This week, Holt Pope of Ocala, Florida, will take you behind the scenes at the World Show from the perspective of a horse trainer’s wife, as well as an owner.
Holt will keep you up-to-date with what it takes to get her horse prepared to show at the world’s most prestigious show in one of the marquee classes; the 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure at the AQHA World Championship Show. We bring you Holt’s World Show Blog.
DAY 7
Wednesday, November 19: The Finals
As my final day at the 2008 AQHA World Show arrives, I start the day off with a tall, and may I say stout, cup of coffee from the Sweet Shop. Although we only have two horses here, the “hurry up and wait” factor always seems to come into play, making every day long and tiresome. Molly shows today in the finals of the Two-Year-Old Western Pleasure so I try to get everything on track with getting her prepped the right way.
She was great in the prelims so we decided to give her the night off and not ride her again early in the show arena. She’s been through that routine the last 3 mornings straight so we wanted her to be rested up good for the finals. I feel very lucky that we don’t have to ride her several times just to get her prepared for the show pen. She’s been a very easy horse to prepare, thankfully!
Shane saddles her up about 3 hours before the time that the show officials think the class will go. He takes her to the new arena in barn 8 which is really a nice addition to the show facility. He again works on the little details. He also works on jogging tight circles for when they ask for that maneuver (reverse at the jog) in the class. Molly was good, so we take her back and I give her a good bath. I fix some bands as a few have been “altered” by Molly rubbing her mane during the night. I fluff her tail extension as well as her real tail, and put the last minute touch ups on her.
[NPI]/Media/15/jpg/2008/11/HoltPrelims1.jpg[/NPI]
So this is it. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for the entire show. Molly enters the pen at an extended jog and looks great. When she jogs in that pen, my job is done. No matter how many hairs are out of place, no matter how much or in Molly’s case how little face grease she has, no matter what, my job is done.
I take a seat on the front row. As soon as the class begins I can just tell Molly knows what class this is. With every gait called she was right there. Shane never had to touch her, he never had to fix her, and low and behold, she stayed in gear the entire time! She had a great class and a great backup! They call the placings out and…Molly made Top Ten!
Ninth place at the 2008 AQHA World Championship Show! The quality of horses in there was amazing! Huge congrats to everybody, but especially to Mitch Leckey riding No Doubt Im Lazy! What a tough, tough group of horses! I knew this class would be the 2-year-old event of the year. It always is. The best of the best come for this class. Whether they competed in the Reichert 2-Year-Old Equine Sports Medicine Challenge, the Congress GMC Snaffle Bit, or the Masters 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure, or have competed all year long, they ALL got to show here.
As my journey here at the 2008 AQHA World Championship Show comes to an end, I begin to get sad because I know Molly and I only have one more show together. After the Just For Pleasure futurity in December, A Certain Illusion’s reins will be handed over to Amanda Babb from Little River, SC! It will be a sad transition for me, however I will still get to see her everyday as she will still be under the guidance of Shane. I will still get to play Molly’s cheerleader as Amanda will show her in the Amateur Western Pleasure at the Gold Coast and the 3 Year Old Limited Non Pro Western Pleasure events at the 2009 futurities.
I hope everyone has enjoyed my perspective of the World Show. It was an adventuresome week filled with lost keys, buying yearlings, creating marketing campaigns for customers and above all placing in the Top-Ten at the World Championship Show! Preparing for this event can be tricky, but with enough support from friends, family, and of course clients, it all makes the ride a pleasure!
So what next for me? I think a little trade show shopping is on the agenda for tomorrow before we pack up to head back to sunny Florida. Hope everyone has a safe trip home from here. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you on the road at a show near you! So if you see me around, come introduce yourself. I love meeting new people!
DAY 6
Tuesday, November 18: The Prelims
Today is the day that the best of the best gather in an arena here in Oklahoma City to compete for a World Championship. But before any trophies are given away and any pictures are taken, you have to make your split! In order to prepare Molly for her World Show debut, I get out there earlier than previous mornings. They say the two-year-olds will show later in the afternoon, but Shane also had a Senior Western Pleasure horse as well.
Both horses are banded and clipped first thing this morning. Shane rode Molly pretty early this morning in the show arena and says she was really good. That was about 5 o’clock this morning, though and at around 10 a.m. Shane decides to take her out for another spin. He again works on the little details that will help make his ride consistent. Things such as her topline, her transitions, and her overall cadence. These little things go a long way in a pen full of unbelievably talented horses.
She finishes up great and I decide to go lunge the yearlings. Both were good, it’s always fun to watch yearlings go around. You never truly know the future that may lay ahead of them, but for now they are fun to watch!
