Movin' On Up

Wendy (Hannah's trainer, owner of the horse, and my good friend) and Hannah decided to see if Hannah and Grace could run with the big dogs - or in this case the big (and expensive) horses.  Not only did they hold their own, they were downright pleased with their first try at an American Quarter Horse Show.

If you've been a reader of my blog for very long, you know the riding pictures all begin to look the same.  The only thing that changes is the background.  But now, that doesn't even vary.  The AQHA shows that Hannah will ride in are all in Perry, GA at the same facility where we attend 4-H State and Federation State.  So yeah - same horse, same clothes, same venue.  Note her new number - 327.  Doesn't that seem like a nice, balanced number for the announcer to say, "And first place goes to three twenty seven, Hannah Eades riding Zipping with Chocolet".  It's a far cry better than her Coastal Empire number - 9.

 

About to ride her English Equitation pattern

Getting last minute instructions from Wendy

Sadly, I don't even have her placings.  Four judges placed the classes, which was good since Grace broke in the English Pleasure class.  But since only one of the four judges saw the error, the other three placed her somewhere in the top 9, with one placing her 4th.  And because there were more than 15 exhibitors in the class, Hannah and Grace both earned a .5 AQHA point.  Yes, that's right...while some people compete for money, saddles, or snazzy belt buckles...Hannah competes for points.

Analyzing the Competition

 Patrick and I needed to tend to responsibilities at church on Sunday, so we planned to head back to Brunswick after the English classes finished up.  By the time we got the horse and tack put away, we finally got on the rode toward home at 11pm. Ugh - that's a long boring ride on Hwy 341 from the heart of Georgia to the coast.   But the adventure wasn't over.  We soon received a frantic call from Hannah inquiring if we'd seen Wendy's wallet.  Turns out it was stolen and Hannah and Wendy were left in Perry with no money, no credit cards, and no identification.  About the time that reality started to sink in, we saw those dreaded blue lights flashing behind us.  My mind quickly went to...can this show get any more expensive?  Wendy just lost $250 cash and gained the headache of canceling her credit cards and replacing her drivers license, and now we're looking at a fine that could easily approach the amount Wendy had stolen.  Mercifully the nice officer from Telfair County issued Patrick a stern warning and nothing else.

Bundling Grace up for the cold weather - poor girl!

Thankfully Sunday started out much better.  Wendy was able to get gas (so they could get home) and Hannah wowed 3 of the 4 judges in the Novice Youth Showmanship class.  She walked away with a 1st, a 3rd, and 4th out of 21 exhibitors - earning 7 AQHA points.  In the Youth 14-18 Showmanship class, she again did well enough to place first  under one judge and earn another 2 points.

I don't have her placing for the two western classes, but she did earn .5 point in Western Horsemanship.  Overall Wendy and Hannah were pleased with Hannah and Grace's performance.  I guess pleased enough to feel like they made the right decision to move on up to stiffer competition.