Liz, Leia, Crabby Chickens and the rest...

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susanne

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I'm still whimpering over not getting to go, so although you're probably still recuperating, I am in desperate need of my vicarious thrill !

So how did you all do?
 
Boy, we missed you! Sorry you didn't make it...Leia filled me in a little and I hope you all are doing okay.

The show was really good, KUDOS to Tracy and her support team for stepping in and pulling it off in a most wonderful way! There were some really excellent quality animals at the show. I thought the judging was very fair and consistent with all three judges. I think it is one of a handful of shows I have ever been to that I heard basically no complaints!

A super fun addition to the show was a Gambler's Choice halter obstacle jackpot class. It was judged by Tracy and someone else who I can't remember at this moment (yes I am still fuzzy around the edges). There was a series of obstacles which were assigned point values. You create your own course. It was well-attended; entry fees were a dollar per go, put into a pot on the way in. Winner take all! People were really rushing through the course, generating a fair amount of hilarity along the way. OK, we laughed until we cried! Syndi Kanzler and Sharon Bullington entered their big dogs! It was way fun, I wish every show we had something fun like that. Like Oregon Gold, where we had the cones course. Just some great good times for all of us "Flamingos!" By the way, Ally and I did run the course, but we didn't have a good enough point strategy to get into contention. :DOH!

As for my little show string...

Esprit showed in a LOT of classes on Friday morning. He started off well and it got even better. He was unanimous Sr. Stallion Champion, under division.
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He was a very good boy at the show. Just like last year, the first show he was kind of a brat, but by the second one he knows his business. We were beaten in the Grand class by some just beautiful jr. stallions. All you can do is shrug and say congrats to the winners, because their horses are every bit as beautiful as your own! I really do think the quality in the classes was very deep. Here is a pic of Esprit from Oregon Gold just a few weeks ago:

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Colors is as gorgeous a mare as I could ever want, but she is just not into showing yet. She lacks the mental maturity to show well. She gets so nervous and fidgets alot. Then when she is calm enough to stand, she just doesn't have any "show," if you know what I mean. She is just a soft little girl. There were six horses in her open class, where she placed 5th under one judge. We did a bit better in Amateur, where we received a 3rd out of 7 under the same judge. I did put her in Liberty also. She totally didn't get the point of it right away. When I removed the halter, she just stood there for a second, until I waved the whip at her. Then she wanted to be down at the gate (so typical). Then she FINALLY figured out there was a big arena, and she started using it. Sadly, she really didn't show her gorgeous trot, I was bummed because when she does it at home her hoofbeats go exactly in time to the music. She really floats, I can hardly wait to drive this girl as a 3yo. Our catch was terrific, and I believe based on that we did obtain one fifth place out of 13 in the class. Not too shabby for our first attempt! She will get it, eventually. Here is a pic of Colors from the Oregon Gold show, I think she is just beautiful and would not trade her for any other mare!

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Finally, Ally and I have really been trying to find our niche in the AMHR shows, still to no avail. I dropped the check way down and drove her in Western CP at this show. Well, she was NOT all about that, I can assure you! She is too "hot" to be that type, that is for sure. I believe I will move her back into the standard CP for the Cavalcade of Ponies show in a couple of weeks. Regardless of our driving style, Ally LOVES and does fabulous in Halter Obstacle. Out of three in our open class, she obtained unanimous 1st places. In Ammy there were 4, and Ally received two firsts and a second. She does so well in "thinking" style classes, I think I will keep her in that realm especially after we finish the Cavalcade show. If I do bring her to a show, it will be for Obstacle stuff or something like it. Otherwise it is CDEs for us! That is where we excel...you know we feel "the need for speed!"
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Here she is in a little more competitive show frame at the Oregon Gold show:

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Anyway, so much for the book I wrote about the show! It was so fun as always to hang out with my friends and enjoy our mini friends together. Thanks so much to Tracy, the show crew, and the judges, you guys are all awesome!
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I'll be seeing many again in just a few short weeks.
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Cheers to you and yours, Amy!!!

