Details ...

Ok, I am refreshed with a good night's sleep in my own bed. I've had a cup of MY good coffee from Harry's Farmer's Market ((YUMMO))
The final leg of yesterday's trainer challenge was the most interesting. Terry Myers had a new horse, a pretty buckskin gelding that he only spent an hour with. Admittly Terry told us his horse was a bit further along than the other two horses. Still his colt was pretty spirited. He was riding, loping in both directions and had the horse going fairly well ... his horse tired and finally bucked in objection to the work asked and Terry after riding some very hard bucks for at least the 8 second minimum came off. He didn't get hurt thankfully, only reopened some rope burns.
He did ride the colt again and all was well. He later admitted that he pushed the horse too far.

Scott Purdum's horse was fairly compliant about riding. Scott was a bit concerned with her balance issues. He spent a good deal of time trying to work those issues out. He too rode his filly at all three gaits ... He could crawl all over, stand on and wave whips in the air around his girl. She wasn't bothered by much at all. Scott told us that the filly had a lot of energy at first but then when pushed instead of bucking or bolting she'd just checked out. He said he'd have done thing similiarly but maybe used her energy levels to a better advantage.

Tommy Garland remarked that it's difficult to get in the pen and try to read a horse so quickly and grasp at straws to see what works for him and what doesn't.

Ed's horse was nervous and not happy about his new role as saddle carrier. He kept turning to Ed for support. Julie Goodnight moderated the entire challenge and was very clear in her accessment that Ed had the most difficult horse. He was very sensitive and bothered by little things like Ed's hat falling off as he tried to remove his mike. Ed rode his horse cautiously but didn't push him. When he asked him to trot, Lil Bucky said NO ... Ed rode out a bit of bucking fest. But the horse calmed quickly. After that Ed elected not to push the horse and over stress him. Ed told us during his 5 minutes of free time that it was his understanding that the challenge was "low stress" and he was doing his full level best to keep a very fractious horse calm.
When asked what he'd do differently Ed said he'd like 60 or 90 days with this horse to help him through his issues. He thought the horse was sweet and would make someone an excellent horse. He just needed a lot time to get over hurdles. He commented that this horse would always be a teacher and make his owner a better horseman. Which after all the bucking got a bit of laughter from the crowd.

The scores where added and all three trainers where within 5 points of a possible 400. They all did a great job and really deserve tremendous praise for their efforts.

Other than the trainer challenge, the show went off great. Good crowds, fabulous vendors. Everyone left with a bag or two of goodies. Everyone had a great weekend!!

Make sure you make plans to attend the VA Extravaganza in OCT ... http://www.equineextravaganza.com