Show Day Part 1

What a day yesterday! Lots of photos and video was taken - not sure when I'll get my paws on it though!

Everyone at our barn did great, and we had a wonderful time. The weather held out for the most part- and no one melted :)

The day started off on time - which is amazing. We got to the grounds by 7:20am, and were able to walk around the property plus around the arena. Ben was a bundle of nerves. As soon as he stepped off the trailer I had a 17 hh fire breathing chicken. We walked up to the arena, and he was very clearly herd bound, and scared of everything around him. But, we kept walking, stopping, taking it all in, and spooking in place. The wonderful show staff helped me desensitize him to all the common spooky noises- the loud noisy gravel, the bell at the judges booth, things clanging on the metal rails, etc. He soon settled and we were able to continue our walk to go in and out of the gates, into the warm up arena, back to the show arena, etc. He started to settle when we walked, but just didn't have it in him to stand still.

So we walked, and walked, and walked. He started to be able to stand more, but was still fidgety. A few times he did lose his cookies - mostly when strange horses came close - he'd buck in place and a couple of times popped up in front. He got scolded for those.

After awhile, though, he just stopped. He quieted down.

Then it was time to go back to the trailer to get tacked up...