National Recognition

So Regionals went ok! Halo was so chill and so well received (she received fantastic scores) that I decided I should look forward. The fun part about the Arabian Sport Horse portion of the registry, is that it is A. The only breed registry that offers a separate designation for sport horses (Dressage, Hunter, Jumper, Eventing, Carriage Driving, and Endurance) and that B. The National show has an East Coast/West Coast rotation.

This might seem a little foreign for most other registries, Dressage Championships along with most breed National shows happen at a "central" location (usually Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky etc) but the Sport Horse being such a popular division has warranted a rotational Nationals, which actually allows people who would otherwise be unable, to travel to a National show at least once every other year.

So in 2014, the year we went Reserve at Region V, Nationals was on the West Coast in Nampa, ID at the ID Horse Park. This was a lucky break for Halo and I, as our coach Kat DeVol and one of her other clients Darsie and her horse Phil were planning on making the trek. With a bit of planning and a LOT of scrounging and saving, both Darsie and I were able to make plans to be there.

Now, it was not cheap. I spent well over $2000 to get Halo there for ONE class. So if our class didn't go well, I was basically throwing that money down the toilet (insert positive comment about how the experience was worth it here--and by the way, it was).

So. We made the 10 hour drive to Nampa. Left REALLY early. Did I mention my horse had only been hauled about 5 times, and NEVER more than 20 mins at a time. So she hops right on the trailer, and off we go. We stopped to pick up Darsie and Phil and on our way.

On the road again!!

So after a very long, boring, uneventful, but still nerve-wracking (oh, did I mention both me and Darsie are hyper-anxious about our horses...like bad?) trip, we made it! We got all set up and both horses went right to eating and drinking like good little ponies.

Halo settled right in. It was quite hot when we got there, but it was cooling down very fast (Nampa is sort of desert-like).

The next day I took Halo for a walk around the grounds, had a nice lunge and then grazed a bit to help her settle. Did I mention my one class was on Friday and it was Tuesday we hauled in? (Darsie's horse is under saddle and his riding classes began Weds afternoon so we wanted to give him plenty of time to settle). 

Early morning Philbert with an IG philter.

 

We had lots of time to walk around and see the sights. Which turned out to be great for our confidence and trust in each other. We had a few lessons in hand from Kat, just to really tweak and perfect our running style.

 We did some grazing (in our fancy sparkle bell boots of course).

 We watched some horses go out in the dressage rings. We call this "contemplating our future".

Here Halo and I are waiting our turns at the little ring they have for letting horses move around a bit. Sort of a free lunging ring. It is a really nice thing to have at a long show like this.

 

We also spent a lot of time in our stall, just chilling. It was so hot and we had not anticipated the horrible flies (apparently late summer is when they hatch, and the warm weather helped them to come out). We were told to get big box fans (Wally World, here we come!), which would help with the heat, and also help keep the flies out of our stalls. Halo was not sure about the fan at first, but quickly realized it was quite refreshing.

 

Not entirely certain, but I think she might've believed she was a super model...??

Now onto the results. Darsie and Phil had some absolutely FANTASTIC rides in huge classes, and came away with two National Top Tens, one of which was actually a 3rd in a very large, very competitive Sport Horse Show Hack class.

Phil, Darsie and our coach Kat DeVol after Darsie's 2nd Top 10.

 

As stated before, Halo and I only had one class. So it was sort of a do or die sort of situation for us. If we screwed up, or the judges didn't like her, or whatever, we would be on our way home with our tails tucked.

 

We got all braided up and cleaned (we ended up forgoing the bath because Halo was terrified of the wash racks, and they were concrete floors so I was worried she would hurt herself) off, we headed up to the ring. Only to be told it would be another 45 minutes before our class because they were running behind. Of course, my horse had grease on her face, and hoof oil on her feet, so now I had to put her back in her shavings loaded stall. Cue meltdown. Seriously. I was so ready to just get out there and do the thing that I totally melted down when I was told I would have to wait our turn. 

Here's hoping we don't see this before our Nationals class!

 

One of my old trainers was there and very kindly offered to show her for me, I think she took my meltdown as nerves (and rightfully so!) I didn't even blink, I said no I am determined to do this! Our good friend Todd patted me on the back and told me that it was fine, we would just clean her back up when the time came. And the time came. And we cleaned her up. And Kat raced up to get me in my class, and then had to run down to the dressage rings to help Darsie and Lindsey (our classes were going at the same time). So I was on my own for the results. Oh, except for some AWESOME barn friends who drove all the way out JUST to watch our class and turn around and go home!

 

 And the results are in....2014 Reserve National Champion 2yo Arabian Fillies Sport Horse In Hand!!!

 

I think the thing that made me the most proud is we actually were first on one card and tied for third on the other. So the Hunter and Dressage judges both liked her very similarly. That, and we beat the very nice filly who beat us at Region V, along with SO many other nice, nice fillies. PLUS the winner was from Al-Marah who have very nice horses and always clean up in hand. AND I was, I believe, the ONLY amateur handler. Which means I was the only non - professional (trainer) showing my horse.

