What's Up Wednesday!

I can't believe another week has come and gone already. Please slow down summer, I'm trying to make the most of you! So when I left you all last week, I was getting ready to head up to Vermont to visit my baby Badger.
I arrived early afternoon on Thursday since I had a ton of things to get done at home before I could drive north. I also made a quick stop at my favorite highway rest area:

My trainer was done showing for the day when I arrived and Badger had already been worked so we watched a few jumpers and then disbanded for the evening. I was staying with my friend from Saratoga. She and her husband also have a house near Vermont Summer Festival. How lucky am I to be her friend?! I was super excited to see this face again too:

Friday morning I rode Badger early and got to hop over a couple cross rails. I couldn't believe how good he was in the busy schooling ring! Horses all over, and one kid on a pony who really took passing left to left to a whole new level. No offense meant to my Jamposaur, but my baby Badger is ten times better behaved than Jampy...  He enjoyed some grooming and some grass later in the day since he was such a good pony.

I promise he was just wet, that's not a saddle mark! No saddle marks on my ponies. Once Badger was all tucked in, I headed up toward hunter land to watch my friend ride in the adult hunters. She has the cutest horse!

Saturday I got to have a real lesson on Badger which was great. A lesson at a horse show is a lot different than a lesson at home, and obviously we were very limited in what we had to work with as far as jumps. But we had a whole line to ourselves, so that was more than enough. I think going to the horse show did so much for him. He was absolutely perfect. He didn't bat an eyelash when another trainer unrolled a blue yoga mat right next to him. He didn't spook at the lady pushing a carriage past the ring. He didn't put a foot wrong the entire time! I'm so proud of him! The best part of the day? I got the photos from him showing with my trainer! His very first horse show! Oh and did I forget to mention that he finished 8th out of FORTY-TWO in one of his schooling hunter rounds?? I'm such a proud mama! We didn't have him braided since we weren't expecting him to be competitive the first time out. But he looked pretty fab anyway. All horse show photos below are by Andrew Rybeck Photography.

And my favorite:

After spending all my money on adorable photos of the cutest baby Badger, it was time to watch my trainer in the Grand Prix. She's seriously #goals you guys. I had a great lesson jumping 2'3" and crossrails, and she had two horses in the Grand Prix.

Artie, the bay horse had a few rails... he's still figuring life out. But Casino, the chestnut horse finished in the ribbons! Woohoo! So fun to watch!
Sunday I decided not to stop at the show before heading home. My assistance wasn't necessary to pack up and it had rained quite a lot the night before. I was a little worried my little car would get stuck in the mud. Not worth it if I wasn't going to ride anyway. Instead I meandered around town a little and stopped at my favorite sandwich shop for an early lunch before beginning the trek home. Good thing I stopped for lunch!

I drove over a large pot hole in Vermont, and when I was about half way through Massachusetts I got the low tire pressure light. I stopped at a gas station to see if I could put air in it to get me home. Unfortunately it wouldn't take air, and this car has no spare! Lame. I called USRiders for help. I have to tell you, they are amazing. If you haul horses you should definitely consider getting USRiders insurance. It's much like AAA, but for horse people. Even though I wasn't hauling horses, they still gave me all the assistance I needed. They called a tow truck for me, and then went ahead and called around looking for an open tire shop! Not only that, they made sure the tire shop had the tire I needed before dispatching the tow truck. They were really awesome. The whole ordeal took about an hour and a half, which really is pretty impressive. I was back on the road before I knew it! Though I did have to turn around and go back to the tire shop because they forgot to put my tow hook back in the car.... It's never easy.
I was excited to get home and see my other kids though. Because of the delay, I opted not to ride. It was already after five, and my motivation was at rock bottom. Instead, I fed all the kids, cleaned up the barn, and jumped in the pool!

First time this year! It was pretty hot out, around 85 still at 9 pm. Perfect weather for an evening dip!
Monday I worked all day and rode all the boys. We had a slight rain delay, but since this was the view after, I didn't get too upset about it:

Tuesday, I only worked a half day and then headed south to Yankee Stadium! It was a GREAT game and they even managed to win! (Not exactly a given this year...)

