MFTHBA Blog

Archive for the ‘Amy Stangl’ Category

            Last night was a fantastic evening for the championship night.  The rain cleared out and the weather was perfect.  There was a good crowd and it was lively.  We were fortunate that several of our friends from Kansas City came down to watch the championship with us.  We sat on the rail of the main arena cheering on friends and favorite horses.  Although watching the final class was a definite thrill, the highlight for me was watching my sister ride in her first Saturday night class, the Amatuer Owned 4 year old class.  It was by far the best ride that I have ever seen my sister have on her mare and thanks to our many friends, she had a huge cheering section.  It was even a greater thrill when she placed in that championship class!

            This morning we were up early to pack up our two horse trailers, two trucks and two cars.  It was quite an undertaking packing all of our stuff and cleaning out the four stalls, but thankfully Shannon, Ian and Mia stayed and helped us.  Before pulling out of the gates for one last time this year, we made sure to say our good-byes to those of our friends who were still there.

            As always, we stopped at Smith’s in Bolivar on our way back to Kansas City.  It has become a tradition for us.  My parents, sister, Shawn, Mia, Shannon, Ian and I enjoyed a nice lunch while reminiscing about favorite parts of the show and making plans for next year.  Then it was time to finish the drive to Kansas City because we still had a lot of unpacking to do when we got home.

            I can’t believe that the Celebration is over.  It seems like it was just starting and just like that it is over until next year.  It is one of my favorite places to go each year and  I am always sad when it is over.  Many people don’t understand why we love going to a small town in Missouri every year to show horses night after night.  To be honest, it is really hard to describe what draws us back to Ava, Missouri, each year.  Yes, it is the enjoyment of seeing old friends and meeting new ones.  It is the opportunity to spend quality time with family.  But, more importantly it is about the love of the horse and working as a partner with your horse to do the best that you both can do.  Until next year, keep riding and enjoying your horses.

            This week has been very dry, which is definitely unusual for the Celebration.  It seems like I have to show in the rain at least one evening, if not more than once, every time we come to Ava.  Luckily, every evening has been beautiful, although a little chillier than anticipated.  In fact, it has been so dry that the water truck has been having a hard time keeping up with everything.  It seems it can pass through and two minutes later the ground is dry and dusty again.  Sitting outside to write my blogs has been interesting because every minute or so I have to wipe the screen off just so I can see.

            Well, today has been a definite change of pace.  It was absolutely beautiful this morning and early afternoon.  The temperature was in the low eighties, but around 2:30 you could feel the temperature drop and you could see the rain moving in.  All of a sudden everyone was scurrying to get everything put away before the rain came.

            We ran up to my parent’s trailer.  My mom always sets up a huge outdoor dining area, so we hurried up there to help her put everything away.  We frantically took down the tent, put away the outdoor floor mats, and threw everything else inside the trailer.  Fortunately we finished just as the rain came in. 

            Amber, Shawn and I hopped in the golf cart and headed to the stalls to make sure everything was put away there.  Luckily there were only a few things that needed to be put away because it then started to pour.  Nine of us sat under the overhang of the barn laughing, talking, watching the people brave enough to be out in the downpour, and wondering how big the lake in the road between barns 1 and 2 would get. 

            When the rain let up enough, my mom brought our dinner to the barn since we had torn down her outdoor dining area.  Then we all pitched in to help Amber get ready to show on Saturday night.  A little rain doesn’t slow things down at the Celebration.  The Show must go on and we always make sure that we have fun while we are at it.

