Photos: Hobson's (the horse) first dressage show!

[hobson]

We survived! Yesterday Mr Hobson and I took our equine son to his first-ever dressage schooling show. It was the second show outing of his career, the first having been to a little local gymkhana at which we did slow-motion barrels and pole bending. Hobson is a 4-yo TB (not quite OT - he had some race training but never got to the track).

I think he really had a ball. He SCREAMED constantly the entire day, from the moment we arrived on the property, until we pulled out of the driveway later in the afternoon. Hobson is a highly social beast, and I think he considered every horse he saw was to be his new best friend. And of course, a polite horse MUST say an enthusiastic hello to EVERYONE.

I was very, very happy with our tests (both the walk-trot intro level tests). We scored in the mid and upper 50’s - good enough for a third and a fourth, and just great for a first show. Hobson did not feel threatened in the least by the little white fence or the judges stand, and did his best to charm the judge. Actually, she gave me some very nice encouraging remarks, to the effect that she was surprised and impressed at how well he pulled himself together for the first test, given the fart-n-dart and squealing she witnessed as we warmed up. She said he had lovely gaits, a great deal of talent and potential, and a correct start - once Hobson is able to relax at a show, she thought his scores would improve quite a bit.

As for me, I don’t yet qualify as a DQ - my I was filthy within minutes of changing into my white breeches. I also was liberally flecked with green horse spittle as a result of Hobson’s frequent head tossing, as he expressed his frustration at not being able to play with all his friends. And nobody told me that I should break in my new full-seat breeches! This is my first pair ever, and boy did they get in the way! I could hardly bend my legs, what with the stiff seat patches sort of immobilizing everything. It really interfered with my otherwise IMPECCABLE position.

So, without any further ado, here is our picture gallery…

First picture, a posting trot. And yes, I KNOW I need to get my shoulders back, but darn it, they just won’t listen. In this one, I think the tail really adds a certain special something to the topline.

[hobson]

Thanks!

Magnolia–I’m aiming for CT primarily, but I also really enjoy dressage. Since he’s still a baby, we’ll be doing lots of dressage for now. He’s just starting to jump, and has quite lovely form when he decides to go over rather than straight through the fences.

[FairWeather]

I like pics like this…its good to have something a few years down the road to say “he wasnt always so perfect”
Lovely trot photo…and your captions made me cast myself in my cubicle.

lmao…

Always,
FairWeather
If you ever reach total enlightenment while you’re drinking a beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose. - Jack Handy

http://www.fairweather.bizland.com/entrance.html

[hobson]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kryswyn:

AHEM. Does this mean that in future photos of Gorgeous Hobson-the-Horse we will see Hobson-the-Person wearing a NON-APPROVED “show” hat?!?

Please, your horse looks so good, you look so good. Why ruin the picture with a dumb hard hat?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No no no!!! Let me clarify! I’m a helmet nazi myself! I would like to get an
approved helmet whose chin strap is not the size of my car’s spare tire! I LOVE my jockey helmet - it’s so comfortable, but I never really noticed how…NOTICABLE the soft, wide chin strap is. Please don’t get the baseball bat out! I’ll be good, promise!!!

[AAJumper]

Congratulations…he is beautiful! I particularily like the second pic. His coat absolutely gleams! And I love the look of a horse all dressed up in dressage clothes…very classy looking!

[Duffy]

I totally agree with Fairweather AND the judge, from what I can see, anyway!!! Congrats and good luck!

[Pixie_Dust]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hobson:
This one is a touching photo of horse and rider sharing a quiet moment of camraderie.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is the one that had my ROFL, hehee

Hey we are kind of doing the same thing. I just took my TB to his first outing 2 weeks ago a starter trials sponsered by the “Old People’s Riding Club” and this past Sunday to another starter horse trials. We did Elementary, with USDF test 1 and trotted all the tiny jumps. He was a VERY good boy and we came in 3rd.

Betsy (in Md.)

[Jair]

Congratulations Hobson!

That sounds like a super start to his career! I loved the look of him in the first picture - I can totally see him eventing!

Do you have any jumping pictures of him from home? He looks like he’d have a nice pop in him

[Ann]

Well Hobson the intellectual, you and your “pony” don’t look anything like I imagined…what an attractive pair you make. Hobson the horse is just beautiful. Sure he has attitude–he’s “all that” and like any young Thoroughbred worth his oats he darned well knows it!

[hobson]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ann:
Gee Suzy, how imaginative you are–a two-headed green hunch back? I actually pictured Hobson as a professorial looking person wearing a gray wool sweater vest…(Hobson—perhaps you do own a gray wool sweater vest ???) and Hobson the horse was a solid bay. Wow…whatever compelled me to clarify…how boring is that?..let’s use your Hobson Mutant Ninja Turtle idea after all… <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I like it! especially the hunch back part. I confess that I do not have a gray wool sweater vest, but I DO look fairly tweedy on occasion, and am partial to the zipper cardigan.

