I get out of bed at 6am, load the car, get dressed, go to the paddock. Truck's dead. AGAIN! Tried to jump it with our car, but the battery ain't big enough so had to call poor "K" and gether out of bed to come rescue me, AGAIN. Get the truck started, drive it down to the arena. I couldn't for the life of me catch 2nd gear, so I stalled... Truck's dead AGAIN, had to get "K" to jump me AGAIN! Yep, morning's going great so far!!
Catch the horse (he was no probs) and led him to the truck.... "Ohhhhhh no Mum, I am NOT going on there" ....He'd get to the top of the ramp, and then run back down full speed. NOT good when it's a pretty steep ramp.... 30 mins later (and getting dangerously close to showtime) we're on board....
So off we set, and the truck's a snail, so it takes us another half hour to get to the grounds. Dead on 9am. Show started at 9. The Palomino's were up first in my ring, then the Standardbreds. I did NOT have time to finish plaiting him, so I ripped them all out and we went 'natural' ... (would have had time, if he had of loaded) .... Quickly did his hooves (BAD job), no makeup, he'd crapped all down his legs which I'd tried to get off... and I stuffed myself into my show attire... I had NO idea what it looked like!! No time for preening.
I sent Eric to get my 2 tickets. He comes back saying they wanted to charge him $70 so he only bought one.... WTF? Turns out, he bought a full day ticket. I only wanted 2 classes. Yeah. I should be more specific next time.... Mental note: get refund!
And then I hear it.... They're calling my class!! Where's the ring?? The furtherst point from where I parked. Ofcourse it is!!! I hand my horse to Eric - "take him to Ring 2" I shout .... He strolls off casually. I grab my jacket, run past, grab my horse, and away we go. I get halfway round the ring: "Final Call" for my class over the loudspeaker. Nearly there. No-one is waiting to be judged, only me trying to get there!! They call the NEXT class. Standardbred mare.... I burst into the ring and ask if I can be judged in this class .... Seemed simple to me. 1 gelding, 1 mare. Watch both, we both get first.... hahahaha ... But, they rolled back the class, and judged us separately. Both of us got first obviously... We line back up for Champion. He just hands them out. Mare is Champ, Red is Reserve. Knew THAT was coming, given we looked like scruffs!!!! And you know, it was at this point, I realized I WAS NOT WEARING MY VELVET SHOW HAT!!!! Yeah. GREAT class. I spent hours of preparation, and it looked like I'd done nothing and just crawled out of a ditch somewhere.
Went back to the ticket office and explained my story re: the "ill informed,well-intentioned parter", the class tickets and the day ticket. The old girls thought it was hilarious (I can't say I shared the same sentiment at that point) ... So they refunded me. I counted it later, they gave me the wrong amount. So the show cost me next to nothing (Maybe I should hold onto that thought, as my ONE good point to the day) ...
I figure while I'm here, I may as well do ridden class (thinking classes were closer together) ... I saddle up - Red's being a bit annoying. Shy at this, snort at that, don't stand still to mount etc etc... Finally scramble on (losing my patience some more) and start to walk over to the ring. There was a stroller behind us, and apparently, this was the stroller from hell!! It really WAS going to eat us at any moment, and we had to escape it's clutches, LIKE NOW!!... So I stopped and let it pass - he was back to normal ... Weirdo. This was his first outing, and it was also the first outing of my new banana (radioactive banana colour!) NON stickbum jods... NOte to self: don't do that EVER again. I did NOT like the feel of it, having ridden in stickybums for long...
Waiting around for near an hour, and most of my cheer squad had now departed (having not seen us in the led class either, surprised anyone saw the grey whirlwind straight from the "How NOT to Attend a Show Class" catalouge!!), I was told Standardbred Ridden class was now not until after lunch at 1pm.... It was now 11am.... No thanks. Not waiting another 2 hours for a class he's not really up to scratch for anyway .... I dismounted, and we walked back to the truck. I unsaddled him, brushed him down, and put his travel boots on.
Do you think he would load? "No thanks Mum." ... I had no patience left today. None. I refused to let anyone help - the damn horse was going to go on the truck whether he liked it or not (and it was a definite "or not" for Red) ... Got him up, he stood nicely, I put the bar next to his bum and he was fine, then he decided to run backwards at the speed of light back down the ramp.... I was going to end up with a broken leg (mine, or his, or both!) or a broken tailgate at this rate .... Finally got him up there and we were on our way home. Slowly. So slowly. Just breathe, it will all be okay...
I drove out infront, the truck tailed behind. I watched in the mirror as Eric tried to merge into the traffic lane, and was cutoff by a car who refused to give way.... The truck had to veer to avoid it... I, saw, RED! Pure red fury. I had to resist the urge to let the car get close enough for me to jam on my brakes and let him maneuver out of a precarious situation. I didn't, because I was aware my truck was also coming, with my partner and horse on board. That car should consider itself damn lucky the things I care about most were on that truck.
We get back to the Equestrian Centre, and unload Red. Coming down is a breeze - "I can do this one Mum! See how good I am?!" ..... He's very happy to be back, Huey spots us and calls out -Red calls back. I put him in the paddock, and he trots over to Huey to say hello, then he comes back and immediately stops, drops and rolls in his favourite dustbowl. No more shiny grey horse. I washed him, WHY?!
I go and collect the feeds, and do the rounds to all 3 - and then I hightail it home.
My first show in a long time. Yeah, I'm just DYING to go again!! (Mental note: camp overnight next time, you idiot) ...
Without further adieu, here are some pics!
No comments:
Post a Comment