Thursday, Friday and Saturday this past week there was a fun Fox Trotter Show at the Spanish Fork Utah Fair grounds. My friend Alma Demille called me and asked me if I intended to enter my horse "Tiger Lilly" in the Futurity competition as she was eligible to participate because of who her sire was. I told him I wasn't planning on it so he asked if he could enter her in the Futurity Western Pleasure Class. I told him that would be great and would love to have him ride her and work with her as Alma always improves a horse when he rides them. My schedule cleared up so I was able to attend the show and see the beautiful horses competing in different classes. I learned a great deal about what happens at a show and what the National club has outlined for what a show gait should look like. It was interesting indeed. It was fun to see horses perform the "Show Foxtrot" and also see other Fox Trotters perform a much less dramatic but extremely smooth old time foxtrot and various other smooth gaits. It is wonderful to see the same breed performing such different ways of moving. I love this breed of horses and love to see them move. At the very bottom of this post is a short video of one of the most famous Fox Trotter Stallions in the breed a stallion named Zane Grey. He is held up as one of the great ones and was known to have a very smooth and ground covering fox trot. This will not make my friends that are in love with the Show Foxtrot overly happy but the truth is Zane Grey is not doing a show Foxtrot he is doing a very smooth old time foxtrot. He won the World Championship not doing the modern day show foxtrot. For me the difference in the smoothness in the gait between the show foxtrot and the original old time foxtrot is quite significant. I am a fan of the old time Foxtrot not the show foxtrot personally. As you can see from the Video of Zane Grey it is a wonderful gait indeed.
I was excited that Tiger Lilly won 1st place in the Futurity Western Pleasure class for 4 years and older horses. She also took 2nd place in another trail class focused on the Flat Walk and the Foxtrot. A big Thank you to Alma and his daughter Amy for taking the time to enter Tiger Lilly and ride her in the competition. They both did a wonderful job. By the way she does the old style foxtrot beautifully. A few pictures below.
Live Advice: It is always good to try new things to shake things in life up a bit. It makes life more interesting and adds character and color to your life.
Horse Advice: Consider entering your horse in a show. Horses that can perform well on the trail many times will feel challenged in the arena. It is good for them and will stretch them to be a better horse.
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