That was awesome!

[hops]

A HUGE well-done to all of you. I was there this morning as a spectator. The show was lots and lots of fun and it looked like everyone, horses and humans, was happy. I've heard awful things about shows taking forever, but this one was run like clockwork - SO efficient! Cowgirl Spirit was great and I hope SAFE made buckets and buckets of money.

[oneidea]

I TOTALLY agree!!!

The show was so well organized... a HUGE kudos to all the SAFE volunteers! It was amazing!!!

The venue was great... I overheard a lot of comments on how nice it was to have the show at Bridle Trails this year. And the weather cooperated too!!

Another huge kudos to the judging. It was fair, professional, expedient and I loved the positive manner in which comments and constructive critiques were delivered to each rider. I didn't hear one rider griping about the judging!!

I was sorry that we had to leave before all the Western and fun classes were finished... I heard there was a sit-a-buck showdown between Dr. Hannah and nhsavvy!!!

[jodycat]

I agree. I was there the second half of the day (and spent most of my time visiting in concessions - a big "well done" to rabbithounds who was in the concessions booth and at the show from about 7 a.m. to 5:00). Thank you, Amy! ;D

And as much as I wanted to win that sweet quilt (I hoped 9 tickets might pull it off), I did win my favorite photograph from Leah's book, called "Best Friends," which I will treasure forever. I just love it.

Hopefully the exposure of the SAFE horses at the show will bring some adopters, too.

[mymercedes]

What a wonderful show experience today! I was there from lunch on, and felt just as everyone else did, that the show went perfectly! I too thought the judge was absolutely wonderful. She was very personable and professional.

It was really nice for me to be able to put faces to names of those involved with SAFE. Everyone seemed very nice, and I felt proud to be a part of such a great group. I'm hoping over this next year I can become involved on a deeper level!

I look forward to next year! Bridle Trails was an amazing and quite perfect place for a show, but not having my own trailer, I will put my vote in for a more south end location, Debit and Mercedes are looking forward to getting in on the fun next year!

ps.....my mom won the beautiful horse quilt and was so excited she nearly burst into tears! It will be very cherished! Thank you for donating such a generous, beautiful item!

[emily]

I am going to count this as one of the best days ever!
It was wonderful to meet all of you and the horses.
I agree with the comments on the judge. She was simply wonderful. I have never seen such a positive and informative judge at a show like this. I am also glad she was not afraid to put her foot down and disqualify someone she thought was mistreating her horse.
I can't wait to be able to be more active with this group.
Thank you all so much!

[coconut]

I'm home, showered and have clean clothes on and can't get the smile off my face even though I'm totally exhausted! I swore I was going to take a nap but Les, Nicole and I have been talking about the show non-stop for like 45 minutes....

THEY had a wonderful experience and have mountains of good things to say about the show, it's organizers and the people who volunteered and supported the show by participating!

Yes, I'd say I had a good learning experience from it and I had a great time & even managed to smile when things didn't go as planned for me and took some very positive things to think about from the Judge. She made me feel totally comfortable, even when I messed up. THANK YOU for that. I can be hard on myself and I left happy that I'd pushed myself to do it, even though physically it was a challenge to try to do so much.

I nearly scratched the afternoon stuff but my nieces showed up & I couldn't let them come all that way and not see Auntie Jet in a show!! So I'm glad I did it

I do regret leaving early but my ride needed to go so we did too. My husband called me on the way home and told me the news about the High Point Novice win...I'm so sorry I missed that I would have been so happy to get it in person. We totally wouldn't have left if we knew but I honestly figured my day was over after the Bribe-a-horse....which was pretty fun, by the way!

That made the day even better... I was happy to go home with my ribbons ;D but to find out there was something beyond that was actually stunning...THANKS!!

I also met some really wonderful people and yes, it WAS great to put faces with names & Horses finally !!!

Oh...and THANK you to everyone who came up to me and asked if "this" was Coconut She's so special to me and it warms my heart to know she kind of has fans....

and for the record: The flea-bitten Arab having the meltdown in the parking lot was not Coconut. In fact I was with her when I thought I heard her name called but it must have been one of the other flea-bitten Arabs...who knew there'd be so many??? They're cute, I have to admit! I do hope who ever that was is OK, though.

Thanks to everyone who showed up!! It was wonderful to see so many supporters there & Cowgirl Spirit was amazing, weren't they?

[fatblackmare]

Thank you to all the wonderful people who put this on. My daughter and I both loved it so much. We can't wait for next year. I also agree - the judges were wonderful. It was great to get feedback and help. Next year I will make sure I really pay attention to the showmanship pattern!

All in all it was a great day. I was amazed at how nice the SAFE horses are. I will recommend them to anyone I know looking. I know I would have taken home the big TB mare if only I had room at the inn so to speak.

I just want to add - I LOVED the trail classes. Who knew my mare could back through an L? Three times even - once even carrying my little daughter. I was very proud of her and it was nice to hear from the judge that it was all about trust. If only she knew how much I trust my mare. I have not ridden in ages, and never more than as a back yard trail type. To be able to go to a show and feel so comfortable was great and a great testament to what a nice show this really is.