[Inverness]

Congrats to you both! I’ll be keeping an eye on Hobson’s career development

“O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention; A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene. . . .”
Shakespeare (Henry V)

[Lisamarie8]

What a cutie MY retired guy did the same squealing routine too. He would make noises like apig throughout our entire tests

btw - i was thinking about you the other day when one of my kitties pulled a houdini…what ever happened with your missing pusskits?

–My most accommodating strength is my willingness to humiliate myself

[hobson]

We survived! Yesterday Mr Hobson and I took our equine son to his first-ever dressage schooling show. It was the second show outing of his career, the first having been to a little local gymkhana at which we did slow-motion barrels and pole bending. Hobson is a 4-yo TB (not quite OT - he had some race training but never got to the track).

I think he really had a ball. He SCREAMED constantly the entire day, from the moment we arrived on the property, until we pulled out of the driveway later in the afternoon. Hobson is a highly social beast, and I think he considered every horse he saw was to be his new best friend. And of course, a polite horse MUST say an enthusiastic hello to EVERYONE.

I was very, very happy with our tests (both the walk-trot intro level tests). We scored in the mid and upper 50’s - good enough for a third and a fourth, and just great for a first show. Hobson did not feel threatened in the least by the little white fence or the judges stand, and did his best to charm the judge. Actually, she gave me some very nice encouraging remarks, to the effect that she was surprised and impressed at how well he pulled himself together for the first test, given the fart-n-dart and squealing she witnessed as we warmed up. She said he had lovely gaits, a great deal of talent and potential, and a correct start - once Hobson is able to relax at a show, she thought his scores would improve quite a bit.

As for me, I don’t yet qualify as a DQ - my I was filthy within minutes of changing into my white breeches. I also was liberally flecked with green horse spittle as a result of Hobson’s frequent head tossing, as he expressed his frustration at not being able to play with all his friends. And nobody told me that I should break in my new full-seat breeches! This is my first pair ever, and boy did they get in the way! I could hardly bend my legs, what with the stiff seat patches sort of immobilizing everything. It really interfered with my otherwise IMPECCABLE position.

So, without any further ado, here is our picture gallery…

First picture, a posting trot. And yes, I KNOW I need to get my shoulders back, but darn it, they just won’t listen. In this one, I think the tail really adds a certain special something to the topline.

[neighsayer]

and congratulations. Survival is sometimes more satisfying then a ribbon and you got both!

http://communities.msn.ca/KristinSaunders/PhotoAlbums

[hobson]

Awww, thank you ALL for the nice remarks! I just love this horse–from the moment we bought him (Mr Hobson and I bought a horse instead of rings for our wedding) every time I get in the saddle, I say to myself or to anyone within earshot, “I’m SO lucky to have this boy!” Hobson was an obnoxious 2-almost-3-year old stud colt when we got him, and it’s so neat to see how far he’s come.

He’s been entering a rebellious phase, though, so we’ll see how long my unconditional love lasts!

Lisamarie, how nice of you to remember my kitty trauma from earlier in the summer. Sadly, Mowzy and Bug have not returned. It’s unbelievably upsetting, and I’m finally reaching the point where I’m getting ready to stop searching for them. I’m going to run one more “lost cats” ad in the local weekly, and then leave it at that. I know it will be a very long time before we can ever have any peace about it, and of course we’ll remain open to the remote possiblity that they’ll turn up, but…sigh.

Mr Hobson and I have thought long and hard about it, and have decided to get a couple of new kittens as a sort of living memorial to the lost ones (we just love cats and like having a bunch of them around)…stay tuned for introductory photos!

[hobson]

This would be the walk at the start of Intro Level 1.

[Cactuskate]

It looks like you had a great time. What a cute pair.

Your jacket and breeches and overall turnout are very dressag-ey. But of course I have to ask, “Where are your gloves my dear?” And if that is your very own helmet, (I admire the chin strap) and you have adjusted it to fit only you, then go ahead and trim off the extra tail of the chin strap. I know, picky, picky, picky.

When is your next outing? You guys look great!

“The older I get, the better I used to be, but who the heck cares!”

[suzy]

>>>Well Hobson the intellectual, you and your “pony” don’t look anything like I imagined…what an attractive pair you make.

Yea, I was shocked, too, that she didn’t have a third eye, two green heads, and a hump on her back.

Nice pictures, Hobson!

[hobson]

What a nice square halt. Hobson is either whinnying, in the middle of a violent head toss, or both, and dragging me out of the saddle.

[Everythingbutwings]

Makes me doubly glad Wings was so quiet at Frying Pan, though!