Post by lisah on Aug 17, 2008 22:41:11 GMT 1
Hi all
I am not posting the full results here - that will be a separate post. With 17 entered it is hard to remember all the placings and I will wait until I get the full results back from Thirestane.
Skipper's Cleuch and Mindy won and they looked FANTASTIC. Well done you two.
Jad's Lad and Jacqui Baird won the best veteran.
Liz Kettle and Coeur Du Lion won best condition (side saddle )
Caroline Pennycook and Commanche Creek won best turned out
Saturday morning started very badly for me as I found one of the cats, Lucky, very poorley in the garden. As he belongs to Michelle C (but he kind of lives with me as he just moved in a couple of years ago) she had a frantic phone call at 7am from me. She came round and it looks like he had either eaten poison or eaten a poisoned rat. Michelle took him into the house to call the vet and he died in her arms I was just devastated and if I could have cancelled Saturday I would have.
Michelle told me to go ahead and do Thirlestane. I was running so late that I still had to bath and plait Denzel which did not leave much time to load him. ANyway, he refused to load and get very stressed out so I decided to just leave him at home and try again on Sunday for the parade. he had got himself into a right state but with hindsight I was so wound up over Lucky he may have been picking up on that.
So Misstickle and I set off for Thirlestane in a very sombre mood with none of the usual banter.
On arrival at Thirlestane I began to cheer up when I saw a line of boxes and trailers at the main ring. And there were the ScotNorth competitors all getting ready and polishing themselves and their gorgeous horses.
The sight of 15 ex racehorses warming up in front of the fabulous Thirlestane Mansion was a sight I will never forget - but was nothing up the what I saw later. There were 17 entries but I turned so many people away at the end of last week we could have taken 32 entries - what a fabulous response and it was great to know that so many horses and riders wanted to take part. We are looking at maybe getting a bigger area next year to accomodate more entries.
So, Clive the judge and his partner Sandie arrived and I just though 'oh god - a year in the planning and we are finally here'. After giving me some grief about not bringing Denzel Clive called the horses into the arena and the ScotNorth Ex Racehorse Masterclass was announced over the tannoy. People started lining up around the ring and there was no space along the fencing left within about 10 minutes.
Well - I do not know how Clive managed to judge 15 STUNNING horses and BEAUTIFULLY turned out riders - you were all such a credit to this Club and I was so proud of you all I just had a wee emotional moment
We had made sure that the rosettes for this event were even more special than the normal ones we use - and we also made sure that every single entry went home with a rosette even though the class was only to 10th pace. The organisers commented on how beautiful the rosettes and trophy were - I have to thank peter for the fabulous racing bronze (you need to be a weight lifter to hold it) and to Mike and Kirsty at CR Rosettes for designing totally gorgeous rosettes which will be a great momento of the day for everyone.
Every single horse and rider put in a fabulous individual show but I have to say that the moment that took my breath away was when they al lined up - 15 stunning horses and very proud riders spanning the whole length of the ring. That is a sight that I will never ever forget and it is why Sandra and I work hard to promote ex racehorses and this club. It was just the most fantastic thing ever - I am smiling now just thinking about it.
Then came Sunday and although we did get Denzel into the trailer eventually, and without a lot of fuss, I decided that it was maybe asking too much of him to go to such a huge event and still be settled enough to load and come home. As Misstickle reminded me, I have only had him for 9 weeks and it may be putting just a bit too much pressure on me and him. So I let my desire to say ''I rode at Thirlestane'' be swayed by my desire to make sure Denzel is not over faced and after loading him I rewarded him by lots of carrotts and some food and letting him back out with his mate Brian (sporting a rather sexy poutice and silver wrapped hoof).
So we set off again for Thirlestane, escorting the gorgeous Coeur Du Lion who stayed overnight at our yard.
It was very flattering that everyone was so disappointed that Denzel was not there for the parade - but I began wishing I had brought him when the ''crew'' and the Thirlestane organsers asked me to do the talk for the parade. I had sat up until 11.30 the night before finishing the notes for the commentator and I was happy for him to do it ;D ;D ;D However, I was pressganged not only into doing the talk but also getting all my show gear on to do it.
