Both horses have new fly gear this year. Star is now outfitted with an EOUS Action flysheet - it is the first sheet ever to not rub her shoulders. I'm thinking I need to look into their turnouts for this winter. Sparky is rocking the Schneider's Dura-Mesh in knock-off Baker plaid. It's pretty much the only thing that will stand up to the frat house that is the geldings' pasture. It is paired with a brand-spanking new Cashel fly mask with bright orange ears, to make it easier to find when he loses it in the pasture.
Sparky is also getting ginormous from the grass... so he, sadly, also has to wear a grazing muzzle at least part-time.
It's a look I like to call "Preppy Darth Vader Goes Hunting," but the overall effect is pathetic, really.
In other news, Sparky survived going to his very first horse show all by himself. May 5-7, he was making friends with all the little girls running around at the Dixie Cup Classic. He, obviously, looked significanly less pathetic at the show than he does in the pic. Overall, he was very good and handled the experience very well. A few minor errors that weren't really his fault (and one MAJOR one that totally was - he STOPPED at a CROSSRAIL!) put us exactly where we deserved to place in all our classes, which was 3rd/3, 3rd/3, 4th/4, and 3rd/3, but it was a really good experience for him, and overall I'm very happy. And he lost about 50 lbs, which certainly doesn't hurt. (Of course, he's since gained almost all of it back!)
This past Sunday, I decided at the last minute to take him to a little hunter-jumper show at Falcon Ridge and do the itty-bitty jumpers with him. He didn't behave himself quite as well as at the Dixie Cup, because his bestest friend, Guilder, was there with him. Once he started jumping, though, he settled in better and focused his pea brain on the task at hand. We had a stop at fence 5, resulting in a fall (mine) in the 2' jumpers, but we did get to school the entire course unjudged after that. Once Sparky figured out better what was going on, he did much better. In the 2'3" class, he went around clear, got to do the jump-off, and really started to "get" it. He seemed to have fun in that class, and legitimately beat two other horses for a second place ribbon. There was a bit of a delay before the 2'6" class started, so by the time we went, Sparky (aka "Spanky", as his name was announced in the results for 2'3") had been standing around a little too long. He gave it a game effort, and didn't even seem to notice that the jumps were another 3" bigger... but he did knock down two rails, for 8 faults and fifth place. No matter, however. I had SO MUCH fun at that show, and Sparky really did do very well. I just need to figure out how to convince him that going over all the jumps the *first* time I ask is really a much better idea than stopping!
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