Sunday, June 12, 2011

Showing Pinto

After their successful year on the APHA circuit last year, Sara decided to see how Mater did against the Pintos in the area. Many factors went into this decision, and the least which was the time spent on the road. Having to be gone three weekends a month is a tough life on both the horse and the exhibitor. Also, Oliver is coming along nicely and needs exposure at the local shows, so she wanted to have the opportunity to work with him more. And the fuel prices sure don't help much.

There are only six Pinto shows in Wisconsin in a season, and they are held over three weekends, so this really cuts down on the travelling. Two back-to-back shows are held on one weekend, and each show has six judges. Yes, Six. That means you cannot mess up, and there is no where in the ring where you can "have a moment" with your horse. But, if you do well you can really build up the points.

So Sara and Mater headed off to their first Pinto show a coupla weeks ago. It was down at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, a popular place for holding many of the regional shows. Due to a scheduling conflict the show was on Friday and Saturday, so I had to stay back and work. They left early Thursday afternoon to get a good spot for the trailer, get some riding in, and get him all cleaned up and settled in for his big weekend. Sara called me that evening to check in and said, "Everyone is SO NICE here". Seems that folks were just coming up and saying hi and introducing themselves. Very friendly bunch.

Friday started with Amateur Showmanship. Yup, Amateur. Since they pointed out of Novice last year, they have to show in the next step up. Their first class had 11 horses in it. Mater did a great job, and they waited for their placings........

1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 5th, and NP!

Yay Mater! Why the NP? Who cares - four 1sts!


The rest of the day followed suit. Here's a quick rundown.
English Shmshp, 1, 3, 4, np, np, np.
English Pleasure: 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4.
Eng Pleasure Geldings: 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 6.
Eng Equitation: 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 7.
Hunter Under Saddle: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3.
Disciplined Rail: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 5.
Trail: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5.

So it was a good day. After all the horses were fed and tucked in for the nite, the Wisconsin Pinto Club hosts a dinner for all the exhibitors to attend.

Saturday were the western classes. Mater did his thing, and the results were impressive.
Open WP Geldings: 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, np.
Open WP Senior: 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3.
Amateur WP: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2.
Am WP Geldings: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1.
Am Horsemandhip: 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 5.
Am Western Disciplined Rail: 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 4.
Open Disciplined Rail: 1, 1, 1, 3, 3, 3.
Am Barrels: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3.
Am Flag: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2.

Overall, it was a great first Pinto show. They earned 388 points and two Registers of Merit, and they won the high point for each day.

Mater, Pinto Rockstar!

5 comments:

Rebecca White said...

Rock Stars!!! Way to go!!!

paint_horse_milo said...

Sounds like they did an AMAZING job! A lot of people here in Washington love the Pinto shows, always saying how fun they are. I would attend but theres little to no options for reining.

By those scattered scores, it sure reminds you that every judge has a different opinion, and makes you appreciate the multiple judges. Where one liked you for 1st, another thought you didnt place! Amazing. Glad she brought in a ton of points!!

Jeffro said...

Congrats!

Sherri said...

Way to go!! Sara has a great talent! Wish you guys' were closer I'd send George and Kooter over for a tune up!!

in2paints said...

We don't have any Pinto shows close to us, or I'd love to show there instead of the APHA shows. I used to show Pinto back in Michigan and it was a lot of fun!

Congratulations to Sara and Mater!!