Beginning around three o’clock on Friday afternoon you could feel a change in the air. The spirits around the show grounds had been high all week, but this was something different. They started blocking off the areas where the trucks would park and you could tell that people were anxiously anticipating the arrival of the Clydesdales at four.
Friday evening was the evening that many people had been waiting for. The Budweiser Clydesdales were in Ava at the Show and Celebration. They brought in the eight horses in two large semi trucks and there was a crowd just to watch them unload. Another semi was used just for the wagon that the large horses would pull and other equipment.
After the Clydesdales arrived, many people stood around the temporary barriers to get a first look at the beautiful animals. It was obvious that these animals definitely travel in style. It was quite a sight to see one of the animals peering out at all of the onlookers from his stall in the large red semi truck.
Between the time that we saw the Clydesdales arrive and their demonstration in the main arena, we all went back to my parent’s trailer for dinner, conversation and for Shannon to do our hair for that evening’s classes. A little before five, we heard the announcer signaling that the Clydesdales had arrived at the main arena. That was our signal to head to the main arena as well.
When we got up to the arena, I couldn’t believe all of the people who were there to see the big horses. The stands were packed! I saw familiar faces in the crowd, but many of the faces were new. We worked our way through the crowd and finally made it to our boxes on the rail. I was definitely happy that we had this “reserved” seating because we hadn’t arrived early enough to get a seat. It was standing room only.
The Clydesdales worked the arena for about fifteen minutes doing a variety of maneuvers. The announcer read through information about the Clydesdales, much of it information that I didn’t know. As the eight horses and wagon circled the arena, we could definitely feel the ground shake as they passed by our boxes. It was awesome! A well-known foxtrot trainer told me later Friday evening that it was one of the most impressive things that he had seen.
After the Clydesdales left the main arena, they headed back down the main roadway passed all of the vendors. Many people lined the road to take another up close look at the massive animals. They stopped the team about half way down the road and allowed people to take up close pictures with the horses. Mia and I didn’t waste any time. We jumped right up there to get our pictures taken with the Budweiser Clydesdales.
It was definitely a memorable moment for me. To me, it was a successful venture for the Association and it appeared to have brought in a lot of people to the show grounds. I think that a number of them even stayed for the show. They had the opportunity to see an equally beautiful horse, just on a smaller scale, the Missouri Fox Trotter.

Coming to the World Celebration in Ava is an exciting thing to do. People have traveled from all over the country to show off their horse and vie for the 2011 World Grand Championship. Obviously there is only going to be one World Grand Champion, so there will be many people who fall short of their goal, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have success here in Ava.
My sister came to Ava this week looking to improve on how she did at the Futurity. Amber is riding a four year mare, Cardinal’s Parlie Annie, that she got last year. She has received a lot of positive feedback about this mare and her potential, but it has been a long process getting her to where she needs to be. Amber has been riding diligently at home all summer to improve her mare’s walk and to make her more consistent. There were many times that I would receive a call or watch her ride when there would be frustration. I don’t know how many times she would say that in the process of fixing one thing, she had “broke” something else. That is the life of an Amateur who hasn’t been riding long enough to have a lot of tricks up her sleeve.
Fortunately, there have been many people who have offered her advice and encouragement along the way. That is a great thing about this breed. So many people are willing to offer their help in support of a fellow rider. Amber has shown Parlie Annie in several classes down here this week. She was left out in her first class, but placed tenth in her next two classes. She was excited that she had placed, but the people coming up to talk to her after her ride was what really brough a smile to her face. She has qualified for two championship classes and she is excited to go in those classes to see if she can improve even more.
Amber may not win a World Grand Championship this year, but thanks to all of the people who took time out of their schedule to give her a piece of advice or an encouraging word, she probably feels like she has. I can’t thank all of you enough for making my sister feel great about what she has done with her horse. It’s because of people like you that she will go home from Ava this week, continue to work hard, and just maybe next year she will leave here with her own World Grand Champion.

The cool weather has changed the Celebration this year. In the past, when the show ends the arena is usually full of horses and riders getting ready for the next day’s show. This year the arena isn’t nearly as full following the show because the temperatures have been down in the fifties. I know it has been darn cold sitting in the golf cart watching the few brave souls who are willing to ride in cold weather. We have been wrapped up in blankets every night watching them.
Because not as many people are riding at night this year, there has been a lot more activity during the day. More people are doing their riding during the day because the temperatures during the day have been in the seventies. It has been absolutely beautiful riding weather.
Because of the change in riding schedules, there has been even more socializing in the evening. A group of us gathered at our stalls last night and had a great time telling stories and laughing. It was pretty cold last night, so we asked the Walkers to bring our tailgate heater back down when they return tomorrow. At least now when we socialize after the show, we will be a little warmer.