I got a bit emotional at times during the talk and started to cry when I was telling the people about Skipper and how he had broken his neck, and how his owners loved him so much they paid fortunes to get him better so he could live on as an ex racehorse. My voice went a few times during the talk and I can't remember half of what I said - but the big cheer and round of applause when all the horses did a final canter round the arena showed that the onlookers had enjoyed seeing all these beautiful horses.
A special ''get well soon' for Eddie who had a sore back and could not come to the parade and a 'good call' to Nick for putting Maggie's safety travelling in appalling weather before wanting to come back again on Sunday.
There is a god as the sun shone both days for us and not a drop of rain fell on the class or the parade.
I had such fun for the 2 days - loads of laughs and as Misstickle said in another post the ''craick'' was just fantastic. Lynda (Alliecat) cooked up a stormer of a meal for us at mine on Saturday, and Alfiesman, your kids are just great and a real credit to you. I am not sure what they thought of us ''grown ups'' and the laughs we had on Sat night but they seemed to enjoy themselves. Mindy - your OH is rather tasty and what a star for coming along to a horse trial even though he is allergic to horses and dogs Helen, your OH Geoff, has to run all the photos by me before publising any, specifically the one as he so delicately put it of the ''eclipse'' when I bent down in my jods to pick up my hair band off the ground - just warn him I will set Misstickle on his loo again if he publishes any !!!
Sorry this is so long but I just had the most wonderful weekend ever but it would not have been possible without all the horses and riders who came and took part and the ground crew who kept it all running smoothly and supported the nerves of everyone taking part.
And to top it all off we have potentially rehomed a horse on Sunday as a direct result of the class and parade so well done you guys for showing how fantastic ex racehorses are
A MOST FABULOUS WEEKEND AND CREDIT HAS TO GO TO ALL THE SCOTNORTH MEMBERS FOR COMING ALONG AND MAKING IT SUCH A FANTASTIC SPECTACLE.
Thirlestane loved having us and definately want us back for the 2 days in 2009
LisaH
I am not posting the full results here - that will be a separate post. With 17 entered it is hard to remember all the placings and I will wait until I get the full results back from Thirestane.
Skipper's Cleuch and Mindy won and they looked FANTASTIC. Well done you two.
Jad's Lad and Jacqui Baird won the best veteran.
Liz Kettle and Coeur Du Lion won best condition (side saddle )
Caroline Pennycook and Commanche Creek won best turned out
Saturday morning started very badly for me as I found one of the cats, Lucky, very poorley in the garden. As he belongs to Michelle C (but he kind of lives with me as he just moved in a couple of years ago) she had a frantic phone call at 7am from me. She came round and it looks like he had either eaten poison or eaten a poisoned rat. Michelle took him into the house to call the vet and he died in her arms I was just devastated and if I could have cancelled Saturday I would have.
Michelle told me to go ahead and do Thirlestane. I was running so late that I still had to bath and plait Denzel which did not leave much time to load him. ANyway, he refused to load and get very stressed out so I decided to just leave him at home and try again on Sunday for the parade. he had got himself into a right state but with hindsight I was so wound up over Lucky he may have been picking up on that.
So Misstickle and I set off for Thirlestane in a very sombre mood with none of the usual banter.
On arrival at Thirlestane I began to cheer up when I saw a line of boxes and trailers at the main ring. And there were the ScotNorth competitors all getting ready and polishing themselves and their gorgeous horses.
The sight of 15 ex racehorses warming up in front of the fabulous Thirlestane Mansion was a sight I will never forget - but was nothing up the what I saw later. There were 17 entries but I turned so many people away at the end of last week we could have taken 32 entries - what a fabulous response and it was great to know that so many horses and riders wanted to take part. We are looking at maybe getting a bigger area next year to accomodate more entries.
So, Clive the judge and his partner Sandie arrived and I just though 'oh god - a year in the planning and we are finally here'. After giving me some grief about not bringing Denzel Clive called the horses into the arena and the ScotNorth Ex Racehorse Masterclass was announced over the tannoy. People started lining up around the ring and there was no space along the fencing left within about 10 minutes.
