Independent Shagya Breeders

This is the first time I have entered back into the show ring with a horse after many many years ... lots has taken place 
throughout these past ten years of my life but now we are progressing in weekly lessons.  So here was the way it went for
the weekend:

First rule: Stay on the horse (funny but true since our weather this time of year in central WI is high 50's and low 60's and 
                 they tend to be pretty frisky)

2nd rule: Have fun

3rd rule: If you screw up just walk until you gain your composure (remember this is a "schooling" show).

4th rule: Your horse is your prize, not the stupid ribbon!   This rule surely takes me back to my childhood days and my dad,
               who would be well over 100 today.  Very wise man of integrity.  He always told me that it was not about winning 
               but more about losing with grace.  He also said that the prize was taking your horse home and just having fun.



What is interesting about the fourth rule is that when I was 19 years old I quit showing because it started to become about 
"winning and how much money you had to buy that push button horse.  I had a beautiful little quarter horse mare that we 
bought for $600 at the time and I had a lady train her for me.  I didn’t know the first thing about what a canter lead was or
even how to get it to happen.  But thankfully, and yes I do say thankfully I did not come from money nor does it exist in 
abundance today.  When a high school classmate whose parents had the money to buy that push button horse took a second 
place and then started screaming at the judge because of it, I just looked at my dad and said, "I think this is very sad.  
Maybe I will just stick with my trail riding.”   To say the least we were quite embarrassed to even be sitting next to them 
with their fancy rig and push button horse and fancy clothes … by our little home made trailer.  It was the last show that I 
took my horse to and a few years later, due to other things in my life, I sold her.  

    Ah yes trail riding... the ultimate in a well trained horse though people who just go round and round in a ring be it 
western or english sometimes tend to look down  at those of us who have a passion for trail riding.  But now that I am a 
widow of four years, I can see how I was prepared for the spot that I am in today being alone....all those miles by myself
with just me and my horse! And then finally a nationally known western trainer said at a huge expo "trail riders benefit more
learning dressage than dressage riders who just go around in circles"!!  YES FINALLY SOMEONE RECOGNIZED IT AS HE WAS
DOING FLYING LEAD CHANGES AND HALF PASSES WITH HIS WESTERN HORSE!



    So we enter into the first Intro class and amazingly not even nervous.  This seemed very odd for me to say the least but 
I just kept saying to myself we are promoting the breed and having fun.  We had some issues with the bend and some 
straightness, but that's okay because this is just about having fun. I don’t think people realize how hard it really is to make
a horse go perfectly straight down a centerline.  You know when you live alone and have all the work to do with a little farm,
plus a full time job, it's not like you can just come home and jump on a horse!!   In saying that this same nationally known 
western trainer also said, “if you have had a bad day at work, don’t come home and expect your horse to respond to your 
attitude and tenseness.  Always know when it is safe with your own attitude to get on a horse.”  I have never forgotten that
message when I go out to work around the horses even if it is just to do chores.

    The next Intro class was not as good as I would have liked but I did the class, had fun and the rest was a bonus.  I almost
found myself starting to giggle because I just couldn’t “get it together” and of course this was right in front of the judge.
Now I would have to say that is what I call having fun!  If a person cannot laugh at themselves and their mistakes, then life
is just way too serious.

BUT ALAS WAIT !!!  THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE WEEKEND FROM THIS LITTLE BACK YARD HORSE OWNER WITH A TIGHT
BUDGET!!!!  

WHAT???? 

PROMOTE THE SHAGYA BREED!!!  Yes indeed just a little backyard horse owner like me who goes to weekly lessons, 
practices when I can and gets out on the trail. Nothing fancy, nothing big, just Lily Creek Ciara and me!!

    Well let me tell you the judge (who likes and has raised arab crosses) loved this mare.  He said "this is a very lovely mare
with incredible movement who is waiting for you to give her direction"!!  At the end of the second test he asked what the 
history of the horse was and I told him I would let him know Sunday ... so that I had it correct. 

    SUNDAY:  a day of clinics and individual riding lessons with the same judge. I forgot how hard he made us work and the 
excuses that he did not want to hear.  I would have to say it has probably been ten years since I rode a clinic with him.   He
was very respectful and came to where you and your horse were, and not where he thought you should be.  Awesome!  
Another new concept in the horse world!!  The day before he told me it was nice to still see me riding and then he said, “you
know a lot of those big well known trainers and clinicians don’t want to work with people like what is here today because 
they don’t understand the passion of the backyard horse owner and how hard they work, trying to have fun with their horses
on tight budgets, work a full time job and just have fun doing it.  They seem to have this need to be around people with 
money or something stupid.    

    So of course we did work with getting a stronger leg to keep the bend and of course the work with those hands and half 
halts …. Oh my. Then we did some canter work and he said now sit there elegantly and let her carry you and think of the 
most beautiful thing and say it out loud …. So here goes:

“I LOVE THIS HORSE, I LOVE THIS HORSE.”  

    One of my former riding instructors was there and she said Ciara had great movement and then said "and you know that 
I don't tell very many people that!!"  He looked through my history book I had fromDonna about all the Shagyas and 
recognized many of the names etc.  He said at the end of my ride "this mare has just a lovely kind eye and I really like her."
I hope to be able to see the two of you next year.  I was blessed!

    SO a handful of people were exposed to the Shagya breed.  Perhaps some did not like her but that's 
okay because perhaps there are some breeds I am not fond of as well.  Isn't that true of all of us?
 
    So there you have it ... just because a person is not out there on those big circuits in the show worlds, jumping over 
fences or pounding out 25, 50 and 100 miles endurance rides does not mean that they cannot promote the breed.  One little
backyard horse owner as I have always been, exposed the Shagya breed to a number of people, who like me at one time 
never even heard of them!

     Just think what will happen next spring when Lily Creek Ciara presents her foal to the central Wisconsin area and my 
neighborhood and people stop to see it that I don't even know ... and say "what kind of horse is that??"  Now I know all 
Shagya owners have had that question asked of them.

     So this was a really big weekend for me and needless to say I am quite exhausted but had a great time.  Does falling 
asleep in the hot tub constitute being tired?  Good thing I wake up when it shuts off.  My riding instructor is in awe at the 
bonding that I have with this horse but isn't that just who they are!  I am blessed to have this Shagya mare!  Oh and by the
way, we did receive a 2nd place in each class.  

    And a big thank you to all you breeders out there for what you do and how you encourage little people like me to keep 
going!

    All the politics of breed issues goes out the window when you can just have fun and promote the breed.  That is truly 
what it is all about in my life!!   Like I always tell people “I don’t plan to go ride in the Olympics, but rather just have fun 
with my horses”