Roxy Goes to a Show

   
      My cousin Katie who lives several states away also loves horses. I really like having a cousin who loves horses like me. It great that I have someone that I can spend time just talking horses with. She rides western, and does kind of a working student thing at this barn. She trades cleaning stalls for lessons. Its really neat. This summer she got the chance to lease the horse she rides in lessons and did several shows with her. Roxy, the horse, is an appaloosa mare and I have actually ridden her before. She's a really fun horse to ride. Anyway, Katie and Roxy's biggest event of the summer was their local 4-H horse show. Where they would be staying at the fairgrounds for a week to show. Since they were going to be there all week and she didn't want to be there by herself they asked if I would drive up to keep her company. Of course I said yes. A whole week in the horse barn at a county fair? How could I refuse! So off I went on an eight hour drive. (I guess you could say I'm pretty dedicated to horses.)
     When I got there they had already moved Roxy to the fairgrounds the day before, and since they had just gotten back from the barn from taking care of her they didn't need to go back until morning. The next morning was the first day of showing. Classes started at 9 a.m. and we had a ton to do first to get ready. That meant we had to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning. Ya, it was a bit early. But hey its horses so it was worth it! When we got down to the stable the first order of the day was to feed Roxy. Then while she was eating we polished the tack. I got the job of cleaning Katie's riding boots. I must say I think I'm a pretty good tack cleaner! After that (and Roxy had finished her breakfast) was just touching up the horse. Since she had worn the pink cover thing the night before she was pretty clean.

 Basically all we had to do was paint her hooves and put her fake tail on. (Yes, she wears a fake tail. Weird, right? That's what I thought. I didn't really know that people did that in western pleasure. I guess I know now!) And saddle her up of course. Then it was a long walk over to the arena. (Why they didn't put the barn next to the arena I will never know)

 The two of them did 4 classes that day. They did amazing! They got first place in each class. The first day of showing was for first year 4-H members. So I think it means for people that hadn't shown 4-H before. Anyways, we were all pretty excited for them.

     Day 2 they didn't have any actual shows. We still spent all day at the barn since Katie had to take care of Roxy. She also practiced and rode Roxy in the arena during a practice session. (It was like lunch break so they said anyone could go and ride in the arena.) After that we didn't have anything to do for a bit until Roxy needed more water so we went and sat in the livestock show barn and watched a pig show. I had now idea there were so many different types of pigs...

     Day 3 it was back to showing. This time it was the open shows so all the kids were in them and the competition was a lot more stiff. Still Katie and Roxy did great. I was pretty excited for them. They did an amazing job! I don't exactly remember what she won, but she did place in all but one of her classes. So they did really well considering these were the people who had been doing this for many years.

There were about 19 people in this class.

     All in all it was a tiring but super fun week. I feel like I learned a ton about horse showing that I didn't know before. I hope they do it again next year!