Brad's beautiful blondie turns 5 today! She is spending her birthday weekend at a horse show (Thur-Sun). We drove 2 plus hours north to watch her be shown in two classes yesterday. AQHA Ranch Riding Level 1 and Working Western Rail.
It was obvious to me that Brad's girl is growing up and has filled in since I last saw her. We walked up and I got handed Padame "can you hold her..." of course I said yes! I hardly get to interact with her. We stood in the sun together, enjoying each others company while she was drying. I could feel her sweetness come through. I noticed her mane was more multi colored than I remembered. Padame's sooty/dark palomino coat dried to a glisten.
Brad had driven up the previous day and ridden Padame in the practice ring. He opted not to show her at this show. Brad has been so busy at work and hasn't been able to ride consistently. He always puts the horse first and didn't think it was fair. Brad will start showing her at the next show coming up later this month. Looking forward to seeing him show again!
Padame has struggled with a few things at past training shows. As all young horses do. I wrote about it earlier. Last year and at an earlier MN show this season (we did not go).
Yesterday she was better about the judges, and also being alone in the ring. Our trainer was super happy with her improvements!! "This was the first show that Padame wasn't so scared that she couldn't receive information from me. She missed some cues, but last year at this show I had a horse that was scooting sideways and backing up". It appears Padame has turned a corner :)
So many things have changed with AQHA Ranch showing since I last attended a show. It has been sooo long that I had to look it up. I love Blogger for this very reason! Apparently the last time I attended a horse show was in 2018, when Brad was still showing Cierra. Unreal! I didn't go to training shows last year, add the COVID gap and a transition year. The proof is in the post.
AQHA has added/changed Ranch classes and terminology, and guessing some rules too. I didn't dig into it that deep.
It was sad to see how small the show has become this year. Some large group trainers have retired. Several others took their crews out of State, to a fancier show down south. In addition, they changed the show format. I heard some were not happy about it and did not attend.
Typically you show twice, once on two different days. This show was three days of one day classes. Showing once in front of four judges, on the same day. It's great if you are having a good day. Not so good if you are not. Personally, I like it ~ ha ha! Less back-n-forth.

Ranch Riding Level 1 pattern
Ranch Riding Level 1
(2:56 min)
They came in last out of three, which is expected when schooling. Their score wasn't too bad. Four judges gave them 65.5/65/63.5/65.5 with two penalties. One was during a lead change and the other I think was a second right turn. Not sure what some abbreviations stand for.
There were only two entries in the Working Western Rail class. The sequence is called out and there are placements (no scores). It is similar to Western Pleasure...I don't get it. Perhaps it was added so more people would be interested in showing Ranch.
Attendance should be higher for remaining shows. I learned that MN and WI are working together, their sanctioned show points qualify for both States.
(3:49 min)
I found out this morning that WI Quarter Horse shows have gone digital!! Whoot whoot! There is a company that enters show details (via scribes). Gone are the days of waiting around to take photos of score sheets and trying to decipher chicken scratches. As someone who used to do digital work for a living, WOW I was super impressed with their app!! This detail girl got so excited seeing all the scoring data mesh together! Brad thought I was totally ridiculous.
I almost skipped going to this show. It was another blazing hot day. I had errands and a zillion things to do. I am really glad I went! It wasn't too bad in the shade and it was so nice to see everyone. Especially Padame <3