(...more whimpers for me and mine...)

I LOVE Esprit!! He is so gorgeous and such a sweet boy (and such eye candy for a leg woman like me!)

...Mingus was all dressed up with nowhere to go, and I'm absolutely jonesing for a show...sigh...
 
Hiya!

I didn't get up for Friday, as my Dad was here from PA to visit, and I felt bad leaving him here for the three days of the show. I skipped solid color (good thing as Mouse clipped out blotchy and pale) and his Under Liberty class (poor Brandon! He is really wanting to show more and more now) and got up at 3 a.m. to drive up in time for the mare classes w/Nena.

I hoped my Dad would keep the boys, but he didn't, and I didn't think to enter Pyro in the show at all other than to send his papers...so when I arrived, I had three horses to deal with (Pyro was stalled and looked great thanks to Leia, but he was not measured, entered nor ready to go in the ring, yet, though he had until Sunday to get htat way!) and two little boys with too much energy and just me to deal with it all.

We did miserably in all of our classes, pretty much placing last or next-to-last, pretty deservedly. There was no sour grapes, here! I was the only one in Open Jumper w/Mouse and we had four faults (refusal) in that. In Amateur, there was one other competitor and we had a clean round (Mouse did me proud and jumped the flower baskets on crates that I Just KNEW he would refuse, not once, but twice, and once fairly rushed. I could not cut that approach short, though, not with that skeeeery thing in view). The timer disadvantaged us by one second, sadly, so we were last place. I am proud of Mouse, though, and I think he enjoys jumping and has soured on halter, or my training has run out. He was flat and antsy and more interested in pulling his lead rope and biting it than showing.

I was hoping to finish his halter HOF (one more Grand Champ), but I don't think that will happen.

Even Pyro I messed him all up even though he is just as beautiful as ever (he is officially 35" tall). He was outclassed by horses with better handlers and a little more polish on them (my clippers broke before the show, leaving major tracks on everyone). Pyro really has potential and one gracious judge even told me so.

Sadly, it really sealed my decision NOT to go again to a show unless the boys' dad is there or their older brother/Katie to help watch. I was having to discipline my kids from the arena and deal with horses that could tell I was stressed. it was not fair to anyone.

Sounds like a bummer, but it wasn't. It's still a horse show, and the worst day at a horse show is better than most good days.

Colton provided comic relief on Saturday, and even a little on Sunday. Brandon was disappointed that he could not show...he really is getting good with the horses. Summer Sayles-Ruegger gave him one very good lesson at Sea Tac over a month ago, and he didn't forget much of it, because he held horses for me to take pictures, and told everyone he was going in the ring. I didn't have a membership for him, nor any clothes, but next time I will make it more about him (easier for me to provide support for him than to have to babysit from inside the ring while his little brother beats up on him) and probably have wayyy more fun.

Welp, that's it! susanne and Keith, Mingus too, we missed you! You would not believe how fit and great Kody looks, and how feeling so good gives him more energy to be a little wildman...nor would you believe how sweet and fun Pyro has become. I will let Leia divulge his Over Liberty escapades because the glory is all hers!

She really has given him a new zest for interaction and he's so eager to learn. I felt bad that I could not get his best from him.

UGH I'm still sleepy, I think I have had 15 hours sleep in four days' time. Not as bad as poor Kim, though, who's had a sick horse on top of a horse show weekend. There's some Falcon news, too, which I hope she has time to come post.

next "maybe" show for us will not be until August, and again only if Martin and/or Ken or Katie are here to have the kids under control.

There's my book!

(Thanks to the Crabby Chickens for hosting us...they are the BEST friends (and I met 'em right here on LB!))

Amy, your horses looked great, and you, too. Was good to see LindaL and thanks to HHP (Annette's)'s generosity in loaning a halter for Pyro!

We were stabled near Country Rose minis (yayyy) and if the lady who owns "Judge" reads this, please contact me privately...I did not get to give you my email or phone info.

