Al_B, Susan, Dr. Pam, and Patty--Faceoff at

[Dr. Pam]

Al_B and his wonderful gelding, Star!! It was incredible weather, super organization, great people, Texas BBQ, and wonderful courses for cones and marathon. The VSE was the largest division with 7 entries!!!

My and Susan's goal was to make it through the day without getting eliminated; Patty's goal was to finish in the Top 5. Al, being the mildly competitive person that he is, came to mop up the field with the rest of us :bgrin . Seriously, he started an intimidation campaign weeks earlier.

OK--really--he is a blast, and he really is as good as I was afraid he was going to be. Of the 4 of us, I'm the only one who has competed in a sanctioned ADS event (gimmie a break--it was 2 years ago), so Al getting 1st, my 2nd, Susan's 3rd and Patty's 5th made a preety good showing for us Forum folks. When he gets home, hopefully he'll post our group shot, and some pics of him and Susan. There was a great photography team there, and you could buy a CD with all your pics from the event for $55 and open end use. So, without further ado:

Me and SR Desert Sun 2nd Overall

-2nd place Dressage

-2nd place Cones

-3rd place Marathon (2.9 penalty points for coming in too fast!)

Dressage (the cart is a Jerald with the patent boot removed and 30" wood wheels):

Cones

a side view of my new Bellcrown:

you can see the obstacle judges and in the distance (on the left) a few of the outriders the kept an eye on us. There were 30 entries over all, and the marathon covered 200 acres of beautiful but rugged Texas hill country:

sidenote--I love the Bellcrown!! The course got a little rough, and there were lots of cactus and brush. It rode great, the balance is wonderful, and I never missed having a backrest. My harness for Dressage is the new Carriage harness from Lisa at Ozark, and my marathon harness is made of betathane and comes from Carriage House in FL.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Congratulations!!! It looks and sounds as if you had a blast! Wish I could have been there!

 

[Dr. Pam]

Patty and SR Desert Mist--all 29 1/2" of her! Patty was the only Junior driver at the whole event, and Misty was by far the smallest horse. Misty hates cold weather and was pretty cranky for dressage, was warmed up enough to SMOKE us all in cones, but scored huge time faults for coming in 6 MINUTES UNDER time in the marathon!!!! They come in 5th overall--I'm so proud of how well the 2 of them handled themselves this weekend.

Saluting the judge prior to dressage:

blazing a trail in cones:

Marathon

She is using a Graber in Dressage and Cones--the wood wheels we ordered came the day before we left and woudn't fit on the axel :-( . Lester at Graber says we'll need to get it machined, and we just didn't have time. Her marathon cart is the ever popular Frontier Easy Entry with NO FLAT TIRES!! This was CRITICAL to making it through without popping a tire--I can't even imagine what would have happened with tubes!!! We have a cart on order from Lignite Carriage for Misty--I can't wait!

One of the great things about getting all the pictures is to get an outside view of yourself and your horse. I had no idea Sunny's headset was so over the bit in dressage, and how off the greens in my hat and jacket were (small thing but it bugs me. Darn, need to go shopping...)

I can't say enough good things about Al and Susan, or about the whole crew of Sunrise Ridge. Drive On!

 

[Equuisize]

That looks like a GREAT day!!!

 

[nootka]

Wow, that looks like a great time.

I vow one day Mouse and I will compete, though I am highly intimidated by all the rules and such, I figure we will have fun even if we make a bunch of mistakes.

Thanks for sharing the pics and congratulations on the placings!!!

Looking forward to Al's pics, too.

Liz

 

[Dr. Pam]

Liz, the people both here and in Iowa have been extremely informative and supportive. Everyone pitches in to help everyone else, and they all keep an eye out for us newbies. The first thing you need to do is join ADS and get a rule book, plus you'll be getting the Whip and Omnibus (their periodicals). Actually, there is a lot LESS to bring to a show than when going to a breed show, and no makeup :aktion033: .

 

[hairicane]

What wonderful pix and everyone looks great. The horses look like they are having a blast!!! We are getting several of our horses trained to drive right now. We cant wait!!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Jealous jealous jealous.... You lucky dogs! You had an event already. With great weather. And photographers who let you have EVERYTHING for $55?? The only one up here who had a CD option wanted $120 for ten images. And you have a Bellcrown. I'm jealous.... :lol:

Anyway, as for the competition itself: :worshippy: You guys did awesome! I agree on learning from pictures, I've been able to train myself and progress for a year so far because I watch myself on video and figure out what I need to do differently. Video and pictures are GOOD!

:

Who was that gorgeous light-colored horse in the background of Patty's cones picture?

I love the Bellcrown and all the harnesses, I am so excited about getting my new super deluxe beta harness from the Carriage House this week! Especially since my Houghton didn't work out when I finally got to try it tonight and that means I won't have any wooden wheels this year.

At least the new harness can keep me happy.

