My Little Cayenne won herself another buckle! We actually got a break and she got to compete in a class for horses 4 years old and under. I guess that's where she really belongs so it wasn't really a break, just out of the norm for us. The event was the Inland Empire Back Country Horsemen (IEBCH) Trail Challenge at Busy Bee Arena near Airway Heights, WA on Saturday, September 18th. We won the green horse class and took 2nd in the open class. I'm not sure how many people were in each class.
There were many obstacles on the course and each class rode the exact same thing but were, of course, only competing against the others in their respective classes. The course was broken down into four sections with one rider on each section at a time. That made it faster to get everyone through. After each section, you rode a short distance to wait at the next section. I thought it was very well organized. I rode the whole course twice since I signed up for two classes. I competed in the green horse class first. I figured Cayenne would do better the second time through but she did not!
Here is a breakdown of each obstacle in each section:
Section#1
A: Walk to and over bridge
B: Trot up to and around a stump, trot down and back to bridge, walk over bridge and walk to C.
C: Step over log, sidepass to mailbox, get map out of mailbox, sidepass back (log was marked where you stepped over & exited it)
D: Pick up left lead & lope to log
E: Walk over log & up hill to exit
Section#2
A: Walk up trail & around camp site (yellow dome tent)
B: Walk down trail & over logs
C: Walk between trees (next to deer spinal column on ground, fox pelts hanging on a rope & fake deer standing nearby)
D: 90 degree forehand turn, back through "L," 270 degree haunch turn
E: Walk into box, stop, turn 360 degrees, walk out to exit
Section#3
A: Open gate, go through, & close gate
B: Walk to log, drag log to post up the trail, hang rope on the post
C: Walk up hill to cone, turn 180 degrees on haunches, back up hill to next cone, & stop.
D: Walk down hill to post with log, drag log back to 1st post (log on left of horse this time)
E: Work gate again & exit
Section#4
A: Walk up steep hill
B: Move bag of cans from tree "A" to tree "B"
C: Walk to slicker, take it off tree & put it on yourself, take it off, & place it back on tree
D: Walk under tree arch
E: Walk through deadfall to the exit
One nice thing about having 20 obstacles judged by 4 different judges is that if you mess up on one or two obstacles, you can make it up on other obstacles, or if one judge doesn't care for your style (or your horse's style) their opinion won't ruin your whole score. Most of the obstacles were natural and it was a typical trail ride setting. My horse didn't even know we were actually "doing" anything on some obstacles like walking over logs or up and down hills.
Cayenne didn't actually do better than she did at the last two events we've been to. She was a bit edgy and worried about other horses she could see through the trees on various parts of the course. The "bad" things she did on course were:
Section#1: Stepped off sideways at the end of the bridge on the first crossing instead of straight off the end. Wiggled a step while I was folding up the map at the mailbox (I erred in judgment on this as I knew she was nervous & should have kept her moving rather than try to take extra time standing still), broke to a trot before I asked her to stop at the log (the second time through she gave me a nice sliding stop at the log).
Section#2: Didn't respond perfectly to cues on where to put her hind end on the "L" back through. She did "okay" the first time but was a total brat the second time as she switched her butt back & forth at the entrance, overreacting to cues to take "one" step over with her butt & knocked the "L" logs around. All the while tense with her head up trying to look for another horse!
Section#3: Perfect the 1st time but the 2nd time she was a little impatient but pretty good.
Section#4: A bit distracted the 2nd time so had to be cued too much to sidepass over & hold still to pick up & put down cans. Wiggled several times while I was putting on the slicker & looking through the woods for other horses. I should have been able to let her have a slack rein while standing there but that would have resulted in her walking off! I think she nickered once each time in this section, too.
The very good things she did on the course were:
Section#1: Trotted down the hill even though the ground was rough & had a good stop from a lope the 2nd time through
Section#2: Didn't bobble at all over the tent, deer spine, fox pelts, or fake deer. Good pivots the 1st time through
Section#3: Absolutely flawless the 1st time, perfect gate work, great log drag, perfect back up on a fairly steep hill
Section#4: Good with cans the 1st time
Overall, she did a good job but I need to work on her concentrating when distracted. She rides alone wonderfully but it's when she sees other horses through the trees that she thinks she needs to keep an eye on them or call to them. Part of the problem there was that she's been turned out "being a horse" for two weeks without her red raspberry leaves (drugs) so she's being a snot. Most people couldn't tell she was being bratty, except for the 2nd time through the "L," but I know her and she wasn't on top of her game. I get nervous and she feeds off of me, too. Just more to work on!
Thanks to IEBCH for a great event & to Aslin Finch for sponsoring the Montana Silver buckles! The 2nd place saddle stand was hand made by a member of IEBCH and is now proudly displayed in my living room with the saddle Mr (my gelding) won at a trail challenge in Santa, ID a few years ago on it. Photos of me riding Cayenne were taken by Laura McConnell. Thanks Laura!
