I have always loved showing horses. It has been a passion of mine as long as I can remember. In my younger adult life though, I gave it up. My husband didn't like it, and I just started trail riding my horses rather than arguing with him about showing.
Recently, however, I decided that I am going to start showing again, and if my husband wasn't supportive then, oh well. He field trials his beagles, which I support, and sometimes have to take to trials for him when he is working. I didn't break the news to him immediately. I do think that he knew something was up, afterall during this summer heat, I usually don't do a lot of riding. It's very often 100 degrees here with a heat index of 105 to 115 during July and August. I have been riding as much as possible in the mornings and evenings for the past few weeks now.
A week ago, I asked him what he was planning on doing Saturday. He replied, "nothing. Why?" I told him that there was open show that I wanted to go to. He then replied, "are you showing?" That response caught me completely off guard! I looked up, and he was smiling. I explained that we, Skippy and I, weren't ready for that show yet, but I wanted to go check it out to see what the competition looked like. The next thing out of my mouth was, "you're not upset that I want to start showing again?" Suprisingly, he has been completely supportive of my decision. I don't know what has gotten into him. [SMILE!] I guess over the years maybe he has realized that it's something that is in my blood, and it's something that I just can't help.
For now, Skippy and I are working toward a couple of local open shows that are scheduled over the next couple of months. I am nervous, and Skippy has no idea what he is in for. At first, he was not excited about his new work schedule that completely disrupted his "grass eating" time. Now, every afternoon, or morning as the case may be, he greets me with a whinny and off to work we go. He is such a trooper! I am going to try to keep a journal here of our training and how we are progressing.
Wish me luck!
