Well, last month we once again made the trip to the fabulous town, Douglas, Wyoming for the Region 6 Championship show.  It was with mixed emotions that we headed out for our fourth year attending.  While I excitedly had 2 fresh faces on the trailer, the vacant space where our fabulous Suzie Q should have been was significant.  This was the show she dominated, and I had prepared myself mentally that I could no longer expect results that she delivered and needed to be satisfied with good performances from Tamar Diamond Lil (Little) and Om El Babylon.  Well I truly believe that Suzie Q was riding along with us because these horses blew me away with their performances.

First came the preshow in order to qualify.  Both horses were entered in Intro Test C dressage, Training level dressage, their respective Sport Horse under saddle classes, Little had sport horse in hand and Performance horse in hand and Babylon had both the open and ATR Arabian in hand classes.  The preshow set the stage, with both horses taking either first or second in each of their classes and going through to the championships.

Our first classes in the Championship show was the dressage.  Once again these horses performed wonderfully.  Little won the Intro test with a 70.25% and Babylon second on 68.25%.  You could have knocked me down with a feather when Little also took first in the Intro test with 68.966% and Babylon third on 63.621%.  This was the first time both horses had competed dressage, so to say I was pleased is an understatement.  I know what we need to work on and as soon as we got home we got straight to it!

Now for the other results!  Little won her Sporthorse under saddle class which surprised me as I did not feel that she rode well, however watching the fideo, she really is a smart little mover and the judge loved her.  She was Reserve champion in the Performance Mare in hand and to top it off was Champion and High Score of the show with an 82.7 for Sport Horse in hand!  Yes, there were some tears!

Babylon was a bit tired toward the end of the week but he showed beautifully in hand for me and then for owner Athena Steadman in the ATH classes.  While had had fabulous scores in the preshow, the championships was judged comparatively with two judges that both had him third.  Finally, he gave me a wonderful ride in his sport horse class under saddle and again took third place in a quality field.

Once again it was a wonderful show to attend.  It’s a great facility, the committee is fantastic and the grounds lovely.  What made it all the more special was having Coe and Athena Steadman with us this year.  Coe was wonderful company for Scott, who I’m sure was grateful to have some “non-horsey” company!  Both were always willing to step in when an extra pair of hands were needed.

I’m now on the lookout for some Dressage schooling opportunities and in a couple of short months we will have the local Utah Arabian show to attend.  I’ll be working super hard to prepare this pair for next years Sport Horse Nationals (not attending this year due to the distance of it being on the East coast rotation) and all going well these horses will be really hitting the mark in the dressage!

Cheers and Happy Riding!