When I jokingly said
"Go big or go home!" I really didn't think going to the
Lexington Carriage Classic would be that "big". Not the show itself, although it was a nice size show with competitors from quite a few states, but big as in what Frankie would have to handle.
I've shown at the Kentucky Horse Park before, but it was always for Combined Driving Events (CDEs) which were held "out in the country". Our dressage and cones competitions were on remote polo fields and the marathon all over the back roads and tracks of the cross country course.
Frankie spent the week "downtown". He was stabled in a "city" of other horses, carriages of all sorts, shapes and sizes, billowing carriage covers, cars, trucks, golf carts, mopeds, bicycles, heavy equipment, horse drawn tour wagons, the Mid South Pony Club Rally, tractors, mowers, leaf blowers, loud PA announcements, mounted patrol units, tight warm up areas, sand, concrete, pavement, rubber bricks...
To be honest, I think he had to deal with way more "craziness" than my seasoned horse, Handy, ever faced in all his years toting me around. I walked him around the afternoon we shipped in and tried to expose him to as much as I could, by his side. We were even able to walk around the indoor arena for a few minutes. That evening we hooked him up and drove.
The next morning we were able to go into the show ring and school before the show started. I got there early in hopes of being the only one in the ring for at least a few minutes. It was a noisy place, but he did really well. As some other drivers joined us he got a little rattled, but remained safe.
The other horses were the most concerning to him and I'm not sure if it was just the noise and excitement of the other horses or if he felt some racetrack pressure and wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. On several occasions he switched into a pace which makes me think it was more racetrack confusion.
In an attempt to get him to better relax, it was suggested that I drive for a few minutes, leave the arena for a few minutes so he could relax in a "safer" setting and think about everything and then go back in for a few minutes and back out to relax... This worked great until another horse in the ring blew up and was heading right towards us on his hind legs as we were coming in the gate.
The other driver had zero control of his horse as he leaped and spun. I had plenty of control, but not enough room to try to turn around to get safely away. This was a very dangerous situation and I was horrified not only from the fear of injuries, but also that I'd put my young horse in this unbelievable spot.
All of the sudden the horse took a fortuitous rearing jump to the side and a sliver of room opened up in front of him and I sent Frankie forward! He charged past the other horse and we were finally safely away. Handy never faced anything even close to a carriage wreck with another horse. Carriage wrecks seldom end well. Frankie's quick action saved the day...and probably so much more.
We drove in two flat classes (group driving, no obstacles) and two (one horse at a time) cones classes. He was very brave in his first cones class and a bit rattled in the first flat class. The next day I warmed him up a little differently and between that and him having some more time to think about everything, I could not have been happier with him and we even won a third place ribbon!
We took the cones classes very slow and steady and when I saw one of the pictures below and realized how close the cones were set, I sure didn't feel a bit bad about hitting one. I'm surprised we didn't hit all 10! A friend overheard the judge comment favorably about me making a time sacrificing circle to better set up my young horse rather than trying to force a short turn he wasn't ready to make and that made my day.
There are several fun videos on
Instagram and
Facebook. The beautiful pictures here were taken by a good friend and they are wonderful mementos of a fabulous experience that I will treasure forever. I remember telling Frankie, when we started driving, that Handy had left some mighty big shoes for him to fill. They are filled.
Of course my biggest thanks goes to Frankie for being such a safe and willing partner, but there were so many folks who came out to help and cheer us on and make this such a great experience. I am forever grateful.
