My Annual Brag

[2DogsFarm]

Just completed the Society All Breed show at County Fair & I could not be prouder of my mini Wascally Wabbit aka Bugs. :love-struck:
Our final tally:
Antique or Replica Pony - 2nd of 9
Pony to Cart - 3rd of 9 - with judge commenting “Very elegant Turnout” :tickled_pink:
Mini Pleasure Driving - 3rd of 10 - judge said it was the best & her favorite class of the day
Gamblers Choice - close, but no cigar due to Pilot Error*

*I am a physical learner & never bothered to get the course map.
A friend shared it in the warmup, but I had to go in 2nd
I got about 90% of the obstacles done - including his first ever bridge & knocking over a hay bale - before time ran out.

In the pony classes we have a Haffie who must just eke by on the stick & is so stocky I could fit 2 or 3 Bugs inside him.
Along with a friend who drives a team of minis to a rattly covered wagon. Antique has a good share of 4-wheels and large ponies too,
None of that is worth an earflick to Bugs.
He even forgave me in the 1st class, when I had his breeching waaaaay too tight & high.
So that when he lengthened, it rode up a good 3" & goosed him. :eek:
For a second I thought we were gonna have a runaway.
He assumed his beachball pre-bolt shape, but came right back to me & finished the class.

He was also fine with driving the grounds so I could give a friend a cart ride. She was my Show Photog for Friday and got the pics attached.

In the Warmup for Antique:

TaDa! :
(yes, Mea Maxima Culpa for that breeching - corrected for the rest of the classes)

[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“src”:"https://i.imgur.com/jkHNaDx.jpg)

Next stop: ADS Carriage Classic at Villa Louis < as long as friends don’t bail on me, the 5h drive solo is a bit daunting.
Then the National Drive!

[RMJacobs]

Very cool, @2DogsFarm! If Bugs disappears, don’t come looking at my house. Of course, I’d have to stash him in my ten foot long back yard.

Rebecca

[2DogsFarm]

:lol: 10’ would be ample grazing for Bugs.
I’m still trying to whittle down that belly :ambivalence:

His latest ploy is to snarf down his scant handful of oats from the pan in his own stall, then sashay into the Walking Horse’s stall & stick his nose into the feedpan… Still in use by the horse :eek:

Why there is not a puddle of Bugs I do not know.
Horse just noses the pan away from the little monster :rolleyes:

[Foxglove]

Congratulations!!! Bugs is AWESOME!

[2DogsFarm]

@Foxglove

Congratulations!!! Bugs is AWESOME!

:yes: Agreed!
Especially 'cause he forgave me for that breeching wedgie :uhoh:

[DMK]

Congrats!!! You and Bugs look fantastic

Puddle of bugs…

Xan lives with his abusive boyfriend, Lido who would just as soon kill him as look at him… and yet, when Xan finishes his food he moseys over to the edge of the run in where Lido is eating and ever so subtly grabs the pan in his teeth and pulls it over his way for sharesies. Then Lido notices, laces his ears back, Xan steps back 3 steps while Lido nudges the pan back into the run in. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

[2DogsFarm]

@DMK :lol: LOL at that picture!
Perhaps Xan lives in the Hope that just one extra grab of that pan will work.

[goodhors]

You both look very nice. Glad things went well for the most part.

This is me just being picky. Can your cart guy change the singletree to the underside of the crossbar, and still have singletree moving as you drive?

I am asking so your traces will have a better line of draft, being a straight line or upward to the front, instead of going uphill backward from his chest to the singletree. We had to do this lowering the singltree on our Road Cart years ago after getting critiqued by two Big Name guys in a driving clinic. They said traces needed to be straight or uphill, from singletree to horse chest for best use of our “horsepower” moving the load behind. They told me “traces uphill to the singletree” hurt their eyes watching! Ha ha We did put the singletree below the crossbar when we got home. Got compliments in later competitions from the Judges for having traces uphill to her chest.

This is old school driving thinking, when horses actually worked hard. I haven’t done any showing in years, maybe they don’t think that way in critiquing a turnout these days. Change might be helpful to Bugs who is so small, in needing to use slightly less energy during work. Arenas are seldom made for driving, can be hard pulling for even for big horses with deep going… That extra bit of zip he saved, could come in handy for another class or speed in a timed class!

[Zu_Zu]

Love the whole picture ~ you two look great !

his braided mane

your driving apron

class act !!

[cayuse]

You both look wonderful! Handsome Bugs has matured since last year.

