Championship - A Day Off

Watching and absorbing as much as I could was my plan for day 3; I didn't have a ride scheduled. The truth is, there were no bad horse and rider teams at the championship show. Everyone who was there had already shown that they deserved to be there by qualifying earlier in the season, so watching the best of what California had to offer was a lot of fun.

I had made a list, which included ride times and ring numbers, for all of the riders who I knew personally. Hopping from ring to ring to ring kept me busy for the better part of the day. I also held coats and whips, polished boots, and cheered loudly. Sometimes I was the only one cheering which meant I had to cheer even louder! 

The daughter (?) of the owners of DG Bar riding a DG Bar horse.

I also managed to use LAEC’s bridle path, which was a highlight of the day. Speedy was a bit of a stinker; he told me quite emphatically that he DID NOT remember being an endurance horse. The trail was too scary, and he wanted to walk RIGHT NEXT TO LEO (said with quite a lot of hoof stamping). It only took a few minutes of my spur jammed into his belly before he suddenly remembered about being a trail horse.

OH! You mean we're just walking and enjoying the day?

Leo and his mom, Amy

The trail encircles LAEC and is an access point to Griffith Park (and the Hollywood sign). Leo’s rider told me that the loop is about 2 miles in length. We rode it once with her, and then we picked up Cola’s rider as we were nearing the gate. Leo and Amy walked back to the barn while Cola and Speedy rode the loop again. We ended up spending about 45 minutes on the trail, which was a great way for Speedy to spend a non-showing day. It’s hard to be cooped up in a stall all day. Our mid-day ride proved to be an excellent way to use up some excess energy.

Donna on Cola (Barb's mare)

Leo the redhead, Speedy in gray, and Cola the brunette - parting ways.

Speedy cam!

Jen, the chair of Ventura CDS, was the ring steward for the Equidome, which is where the BIG classes were held. It was also the staging area for all of the awards ceremonies. At the end of the day, I went up to keep her company and ended up with a small volunteer job myself. Some of the riders hadn’t had time to get their ribbons, which were required to be worn during the awards ceremony. I toted the “dummy” ribbons around to loan out to the riders as they did their victory laps. I even had the pleasure of placing neck and bridle ribbons on Hilda Gurney’s horse.

The Equidome

The day ended at the hospitality tent with fried chicken and potato salad. Jen and I enjoyed our dinner on the patio laughing and sharing trail riding stories. There was a lovely breeze, and the sun slowly set while we enjoyed the evening. Isn’t it funny how food tastes so much better at a horse show?

Still more tomorrow ...