Horse Shows 2005

The 2005 Rolling Hills Saddle Club year end points are in and Samantha Lee on Pistol Pete had a fantastic year. A big thank you goes to Allyson Wesley, their trainer for her support in this effort. Here is the link to Rolling Hills Web Site for details. They competed in three divisions this year and achieved the following results:

November 19, 2005 Rolling Hills Saddle Club Horse Show - Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA

Juliana had an excellent result in the Walk-Trot-Cantor division, Congratulations!

Samantha and Pete earned Reserve Champion in Walk-Trot-Cantor Division and Champion in the Cross-Rail Division

This picture was taken during Pete's break between the second and third divisions.

The result was good in 17 & Under Mini-Hunter: The A course was perfect and earned a first place. The B course was equally good except for Pete bucking on a flying lead change that led to no pin in that class. They recovered on the flat class and earned third place.

Pete took a rare nap when he got home to his stall after his hard work at the show.

Schooling on Friday night went very well for Juliana and Penny as well as Samantha and Pete.

We had two firsts this show: Juliana and Christian both had their first time in the WTC and X-Rails divisions from Sunrise Stables. Samantha also competed. Results were good this trip with everyone pinning in several divisions.

October 22, 2005 Horse Show Ventures Horse Show - Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA

This show was a schooling show for Rocky and he did fantastic compared to his last schooling adventure. Samantha and Rocky competed in the Beginner Ring Walk Trot Cantor Division and the Jumper Ring Schooling Hunter Division.

The WTC division yielded a first in Equitation, a third in Cantor - One At A Time, and two sixth places pennings in the trot classes.

The Schooling Hunter Division yielded a fourth place in the flat class and two sixth places for the A and B courses.

October 15, 2005 Rolling Hills Saddle Club Horse Show - Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA

Fourth place in the A and B courses and sixth place in the flat for 17 & Under Mini Course.

This was Skip and Christian's first horse show and they fit in like they had done it for years. Looks like he did pick up a few things watching his sister in all those horse shows!

The October Rolling Hills Horse Show always has a charity Halloween Show on Friday Night and this year we participated with two entries. Christian and Skip went as Roy Rogers and Trigger. Samantha and Pete went as the Chain Gag. The pictures below tell the story.

Samantha and Pete got first in 12 & under Open and Christian and Skip got third.

In the 12 & under Championship round Samantha and Pete took first and Christian and Skip took sixth. The first place ribbons are black so it's very difficult to see them on a black horse like Pete. If you look above Pete's left eye you can just make out the button of one of his ribbons.

Well our experiment in taking a barefoot horse to a horse show concluded with mixed results. The walk-trot-cantor and cross-rail divisions were not as productive as we normally experience with Sam and Flex earning a third two fifths and a sixth place ribbon. The Schooling Hunter division resulted in a Reserve Champion with two seconds on the A and B courses and a third on the flat. Flex has only been out of his shoes for two weeks so right now we are optimistic that he will improve as he has more time to transition to being bare-footed.

September 10, 2005 Rolling Hills Saddle Club Horse Show - Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA

Pete and Samantha had a fantastic day! Two Champions in 11 & under walk trot cantor and 17 & under mini hunter and a Reserve Champion in 11 & under cross rails. Three first, three second, two thirds and one of the coveted hot-pink fifth place ribbons.

Pete and Belle were pasture buddies until a few months ago when Belle was sold. Now horse shows are the only time that they get to see each other. It is obvious from how they act when their paths cross that they still remember each other.

Alex and Samantha are fierce competitors inside the ring but they are great friends outside the ring.

Pete in true Champion style napping between divisions. He was very relaxed this weekend and his performance showed that he was ready to compete. We took him to Dawson Forest for a trail ride on Monday before the show and he responded very well to the play time out of the ring.

Back in the barn after a successful weekend!

August 6, 2005 Rolling Hills Saddle Club Horse Show - Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA

To make up for not having the camera last month, there are a ton of pictures of Samantha/Pete and Megan/Music in this month's show! Nobody was able to earn the coveted Hot Pink fifth place ribbons: Samantha/Pete earned two seconds, a fourth, and three sixth place ribbons. Megan/Music earned three fourth and one sixth place ribbons.

