Dreamer & Cupid - My Super Boys!

Last weekend I went to my first Obstacle Challenge at Turkey Run Ranch – what a blast!

We strolled in a bit late at 10:30am which only left us 30 minutes to get saddled up and practice the obstacles. The warm up actually started at 9am but because it was raining and a 3hr drive we were a little sluggish getting there.

Cupid and Dreamer came for the show – Kahleesi is still taking time off hoping she’ll be sound for Kentucky after getting a mysterious hoof bruise while out in the paddock.

I was so incredibly proud of my horses as they approached all of the unique obstacles.

Obstacles included:

• ·         Kiddie pool with water and floating wood
• ·         Raised bridges
• ·         Sand filled tires
• ·         Piles of pine cones
• ·         Straw jumps
• ·         Tarps and sand hills
• ·         A sprinkler car wash
• ·         Water crossing
• ·         Narrow back through

There were really a lot of choices and I loved how they have the are set into 3 different parts. The sand ring was all Halloween/fall themed. One grass field area was set up Indian themed with a teepee and other decorations. The third area was set up as the cowboy field.

The only things my boys were weary of were the rope gate – because there was scary cornstalks on either end, yikes they might bite!

I planned out a good route to try and get as many of the 60 obstacles that I could. I rode first on Cupid and got a lot done. Cupid was so confident and really focused on the task. It was definitely his best show so far and I was such a proud mama.

Next up was Dreamer – I rode a very similar pattern with him and just had to change things a bit because he knocked down 2 of the jumps which makes it a ‘dead’ obstacle meaning you can’t do it again (otherwise you can do them twice). Dreamer did everything with confidence and speed making him a super star.

Results - Way to go Boys! 

At the end of the day we shared an amazing potluck and got to find out our scores. It was great to see the score sheets to see what exactly we did. There were 19 competitors and 10 of them (majority) scored between 67 – 106 points, with only the top 5 placings finishing above 106 points.

I was extremely thrilled when Cupid was announced as 5^th place with 121 points – wow has this boy improved! 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th went to very good rides finishing with 131-127 points which were extremely close scores!

Dreamer and I were flying like the wind and smoked up 148 points for first place. Crikey I knew he was a dreamer, but buddy you’re seriously an over achiever! Not too surprising that Dreamer had an admirer at the show wanting to buy him… but not to worry big guy, you aren’t going anywhere :)

I am super in love with Obstacle challenges and if you want to give it a go I super recommend Turkey Run Ranch – what a lovely set up and amazing people that are so kind and supportive… plus they know how to serve up one delicious potluck!

Tips from this show:

• ·         Put the focus on your foundation. Get your horse to trust you and build his confidence in you. Then when you start to see new obstacles it doesn’t matter that they are new because your horse knows you can keep them safe and they can do what you ask.
• ·         Get out there and try something new, take a chance and leave yourself open to find new passions, dreams, challenges, and fun.
• ·         Really make sure you have a plan heading into the obstacle challenge and know where you are going .
• ·         Ride the little obstacles on your way to the bigger point obstacles.
• ·         Do the obstacles that you can complete quickly – just because you can move the cows from one pen to another (which is a hard obstacle that scores high at 5  points) doesn’t mean it’s the best use of your short 5 minutes in the ring.
• ·         If you aren’t sure how to do something make sure you ask. One of the reasons I scored so high was because I clarified that one combination obstacle could actually be done 3 different ways and each was considered a different obstacle at 3 points– this meant 3 obstacles right beside each other could be done back to back for 18 points. Some other competitors only rode 1 or 2 variations of this obstacle and didn’t get the extra points.
• ·         Put the focus on fun – I project a confident smile to my horses and they know we are there for a  good time. Then they were able to have fun too.

On Sunday we started rehearsing for my freestyle patterns for the Kentucky TB Makeover. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks. Thank you so much for the team that is coming to support me and be ring crew!

Extreme Cowboy at Ancaster Fair tomorrow followed some more TB Makeover practice. See you at the fair!

