We made it to Oregon yesterday afternoon where Steve Holt! spent the night next door to Princess, Kevin Sink's little mare. He made himself right at home, comfortable enough to lay down for the night. This morning we headed on over to the Expo grounds. Steve Holt! did well under saddle in both arenas; a bit fast but not at all out of control. We even loped big, smooth circles off the rail, one handed at that!
I put him in his stall for the afternoon, then fed him an early dinner before we headed over to the in hand competition. We were middle of the pack...just enough time for Steve Holt! to burn off a bit of negative energy before heading in.
Wrong.
Before heading in, he did a big leap above the ground and kicked out as Darling went past him to get his rope halter (we bought a beautiful new green web one but he wasn't responding) which took me totally by surprise. Once in the 'hole' where the conditioning judge was to look him over, he began to dance and shift around to the point of her having a hard time getting a look. When the crowd applauded the horse ahead of us, he reared and struck out! Very much not him. He was on edge and this was going to be tough. The announcer asked the crowd not to applaud while we were in the arena, which was good. Still, he was nervous and struggled with the first few obstacles.
I won't know until tomorrow how we placed...I'm not holding my breath for a top 10...or even 15 at this point. Hopefully tomorrow things will be better once I'm on his back.
Darling has the video...I've yet to see it. We've been trying to upload, but it won't. Maybe tomorrow at the fairgrounds it will? Right now we're off to bed.
8 comments:
Bummer 'bout SH!'s stage fright! I bet he'll be just awesome under saddle tomorrow :) We'll be rooting for you!!
Oh Tracey, sorry to hear about that! Reading your post gave me flashbacks about my experience last year! Rem was the same way, he wouldn't stand for the conditioning judge and the crowd sure made him nervous. I hope your riding pattern goes better.
Good luck!!
Hang in there! Maybe he'll be more settled in by tomorrow.
Oh, that's tough. But he's sure to do better tomorrow.
It really is a lot to process, poor guy. Let's hope he gets a good night's sleep and will be all better in the morning :)
I thought Steve Holt did quite well on his trail coarse considering he was very afraid of the applause. He still went in and did it and wasn't afraid of the crowd. Just the clapping. He did great Tracey and I'm sure you'll do great tonight.
Lisa
Scary. I guess he got too far outside of his comfort zone. However, this new location is becoming his comfort zone as we speak, so I know you'll have a better day.
You're so brave to be there!!! I'm sure he'll settle down once he get's used to things. I'll be watching on the edge of my seat.
Good luck!!
Chin up Tracey...keep your focus. All these horses and trainers are being asked so much...you have such a great attitude about it all. We're rooting for you two...look forward to the video and some pics.
Good luck girl!
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