Sophomore Ride 9-28-13

So guess who I got for my 2nd Sophomore Ride.... Duke. AGAIN! Riding him outside is worse than riding inside. He was the same for grooming. Still likes to be a little stubborn with his feet. They were really packed in today. Having pads on his front feet made it easier. We mounted up and rode down to the Moore Arena. He tried to eat all the way down. Again he wouldn't stand still while mounting up. Duke will trot no problem. Only if he is following though. He doesn't lead. We warmed them up then dropped our reins. We trotted with no reins too. Duke is so hard to ride without reins. He listens to the leg ques OK but not great. Then we got to lope without reins. Well I didn't I was sitting there kicking the crap out of Duke trying to get his lazy butt to move. I was kicking and clicking nothing was working. Then we picked up the reins and did it again. I had the reins up to his ears almost giving him all his head and kicking him as hard as I could. Not even the slightest result. Just trotting. Lots and lots of trotting. Then we had to stand up in our stirrups while trotting. It helps us find the sweet spot in the saddle and improves our balance but it sucks. It takes a lot of effort on the legs and if you loose your balance and fall forward your cushion is going to be a nice saddle horn in the gut. After a while they let us lower ourselves back into the saddle. We then got into 4's and that wasn't any better. Our outside would speed up then Duke would slow down then he would speed up and they would slow down. We then tried to lope in 4's and I had a JI helping me and I got, for 3 precious short strides, Duke to lope. So short it doesn't even really count. It was a constant battle he was trying to bite everyone and refused to go the pace our 4 set. My instructors told me I did really well with him and that this never happens once you have spurs. My legs were so tired by the end I barley had the energy to kick him anymore. They are total Jello now. He tried to eat while I lead him to water and then he drank like a noisy slurping camel. I couldn't wait to hand him off to the next class. I am standing in a totally different part of line next time so that I won't get him 3 times in a row. The stubborn horses do test you and teach you a lot though. But it can be annoying. Loping without reins would have been so fun! At least I didn't have to worry about him taking off on me. My annual show ticket count is 13 right now, highest seller on my team! But S-1 is dead last in ticket sale totals so we have to pick it up this week.

Riding Duke with no reins

Duke and I at the end of the ride.

Westernaires Ticket Rally 9-18-13

It's Annual Show (Horsecapades) time again! Tonight was the ticket rally where we get our tickets to sell for $8.00. Horsecapades is the ONLY fundraiser that Westernaires does and is what keeps this amazing organization going for another year. Although only the Red Division teams/specialties preform all members are required to sell tickets. Last year I sold 14. This year I am determined to get the minimum required 20 tickets sold. We arrived at 7. This year we got to be in the stands pumping up the new Tenderfeet. For every 100 tickets you sell your name goes in a drawing for a saddle. for every 200 tickets your name goes in a drawing for a HORSE! Talk about motivation. This year they are giving away a quarter horse mare named Badger. We were in the Livestock building and all of Sophomore 1 sat in one section of the stands. We sat next to S2 (Sophomore 2) and White Star. We checked in with our monitors and our parents signed off for our ticket packets. Then all the Tenderfeet started filing in to the seats at the bottom of the arena. Man they looked terrified! Everyone started chanting Tenderfeet, Tenderfeet! It was way more fun being in the stands. They talked about the show and how the very 1st Horsecapades was preformed in this arena. Man you couldn't even fit a team in this arena now. This year's annual show is special because it is the 60th! It was so short this year only about an hour. Last year it was Way longer. They offer prizes and trophies to the top selling teams. If I sell 20 tickets this year I will get one of the patches that goes on my Westernaire shirt. I am excited for the show this year. Mr.Keller said that they have some special surprises in store. It truly is a wonderful horse show. About 2 hours of pure entertainment and a horse show unlike any other. Ticket turn in is October 24. I ride on the 28th so write then! Only 10 days left to wait....

Here are some photos from the Westernaires website of  previous Annual Shows

To read more about Annual Show click here.

