Diane and I took Patrick to the August Black Eyed Susan Series show at the Prince George Equestrian Center to compete in the Dover Adult Hunter Classic Finale. The weather was great; not too hot, not too humid. The ring was really nice and we pulled and braided Patrick’s mane so he looked extra sharp. He was a really good boy. He looked relaxed, had a nice open stride, and was jumping with nice style even though the jumps were pretty small (it’s a 2’6” classic).

His warm up round was very nice. Unfortunately, during the over fences portion of the classic class, Diane and Patrick got way too close to the first fence, a long approach to a single, straight fence. As a result, Patrick did not have enough space to pick up his feet in front of him and knocked a rail down on his way over the fence. Diane was kind of upset with herself about it. She said later that she did not see a take off spot approaching the fence and instead of leaving Patrick alone to find a spot for himself, she took back on the reins, causing him to shorten his stride and get way too close to fence. Like a good horsewoman she praised Patrick for doing his best to clear the jump in spite of the difficulties. Many horses might have refused the fence or protested after the fence, but Patrick did neither and continued on unfazed with what would have otherwise been a fairly competitive round.

I was only disappointed because taking a rail down is a serious fault in hunter ring, so I knew the judge would have to score the round accordingly. I wanted to know how Patrick would stack up against the nice group of horses in the class, but with a major fault, it was impossible to compare the ride to the rest of the rounds which only had minor faults.

Diane and I did really enjoy participating in the qualifier classes and the Dover Classic Finale this season. The Blacked Eyed Susan Horse Show management did a really nice job running the class. It was great to see a class like this offered at the local level. It was fun to work toward the goal of qualifying. Show management treated the qualifying specially by sending out official invitations to the finale, providing special prizes (embroidered saddle pads, neck ribbons) and doing a victory gallop after the class results were announced. A custom tack trunk was provided to the finale winner. The venue was nice and a water and drag of the ring was performed right before the class to ensure the best possible ring conditions. For the finale, most of the competitors put a little extra effort into turning out their horses, braiding, etc, so it was a nice looking bunch. In a sea of local horse show classes, it was really nice to do something that felt a little different and special. I would definitely consider doing it again next year. Maybe I will be unpregnant and actually able to ride my own horse!

It is important to pull a horse’s mane if you intend to braid or plait the mane. Pulling manes, unlike cutting manes, both shortens and thins the mane, making it easier to braid. The mane should be pulled to about 4-5” in length. Even if you don’t intend to braid, a pulled mane creates a neat appearance for the hunter/jumper horse.

See a video below of me pulling Lincoln's mane!

Steps:

1. Comb the mane to the right hand side of the neck. You can pull either a damp or dry mane.
2. With a metal pulling comb (available at tack stores) back-comb a small section of hair until you are holding only a few strands in your hand.
3. Wrap the strands around the pulling comb and pull directly down in one quick sharp motion. This should take out the hair strands by the root.
4. Work your way down the mane, repeating the back combing, wrapping and pulling process. You might have to work up and down the mane several times or even in multiple sessions for a very long or thick mane. Do not work on one section of mane for long periods of time as it might be annoying or uncomfortable to the horse.

Tips:

Most horses tolerate mane pulling well since the mane is attached to a layer of fat on the top of the neck called the crest. However, mane pulling is uncomfortable for some horses. If your horse isn’t cooperating, be patient and reassure him. Getting frustrated or angry doesn’t help, especially if the horse isn’t used to the mane pulling procedure. Make sure you are only pulling out a few strands at one time, don’t pull out too much hair at once. Pull in multiple sessions to give the horse a break. If the horse still will not cooperate, you can consider having a trained person give the horse an oral or intramuscular tranquilizer to help them relax, or consider pulling the mane after a veterinary procedure in which the horse needed a tranquilizer anyway.

If you plan to braid your horse for an event, don’t leave mane pulling until the last moment. Pull your mane several days in advance to ensure you can do a good job and leave time for multiple pulling sessions if you need them.

I do not recommend cutting horses’ manes. Cutting shortens the mane without thinning it. It usually leaves the mane looking choppy and makes it uneven and difficult to braid.

For those who are counting, I'm almost 33 weeks pregnant now. So I'm not riding, although I do pay visits to the barn a few times a week. I am not riding, but Patrick is keeping a full schedule.

He has been doing great with his half leaser. Recently he went cross country schooling with his leaser in Virginia and it looked like they both had a great time!

It's wonderful to see Patrick enjoying riding out and going cross country. He did not come to me with any cross country experience and he was rather uncertain of jumping down banks and drops in particular at the beginning. Now he is starting to become much more confident about them and it's great for his training in general. I owe a lot of his progress as a versatile horse to Julie Devine, who had to skillfully talk him into the cross country questions the first couple of times. Patrick and Julie have the funniest relationship. 

I hand Patrick over to Julie for disciplinary action as needed, so no one is harder on him than her, yet he just loves her! If he sees her at the barn or on foot in the riding arena, he walks up to her and touches her with his nose in a special greeting. He is disgustingly lovey dovey with her. Go figure. My theory is that, while she'll dole out the discipline, Patrick is smart enough to know that she treats him fairly and I also think he trusts her as a good leader and therefore wants to follow her and respect her. That's what good training can do!

Julie took Patrick on his second cross country outing in two weeks, a lesson with one of our favorite professionals Mogie Bearden-Muller at Fair Hill this week, and they had a fun and successful time.

In addition to the cross country outings, Patrick has been competing lightly with my friend, Diane. Diane is an amateur adult rider who grew up riding hunters and equitation similar to me, but for the past few years she has been focused on eventing her draft cross, Lincoln, through training level. Recently, she also purchased an off the track thoroughbred prospect who she has started bringing along. I got to help her pick him, and I must say, I think we picked well.

Diane had been offering to catch ride Patrick in some hunter shows while I was pregnant even before I actually got pregnant, so naturally, when the time was right we executed the plan!

We chose to compete in the Black Eyed Susan Horse Show Series, a nice show series held at the Prince George Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro Maryland (same venue that hosts The Capital Challenge). The class we chose to focus on was The Dover Saddlery Adult Hunter Classic. This is a class that allows horses to qualify for a final, so we though it would be a nice "mini goal" to try and qualify. We only competed Patrick in 3 of the shows, which was only about 1/3 of the shows offered, so there was no guarantee we would qualify him. To qualify, horses had to either win the class or be in the next top 4 high point horses. In the first two shows, Patrick and Diane got third place in the class, but they performed better together each time. For them, the third try was a charm. They won both parts of the class (the first part had 20+ horses competing) for an overall high score, securing a place in the final.

The Hunter Classic Finale is tomorrow and we are looking forward to attending. There is no telling what the outcome of the class will be, as the qualifier classes drew a very good quality group of horses. In any case, Patrick has had a good summer of outings. We met our goal of qualifying for the Final. I think Diane has enjoyed masquerading as a Hunter Princess and Patrick probably prefers going a few places to make things interesting over staying home all the the time. 

He will get a couple of low-key weeks after the final and then we'll play it by ear!