Obviously I dressed the part for the game:

But most importantly, I ate my way through the stadium:

I made a point to only eat out of helmets. Mmmmm Nachos and Ice Cream!
Today was back to the grind. I had a crazy day at work! (Ugh. So crazy.) And followed that up with rides on Jamp and Romey. Rio once again has some fat back legs so I opted to hand walk him instead. He's back on antibiotics and a higher dose of prednisone. Hopefully he'll kick whatever this is this time. Fingers crossed!

The pugs have mostly been doing this:

Sometimes I feel a little jealous of them. But then I remember they don't have thumbs or a drivers license and then I feel better.
How was your week/weekend? Do anything fun and exciting?

Truthful Tuesday

While I was away this past weekend my most embarrassing/terrifying horse show anecdote came up a few times. Seriously. A FEW TIMES. These things really don't live themselves down do they? And I was thinking about sharing it on the blog this week. When I read a few posts about horse bonnets earlier today, one from The 900 Facebook Pony and the other from Equestrian at Hart, I knew I had to share my story. So without further ado, I shall tell you my tale of humiliation.
 Also note, I have no media from this story, but I do have photos from the same show, so those will have to suffice.

 Scene: It was 2011, my first year showing Jampy. We were riding with Terrapin Hill and the well known Bobby Braswell for the first time. Jamp was a stallion. And we had just arrived at the Vermont Summer Festival.
Once my stalls were set up and the horses tucked in (I had brought Jamp and Rio with me) our barn manager suggested I get Jampy out and flat him. Seems innocent enough, yes? If only.

I tacked up and got on. He was up, but seemed reasonable. We walked across the bridge to the horse show side and found a schooling ring that wasn't too busy to start working in. Just as I was getting him into the trot and trying to get his attention, they asked us to leave so they could water and drag. Booo. I looked around at the other schooling rings, but they all seemed to be in pretty spooky locations with a lot of traffic. I decided to play it smart and bring him back to the barn. I figured the show was nearly done for the day, so I would take him back up to lunge once classes were done and things were quieter. I hopped off because he was being rather childish. I had a running martingale on the reins, so after dismounting, I took the reins apart to remove the martingale. I wanted to make sure I had full control of the Jamposaur that was starting to breathe fire. While I was doing this, there was a fly bugging him (lol... pun intended). He finally got so annoyed with the fly he shook his head REALLY hard. And this is where the bonnet talk from earlier becomes relevant.

I'm too sexy for this bonnet.

Important side note: Jamp has tiny ears, and small cheekbones.
When Jamp shook his head at the fly, the bonnet slid forward on his ears, and with the second shake it went flying off his head along with the bridle. (Due in part to his tiny facial features, yet enormous head) There I was, standing with the reins in my hand attached to nothing. And a 16.3 hand stallion standing next to me. Before I could do anything about it, he started turning away from me. I tried to hold on to the martingale strap, but that little bitty strap was not enough to stop him. Off he went.
He trotted up toward the jumper ring, where thankfully there were just two horses competing in the young jumper division. Not so thankfully, they were both mares. One rider smartly removed herself and her horse from the situation, but the other kind of stood like a deer in headlights. Jamp sauntered toward that one and then the rider realized he was a stallion... Her next decision was to flee the scene. She kicked the mare into a canter, proceeded to jump into AND out of the jumper ring, and gallop madly back to the stable area. All the while yelling, "Somebody stop him!!! He's a stallion!" Jampy was following along behind them as horses do... He was a few strides back quietly enjoying his jaunt through the show grounds. No stallion-like behavior, he just thought he was playing with another horse.
I was trying my best to chase after them, but this was before I took up running... also I was wearing half chaps and paddock boots. Not exactly running friendly attire. At some point a nice person from the horse show picked me up with their golf cart, and we followed the two-horse stampede back to the stable area. After two laps around the tents, a groom came out shaking a bucket of grain and Jampy was very easily distracted by that. I collected him shakily and threw him in his stall to calm down and think about what he'd done. And then I may or may not have cried a few tears of mortification.

Once everyone had a chance to recover from all the action, I went in search of the poor, terrified professional rider that had lead my horse on this high speed chase around the show grounds. I apologized for my horse getting loose, but in turn she attempted to report me to the steward. Thankfully the steward told her I had done nothing wrong and sometimes accidents happen. Thank you steward for not getting me suspended from horse showing eternally! (Not that I had done anything wrong, but I've never been protested before or since!)

And that my friends is the story of how my fear of bonnets was born... It's also the story of why Jamp is now a gelding.