July 23, 2005 Rolling Hills Saddle Club Horse Show - Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA

We forgot to bring the camera so there are no pictures of this show. Pete and Samantha earned a first in 17 and under mini-hunter flat and a second the 17 and under mini-hunter A course. Unfortunately Pete refused a jump in the B course so they missed out on reserve champion by one point.

June 18, 2005 Rolling Hills Saddle Club Horse Show - Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA

Megan and Piney had a good day with first place in 2' 6" and 3' Jumper Add-Back classes and a pair of seconds in two long stirrup flat classes.

Pete was not his usual self this month because of a flare up of his navicular disease. Samantha and Pete still managed to pin a first, second and fifth in six classes entered. Once again, Samantha was first in equitation, this time in a class of fourteen riders.

Once again Samantha earns a first in equitation this time in a class of 12 riders. Samantha and Flex missed Reserve Champion by 1/2 point in the Walk, Trot, Cantor Division. They nailed a Champion in the Cross-Rail Division with two firsts and a second place.

May 21, 2005 Rolling Hills Saddle Club Horse Show - Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA

Congratulations to Kaitlyn, Bellerina, Samantha, and Pete for outstanding rides:

Samantha and Pete competed in the Beginner Ring and brought home a Reserve Champion in Walk, Trot, Cantor Division and a Champion in the Seventeen And Under Mini-Hunter Division. The Blue Ribbon on Pete's bridle in the left photo above is for Samantha and Pete in the equitation class, first in a class of nineteen contestants is an outstanding result.

This is the first show that both Pete and Belle attended together. Everyone had a big laugh listening to them neigh from the Beginner ring (Pete) to the Hunter Ring (Belle). When either called the other would answer regardless of the competition that they were involved in at the time. Evidently, their time as pasture mates has drawn them close together.

Kaitlyn and Bellerina had a great result in the Long Stirrup Hunter Division with a Second and Fourth place on the A and B courses and a First place in the Flat class.

Samantha rode Bellerina in this horse show to let perspective buyers see how well she can do. It proved to be a good day for both of them with a Champion in Open Walk, Trot, Cantor and a Reserve Champion in 10 and Over Walk, Trot, Cantor divisions.

This show proved that you don't always win blue ribbons. It was a schooling show for Rocky to find out how far we needed to come to have him ready for the 2006 season and to our dismay he showed us that we have a long way to go. The good news is that we have plenty of time to get him ready. Speed control was his major issue as he refused to slow his gates and was constantly overtaking the other competitors. You can take the race horse off the track but it's hard to take the race out of the horse! A pair of sixth place ribbons is the best Samantha and Rocky have to show for their first show together. Rocky has tremendous potential and once he learns to put on the breaks he will be a great competitor.

Congratulations to Samantha Lee on Pistol Pete and Autumn Clark on Ragin' Cajon on their great performances. Autumn and Cage took Champion in the 11 and under walk, trot, cantor division. Samantha and Pete took Champion in the 11 and under cross rails division. The most notable class was 11 and under cross rails equitation where Autumn and Samantha held the first two places in a class of 17 riders. Great work girls we are all proud of you!

Here Samantha and Autumn are competing for the final six places in a class of seventeen for 11 and under cross rails equitation as the rest of the class observes from the center of the ring.

The right photo is of the top two equitation riders in 11 and under cross rails division as they exited the ring. The left photo is of Samantha and Pete's ribbons. Autumn had an equal number of ribbons displayed on Cage's stall but I missed the Kodak moment. Here Autumn and Samantha are displaying their division champion trophies, good ride girls!

This was Pistol Pete's first show since his rehab and he was obviously back in prime form. Five first place, and one each second, third, fourth and fifth place ribbons. This resulted in a Champion and two Reserve Champion trophies for Pete and Samantha. Congratulations to you both on a good ride!

Sampson and Samantha worked extremely well together in this show. It was Sampson's first show and he had only come to Sunrise Stables a week before the event. A remarkable result for rider and horse. Sampson came to us on loan while Samantha's horse was completing his rehab. They did so well in fact that Sampson sold three days after the show and Samantha was again looking for a ride.