http://www.westernaires.org/Events/horsecapades.html

Varsity Big Red - Propeller

Liberty

Stepps

Left to Right: Varsity Big Red, Trick Riding, Varsity Lighted Drill

Trick Riding

1st Sophomore Ride!!! 9-14-13

Today I got to ride with my BLUE BANDANNA!!!! Sophomore 1 rode in the Blue Arena. Blue bandanna, blue arena LOL. I got Duke #112. He is a stocky buckskin horse. Stubborn butt. The pasture mud was SO deep. I sunk up to my mid shin. My jeans are covered in mud. (Bleach is a Westernaires best friend) Duke was great for grooming. He got a little edgy towards the end. He wouldn't stand still while I was mounting up but other than that he was fine, but it was really annoying. In the blue with the old T1 and T9 in there it was VERY crowded. When we were single file on the rail we could barley keep the proper spacing. Everyone looked so different with the blue bandannas. We worked a lot in fours so we could utilize the arena more. We did turning in fours, splitting at the rail, passing left hand to left hand. Then we got to try to Thread the Needle. It is a maneuver preformed in all the drill teams! It was so much fun! It took us a few tries but we got the hang of it. Right side always goes first. We cut it really close and it looked awesome! I really enjoyed that. We also got to do a Pass Through. I love doing drills! You have to pass left hand to left hand with your pair at the center then turn at the rail in the direction you were going before the Pass Through. Duke was being a total butt while riding in fours. When we are boot to boot it doesn't give you much room to kick the horse so I was really having to work to keep him trotting when we were the rail rider. When we were on the inside we just needed to walk mostly. He tried to bite like 3 horses. I really hope we ride outside next time. We had a long conversation about foot position and SPURS. They talked about what kind of spur to buy and how to use them. A spur that has a rowel about 3/4 of an inch or dime sized. We also need a rubber tied down to go underneath the boot and a leather strap to go over it. The buckle should be on the outside of your boot. To use them you should apply pressure with your calf, if that doesn't get him going then just turn your toes slightly outward so the spur just touches the horse then point them forward again. That is usually when the horse realizes, Oh Man This Is Juniors! Spurs are not used to punish a horse. I can not wait. They talked to us about making sure your boot has a spur lip for the spur to rest on. My boot does, but you couldn't tell with all the mud. I was talking with a JI and he said once you have spurs you will wonder how you ever lived with out them. I'm already wondering how I am living with out them. We didn't get to lope but overall it was a great ride as a 2nd year! With 2 loads in the wash and lots of bleach and soap my jeans are almost perfectly white again. All the White division base teams were practicing with flags and stuff. I really want to try that. I am just happy that I finally wear a blue bandanna :)

Here are some pictures of Duke

Riding in a 4

New Belt/Bandanna!

I just got my own sparkly purple belt! I also got my blue bandanna for my 1st Sophomore ride on Saturday!!!! I feel very much like a second year now. I can't wait. I hope I get a fast horse for my 1st ride as a 2nd year.

Here are the new teams

T1 and T9 are now Sophomore 1

T2 and T11 are now Sophomore 2

T3 is now Sophomore 3

T4 is now Sophomore 4

T5 is now Sophomore 5

T6 is now Sophomore 6

T7 is now Sophomore 7

T8 and T10 are now Sophomore 8

My team is very large now. We will see how  it works out. Large teams are harder to keep your spacing with. Here is a photo of my belt.

Tenderfoot Memories

Here are all the items I acquired during my Tenderfoot year

• Tan Bandanna
• Hoof Pick (For completing grooming classes)
• Interclub Number
• Key Chain
• Perfect Attendance Ribbon
• 2 Graduation Certificates

Tenderfoot Graduation!!! 9-6-13

I am now officially a Sophomore!!!! I just got home from my Tenderfoot Graduation of 2013!!!!! The new Tenderfoot 1 and 9 were at their very first grooming class while I was at my graduation. There was a sign reading Westernaire Graduates Enter at South Doors. Way To Go Woo Hoo! We checked in at 6:45pm. They put us in alphabetical order and lead us to our seats. Our instructors gave us little red key chains that say, "Westernaires Tenderfoot 2012 - 2013" It also has a horse on it. Our graduation started at around 7:30pm. They started out with presenting Mr. Keller with his gifts from the teams. Then they gave out Perfect Attendance Awards 35 out of the 189 graduating Tenderfeet had perfect attendance. 1 was me!!! They gave us a purple ribbon that has a horse head on it and reads,"Westernaires Tenderfoot Graduation 2013 Perfect Attendance" Then commenced the graduation. Starting with T1 and going down the line they called up every single rider to receive their certificates. That took the majority of the time. Then there was the naming of the Top 10 Tenderfeet. They all received different colored ribbons. The 2nd place ribbon went to the girl on our team who won Interclub! Way to go Tenderfoot 1!!! The top Tenderfoot got a trophy. Then we stacked all the chairs and had cookies. It ended at 8:55 and was a very satisfying night. I am greatly looking forward to my 1st Sophomore Ride on the 14th. Good Luck to all the new Tenderfeet. Enjoy your 1st ride tomorrow!

Key Chain

Ribbon

Certificate of Graduation

Certificate of Achievement