, turned and picked at a trot.  WOO!  I set him up to turn the barrel, and it was almost as if he was asking “you sure you want to turn?  I am pretty sure we are suppose to go straight.  well if you say so”.  We dunked and turned and then picked up the second litter also at a trot.  This time when we came up for the barrel dunk and turn, I set him up and Poe was like “Yep, I got this” and just rocked on around like a pro.  We scooped our third litter, also at a trot (boom!), and when I did set him up for the turn, it was like he said “yep, we go home now” and he just rolled on home.  so smart.

I also noticed he is starting to neck rein considerably better.

The other thing I need to put some work into is bringing him off his forehand some.  He has his big ol butt, and I want him to learn to use it better.  Maybe we can eventually get some roll back action.

This Friday we have the MGAA Individuals at the Great Frederick Fair in Maryland.  This is a really big fair, with LOTS going on. This will be a big step up for Poe, being in a full day long competition, with all the distractions continuously going on.  But I am really looking forward to it.

A friend, Ann, is going to ride Simon, which makes me happy.  He is such a fun pony, and I think Ann will have a good time.  Plus then I won’t feel bad leaving him at home for the weekend.

The two ponies, Daisy and I will head out Thursday after work and head up to my parents house for the night.  They live about 5 minutes from the fair grounds down back roads.  And they are lovely enough to keep the barn and paddock up so the ponies can come for a visit on occasion.

I also went out on two trail rides since I have been back from England.  The first one my husband, Rich, braved it and went with me.  Simon was perfectly pleasant for him, showing his husband horse abilities, and Rich had a grand time working on his posting, which he picked up pretty quickly, and cantering around.  Simon happily obliged with a mouth full of grass.  I rode Poe, who was very good.  He was a bit looky, and did try to run back to the trailer a few times.  But nothing that couldn’t be handled.  He will make a good trail pony for me when Rich wants to go, but I was also happy to decide that Simon is still my main trail companion.

Yesterday Carol Ann and I went out to Slate Lick and went on a nice hack.  This was my first time in this area and I really like it.  There were some people camped with their horses and I have decided I must camp here with my ponies soon as well.  Carol Ann rode Jinny, and it was Jinny’s first time out.  She was pretty good in my opinion.  I took Simon, who was his perfectly pleasant trail pony self.

That is a brief recap of my past month.

And here are two photos that my friend Genevieve of Equistar Photography took at Blue Ridge Games Demo 8/31/13

note, Poe has a total game face.

July 23, 2013

I thought it was hard to shop for flattering pants that fit well. Turns our shopping for an Xl team duffel bag is even harder.

Three evenings spent going to 13 stores and no success. In the end I turned to the Internet. Google never let’s a shopper down.