Behind Infinity

Today was Our Day.

This was our “big one” for the season, the third 2007 WMAHA Unrated show. And it was good. Way good. If we don’t show again this season I’ll still be happy with it.

Last night I was going through my pre-show routine which is now becoming almost second nature (bathe the horse, comb, whiten, and braid the horse’s mane and tail, collect and pack all the items on my 2-page show list, load the trailer, hitch the trailer & pull it out so it’s ready for the horse in the morning, fall into bed around midnight or 2) when I ran into the snag: our trusty, rusty, ugly, old truck had a dead battery. a very seriously dead battery. The charger couldn’t raise it. My car couldn’t jump it, even after half an hour. I was about to go to Meijer (at 10pm) to get a new one when as a last resort Dad and I tried Colin’s truck and that finally worked. It set me back by about 2 hours. And of course, it was dead again in the morning (even though i let it run for almost an hour). Fortunately it jumped more quickly in the morning. Thanks for the use of your truck, Colin.

Even with the car trouble, we got there in plenty of time to register, bathe the horse, and get settled in and very organized. It was great. Jen my faithful groom and Aaron my dutiful trainer were on hand to wait on me all day long, which was delightful. Aaron even brought me coffee in the morning when he arrived. That was the best thing, ever. Today we collectively (we being Aaron and I) rode 5 classes–the longest day we’ve had so far.

Our first class was Arabian Native Costume. Native Costume is such a fun, exciting class. Here’s the deal: you dress up in “colorful desert garb” (as the USEF rulebook calls it) and gallop around the ring. Fun, right? It’s always a crowd favorite. Well, two weeks ago I decided that I wanted to ride in the costume class. So I went to the fabric store, bought yards and yards of trim, and spent all my spare time between then and now, sewing this thing. To quote my brother, when he saw me working on it and was trying to understand what possessed me to do such a thing: “It’s like dress-up…with a horse involved…you’re just a little girl inside.” He’s right. But seriously. Galloping around in costume is WAY COOL FUN. It’s a tradition at this show to play Sting’s songDesert Rose while the costume class goes, which is totally awesome for setting the mood.

In the middle of the class a horse bucked its rider right off. And it comes barrelling towards Jezebelle and I. I’m thinking oh, poor girl, that’s got to hurt. And then she gets up and starts yelling. “Watch out, he’s a stallion!” And I’m all “oh, crap” as he’s definitely showing some interest in my mare. Jez was a gem and ignored him, calmly walking away when I asked her to. It was pretty terrifying all the same. The rider re-mounted and the class continued.

We placed SECOND!! In our first ever costume class! The first place rider is one of the most respected women who shows here, so second was nothing to sneeze at! It was such a clean ride, no bad leads or false starts or anything. Jezebelle’s sire, War Chant, was National Champion costume horse back in the 70’s. It would seem she done her daddy proud!

Next, I rode in the English Pleasure Jr. Horse class. We had a fairly decent ride, but head issues again, and it was a very strong class, so we ended up 4th in 4 but I can’t complain.

Aaron’s first class of the day was Saddleseat Pleasure. I had a really tough time deciding to ask Aaron to ride her for a couple of classes. It’s common in the horse world for trainers to ride for owners, but I’m pretty much the queen of “I do it myself and I do it my way” so handing over the reins was a pretty big step. In the end though it paid off in spades as we placed well in every single class and had solid rides all day long. It was great to watch Aaron & Jez out there performing. Some sort of misplaced maternal pride welled up in me as I watched and when they placed well, I felt something that’s probably pretty comparable to what guys feel when their favorite team wins the Super Bowl. It was an extremely respectable ride, and they placed 3rd out of 9. Definitely not bad for a 4-year-old, with all the time off she’s had.

After that, we had a much-needed 5-class break. The horse got water, we got to sit down. Aaron even read some Roman History. Are we at all surprised?

My third class of the day was Saddleseat Equitation, in which the focus was all on me and how I ride. It went well, but we had our old canter lead issues, right in front of the judge. In spite of that it was a very fun class and I placed 6th out of 8 which means I was still in the ribbons (ribbons go to 6 places). AND, this is great: the judge was very talkative, which I like. She said a little something to everybody. She told me that I am a “very pretty rider, in spite of the canter issues.” I was floored. Apparently I’m getting good at this!

To finish out the day, Aaron rode in the English Pleasure championship and took home a 6th place thanks to another canter lead issue, again right in front of the judge lady. Oh, Jezebelle…what will we do with you?

My dapper trainer and my gorgeous fat pony. Recognize the tie, Loretta? It’s the one you gave him! Everytime I saw that flash of red it was like having a little piece of you there with me. Hehe!

Here is my growing ribbon collection. It’s getting to be respectable, though I wish there were more blue It seems pretty lame compared to the 100’s that decorate the walls of 9-year-old Micah’s bedroom next door. But we’ll get there. I once heard a quote that I thought was pretty good: “You earn your ribbons at home, you just pick them up at the shows.” It’s true. Like any sport, every minute we spend in the ring represents hundreds spent at home, training and shovelling poop. Well, I suppose the shovelling poop part might be unique to riding. But the principle is the same.

in our neighbor’s expansive baled-yesterday hayfield surrounded by trees, no civilization, not even a cow in sight, and fireflies hung in the air like glitter. The slick brand-new reins (i forgot to oil them) slipped uselessly through my gloved hands and standing in my stirrups, I hovered like a jockey and laced my fingers through thick spun-silver mane. Our unison heavy breathing was counterpoint to footfalls muted by grass. Four times around, five, faster than time…it seemed to stop for a moment.

For the first time ever, I knew no fear on her back. Afterwards we shared a cold-hose wellwater shower in the dark, with a sliver of orange moon hanging low above us.

(I really wish the English language had more than one word for ‘and’. Latin has et, atque, ac, adque, que, utque…)

Apparently the office where I occasionally show up for work has a webcam now:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/grand-valley-web-team

Fortunately I am not on camera. I sit just outside of the bottom right corner of the screen.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays if you watch from 8-5 you may see me walking back and forth past the file cabinet with the Napoleon Dynamite poster once in awhile. And if you instant-message or e-mail me, I may even go over there and wave at you. Eric, Dave, and Dan sit at the desks featured.

And yes, it is actually that dark here in the batcave.

Pretty creepy.