Annie's Show Survival Guide- Day 2

  Hello all!
  Today is the second installment of 'Annie's Horse Show Survival Guide', and today I will share my average horse show day routine.
   2:00am - "Is my tack clean enough? I wonder is Littles has rolled yet? Maybe I should get up already and check?"

   3:00am - "I hope I don't forget the course. That would be terrible. I wish Littles was a robot and I could program her to remember. Robo pony entering the ring. Oh it's 3am. Maybe I should go eat?"

  4:00am - "Thank God for toaster waffles. Why am I so tired? I wonder what Littles is doing right now. Horse show in 5 hours, I'm so ready. You've got this Annie you've got this."

  5:00am -"I've cleaned my tack 7 times. Are my boots shiny enough? Where is the baby powder? Littles is not stepping into that ring if her socks aren't white enough to blind the competition."

  6:00am -"Ok how many pairs of sweatpants will fit over my breeches? Damn, I look good. And now, Annie Maulucci entering the ring on Cllynncopa Dallas looking fabulous! How many hairnets should I bring? The limit does not exist!"

  7:00am -"She slept in her pee. Why do bad things happen to good people? This is it, life is over. Luckily, she has enough showsheen on her body that any dirt just slides right off! You know you're doing it right when theres a 1/2 inch thick layer of showsheen on your pony."

  8:00am -"Okay, on the way to the show. I've totally got this, I've totally got this. The closer we get the faster my heart pounds. Here we are, Littles are you nervous too? That chick just totally checked out my pony. "

  9:00am - "Is my hair okay? Okay, let me tell you the course one more time. Start with the blue fire jump, inside turn to the double lawn dart, quarter line canoe. I've got this. Wait, what's the jump off? "

 9:30am - "Warm up rings make me rethink my life. I just need to jump the vertical once. Please don't kill me. This is a safety hazard."

 10:00am -"Wow, they just totally butchered my name. Focus! Alright, where's the first jump? Littles, get off the bit. Whee! Soaring, flying, there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach! Okay stop High School Musical-ing. Did we just hit that pole? Don't look back, don't look back. Damn it I looked back. And clear round! Now the jump off, where I may or may not forget the course and everything I've ever learned."

 11:00am- "Our division is over, and I'm experiencing severe post-show depression. I will now relive this day through by at all the pictures several million times."

 12:00am -"I have the best pony in the world ❤ You can have all the carrots in the world"

 Thank you all for reading, and don't forget to hug your horses!
Horse show sensei master Annie and Little

Annie's Show Survival Guide- Day 1

   The giant whiz of showsheened brown fur flies in front of me. Huge, shiny, braided to perfection, surrounding me. Greys, and bays, and the odd paint fill the musty space. The angry trainers stalk the small arena with vengeance, waiting to make their first kill. Your horse's once cleanly scrubbed and glistening white socks are painted with the blood and tears of those before you.

  Hello my friends, and welcome to show season.

  We've trained all winter to face this challenge, and now all of the work will eaither pay off, or, well, we'd rather not talk about those that fail. Don't show fear, they can smell it.

   Over the next three days, I, Annie Maulucci, will tell you what it takes to survive the first show of the season. When everyone is ready to win and out for blood, only the best will make it through.

  And may the odds be ever in your favour.

  Some people make survival kits to survive the wilderness or the apocalypse, but I am preparing for something much, much scarier. Today, I will show you what I keep in my horse showing survival kit.

 You need a bag that is small and unassuming, they can't know that you're actually carrying the greatest arsenal to combat failure in HJ history.

 
 Now onto what you need inside of it. First thing is some pain medication. I choose Aleve because it is strong enough to remove feeling from the lower half of my body's joints. The less you feel your ankles the further down your heels will be.

  Next is hair nets. You don't want to accept your champion ribbon without picture perfect hair do you? 

  And of course, you'll need hair ties to keep your silky locks out of your face. No hiding the fear behind your hair! 

  If you're a jumper, you'll need safety pins. You're such a legend you stick pointy things into your saddle pad to ward off you're competition!

   Always bring horse shavers, just in case you missed a whisker. Don't be that one kid who rides in with your horse looking like santa claus' evil cousin.

   And last, but certainly not least, you'll need your checklist to ensure everything will run absoloutely as planned. 

 I hope you enjoyed my overimagitiveness (Is that even a word?) In all seriousness, horse showing is only as stressful as you make it. Just smile and be grateful and don't forget to have fun! With Littles' and I's first show of the season, I thought I would start a little 3 day series of blog posts leading up to it. Anyways, thank you all for reading and don't forget to hug your horses! 

 Annie and Sassy queen pony

SUPER EXCITING UPDATE TIME

    Hey all!
 It's been a while since I've written here, and I have some very exciting news to share.
Drumroll please......
WE BOUGHT LITTLES!!!

  The sassy pony mare is officially ours, and right in time for show season! After this long, cold, terrible winter, I'm happy to say something incredible has come out of it.

  While everyone was off to play in sunny Florida, the pony and I have been training our freezing bums off to prepare for our debut trillium show. March 22, at RCRA, less than a week away! Of course Littles had to scare us by injuring herself on Thursday, but I'm happy to say it was nothing serious and she will be perfect and ready to go for Sunday.
   
   I really don't have too much more news for today, due to a very cold and uneventful winter. I will be sure to blog this week, maybe about our show prep? Thank you all for reading and don't forget to hug your horses!
  Annie and Littles

 Littles and I schooling at RCRA 

3ft oxer with the best pony