[2DogsFarm]

@goodhors I always welcome your input & can ask about changing as you suggest.
Let me see if I understood:
Do you mean having the metal clips the traces attach to go underneath the wooden bar rather than on top?
Standing, it does appear the traces go uphill from his breastcollar, but there’s also a lot of slack in them.
Once we get moving they go taut & I’d like to say, make more of a straight line, chest-to-singletree

ETA: I just went out, checked the cart & the singletree is held by a very thin (width not strength) metal plate to the foot of the basket.
So, no ability to change there.
I’ll try getting a pic as my terminology could be off :o

I have been complimented on turnout by an ADS judge (Villa Louis) in that same cart, and in my Pony to Cart class at Fair < but that judge could have been Driving-Challenged, as he asked for Reverse from anywhere on the rail.
In a class of 9 - ponies, honys & minis - with some very novice drivers, that could have been messy & was in places

So far, even on 12mi RT trail drives he may end up breathing hard, but recovery is almost instantaneous once he stands for a bit.
This year arena footing at Fair was better than ever, rail was mostly solid, middle a tad deep but workable & only one mucky/muddy spot from overzealous watering.

@Zu Zu I blush
The blouse is my New Look for Fair & any other show where ADS is not present & temps are in the 80s :disgust:
Psssssst!: that Running Braid is Braiding for Dummies
But with the help of some Dollar Store styling gel (Xtra Hold) it did come out nice & slicked down the wispys left when I trimmed his trollmane so it all goes on one side

@cayuse Yes, my Little Man is all growed up at 5yo.:sadsmile:
He looks a bit drafty to me (Thanks, mom/dam) - enough so I half-jokingly priced a Dutch housing & collar for him.
:eek: on that.
But how stinkin’ cute would he be all tricked out like Honey I Shrunk the Percheron (Shire?)?
Hmmmm… if I do ever get the extra $$ that could be his showname :lol:
Now where do I find mini-sized picks for his mane…

[cayuse]

2Dogs, If “Picks” are the mane flowers/decorations, they do make mini sized draft ones. I was going to go the draft mini route in halter with my guys and looked into the “adornments” a couple of years ago. I even bought a white “draft” show halter, but then decided I didn’t feel like getting up at 4AM to braid. 5AM is early enough cause I’m lazy. Maybe next year I will try it as his halter class has moved from 8:00 to around 9:30.

[2DogsFarm]

@cayuse Enabler!!! :lol:

Great, one more excuse to save money down the drain… :winkgrin:

Yes, I am referring to the metallic decorations in the Show Hitch manes.
But, is “mini draft” still mini enough for 34" of studliness?
Okay, I’ll bite - where online do I find the picks?

I can bypass the wee white halter, as I don’t do any class where I am not sitting on or behind my horse

[cayuse]

“My Draft Horse Superstore” has all the pretty stuff in mini sizes, or they did a couple of years ago.
When I was looking, I just googled “mane rolls” and “draft horse ribbons” and quite a few places popped up that had mini stuff.
I braided up my mini with roses once or twice to practice. Did the tail too, as best I could. He actually did look like a tiny draft horse. If I squinted

[2DogsFarm]

RuhRoh :uhoh:
Told my crafty friend & she thinks we can make the picks.
I did find some listed on the Big Black Horse site & they are cheeep! $3.15 for a set of 5 picks.
They even had wee tail rosettes :love-struck:

Off to Google how to braid a Draft tail…

Maybe I’ll have a Bake Sale or three to fund a collar & Dutch housing for Bugs

[cayuse]

Aren’t the tail rosettes fun? I had a hard time finding any decent instructions on tail braiding, if you find something, let me know. I just sort of got creative with it when I was practicing and made it up as I went along, lol.

[2DogsFarm]

@cayuse I found a bunch on YouTube.
On both braiding the ribbon into the mane & doing the tail up for the rosette.
Think: fancified mudknot.
Might have to practice on Bugs since I have no other plans today

[cayuse]

Thanks! Fancified mudknot is pretty much how I did the tail. Peanut was NOT impressed at first, he went around with his tail sticking straight out and wringing it around like a propeller.

[2DogsFarm]

@cayuse

Thanks! Fancified mudknot is pretty much how I did the tail. Peanut was NOT impressed at first, he went around with his tail sticking straight out and wringing it around like a propeller.

:lol: The Equine version of flipping you off?

[Tyrus_Mom]

Congratulations 2Dogs. You and Bugs look fantastic!