G stayed home from school on Friday and got ready to leave for Yamhill and the Teen Mustang Challenge competition. She had worked for 98 days and this would be the test of what she had done with Jet.
G was chosen from over 200 applicants to be one of 21 competitors, and all the other competitors were from the eastern side of Oregon. She worked primarily alone with encouragement and support from us and from two experienced adults.
Friday afternoon we all left and headed for Yamhill. A great friend, A, drove and pulled our trailer and her camper. So far G had 4 people supporting her. The drive was good but long. We got to Yamhill just after 8:30pm. We got Jet settled into his stall for the night and gave him his dinner. Another hour drive found us at our hotel and we were in bed around 10pm. It was a long day and we were all looking forward to the competition.
Our alarm clocks were set for 4:30 am so that we could be at the stables by 6 am. G was quite nervous because when we rolled in and dropped Jet off she noticed that all the other horses had clean shaven faces and many were in full sleazies. She wanted to be there as early as possible to do more work on grooming Jet. She stayed in her Nana's room and set three alarm clocks. True to form she was pulling everyone's covers back by 4:45 and concerned that we were going to be late. How did I end up with such an early riser?
We got to the stables right at 6 am and there were over half the contestants already there, decorating stalls and grooming horses. It was obvious to us that many of them had been there before and we were very thankful for Jodi who had brought us some "curtains" to add to our decorations. At least her stall wouldn't look too shabby. G got right to work on grooming Jet while A and I worked on decorating the stall with R's help.
In the end I think the stall looked just right. We did not have the most decorated but it did look well done.
Gabrielle and Jet were ready for their debut. I loved the lime green look on both of them. As a side note, G had really wanted to have a show halter and so A and I headed off to a place we had heard about that was within 15 min of the stables. We drove there just before 8 am. We were met by the lady that runs the tack store. She sells tack to support a horse rescue and had lots of nice tack. She allowed us to take a halter and lead rope leaving a check for insurance and allowed us to bring the items back and get the check back. I was so impressed. She did not have to be so kind. In the end the halter we had taken did not fit Jet and so G used the green rope halter after all.
After spending the night in a small stall, I imagine that Jet was happy to get and begin moving and warming up.
The competition started with a body condition analysis. Jet scored a 5 which is just about right. 5.5 is perfect body condition. Then G and Jet headed into the Showmanship competition. Both did ok but it was not either of their strongest area. Jet spent too much time trying to bite G and G forgot a small part of the pattern. Unfortunately, even small parts make a big difference.
The final challenge was trail. The first obsticle was this teeter-totter bridge. It was fun to watch how different trainers approached the obsticle. It was a difficult task and G had a plan. She wanted to walk him up on the bridge and then she was going to try to get it to move down. She under estimated Jet's weight and over estimated her own. It was quite funny to watch, but both did well and Jet walked right over the bridge and moved off with confidence and no spook.
The second obsticle involved fowl, chickens and geese. Fortunately we have three chickens and Jet was great and walked right passed both cages.
At this obsticle, G had to walk Jet through the straw bales and then back him back through them. They both did great and got wonderful comments from the judge.
G made a great approach to the trailer, and Jet showed effort to pick his feet up but in the end he would not go into the trailer. G was wonderfully patient and set him up for success it just didn't work this time. In hind sight, I believe that Jet had taken a very long ride the day before and was not interested in getting back into a trailer. I believe this because we have not had any trouble loading him and he has jumped up on a tire much taller. Also we went to leave the competition and come home he did not want to get into our trailer.
This obsticle had good and bad points. In the beginning Jet was resistant to allowing G to put the rain slicker on him. However, once it was on him, he did not care and allowed her to pull it up on his neck. I know she did that to try to add points. She also took the slicker off by pulling it over Jet's head. He did great with that but the first impression was still no the best, and the judge did notice.
This car wash was the first I have ever seen and it was wonderful. Many horses refused to walk through, but not Jet. G walked through and he followed not long after and did not speed up as he went through. That was fantastic.
The last part of the trail competition involved a 2 min. freestyle. G just showed everyone what she did on a regular basis at home. She put a hoola hoop around his neck, the put a rope around his neck and led him by it. She then put a tarp over his back and then she moved a very large garbage bag filled with air attahed to a stick all around him. He did great. She then asked him to move out and he moved with lots of energy but he was not afraid of the items on him.
During this time I was talking about all the work G had done and how this is normal for him. I had a lady approach me to ask more questions. As soon as I figured out that she was really looking at trying to adopt him, I had to tell her that he was not for sale as we had decided to keep him. She was disappointed and I was honored that she would have wanted him.
The day ended when they announced the order of the contestants. I must admit I understand that someone had to place 21st. I just prayed that it would not be G. We passed 21, then we passed 15 and I started hoping that she would break the top 10. When number 10 was announced, I must admit that I was then hoping that maybe, just maybe she would be in the top 5. Then they called number nine . . . it was G.
I didn't expect to be so happy but number 9 was just fine. She worked hard and did very well especially in trail. She had mom, dad, sister, nana, A, a reporter from our local newspaper and a representative from a company that sponsored her. That is quite a turn out for a girl from so far away. What a great experience.
The last part of the competition was an auction of the horses that were not being kept. Of the 21 horses only 5 were adopted by their trainers and their families. The others were auctioned. The trainers had a very hard time letting go and many of the spoke about their horse through tears. I have not experienced something so heartbreaking in quite a while. The horse that won the competition sold for $800 and then many of the others sold for $25 and $50. It was rough to watch the kids cry and the horses not sale for much. I mean I pay more for a nice meal than many of the horses sold for.
Lastly we found out that the top 5 winners were all contestants last year. Fortunately G felt really good knowing that and placing 9th almost entirely on her own. She would really like to do this again next year. For now, we are all glad to see Jet running in the field with our other horses.
