| 2006 Show Results & Calendar |
| First Show of 2006 (and Neko's first show EVER) - WV Spring Fling Circuit - AQHA - Phillipi, WV April 8-9, 2006 (It poured all Friday through Sunday morning - nonstop). Which is why we try to only show at arenas with covered pens..... Neko's First Horse Show |
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| Neko's job at her first show was to just to get used to being in such close proximity to other horses and to deal with all of the commotion and confusion going on around her. With all of the other horses in the warm up area so close and bumping into her, we expected her to do a little dance & prance and not want to pay attention (maybe even get disqualified for not being able to stand still) but she amazed us by walking in like an old pro. We practice every night but you just never know how they will react with all of the stimulation of a first show. You can see at left she is paying attention and setting her feet. She stood perfectly still for the class and got a ribbon on her first try! She is quite the ham and thought everyone was there to look at HER! Below left - one of the judges checking her teeth. We had never practiced this and Neko surprised us again by never moving her feet. She picked her head up thinking 'what are they doing!" but did not move her feet. After the judge walked away, you can see her below with her tongue out! (The nerve! Those judges didn't wash their hands between horses!) Both judges really liked her - the only chastisement was that she was a little underweight to be showing at a show of this level and that we should know better, which we knew and are working on correcting but couldn't get her weight up enough fast enough in the past two weeks. She needs more weight to fill out her flanks & hindquarters and we told the judges we were working on it. So we decided not to take her in any more classes at this show knowing the judges had mentioned her weight but she still spent time walking around the grounds, into the barns, and watching all the excitement. All in all, she had a great first experience and we are really proud of her. Can't wait until next show! |
| 2 Year old Neko's first show - and what a debut! WV AQHA Spring Fling Circuit - all stalls sold out for this show - and her first class was Amateur Mares. (Two year old mares wasn't until the following day but we decided to pass on her other classes due to judge's comments below - we figured we'd save the money and be ready for next week.. She had only gone in this class for experience and ended up performing fantastically and getting a third place ribbon. We had planned to take her in 2 year old mares as her actual class, but she did great even in this much harder class! You can see the miserable rain in the background....It was also so cold.....in the 30's for most of the weekend. We would run from the trailer to the ring.... Neko - Third Place - Amateur Mares First Class at First Show |
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| Jake - Spring Fling Show Results |
| Sorry for lack of pictures - its hard when we both show in the same classes to get pictures..... In NA Showmanship - brand new team of Jake & Brenda got 4th & 5th - had a little bobble and overpivoted - but we'll get them next time! Just need to learn each other's buttons a little better and know what to expect of each other in the class. It was the Congress pattern and was tough. Corinne & Jake - Amateur - 2nd and 4th! The amateur class also did the congress amateur pattern. She loves doing pull turns and they did great. They had one small mistake, Jake picked up his foot and set it directly back down on the pull turn, and it cost them. But the rest of the pattern was fantastic -and they placed over many people who showed at congress last year! Hunter Under Saddle - Corinne & Jake WON (Brenda didn't ride - too cold & muddy!) Sr. Hunter Under Saddle - Corinne & Jake 3rd & 6th Western Pleasure - Didn't place this time (there were three splits). Jake had one of the best rides ever though. Tough compeition - there were many trailers & trainers who came only for this class.....We expect more points in western pleasure next show. You can't have errors with that many people. It was the last class of two long days and Jake was cold, tired but not cranky! He is really growing up. Jake stepped off on the wrong lead once in front of both judges but immediately corrected it but there was no room for mistakes. Jake left: trying to find a dry spot waiting for the call to the gate. All the trucks were stuck trying to get out - the tractor man was busy on Sunday! (we made it out with three guys directing traffic & just gunning it through the mud - took $4 at the car wash to get the mud off later.... The first four trailers you can see (including the big rig) at left were all stuck and had to be pulled out by the tractor man. |
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| Neko in Warm Up |
| AQHA Phillipi, WV April 14 - 16, 2006 |
| Sorry to say the weather was even worse....dime sized HAIL, severe thunderstorms....but still a fun weekend. Neko's showmanship debut - she placed 4th and 7th of 12 in her first showmanship attempt!!! So many people show for years and never even place. We are really proud of her!! She also went in her first riding class and got two 7th. It was a big deal for her to be in the ring with so many horses at one time and she was great. Her only fault in the class was that her trot would speed up/slow down/speed up/slow down because she would want to look at the people and horses hanging over the rail. All in all, a great weekend. Neko's going to make someone a really nice horse one day. She is picking up weight and is such a pleasant girl. Later that day, she cantered around the practice pen with the other horses like she did it every day of her life! |
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| Neko heading for warm up. Look at her ears! Just out of frame is the warmup pen where probably 50 horses riding - probably more horses than she has ever seen in her life. Plus people in the outdoor rings lunging, tractors, cars, golf carts..... (right) Just after showmanship - fourth and seventh of 12 her very first time out Below: warm ups. |
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| More pics to come We are working with Jackie Robinson and looking towards a couple of dressage shows this summer to prepare Jake for eventing....don't know if we'll make a mini-event or trial by September because of the Congress goal, but definitely next year! Looking forward to showing a couple of horses that we don't own. Maybe some open shows and dressage. Maybe even jumping! No jumping for Neko for three more years. We are in full agreement with AHSA rules and do not jump horses under 5 period - not even over ground poles. |
| We plan to try to attend some larger shows this year instead of run for year end points. This way Neko can get experience and the new teams Brenda/Jake, Corinne/Neko and Brenda/Neko can also. We are working on getting another horse or at least lease one to show and we need to get a bigger trailer, so lots of things happening behind the scenes. |
| Reminder: It may seem as we are not doing as well this year, a lot more second places than first so far this year - but you have to remember - Corinne decided to no longer show at the Novice Amateur level - she shows only AMATEUR level now- with the $40K+ horses who regularly appear in the AQHA journal! So we are very, VERY happy that Jake is still always in the placings - and placing high though the wins are harder to get!! Not to mention, he has added events & shows against horses who have been doing it for years. Neko will show out at Novice Amateur this year but she is already placing just one place out of points and has only been broke for several months! Hopefully we'll find another beginner horse to lease inexpensively that she can ride in the Nov Am Classes. |
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