Gymkarna - Girl's First Horse Competition

Mother's Day Sunday was spent as a family enjoying our first horse competition. We have been taking lessons for a little over a month, and the competition is really just a chance to spend family time together enjoying the horses. Gymkana is a sports day type event with horses. There were multiple races with Kevin or I holding the lead rein, and the girl's rode a different horse for each race.

Pole Weave ~ in this race the girls had to weave their horse in & out of the poles

Do you see that confident look on her face...
Brittney's turn...
Brittney was riding Marco & he wasn't too impressed with Kevin's lead rein skill. He kept biting Kevin during the race...
Cup Race ~ while trotting, the girls had to grab a cup on one pole then place the cup on the next pole

Flag Race ~ the girls would collect a flag at one end, trot to other end & place it in cone while continually moving, then repeat

For this race, Sophie rode Rupert & based on his size she had a bit of an advantage don't you think... BUT let me say she had great hand/eye coordination & dad kept Rupert at a steady pace.Look at how tall & strong Brittney is sitting on this horse. She looks really good when she rides & very comfortable!

Sack Race ~ the girls will trot on the horse through 2/3rds of course & finish via the sack. I took over the lead rein on this race so that Kevin could get some much deserved rest.

Potato Race ~ the girls will collect a potato that has been placed on top of a drum at one end , trot to the other end & drop it in a bucket at next end, then repeat. I was 'scheduled' to run this race with the girls. It was starting to get much windier & cooler, but we are still having a ton of fun!

Do you notice on the picture above that Sophie's right hand is free (she is holding the reins in her left hand). That is so she can pick up the potato, but the only problem this time...mom was actually running half way fast & Sophie had started to get a little too comfortable with this race. She fell of the horse half way through (we were in first at that point) - quite a few tears were shed, BUT she got back on that horse & finished the race. I was so proud of her for that.

After Sophie's fall, I really needed a rest so Kevin ran the last race with Brittney. Brittney did excellent - she came in first. She has excellent hand/eye coordination & is very comfortable on the horse. She was able to maneuver the course with skill & handle her horse with confidence. She definitely deserves to be proud (mom & dad were so proud of her!)

In the end, we had a blast! The girls did fabulous. They collected a rosette for each race they were in which is really good considering they have been riding for such a short time (and no, everyone did not get a rosette; the rider had to actually place in the top 4 to get a rosette). Excellent day!