SANTA BARBARA STORY

By Julia Goldman

The Santa Barbara IFSHA Regional Horse Show threw quite a few curve balls our direction, the first of which being that Janna and Ravello threw a shoe warming up for their first class--the second class of the entire show! Yes, the show was just getting underway when Janna heard Blu and me yell, in an alarmed tone, "Stop, STOP!!!! You threw a shoe!!!!!" Janna looked at us, her eyes got wide, her mouth dropped; her _expression looked as though she were waiting for a) "Just Kidding!"  or b) "Got 'cha!",  but unfortunately, we were not kidding. Janna jumped off Ravello to assess the damage. Well, it seemed that with the shoe flung to the ground about 15 feet away was half of Ravello's hoof. DARN! We rushed this confused and glamorous steed to the shoer. He tacked on the shoe with a whole bottle of filler's putty to help "recreate" the foot. Well, after holding the show up, getting yelled at repeatedly by show officials, and feeling rushed and embarrassed without proper warm up time, Janna climbed aboard to at least to qualify for her IFSHA regional championship. The farrier gave us his sympathy by saying, “Well, you will be lucky if it stays on the whole class, there is not any hoof for me to secure it on to." With this in mind, Janna trotted Ravello into the show arena. Poor Ravello lost his shoe AGAIN on the first pass, not even making it around the bend. There was a noticeable difference in Ravello's motion without his shoe. He also seemed not as bright because his hoof was sensitive when unprotected. Well, Janna sat up taller and rode Ravello the absolute minimum to qualify him for the final.  It is a shame because the pair had been looking forward to this class since Del Mar. Well, they placed second, which was not bad at all considering the mental headache that they endured during the warm up, AND class!

Ate fan Bartlehiem was quite the IFSHA champion at the Santa Barbara Show. Ate was called to the winner's circle 4 times!!!!!!! And also received one reserve IFSHA in-hand championship. Because Janna and I strive to broaden the fields of what we do... we decided to try In-Hand classes. Because we love a new challenge, which also comes with the feeling of uncertainty, the decision to enter Ate and Stormy in the Stallion, Gelding, and Baroque horse In-Hand classes was not a long hard decision we made while completing the normal entry form.... it was more of a:  "Hey, lets try In-Hand." (Janna) "Why not!?" (Me)..... and our horses never placed lower than Reserve as IFSHA Champions! Stormy, our test run, was the first to show in-hand. We ran Storm in, and can I say, he is truly an In-Hand Champion-at heart. He did not break gaits, (meaning, he did not canter), he stayed in the trot and was high stepping down the whole straight-away! Well, although we had him first in our heads, Stormy came in Reserve Gelding In-Hand Champion to a horse we sold, handled by a professional handler. Well, if a Friesian was to beat us, I guess it is better that is be one we sold!! For the Stallion class, Ate trotted in and stole the show. Ate is hard enough to handle in the cross ties, not to mention at a fast-paced trot running in front of him. During our second pass, after the judge's conformation inspection, Ate, being light at foot, cantered the whole rail, and with Janna running as fast as she could, sweat streaming from her forehead, and  not realizing Ate was not trotting. Well, I watched the Judge and after a horse broke gait, she stopped looking. Ate received Reserve in that class. Janna was upset because we soon came to realize, the horse NEEDS to stay in the trot. Well, we had a second run and a second chance with this boy, and we were determined to come out on top. Considering we have never done this before, although both entries received Reserve Championships which is not a bad gig, we strive for the best performance we are able to give, and we knew we could do better. The baroque class was our last chance to do some damage. Ate picked up the trot and with a simple "Wup Wup", and the horse was displaying a floating, hesitating trot the judge could not help but watch the whole straight-away. Had we done it? Could that have been the pass? We had our fingers crossed. As though it had been set in stone before the class had begun, Ate's number was asked to go to the winner's circle. Ate won, and not only against the nicest Stallions, but geldings, mares, AND beat the formerly approved stallion, Krist, as well!! He won the LARGEST In-Hand class at the show against all the genders, and HE came out on top. We were thrilled. Ate also did an incredible job in the under saddle classes. He went undefeated under saddle at this show, actually, he is undefeated under saddle with Janna in all his classes from Monterey, Woodside, Del Mar, and Santa Barbara combined! Ate is a star shining brightly in our stable. He is not easy, but once he gains your trust, he is ready to go to battle!!! At Santa Barbara, Ate won Hunt seat Pleasure, the qualifier AND grand championship.

