Yvonne can do it all!

As promised I showed Enchanted Eve in several classes in the English division at NEPC yesterday. All in her new side saddle tack. I have learned a lot about side saddle in the past week and did get some pretty good documentation but trying something new, with unfamiliar tack is very daunting. For her first entry Eve went in other English and did a game. I think the photo was originally from a side saddle handy hunter class but it could be a game so I went with that. The rider had to stop and take a tennis ball off of one post and carry it to the next post and put it down. Not too hard but with 4 reins to deal with I imagine it is harder than it looks. Well 4 reins still scare me so I didn't have the doll reaching for the ball but wrote a note in my documentation that she had just stopped at the first part of the obstacle. Enchanted Eve still got 3rd place but the judge said she could have done better if she was reaching. Maybe next time, all those reins are scary.

So next Eve tried out arena trail. I don't have any English trail patterns that say to just stop somewhere without doing anything so I had to take her hand off the reins for this one. She did the standing on the bridge showing the mail portion of the trail pattern. She got first for that effort of fearlessness!

Next Eve was going to go into natural trail with a clever card that said she was taking a short walk in the woods while waiting for her side saddle class at a show (have to explain the fancy outfit after all) but I couldn't get poor Eve to stand securely on the natural trail diorama. No one stands all that safely on that thing, I think it needs to be remade. So we skipped it for safety reasons. Then we went in dressage where all Eve could do was perform the salute. That was only good for 4th place. I am not surprised, the salute is not the most interesting part of a dressage pattern and there was some really cool stuff on the table. Even with my reference photo of the lady in side saddle tack doing a salute it couldn't get her any higher. But I figured it was worth the effort.

 Enchanted Eve's last class of the day was English pleasure sport type. She managed second place with that. Which means I managed to get all those reins back in the correct place after dressage!

When I saw the call-backs I figured Enchanted Even didn't have a chance at any big wins. She just didn't do enough classes. There were several horses with a ton of points on the table. But it's not all about winning, sometimes it's about trying something new. Imagine my surprise when the judge got permission to award a couple of honorable mentions for horses that did very well but didn't have the points to champ.

For my first time showing in side saddle I think Eve and I did very well. Eve was relaxed and comfortable the whole time, as if she has been showing in side saddle forever. I need to become more comfortable showing in side saddle but yesterday wasn't a bad start. Hopefully we will keep improving.

I still think that Jennifer Buxton's Hummingbreeze and Enchanted Eve are related