Almost Showtime! (again)

Holy smokes where does the time go... feels like I'm still processing Thermal and here we are already packing up for our next show series...

This time its our relatively local "season opener" for a couple weeks at the fairgrounds.  It's potentially my least favorite place to show, but at least it has a big indoor and lots of places to hide from the rain - which is more than necessary around here.

All of Prair's classes will be in the big indoor, which she's done... okay in before.  It's the same venue where we attended the Equitation Finals last fall.. so I know it's spooky for her, but hopefully she's show up with her big girl panties.  Also, we use earplugs now, which should help mitigate the drama of crinkling chip bags and the inevitable water bottle rolling down the grandstands...

ground crew.

Prair is currently scheduled to go in the 3' Pre-Greens with N, and the 3' AA's with her half-lease-lady.  Not sure if we'll end up adding the Large's or anything else as a warm-up or if we'll just rock and roll with the two Hunter divisions.

I was thinking about it, and I don't really have any goals for this show.. I guess I should think of some, but it feels weird to set goals when I'm not actually riding....

What would even be appropriate?  "eat at least one greasy breakfast sandwich?"

Or maybe, "Watch my horse win a class?"

Just seems odd.

I guess more realistically it should be something along the lines of - figure out how to have fun/stay busy as a non-riding owner.  These shows are still expensive, so if I'm not having fun and staying engaged I should rethink our schedule for the summer.

I've learned how to enjoy watching my horse be worked by a trainer, and I definitely enjoy watching her go in her open divisions - but as this baby gets bigger and bigger (which it's doing) the fun-factor of helping out with baths, or grooming or even meandering around large show grounds for hours is probably going to decrease rapidly... So that'll be neat.  (eesh).

Anyway, Prair was looking good last weekend when I saw her go.  She's definitely starting to pack on some muscle (woo!) and her gross fungus under the saddle is almost entirely cleared up (double woo).  I really want that stuff gone (obviously, it's fungus) because I know it hurts her and it's hard to separate what's sore because of fungus, and what might be sore because of kissing spine/saddle fit/etc... confounding factors are not helpful.

We played around with pads and it seems like Half-Lease-Lady's Butet fits okay with the Ogilvy (along with its shims).  One does feel a little ridiculous with the full thickness Ogilvy and shims... but it compresses so much when you girth up, the absurdity (mostly) goes away.  Not sure what we'll do for her to show in.  Maybe the Mattes half pad makes an appearance? who knows.  If I end up loving my Ogilvy I'm going to look into getting either another half pad case (in white), or biting the bullet and getting a shaped fleece show pad from them.

It was nice to see Prair's half-lease-lady have a good ride - and also nice to see her struggle with some of the same issues I do.  I think they are going to make a wonderful pair for the season and both give each other some good experience!  I'm definitely feeling more comfortable with the notion of being a spectator than I was a couple weeks ago...

It was reassuring to just spend an afternoon at the barn chatting with folks, petting noses and still getting my fix, even without getting in the saddle.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to go see Gus (and maybe squeeze in a trail ride if the weather cooperates), then I'll watch Prair school over fences on Friday before horses load up on Monday!