GSSHA Show #3

After our busy several days of reining shows last week, this Saturday’s Gem State Stock Horse show crept up on us pretty fast.  We had barely gotten show shirts washed and jeans starched and it was time to go show again!

We didn’t mind though.  All the great help we have around on show day makes a very fun and social event out of every competition. 

For this particular event, Annabelle had an exciting addition to her gear.  The super-sweet Jacki Massimino had offered to let her borrow a new little saddle for the show.  My baby girl has grown so much this year that she will soon need a larger size saddle, so we were happy for the chance for her to actually ride in a bigger seat so we could make a more educated purchase.

Jacki bought this little 13” beauty for her grandkids, and it was so generous of her to offer it to Annabelle for this show.  We met Jacki out at the Lucky Run Arena on Friday so that Annabelle could practice riding in the new gear.

Of course, Batman had to sit in the saddle first.  Don’t you love his cowboy outfit?

Once we got into the arena, Annabelle got to riding. 

Batman had brought an old camera of mine that he had found in my desk drawer and which, to both of our surprise, still worked.  He busied himself taking pictures of everything.

Annabelle got to ride around with Jacki and she thought that was very fun.  The little saddle fit her perfectly.

After Annabelle was finished riding, Batman got it into his head that it was his turn to ride.  Alone.  That doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but Batman has never held the reins before.  He usually just sits there while I lead him around and around or up and down hills or whatever.

Not today though.  He wanted to ride.  Alone.  With Jacki.

So he did.

He thought he was pretty cool stuff.  Chic just walked slowly around the pen, keeping pace with Jacki’s horse Chexi.  He is one awesome pony.

After we were finished, Batman gave Chic a bath.

We helped a little, but he did pretty much all of the spraying. Needless to say, we were all clean by the end.

Once the Chicster was all washed up, we headed into town to have lunch.  In addition to Kris, the kids and I were happy to have Nicole from Lucky Run join us.  Batman though she was very neat indeed. 

We were up bright and early Saturday morning to head to Ontario, Oregon for the show.  Despite still enjoying his last few days on crutches (not), Desperate Hubby came along for the ride. 

And he wasn’t the only fan there.  Annabelle was beside herself when she found out that Grandma Becki and Uncle Mike would be coming to watch.

She was in the warm-up pen when they arrived, going through her typical pre-show loping around.

When she spotted Grandma Becki, though, it was a whole new ball game.

She spun. And spun. And spun. Sorry Chic.

She ran down.  Hard.  Look at that smile on her face!

We finally put her hat on, and she stopped so hard that she broke the string that went under her chin to hold it on.  I knew it wouldn’t last long in the show pen and I was right.

There were two other little kids in Annabelle’s class on Saturday.  They were so cute I just had to show them to you. 

This little boy is an awesome hand.  He rode that little black pony like he stole it.  In fact, even when the pony bucked right in the middle of his pattern he just held on and kept a kickin’.

This girl is a few years older than Annabelle, but they hit it off right away at the last show when they bonded over the fact that they have the exact same cowgirl boots. She did an excellent job on her big paint horse.

Finally it was Annabelle’s turn.  You can watch her run below.

I was happy with her run.  She had a couple of mistakes, but had improved so much in a couple of key areas.  She is very, very fortunate to be able to learn on such a great horse. 

When the show as over my little girl was happy, too.  In fact, everyone in the family had fun.  We hung around and watched our friends for a little while, then headed home to go to the cousins’ birthday party at Aunt Susie’s.

It was a perfect day.

A special thanks again to Jacki for letting Annabelle try the little saddle.  We are much more well-educated shoppers now.  And, though I say it often, I can never say it enough.  Thank you to Kris for sharing Chic, and to all the other helpers who make it such a fun experience to come out and show. 

And Grandma Becki?  Annabelle was so thrilled to have you there.  We hope to see you at lots more shows in the future.