Poor little Stormbucket did not have as easy of a show. Usually Stormy (Ronald Van De Zuitaward) is used to Blu showing him with a cart, which both "Ronald’s" enjoy greatly, and me, in the irons. Well, considering the show, "has a limited number of IFSHA recognized classes," or so we were told, and Apparently an IFSHA recognized Part-Breed dressage class with one entry is prized greater than a Friesian Working Singles class or Friesian Pleasure Driving class like Stormy won last year, Blu had no choice but to hop on the back of his driving pony. Blu faced two challenges: Two walk and Trot classes. One class Amateur, one class Open. Stormy does not have an easy head to keep set and that was the largest struggle for them in the show ring. Although Blu pulled it together very well, Stormy was being a little too testy, and considering Blu has not ridden a horse in quite a while, and Stormy does not like a rider who hangs on the bits ever so slightly, Blu had his work cut out for him. In his Amateur class, Blu placed second. We were really happy with his ride, and Blu was too. In the open class, a class of eight, Blu took fourth. The ribbons went as such: "(1)Trainer.....(2)Trainer.......(3)Trainer.....(4)Blu (Amateur). We were proud with his ride, he was he first amateur to ribbon. Translation: if this had been an Amateur class, he would have stolen the Blue Ribbon. He was happy with his ride.  Blu was a brave amateur to take on trainers that practice every day...Not too many Amateurs risk going into the show ring with that crowd. I, on the other hand, rode Stormy, but not in any old saddleseat open class. Stormy and I experimented in the English Show Hack. This class was a little bit different. Why? Well we were using a dressage saddle, not a saddleseat saddle, I was dressed in Dressage attire, not saddleseat attire, and the horse had different bits in his mouth. In other words, my saddleseat star was going in a dressage class. I rode him in a dressage saddle so he and I could get the feel of the saddle only THREE times before our debut. In English show hack, Stormy had to show nine gait changes: The normal walk, the collected walk, the extended walk, the normal trot, the collected trot, and the extended trot, the normal canter, the collected canter, and the extended canter and the hand gallop. Poor Stormy is just used to reverse and trot! My competition was a beautiful dressage Friesian with a mane that reached down to his knees. According to Janna it was close, and the blue ribbon could be awarded either way. Then all of the sudden, second direction the other horse, after being asked to return from the hand gallop to a normal canter, broke. It BROKE! Now we knew we had it, except the judge never looked over and saw the mistake. The horse trotted the entire corner, and the judge missed it! Darn. Now, we were back to where we started. I looked over at Janna from the line up where she returned my blank stair with a shrug. It was down to which horse the judge felt had better movement, conformation, and which horse showed a bigger difference in gaits. To my surprise, Stormy Seas was called to the winners circle. I was excited because, the horse and rider combination I was up against who trains her horse dressage every day, was taken down by my saddleseat boy and I who decided to try something different for about a week!

Ravello had his shoe tacked back on and was ready to show back in the championship. Unfortunately the judge tied the championship exactly as the qualifier. The horse that won had to be run into each canter lead, where Ravello picked his up FROM THE HALT with the touch of Janna's leg. I was riding Ferrari in the class and Janna was atop Ravello. We both felt our rides were reasonable; the horses did as they were asked, our boys had motion and good canter transitions but occasionally we have to let a class go. If the judge is going to tie the class exactly as the qualifier, which she did, it doesn't matter how nice a horse you bring into the class. We were happy, though, that Ravello's shoe stayed tacked to his foot. This was good news because it meant that I would be able to show Ravello in walk and trot! The first of two walk and trot classes I was to show Ravello in went smoothly.....well fairly smooth. Ravello walked in. Then the announcer asked us to pick up the trot. Ravello did no sweat. Then the walk again. Reverse. Walk. When the announcer asked us to pick up a trot second direction Ravello thought “line up” sounded better. He threw a tizzy fit which I tried to cover up. We made up for it with four VERY nice passes at the trot before “line up” was called. Ravello won! We made our victory pass and shot out. My other walk trot class, the open class, open to trainers, was a challenge. Ravello had already gone many times and he was tired. He made a great first direction but second direction he decided was “line-up time” again. He never worked into a solid trot second direction and we placed third. Considering the only people that beat us were trainers, I was fairly satisfied with my ride.

Black Sterling was Stunning!!!!!!! He not only stole the Western Pleasure Championship and Grand Championship, but he slaughtered his opponent [sorry Michael, we love our Sterling horse]. Janna was up against Michael Craighead, the Head trainer of Diamond Hills, a saddlebred farm in Livermore that is very well respected. Sterling was bright, alert, his head was set beautifully, and his transitions were so smoothly and carelessly taken that another color would not have done him justice. Sterling is hungry for the Blue ribbon. Sterling, now 13, knows more than any other Friesian at Black Sterling Friesians, how to show. He knows what a show is all about. He knows that after hours of washing, tail picking, and grooming that it is time to perform---and boy does he love it. Janna can't help but wear a smile from ear to ear when she is atop this beautiful Black steed. You ride him and you would understand. There is not much to Sterling that you can't help yourself falling in love with. We were proud that Sterling was sound and happy for both his classes, occasionally he will sour up after his first class, but he loves Black Sterling Domination, and he stayed bright and happy for the championship, which was less than 24 hours after his qualifier. Sterling's video clips say it all. He has mastered neck-reining, the proper way to steer the horse in western. He is the epitome of a winner! (He is our epitome of our perfect Friesian companion and ideal competitor!!!)