Over the weekend we spent a lot of time teaching our Walking Horse friends about Foxtrotters and the World Celebration in Ava. On Monday night, it was the other way around though. They introduced us to the world of showing English.
Mia Walker showed Chris and Janice Patterson’s horse Yo Murphy in four youth classes on Sunday and Monday evenings. Not wanting to send Yo into a third class on Monday evening, the Walkers asked if Mia could show my seven year old Patriot Mare. Mia had rode Patriot Lady once at a fun show in May, so I knew that she could ride her. Plus, I am pretty sure that mare has gone around this arena so many times that she can probably go in and show without a rider.
Just to be safe, we took Mia and Patriot Lady to the arena on Monday afternoon for a test run. Patriot Lady has never been shown in an English saddle, so I thought it might be a good idea to test it out. Plus, Mia hadn’t ridden her since May, so she needed a refresher on where to hold her hands since Patriot Lady goes a little different than Yo. Everything went perfectly in the practice arena and we were ready to go for Monday evening or so we thought
As the afternoon progressed, Shannon, Mia’s mom, started asking me questions about the rules in regards to riding English at the Celebration. I told Shannon that I didn’t know anything about riding or showing in English, so I couldn’t help her. Fortunately, Amber remembered that Tori Blankenship at Foxtrot USA shows English down here. Tori would end up coming to our rescue more than once with our questions.
The first question that Shannon had was about the brow bands. I have the pretty mirrored brow bands on my bridle, but Shannon pointed out that when they ride English they have to use plain brow bands. Amber and Shannon hopped in the golf cart and went to find Tori. Sure enough, Mia had to have plain brow bands. Luckily, the Walkers had come prepared. We made a plan to switch my bit to one of their bridles after I showed her that evening.
After we had everything figured out, Shannon said that she assumed that we could use my foxtrotter bit in the English class. She told us that it wasn’t an English bit, but thought that perhaps it was allowed in our Show and Celebration. Just to be safe, Amber and Shannon hopped back on the golf cart and headed back to the Foxtrot USA tent to find Tori. It is a good thing that we asked because Tori told them that we couldn’t use my foxtrot bit. We did have to use an English bit. Luckily, the Walkers had a bit with them as well. Unfortunately, it was too late in the afternoon at this point to try her in the bit, so we wouldn’t know if she would work in it or not. I felt pretty confident though that she would be fine. She is such an easy going mare. Just to be safe though, I asked our friend Mark Holifield to help us when it was time to actually put the new bit in her mouth.
As the show progressed, Mia did really well in her classes on Yo. She took 7th in the Youth Novice class and reserve in the Youth Limited class. Everyone was still talking about the cute girl in the pink and what a great rider she was.
After my class on Patriot Lady, I hustled back to the trailer to untack her so that we could get her ready for the Youth English or Western class. After she was untacked, we headed over to Mark’s stalls so that he could help us adjust her bridle since I wasn’t familiar with the bit. We got her fitted and headed to the DQP arena where we met Mia. She was excited to be going in her favorite class and she looked so cute in her English attire.
We got her tacked up and headed into the warm-up arena. We helped Mia onto Patriot Lady and then we sent her out to give the bit a try. Thankfully Mark was there to coach her. As she went around the warm-up arena, we were all really impressed. Patriot Lady was actually going better in the English bit than she was in the other bit! Mia and Patriot Lady made a pretty picture. After a couple of laps, Mark called her in and we waited for the class to be called.
As they were announcing the places for the class before her, Shannon asked if Patriot Lady could back since that was one of the requirements for showing English in the Walking Horse world. Erin Stevens was standing nearby, so we asked if that was a requirement at the Celebration. She told us that Mia would have to back. I told her that I had never taught her to back, so I didn’t know if she would do it or not. It was almost time to call the class, so we had Mia try to back her. Mia knew exactly what to do to get her to back. It wasn’t pretty, but she backed three steps. Shannon said that would be enough.
It was time for her class to go in. We reminded Mia that Patriot Lady had just come out of a long class, so she was going to need to use her spurs. I told her that she didn’t have to worry because the horse wouldn’t quit on her, but she might not stay up at the speed that she needed to be. We sent the two of them up the ramp with wishes of good luck and then Amber, Shawn, Shannon, Ian, Mark, Janice and I parked ourselves at different places around the arena to coach her as she rode.
As the class progressed, Mia and Patriot Lady proved to be a wonderful team. Mia sat up and really showed off that horse. I kept having to remind myself that this was only the third time that she had ever rode this horse. You couldn’t tell. In fact, I am pretty sure that she was riding that horse better than anyone else had ever ridden that horse. She had that little mare moving around the arena.
When they called the class, Ian, Amber and I met on the rail right in front of where Mia had parked Patriot Lady. I commented on the fact that Mia had that horse flying around the arena. Ian told me that when you show English, you are supposed to move the horse out like that. There was something else that I didn’t know before that night.
The judges started down the line of horses asking each horse to back. Mia had smartly parked Patriot Lady in the middle of the line. She had said that she was going to do that because it would help Patriot Lady to back straight. As the judges came closer, I started to get more nervous. It was at this time that Ian informed me that she was technically supposed to back her out of the line-up. The three steps was probably not enough. I was now more nervous about my horse backing than sending a seven year old in a class on a horse that she was riding for the third time. When the judges stopped in front of Mia, Amber, Ian and I held our breath. The judge asked Mia to back her horse. Mia calmly asked Patriot Lady to back and that little horse went straight back and out of the line-up. Loud cheers came from all over the arena. It was funny. I am sure people were wondering why we were cheering for a backing horse, but if they only knew that she had taught that horse to back minutes before the class, they probably would have understood.
Mia placed 6th in the class. I couldn’t have been more proud of her and my horse. I told Mia that she could ride Patriot Lady any time that she wanted to because it was obvious that Patriot Lady loves Mia. Actually, I am pretty sure that any horse that Mia rides loves that little girl.

