Art's a Breadwinner!

Art is finally contributing to the pot with his 2nd place finish at the Futurity. We came in 1st under one judge and 2nd under the other two. We came away with about $270 and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I was actually the reason we didn’t win (of course) as I got nervous through the back through and wouldn’t let Art do it himself, even though he was on auto pilot. I stopped him and tried to inch our way around the “L” which caused him to spread his back legs and tick a pole. Otherwise, he was absolutely perfect. The rest of the show went as well if not better as we came away with several wins and 24 more points.
So Art has a big lead for the Ultimate SPB Yearling award and we only need two more judges to qualify (you need to show under no less than 10 judges to qualify for the award). So that means either the November show or the December show. I think it might just be November since December, though a really big prestigious show, is pretty darn cold that time of year – plus it’s ran during the week. Not good for us working people.
I’m also starting to think about Art’s schedule for under saddle training. I will be starting to throw a saddle & pad on him to get him used to the feel and weight as well as start driving him on and off the property. I don’t see me stepping aboard until after the first of the year. I’m excited to see him under saddle – he is really a special horse and I just know he is going to be something else. I was originally going to use my tax refund next year to put him into training for 60-90 days, but I’m thinking that I most likely will put that into savings or buy a good 2 horse trailer, plus I really want to keep things slow and simple and I know that I can start him without blowing his mind. I will start him with the thought that his first real show won’t be until the September 2009 futurity. Of course I will take him to open shows to walk around and enter here and there, but nothing to stressful.
Art is too dang cool!