Horses cantering in the park

The notice on Facebook read “Horse Schooling” at Brandi Fenton Park. Well, I know very little about horses and horse shows but guessed that the event was about highly trained horses neatly prancing around showing their steps. I think of it as a very British kind of horse show.

The FB ad was sponsored by a Southern Arizona Appaloosa group, however, which caught my attention. I spent some years living in Eastern Washington where the Appaloosa breed is popular.

So I went to see Horse Schooling…but, sadly, it turned out that there were no Appaloosas. The photo to the left came from Creative Commons, not from the show at Brandi Fenton Park.

So here is what I saw on Saturday morning starting behind the scenes in the parking lot where owners and helpers groomed the horses.

Then came the actual show. There were two horses that caught my eye. The first was called “Motion Sensation” I love her braided mane. She is a Painted horse or maybe a Pinto but not a spotted Appaloosa.

Then there was “Sally”, a golden color Palomino with a dark mane. When I took this photo her rider said apologetically that she was wearing non-conforming boots for this type of event. They’re good Western boots, not English riding boots.

And presiding over all the horses and riders was the Ring Steward, who definitely looked western, rather than English. He made decisions in 10 categories where horse had to walk, trot, canter, stop and back up. Some horses and riders entered in more than one event so almost every horse was a winner.

Meanwhile the Professional Rodeo is in town beginning its months’ long circuit around the U.S. It’s been chilly in the mornings, but by the time the barrel racers–often riding Appaloosas–enter the rodeo ring, the temperature has been in the 70s. That’s February in Tucson for you.