It’s over, our first show and Pearl and Rebel have come away with ribbons and trophies despite being little monsters.  We can only guess the other horses, sounds, smells and confines at the show caused Pearl to re-instate her mother/foal bond.  She turned up the dial and performed (kicking stall walls, calling, pacing, refusing to lead) each time Rebel even looked like he might engage with other residing or passing horses.  We however had not prepared for this at all as Rebel had been weaned 6 weeks earlier.  We had to bring Rebel out to the arena for all of Pearl’s other classes just so that she could see him and calm down.

Rebel too was playing up, when he was out in the ring he was reacting to mum’s calls of course (we left her in the stable to pace back and forth), rearing and spinning, poor Dale had his inexperienced hands full trying to contain him, but thankfully he didn’t take off or hurt anyone and Dale has achieved a new level of skill.  We learnt a lot about what not to do, what we need to do, what the horses are like and re-defining our focus for the next show.  The trailer was a success and we ended up staying the extra night, my only personal problem was staving off the flu which threatened to sap all of my energy during the day then try and drown me at night.  Being on the committee presented numerous challenges and next year we will have to have an army of helpers or not enter into any classes as there is not enough time for both to be done well.

Our highlight was to see friends and family at the show cheering their support and encouragement despite the antics.  We don’t have Rebel’s official photos as yet, so we’ll enter them once we get them.  We send our thanks to Sam who plaited up Pearl for us as I wouldn’t have had a chance with her banging about her stall; she knocked Sam off the bench twice in the process.  Also Sue for her time spent washing and lending a hand to us first timers despite needing to ready her own horse, Magnus, for his classes.  Helen and Jan were marvellous helping to plait for the fancy dress and help out wherever they could in all the frantic dashing about that seemed to be the pace of the entire weekend.  Sadly Jan was also bearing her own personal loss of their beloved family horse the day before the show – so we do appreciate her coming along. The night time get togethers were full of laughs and meeting new people, probably the highlight of the weekend was hearing others tell of their adventures and stories over a bevy or two.

Aside to all this showing malarkey, Pearl’s pregnancy has been progressing (AI insemination date 17/3/09) and her official 45 day scan was done last Tuesday and she is definitely pregnant with the vet’s all clear.  Pearl’s expected foal date is around 28th Feb 2010. (According to the book the calculation of due date is 11months and 11 days from the insemination date)  She is still looking fantastically glossy and with a quick wash and the use of a polish dust cloth she was looking mighty shiny.  Even now 4 days after the show full of grot, sweat and dirt, she looks wonderful. That blush of pregnancy will probably stay as Pearl looked great when she arrived pregnant almost a year ago now.

And to top off the week I have finally received the call to advise my application for the Australian Public Service is successful and I have accepted a position in Toowoomba.  The week couldn’t be better really, well getting my voice back would be a bonus, telephone calls are a bit tricky at the moment and if I push the hoarse whispering I end up in a coughing frenzy.  Still, Dale is secretly happy not to be receiving any additional instructions and leaves me quietly – hoping for a few more days yet… 🙂