We are very happy that Select Amateur, Kirsten Farris, will be reporting for GoHorseShow.com again from the Select Amateur World Show in Amarillo, Texas. Kirsten Farris is a regular contributor to GoHorseShow.com and a Certified Sport Consultant and creator of Quarter Horse Show Entries. Kirsten will be competing in Amarillo in Hunter Under Saddle with her horse, Lyles Al Lie who is by Allocate Your Assets and under the guidance of Deanna and Jim Searles. Farris and her horse are trying for a three-peat this year in the hunter under saddle. Check out her reports!
Friday/Saturday August 30/31st, 2014–Select World Show Wrap Up
Back in the day when we all started doing reports from the major shows, it was one of the ways to find out the results of each class since it took awhile to get information from the Mother Ship out to the people at home. Now with Facebook, Twitter and live feed, knowing who placed where isn’t really difficult information to find. I said all that to say that when I do my report, I try to give you a glimpse of the of the show from a different perspective, and in this case, it will be mine, since that is one perspective that I know and can explain, not because I think this should be all about me.
If I had to sum up how this show felt to me, I would say it would be to Expect the Unexpected. I prepared for this show like I had in years past, and then a week before the show, I came down with a weird funky head cold, and had to reduce my practice schedule to make sure I felt the best I could before my class. Then, right before the finals, I started to feel really dizzy and uncomfortable which was not in my pre-competition plan that I carefully lay out each time I show. Deanna gave me some good last minute advice, which was to stay away from the rail which is made of cement in case I passed out. I followed her instructions and rode my way to a Reserve World Championship in a very deep competitive class filled with multiple World Champions. To be honest, in that kind of company, you never know how the judges will see things, and one unexpected thing was that this trophy probably means more to me than any other.
The other unexpected thing is how emotional I get at this show. It is one thing to be grateful, but it is a feeling like no other to be full of gratitude. Even as I write this, I can not begin to explain how much I care about our horse, Deanna and Jim, and my family- my relatives and my barn family. I am an incredibly lucky person to be able to do something that I love so much and be successful at it. I only show five times a year, and do so on a budget, so if you think it just takes a lot of money and an expensive horse to do well at a major show, then use me as your counter example.
It was fun to be in the line-up next to Kim Wright on Blended Choclate who took home the Bronze Trophy. She is one of the funniest people to show with, and said her ride was bittersweet as this was her last ride on Ben. Now she has ‘retired’ before, so let’s just say it was her last show with him, until the next time. I will miss her laughter in and out of the arena. I would also like to congratulate Laurel Champlin on winning the gold trophy in the hunter under saddle class with Look N Hott.
A lot of people wonder what it is like to be standing in the arena waiting to find out who is the World Champion. The best way I can describe it is when it is down to two people, for a brief moment, you could be the next World Champion, and it’s cool to take it all in, no matter what the outcome is. I have been showing at the Select World Show for four years, and have won two Reserves and two Championships, and quite frankly, each one means so much to me for different reasons, and the unexpected thing is it doesn’t really matter because I know what went into each performance, and there is no trophy in the world that can represent that sense of pride.
It wasn’t exactly unexpected, but huge Congratulations to Linda Coakley for taking home the All Around Title for the second year in a row! It couldn’t happen to a nicer person, and I think by now she has her Magic Tie in a vault someplace because there is some serious mojo in that silk cloth. All kidding aside, she is dedicated to the sport and is a great showman, and deserves all the success that she had earned.
Today was the last day of the show, and it is tough to show on the last day because people are loading up, and sometimes it is actually distracting, especially when you have to show in a precise class like Western Riding. Huge congrats go out to Alan Dick and Keebler for the win, and to Susie Johns and Kathy Tobin for rounding out the top three.
For most of us, the ending of something is not always the most pleasant, but with proper closure, new beginnings are right around the corner. So whether you competed at this year’s show, a weekend circuit, or finished a riding lesson, take time to take in the good and really acknowledge what you accomplished. Tomorrow is a new day, and think about how much more you can accomplish because of the experience and knowledge that you have now.
Thursday, August 27, 2014–Kirsten Farris’ Report #5
The show is officially underway, with a full slate of
classes on Thursday- Trail, Showmanship, Halter, Heading, Healing, Hunter Under Saddle,
Hunt Seat Equitation and Hunter Hack.
At least there is time for bands to be replaced with braids for the true
all around competitors, but I always wonder why they don’t run all of the
cattle classes together, and then move on to the non-cattle classes? Just sayin’.
The trail finals pattern tested the finalists with dolphins
and water boxes. If you looked
down at the north end of the arena, you weren’t sure if you were in Amarillo or
Sea World. Congrats to my barn
mates Kathy Tobin and Bonnie Elber for being finalists and 8th in a large and
deep class and to Susie Johns and her her talented trail horse, I Gotta Good Name for putting the
first Trophy on our table with a Reserve Championship, with the 2014 Trail
World Champion title going to Joanne Garnett. Joanne was the first one in the pen and the last one to leave,
so if you thought that going first was the kiss of death in a pattern class,
think again.