Mia Walker came down to her first Ava Celebration this year to show in the youth classes. Mia shows in the Kansas City area with us and everyone in our circuit know the cute little blond seven year old who rides way beyond her years. Mia shows Walking Horses, but this year we got her on her first fox trotter. She rides the fox trotters just as well as she ridess those Walking Horses.

Chris and Janice Patterson offered to let Mia ride their horse, Yo Murphy, at the beginning of this show season. Mia went out and practiced on Yo with the help of Lane Patterson. The combination of Yo and Mia have produced a lot of blue ribbons in the Pony Express Horse Show Circuit. The Pattersons thought that Mia was doing so well that they offered to let her ride Yo at this year’s Celebration.

We arrived in Ava on Friday evening. After getting settled, we took Mia around to see the grounds for the first time. When I asked her what she thought of the show grounds, she immediately said, “AWESOME!” We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning showing her around and introducing her to the many people of the MFTHBA.

She had her first classes last night. She rode in both Youth Equitation and the Eleven and Under Youth classes. As Mia was riding Yo around the arena during the Youth Equitation class, many people along the rail commented on what a good rider she was. For those of us from Kansas City, this wasn’t anything new to us. Although Mia didn’t place in that class, she impressed so many people. Several times throughout the evening we heard about the little girl in the pink and what a good rider she was.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see her ride in the Youth Eleven and Under class because I was sitting down in the warm-up arena waiting for my class, but a number of people told me that she had a good ride. She placed seventh in the class and is looking forward to coming back on Friday to ride in the championship class.

When I talked to Mia later that night, she was really happy with her ride. She told me that she had a lot of fun riding and when I asked her what she thought of showing at Ava, she said, “It was different riding out there because the arena is really big.” She was already talking about her classes for the next night.

Tonight Mia will be riding Yo in two classes, the Youth Novice and the Youth Limited. She is also going to ride in the Youth English class. She is especially excited for that class. Because of her Walking Horse background, riding English is her favorite way to ride. Since Yo will already be in two classes, she is going to ride my senior mare. She practiced on her today and they make a great team too. I am really anxious to see them go tonight. This will only be her second time riding my mare, but I have a feeling that it is going to be another winning combination.

She is having a great time down here. In fact, she is having so much fun that she is trying to convince her parents that she doesn’t really need to go back to school this week. She would prefer to just stay down here for the show. Unfortunately for Mia, I think that is one that she is not going to win. I have a feeling though that we will be seeing Mia around the Ava showgrounds for many years to come.

