Over the weekend I had the pleasure of watching my classmate compete in a schooling level dressage show held at Bronte Creek Equestrian, as part of the Four Seasons Horse Shows’ Winterfest Show Series. We have been taking lessons together for exactly a year and neither of us have shown in any level, competetive or schooling. This weekend Paula and her mount of three years — “Tyson” aka Perfect Gentleman, owned by Tessa Laughton of Laughton Training & Sales — scratched the competitive itch.
The event was a full day affair, but animal communicator Lauren Bode was coming to our barn after Paula’s classes and I wanted to hear what our horses had to say — quite a lot, it turned out.
The frigid February morning lured in a cast of handsome steads with equally handsome riders. The majority of the athletes were donned in black from head to toe, often opting for cream or off-white breeches, white cotton blouses for both men and women, and sharp black jackets to complete the competitive look. The more advanced classes later in the day would have generated a different sort of buzz in the warm up arena, but the popular trend that hit me that morning was the open-saddle coolers, worn by several mounts to help keep both competitors warm between classes.
Saturday was also the perfect opportunity to flex my photography muscles. I was able to get some shots of many of the early morning teams in both warm up and show rings, my focus being Paula and Tyson, only losing the light and crispness when they were forty meters (about 130 feet) away. While my amateur status may have only solidified by my resulting photos I was able to knock off a few well-received images, including the two above of the first place mount in his first class, My Boy Silver, ridden by Leah Simpson.
All in all it was an inspiring day, tickling both of my extra curriciular interests at once: photography and horses. More specifically, horse photography. Paula accidentally entered herself in the Open Division (intended for professional riders and coaches who want to school their mounts and get practice for themselves) instead of the Amateur Division (the level she and I are technically at) and still walked away two classes later with two blue ribbons. She was awarded 2nd place in the Walk Trot Test A, with an impressive score of 57.619, and 2nd place in the Walk Trot Test B, garnering her with an equally bragable score of 54.762. Congratulations to both Paula and Tyson, and here’s to your further competetive success!
Tags: dressage, laughton training & sales, winterfest series
