This weekend is/was Padame's first and last time showing this season. Although she attended five shows spread out from March to end of August. The first was for exposure/training. She needed it. At her second show in April, Padame came up lame during practice and ended up not showing.
An MRI revealed nothing in particular. Her course of treatment included a shot of ReNovo, followed by no training with continued partial turn out. She eventually began incremental rehab workouts.
Padame attended her third and fourth show with the trainer, to continue rehab. At least she got some kind of show exposure. Earlier this month Padame was deemed sound, and cleared to go back to full training. It took around 4 months.
I am glad ReNovo worked for Padame. It did not work for Koda. He remains lame off/on.
Brad opted not to ride Padame during rehab. What little time was spent under saddle, was better done with the intuitive trainer she lives with. Just a few weeks ago, he started riding and connecting with his horse again.
Onto the first and last show:
Wisconsin Horse Shows continue to shrink. This season ending five day AQHA State Show was no exception. Almost all Youth classes have no one entered. How sad!! Hunter Jumper classes were also empty. Those folks chose not to attend, rumored to be because of venue/footing. The largest Ranch class I saw had 10 entries. Almost all had a lot less (4-5). It is a good thing Horse Showing is an individual sport.
Padame was only shown by the trainer. Although Brad did ride Padame in the practice rings, on no-show days. He noted a significant difference in her maturity.
Below are a few no so great cellphone shots of Brad's blondie, who turns a lot of heads.
Padame 8/31/24
For the show inclined, Padame's Ranch Riding scores ranged from a high 72.5 to an odd low 64. There was a judge that didn't like anyone she saw and scored much lower than the other two judging the same ride.
The scoring can drive a person bat shit crazy!! Everyone starts with a score of 70. You go up/down from there in .5 points increments, based on skill execution aka personal opinion...every skill, every judge opinion, two different days.
The State show was double sanctioned by both the Wisconsin Quarter Horse and Palomino Associations. On Friday, the two Palomino Judges placed Padame 1st (5 entries) in riding and 2nd in conformation (4 entries). No scoring. Saturday she got 2nd in riding and was scratched from conformation, so the two ranch horses could go home at a decent hour. They were so ready to leave the show chaos.
Padame 8/31/24
It was so fantastic and heart warming to see our long-time horse friend at the show, overcome her serious health problems. We used to all trail ride together back in the day. Most people never ride again after having a stroke, and she is even back showing. Nothing short of a miracle!! So well deserved. Brad has his show buddy back :)) Below they are getting ready to load horses.
Padame & Brad with Checkers & Peggy
3 comments:
One show is better than none! She sure is a gorgeous horse. It's too bad there aren't more and better venues for AQHA shows there. May have to travel a little farther afield to get into better shows.
Glad to hear she's healed and showing and congratulations on her 1st place! She' s a beautiful girl. It's a shame there aren't more shows to enter but I guess it's something that has to be dealt with. Maybe you will have to travel if the shows continue to dwindle.
We used to travel up and down the east coast when my daughter was showing regularly. It was a pain in the neck and very expensive with renting hotel rooms, food and not to mention the cost of the shows. As for judges, well you can't fight them and if they have misguided prejudices that's hard to deal with. It's one of the reasons my daughter decided to compete in jumpers instead of equitation or hunter jumpers, the rounds are timed and there's no judging involved. So win-win.
We decided to give up showing altogether and just enjoy our horses on trail rides and at home. Much less stressful for everyone involved. Not right for everyone but it works for us.
Congratulations on her 1st and 2nd places. She looks absolutely beautiful, and I’m glad her lameness was nothing permanent, even if there was a long rehab. She is still young, and they should have a lot of years together and lots of winning.
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