Missed you, LoriG!

Good seeing Mark and Sharon, too, and the great staff at the show made it a fun experience in spite of all MY stress.

Liz
 
Congrats to everyone!!!
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Sounds like it was a fun show, I'm sorry to have missed it.

Kari
 
It WAS fun, hope my "whining" didn't imply otherwise. It's just that I took on too much, and somewhat unexpectedly though I continued to try even though I shouldn't have.

Not that the horses really care (Pyro's probably confused and "hate you now" mode with me, but he'll forget that. Someday.).

Missed you, too, Kari...would love to see you at an R show sometime!

Liz
 
I will have to add to the compliments to Tracy and her crew,,, it was a nice family oriented show.... It is nice to be able to go in and have a good time! I had to take a day off work and it was a big cleaning day so I felt bad in the first place. We showed Friday and Falcon was nice in a helpful mood. So he looked a little sour. He didn't place well. He did get a reserve champion senior stallion. Did alright in solid color.

The fun was my son Matthew (17) took him in jumping... I SWEAR he LOVES it.. no,,, not the child,,, the horse. He could not jump a twig at 4 years, at 5 the light bulb went off. Matthew and Falcon love to go as fast as possible!!!! They have a great time in it,, Falcon does this weird happy buck buck dance after EVERY jump!!! it is like a rodeo on a string! But he came in second out of 7 I think.... And my daughter won three firsts in ammy jumper. She was NOT happy that Falcon was all amp-ed up after youth jumper!!!!! She almost fell and hurt herself good, but they made it....

Came home unpacked and lo and behold,,, my daughters mare came in from our field with a bad gas colic. We had the vet out at 10 pm last night. Be she is okay today.... geez. I am too old for this.

Loved seeing people,,,, except the missing Lori G.... snif snif. Liz and her kids are always the funnest part of the show.

Leia got some neat pics of Falcon absolutely posing for the camera and I hope she will share! He is such a ham.

I got to bring my easy entry cart and drive Falcon at the show grounds, and that was fun!!!!!!Liz helped my fit his bit and make him happy. He thought he should be in the ring with all the other pretty ponies!
 
Sounds like a great weekend everyone!!

Crabby-Chicken, I have a gelding just like Falcon, does a buck kick and rear between each jump and is a speed guy around the course. He started it last year at my first AMHA show, and after the show I went to a clinic with one of the judges, and he remembered my horse as "the guy having to much fun in jumping
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" Hey, it must look good cuz he always places well in hunter and jumper. Always say he should have been born as a big horse so he could jump more!!
 
yep, i think Falcon's happy dance after each jump was amazing considering they put in a time 1 whole second faster than Mouse and I who were trying to go as fast as possible and all business. (Mouse is secretly jealous of Falcon's disco hair and shiny lamé pants as well as his hot moves)

Falcon's always entertaining, he's such a smart horse, and tries in every way to make things even more fun.

I really thought Falcon and Hilary deserved that blue, that was an intense run!

Thanks again, Tracy, for making this show ever better for us the exhibitors, and Barb in the show office really saved my proverbial bacon for her organization and her demeanor was always helpful, just what I needed in the chaos!!!

Liz
 
Paige,,,,,

Yes it means a lot when you can tell that the horse is having a great time... I don't think Falcon can handle hunter, he is too big of a goofy meat ball. No classiness there. When I went to look at photos of the jumping classes,, the photographer asked,, " Oh you mean the wild red horse?" HeeHee!
 
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I missed all you guys too! Waaaaaaaaaaah, I spent the weekend clipping horses for the Calwell, ID show. I was resting my show string due to the long trip we had from the Regional show in Utah. One of my clients went to watch (Classic Carr Miniatures) and he said it was weird that we were not all together. Hopefully there are a couple more show where we can all Flamingo together again. Glad to see everyone had a good time, next year I will be there!
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~Lori~
 
Kudos to Tracy and Vince, they did a great job. The show staff was a lot of fun, Barb Hento as always ran a tight ship with a smile. Mark and Sharon, two thumbs up. Gwen Rinkle on the gate, Christine in the ring and the judges had me in stitches most of the weekend. What goof balls they are but I thought their judging was good and consistent.

