Western States Horse Expo - Friday

Stella and I hit the road just before 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning, and cruised into Sacramento a little after 11:00 a.m. Both horses traveled well and stood quietly in the trailer for the next hour and a half as we sorted out our stabling situation. It was disorganized at best, but in the end, both horses had a place to sleep.

Stella and Coco warming up.

Our first demo rides were at 4:00, so our horses didn't get much time to settle in and relax. Even so, Speedy and Coco were champs as we led them through the fairgrounds to the Strong Arena. The flapping banners caused some stink eye, but Chemaine's first-day exercises got both horses working happily.

Chemaine teaching the crowd.

Chemaine's first exercise was one that Speedy and I have done many times before. She calls it the 1-2-3-4, and it can be done at the walk and then at the trot. 

1. Firm up the outside rein.
2. Sit on the inside seat bone.
3. Flex the inside rein.
4. Release the inside rein when the horses gives to the flexion.

After going once around the arena, the rider can then do the exercise on the other side, making the inside rein the new outside rein. In this way, the horse will be counter flexed. Once your horse is more supple, you can alternate the 1-2-3-4 from one side to the other. Finally, pick up the trot and repeat, except that instead of sitting on the inside seat bone, the rider simply weights the inside stirrup. 

The next warm up exercise Chemaine showed the crowd was the walk to trot and then trot with a half halt. For the trot to walk, Chemaine encourages riders to use the 1-2-3-4 to get their horses soft and only then does she allow the horse to pick up the trot. To come back down to walk, she asks the horse to soften, and then the downward transition is balanced.

Once the horse is transitioning easily between walk and trot, she uses the transitions within the gait to even further supple the horse. Chemaine asked us to slow the trot and get a stretch down. When the horse was soft, she had us send him forward into a bigger trot only to ask again for a slow down. This exercise really helps the horse engage his hind end.

Once the horses were warmed up, Chemaine had us do much the same thing at the canter: lengthen and then collect the stride.

Chemaine is such a good instructor that I can confidently put all of my faith in her. I know that she's never going to ask me to do something that is too big of a stretch. Knowing that, I never have any anxiety about "performing" in front of an audience. Quite the opposite in fact.

Speedy is such a rock star in front of crowds that I always feel completely at ease riding him. Sure, he can spook just as well as the next horse, but he doesn't come into the arena looking for trouble. He gets excited, but he quickly relaxes and then seems to relish being in the lime light.

​Each day of the Expo, Speedy just got better and better. He relaxed even more, but was still willing to work hard (except for that moment when he didn't). More on Expo tomorrow.