Cob Jockey

I am slammed with work, but I can't wait any longer to get at least THIS post out. I can't stop thinking about Disco after last weekend.

(Also, I'm not the only one experiencing issues with photos not showing up in RSS feeds, so if you want to see a pile of cute Disco pictures, you'll need to click through to the post. Sorry for the inconvenience!)

Almost all photos in this post courtesy of Leah

He was absolutely amazing.

Ponies screaming on every side of him, and this is his reaction

It was my first time really getting to spend a lot of time with him, and my first chance to get extended 1:1 time with him, and I could not have been more impressed. His attitude toward new things is "Sure!" I mean look how chill he was in the first moments he was ever in a show ring:

"They're looking at me? Neat."

I only saw him spook once the whole weekend despite this being his first time off the property. Really, it's not even fair to call it a spook, he just startled at a trailer driving by as we gave him a bath in the dark.

Leah holding Disco for his bath. In the dark. At a new place. With a thunderstorm on the horizon.

When you're showing babies at breed shows, it's always a crapshoot what will happen. Sometimes they don't trot in-hand. Sometimes they go up on their hind legs. Sometimes they get "over it" quickly and won't stand still the rest of the day. Sometimes they get loose.

Disco? Disco was just perfect. Honestly all three babies we brought this year were almost perfect.

Waiting at the in-gate with his momma

He led all around the complex and trotted in-hand like a pro. The only bobble we had was when we he mis-read my intentions on going around the judge's table and as Leah put it, he zigged when he should've zagged.

He ended up being in the ring for probably a total of 5 or 6 classes over a couple of hours between him, his mom, and the Get of Sire and Produce of Dam classes. The first class he got judged in was a stout 2 and under Section C/D colts class, with three of Lisa's ponies plus a couple other nice ponies in it. 

Like, I know this colt is really nice, but up until this show I wasn't sure if I was being a homer about it or not. But under both judges he won his 2 and under class. And then he won the Section C/D championship (all ages/all sexes but just Section C/D Welsh) under both judges as well.

As we were walking out of that class, one of the judges said, "I breed Section D's, that is a VERY nice colt."

That made him eligible for the Supreme Championship, which takes the top two winners from the Section A, B, C/D Championships and crowns the best quality breedingstock pony (geldings aren't eligible) of the entire show.

And.

My total childlike delight after he won the C/D Championship. I just could not believe he kept winning like that, especially with a total amateur handler like me.

He won. OMG. I was just in literal shock when they called my number.

Judge: "Will he be okay with this neck ribbon?" Felt good to confidently reply "Oh yeah he'll be fine"

He tried to eat it, that's about it.

Supreme was double judged as well, and the way they ran it, one judge walked through all the ponies and made her decision, and then the other judge did. 

The second judge had noticed Disco, who was closest to the judge's table, was getting fussy. She looked me in the eye and said, "I can see we're wearing his patience thin, I'm going to start judging at the other end." Subtext, as I understood it: "I like this colt, and I'm going to give you every opportunity to show him well that I can, so see if you can get him settled before I get to you."

Me trying to distract him in a different class

I'll never know if she thought the other pony was actually better or if it just showed better than my fussy baby, but she ended up pinning him Reserve, for Disco's only "loss" of the day. Hardly a loss though, since we got a second neck ribbon out of it!

"For me?!"

I asked Leah to take a picture with him and the judges, and while we were standing there they chatted with me. One said that is an incredibly nice colt, and said "We don't often pin weanlings for supreme," and the other asked his registered name, saying "I want to keep an eye on this guy."

If I wasn't thrilled enough about how he showed and placed, all the other little things meant so much. Seeing him stand in weird places while his mom got measured, get groomed, and hop on the trailer like he's been doing it his whole life just cemented the fact that this is the kind of brain I want.

Standing in the picnic area while mom gets measured like nbd

When he loaded up to go home on Friday night, I definitely felt a little bit sad. I enjoyed spending time with him so much, and really can't wait to have him at home. Sounds like he'll be coming home the first weekend of November!