After getting the yearlings put away I visit with some of Shane’s customers, Glenda and Amanda Babb from South Carolina at our stalls. I go ahead and get Shane’s Senior horse cleaned up and Shane takes him to show. He had a great go in the Senior, but with a pen full of horses that almost any one of them could be the next world champion, he didn’t make the finals. So I head back to go ahead and start getting Molly prepped for her big debut. I begin my regime by washing her tail extension and fluffing it out with a hair dryer.
Once that is done I go put Molly on the end of a lunge line to see what kind of energy level we are working with. She decided that she would be very civil today and didn’t want to go anywhere. So I chased and chased, but finally I gave up after 15 min. I take her back and get to give her a good bath. She’s been dirty all week, but now I’ve got to make her squeaky clean and with the heated water it’s not a very painful process. I was worried about giving her a bath today because it is freezing here! The wind whips through the center row of the barns like a tunnel and leaves a bone chilling coldness in your body. I guess it’s just because my thin Florida skin doesn’t do cold weather but my hat’s off to those brave souls that live up north during the winter. I have a lot of respect for people that can survive in that kind of cold weather.
Molly gets the spit shine service and gets saddled up. We throw on our new show saddle and a white pad. Shane gets geared up in his black chaps and standard white shirt and throws us all for a loop when he opts for a TAN tie! What has this world come to? He takes her to warm up for the second split and I take my seat in the front row.
[NPI]/Media/15/jpg/2008/11/HoltJumbotron.jpg[/NPI]
Each horse shows at an extended jog down the center of the pen. While this is happening each contestant is then announced and shown on the big screen. It’s very convenient for them to have all the information of each contestant listed on a jumbo-tron located in the center of the arena ceiling. Also, they video the class on that side of the arena and so even though you can’t physically see the profile of the horses showing on your side of the arena, it is broadcast on the jumbo-tron so you can still see them. Molly finds a spot on the rail and the class begins. Molly showed really good for that split and as I kept my fingers crossed…they called her number back for the semi-finals!
So I rush back to make sure Shane doesn’t need any last minute adjustments. I fly spray her and then a quick brush up and I’m back in the stands. She jogs in for the semi-finals and she looked great! She had another really solid go and a good backup. We wait to hear the callback numbers in numerical order starting lowest to highest and with her number being so high (1647), we hold our breath. Finally…they call her number out for the finals!
With all the excitement from today, I’m pretty worn out! Wednesday will be the peak of our year here at the 2008 AQHA World Show. We have the finals for both the Junior Western Pleasure as well as the 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure. It will be an exciting day of showing but will also wrap it up for us. That will be the start of packing up, which I am already dreading!
Keep your fingers crossed again as Molly trots in that pen for the last time this year. Whatever the outcome is, Molly has proven herself to me. She gives 110% effort every time but she gives 200% of her heart when she is in those lights and on that rail. That’s all I could ask for!
DAY 5
Monday, November 17: Lost and Found!
[NPI]/Media/15/jpg/2008/11/HoltKeys1.jpg[/NPI]
Just when I think all hope is lost (or keys in this case), someone turned in the keys to my husband’s beloved truck! That’s me pictured sitting on the tailgate holding on to the keys for dear life. Thank God I don’t have to hear about it again or call to get more keys made! That in itself started my day off with a bang! After locating the keys, I start in on the tasks of the day.
First is to make sure the stalls have been picked and Molly gets curried like there’s not tomorrow. Except tomorrow will come and Molly needs to be slick as an onion! (I know, I didn’t realize onions were slick either!) Her hair is starting to shed out a little more which is always a good thing. Shane has already ridden her once this morning at about 4 am in the show arena. Before he rides her again I decide to check on our two yearlings and relocate them to some closer stalls instead of keeping them all the way in what seemed like walking to Tulsa in the sale barn. They are still in the sale barn but are a lot closer now! I take both yearlings out and lunge them. I wanted to see what we were working with, if you know what I mean. Both were really good, so I put them up and head back to check on Molly.
When I get to the stalls I realize Molly is gone and head out to find Shane riding her in one of the new arenas down the street. Today is a crucial day. Molly will show tomorrow in the prelims of the 2-year-old western pleasure. Shane works on little details from here on out.
Here are three key elements that he will work on:
1) Jogging a straight line while at an extended jog.
2) Forward Motion at all three gaits- all while keeping everything consistent
3) A good solid, yet soft backup
Working on these key elements will help ensure that in her class tomorrow there won’t be any surprises. Shane’s biggest thing is consistency. He likes to make sure that these horses are ready for anything that the judges call for at any point in the class.
After working with Molly we head to grab-a-slab of Scott Kennedy’s famous ribs over at Ronnie and Hannah Casper’s stalls. They were unbelievable and there is no easy way of eating ribs without it getting all over you so, I all but had to take a shower after eating them!
