Teddy the Horse

By: My Granddaughter

Gabrielle Lodato 10 years old, AKA (The Gab)

6/23/08

Day: 1

Teddy is the horse I rode at horse camp.  He is the tallest horse there.  He is 16 hands tall.  Teddy is taller then the tallest horse there.  He is very handsome and also very nice.

When I first saw Teddy I was a bit scared.  I was scared of his height.  One of my instructors told me to bring out Teddy.  So I brought out Teddy and started to groom him and I then realized he was a very nice horse.  Then it was riding time.

I was not scared to ride because I rode a horse named China.  China and Teddy had a lot of things in common.  For instance, they are both the same kind of horse, they are both very nice, and they also enjoy oatmeal cookies, they both like to roll in poop, and lastly they both need baths often because of the poop.  China was just like Teddy.  The only thing different is that China is older then Teddy and smaller then him too.  That is what China was like.

While I was riding Teddy I thought Teddy is a good horse.  Then we did a pattern with our horses.  It was really fun.  We did it a couple of more times.  Then riding time was over.

Then we went to our next station.  Our next station was to scrub the extra-large water bucket in the pasture.  The bucket was really dirty.  I mean dirty. After doing that we filled up the water bucket and moved on to our next station.

We did showmanship. It was fun doing showmanship.  We did patterns like the one we did while riding.  Matter of fact it was about the same pattern. It was different because you zig-zagged. I loved doing showmanship.

Then it was time to go upstairs and write about our day.  I wrote quite a lot.  I wrote a lot because I love to also write.  Then when we were done we would take our things and go.

                                That was just the first day.

A Busy Day

6/24/08

Day: 2

We came in, went upstairs and unpacked.  We settled in a bit and then went downstairs.  When we arrived downstairs we went to the stall our horse was in and we brought out our horse to groom it.  Except our younger sister and our friend Kalley rode first and then we groomed our horses.  When we were done grooming we started petting each other horses.

Then it was time for our group to ride. We walked a bit. Then one of girl’s brother came and watched us ride.  A couple of minutes after he left we started to trot.  We enjoyed trotting very much.

Before riding we were learning about what horses use.  We learned about the saddles.  (Even though I already knew the types of saddles)  The types of saddles are English and Western. 

Then we learned about bridles.  We learned that an English bridle has the reins put together.  We also learned that a Western bridle has the reins apart.  We found out that if you use a Western bridle you can knot it or tie it if you want it put together.

When we were done we cleaned and filled buckets while the other group was doing showmanship.  It was fun.

Then it was our turn and this time we were trotting. Teddy did really well. So did the rest of the group.  I loved doing showmanship.

Then we went upstairs.  We filled out what we did today.  Then while waiting for our parents we played hangman. 

Then our parents came so we took our things and left.

That was just day two

6/25/08

Getting Ready For Competition

Day: 3

Today we arrived went upstairs and unpacked.  We settled a couple of minutes and then we came downstairs.  We did what we usually do.  We would bring our horse out of our stall.  Then we would groom our horse and pet the other horses. 

Then we walked the horses Teddy, China, and Dreamer into the arena.  We would wait to all the horses were in the arena and then we would climb on and wait a couple of seconds.  We walked a couple of times around the arena.  Then it was time to trot.  I loved to trot with Teddy especially while training for the competition on Friday.

After it was time for the other group to ride.  Meanwhile Miss. Allison told us we would lounge Nightlight.  We did a quick brush over Nightlight and then we put his lead rope on and then we brought him down to the round pen.  Nightlight did really good but, when it was my turn he was so tired that Miss. Allison said that I could wash him off.

While waiting we all had lunch.  While having lunch, one of the mean horses (Friday) became sick.  It turned out that she had the hives and a bad stomachache.  Then someone told us that she would be fine.  So then we continued to finish our movie.

Before showmanship we had a little competition with water and I won.  It was so cool.  Brianna one of my sisters came in second.  I don’t know about the others.

Then we did real showmanship. It was basically the same thing as the patterns.  I thought it was very cool.  We were basically doing trotting the whole time.  I loved to trot in showmanship.

Then we went inside.  Of course we went upstairs to write in our journal.  It was fun.  When we were done we would wait for our parents to come.  When our parents came we would gather our things and say good-bye to our horse and leave.

Practice Show

6/26/08

Day: 4

We came in as usual but, things were a little different we asked Miss Cindy what we were doing today.  She told us that we would ride, clean stalls, and play a game that we would not know of.  When we went upstairs Miss Cindy’s daughter told us what game we would play.  Then we waited to come down.  It was funny.

Then we rode our horses.  It was basically the same thing as what we did all week.  We would a couple of laps.  Then we would trot.  We would trot about five laps.   Then we would walk and then stop.

We brought our horses back in the wash rack.  Then we would take the saddle, the saddle pad, and their reins off.  We would do a quick over brush and fly spray them.  We would then wait for our instructors to tell us to walk our horses back into their stalls.  After that we went upstairs to play the game.

The game was called horse-opoly.  I was the western saddle since I rode western.  We all had a good time doing the game.  I was in about second or third place.  30 min. later we went downstairs to do showmanship again.

When we did showmanship things were a little bit different.  It was different because it wasn’t the day of our show and parents came to watch.  We did patterns and trotted in front of our parents.  Then we walked around the arena.  Then showmanship was over. 

So when we went inside we were just told to bring nothing.  We were just told to leave our horses in the wash rack.  We all couldn’t wait for tomorrow.  We all said good luck.  Then we left.

Horse Show

6/27/08

Day: 5

We all came in and went right upstairs.  No one unpacked except for us.  My dad wanted us to bring only drinks.  We were all excited.  All we kept saying was good luck, good luck, good luck, and good luck.

We all went into the work where the game board was still laid out.  We all went to finish where we started before.  Then, Miss Cindy told us that we were taking two tests.  The first test was hard.  In other words we managed to make it through and go downstairs for the next test.

The next test was to get out our horses and brush them.  Even though it doesn’t seem like a test, our instructors graded us with the papers that they had in their hands.  So we hooked them up them up.  The hard part was to brush better then you have done all week. Then, you get graded on it.  After it was time to ride.

Cameron thought that we were going to ride in the show but, Miss Kristen told her that the horses were cranky so we were going to ride them now.  We had a good time riding.  We walked, stopped, trotted, and did patterns.  It was the same thing we did all week.  We then stopped and got off.

We went upstairs to have lunch and play horse-opoly.  We were so nervous.  We saw everyone coming to watch us.  We were all laughing so hard that Brianna blew her drink on one of the instructors.  Then it was time to go downstairs.

We walked out with our horses.  We listened to the pattern we were supposed to do and we did it.  After, we walked down by the crowd.  We went down by the railing and told the crowd our horses show name.  My horses show name was Theodore Sunday.  Then, Miss Kristen told the awards.  I won… Best walk, Riding (Best Poles), Most improved, and Most points in showmanship.

Then we took a couple of pictures inside.  I asked, “Do you want me to put Teddy in his stall?”  Then, Miss Kristen told me no.  I took a couple of pictures with Teddy.  Then, I said good-bye to Theodore Sunday.

6/27/08