On Friday afternoon, my sister picked me up from school, we met up with our friends, the Walkers, and headed south to Ava, Missouri. Because of the timing, we hit all of the “lake traffic,” which typically drives me crazy, but there wasn’t anything that would bother me on this trip.
When we finally made it to the show grounds, we spent some time getting the Walkers set up in our extra trailer. (Bringing multiple horse trailers to Ava was actually paying off. J) After that it was off to show them the show grounds. Shannon and Ian came down to cheer me on at the Futurity in June, but their daughter, Mia, was attending her first Celebration. She was so excited to see the grounds and ride around in the golf cart. The evening was filled with catching up with friends, relaxing and getting ready for the week ahead. With all of the fun, I think that I finally crawled into bed around four in the morning.
Saturday was filled with more of the same. The many golf carts that lined the front of the show grounds when we arrived on Friday evening, quickly disappeared as more and more people arrived throughout the day. The excitement of Ava was building.
Twenty of us from the Kansas City Regional Fox Trotting Horse Association invaded the Ava Pizza Hut for dinner on Saturday night. Thankfully the Pizza Hut took it in stride. We had a great time. It is probably a good thing that they had us in a private room, because I am sure that all of the laughter was pretty loud.
With the heat, we decided that it would be best to ride that evening. I guess everyone else had the same idea, because when the sun went down the main arena quickly filled up. I sat on the rail watching Mia navigate the main arena for the first time and trying to help my sister prepare her horse for the week ahead. There were many youth riders out getting ready for the Sunday evening classes and they were a lot of fun to watch.
Around midnight, I took my three year old out to ride. I was pretty nervous because I had only been on her one other time since she had gone to training. As I went around the arena, I gained more and more confidence as David had me make small corrections and told me that I was doing well. I know that I still have a lot of work to do, but my confidence level definitely was increasing as I rode. After the ride, I decided I felt confident enough to take her in a class on Sunday night.
This morning our family woke up early and hosted our fourth annual pancake breakfast for the KCRFTHA and friends from the MFTHBA. We had a great turnout. It was fun listening to Johnnie Miller tell stories from past shows, along with so many other stories from other people. This is always a highlight of our week as we like to thank those people who have supported us throughout the year.
All of the preparation time is over, it is time to get this Celebration started. We have had a lot of late night and early mornings, but we are all running on pure adrenaline now as the Celebration starts tonight. We can all rest when we get back home, right?

     It finally hit me this weekend that we are leaving for Ava on Friday! Where has the time gone? I have been busy riding, showing, helping put on the KCRFTHA 33rd annual show, enjoying time out on our boat with family and friends, and starting back to school for my 16th year of teaching 7th graders. I guess doing all of that will do it to you. Even though I have so much still to do, I can’t wait for Friday to get here!
     It takes a lot to get my family and our four horses to Ava. We actually started the process on Sunday. The five of us loaded up my parents living quarters’ trailer and headed to Ava. Amusingly, there wasn’t a single horse in the trailer. It was full of all of the other necessities of Ava: a golf cart, giant fan to combat the heat, shavings, buckets, etc.
     When we arrived at the show grounds, there were a few trailers already there and set up, but as we proceeded to set our trailer up quite a few more pulled in. This was the first time that I had been able to come down early to bring the trailer. I was amazed at the number of trailers that were there and I even spotted lawn chairs already lining the top of the bleachers. Somebody definitely arrived early to claim their spot for watching the show.
We spent the next couple of hours, setting up the trailer and doing a little maintenance work at our stalls. It is a running joke with my sister, Amber Wilson, and me that our mother’s favorite place is Wal-Mart. It is a given that she will make at least one trip to Wal-Mart every day that we are in Ava. We weren’t even there an hour before we were off to the Ava Wal-Mart for a longer hose to use at our stalls.
     After several hours, we finally had as much accomplished as we could and it was time to head back to Kansas City. My husband, Shawn, Amber and I made a short pit stop in Ash Grove, Missouri, to see my three-year-old. For the past month and a half, she has been in training at Milestone Stables with David Ogle. (I rode her in the Amateur Owned and Trained division at the Futurity, but quickly realized she needed more than my limited knowledge.) It is amazing what these trainers are able to do in such a short amount of time. I had the opportunity to ride her and all three of us were extremely pleased with her progress. That just made me even more excited to get to Ava than I was before!
     There are so many things that I am looking forward to. As always, the Celebration is the best place to see old friends and make new ones. I am excited that some of our good friends from the UPWHA world are going to join us at the Celebration this year. Ian and Shannon Walker, friends of ours through the Pony Express Horse Show Circuit in Kansas City, are bringing their seven year old daughter, Mia, to show a fox trotter at her first Celebration. Like so many people, I am excited to see the Clydesdales. I could go on and on, but I probably need to actually go and get ready to leave. There are still so many things that need to be done before Friday.