Riding in the rain

Of course, one of the most important horse shows of the 4H show season is also one of the rainiest. It's actually an urban legend/joke in 4H that either the Round-Up show or Districts show is going to be rainy. I've had my fair share of riding a class in a downpour, with mud up to your kees, and I'm more than happy to see the next generations of 4H-ers suffer through the same.

For my readers who aren't familiar with 4H, it's an organization with many agricultural branches, for kids. We participate in the horse 4H, but there's all kinds of livestock divisions. All summer long, the kids compete against other 4H members of the county at the county fairgrounds. At Round-Up, they compete against the same kids, but only the top 5 winners are allowed to advance to the Districts competition. At Districts, the top 5 winners in each of the 5 surrounding counties compete against each other. The top 3 then move on to the States competition. It's a big accomplishment to qualify for States, and even bigger to win Champion or Reserve Champion in the State.

So naturally it doesn't rain at any of the summer shows, but as soon as the kids compete in an important qualifying show, the skies open. Since they HAVE to compete to qualify for States, they have no choice but to ride in the rain and mud. Fortunately, before one of our kids was about to go into the ring, they had to clean up the jumps that were set up for classes before her. The dark thunderstorm that was hanging about in the distance chose that moment to hit, giving everyone a chance to run for shelter and forcing the show to a stop until it was over. She got lucky. (I've had to ride in a downpour by myself before.)

Still, even though they didn't have to ride in the rain, the outdoor ring was pure muck. The mud was almost up to the horses' knees, and everyone was having a hard time moving consistently. Both the horse and rider were covered in mud when they were done.

As atrocious as the ring conditions were, both girls from our barn had great rides, and we will be heading to Harrisburg for the States competition at the end of October. The rain legend continues, and maybe one of these years we'll buy proper rain gear.