Oh well. It's late, I'm tired, and this post is totally disjointed but I hope you realize I am sincere in both my congratulations and my gratitude to you for posting such excellent pictures. I can't wait to see Al's additions. I had no idea you'd only done one ADS event before this! Here I thought you were all experienced...

:

And I love the end to your post: Drive On, indeed!

Leia

Edited to add: Oh, as for the hat and jacket. Since the scarf matches the hat and the jacket matches the apron, it all came out looking good. Don't bother shopping! Just work on getting Sunny's head to be a bit less in front of the bit and you'll be killer.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Congratulations to all of you! What fun to have a great group to compete and enjoy with doing ADS. I've heard nothing but good from people that compete.

Your carts and turn out looks fine (I had to go back and look at your hat/jacket - I'm that way about stuff too regardless of what anyone else says!!)

It is interesting for a newbie (like me) to driving to see the different carts/harnesses - the Bellcrown is gorgeous!

I hope all of you will continue to post more photos - its really exciting to see them!

 

[SkipsMom]

Awesome, great turnouts, good looking mini's against a background of beautiful Texas sky! Your photos and descriptions of who's got whom's harness & cart in each section is so helpful!!! Congrats on the placings too!

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Pam, you look fabulous! Sounded like a perfect day for all. Congratultions!

 

[wildoak]

Pictures are wonderful, and it looks like so much fun! One of these days........

:

Jan

 

[Al B]

It truly was a fabulous weekend. The weather started out a bit chilly Saturday morning but warmed up to a comfortable 72. Pam and Patty are formidable competitors and just a lot of fun to be around. And, if there's ever a question about under 30 inch minis driving just go watch Patty and her little mare. That horse is truly amazing. I was in front of her in the marathon and thought She was going to run me over. Ane she kicked butt in the cones beating everyone with the fastest time.

And I did not start a campaign of intimidation weeks earlier. I simply inquired as to your preparedness for the competition.

It was a lot of fun and the scores were very close. I will try to post some pictures tonight.

 

[Shari]

I love it!!! Sounds and looks like everyone had a wonderful time!!

 

[CountryHaven]

Those are GREAT pics. Al come on, show us yours! (and LOL@I simply inquired as to your preparedness--too funny.)

Hats off to all of you for a job well done.

I love that Bellcrown too. Wow.

 

[ClickMini]

WOOOHOOOO!!! :aktion033: Bravo!

Ally and I will be attending our first CDE clinic in 4-1/2 weeks time, not that I'm counting! LIZ, you should come audit that clinic! It is an Intro to CDE clinic at Happ's. http://www.happs-inc.com I audited last year, ended up scribing for the judging, it was too much fun and so educational. Do NOT be afraid of the CDE crowd, they are the most fun ever! Just great folks.

I also really appreciate the equipment info. Why are you not using your Ozark carriage harness in marathon...is this the one that you were involved in the design in?

LOVE and ADORE that little itsy-bitsy mare!!! Umm maybe I'm a little biased, because she sure does look alot like my little Alladdin. She is WORKIN' it in those pics, soooo pretty! Now did you order special equipment to fit her? Especially a cart? When Alladdin stands next to even my A sized carts, he is totally dwarfed by them. Need more info.

:

 

[Charlotte]

Well I am MAJOR impressed! Dr Pam, that little horse you are driving.....he makes it look FUN! He looks so happy with his work! And you know I'm in love with the tiny mare! she must be a real go getter! Her pictures need to be submitted to the World for the performance issue.........to show that you don't have to have a tall one to be competitive and have FUN!

Sure makes me wish I could drive....do you think I could make it around a turn with my vertigo??? LOL I'd be out of the cart for sure!

Congratulations on your placings and thank you for posting these beautiful pictures!

Charlotte

 

[Kathy]

HI Pam, Congratulations! Looks like you had a wonderful time and Sunny & Misty look wonderful!

: It was so good to see them again. BTW, since most of you don't know, I'm the proud horse grandma :aktion033:

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Click, my guess is that like many of us she didn't want to have to clean sweat and dirt galore off of her nice expensive leather harness before she had to go back and do cones! :lol: Besides, once you've got that nice nifty synthetic harness the best place to show it off is in marathon. Who could resist?

I don't know if there are water hazards at the Sunset Ridge HDT but that's why I bought my new harness. One time of having to oil and clean my leather harness after an exhausting marathon just so it would look good the next day was once too many! The water hazard and creek crossings at Happ's are a bit deeper on a mini than a big horse and the harness gets correspondingly wetter.

Leia

 

[Chamomile]

I am absolutely GREEN with envy!!!

: Those photos are absolutely beautiful and so informative. I feel like a learned a lot just from looking. I just can't wait until I have a horse that I can do this with!!! It looks like so much fun. I love that harness from Ozark. One of these days... I got a brand new show harness from my dad for Christmas, from Ozark. When we were picking it out, I pointed out that harness, but after I picked him up off the floor... we agreed on the fine show harness by Mose Miller.

: I will have to save up amd get that harness myself!

Thank you so much for posting these wonderful pictures!! It is truely inspiring

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