Run Run RUN!

We had the last gymkhana for the year last weekend. I entered three events ad rode my aunt's new mare Sissy, just to see how she would do, and had a lot of fun. We ran barrels, poles 2 and single stake. We didn't do great, but we ran clean (less one pole knocked down in poles 2) and had a good time. I have a feeling she's done poles before because on our approach I had to keep her from weaving on her own (the pattern required to run to the last pole, weave down then up and run home) and was even able to take the last two or three poles at a canter.

Here are some pictures from the day. There are some pretty impressive young riders in this group. The youngest pictured is just 5 and this was her first day running off lead line (though her mom was jogging the course out in front).


Below: This is Lizzy on her Arab mare Fury. These two are such a great team to watch, I really enjoy seeing their great partnership. Fury really knows her job and Lizzy is a great rider. When they are in the arena they are totally 'on' and the moment it's over they walk out as if nothing even happened.







The white guy pictured below (I don't know the rider or horse personally) is shown making his last career run. He is now retired from gymkhana at the tender age of 26. They had some amazing runs that day too.




This little girl blows me away every single time. Talk about guts, she is in the 10 & under class and rides horses I wouldn't even think about getting on.

Below is little Sarah, age 5. She is Lizzy's little sister (I know, no helmet drives me crazy!) and looks like she'll be following in her bib sis's footsteps.
I'm looking forward to next year, now that I'm starting to get back into the loop here locally. I really want to work on pleasure classes with Honey, and continue working with Sissy for games.