Surprise!

You get three guesses, one for each braid, to figure out why I would be braiding Izzy's mane. Yep. We're going to a show on Sunday.

I though I should practice.

When Speedy didn't make it to RAAC, I realized that my biggest goal for the season, earning our Bronze Medal, wasn't going to happen (yet). In light of that, it didn't seem like there were a whole lot of reasons to take him to the final Tehachapi show of the season as it's only CDS-rated. While Speedy and I might have earned two more scores for our annual plate, I was more interested in getting Izzy some show miles.

Sequoia Hills Schooling Show, Introductory Level

Back in 2016, I took Izzy to 4 schooling shows and a CDS show in Tehachapi. He kept his act (mostly) together for those shows, but his tension was so high that we scored solidly in the 50s. We even earned a 49%. Twice. Once Speedy was recovered from whatever injury he had in 2016, Izzy went back to school and hasn't shown since.

Hansen Dam Schooling Show, Intro B.

Speedy's not injured, but it's finally time to start doing something with Izzy. When I sat down to fill out the entry form, I entered all of my association numbers and wrote Izzy's RPSI name in the horse section. As my pen hovered over Level and Test, I paused. For a really long time. I paused for days actually. I just didn't know at what level we should show. He has a pretty nice half pass. His stretchy trot is lovely. He can do simple changes when he's really connected. His medium trot is still developing. Basically, we're schooling many of the movements from First to Third Level.

White Birch Schooling Show, Intro Level.

Then it dawned on me that my purpose isn't to show off anything. I am not trying to get a judge's opinion on the quality of any of the movements. I don't really care about his canter through trot at X or whether his trot lengthening showed a difference. All I want to see is if he can get in the ring and not lose his marbles. I decided that he can reliably do all of the movements at Training Level, so we're doing T1 and T3.

Now to do all of it.

I have no idea how we'll do. At home, I can now work with him even when he's tense and anxious. When he's relaxed, which is most of the time, he's Mr. McDreamy. When he's tense, he looks it, but at least he'll still play ball. Hopefully our first ride time isn't too early because we're going to need a long warm up.

​Aren't there rules about that sort of thing? What's the time limit anyway?