We then head to get Shane’s ride for the Junior Western Pleasure ready to show as that class was coming up shortly in the schedule. We get her all cleaned up and ready to go and Shane was the first one in the pen. All went well and he made it back to the finals of the that class which will be held on wednesday. The Junior Western Pleasure was a really good group of horses. The finals for that class will be one you won’t want to miss, whether in person or by live feed.
Tomorrow will be another early morning with Shane showing RL Easy Sudden in the senior western pleasure for owner Amanda Babb, followed by Molly in the 2 year old western pleasure. With that being the last class of the day, it is sure to be a long and drawn out day. I’ll keep you posted tomorrow how it all unfolds. Keep your fingers crossed that Molly makes it back to the finals. She’ll be the cute little blonde jogging in!
DAY 4
Sunday, November 16: Hitchin’ A Ride
Today was just one of those days that starts off bad and ends up bad!
I decided not to get up with Shane at 6:00 AM and would instead take the hotel shuttle to the show grounds a little later. As I waited in the lobby for the shuttle, I ran into a friend and got to chatting. Well, low and behold, the shuttle up and left both of us! So, luckily I caught a ride with Kate Blair and Nicole Barnes. I’d still be sitting on that bench in front of the hotel if it weren’t for them…thanks girls!
[NPI]/Media/42/jpg/2008/11/HoltSaleHorse.jpg[/NPI]
I arrive at the show grounds just in time to run over to the sale to catch a couple horses being demonstrated. The sale was full of great prospects this year and I’m not sure if it is a good thing or bad thing, but we are coming home with two. Two new additions to Shane Pope Quarter Horses means two new horses that I have to take care of this week until we go home. Being that they are both sweet fillies, we should get along just fine! I thought the sale was overall good; some low numbers but overall the numbers looked good. I think Professional Auctions Services does a great job putting on a sale.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I head back to the stalls to get Molly ready for Shane to ride. Shane takes her out and works on keeping her framed up. Overall balance plays key role in the western pleasure so he works on her holding herself up. I go back and pick the stalls and then head back to check on the babies and I get a little side tracked on the way. Seeing how my business, Holt Advertising, revolves around marketing and promoting farms, exhibitors and horses, I usually field questions pertaining to that many times a day. Instead of being in an office environment every day, it helps that my customers are at the shows. Communication is usually a little easier face-to-face anyway.
We wrap up everything at the barn and decide to go grab a bite to eat down the street, so we start off for the truck. While in the process of locating the truck, I realize that my hair-brained self has lost the keys! Unable to locate them, we were thankful for our neighbors, the Sherman’s for giving us a ride to the hotel…thanks guys!
Shane has an early morning ahead of him as the show arena will be open for riding until 6 AM. He will try to get all of the horses in the arena and also has to prepare a horse that he will be catch-riding. He’ll be showing Invite Me Forever for The Porter Family in the Junior Western Pleasure. He gets the fun task of being the very first horse to jog down the center of the pen.
So, tomorrow will start the Junior Western Pleasure prelims. Following the Junior Western Pleasure prelims tomorrow, the Senior and Two-Year-Old Western Pleasure prelims will be Tuesday. Needless to say, tomorrow I will get to start the task of washing tails, banding, and cleaning silver. Oh the joys of the World Show!
DAY 3
Saturday, November 15: The Sweet Smell of Success
[NPI]/Media/42/jpg/2008/11/HoltSweetShop.jpg[/NPI]
As I step out of the truck this morning and trek across the parking lot to the barn, an overwhelmingly familiar smell hits me. The smell of cinnamon rolls in the morning (or anytime of day, for that matter) from the Sweet Shop just calls my name. But seeing as how eating a month’s worth of those at the Congress has caught up with me, I decide to skip breakfast all together. I keep reminding myself, “but you don’t need to fit into your chaps, you’re not showing!” But the next horse show, I WILL have to!
I throw that thought out of my head all together as a friend of mine greets me. This is my favorite time of the horse show; the first day you’re at a horse show when you get out to the show grounds. Although it has only been a couple weeks since the Congress, I feel like I hadn’t seen them in forever! Most people know that the Congress can make you a bit dazed from all the chaos! Needless to say, the first day usually involves catching up with people.
[NPI]/Media/25/jpg/2008/11/HoltAlley.jpg[/NPI]
After running into several friends, I remind myself of the task at hand. Getting “Molly” ready for this thing we call the “World Show!” Molly greets me as I get to the stall and after she’s been fed I take her out to let her run around on the lunge line. Most of the time Molly likes to pretend she’s still a yearling lunge liner and lunge civilized. Needless to say, usually I have to really chase her to go. Today, was NOT one of those days! A cold crisp wind was whipping through that covered pen and Molly decided to let all inhibitions go!