The showmanship finals were exciting, with a tight race
between Anne Wilson and Linda Coakley, and after the results were tabulated, Anne
Wilson came out on top for the fifth year in a row. It was a
nice moment seeing them genuinely happy for each other.
In case anybody is interested in this kind of thing, I
thought I would give you a peek into how this World Champion prepares to defend
their title again. First thing’s first, make it past the Preliminaries which are Thursday tonight.
6:45- Wake up-
usual ‘morning’ prep.
7:00- Design a
new ad for the September issue of GoMag.
Hey, if I’ve got time, make sure you get yours done by Friday.
8:00- Time to
carb up with a waffle in the shape of the great State of Texas (see above).
9:00- Take some
time to chill at the hotel. Relax,
stretch, rub Ben Gay over 99% of body.
Shower, put makeup on and make sure show clothes are clean and pressed
for the 50th time. One can never be too careful.
12:00- Arrive
at show grounds. Do a quick warm
up ride.
12:45- Put horse away.
1:00- Eat some
lunch, drink some water. Need to
stay hydrated and keep blood sugar even.
1:05 – Check on
horse. Looks good and happy.
1:07- Check on
horse again. Still looking good.
1:09- Check
horse again. All is well.
1:10 – Trainer
says stop bothering horse. Let him
rest. Go watch Showmanship.
2:30- Sit in
barn aisle, waiting for hunter under saddle class that is going to be delayed by an hour and a
half. Kind of like being in an
airport.
3:00- Begin writing Daily Update for GoHorseShow.
4:00- More
waiting, and waiting, and waiting
8:30- Time to Show-
Yay! Made the first cut
9:00- Semi Finals in the pen. Yay!! Made the finals.
Basically that’s about it. Nothing fancy, no wild crazy preparation methods. Just basic energy and state management.
It’s time to trust the fact that
you’ve done everything in your power to have a great ride, you just have to get
out of the way and let it unfold.
Wednesday, August 26, 2014–Kirsten Farris’ Report #4
Time is a funny thing. When I first arrived, it seemed like
I had all the time in the world until I show, and then all of a sudden I have a
lot of deliverables on my action item list. But that didn’t stop me from taking a breather and watching
the very competitive Horsemanship Preliminaries today. The name of the game today was scope –
the ability to lengthen and shorten stride and tempo within the same gait, and
when done correctly, the exhibitors created a nice fluid picture for the
judges. Twenty-one riders made it to the
rail work, and when it was all said and done, 15 very capable horse and rider
teams were announced as finalists.
If you are interested in watching a nice, deep horsemanship class, tune
into the finals on Friday! If you
are a Western All Around Competitor, then you better eat your Wheaties, because
it’s going to get busy! Trail and Showmanship Finals are tomorrow,
Horsemanship Finals are on Friday, along with the Prelims of Western Riding,
and the time will seem to fly by, so remember to take a deep breath and smell
the roses along the way.
One of the things I’ve learned is that each day, is that
Alex Ross – AQHA Director of Judges – sits down with the judges and gives them a
rundown on what they are supposed to be looking for in each of the classes. I think this helps ensure that new
rules are being followed and enforced, and that the judging stays
consistent. It just goes to show
that there is a lot more going on behind the scenes than many of us realize,
and the amount of coordination that it takes to put on an event like this is
enormous.
The other thing that is different this year, is the
weather. It is usually unbearably
hot, but this year, the temperatures seems to be more mild, and there has been
a lot of rain. It’s a good thing
that they covered the outside warm up pen, because a few years ago, this would
have been a very different situation.
I wish the best of luck to everyone tomorrow – go out and
have the ride of your life!
Tuesday, August 26, 2014–Kirsten Farris’ Report #3
One of the things that I love so much about the Select World Show is the overall ‘vibe’ of the show. We may be competitors inside the arena, but we are comrades once we leave the pen. Even in the schooling areas, people are nice and polite, and sometimes it sounds like we are at a conference for codependent people.
Rider 1: I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off.
Rider 2: No, I was just going to say the same thing to you. It was my fault. Really. I am sorry.
Rider 1: Well, let’s just agree that now we are talking to each other; I wanted to tell you how much I love your horse!
Rider 2: OMG! I was just thinking how much I love your horse….
And on it goes…
But seriously, we are all in it because we love competing, but we are wise enough (I didn’t say old enough) to understand that life is too short to not enjoy the ride.
The other thing I love about this show is the chance to reconnect with people that I only see once a year. I had the opportunity to sit with Linda Coakley, who was last year’s All Around Winner and see what she has been up to since her win last year.
As a person defending the All Around Title, you might imagine there would be a lot of pressure to repeat the performance. However, like the true champion that Linda is, she stressed that she is no different from any other person showing here. “We are all in the same boat, and all of us want to do better than we did last year.” She isn’t focused on winning the big prize, but is taking each class one step at a time. “You need to ride a good pattern, with the goal of making the finals. Then, you take it from there. You never know who you are showing against; how they will do and what the judges will think. All you can do is to do the best you can, and that is all you can do.”