Liz, I am sorry, I wish I would have noticed the stress level on you, I could have helped in some way. But as usual, you appeared calm and collected. No evidence of about to unravel. Give a shout next time, we want you there.

Kim, the jumping classes were a hoot, I loved seeing the happy dance, he looked like he was having a great time.

A few days at home and then off to Caldwell, Lori G and I are joining forces and combining trailers so we only have one trailer to take down. We will give a full report when we get home.
 
I just want to thank everyone for presenting some beautiful animals - you really do have some stiff competition in the Northwest. It was a very well-run show, from my perspective. I hope you all had as much fun as Austin, Kathy and I had. We were very happy and honored to be selected to come and share our opinions with you all.

Good luck on your future shows and I look forward to seeing you all again in the near future.
 
THANK YOU all so much for coming out...believe me I was seriously stressed about it running smoothly and everyone enjoying themselves...I have to say I'm glad it's over!
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I think we need to make a few tweaks to the class list but overall it seemed to run alright...I'm very glad we weren't there until midnight!

I want to especially thank the show crew...they were all WONDERFUL and kept the show running smoothly and quickly...and had fun while they were doing it. The judges were also AWESOME...and very entertaining...I think Vince will be laughing for months to come since he spent so much time out in center arena with them.

Adam...glad you made it home alright...I'm hoping Austin made his flight Sunday night...I need to shoot Cathy a quick email to see if her trip home was OK and thank her again. You guys were great...I hope you can come out this way again in the future.

Thanks again everyone...and if there were little tweaks you'd like to see to the schedule...PLEASE feel free to let me know...I'm very open to suggestions.

Tracy
 
Tracy - thank you for the opportunity. I can tell you that Austin and Cathy have both made it home safely. I spoke with both of them today. Cathy made it in early this afternoon and Austin made it home late last evening. I got home around 7am this morning.

The only suggestion I have for class juggling would be to move the obstacle courses to Saturday afternoon. These classes take a little longer and it's nice to not feel rushed as the show winds down on Sunday afternoon/evening. Other than that, a very well run show! Congratulations!
 
Oh man...I was already feeling bad enough about missing all the fun, and then I remembered that Adam was judging! Now I really feel left behind at the station!

Hey, Liz...it totally pales in comparison, but next Saturday is the schooling show for the Columbia County Fair (which is in July), so if you are up for another road trip, it would be a low-stress opportunity for Brandon to show. Since it's only a few minutes away, we should actually make this one...
 
My turn to chime in with KUDOS to Tracy, Vince, & the ENTIRE Show Crew
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--- and the judges were a hoot, very fair, but also added a sense of humour that is so important during a show -- remember - it is supposed to be FUN!

I look forward to seeing everyone again in a couple of weeks so we can do it all again!
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Who's coming to Calvacade of Ponies in Monroe?

Stac
 
Annette, thank you for your offer of help! Not sure where it would have been best used, but it was nice just to be there, too.

Now at least I don't have the regret of not going, though the fuel prices hurt, I think it was worth it. Not to mention my Dad decided to leave early this morning instead of two weeks from now, so I missed out on two days with him, which kinda adds to my bummed-out feeling of after-show letdown!

Adam, you all three were great judges, and Tracy, I'd have never known YOU were stressed, you pulled off a great event. I am in awe of how things went, really!

Thanks again, all (and you're right, Adam, there are some very beautiful horses here in the NW).

Liz
 
Thanks Liz...I figured I had stress written all over my face! I didn't realize you were stressed either...wish I'd have known...maybe we could have come up with something to help you out! Sorry your dad left early...that is a bummer
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Tracy
 
Leia,,,,

Did any of the Falcon disco pictures turn out??? Or him and Pyro???
 

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