Lulu went to her very first show on Sunday. It was a schooling show, but very heavily attended (there were 25 horses in both of our dressage test classes, and there were also hunter and jumper classes going on around the grounds), so she got a good taste of a more hectic show environment.
She only did Intro A and B this time, just to get her feet wet. Intro A was sort of a throw-away, because she was too busy looking around and taking it all in to really focus and go forward, but we made it through. Intro B was a bit better, but she was a little hyped up and wanted to canter both of the 20-meter circles (in a walk/trot test, of course she wanted to canter!), so that could have been better, but was a good first outing for her. Honestly, if I hadn't been so tense (I hadn't shown in over a decade!), I think I would have done a better job of pushing her through it and she probably would have done rather well. Room for improvement, to be sure; mostly I'm just glad to have the first time out of the way!
Then I took her in a dressage suitability rail class with about a dozen other horses, and we won! I was so proud of her. She was soft and round for the entire 25-minute class, and the judge said she placed us first because of how consistent Lulu was. Even when some moron backed a trailer into the arena wall right next to us, she jumped to the side a bit (it scared the crap out of me, too, so a totally excusable spook), but went right back to work the next stride. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures from the class where we actually did well, because that was in the indoor arena and the lighting was terrible for photography. But oh well, there's always next time.
So, without further ado, some Lulu spam!
Checking out the scary fenceline on the outside of the dressage arena:
I think talking to the judge:
Free-ish walk (she was just way too looky during her first test to really open upj):
Ack! What's that scary white cone-thing with the "E" on it?!?
Free walk gets slightly free-er the second time around:
^ I swear her feathers were white at the start of the day. They just gather up dirt like nobody's business. I think they're going to have to come off before the next show. *tear*
Cuteness:
In the warm-up ring. I love her WTF is that?!? expression:
Braid starting to get a little rough (Note to self: rubber grip reins and braids do not mix.):
Looking like a mule while I salute the judge:
And my favorite:
