25 August 2005
Sort of a progress day, but one I could have done without :-)
I took Ruby to a small local show today. I had entered her in the traditional vehicle class but had difficulty getting a groom since it is a serious holiday week, so chose to turn out with the XC vehicle which I find less intimidating in solo situations because it's much easier to get in and out of. I knew this would put me down the line, but I looked on it as a training day, so that didn't matter too much.
I showed Ruby in-hand in 2 classes for Fell ponies, and she took a third in the Mares class despite jogging sideways several times down one side of the ring. She did not like the chug chugging display of "stationary engines" working in the Vintage exhibits, which she wanted to run away from but could not because I had her by the bridle. However, by the end of the second class in which she was unplaced, she'd decided she *could* walk in a ladylike fashion without having to turn sideways to keep an eye on the chug chugging, since it hadn't hurt her. However, she was not too happy about the fairground organ (calliope, which I kept calling carousel for some reason) that was playing for much of the day. The owner was willing to stop it if requested by stewards in the horse ring, so it wasn't a big issue. I rather enjoyed the sound, and was whistling along with the tunes, but Ruby wasn't too enamoured.
A young lady who came by stopped to admire Ruby (and got collared to act as groom!) and we did our show class. Ruby by now was getting into tank mode because we were in the same ring as before with the stationary engines going and the organ pumping away, and for the second time this summer we had a judge who didn't ask the horses to reverse (change rein) so we kept on going round and round on the right rein until the poor animals were nearly screwed into the ground. It does help literally to unwind them if the judge just asks for a change across the diagonal ...
The first competitor's own choice of show demonstrated how the pony could do tiny circles pivoting on one wheel, to compensate for the fact that it doesn't back at all. So we all did the same exercise so we could prove we too could do it, as well as extend quite prettily AND back. Pivoting just happened to the be first exercise Ruby learnt so it came as no surprise to her at all!
We were 3rd (or last, as you care to look at it). Fine. We then expected to have twenty minutes or so while the exercise cart class was judged, before the cones course was set up. So, I substituted another young lady who wanted to have a drive with me, and I didn't take Ruby out of the cart. Mistake. Of course it took much longer than twenty minutes to get an empty ring AND some cones. We kept walking about, which for a while was good because there was a great deal of space, and Ruby got to pass the cattle in pens, flapping signage, piles of jump stands lurking in the grass, a Clydesdale pulling a farm cart with passengers hopping on and off, and that silly Shetland chariot thing we discussed here a few weeks ago (ask me if I like it any better having seen it - later!) etc etc. Well, Ruby kept on walking but was getting bored. She started to invent places to go and trying to make unilateral decisions. I kept thinking that we'd be going into the ring shortly, so the time she spent in harness got longer, and longer, and while she didn't do anything remotely naughty, she must (I now know) have been getting cross. And an hour and a half's worth of cross is too much :-)
Eventually a simple course was set up and at the judge's invitation I drove into the collecting area. Same ring as the previous three classes; same fairground organ and stationary engines. As Ruby drove through the gate, I mentioned the fairground organ to the steward who went off to ask for it to be stopped, but while we walked about and waited to be asked to drive the course, Ruby's temper finally went up in smoke. "What, this ring AGAIN! And that nasty noisy music! I have HAD IT." She picked up her front feet and shook her head and generally gave everyone to understand that she was completely pissed off. She didn't rear totally, just did levades. I can guarantee I didn't hold onto her with the reins, nor smack her, but for what seemed a very long minute she did not listen to my voice telling her to go forward. People began to converge on the action, in that helpful manner that drivers do, but thank heavens, the fairground organ stopped and she settled down!
I asked the judge if I could drive my cones first and leave, and as he's an old friend - and a sensible chap - he of course said yes. So I set Ruby going and she settled down to her job nicely once she knew she had something to do and was not distracted by the noise of the organ "as well as" being bored. She has got the idea of "hit the centre of the space between the cones" and so she drove quite a tidy round though she had never seen a slalom before.
I took her quietly away from the ring as soon as we finished, and I unharnessed her and gave her all the little attentions she clearly felt I had been witholding - like mints, and water, and access to grass. I went back on foot to line up with the other competitors, and she'd been placed fourth, which was fine given the earlier excitement. Several people, however, asked where was my horse! Obviously they had not understood what had been going on in Ruby's head!
Lesson 1 - if there is a delay, get Ruby out of the shafts and give her off duty time, including that essential for Fell pony sanity, grazing. Lesson 2 - I still need a groom who's competent. The girl I had with me for the cones course was a complete novice in driving terms although she helps and rides from a yard where driving is done. Lesson 3 - make sure the previous ingredients are in place if a fairground organ is likely! Time for another despooking CD???