June 20-28, Tom Powers Futurity, Berrien Springs, Michigan
My husband, three dogs and I set out on the thousand-mile trip from Oklahoma to Michigan for the Tom Powers Futurity. I haven’t seen my horse Squirt in six weeks and am excited to see and ride him again, as well as catch up with all of our friends and family back home. I am five and a half months pregnant now and have just started to show, but am still at the stage where some people aren’t sure if I’ve just put on 10 pounds or am actually pregnant and are afraid to ask. No one wants to be that person who asks a woman who isn’t pregnant when she is due! We found out a couple of weeks ago that we’re having a boy so half of the people in the barn pool are excited to still be in the running for the bet on the baby’s sex and weight. They are also wondering if it was such a smart idea to give the money to Katy Jo for safe keeping.
While in Berrien Springs, I start showing in performance halter, and despite the fact that my very lazy horse doesn’t really know how to lead or set up very well, we manage to pick up some points while we’re waiting for the futurity to start. Several people ask me why I’m showing with my shirt untucked and are embarrassed when I tell them. Although I’m flattered on one hand that they can’t tell I’m pregnant, I’m at the same time a little embarrassed that they think I’ve just gotten fat! I am very happy that my chaps fit, and borrow a stretchy jacket of Katy Jo’s for one class and am able to squeeze into my favorite leather jacket for another. My horse was very good in my first class but with 23 of us showing at once it’s a little bit of a zoo and the placings are kind of all over the place. We receive a third, seventh, ninth and gate and end up seventh overall. I get tons of compliments after the class though so my worries about showing this far along in the pregnancy seem unwarranted.
I am excited to finally see the grandson of Scotch Margarita, my mare that I showed for many years. The colt is out of her first daughter that we raised and I’ve heard lots about him but have never seen him before. He’s gorgeous and definitely lives up to the hype. A friend of mine, Crosby Boyd, owns him which makes it even more fun. Crosby and Jose win the Amateur Pleasure under both judges as well as the Limited Non Pro Three Year Old.
A couple of days later we have the Non Pro Maturity and Squirt gives me one of the best rides of my life. It is one of those rides that you always dream about having and I couldn’t have asked for more from him. Once again we were pretty packed in the pen and there was lots of traffic but we managed to win under one judge and end up eighth overall in some pretty deep competition. Although I am a little disappointed with the results after such an awesome ride, so many people come up to tell us how great he was that I am glad we made the trip. I feed Squirt even more carrots than normal.
July 1-4, Summerama, Ontario, Canada
After a couple of days at the beach celebrating our wedding anniversary, my husband and I head across the Canadian border to Ontario. The weather has cooled off significantly and we are enjoying the break from the southern heat.
At six months along, I am still wearing regular clothes but am very grateful when Katy Jo lends me jeans she wore when she was pregnant. I am so happy to be able to breathe in halter! Squirt is slowly but surely getting the hang of it and even puts his ears up the last day when I smuggle carrots in my pocket. We pick up a few more points in the Open and Amateur Performance Geldings, Dwayne and Squirt win the circuit award in Junior, we finish qualifying in Amateur, and tie to win the NSBA Non Pro Futurity with Mary-Paul Roger who is a friend from the barn.
I’m slowly coming to grips with my new limitations as being able to feel the baby move around and kick has made it all the more real. Everyone in the barn is awesome and I am very grateful that they polish Squirt’s feet for me as I can no longer bend down to reach them very easily. While I am riding one night at the Powers, a horse spooked at the applause from the show pen and got loose. Like everyone else, I automatically hopped off and tried to help corral it. Only after quite some time of the horse running around do I start to wonder if maybe I shouldn’t be as fearless as I once was. Old habits die hard though, as the following week at Summerama I found myself a few feet in front of another loose horse and I did the same thing again. Katy Jo was on a very green hunt seat horse in the make up pen and she went for quite a ride. After a very valiant effort on her part to hang on, he sent her flying. This time the horse was a lot easier to catch, even though we were all laughing (once we learned that she was okay, of course). This will probably be the last time I show before the baby comes and we are sad to pack up and leave Squirt and our horse show friends. We head out so that we can stop in Michigan to watch fireworks before heading the rest of the back to Oklahoma. Needless to say, the days 20-hour drives straight through are probably over!
A few weeks later, I am faced with a tough decision, but know that I need to focus on the baby and being a mom for awhile, so Squirt will be moving on to the Select events with his new owner, Terri Shoemaker. Ironically, Terri gave up showing to raise her own children and is now ready to return to the show ring. I know that she will take great care of him and the fact that he will be staying in the barn makes it even better. Best of luck Terri!