 

What a show!

  

 

Show Nuff

So as Halo grew I started to really see the potential in this little ugly duckling I'd gotten. She just kept getting bigger and prettier. She was over 15hh and very pretty.

I mean, who looks that pretty with wonky legs, a dirty blanket and your eyes squinted?

I began to think I should probably aim her towards her first show. She'd been to a few winter schooling shows to hang out at this point, but never actually shown. This meant she had to be bathed, clipped, and easily handled. Easier said than done! But we did it!

Look at my naked nosey! Mom says we need to clip it close so that it has room to grow before we show.

And even cooler....? We did it! We went to our first show and went Region V Reserve Champion 2yo Fillies SHIH open! She was an absolute saint, such a good girl and made me realize I'd regret it if I didn't get her to Nationals...so as you can guess--we made it a goal!

LL Carrye Oon and Tara Lovre -- 2013 Region V 2yo Fillies In Hand RESERVE CHAMPIONS!!

Getting Grown

So when we last left you Halo had been moved to a new barn, Cascade Stables. The farm is an older horse property set up for the starting of horses. A hot walker, small indoor, larger outdoor, and a family friendly atmosphere.

Halo was the only young horse and was still quite full of herself when I moved her in. Knowing her as I do today, it's hard to remember what a hot little ticket she was. While she was extremely good minded, she hadn't seen much in her short life, so everything was an excuse to spook and play. Turnout in the arena for a quick romp turned into marathon sweat sessions. Walks around the farm gave us endless reasons to spook.

Halo says, I are mad!

However suddenly one day I noticed that she wasn't quite so hot. She seemed to be getting braver. It seemed she was growing up! I started to really enjoy working with her. We started wearing a bridle, and then when that wasn't a big deal, we wore a surcingle and girth. I didn't have a saddle that fit her, so I set one on her back that didn't and walked her around in it without a girth. 

Halo's first time girthed up fully and lunged. She wasn't a fan of how cantering felt...

One day I decided I wanted some nice photos of my girl, so we even walked down the gravel road to my parents property. She was an absolute angel. I couldn't believe it.

You could totally see her growing up before your eyes. I'd turn her out for a run in the arena and she'd just rock back on her hocks and lope along like she was a born western pleasure horse. I was starting to really LIKE this horse I'd loved for so long.

New Home

So the filly, still Armanda as that was what she was called at the breeding farm (her sire’s name was Armando) was mine, now what?


Well first step was find somewhere for her to live. There was no room at the inn where Ellie, my retired rescue Arabian mare was living so I started friends. contacting


My friend Sandy had a lovely place and was looking for some help a few days a week in exchange for board. Of course I jumped on that!


So Kat and I picked up my new pony and she hopped right on the trailer despite her buddies running around the pasture screaming for her. One call as we left and totally quiet the whole short ride to her new place. We didn’t ask her to back out of the trailer since it was her first time, Kat turned her around and unloaded her (she did crowd Kat a bit when she went to turn around).

Everyone liked her--even Gavin, who had not shown any interest or care for my other two horses I’d owned while he had known me. She was polite, great with all the other horses and neat in her paddock. She had an interesting personality, brave and happy, but also studious and careful. She liked to check things out head on—no running away from scary things for this horse! I liked her boldness, I secretly hoped it transferred to the saddle too!

We weren't sure, however about the tractor spreading gravel, which you will see in this cute videoJ

She also knew nothing, was afraid of a lot and needed a lot of handling. So that's what she got.

One of the things I wanted was a horse who I could put on pretty much any trailer. She seemed equally as happy to hop on a slant load as a straight load. Here is her first time on a straight load trailer. She was pretty concerned about it, if you can’t tell!

She lived at Sandy's from April 2013 through August of 2013, at which point I needed to put her somewhere that had an arena. So I put her in full care boarding at Cascade Stables. I had decided we needed to start working on our handling and fitness as I wanted to show her sport horse in hand.

While Halo was still very much a baby, her brain was wonderful. She came along very quickly and I felt very blessed to own her.

We had lots of new experiences at Sandy's place. Including what a true winter storm was. As part of our agreement I’d watch Sandy’s place when she went out of town. Of course one of those times she was gone, we had cold snap/snow storm. We were using heated buckets and they were still freezing! Halo’s paddock was too far from the barn to run a heated bucket, so we just used any uneaten hay to insulate around her bucket in the corner, but it still liked to freeze hard. So I’d break up the ice and use a strainer to remove the chunks and put them in a bucket that I could then dump over the fence. We learned that ice is yummy to eat:

The next step was to decide what I was going to call her and what I was going to register her as. As stated before, she came to me with the name Armanda which I didn’t particularly like. What I’ve not mentioned about getting the filly is that my dad passed away in January. It was sudden, and unexpected. He and I were very close when I was younger, but had grown apart in recent years because he had become an alcoholic and at the time of his death, it had been several months since we’d spoken despite my reaching out on holidays. About a month after he passed my Uncle informed me that my dad had a pension through Boeing, and were notified that my younger brother and I would be getting approx. $400 each a month for the next several years (which would otherwise have been paid to him).