We try to bring a sale horse with us to each show to compete with. Delancy was the Black Sterling sale horse that got to travel to the lovely Santa Barbara and let the ocean breeze wave through his hair. He "won" the six night stay at the Santa Barbara County Fair Grounds, with trailering, and all flakes of hay included! Delancy became the Champion Hunt seat Pleasure Junior Horse and Champion Dressage Suitability Open Friesian. Delancy placed reserve in the Grand Championship Dressage Suitability class. Delancy performed outstandingly, especially due to not having much show experience under his belt before this IFSHA recognized Regional Championship Horse Show. We show sale horses to prove that many of our Friesians can enter the show ring, without previous experience, and win. Poor Delancy was tired as he had just recently been imported; he was in a new environment, being shown in the heat, with a stranger (to him) upon his back. Delancy was tired by his third class, the Dressage Suitability Grand Championship. When our rider, from Germany, showing Delancy hopped on him 7 classes beforehand, Janna told her to relax and put the horse away because he did not need that much warming up. The German girl insisted that she take the tired horse out into the hot sun for a long warm up. If the girl had simply not taken the horse into the warm up arena 5 classes before she needed to, and used up his energy, Delancy could have easily taken home the blue in his final event, as well. Even so, for such high demands, we were thrilled Delancy came through as strong as he did, winning two IFSHA Western Regional Championships, and taking Reserve in one!!

 Ferrari, THE BLACK FERRARI. If any horse was "jipped" of his classes, he would fall into the category for this show [in my opinion]. I showed Ferrari in three classes, getting third in each. That is not to say the horse gave a third-place level performance--not quite. Ferrari simply was not given the fairest of circumstances under which he showed. The amateur class, the class with Janna and Ravello, was placed as the qualifier. Ferrari was not in the qualifier, for an IFSHA Regional Championship class, it was not mandatory for the horse to go in the recognized qualifier to enter a championship class. We did not enter the qualifier; the championship was a last minute "go for it" idea. Our other two classes were Open classes. I screwed up the qualifier. Second direction the sun blinded my eyes and when I asked for the canter, I picked up the wrong lead….right in front of the judge! That mistake sat on my shoulder for the next two days straight. The Open Championship was a different story. Ferrari was SPECTACULAR!!!!!! That class was definitely my favorite class, in terms of me riding, at the show. Ferrari was throwing his legs so high I thought he may hit his face. We picked up the canter leads without difficulty! YAY for me!!!! Gosh that horse is fun. He knows when he is in the show ring, steps up to the plate, ears pricked forward, and he wants to do well, so badly. The worst that horse could do is anticipating the next gait.

The annoyance: PROTESTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, we had our share of complainers. Janna, Blu and I play by the rule book. In plain English, between morning and evening performances, we would hit the high road, take the BIG TRUCK back to the hodie and read the IFSHA rule book for entertainment. So there was a T.V. in our hotel, a pool, and Santa Barbara is a great place to take a run, but we used the free wireless internet service to re-read the rule book to assure ourselves we were in compliance with each rule down to the hoof length restrictions, whip length restrictions, and breathing restrictions--(okay, okay there are not any breathing restrictions…. YET!! But with all the crazy rules being approved by the somehow nominated IFSHA board, it may well be in next years issue!). Reading these rules may seem like a bore, but it was well worth it! Being in compliance with the rules not only means you are truly eligible and qualified to show, it means when an unhappy competitor, tired of defeat :), complains to the USEF show stewards, we do not get into trouble. This show, the USEF stewards encountered a competitor extremely upset over-----none other, than our bits! The stewards came over to our barn with a tape measure to ACTUALLY measure the lengths of our bits. Now there is not actually a rule about the legal length of the curb shank on a bridle in any class except western pleasure, but come next year, we will not be surprised if there happens to be a rule deciding shank length. Well, for everything this person came up with, we were clearly in compliance with the rule book. The look of satisfaction came over our faces. Moral: Don't throw out the rule book; it may come in handy occasionally.

Well, we are happy with the results from Santa Barbara. With ten blue ribbons in the bag, we cannot complain! At Black Sterling Friesians, we are all about challenges. We challenge ourselves to learn further by competing (and winning!!!) not only in Saddleseat, but in Western (Open –against other breeds and Friesian classes), Dressage, Show Hack, Hunt seat, In-Hand, Carriage: Turnout and Working, and Equitation. Versatility is what Friesians are all about, so we show our boys off! Also, winning in Dressage, Show Hack, and EVEN Hunt seat, allows us to fully understand what is required of a Friesian to show and do well in those categories. This backs up our reputation so that you know if we say a Friesian can compete in a variety of disciplines, YOU KNOW IT CAN!!!

 And it should be noted that we are FAMILY of amateurs, and I am just a 16 yr old junior exhibitor.  We are not the kind of people that just hire a professional trainer to do all the work for us, sitting back to write fat checks, and pack up the trophies…NOOOO. We are in the heat of competition OURSELVES; we are scrapers, do-it-yourselfers. You won’t see us sitting in the stands, just watching our horses with paid professional riders on their backs, or paid handlers. Noooo, you will see us in the ring ourselves, with our horses, even though we would probably have a better chance of winning if we employed a professional trainer to train and show our horses… that is not our philosophy. We are one of the only families we know of that are a family,  handling our own horses, training and showing them ourselves, and we are proud if it, as it makes our successes that much more meaningful!!!