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Saturday, Oct. 03, 2009

Carol Reiter: End of horse show season

Horse show season is over, thank goodness.

Although I was sick during a large part of it, my friends were gone almost every weekend, showing Willy's babies.

Showing horses can be a lot of fun, but, boy, can it be a lot of hard, hard work. First there is the work at home, training the horses and making sure they are the right weight and their coat is nice and shiny.

Then comes the day before a show. Shampoos, conditioners, gels and other products normally associated with young girls are a staple in any horse show tack box. Our trailers both have big tack rooms, and they are full of every kind of shampoo and conditioner known to man it seems.

And show days are usually hot, dusty and full of stress. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but it's kind of weird, because we usually have a good time.

This year, two of Willy's yearlings were shown. One was Ace, a nice gelding, and the other was Mimi, a little filly who is a carbon copy of her mom. The two babies are too young to get ridden, but there are now classes for yearlings that are headed for the show ring when they are older.

These classes are called longe line and in-hand trail. In longe line, a horse is put on a 20-foot line and walks, trots and lopes around its handler. In the trail class, the yearling is led over bridges, through gates, over poles and past spooky things. Just like when they're older and will be ridden, only they are led instead of ridden.

It sounds easy, right? Wrong. It takes a lot of work, a lot of sweat, and a lot of trying to think like a horse to get a yearling to do the things you want it to do. Yearlings tend to be scatter-brained animals that have a death wish. Poor Ace went to so many shows with cuts, scrapes and scars that I'm sure people thought we beat the poor baby. Mimi was a little better, but she has a big swoosh of a scar on her hip from a run-in with a fence, so she has a permanent scar to deal with.

Despite the fact that Mimi and Ace spent every night outside, acting like regular horses, both babies ended the year on a good note. Ace won a buckle for his owner, and Mimi, who got a late start, brought home a fistful of ribbons and trophies for her owner.

And now show season is over. Well, there are a couple more shows, but Ace and Mimi are through for the year. Their owners are tired, the babies are tired, and the horse trailers and trucks got a bunch more miles on them than they did at the beginning of the season.

Ace is back out on pasture, living with the broodmares and remembering what it's like to just be a horse, not a show horse. Mimi is back with her brother Que, and they are best buddies again.

With winter on the way, horse shows pretty much stop. Mud doesn't make for good shows, and a lot of horses need some time off.

But the new show season starts early next spring, and we have six babies that are headed for the show ring. Well, maybe not all of them, because some are for sale, but there are two for sure.

Jason is a stocky, gorgeous little guy who wants to be everyone's friend, and he is a Willy baby through and through. He just wants to please you, and acts like he was born broke. That's how Ace was when he was a baby, and his brother, Jack, is the same way. Jack was sold, but he is being steered toward the yearling classes, and I'm sure he'll be as good, if not better, than his brother.

And we have Gia, a full sister to a horse named Mia, Willy's very first foal. Mia won a buckle for her owner last year as a two year old, and had some good shows this year, too. She is growing like a weed, and will be a tough, tough four year old, believe me.

So while the weather cools off and the mares get big with next year's babies, this year's weanlings play and wrestle and grow. My friend likes to sit outside at night and watch the babies, and she says it's better than television.

I agree. There's nothing like a foal to make you believe in the future. And it looks like our future is looking pretty bright.

Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.