After a while running, I let her cool down by letting her jog for a while before calling it quits. I curry her real good to try and get that extra hair off of her and wrap her back up in her sheets and put her up.
Today the first set of the sale horses were going through the sale ring, but the majority of them were cowhorse and halter breed horses. So we watched several yearlings go around in the demonstrations that were going on. It is now time for Shane to start looking for prospects for not only clients but also for his wife! I usually don’t get too involved in this process, but it sure is fun to look! Pedigrees have always been a fascination to me. Lots of full sisters and full brothers to great horses. I always get a kick out of it when Shane says,” yeah, well my full sister is tall, skinny, and blonde!”
We pull ourselves away from the sale to grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria right there behind the sale arena. Since they did the renovation, that has been a great place to go actually enjoy a quick bite and be able to watch the show as it happens on the flat screen TV’s. AQHA has done a great job with keeping things up to speed with technology and using every facet of it to put on this show.
We make our way back to the stalls to saddle Molly up for her first trip around on the show grounds. She does really well and we put her up. No need to be real hard on her as she doesn’t show until Tuesday.
We wrapped up early tonight and decide to call it quits because it seems as though tomorrow will be a busy day with a couple hundred yearlings running through the sale. It’s pretty cool to think that “The Next Big Thing” might be running through that ring tomorrow, don’t want to miss it!
DAY 2
Friday, November 14: We’re here!
Day two of our journey started out much as the day before, climbing in the truck with my husband Shane, and heading west. We had decided to layover mid-way last night so we wouldn’t arrive at the show grounds in the middle of the night and chance not having shavings and such.
[NPI]/Media/42/jpg/2008/11/HoltBiscuit.jpg[/NPI]
Our two dogs, Harley, a female Jack Russell, and Biscuit, a male French Bulldog puppy (pictured here in the back seat of the truck) are about as “over” this trip as we are!
Pulling into the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds I immediately get that feeling that only the World Show can produce. The first recognizable building as you pull into the fairgrounds is the cylinder shaped building known as the Jim Norick Arena. This is the main show arena here at the world show and has seen its number of world champions already this week. The banners with pictures of the infamous gold trophies, line the streets as you enter the show grounds. Just another thing to remind you this is where the world’s greatest come to compete.
We pull the truck to the curb and jump out of the truck and prepare to unpack for the week ahead. With only two horses, this task doesn’t take long, and I can’t say enough about how happy that makes me!
[NPI]/Media/42/jpg/2008/11/HoltMollyLaysDown1.jpg[/NPI]
Shane and I get everything in its place in the tack room and the feed room. The horses are fed and get to settle in. Molly took a break to roll and instead of getting back up, decided to lay down and finish her hay (see the picture). She’s kind of lazy like that! I remind her that she better get some sleep, because tomorrow, the hard work begins!
I can honestly say that I am exhausted as we unhook the trailer and make our way to the hotel. I am glad our “road trip” has come to an an end and now we can begin to enjoy the world show!
DAY 1
Thursday, November 13: Ocala In The Rear-View Mirror
As the all too familiar week of packing the trailer, washing sheets and blankets, and picking up the dry cleaning comes to an end, I feel a bit relieved. With only two horses going to the show, this year’s AQHA World Show looks as if it will actually be enjoyable. As we load A Certain Illusion aka “Molly” into the trailer behind RL Easy Sudden aka “Ace,” we close the trailer doors and load up in the truck.
[NPI]/Media/42/jpg/2008/11/HoltTrailer.jpg[/NPI]
We’ve done this maneuver so many times over the past few years that it has become second nature to both my husband Shane and me. We climb in the truck, put it in drive, and crank the radio up. Almost like an anthem of some sorts, the first song usually seems to “fit the bill” for the week of competition that lies ahead. With Ocala in the rear-view mirror, we discuss our hopes for the World Show and all the in-betweens of our plans for getting these horses shown to the best of their ability.
“Molly” is my two year old, and I’m very excited to have Shane showing her in the 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure at the World Show. It’s kind of rare for a trainer to get the opportunity to show one for himself or for his wife, but it seemed to pan out in my favor this time! I can honestly say that “Molly” has been so much fun to show this year, that it has made me more and more eager to just jump in the truck and roll on!
With a thousand and some odd miles ahead of us and a blacktop that seems to have no end, we have plenty of time to get mentally prepared for the week ahead. Like Shane always says, “We’ve done all we can at home, now it’s just a matter of maintaining that level throughout the show.”
That’s it for today. This week I’ll keep you up-to-date with what it takes to get my horse prepared to show at the world’s most prestigious show. I will also keep you up to date with what it is like behind the scenes at the 2008 AQHA World Show from the perspective of a horse trainer’s wife, a proud owner, and an equine marketing agent.