Well - I do not know how Clive managed to judge 15 STUNNING horses and BEAUTIFULLY turned out riders - you were all such a credit to this Club and I was so proud of you all I just had a wee emotional moment
We had made sure that the rosettes for this event were even more special than the normal ones we use - and we also made sure that every single entry went home with a rosette even though the class was only to 10th pace. The organisers commented on how beautiful the rosettes and trophy were - I have to thank peter for the fabulous racing bronze (you need to be a weight lifter to hold it) and to Mike and Kirsty at CR Rosettes for designing totally gorgeous rosettes which will be a great momento of the day for everyone.
Every single horse and rider put in a fabulous individual show but I have to say that the moment that took my breath away was when they al lined up - 15 stunning horses and very proud riders spanning the whole length of the ring. That is a sight that I will never ever forget and it is why Sandra and I work hard to promote ex racehorses and this club. It was just the most fantastic thing ever - I am smiling now just thinking about it.
Then came Sunday and although we did get Denzel into the trailer eventually, and without a lot of fuss, I decided that it was maybe asking too much of him to go to such a huge event and still be settled enough to load and come home. As Misstickle reminded me, I have only had him for 9 weeks and it may be putting just a bit too much pressure on me and him. So I let my desire to say ''I rode at Thirlestane'' be swayed by my desire to make sure Denzel is not over faced and after loading him I rewarded him by lots of carrotts and some food and letting him back out with his mate Brian (sporting a rather sexy poutice and silver wrapped hoof).
So we set off again for Thirlestane, escorting the gorgeous Coeur Du Lion who stayed overnight at our yard.
It was very flattering that everyone was so disappointed that Denzel was not there for the parade - but I began wishing I had brought him when the ''crew'' and the Thirlestane organsers asked me to do the talk for the parade. I had sat up until 11.30 the night before finishing the notes for the commentator and I was happy for him to do it ;D ;D ;D However, I was pressganged not only into doing the talk but also getting all my show gear on to do it.
I got a bit emotional at times during the talk and started to cry when I was telling the people about Skipper and how he had broken his neck, and how his owners loved him so much they paid fortunes to get him better so he could live on as an ex racehorse. My voice went a few times during the talk and I can't remember half of what I said - but the big cheer and round of applause when all the horses did a final canter round the arena showed that the onlookers had enjoyed seeing all these beautiful horses.
A special ''get well soon' for Eddie who had a sore back and could not come to the parade and a 'good call' to Nick for putting Maggie's safety travelling in appalling weather before wanting to come back again on Sunday.
There is a god as the sun shone both days for us and not a drop of rain fell on the class or the parade.
I had such fun for the 2 days - loads of laughs and as Misstickle said in another post the ''craick'' was just fantastic. Lynda (Alliecat) cooked up a stormer of a meal for us at mine on Saturday, and Alfiesman, your kids are just great and a real credit to you. I am not sure what they thought of us ''grown ups'' and the laughs we had on Sat night but they seemed to enjoy themselves. Mindy - your OH is rather tasty and what a star for coming along to a horse trial even though he is allergic to horses and dogs Helen, your OH Geoff, has to run all the photos by me before publising any, specifically the one as he so delicately put it of the ''eclipse'' when I bent down in my jods to pick up my hair band off the ground - just warn him I will set Misstickle on his loo again if he publishes any !!!
Sorry this is so long but I just had the most wonderful weekend ever but it would not have been possible without all the horses and riders who came and took part and the ground crew who kept it all running smoothly and supported the nerves of everyone taking part.
And to top it all off we have potentially rehomed a horse on Sunday as a direct result of the class and parade so well done you guys for showing how fantastic ex racehorses are
A MOST FABULOUS WEEKEND AND CREDIT HAS TO GO TO ALL THE SCOTNORTH MEMBERS FOR COMING ALONG AND MAKING IT SUCH A FANTASTIC SPECTACLE.
Thirlestane loved having us and definately want us back for the 2 days in 2009
LisaH