Hello! I must appologize for taking so long to post, but i have a lot to say now. Let's start with the show, which was a few weeks ago. I was riding a horse i'd never ridden before, so naturally i was a bit worried. Everything turned out all right though, because he was a good natured nine year old QH named Chips. His look was very hunter, which was good because we were at a hunter show! My day started off at 5:30 in the morning, when I got out of bed and me and my mom took off to my trainers stable where Chips was kept. I braided his mane, (my first time doing that as well) and we loaded him up. We stopped by the stable where my trainer gives lessons during the winter (it has an indoor) and picked up my friend Danielle and the horse she rides, Chesapique. We headed to the show grounds, and it was then that I got to ride Chips. We got along well, and guess what? I GOT A TROPHY! I was so excited. A first and two seconds! (i also went in hunter hack, but let's not go there;) Danielle got a trophy too, so it was a good day for us. Danielles the one riding the pinto (chesapique). Im on the chestnut. Anyways, in other news, we're shopping for... wait for it... A NEW HORSE!!! So far we've looked at about six or seven, but we've just started this weekend. The first one we looked at was a Hanoverian gelding. He's about 15.3 hands high, Chestnut with a star and a snip. He's coming five, and he's something we might be interested in. He's got big, lofty movenents, I fit him well, he's a good jumper, and his personality is an A++. My trainer said he's the type of horse that I could get on whenever and safely ride him around a x country course without havting to worry about being able to controll him. There are a few things going against him, though. He's got a roached back, which we're worried about. We're thinking it may cause some issues as far as staying sound goes. His loin is also long and on the weak side, and last year he got x-rays that showed a spot on his navicular. We're thinking that we may want to get another set of x-rays done to determin whether or not the spot is getting bigger. We're thinking that it may never bother him, but we're not so sure. We're also thinking that when we go to re-sell him in four or five years, he would defidently be harder to sell because of his back. Because of these things, we're not eliminating him, however we want to look around a bit more. After looking at him, me, mom, our trainer and her friend proceeded to check out this nice swedish warmblood cross mare, but she was too green for what we were looking for. After that, we went up to an equestrian center and looked at three different horses. The first was a very pretty tb mare, but she was a bit stiff and lame, so we didn't have me get on. The second was a five year old SEVENTEEN hand high tb mare, again off the track. She'd only raced a few times though, because she was too slow. I hopped on her, and although she was beautiful, she wasn't experienced enough for what we wanted. I think I gave my mom a heart attack though, because When i asked her to wakl she started cantering. I eventually got her down to a walk, but im pretty sure my mom was crossing her fingers until the moment my feet touched the ground. The third horse i didn't get on because we could tell she wasn't what we wanted. So that concluded Saturday, and Sunday we looked at this Holsteiner/tb mare that we think may be a good match. She's better built than any of the other horses i'd tried, she had a good disposition, and she'd been to a few shows. Although i'd have to work hard to do any dressage on her, when she jumps she just launches herself over the obstacles you can tell it wouldn't even cross her mind to stop. The only thing we're thinking about her, is that she's a lot of horse, so we'd like to go back and try her a bit more before we commit to anything. She's a goregous horse with the potential to jump higher, but my trainer says the better quality the horse, the more horse you're getting. I wouldn't be doing any eventing on her this year, but i could do well at jumper shows and possibly event with her next year. The thing is, when she's trotting she just speed trots around unless you make her go slower, and i haven't gotten the hang of slowing steps on the scale that hers need to be slowed. We're defidently going to go back and look at her again, though. Well, that's pretty much it... i hope everyone's had a good week, and i'll post again when something happens!