From a sport consultant point of view, that is the mindset that you need to have, and she is very congruent about that. The other thing she does have going for her, is her ‘Magic Tie’ that she has been wearing in showmanship. She got the tie three years ago from Mike Weaver when she had a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ at the Silver Dollar Circuit. Mike had an extra tie that seemed to do in a pinch, and she has been wearing it ever since.
She also likes to give back to the sport. One of the prizes that she won last year was $1000.00 worth of Farnam products, and she donated the majority of that to Washington Quarter Horse Association to be used in their fundraising efforts.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, that her strategy is paying off. In her first class today, she stuck to her plan by doing the best she could do… and made the finals in Showmanship.
Halter classes were underway today, and there were four new horses that earned the title of Adequan Select World Champion and one in particular stands out. Vern Habighorst and RPL My Te Cheerful, not only won the overall title, but the Super Select Title as well. I mention this because there is a proposal to change the Select Age from 50 to 62, and in some cases, age doesn’t play a factor. But more on this topic in a later post…bye for now!
Monday, August 25, 2014–Kirsten Farris’ Report #2
The Preliminaries for Trail, Reining and Ranch Horse Pleasure took center stage, and one advantage of still being a bit under the weather is the ability to still stay connected to the show by watching some of it online. I must say that I am really impressed with the quality of the live stream by iEquine. It is the first time I have been able to actually see what a horse is doing on course. At 7:30 am, the Trail Prelims started, and after 99 trips (84 + 15 in the shootout) the judges narrowed the field to the final 21 exhibitors. The trail course flowed nicely, but the water box placement turned out to be a bit tricky for some. Best of luck to the finalists on Thursday.
I attended the Showmanship Ride the Pattern–which in this case should be called Run the Pattern–to learn some of the tips for tomorrows contestants in Showmanship. I am going to sound like a broken record, but Geez–the precision that pattern classes require send my “Big Picture” Brain into orbit. Robin Frid did a great job explaining what the judges will be looking for, and then also showing us how he is coaching his students to execute the pattern. Here are some nuggets that I got from the demonstration.
It might behoove you to take a few minutes and actually look at the class description in the rulebook. Just in case you don’t have yours handy, or your online rulebook downloaded, this is what showmanship is all about:
SHW370. SHOWMANSHIP AT HALTER. Available only in the amateur and youth divisions, showmanship is designed to evaluate the exhibitor’s ability to execute, in concert with a well groomed and conditioned horse, a set of maneuvers prescribed by the judge with precision and smoothness while exhibiting poise and confidence, and maintaining a balanced, functional and fundamentally correct body position.
Robin stressed that the words that jumped out at him are–Precision, Smooth, Balance and Body Position. It doesn’t say that you need to back your horse up at the speed of light. What you want to do is create the picture that you want to show to the judge in the best way you and your horse can execute it.
Some more technical points that pertain to any showmanship pattern are:
- When you start your pattern, you MUST BE STRAIGHT!
- When setting up, you are being judged on how to show a halter horse, and halter horses are set up squarely, so make sure your set up is square and accurate.
- If things go wrong on the back up, it is usually at the first step, so make sure to make corrections if your back up doesn’t go according to plan.
The part I enjoyed the most was seeing Robin’s wife, Jenny, doing the demonstration. She went through the pattern with elegance and grace, leaving people with a good role model to follow tomorrow. Based on the way the pattern is drawn, I think there will be a lot of chances for people to really shine, and that is what it is all about.
Sunday, August 24, 2014–Kirsten Farris’ Report Day 1
It’s nice to be in Amarillo! This is my fourth year here, and it seems as though the city of Amarillo has been educated about the Select World Show. Our flight attendant mentioned the show during his “pre-flight” briefing, and there is even an Adequan Select World Show billboard on the way from the airport towards the fairgrounds, and I felt like Amarillo rolled out the red carpet for the World Show competitors.
Not to make this all about me, but I seem to have come down with a pesky head cold, and will be laying low for the next day or so, but that didn’t stop me from getting to the show grounds in time for the Ride the Rail, Ride the Pattern Demo given by AQHA Professional Horseman Karen Graham. As a one trick pony who only shows in Hunter Under Saddle, I think Trail is the most complicated class on the planet, and after hearing Karen explain the course, now I know why! There were loads of tips given on how to execute this course, such as:
- Focus on each obstacle
- When executing the jog and lope overs, rhythm is the key
- You don’t need to stay in the same color of the poles during an obstacle
- If you are swapping your rein hand to go though the gate, make sure not to have two hands on the reins, just change hands
- Judges have to watch 85 horses. so if you can make an obstacle different, that’s a good thing.
- Don’t come through the gate (which is the 8th obstacle) and think about how great your ride was. You can take a deep breath, but don’t quit riding until you walk over the very last pole.
The main takeaway from Karen was to, “Keep your eyes forward, stick to your plan, don’t panic and make it work.” No matter what class you show in, that is something worth remembering.
Best of luck to everyone tomorrow, and the rest of the week as well. I am really looking forward to catching up with old friends and making some new ones over the coming week.
