Another busy weekend for me and my intrepid Rally Gnome! While most of my Saturday was spent in the saddle, Sunday was spent doing the activity for which you all probably know me best -- Chiefing a rally! This time, I visited my friends in the Maryland Region for their Qualifying Show Jumping rally. I usually Chief one or two rallies for Maryland each season, and it is so great to catch up with everyone, and meet new members, horses and ponies that have joined our crazy little group since the previous rally season. This year, Maryland hosted its rally at the McDonogh School just outside of Baltimore, MD, and WHOA!!! What a facility! Two beautiful competition rings, a big warm-up and a nice, tidy stable area for me and the rest of the HM crew - AWESOME!!!(Grady makes sure the Maryland Show Jumping Rally competitors stay hydrated!)
Trailers started arriving promptly at 6 am, and I got my paperwork and "office" all set-up after walking through the schedule, property guidelines, and locations with the organizers. I probably gave my shortest briefing ever (my friend Josie B. from Elkridge Harford Hunt Pony Club commented that her favorite part of the briefing was its "briefness") and then met up with the Steward and Veterinarian to prepare for the jog. Overall, the competitors did a nice job with the jog. The biggest pieces of advice I can give for preparing for a jog are:
1) Practice! Practice! Practice!
2) Always have a whip (aka "wand of encouragement") handy because every horse has the potential to be lazy!
3) A more rapid trot is most desirable on the jog lane, particularly as horses tire over a multi-day competition, so see #1.
Anyway, back to the rally. We were a little short on really experienced turnout inspection judges, so I ended up manning Station #3. It makes my job as Chief a little tougher when I have to judge, but I do love doing turnout inspections and talking to the competitors rather than just a day of paperwork! And I saw some really awesome turnouts, including the turnout of HA member Kira Y. who earned several "Exceeds" on her tack...I really wanted to take her tack home with me!!! But, as usual, I also saw some confusion about what constitutes FORMAL versus INFORMAL attire. This is kind of frustrating for me because the Horse Management Committee even included a nice chart breaking down each piece-by-piece on page 11 of the HM Handbook and Rules for Competition 2010. The information is there - you just have to remember to read it!
All the competitors were troopers, especially considering we've been having some record heat and humidity in the Baltimore-DC region. Ugh. It was so hot and gross. We had lots of water jugs placed around the venue, and I was glad to see Stable Managers offering water to horses AND riders! The atmosphere had finally had enough by about 4:00 pm, and a fast-moving thunderstorm came charging though. Luckily, we'd seen the radar, and all rides had been completed, tents packed up, horses loaded, and people herded to the swanky indoor arena just in the nick of time! When we walked out of the arena following awards, we all commented on how much cooler it was (literally dropped from 90-something to mid-70s!!!) Oh well...I guess it's not really a rally if you're not sweating like crazy!!!
Trailers started arriving promptly at 6 am, and I got my paperwork and "office" all set-up after walking through the schedule, property guidelines, and locations with the organizers. I probably gave my shortest briefing ever (my friend Josie B. from Elkridge Harford Hunt Pony Club commented that her favorite part of the briefing was its "briefness") and then met up with the Steward and Veterinarian to prepare for the jog. Overall, the competitors did a nice job with the jog. The biggest pieces of advice I can give for preparing for a jog are:
1) Practice! Practice! Practice!
2) Always have a whip (aka "wand of encouragement") handy because every horse has the potential to be lazy!
3) A more rapid trot is most desirable on the jog lane, particularly as horses tire over a multi-day competition, so see #1.
Anyway, back to the rally. We were a little short on really experienced turnout inspection judges, so I ended up manning Station #3. It makes my job as Chief a little tougher when I have to judge, but I do love doing turnout inspections and talking to the competitors rather than just a day of paperwork! And I saw some really awesome turnouts, including the turnout of HA member Kira Y. who earned several "Exceeds" on her tack...I really wanted to take her tack home with me!!! But, as usual, I also saw some confusion about what constitutes FORMAL versus INFORMAL attire. This is kind of frustrating for me because the Horse Management Committee even included a nice chart breaking down each piece-by-piece on page 11 of the HM Handbook and Rules for Competition 2010. The information is there - you just have to remember to read it!
All the competitors were troopers, especially considering we've been having some record heat and humidity in the Baltimore-DC region. Ugh. It was so hot and gross. We had lots of water jugs placed around the venue, and I was glad to see Stable Managers offering water to horses AND riders! The atmosphere had finally had enough by about 4:00 pm, and a fast-moving thunderstorm came charging though. Luckily, we'd seen the radar, and all rides had been completed, tents packed up, horses loaded, and people herded to the swanky indoor arena just in the nick of time! When we walked out of the arena following awards, we all commented on how much cooler it was (literally dropped from 90-something to mid-70s!!!) Oh well...I guess it's not really a rally if you're not sweating like crazy!!!
(Best. Ribbons. Ever. At least in my opinion!)
This weekend, Capital Region is hosting its Eventing Rally in conjunction with the Seneca Valley Pony Club Horse Trials, which should be a lot of fun! I am competing the Super Pony in one of the Novice divisions, so I won't be able to help with HM on the day of the rally, but I've been busy helping get the staff set up and making sure competitors and judges are on the same page in terms of rally expectations. And if that wasn't enough, I'm working on staffing our Show Jumping rally on June 26 and trying to learn how to play polocrosse so that I don't make a fool out of myself at my first tournament at Bucks County...ACK! A Chief's work is never done!
Alright, even CHMJs need to sleep. More soon!
P.S. 33 days until Festival!!!
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