Harness and Carts

To continue with the Miniature horse theme, here are pictures from two miniature horse classes I watched at the Lancaster 4-H show.

And here are pictures from the next class which had an Appaloosa and a pony. 

Lancaster County 4-H Show Pt 2: Miniature Horse Jumping

Miniature horses are adorable, so I enjoyed watching them jump last month.

It was a hot PA day, and there were multiple jump offs, so good job for running in the heat! It also allowed me to get plenty of pictures of them.

This would be a minimal type of other performance in terms of model horses. You'd just need a doll, halter, lead rope, and a jump. Or you can have a cone.  Just add in documentation, and you're good. 

Per the PA 4-H Guide, going clear is the goal in the first round. Afterwards if there are entries with the same amount of faults, a jump off happens. In the jump off, the jumps are supposed to be raised and whoever finishes with the lowest amount of faults, wins. If there's a tie again, the horse with the fastest time is the winner. With that being said, there are numerous instances of miniature horses standing,walking,

 trotting,

 cantering,

 and jumping!

Plenty of performance opportunities!

Dauphin County 4-H Fair Pt 1

On Friday morning I went to the Dauphin County 4-H fair. The event takes place at the Farm Show Complex, a hub of agriculture and about every other type of event that you can think of. There are 3 model horse shows that are put on in it. I'm lucky that it's a max 15 minutes away from my house. 

It's been years since I visited the Fair, but Cheryl, a fellow team mate of the Penn State Equestrian Team, was showing and I was invited along to watch and take pictures. This is Cheryl's last year for 4-H and she showed Travel Tuesday aka Traveler who also is the main horse I ride in lesson. 

Between her classes were other pretty horses like this mustang. 

And these two.

I watched Miniature Horse Jumping too which is fast becoming something I need to do in model scale. I have pretty much everything needed. I would only need to make a halter, lead, and whip!

More pictures to come!

Working Equitation

I find Working Equitation to be a fascinating event. Seeing it demonstrated at Breyerfest cemented that fact.

Endo the Blind

A range of horses showed various obstacles of the event. Per the The United States Working Equitation, horses can wear Working Western, English Hunt Seat, Dressage, Spanish, Portuguese, or Charro tack. Each seat has a list of requirements. 

This was from the end of the demo when some of the horses showed off some of their other skills. :)

There are 24 different obstacles and 6 different levels listed on the website.
Gate

Remove and replace pole

Working around barrels

Skewer Ring

They had to ring a bell

and back through poles, but those aren't listened on the US website. 

This was one of my favorite covered arena demos. Was so glad to have walked by at the right time!

Saddlebreds, Walkers, and Others

I wasn't lucky in terms of my placement in the special run line. The second half or dead end was consistently where I ended up. But, I did manage to get everyone I wanted, so I was lucky!

I watched reiners in the morning, but the rest of the days I'd often see other breeds warming up. First was this Saddlebred in Harness. 

Until the pair left for the arena. 

Next were Tennessee Walkers.

Pretty!

They looked comfy to ride, especially when gaiting.

 The four horse mini team.

Very pink side saddle.

 Glitter!

Lines and Reiners

Waiting in line is all a part of Breyerfest.

There are many types of lines but the line that forms first, even before the start of Breyerfest is the Friday Store line. I have many skills but one of them isn't sleeping outside in a line. I have limits and love beds. Mel was dedicated and that's how I ended up number 74 in the Friday morning line aka Ninji Pit of Death .

We were led in by Police.

There was a good amount of people.

and we were welcomed in by drums and dancers.

I was a part of the first group that went into the store. I hoped to get more than just a dog, as I did last year. I did even better. I walked out with zero things. Once the shoving and flapping of arms and plastic ponies started in the bins I assessed my plastic pony dedication and realized I didn't like to do any of the above.
So I went to the special runs line located next to a warm up arena. A new activity at Breyerfest this year was a Ride A Reiner. Intermediate riders could try out reining on nice reining horses. I watched the schooling of the horses.

The horses changed leads,

walked,

spun,

slid and backed up.

I loved this black gelding. He had such a pretty and sweet face.