State

This weekend was the state 4H Gymkhana event. Friday I borrowed a fancy horse trailer that holds tack and has living quarters. Saturday morning we packed, washed Classy and headed out on a two-hour trip to the fairgrounds. We also hauled N's best friend and her horse.

We arrived in time to see an older girl from our county run and place in her division. She is 19 so this was her last year competing. She won two grands (first), two reserves (second) and two top tens in her age group. It was a wonderful way for her to finish her 4H career.

We unloaded, bought commemorative sweatshirts, checked out the tack trailers that were full of things to buy, and then when the arenas were cleared the girls saddled up and rode their horses.

It's hard to watch different riders and their styles at these events. There were some kids running their horses up and down the arena with no care at all for where other riders were. I also saw a couple girls on ponies hitting each other's horses with crops, in the barn no less. I also saw riders lose patience with their horses and yank on their heads unmercifully when they didn't do as well as they wanted. Unbelievable.

After a nice supper provided by the sponsoring county, we fed the horses and went to our hotel. There was lots of nervous fun all night long until N couldn't handle it anymore and told everyone to be quiet.

Sunday we were at the barn by 7 am feeding and saddling up. The first class started at 8:30. Unfortunately N and her friend were in different arenas and most of their classes ran at the same time.

Barrels were the first class N rode, and to be honest we just weren't sure how she would place. You could see there were good horses and good riders in her age division and her class had about 50 horse and riders entered. When it was her turn to run she had a smooth and clean run so I was very pleased. As the other riders ran and the times came in I started to cross off those who were slower to get some kind of idea where she was standing in the group. For a long time she stood fifth and then slowly made her way downwards. As the second to last rider entered the arena she stood eighth, and when she came across the time at a slow lope I quietly went over and gave N a huge hug. At the final tally she took eighth out of 45 and got a top ten ribbon.




Her next class was plug. Plug consists of a race around one barrel at the end of the arena. We talked it over and both agreed that we weren't expecting a top ten from this class, as it doesn't take as much skill as barrels. Some of the horses who could run fast but not turn well could still beat her and Classy. She ran about mid way through the group. She lucked out and had the arena drug right before she ran, meaning the ground was smooth for her. She ran a clean run and from the tracks you could see it was executed beautifully. Again we waited and crossed off names and were really quite happy to see she took 6th out of 45 riders.




Pole bending was the next class she participated in. When N and Classy get together on a pole run it is a sight to behold. A horse changes leads between each pole and it makes it look like it is dancing. N has had a couple of beautiful runs this year and Classy does best in this event. Sadly, it wasn't their day Saturday. N rated her too soon coming into the end pople and they got off to a bad start. She then overcorrected her and they never really got back in sync. She dropped two poles, and then slowed her up and trotted her out. The announcer commended her on saving her horse for the rest of the day and as she was reaching down and patting Classy on the neck, the crowd clapped for her. I told her it was in appreciation for her horsemanship, as many kids would have run their horses the whole way no matter how many poles they knocked.

After a lunch break N had her last class of the day. For some reason that neither of us can explain I signed her up for Speed and Action. Speed and Action is a race in which the horse and rider come into the arena, stand in a marked off 16x16 box wait for a count of five and then are given the go signal to run down and around one barrel only to return to the box and wait five seconds. A qualifying run consists of a horse and rider that do not step outside the box. N has never done this event on Classy. Before it began we both agreed that what ever happened she should just have fun. A lot of horses can't stand after running hard, and we were unsure what Classy would do. She ran this class second to last. She started off cleanly came around had a terrific stop and then ever so slightly stepped out of the box. They called a disqualifying run, but then announced that she had the fastest time of the day, and would have had grand. I honestly couldn't have been more proud, she went for it all.

On the way home I asked her how she thought it went and she said: "I got two ribbons and a pretty sweatshirt – it was great!"