Spent most of the day at the Hipico with the horse show. Had fun riding, watching and working but it was all tempered by being sick. Cant wait till Im over this bug. Martin gave me some medicine today that should help knock it out. This job is hard enough working at full power let alone feeling like death. Despite that though, it was a successful day. We took Benito, Skyline, Nixon, Luli and Puccinni. The horses were all good. Had some in the meter class, four in the 1.10 and two in the 1.20. It was Skyline's first 1.10 class and he was a rockstar! Such a good horse. Big jump, big step and big personality. Going to make someone a super nice upper level jumper. The weather was lovely as well up until the last class when it absolutely poured for like 10 minutes. Just long enough to soak everyone. The warm up ring and show ring were in covered rings so the show was able to keep going. And we managed to snag a few empty stalls earlier that morning so we were able to throw some of the horses in stalls as well as ourselves and our stuff. Poor Puccini caught the short stick since he was in the ring when the downpour started. He just got the overhang from the roof to stand under. We had a decent wait before it was Benito's turn in the 1.20 and thankfully the rain had pretty much quit by then so we weren't running around in the rain. And thankfully it didn't turn cold since despite the stalls and attempts to stay dry, we were all pretty soaked. I did have to laugh at one point today though. I had thought Id been doing much better at not looking like a total gringa when were were out and about but apparently I still reek of American. At one point a horse brok his tie and got loose. I was the closest person to him so grabbed him and then looked around for the owner. Some guy who was mounted started yelling at me in very broken english (obviously not his first language or one he knows well) where to put the horse back. I didnt know him and couldnt figure out how he knew I only spoke english and asked Martin if it was a friend of his that knew of me. Martin just laughed and said no it wasnt a friend of his but it is pretty obvious Im not at all a native. Oh well, at least Im trying to fit in here. Two things that are weird to me though as a foreigner at these shows is the way stallions are treated and the lack of women. In a busy schooling ring there are will only be 3-4 women riding. And even less as the height increases. There are almost never women on the ground setting jumps, coaching or handling horses either. It is all men. Definitely gets me some funny looks as Im riding, setting things, helping Martin and doing whatever. Its weird for them to see a girl doing those things I guess. And for the stallions, at shows here horses are trailered in and tied up (to pretty much anything solid enough to tie to) and not much attention is given to where mares and stallions are put in relation to each other. And often times, they are right up next to each other just waiting for hours at a time. And none of them misbehave or look twice at each other. Young stallions next to each other and young mares right beside them. Yet no one is squealing, screaming or being stupid. Very interesting for me and very different from how things are handled in the states.
By the time we were finished and got back home it was 5:00 so just finished up with the show horses and packed it up for the night. Ive finally mastered the whole pill giving routine to the 8 young ones with the cough as well. Actually ridiculously proud of that. Its not an easy task to get pills and cough syrup into 8 very young horses twice a day. Especially in a timely manner. But everyone got their meds, no one spit any back at me and they all sound significantly better. The newest young one who brought the cough into the barn is already over it so Im sure the others only have a day or two more to go. Had dinner with Martin and Rachel and off to bed now. Get to sleep in until 6:30 tomorrow and then a full day of riding! Thankfully it didnt pour here so can keep riding! I noticed today that a lot of the horses could use to be re-body clipped so praying the weather stays clear so I can spend my days riding and not body clipping!
Pictures of the Hipico, the ring, a fun colored Zangershied horse and from in the stall with Skyline hiding from the rain.
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