[cat67]

It was a great show and I'm so thrilled at how well the rescue horses did. Cedar and Little Miss were just amazing. I told Monica B. that Cedar could go in a regular show, and she could. She is beautiful all filled out and looks like someone's serious show hunter! Someone should be smart and adopt her and save themselves about five grand, because she's worth so much more than her adoption fee thanks to Monica's hard work with her.

I have never met Dr. Hannah before. All I can say is...SEAT OF GLUE. Haley was pretty much on springs the whole day (having a more normal First Show reaction than Cedar or LM, who were pretty much ho-hum, no problem about it) and I couldn't believe how well Hannah did riding her through it. Truly impressive.

It was super to see little Heidi again! She packed her tiny rider around like a superstar. She's come a long way from last year's show. I've decided the SAFE show is my show to ride barely-broke gray Arabians, LOL. This year it was Prince Caspian. Can't complain though, he was a superstar (it was only ride #5!).

Bridle Trails has a lovely arena, but I would vote for a location with stalls (or renting portable stalls) for next year. I do like stalls. Other than that, great venue!

[mymercedes]

I have to agree on how nice it was to go to a show and feel so comfortable. It was so nice to see a show that was not about the $5,000 saddle and the $500.00 outfits. It was about the love of the horse and second chances for those horses who were nearly forgotten. I spent many years showing, and quit about 10 years ago due to the politics and being unable to financially compete. This was soooo refreshing and I am grateful to have been able to witness it!

[trillium]

I think the show was a huge success. I had a great time selling tickets with Les. I think he did an awesome job and I loved his horsey shirt.

It was nice to meet all the new SAFE horses and see how great all the ones I met last year are doing. Hlolly is beautiful!

Kurt and I had a long day and I am sure Billy-Bob and Ralph wondered why the heck we woke them up at 4 in the morning and threw them into the back of the truck, but they traveled great. You should see the people who stopped and looked at them when we stopped for dinner. We had the back of the canopy open to keep an eye on them and they would "talk" to everyone who went by the truck.

Once again a big THANK YOU to everyone who worked so hard to make this show such a great success.

[cat67]

OMG how did I miss mentioning Holly?

I was blown away at how great she looked and how well she did. Mswan had her turned out like it was a breed show and she looked like she'd have fit right in at one. There was a tremendous amount of effort put in (in a short time!) and she was bathed, clipped, banded, spotless and knew how to pivot and set up.

And she is a beautiful filly. I hope Mswan has plans to take her to some more shows, because she'll really do SAFE proud!

[mswan]

I have to agree with all the commits so far! Holly, Mindy, John and I had so much fun.
Everyone did such a great job at putting on this very fun show.
Mindy has been showing horses since she was 10 so it was easy to get her to help me get Holly ready for the show. Holly was a STAR for a day. I think she loved every minute of it. Our goal was to make people realize that even quality horse can fall to neglect. Holly IS a quality horse!
Mindy said she would like to come up for next years show too! She lives in Arizona.
Thank You to all of you who made this a very fun day!!
I loved meeting all the SAFE people too!

[oneidea]

OMG on Holly #2!

We brought a few friends that don't usually show and were a little overwhelmed when they saw us "primping" our horses the day before the show. I pointed out Holly as an example of how to turnout a horse for Western classes... she was exemplary.

Cat, you looked great on Prince Caspian... I think Arabs are secretly "your breed" and you should give up the whole VLC thing. ;-)

I was sorry we didn't catch you to say goodbye before we left... we decided to take off around 2 pm. Double was tired (his entourage too!) and we decided to try to get back early. I was in bed by 8:30!! LOL!!

We really enjoyed the trails course too... THANK YOU!!!

[crownkorhelequest]

That was so incredibly fun, SAFE did the most amazing job, everyone was supportive of one another, and cheering for everyone else, and Cowgirl spirit was great! All the rescue horses looked great! It was so good seeing Haley! I think we all had a BLAST Thank you all sooooo much! I can't wait til next year!!!!!

[trillium]

Aug 24, 2008 12:42:08 GMT -5 oneidea said:

OMG on Holly #2!

We brought a few friends that don't usually show and were a little overwhelmed when they saw us "primping" our horses the day before the show. I pointed out Holly as an example of how to turnout a horse for Western classes... she was exemplary.

Cat, you looked great on Prince Caspian... I think Arabs are secretly "your breed" and you should give up the whole VLC thing. ;-)

I was sorry we didn't catch you to say goodbye before we left... we decided to take off around 2 pm. Double was tired (his entourage too!) and we decided to try to get back early. I was in bed by 8:30!! LOL!!

We really enjoyed the trails course too... THANK YOU!!!

;D
Gosh, I am so sorry I missed Cat riding Prince Caspian. He was sure a handsome guy. Of course I am partial to Arabians anyway. I think Cat loves them too, she needs to forget about the one who gave her a bad spill and give them another chance. LOL

I do not think she will give up on Cecil though.