By Rebekah Crill
Well - the rain is here and we have time to enjoy the water that will nourish our souls and the ground up here in Boulder Creek. Hopefully, lots of nourishment this year! Remember that our shows will resume again in April and we look forward to a great time next spring with all our friends that have come out to ride with us. Read on to find out what our needs will be when we start up again and also about our nominations for the board.
If you want to ride gymkhana this winter, remember that there are a couple of districts within driving distance that don’t get quite as wet as the Redwood Riders and so can run all winter long!!. Check out D8 and D1's information in this newspaper and take a short road trip.
Our Halloween Show was fantastic with all kinds of interesting objects and animals appearing like magic in the arena at 9:30 on October 28th. Someone must have taken apart a merry-go-round, because three of the horses and their pig-tailed riders ended up at our show! Robin & Natalie had discussed it beforehand, but Chris Rice rode in made up like a merry-go-round horse, too! Leilani was sporting purplie wings and riding a beautiful paint unicorn. A new addition to our shows, Erin and Ayla, were a flower and a butterfly while riding/leading Ivory who was made up too cute as a bumblebee! Next came Chief Kathy (women’s liberation movement, Indian Style!) riding Sherman who looked just like an indian pony, except bigger. Where’s the jaw rope, Kathy? Shrek and Fiona showed up with Donkey, aka Sunshine. We think Kaylee and Erika were under those costumes. Allie and Peppy were outfitted in the latest in horsey slinky wear! Intica was unrecognizable on her pony, Poco, as a skeleton - bones and all. Shelly was hidden under her Salad Fingers video character costume. All our costume participants earned a cute saddle keychain for their efforts - thanks for your spirit, riders! Hope I didn't miss anyone.
Even without costumes, I want to recognize Leslie Jaquith who braved the "scary show" on her very alert little mare, Monterey. Way to go, Leslie! And to Wendy, who brought yet another "horsey boot camp" graduate, Missy. Of course, welcome to all our regulars: Rebecca, Martina, Edee (who went home with a new saddle thanks to Rita and her used tack sale!), Sara C. and Paulette. And our hope-to-be-regulars at their second show, Amanda McDonald (Nice cantering, Amanda!) and Rosie (Way to get back on that horse, young lady! - Thanks mom, for working the kinks out!). And no D9 show would be complete without Jim Lafferty and Rio. Jim makes the trek from San Jose whenever he can to join us at our shows. Keep riding, Jim!
We missed Emily, Nikki, Katelyn P., Rachel S., April, Alex, and Sara Huxtable (I think some of these young ladies were competing at a vaulting show). Haylee C. made a showing, but took off to softball. (Hope you won!) Rarely missing a D9 show, but gone to Florida was Rachel Crill (who was touring the USA with her choir). We really missed the Sullivans (who are very busy with three brand new baby horses!) Conspicously absent was Mellow Mr. Yellow and Mari Ricker, as well as Jillian Thompson with her beautiful horses. We’ve also been looking for the Composti Family to join us again as well as getting that Raynal jumper out again. (Get your trailer unblocked by April, huh Rayanna?) Hoping to see some of our friends from Coast Stables (Julia & Aimee) come out in the spring as well.
We want to wish a warm welcome to the Lacy’s who came right over the hill (behind the Boy Scout Camp - yes, a real hill - not from San Jose) to join us for their first Redwood Riders Show. (They really "cleaned up," taking home a couple raffle prizes, some jackpot money and a reserve High Point!) We hope to see them back in April ready to ride again. Also, Sunshine (the Leadline Queen Pony) has begat an offspring, Ivory Dawn, who is now introducing young riders to gymkhana herself. Riding Ivory, Ayla Blackwolf brought quite the entourage to the show (I think 80% of the spectators came to see this four-year-old). I bet Ayla will be riding by herself pretty soon!!! And of course, we can’t forget to welcome Helen Cleary (although her horse was entered, not her!) We’ll expect you to be on your horse next time, Helen. Thanks Wendy, for bringing out your clients’ horses! Oh - and I can’t forget Robin’s new baby girl. You may have seen Robin’s dad leading around a baby horse. Maybe by April, she’ll have a name. She was out there watching those gymkhana horses and thinking - "That’ll be me someday!".
Our volunteers were awesome. Thanks to everyone who worked the booth, the arena and the gate. A special thank you to Jan Brandon for doing her very affordble and delicious snack shack. No one can "do" the raffle like Kristin Praly (who was missing in action), but Christine and Paulette did a great job. The highlight of the day, of course, was singing Happy Birthday to Paulette and eating that yummy cake that Kathleen brought. And I can’t forget to give big kudos to Bill Sagerty, our loyal and omnipresent judge, without whom I wouldn’t be able to ride and would have to do a whole lot more work!!!
All our riders had a great show and we are really seeing a lot of you moving up in your times. (Check out the point spreads between High Point and Reserves!) Getting a whole bunch of AA times, were Natalie and Edee. Breaking into the A division were Paulette, Sara, Rebecca and Martina, Leilani and Shelly! And the flaming-ist (is that a word?) times of the day were the AAA times pulled by Chris and Rebekah in Speedball! (7.849 & 8.047) Way to go, everyone!
Our High Point this show was a coveted 30 minute horse massage by Wendy McDonald, a certified equine bodyworker. She also is a Natural Horsemanship Trainer and offered a 30 minute lesson in leiu of a massage. Nothing like a choice! See her website at www.playingwithhorses.com for more information on her programs. The lucky winners (or should I say the lucky horses) were:
Open Pony: Sunshine (and Kaylee Anzalone)
FC 10 & Under: Draco Poco Bars (& Intica Jaquith) - 67 points
FC 11 & Over: Darla (& Shelly Hart) - 58 points
A Divison: Jumping Jack Flash (& Robin Brandon) - 62 points
AA Division: Bo Jangles (& Edee Wildman) - 48 points
AAA Division: Sebastien (& Rebekah Crill)
Geting our Reserve High Point conchos were:
FC 10 & Under: Prince (& Amanda McDonald) - 59 points
FC 11 & Over: Beloved (& Julia Lacy) - 51 points
A Divison: Max (& Chris Rice) - 46 points
AA Division: Handsome Beau (& Natalie Harnett) - 42 points
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a little holiday break! Although, if I find myself just itching for a gymkana show this winter, I’ll head on down south to District 1 in San Juan Bautista. District 8 also is a short road trip to Royal Oaks and Salinas. Make sure you read their websites carefully. Sign up and refund policies can differ from district to district. Wherever you go and whatever you do this winter, be safe and ride hard! We’ll see you in April!