July 7 , 2007 - Santa Cruz County Horsemans Association Horse Show - Graham Hill Showgrounds, Santa Cruz, CA
Reining I class - First Place!
Photography - Jessica Aced
 Ruby was a little unsure about this reining pattern. I was directing her forward for a rundown, but she thought we should go left or right. |
 We didn't exactly tear up the track on our rundown. Ruby seemed to relax and was content to show off her Western Pleasure jog despite my urging to git! |
 At the other end of the arena, we stopped and did a rollback to the left ... |
 The next manuever was a rundown to the near side of the arena, then stop and rollback to the right. This is NOT a good stop. |
 The pattern called for us to canter to just past the center of the arena and do a sliding stop. Don't think we got any skid marks on this one. |
 Ruby got a pretty nice, straight, 10-foot back-up. |
 Next were four spins to the right. I'm pulling too hard across her neck, but she spun pretty well. |
 And then four spins to the left. I remembered not to look down at the ground when we're spinning. The last spin was the best. |
 She planted her left hind foot for the last spin circle. |
 Left lead circles were next in the pattern. |
 Big fast circle |
|
 Then another big fast circle. |
 Left-to-right lead change was executed quickly with little hesitation. |
 Big fast circle. My horse is having some trouble staying focused on the job and is looking for something to spook at |
 Slow small circle |
 Big fast circle |
 Right-to-left lead change was so smooth I couldn't tell she did it - but she did blast off at that moment. This photo shows I'm trying to re-gain control and collection. |
 I decide to let her fly. We have only one more manuever to execute, and we're going to need some speed. |
 Here's our best sliding stop. |
 First place--what a surprise! There were six or seven riders in our class, so that's not too bad. |
 |
