Part II. Week one of showing (Week V of the show)
HITS Coachella – Week V started with the arrival of new horse number 2. FF Clintaro had cleared quarantine on Thursday the 16th at LAX and had been transported to Rancho Polo with a dear friend, Tracey Epp, until we arrived. So we headed back out in the truck and trailer to fetch “Clinton” (with the exhaustion of the trip we were extremely limited in our creativity, and months of calling him “the Clinton gelding” led to the extremely unoriginal name). Tracey had commented that he was a super chill gelding, and true to her words, we were greeted by a perfectly content and calm baby horse. And true to his nature, he loaded up in the trailer and shipped over the Thermal show grounds like he’d done it a hundred times before. The funniest part of his pickup is that the breeder I had purchased him from told me repeatedly how fabulous and gorgeous the Evita mare was, and then would always end it with, “and your gelding is nice too.” So I was expecting a “nice” gelding and a spectacular mare. Well, the mare was indeed spectacular, but Clinton is right up there with her. He is absolutely stunningly beautiful, and also my first ever “full hunter” type. There will be no aiming this one towards all 3 rings!
The arrival on the showgrounds was what we were a bit more concerned about. We were stabled next to a horse that would best be described as “part shark, part battle ram,” with her proclivity towards making a nasty face and then slamming her teeth against the mesh wire between the stalls. We had tried all 4 of the other horses in that stall, but my [older, more experience] horses either cowered in fear or rose for the fight, and all had to be removed from the stall in short order. So with bated breaths we tossed Clinton in the stall and waited for the fireworks. He went and stood by the mesh and the shark mare did her thing – running at and slamming her teeth into the wire with ears pinned. Clinton not only stood his ground, but did not cower, fight, flinch, or react in any way whatsoever. I have never been so impressed by a 4 year old in a new environment in my life! I do have to tell the rest of the story, though, upon conversation with the seller where I relayed this amazing story, he chuckled and mentioned that Clinton had been used to separate stallions in the barn in Germany. So it turns out he was no stranger to aggressive attitudes and posturing! Within 24 hours the two horses were best of friends, though I suspect he would have been perfectly happy either way!
The next Herculean chore, so to speak, was the first ride of the babies in quite possibly the most intimidating environment anywhere in the world. Golf carts, tractors, trucks, loose horses, barking dogs, flapping tarps, flapping tents, crackly speakers…….all of that and no arena fences. But both Clinton, at age 4, and Evita (the new mare), at age 5, took it all in stride (pun intended), and Danielle and I enjoyed lovely rides around the show grounds. I think we were both more shocked than it would be possible to convey that we survived ride #1 with no lunging, no ear stuffing, and no other preparation of these young horses who had literally just walked out of quarantine to everything new and unfamiliar. I buy my horses from one breeder in the US (who has his stock in Germany) and one breeder/farm in Germany because when they say “good brain” they mean “best brain you’ve ever seen,” and once again they absolutely outdid themselves in finding me these young horses who refrained from setting a hoof out of line despite being given every excuse to do so. I would have laughed at a buck or a spook, and though there was plenty of nose blowing and “looking,” there was nothing during our three weeks in the desert that even resembled a “misstep or misbehavior.” Wow.
The “big” horses started showing that week and we had some phenomenal results there as well.
Rasen BHS stepped into the 3’3″ hunters with both me (his amateur owner) and with Danielle, and then on a spur-of-the-moment decision also jumped around a 1.0m jumper course with Danielle. He absolutely blew us away with his calm disposition and not only willingness, but actual happiness to gallop around the many rings we had him in throughout the week (Hunter rings 2-4 and Jumper 2). It’s tough to put into words the undefinable characteristics that make a horse a true joy to ride and lead to the understanding that a small child could take the reins and have as much fun as a seasoned show veteran. This horse embodies those qualities and I can say without hesitation that literally anyone could sit on this horse and have a good time!
My young mare, Cassiana SR (Cassiano x Calando I), stepped into her first ever 1.30m rounds in the YJC 7yo classes and managed to hold her own against the best of the best with a 2nd and 3rd place ribbon in phenomenal company that week.
And my thoroughbred, William L, jumped out of his skin all week to wind up Champion in the High Amateur Owner Jumpers (1.40m). I found out this winter that he’d been jumping around on a broken coffin bone in August of 2016, and we did a round of Osphos to help address and lingering bone issues. The Osphos sent him into kidney failure in January, and resulted in several days in the vet hospital. This was a comeback in so many ways, and I was overjoyed that he felt as comfortable and happy to jump around as he did.
The two babies also continued their education with forays into many of the warm-up rings for both flat warmups and jumping sessions under both Danielle and myself. We also took them on some trail rides and started utilizing my turnout paddock to give them some time to stretch their legs. Every “task” was met with ears forward and far more composure than I ever could have hoped for from horses their age!
With week one/Week V under our belts were were ready to settle into a routine and move into week two/Week VI…..