I Suck At Horse Shows

although today is the usual day i hang out with my friends (marc and kelley), karen and i went to see our nephew (pj) compete in a horse show.

pj takes therapeutic riding lessons at briggs stable located in hanover. it so happens that the briggs stable was having its sixth mini show of the year today in the rain.

for pj, today would be the second horse show he has competed in. in his first horse show, both sets of grandparents attended and watched him take second place in the competition. unfortunately, karen and i missed his first show.

feeling like the bad aunt and uncle, we made sure we made today's horse show... rain or shine. (mother nature chose the former.) it was quite an interesting experience to attend a horse show. now, i suck at horse shows. i have never attended a horse show. i don't even know what judges use as criteria for a horse show. i always imagined a horse show to be like those best in show dog competitions where a trainer runs back and forth with the animal.

from what i'm told by my brother-in-law (pj... the older one) , one of the things a rider is judged on is "posting", which is when the rider rises out of the saddle seat for every other stride of the horse's forelegs. posting smooths the jolts from sitting on the horse and makes riding the trot much more comfortable for the horse and rider.

anyway, as it turned out.. the horse show competition was like a best in show dog competition. pj simply rode the horse back and forth.

(the video below is pj's trot during the horse show.)


afterwards, the judge declared the blue ribbon winner (which is the ribbon given for placing first) and it was pj. congratulations pj! pj did a fantastic job. (yep, my mere presence propelled him to victory this time around. hot amy should learn from this when it comes to having competitions against me. it's part of the awesomeness i exude... just kidding.)