About a year prior to his death I’d given my longtime horse to a friend because my horse and I just weren’t a good match under saddle. So I’d been a year without a riding horse, and suddenly had some extra money at my disposal. Because of my Dad’s responsibility in his early years at Boeing, it was only fitting that as it had gone with my first horse (he bought him for me--an Arabian also)—my Dad would be the one to make it possible to have this special horse. Thus, she earned the registered name LL Carrye Oon (Armando el Aryes* x Torrifficoo) (the prefix LL is for my last two initials, and the initials of our family breeding farm Lazy Loper Stables). Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas was one of our favorite road trip songs when I was a kid—it was also a song we played at his memorial. It was my way of honoring my dad, even if it wasn’t much. I went back and forth on the barn name—I really felt strongly about the name Halo (also in part because I’d just been baptized recently) but Kansas seemed to also fit (it was pretty, hardy, and unique). I sometimes still wonder why I chose Halo—but it fits, even when it doesn’t (if you know what I mean).

I sure love this little thing!

Tempting Trip

“Hey, do you know anyone looking for a really nice horse? Free? I know of a breeder looking to find a few homes. ”. Words you never want to hear from a horsey friend you trust. Especially when you sold your last riding  horse a year earlier,and your other horse is a retired rescue. Oh, and you just got a raise at work (anyone else love that hey I got a raise, let’s negate that positive cash flow feeling?).

So a very close, longtime friend Kat calls me and says JUST those words. And I--being the very studious, responsible business woman that I am say “Ooh ponies?!” But seriously, I told Kat (as she actually IS my voice of reason generally—did I say I’d known her a long time?)that I might know of someone looking (me?) and I would like to make an appointment to see them in person so I can properly recommend them to said person (um,me), but of course I didn’t TELL her my mind was whispering "me!".

See, my last horse was a very talented, very beautiful, and also very large gelding who I pulled from his dam, raised and spent a LOT of money training to hopefully take me to Nationals someday (he has been to Nationals—just not with me). He was a really neat guy, and had done extremely well in the show ring, and even been on a few trail rides (with other riders) and did wonderfully. Unfortunately MY anxiety over his size made him anxious and unhappy and we just weren’t a good match in the saddle (despite my absolute love for him and 8 years of trying to make it work). I sold him (at a VERY large loss from what I’d spent in training and show fees over the years) to a wonderful friend and he is now teaching a young boy to ride and his family absolutely LOVES him. But BOY was it a hard decision to make. He was my dream horse and it was MY fault I couldn’t ride him without having a heart attack due to my anxiety.

SO when I sold him, and kept my rescued Arabian mare Ellie who was retired in the pasture of a wonderful friend (you can read more about the rescue and rehab of Ellie here) my goal was to give myself some time off, take lessons, and when I was ready and had saved up some money I’d buy an older stock-type gelding (my family bred Paint horses, so the Arabian world was a world I’d actually entered on accident). 

So of course when Kat told me she knew of three Arabian yearlings, I was sold (erm, I mean I was interested for a friend). Ha! But seriously, I was like well you can’t pass up a free horse. Also the breeder was known for producing wonderful horses and the gal she had handling them was known to be really good with babies too. So I was told there were two fillies and a colt available. All grey. All yearlings. And all in their yak-like yearling shed-out/winter glory. I went in thinking I’d be interested in the colt. He was supposedly well put together and really well bred (his half-sister out of the same dam had sold for over $100k a year or two earlier).  

First day meeting Ms Halo!

So we get there, and walk into the barn and the three babies are all in a paddock with two stalls attached. As per the usual in Washington, it was pouring down rain, so they are all muddy, huddled together into one stall and wide-eyed. They all were similar in size, build and looks. One filly had a bloody nose, it looked like she had whacked it on something. Someone else already had dibs on her (good thing, because she was gorgeous). That left the colt by JA Urbino out of PS Capricious, And the filly by *Armando El Aryes out of Torrifficoo. I thought for sure I would want the colt, but when we went in the stall they all ran and when they stopped the colt wouldn't even make eye contact, but the Rose grey filly stopped turned and looked me right in the eye and allowed us to catch her.

When she walked away from her friends who were calling, through the rain, through a scary barn aisle and let us lunge her and then catch her with my nervous self leading her with little fanfare, I was sold. Told the owner I wanted her and that I had to find a place to board her and transport and would give her a call. Free. Papers and all. Wonderful transaction with a responsible breeder who culls the right way!

And now I've set the stage for you all to follow our awesome journey!