Porsche does the Trot Pole division.

It was cool and rainy this morning when I got to the ranch to take Porsche and Karlin to the Hunter/Jumper show. Jasper was going nuts- bolting back and forth in his pen, sliding stops and rearing, kicking out, being a very, very energetic Thoroughbred. He's definitely feeling good and the abscess is starting to drain. Eeyuck.

This was technically Porsche's second show as this spring a gal took her in a walk-trot western pleasure class at the Fairgrounds. This was her fifth time off-ranch, she's 5-years-old, and greenbroke. Karlin broke her last October and has been working with her ever since with the goal of her becoming a ranch horse for the boys to ride. Karlin is moving to California later on in the month so we're trying to introduce as many new things to Porsche as we can before she leaves.

After dealing with Jasper's ehm... high energy... on outings, this little mare was AMAZING to work with. Thank god for Quarter Horse brains. She stood at the trailer as we groomed and tacked her up. She was on high alert for sure, neck braced and ears pinned forward, but did her usual nice and easy walk/trot/canter in the warm up. There were a lot of horses there, lots of trailers coming in and out, lots of commotion. Since everyone goes into the arena one at a time to do their course, there is a big blob of horses waiting around at the in gate. She just stood there quietly and took everything in.

Our golden girl had never seen a course of jumps, and the trot poles were actually 2 poles on the bottom with another pole on top- a little more substantial than just a pole on the ground. She went around like she'd done it her whole life, the second class was even better than the first, and in her flat class she didn't mind all the other horses in the arena and sometimes in her space. In the line-up at the end the horse next to her was weaving and sidepassing and came very close to bumping in to her but she held her ground and stood quietly.

The 2 boys that came with us took about 200 pictures (for real) and video, and cheered wildly when she got a 5th place ribbon.

Porsche girl is going to be an outstanding horse for our program thanks to the hundreds and hundreds of volunteer hours Karlin has put into her. We will all miss Karlin greatly, and I will miss my morning riding partner. Good luck in California!