Getting toward the end of the spring season.....

So guess I've gotten my hands on some nice young horses....

Vanity's Revenge finished 2nd at the Ark at Preliminary and is heading next to the Preliminary 3-Day in VA. Dressage is improving, we were just .4 behind a horse who has been getting low 30s all season!! Showjumping was mannerly, and cross-country we put on some speed and she flew over everything without the slightest hesitation....!

On Sunday we took Gracie, aka Vanity One, for her first show at the Ark's Future Event Horse competition. Jones went too, to compete in the Young Event Horse for the first time. Gracie was EXTREMELY good.... she whinnied a bit, but didn't act silly at all. She stood up for the judge, walked and trotted, and won the yearling class and Reserve Champion Future Event Horse out of nine competitors!! Including some very fancily-bred babies! She got a _9_ on her walk! And an 8 on correctness. She acquired a few fans amongst the spectators, too, with her personality!

Jones totally wowed me with his obedience in the dressage--I was really able to ride him through and show off his gaits and temperament, garnering eights on his walk and submission/willingness. He won the dressage section by 2 points! Then we jumped, and although he is still not terribly experienced he scored well for his willingness, responsiveness, technique and scope. He went readily into the water and barely hesitated before the drop and the ditch, which had already caused much consternation among the other young horses. And we got to GALLOP, which was pretty fun! So I was feeling pretty good as they started reading back the results.... though we might do okay for an Off Track TB. We weren't sixth. Then we weren't fifth or fourth. I was pleased! Then we weren't third, either. There was a REALLY nice grey mare, so I thought "Cool, we got 2nd!" But the grey mare was 2nd! Which left 1st for Jones! And then he was Reserve Champion YEH, just a hair behind the 1st placed 5yo Young Event Horse!

So we got a bunch of ribbons and a couple swank championship halters from Nunn Finer, and Revi won some lovely Nunn Finer boots! All in all an excellent weekend and I am really excited about having such nice horses of my own to ride! Have to say I am retooling my business plan a bit to give myself more time (and money) to do so, too..... More horse shoeing work and scaling down the lesson program.... selling surplus horses.... etc! I've picked up quite a few shoeing customers in the last couple of months, and things look good for further expansion.