![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
de(scribe) your experience...
Aug. 9th, 2010 08:59 amSo I had hubby up at 5:30 to truck me down to the horse show by 7. Kiddo was all ^_^ - he LOVES getting up early. "Isn't the sky beautiful? It's nighttime, huh? The sun is still sleeping." He yammered happily on all down the highway, like being pulled out of bed at 5:30 AM was some kind of delightful present. Hubby on the other hand? Let's just say he's *NOT* a morning person.
Got to the show grounds (note, I have shown here *1* time, like 2 years ago) and on my way to the restroom a guy calls to me and introduces himself as the husband of a girl who used to ride at my old barn - it's probably been 4 years since I last saw him. Later in the day 2 other people recognized me and chatted with me- I felt so popular, LOL...
Picked up my tests, cushion, clipboards, etc, and walked to ring 3, the farthest one away and the one where I showed Trudi. I never get to do anything with the other 2 rings. Oh well. I climbed in the Judge's box and set up camp- judge came and introduced himself (and he brought his own cushion so I had one to sit on) and the tests started.
The sun was beyond intense. We were facing directly into it and the roof of the box did nothing to shield us. I had put on Neutrogena ultra dry touch 70 sunblock on, and I felt like an ant under a magnifying glass. I was kind of freaking out, like "Oh my God, I'm going to be so fried- I can't stay out in this." There was no breeze either so it was HOT. I had left my big hat at home, because I was afraid it would blow off and scare a horse, so at the break I went to the vendors in search of a baseball cap.
Vendor 1 had "Lucky Becky" caps with camo print and brims that looked like maybe a dog had chewed them- not my style, especially for $19 (I only had a twenty in my wallet).
Vendor 2 had caps that were made of taffeta or something, with sequins and crap sewn on them.
Also $20.
Vendor 3 had one cotton cap, which said "cause I'm the trainer, that's why". Not what I would normally buy, but at $10 it was the clear choice. I gave it to trainer at the end of the day -- (she was showing and I got a ride home with her) and she loved it, so all's well. :)
I slapped on some more sunscreen and went back to the box. Combined with my sweat and the heat and my insanely white skin, there was actually glare from the reflection of my arms. I worried about blinding the competitors. It turns out Edward Cullen is not actually a magical sparkling vampire, he's just an albino sweating with Neutrogena ultra dry touch 70 sunblock on under the blazing August sun.
Scribing was not as educational as I hoped, mainly because of my inexperience, and because my judge wanted to "give people their money's worth" and tended to have about 3 comments per movement, so I was constantly looking at my paper instead of the riding. He was amazing though- knew every box for every movement for every test, without looking. I did get better and things went from me writing "needs more impulsion" to an up arrow and "imp". "You're getting faster," he would say, and it almost sounded like a threat. :D
We did a lot of tests and had to switch frequently, but successfully made it through Training 1-4, First 1-4, and Second 1-4. Not much exciting, but early on we had a horse jump into the arena- rider: "Um, may I exit through A?" and our last ride was a "playful" horse doing a training level test while a freestyle went on in ring 2. The music suited him though and he threw in the occasional leap or flying change for emphasis.
I did see some horses occasionally being worse than mine even during a bad test, so that was kind of nice. I also felt like the scoring was more generous for the young riders. Watching a movement, I could not really see a difference between a 5 and a 6, or a 6 and a 7, but sometimes I could tell between a 5 and a 7. I was surprised because a horse that was quiet and steady pretty much did well regardless of how well he moved, and I don't mean a flashy mover, just one that is using his back and coming through. A horse that had a head toss or loss of concentration was definately punished for it in the movements. No breed favoritism that I could see. Oh- and if you want to piss off the judge- be late for your class. We also had a couple of people try to start before the whistle- also bad. I was amazed at how tight the scheduling is- there isn't any time between tests. Judge writes final comments, signs and hands me the test, and then it's the whistle for the next horse. Oh, and if you are riding a test? Please stop at the judge's box so the scribe can get your number. :)
We got to see a lot of variety in colors and breeds- Arab, TB, Andalusion, Fresian, Morgan, WBs and crosses. I loved a flashy bay paint with a wide white blaze and high white stockings, and an andalusion who was a dark steel grey with white mane and tail. Once the sun moved and we had shade, a nice breeze came up and it was absolutely beautiful.
