Riley lives up to his name

"Rile You Up" had an outstanding weekend in Clemson. He got everyone around the grounds talking about him. He was shown by Gia and Chipper in short stirrup both Saturday and Sunday. He was fantastic. He came home with 2 championship ribbons and 2 reserve championships. He was named horse/pony of the weekend by show management and received a big bucket of apples and carrots for himself. I decided to see how he would do in the trail class. He had never been asked to cross a bridge, back an "L" or other tasks that go into trail. We schooled the bridge twice before competing. The first time he took one look at it and said..."Uh, NO" he danced all around it. When he finally stepped on it he went right off the side. The second time there was not a moment's hesitation, then we rode in the class, and no suprise he won the class.

We also took Sebastian to the show. He wasn't real thrilled with the experience. We had to scratch Saturday all together because he was not willing to cooperate. I rode him about 4 times during the day. He started out a bucking fool. We finished up the day schooling crossrails. Sunday morning started out much better. I showed him in crossrails and he did very well. He came out second in his class. I had originailly planned to show him in the Hunter Classic, but decided to scratch because I wasn't sure how he would do. I wanted to quit on a good note. Karin had wanted to show him in a few classes, but we had to scale that back to just the walk/trot on the flat. She took second in her class. A friend of her's then brought her horse up for Karin to show over fences. She showed in the classic on "Gus" against me on "Riley". Riley and I had an awful round. I guess I don't ride over fences enough, nor Riley enough. Our second round was much better, but I blew the first round trying to find spots for him. Low and behold Riley has no adjustability and knows his job. All he wanted was me to get out of his way and let him do his job. Ooopppss so much for being a pro.

Here are some pics from Saturday, Sunday to come...

What am I up to???

It's been quite awhile since I have blogged. As you may know I have shrunk the size of my operation, and am down to just teaching a few students on a regular basis. I'm staying in touch with as many students as I can. I have some video to post of what I've been up to as life has been winding down. Stay tuned to see some amazing footage!!!

As for what I'm doing at this moment... I'm sitting in a hotel room with Kellie, and Gia watching Monster In-Law. Karin, Chipper (and family), and us all travelled up to Clemson today. There is a show this weekend. We had a long day getting here, but are settled in for the night. Riley and Sebasitan aka. Tommy are at the show grounds snuggled in their stalls for the night. There was a suprisingly low number of people stabling tonight. We're assuming more will turn up tomorrow. Gia and Chipper will be showing Riley in Short Stirrup. Karin will be showing Sebastian in some beginner classes. I will be showing him in 2' adult hunter classes, and 2' jumper classes. There is a hunter classic Sunday so I'll be showing both of them in it on Sunday.

Stay tuned to hear how we did.