Limping through the breed show

 As Theo breezed into his eight weeks of vacation, I started gearing up to take Kiki out to the breed show.  The two year old version seems so grown up with her bridle and ridiculously long forelock.

That forelock touches her nostrils

We also had took the opportunity to practice trailering.  Not really for Kiki who has always loaded well but for her bff who did not load well last year.  With two girls and one boy going to the show (Trainer Z's junior stallion), I was hauling the two girls myself.  We loaded them right after Theo's last show and with a little grain, they both walked right on.  No problems!  In the interest of good experiences, we decided to leave my trailer at the barn and practice again the next weekend.

Hooking up my trailer turned out to be a bit of a problem.  While sitting for a week, my goose neck sunk down just far enough to be too low for my truck.  Ugh.  So we decided that I would hook up the next day before my lesson (after Trainer Z had used the tractor to retrieve my trailer) and we could practice then.  I showed up nice and early so I could hook up before my ride.  I was walking out to my trailer and talking to another rider when I stepped on a rock on the soft dirt and fell down.  As I hit the ground on top of my ankle, I heard a pop.

That's not a shadow, that's the bruising 

Appropriate new tattoo is appropriate.  I got the tattoo the day before this little incident and the nurses at the urgent care thought it was perfect.  It also affected some of the first aid when it happened since I had an open wound just over my ankle which ruled out sticking it in a bucket of cold water.  I really did consider riding since I could just ride without stirrups but several moms gave me the look of death and told me absolutely not.  

Yes, I sprained it.  I sprained it badly enough that it immediately started swelling and I had to sit on the ground with the ants for ten minutes while my body overreacted and suggested I should pass out.  I spent the whole week before the breed show icing, wrapping, and elevating my ankle while avoiding putting weight on it.  I really, really needed it to work for the show!  Fortunately I had a professional handler as backup but I was still hoping I could limp around enough for amateur handler.

Spoiler:  Did not do amateur handler.  Or any kind of running.  I limped around the breed show looking pathetic but still got everything done but handling!  It helps that I have the best two year old in the world.  Absolutely foot perfect the whole weekend.

Kiki and part of her fan club.  The whole show was like this for her.

She is so good.  I could wax poetic about how good she is for hours.  I groomed and braided her loose in her stall all weekend, she was down for it.  If you show her a curry comb she turns into a statue because she loves to be curried.  Trainer Z's five year old helped wash her socks while she was in a new wash stall.  Everywhere I took her, people wanted to meet her and pet her.  I bridled her probably 15 times this weekend and it was a complete non-issue.  Her mouth is quiet and it really doesn't seem to bother her.  We decided to try lighting her up a bit while she was showing since she's proven to be so polite and it did help.  Day 1 got her six trips into the ring and Reserve Grand Champion Pony.  Day 2 was a different judge and she went Reserve Champion Pony Filly.  

She is so stinking polite about everything, the handler loves her because there is no drama.  Her spicey moment was when she shook her head at the walk.  Once.  And tried out cantering when asked to trot bigger but it was so polite.

Seriously, every run looked pretty much like that.  By the end of the weekend she was doing better about not breaking to canter, she's getting the idea.  She's not the polished presentation of some of the other fillies but her future is in performance and she politely does the job in a strange ring all by her lonesome.  Also did the job with all of the other ponies for the Grand Championship class.  

Chilling and waiting for her turn like no big deal

It was a lot of trips into the ring for the baby and she was definitely ready to get her braids out and head home.

Honestly, she still won't leave her braids in.  She did one of her Welsh classes with her hair loose again because it was all we could do to keep her braided for the multiple trips for the filly classes.  It is the only thing she doesn't do well at shows.  Oh, that, and deciding that everything needs to be touched and/or put in her mouth.

Fortunately she likes to touch people, not bite them

She's so interactive, she wants to be involved in whatever you're doing.  We had to close her stall door at some points because she was getting too creative with what to do with her time.  Her hay net kept her occupied most of the time and the frequent trips into the ring kept her from getting bored.  Her fan club is extensive and made sure she had attention at all times.  It doesn't hurt that she immediately greets anyone that visits.  She's still a little shy and doesn't like it when people immediately reach for her face but if someone introduces themselves politely, she's quite convinced she is a princess that is loved by all.  She started the weekend being a bit of a brat about getting haltered so many times but by day three was pretty chill with it.  After the show we threw her in her field and she was so happy to go back to her feral kelpie lifestyle.

My ankle was absolutely killing me by the end of the weekend but I also had a whole armful of ribbons to bring home.  It did make my ankle feel better.

Unfortunately that will be her only show this year.  Between my sprained ankle, a work trip, and my very long show season, she won't be going to the breed finals show.  She didn't qualify for finals so it would just be a one day show that's 4+ hours away.  And I still won't be able to do the amateur handler class, it's all I can do to get my ankle into a boot and get on Theo.  Breed finals are also a week before regionals with Theo and with a four day work trip in between, something had to give.  Given her perfect behavior, I don't think it will be a setback in her training if she misses this outing.

The pony is going to pony regardless of outings

Instead she will spend September in kindergarten, building on her progress and learning about new things like lunge lines and wearing tack.  Nothing too exciting or any actual work but enough to expose her to new things and give her stuff to think about this winter.  Since she can be skittish with new things, I'm excited to get her introduced to these new concepts while she's still little.  Kiki is very sensitive and can be quite reactive, there's a reason we've never used a chain shank with her.  She's very trusting of people she knows but her pony mare side eye is epic when her people are doing things that make no sense.  She tends to have a big reaction when first introduced to things, then realizes it's fine because no one around her is reacting and never cares about it again.  Her first blanket was kind of ridiculous with her shaking and refusing to walk, now she gets her blanket tossed on while she's loose in the field.  She threw a tantrum the first time she realized she was tied, now she cross-ties like it's nothing.

I'm sad we won't be doing any year end awards this year but there's still plenty of time for that.  Seeing her in a bridle made me realize that we're not that far away from her going under saddle.  How is it all going by so quickly?