Once I got home, I got to wash off several layers of sunscreen, sweat, and dirt. I was completely grimy but unburned, so hooray.
Got to the show grounds (note, I have shown here *1* time, like 2 years ago) and on my way to the restroom a guy calls to me and introduces himself as the husband of a girl who used to ride at my old barn - it's probably been 4 years since I last saw him. Later in the day 2 other people recognized me and chatted with me- I felt so popular, LOL...
Picked up my tests, cushion, clipboards, etc, and walked to ring 3, the farthest one away and the one where I showed Trudi. I never get to do anything with the other 2 rings. Oh well. I climbed in the Judge's box and set up camp- judge came and introduced himself (and he brought his own cushion so I had one to sit on) and the tests started.
The sun was beyond intense. We were facing directly into it and the roof of the box did nothing to shield us. I had put on Neutrogena ultra dry touch 70 sunblock on, and I felt like an ant under a magnifying glass. I was kind of freaking out, like "Oh my God, I'm going to be so fried- I can't stay out in this." There was no breeze either so it was HOT. I had left my big hat at home, because I was afraid it would blow off and scare a horse, so at the break I went to the vendors in search of a baseball cap.
Vendor 1 had "Lucky Becky" caps with camo print and brims that looked like maybe a dog had chewed them- not my style, especially for $19 (I only had a twenty in my wallet).
Vendor 2 had caps that were made of taffeta or something, with sequins and crap sewn on them.
Also $20.
Vendor 3 had one cotton cap, which said "cause I'm the trainer, that's why". Not what I would normally buy, but at $10 it was the clear choice. I gave it to trainer at the end of the day -- (she was showing and I got a ride home with her) and she loved it, so all's well. :)
I slapped on some more sunscreen and went back to the box. Combined with my sweat and the heat and my insanely white skin, there was actually glare from the reflection of my arms. I worried about blinding the competitors. It turns out Edward Cullen is not actually a magical sparkling vampire, he's just an albino sweating with Neutrogena ultra dry touch 70 sunblock on under the blazing August sun.
Scribing was not as educational as I hoped, mainly because of my inexperience, and because my judge wanted to "give people their money's worth" and tended to have about 3 comments per movement, so I was constantly looking at my paper instead of the riding. He was amazing though- knew every box for every movement for every test, without looking. I did get better and things went from me writing "needs more impulsion" to an up arrow and "imp". "You're getting faster," he would say, and it almost sounded like a threat. :D
We did a lot of tests and had to switch frequently, but successfully made it through Training 1-4, First 1-4, and Second 1-4. Not much exciting, but early on we had a horse jump into the arena- rider: "Um, may I exit through A?" and our last ride was a "playful" horse doing a training level test while a freestyle went on in ring 2. The music suited him though and he threw in the occasional leap or flying change for emphasis.
I did see some horses occasionally being worse than mine even during a bad test, so that was kind of nice. I also felt like the scoring was more generous for the young riders. Watching a movement, I could not really see a difference between a 5 and a 6, or a 6 and a 7, but sometimes I could tell between a 5 and a 7. I was surprised because a horse that was quiet and steady pretty much did well regardless of how well he moved, and I don't mean a flashy mover, just one that is using his back and coming through. A horse that had a head toss or loss of concentration was definately punished for it in the movements. No breed favoritism that I could see. Oh- and if you want to piss off the judge- be late for your class. We also had a couple of people try to start before the whistle- also bad. I was amazed at how tight the scheduling is- there isn't any time between tests. Judge writes final comments, signs and hands me the test, and then it's the whistle for the next horse. Oh, and if you are riding a test? Please stop at the judge's box so the scribe can get your number. :)
We got to see a lot of variety in colors and breeds- Arab, TB, Andalusion, Fresian, Morgan, WBs and crosses. I loved a flashy bay paint with a wide white blaze and high white stockings, and an andalusion who was a dark steel grey with white mane and tail. Once the sun moved and we had shade, a nice breeze came up and it was absolutely beautiful.
Once I got home, I got to wash off several layers of sunscreen, sweat, and dirt. I was completely grimy but unburned, so hooray.
