Last week I talked about the pressures of showing and how by preparing ahead of time in the reining maneuvres, I can get my horse closer and closer to being ready for competition. Tori also needs to learn to take the pressure of the show pen without losing her confidence and focus.

I’ll use an example to try and explain what I mean. If I were to show Tori today, we would walk into the show ring. She would look around and be nervous - and that in turn would make me tense up, which would make her more afraid. By the time we got to center to start our reining pattern, she would be vibrating with nerves.

From there, at home, I would normally walk her out and spend the next 5 to 20 minutes just walking until she relaxed, and then I’d bring her back to center and start over. But in the show pen, we would have to be ready to perform right away. So, I would lift my reins slightly and ask her to lope off, say to the left. However, because she is tight and anxious, she might be already fretting and not standing quietly at center, so when my lope departure cue was applied, she might take the wrong lead.

Now I have to either pull her down and start over (wrong lead penalty and break of gait penalty), or do a flying change.

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

. A flying lead change that early in a circle on an anxious horse just sets them up for even more upset - now she’d be chargy and trying to run off in her circles.

My nerves would be completely shot by now and I’d be checking her constantly, which in turn would set her on edge even more - at home, we pull down to walk quietly, or maybe do turn and stop if she is really racy, and then I ask her to lope off quietly again when she is ready.

You can see where this is heading - we haven’t even completed one circle yet and we are already in a whole lot of trouble! Instead of building her trust by allowing her to work through her fears as we do at home, I am compounding them. It could take months to rebuild what I have been working on all winter.

And so I have decided not to show her yet. I will miss the show pen - but the end result is so much more worth it if I wait - and more attainable too!

Till next week, happy riding!
~ Kristi :)

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Contributed by Penny Stavast
The Wish Em Well Slide Show was held May 18th & 19th in Williams Lake and was the first of four high point shows for the WCRA Series. Overall the weekend was a great success! Both days were started pretty much on time (9:45/10:00) and ended by 6:00 pm.

We had a total of 144 runs for the reining classes and 11 runs for the working cow horse. The grounds were great, even some of the beginner rider’s could be heard on the side lines proclaiming "my horse slid for the first time!".

During Saturday’s lunch break, Art Young from Frontier Harness and Tack of 100 Mile House did a saddle fitting demonstration on Kim Eckland’s horse. It was found that one of the saddles actually fit the width of the horse, but sat too low on the back. Art’s recommendation was to raise the whole saddle to allow more movement through the withers. The second saddle had a bit of gapping through the mid area of the saddle and his recommendations for this was to fill this area as well so the saddle would have even distribution of contact on the horses’ back.

There was large group of spectators out for the weekend to cheer the competitors on. The rafters of the Trail Rider’s Arena were lifted on Sunday when Geoff Vick did an impressive slide on his horse Tonkas First Twist in the WCRA Novice Horse Non-Pro class.

The weather pretty much co-operated for most of the weekend, but we did have a bit of a shower on Saturday afternoon, mainly for those from the lower mainland to make them feel at home!

Sunday’s working cow horse was a extraordinary display of talent with both the Beginner Rider/Horse and Open Class. We hope to offering this venue again next year at the 2003 Show and having an even greater amount of participation.

Custom made head stalls, by Angela Moon of Williams Lake, were the High Point Awards which were given out both Saturday and Sunday to the overall highest score as well as a Youth High Point was given out for the highest combined class with youth being a mandatory class. These awards were awarded to the following people:

Saturday Overall High Point was given to Dan Morrison of Prince George for his go in WCRA Beginner Horse Open on Peppy Oak Chex with a score of 70.

Saturday Overall High Point was given to Lynda Smith of Maple Ridge for her go in WCRA Free Style on J.B. Jordan with a score of 72.

Youth High Point was awarded to Isabella Kreis of Big Lake for her combined score of 128.0 for WCRA Beginner A and WCRA Youth.

WCRA High Point Award for the Wish Em Well Slide was awarded to the Highest Freestyle Score and a Polar Fleece Vest was awarded to Lynda Smith of Maple Ridge for her score of 72 on J.B. Jordan.

Just like with all equine colors, Silver has a number of “old wives tales” associated with it. Probably the most often heard myth is that you can tell by looking at a chestnut horse if it carries silver. To date every example I have been presented with of a “silver sorrel” or “silver chestnut” has been a flaxen chestnut horse colored similar to a Belgian draft horse. Silver cannot physically or chemically express on red pigment.

Another commonly propagated myth is that all Silver dilutes will have pointy black stripes on light colored hooves. Many Silvers do have stripes but just as many do not. Stripes are caused by many different factors and should not be used in the identification of Silver dilutes.

Light eyelashes are also said by some to be an indication that a horse is Silver. Most Silvers I have observed do have diluted eyelashes but factors such as pangare and white markings can also influence the color of a horses eyelashes. Mottled skin is also not an trait of Silver dilutes. Just like the other traits sometimes associated with Silver, mottled skin can be due to many different factors.

In Rocky Mountain Horses there is a genetic eye disease that is linked to Silver. This is not the case in other breeds of horses. American Shetlands and Miniature Horses have a very high percentage of Silvers and red based horses that carry Silver and do not have any documented incidence of this eye condition.

Links to Sites with Silver Dapple Horses or Ponies
www.ColorMorgan.com/id44.htm (Morgans)
www.simplydivinestables.com/forsale.html (Rocky Mountain Horses)

There are some examples of silver on the Photos Page

About the author:
Lewella Tembreull breeds Classic & Foundation Shetlands in Central Minnesota. She is borderline obsessive when the subject is equine coat colors. During the summer she travels throughout the Upper Midwest visiting the largest American Shetland farms in the country and taking photographs to assist in understanding the interaction between dilute colors and white patterns.

Thanks Lewella for sharing your knowledge and research with us!

Northern BC Horse is sponsored by local businesses who support equine sports in our area including:

• Baerental Ranch
• Burns Lake Building Supplies
• Griffin Crick Ranch
• Hoskins Ford
• Northern Horse Supply
• Ridennoure Paint Horses
• The Tack Store

Do you have a horse or equipment to sell? Want to buy a horse or equipment? Check the Free Classified Ads.