September 20th through 28th marked the culmination of our 2008 show year.  This was the week that we had dedicated ourselves to from our opening show in 2007. Slowly, methodically we worked our way up to the confidence necessary to write THE check for Sport Horse National entry fees.  We left home with a glimmer of hope that we would yet again be successful competing against “National Caliber Horses.”  This year would be different, however, because this time Stephanie and Morgan Snyder would both be competing on our horses, along with me.

We left for Nampa, Idaho on Saturday morning, Stephanie, Morgan and Roscoe P Coltraine (the little Rat Terrier with the Big Personality) in Stephanie’s folks (Steve and “Pete’s”) motorhome with Annapolis+, Simplyirrisistible+, and enough equipment to open our own mobile tack store.  Jeff and I drove over in a pickup truck with more “stuff” and the golf cart, along with our four legged, Australian Shepherd son, Tucker. 

Upon arriving in Nampa at around 1:00 A.M. Sunday morning, we were ushered to our campsite and our stalls by the helpful security guard stationed at the gate.  The folks at the Idaho Horse Center are just about the nicest people you’ll ever meet. 

We got the horses settled in, set up our tack room away from tack room briefly, and went about getting the trailer and motorhome parked and then off to bed ourselves. 

On Sunday morning, we went and officially checked in.  Once again the folks here were extremely gracious and well informed.  We fed the horses, mucked the stalls, hung the drape, straightened up the tack room and set off to explore for the remainder of the day. 

On Monday, we got the horses out and Stephanie schooled Annapolis+ (AJ) while Morgan worked with Simplyirrisitible+ (Abby).  Upon returning to the stalls, Stephanie and Morgan went to hose the horses off in the wash racks that are complete with spray foam shampoo and warm water (a horse wash as opposed to a car wash!), while I went to the motorhome to get the clippers.  As I was coming down the motorhome steps, clippers in hand, trying not to disturb Jeff, who was napping (he had been T-boned in our truck just a couple of days before this trip), I took a misstep at the bottom where a rug was covering the ground and an oddly angled railroad tie. 

Graceful, I am not! As I lay on the ground writhing in pain, two realizations emerged in my head; first, I was extremely thankful that Jeff had scooped up the doggy doo left by another “camper’s” pooch earlier in the day, and secondly, my left ankle felt like it was on fire.  After some finagling, Jeff and another “horse husband” managed to get me into our rental truck and off to the hospital we went, where the doctor absolutely refused to paint the bulky half-cast dressing a nice glossy black so that it would in some way resemble a dressage boot…   This ended my hopes of competing nationally. On the bright side (is there one?), if you are ever in Nampa, Idaho and find yourself in need of an Emergency Room, take my advice and head for St. Luke’s in Meridian.  We were in and out in just under 3 hours! Fantastic!

During our hospital visit, Stephanie and Morgan put a nice polish and clip job on both horses and went about the tasks of preparing for the first class on Tuesday Morning.  Once again they examined the area where the dressage rings were in 2006, and where there was now a small lake in one of the former arenas from a rainstorm on the Saturday prior to our arrival.  Stephanie found it slightly amusing that many of the riders practicing were unable to persuade their horses to come any where near the pools of standing water. This is an element she uses routinely in her training method.

Tuesday:  Up in the wee hours of the morning, Stephanie and Morgan prepared AJ for his first class of the show, First Level Dressage, Open.  A National Sized number of horses competed for the coveted rose garland and Pewter statue.  When all the rides were complete and the last grain of sand had settled in the dressage arena, Stephanie and Annapolis+ finished in their first of a string of  Top Ten finishes.

On Wednesday morning, Stephanie again presented AJ to the dressage jury in Training Level Dressage, Open, where the odds were stacked even higher with 42 highly qualified horse and rider combinations.  Once again, they came from the arena with a score that put them in the third position, just barely bumped out when Patience Prine Carr rod CJA Conclusive for the last ride of the test.  At this point we noticed that Stephanie’s dressage frock was missing the top button….  She insists that it was like this from the start (not  from an inflated ego..) and she just didn’t want to change her luck by sewing it back on.

Thursday was another day of competition and the weather remained lovely, not too hot, a little nip in the air first thing in the morning.  Today Stephanie took Abby to compete in one of the classes that I was no longer able to participate in.  The ride looked lovely from the golf cart on the knoll, but it was just out of the points. 

Thursday night is known for the annual barn party.  Many of the big name barns set up tables and food, wine, and other beverages (still don’t know what is in Glynnsong’s fabulous punch), flowed along with happy conversation.  It is also a time to check out the vendors wares and get a close up glimpse of horses from all over the US and Canada.

Friday, Stephanie first presented AJ to the Sport Horse Judges in Sport Horse Stallions In Hand, where he and his full brother, Armanni, still owned by Robbin Stewart and The Amanni partnership, both went Top Ten in another large class of gorgeous horses.  This was followed in the afternoon by another Top Ten finish), in the very large Sport Horse Under Saddle, Jr. Horse Class.

Saturday night was the annual evening closing performance, with beautifully executed Musical Freestyles, the exciting and elegant Carriage Driving Obstacle Class, the thrilling Mini Prix Jump-off, and the naming of the Supreme National Champion and Reserve National Champion Sport Horse. 

Sunday morning we took some video footage of AJ and of Abby at liberty, packed up, and headed back for the hacienda.  We were all very happy with the weeks’ achievements and with the friendships and connections we had made.  All was going well, until we got to Chemult and stopped to refuel prior to heading over the mountain pass. The attendant proceeded to fill the diesel motorhome with regular unleaded gasoline!  Fortunately, this mistake was caught right away, and about an hour or so later, after pumping the entire tank and refilling with diesel, we resumed our journey. 

Both horses were happy to be back in their enormous stalls at Snyder Training Center.  We were happy to arrive back home to our comfortable beds, our familiar surroundings, and to reflect on a wonderfully successful, and for at least one of us, “major trip.”