Slow & Steady (and some studs don't hurt)

If there are downsides to being sidelined and forbidden to ride (there are plenty, believe me... my husband will attest that not riding adversely affects nearly all of my charm and sociability) - there are also upsides, like your horse being really, really, really tuned up without any noisy interference from yours truly.

Prairie finished the week at Evergreen beautifully.  She placed in all but one of her classes - which I consider to be pretty frigging awesome given it was her first AA show, two big divisions and her first time on grass.

very blurry video still

I did opt to throw hind shoes on so I could give her some studs.  I was on the fence about it, and while she seemed comfortable cantering around on grass at home, I know that she still gets very nervous when she loses her balance and all the dry weather had me worried the rings would be hard and slick.

S reported that she felt the difference in her balance immediately.  Apparently she felt like Prair was way more willing to sit and turn from her haunches than she is even at home in the sand.  While I'm a firm believer that there's nothing stopping a barefoot horse from maintaining it's own balance, I do admit that Prair is not naturally great at balancing herself and perhaps the grip of her studs was a very reassuring thing for her.

I'm curious to see if the shoes alone affect her at home or not.  My intention is to pull them this week, but I guess we'll see.  I really want to ride her myself before I make a decision on that...

Whether it was the studs, the heat (80's! perfect!) or just her ever increasing experience, Prair was as relaxed as she's ever been at a show ever.

I'm sad I didn't actually get to see her go, but I did actually come out of my drug induced haze long enough to ask S to sign us up for some videoed rounds so I could at least witness what was going on.

We taped two rounds, here's the one I like less.  The super fabulous round is being a pain in the ass on youtube, but this one is pretty good too.  She doesn't seem quite as relaxed in this one, and she's got a late change - but all in all pretty awesome by Prairie standards. 



I really need to get back on.