This year K and Max showed in a breed specific circuit – Quarter Horse. The competition is tougher than the Open shows and the stakes are higher. There are points awarded for placings and money earnings as you move up the ranks, travel around the country and hopefully win big. There’s no doubt it’s big business if you’re serious about it, and most people who participate are serious about it.
That right there is where we sorta fall off the proverbial show wagon, because truth be told… we’re just enjoying the horse we love and setting relatively small goals. We don’t travel far from home and we don’t like to put big stress on the horse or our person or the wallet, it just doesn’t feel right. I also think we lack the competitive drive that most horse people have that spurs you forward to achieve higher success in the show ring. I guess it’s a matter of.. if the boot fits, wear it. If not, find a less imposing boot.
One other little thing – It’s still a thrill for us when your name is called at the end of a class and you’ve learned your placing…and you grab that ribbon with joy, regardless of the placing. Oh, the blues are definitely the best, but we love them all… blue, red, yellow, white, pink, green. At Quarter Horse shows, the ribbons are not a priority, partly because these folks go to so many shows and have earned so many ribbons they’ve probably run out of room for storing or displaying them. It’s more about the points and qualifying, and I totally understand that mentality. Perhaps we show our green status when we bounce up the secretary booth stairs to pick up of those ribbons, but I don’t care, I don’t want to give up that simple thrill.
When I was a young girl we didn’t live where I could have a horse. I visited my Aunt in Connecticut every summer for a week or two and one day she brought me to one of her sons horse shows and put me on a friends horse. He was a big palomino and a kind old fella name Diesohab (I’m sure that is spelled wrong, it was an Indian name). My borrowed “show clothes” look awkward in the one picture taken but the huge buck-toothed smile on my face is evidence of the pure joy I felt that day. How I loved that horse and that one green satin ribbon.
So.. what to do with those ribbons as they start accumulating? I found some neat ideas on line and took matters into my own glue-gun wielding hands…
