Show Time – First Horse First Go

BY GUEST BLOGGER DEANNA BECKLEY

Thursday was day one of the first go at the NRHA Futurity.

Jesse was set to show Cooper and they drew up 85^th in the first go of the first day. He was able to ride Cooper in the Coliseum a few times leading up to show day, getting him comfortable with the ground and acquainted with his surroundings.

 Jesse was eager to get in the pen and felt like he had done everything he could to prepare his horse to show. He wasn’t nervous. I was.

 I am a nervous wreck when it comes to Jesse showing and I try my best to not let it show so I can help him get ready.

My favorite show shirt color – turquoise, shows up so nice in the ring. This shirt happens to also be the shirt Jesse wore for our wedding this past September.

At the Futurity they do a pre-check where they check the bit to make sure it is legal and there are no marks on the horse.

Cooper and Jesse were first after the drag giving them fresh ground. The ground at the far end, and where they complete their first stop (NRHA pattern #1) was not great. It had some holes and competitors were having a hard time getting their horses stopped in it.

Cooper was no exception. He ran in great to his first stop and tried hard, but couldn’t quite hold it. Four of the five judges scored the maneuver a 0, one judged marked it a  -1/2.

Jesse rolled him back and headed for his next stop – much better, but Cooper walked out of it slightly at the end. Maneuver score 0.

Roll back to the right and stop past center – nice stop. All but one judge were in agreement marking it a 0.

Turned to the right four times. Nice turn, half point over turn.

Turned to the left four and a quarter. Good.

Cooper was a little funny going into his lead departure, but once loping into his large fast he settled in nicely, dropped his neck and loped beautifully. Down to a small slow and then back into a large fast and change leads. His next set of circles were even nicer. Most of the judges scored the first set of circles a +1/2 – all five judges marked the second set +1/2.

Jesse guided Cooper around the end and into his last stop. Awesome! Plus ½ on all five scorecards.

With the high and the low score dropped, the pair marked a very respectable 213.

It was day one of showing and its been a known fact that the first dayof showing the judges are pretty tight on their marking, but as long as they are consistent throughout it’s not a problem. They seemed to be marking fair and that is all we can ask for. I was hoping to have a video of his run to share with you, but I am waiting on the videographer to work out some kinks with the marketing department. I am hoping to have videos for the rest of the runs.

Coming out of the arena after showing Cooper.

Jesse was happy with his horse and looks forward to showing him again in the second go. I’m happy my heart rate has returned to normal, until Friday anyway when he shows CJ.

 The high score of the day was a 222.5 from entry #182 Jay McLaughlin riding Guapo Lena for Carol Rose. Check out their run below.

Guapo Lena – Jay McLaughlin – Carol Rose – 222.5 from NRHA on Vimeo.

Thursday was also Thanksgiving down here, which meant everything was closed. IHOP had to suffice for supper, but it was better than Burger King as those were our only two options. No turkey with all the trimmings for these Canadians. But if Thursday was Thanksgiving that means Friday is Black Friday which means I’ll be putting my shopping shoes on and head out to closest western store 🙂