JHR Open House!

So today was our open house that we have been preparing for for weeks. I think it was pretty successful, especially for our first time throwing it. We had a pretty good turnout probably around 60 people or so and made some good money in donations.

The morning was hectic getting all the last minute things set up and horses ready to go. We started a little late because we didn't have that many people at opening and we changed the schedule a bit to accommodate. We started the day off with the trail class which involved me and 3 other people. The 3 others each demoed a single obstacle and Satin and I demoed a full trail course, which went well.

Then we went to the parade of breeds which was nice and went well. We had about ten different breeds including some unusual ones like the International Champagne and Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse. We gave a short history on each breed and short bio on the horse or horses representing the breed.

Next we had a jump off which was awesome. There were 3 girls and it came down to duel between my friend L on her standardbred who can jump huge (she has jumped out of her 5 foot paddock fence from a stand still) and another friend on the App she leases who has only been jumping for a few months, but is like a little jack rabbit. My barn owner stopped the App from jumping at 3 foot oxers because she didn't want to push him, but had my friend L jump the line one more time with the first jump being a 3'3" oxer and the second being a 3'6" oxer which is the highest she ever jumped (under saddle that is) and she cleared both. The highest she ever jumped before that was a 3'3" single vertical.

Then I did my two freestyles starting with my bridleless to How 'Bout Them Cowgirls which went really well. Satin listened well and was very responsive. I was very happy with it. Then we did our reining freestyle to No Reins, which also went really well. Satin did great, but we were both hot and tired after.

Later on we had an english versus western demonstration which went well also. First they demoed the difference in tack, in hand position, in the walk, trot/jog, canter/lope and then did a routine to music.

Later after that we did games with me and 3 other girls. We had kids pick a horse to represent and if their horse won they got a prize. We did barrel racing, 2 barrel dashes, and pole bending. Each of us won one event each which worked out well. I won one of the barrel dashes which has always been Satin's best event.

Throughout the day we also had pony rides, pictures and grooming, an equine massage demo, raffles, coloring contest, and much more.

Now Satin and I are thoroughly exhausted as are the rest of the crew involved in the demo. It was a long and very hot day for us, but it turned out well so it was worth it and we know what we need to do next time we have one.