This is the sunset on Friday night:
And what we woke up to the next morning! They were a lot lower, but by the time I'd got my camera out they'd drifted up a little…
This is Warwick stopping Spooks in the warm up ring before Robyn's class. They gallop flat out down the arena, and just say "whoa." You're looking for the horse to stay relaxed, stretch his head low and keep his front feet moving, while his weight shifts over his back legs. They wear special "slider" shoes that allow them to slide through the dirt. The more they slide, the softer it is on their legs. Spooks stops really well - her tail is almost touching the floor, she stays soft and relaxed, and she slides for about 20ft. With dirt flying everywhere, it's very impressive to watch.
There's quite a lot going on in this photo! Robyn is wearing her show outfit, plus a pink ribbon as the event was raising money for cancer research charities and encouraged everyone to wear pink. She's taken Spooks' bridle off to show the bit to the tack judge, who makes sure it's legal. It looks like a powerful leverage bit, and it is in the wrong hands, but as you can see in Warwick's stopping photo, you hardly touch the reins on well trained reiners. It's all done off your weight, laying the rein across the horse's neck, and your voice. In the photo, Chuy and Warwick are checking her saddle and taking off her bandages - they show in white ones, but we double wrap with black ones over the top to keep them clean in the warm up. They also wear overreach boots, and "skid boots" to protect their hind fetlocks when they're sliding. Some horses go so low they need hock boots on too, to stop them from getting friction burns on the dirt.
Spooks modelling her very expensive show bridle and bit.
A random arty photo of Robyn's hat perched on her saddle horn.
And a shot of Holden, chief face-jumper. He's Yorkshire terrier x mini Poodle. His hair is so soft - he feels like a child's teddy because it's so fluffy.
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