He's a Champion!

Eli's cheering section (minus photographer/paparazzi Mary)

Backing thru poles

S-curve

Mounted - back thru poles

Hangin' out between classes

Saturday was a big day for Eli. I'd been looking for an opportunity to trailer him somewhere where we could practice being with other horses in a show environment. When my friend, Mary, showed up at the barn mid-week with a flyer for a schooling show in Raeford, I was more than ready to load up and go! Saturday morning I put Eli in the trailer along w/ fellow boarder Abby's horse, Kira, and off we went for a day of fun in the oppressive NC sun and heat!

The show gave us lots of good practice for the competition in Ft. Worth. I entered a class where I showed Eli in hand thru obstacles - stand ground tied (gotta work on that one), go thru a maze of poles, over a bridge, over a log, back thru poles, pivot in a square box, go over a crossrail, trot thru bending poles. In another class we did a similar course under saddle, this time with a hill and a brush jump added to the mix. Finally a flat class to give him a chance to be in an arena with other horses. Eli was completely unfazed by all of these new experiences. We hadn't tried opening and closing a gate under saddle yet, so that was a little tough for him. We got the gate open, but had to dismount to close it. And ground tying is something I've only done when standing right next to him while grooming, so he was way confused when I tried to walk away! But overall, he did as well if not better than the less green horses out there, and won every class he entered. He even won champion in his level! Now, lest all of those blue ribbons go to his head, I reminded Eli that there were never more than four competitors in his class! Regardless of the ribbons, Eli made me super proud with his laid back attitude and willingness to try whatever I asked of him. He received lots of compliments throughout the day, and they were certainly well deserved!

I came away from the show with some ideas of what we still need to work on, but I think we're well on our way to a good showing in Ft. Worth. I've now got a little over six weeks left, and I'm starting to think about what division I want to enter Eli in. I'm not exactly sure what we will be asked to do in each division, and I'm not sure how long it's going to take to teach Eli some of the things I have in mind, but I'm very pleased with his progress so far, so we'll just keep pluggin' away until we run out of time!