The first Horse Agility and Obstacle Challenge Show from the Natural Horsemanship Association (NHA)

On Saturday May 30^th, Natures Run Equestrian hosted the first horse agility and obstacle challenge show by the NHA. A lot of work went into the show and the show series – deciding on classes, judging criteria, obstacles, organization, etc. The NHA really wants to promote a fun and supportive place to show horses using different obstacles.

Partridge Horse Hill (PHH) took a group to the show. The morning started with a bit of glitch when I slept in past my alarm, and then one of the two horse trailers popped a tire! Somehow we managed to arrive at the show before it started, our optimistic and resilient attitudes shined through as we were still full of positive thoughts throughout the day. 

The day started beautiful and sunny, and the horse agility classes got to compete outdoors in lovely weather – except at the end when the rain started. Luckily NRE has an indoor arena so we were able to move everything indoors after the first Essentials class and continue with the show.

I was very proud of the PHH students and their success. They were very supportive of each other. Kim brought Shawna, Yvonne with Allure, and Laurie with Cheyenne all for their first offsite show – it was also Allure and Cheyenne’s first offsite show. They all participated in the starter and first level of Horse Agility which are friendly introductory classes. Then they rode in the Essentials division for the obstacle challenge which is a walk/trot division. Everyone was very nervous but the nerves settled after a 1^st place for Kim in the first class, 2^nd for Laurie, and Yvonne finished up with reserve champion. All that hard work and practicing paid off.

I brought three of my off the track Thoroughbreds to the show – Kahleesi and Cupid are the two I bought only about 3 months ago for the Retired Racehorse Project TB Makeover for Kentucky. This was Cupid’s first horse show and Kahleesi’s second show. I also brought Thetis who is my Parelli certified Level 3 horse. Despite Cupid and Kahleesi being very inexperienced I still entered by horses in the most advanced classes because of my level – we did Intermediate (for Cupid & Kahleesi not Thetis), Advanced, Liberty (two classes), and the Extreme division. I also took Thetis in one Exciting class (Finesse) so that I could try a class with no bridle.

In the intermediate we competed against other people and I was very happy at how my horses excelled and completed tasks like a pivot on the pedestal and sideways over the pole with relative ease. I was so proud of my horses and how calm they were in the ring. This was a milestone because Cupid and Kahleesi at the trade show in April were very tense and upset in the ring by themselves, and during the show they showed me just how far they've come in their training and now are completely different horses.

Even when it started to rain and everyone was hiding indoors or in their trailers (so no horses were around the ring) they were still very calm and connected to me which made me so proud. One of the things I’ve been using to build the motivation are treats. I don’t use them as a bribe, but when they do something well I give them one cookie (I use roughage chunks that are a health tasty treat). This helps give them another reason to try extra hard. 

 

For the most advanced classes of the day I was the only one entered (Advanced, Liberty, and Extreme division). This was a bit odd to compete against myself using my 3 horses, but it was the experience my horses needed. Cupid and Kahleesi have a lot to learn before Kentucky and it was great they could have a good show experience.

Because the show was running late I offered to drop my classes from 10 obstacles to 5, and reduce my gamblers choice from 3 min to 1min to help speed things up – which kept my horse’s experience short and sweet. As you can expect I was both champion and reserve champion of that division, and 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd in my classes.

This raised an interesting reflection – was it wrong or right for me to compete in classes where it was only me entered?

Keep in mind there was another class with only 3 people, and one other class with only 1 person (some people left because of the rain) that did run.

My thoughts are that I had paid to trailer my horses there, had supported everyone else, waited my turn, and shortened my classes to make it quick, so it was reasonable to want to do my classes too- but what do you think?

In any event I was proud that my horses could complete the most advanced classes despite their inexperience, and thankful for the chance to give them show experience offsite. 

For liberty I left the halters on Kahleesi and Cupid because it was their first time, but my goal for the last NHA show is to feel confident taking the halter off so we are completely at liberty (instead of just no lead rope).

A quick tip:

- Remember your horse needs a pay cheque. Think 'why is my horse showing up to work?' This doesn't have to be food, but food can certainly help when used properly to build that extra motivation. 

Watch the video of highlights from the show: