Just 1 week til Iowa Falls!!!!

WOW! Where did the time go? We have just one week til the Iowa Falls show! That's just crazy! Well it looks like I need to get going on getting stuff together again! With as busy as I am with work, school, and the shows, I will post the results of both shows after Iowa Falls.

A few reminders about Iowa Falls:

- each horse needs a stall

- 1 bag of bedding is included in the stall fee

- PROGRESSIVE BARN PARTY SATURDAY AFTERNOON (4:00ish)

- games on Saturday; regular show on Sunday

- horses may arrive Friday at 5:00 pm....and anytime on Saturday or Sunday

- CLICK HERE FOR THE SHOW BILL

- PLEASE GIVE US FEEDBACK AT THE SHOW

Hope to see you all there!

I got tired of wrestling with videos....but here's what I have so far from Waterloo...ENJOY!

Hi Everyone!

We had a smaller crowd at Waterloo this year but we definitely had some serious quality and some really serious fun! I can't even put it into words!!! Just check out the clip below...this one is from our Liberty class. I'm going to try to edit some of the video to have a DVD playing at Iowa Falls....let's see if I can even get it done in time.

Enjoy the clip!

Waterloo Show TOMORROW!!!!!

The Waterloo Show activities start tomorrow! Horses can come in at 3:00pm and please be aware of heavy traffic - there is TONS going on in Waterloo/Cedar Falls this weekend. We'll start the grill around 6:00 so bring something to grill and something to share with everyone!

The show starts at 8:00am on Sunday. We will be adding a Hunter Hack class...not sure where exactly yet, but we'll let you know on Sunday.

As for me, this will be my last post until after the show. I hope to get some good pics and video this year and I will definitely post it as soon as I can.

See you all this weekend! If you need anything please just call Sean 319-231-9826.

What does 'this' mean???

I've gotten a few calls about our class names and how people don't know what they mean exactly. That's why the blog is here people. I get questions and I respond to the world...its how I roll. Let's start with some terminology.

Class 16. Novice Horse Pleasure

Novice means the horse cannot have won more than 3 1st place ribbons in the discipline that it is showing in for that class. Example: if a horse has 6 1st places in western pleasure and 2 in hunter pleasure, the horse is eligible in hunter and english, but not western. This all based on the honor system.

Classes 26 & 35. Independent Amateur Pleasure

Independent Amateur means you train your horse as an amateur. This means that your horse has not been at a trainer after January 1, 2011. If you took lessons with a trainer, that is fine.

GAMES CLASSES

Games have different names I've noticed. So I'll list them class and all the names I know them by. I'll have patterns posted at the show so you can figure out what's what and what you know it as. Also, these games are open to all ages and all breeds.

43. Poles - Pole Bending

44. Stake Race - Speed

45. Barrels - Barrel Race

46. Flags - Texas Flags - Texas Flag Race

CLASSES UNIQUE TO THE ARABIAN BREED

These classes are all open to any breed even though they are

unique to the Arabians.

9. Most Classic Arabian Head

In this class the only thing judged is the head. In class 'A' shows and futurities horses where a cooler so the judge cannot see the rest of the horse's body. We're pretty laid back here so we don't require that - especially if its over 90 degrees outside like it has been in the past.

18. Liberty

In this class the horses will perform at liberty. You usually have 2-3 handlers in the ring with the horse. When ready, the handlers release horse by taking off the halter. The horse has 2 minutes to perform to whatever music the handlers decide before the class. After 2 minutes the music stops and the handlers have 2 minutes to catch the horse.

Important Waterloo information

Hi Everybody

I haven't gone over this stuff in a while so I'll recap it again. These are the dates and times you should be aware of for the Waterloo show.

Saturday, June 25

3:00pm Horses may arrive at the fairgrounds

Arena will also be available

6:00pm GRILL OUT - this is our social event for the show (see more below)

Sunday, June 26

6:00am Arena will be available

Show office will try to be open (at least by 6:45 I promise)

7:45am Arena will be closed so we can drag it

8:00am First class

Here's some other information you

may want to know. Let's start with the grill out. This is our big social event for the weekend. This is our claim to fame - not the grill out specifically, but the fact that we are more than a horse show. We are all here to have fun. This type of activity really lets everyone get to know each other a little better and promotes friendly competition. We are a very laid back group and that is what brings people back every year. So, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Please bring your own meat to grill and a dish to share. We'll provide everything else :)

Another bit of info you may want to be aware of is that there is another event going on at the National Cattle Congress this weekend. It the Two-Cylinder Club Expo (I think its something to do with tractors) - just checked the NCC website. That goes Thursday-Saturday. They think there will be enough time for them to get everything taken care of but please be aware that there could be a lot of traffic on the fairgrounds. There is tons of space to manuver but I don't know how big this event is. So just be ready for it. This only effects you if you show up early on Saturday. If you plan on showing up Sunday morning or even doing jump-out, this has no effect on you because they will be gone by Sunday.

If you plan on driving a long way to get here and need help finding a good hotel, please let me know. There are some to stay away from based on some reports I got from exhibitors last year. I'm not going to post it on here for respect of their business but if you call me, I will tell you the ones to avoid.

I think I covered just about everything. Later this week I will go through the show bill on here and explain what some of our classes mean since our terminology may be different from what you are used to.

We hope to see you all at the show next weekend!

What happened?!?!? We're only 11 days from our first show!!!

Well, I have been super busy lately! We have a some real trophies this year and I'm looking for some feedback on this. Would you guys like trophies like this in the future or should we go back to our standard stuff that you can actually use - like our thermos cups or duffle bags we've had in the past? So that will be new. We will still have those nicer trophies for our Halter Championship, Most Classic Arabian Head, and Liberty classes.

I still have tons of stuff to get ready for the show...getting all the office stuff ready (BORING!!!) but there's fun stuff to get ready for too! We're grilling out again this year! Super pumped for that! It was a great time last year and hopefully the weather cooperates again this year - hopefully for both days this time. I just got more ribbons in, just in case we do some adding of classes - that usually happens.

Well, as busy as I am, I should get back to it. It's off to work and once I get home - show time! See you all June 26 in Waterloo!

WOOHOO!!! THE SHOWS ARE SET!

Alrighty everyone, I've been off of here for a while...been working pretty hard to get some stuff done. The shows are set in stone - for sure - nothing more will change. I haven't checked on my links to the show bills to see if they are updated but I'll shoot Laura another email if they aren't. So this is what the shows will look like this year:

Sunday, June 26, 2011 - National Cattle Congress, Waterloo

Judge: Connie Peters - super fun lady and she knows her stuff! We're gonna have a blast with Connie this year!

Saturday/Sunday, July 16-17, 2011 - Ellsworth Equestrian Center, Iowa Falls

Judge: Stephanie Wetherell - this lady has done her fair share of showing in multiple breeds and disciplines...she is also way fun!

See a trend here? We try to make all of our judges really fun and easy to work with. That's what we are all about - these are the shows where you take you young/inexperienced riders to learn. A lot of our judges give feedback to the riders and are fun to work with too!

Any questions about the shows just let me know and I'll answer them as soon as I can! sean.thurm@yahoo.com or 319-231-9826

See you guys this summer!