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Show Number Two was closer to home, so we didn't have to haul her there, I could ride her over. Plus, it was in a ring she'd worked in many times. However, parts of it were decorated for Halloween, so there were still a few scarey things. Didn't faze her though.
Again, somehow Lisa caught us in a sunbeam, this time at a walk in the class. And again, Sarah performed her rather extended trot... Hap said she and Lisa had a hard time not guffawing as my face got beet red from the length of time the judges kept us all trotting (it was a larger class than our first one). We were really whizzing around in there! I did get her settled down towards the end of the class, but it was a crisp day and Sarah was rarin' to go. As before, she stood well, backed and was a lady in general, just a quick moving lady. 
We were beginning to get the hang of this show stuff. If we could ever slow her trot down, we'd be doing better. (At left, I'm still working on it.) And again, it had been fun, win or lose. This time, we placed fourth, a definite improvement! Sarah seemed happy too -- notice below, she is tasting her ribbon.
And that was pretty much all of Sarah's show career. I took her once more to a local show I could ride to, but it was a nasty hot day with lots of horse flies, and I wound up not even taking her into the ring. Well, that's not entirely true. I did get into the ring about 15 feet, and a horse fly landed on Sarah's rump and she kicked out... and connected entirely by accident with the stirrup of a kid on a pony. Scared the kid and me both, as well as Sarah, but didn't hurt anybody. I smacked her and took her out of the ring, figuring we were out of luck after that little demonstration. The judge waved us back in, as we hadn't been being judged when it happened, and to my mortification the judge was no less than Sally Sexton, a judge I'd watched since the 1960's back in Ohio. I'd always wanted to be judged by her. But, by now Sarah was a wreck, the flies eating her up (spray wasn't doing a thing she was sweating so much), and it just wasn't her day. So, I took her down to the outside jump course and put her over that (she did very well), and rode home. At least it wasn't a wasted trip.
I did several dressage tests with her at training level, and was very glad to get a couple of 2nd place ribbons. Her scores were in the high 60's (yes, her trot was under control by then, and she rounds nicely today). Several years ago a friend who half-leased Sarah for a while showed her in some dressage tests and did well in a few of them. The truth is, trail riding is the perfect career for Sarah. She's happy with "what's around the next bend", and though I still school her in an arena regularly, that's just to keep her balanced and listening to me. Below are Hap on Emily (right) and me on Sarah (Lisa took the photo) doing what we like best.
On to Feet (?)
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