Sherlock’s First Show

In 1989 Bill, Lynda Southam, Dave and Virginia Bint and I took Sherlock to his first dressage schooling show. Sherlock was born in 1981 and raced into his seventh year. I bought him in the early summer of his eighth year. I was told (discretely) by someone at the farm where I bought Sherlock that he’d been gelded shortly after arriving at the farm the previous year.

Lynda Southam had a few horses at the farm. She realized that going to a show just might bring on an “Oh, my GOD, I’m at a race track and I have to RUN!!!!” flashback to Sherlock (racing name: Arrived Alive). At one point we had to go through two gates to get to the warm-up area. Those gates sealed the deal for Sherlock. He was convinced he was heading to the track. Lynda held on and I stayed on.

There’s a bit of a story about me getting on him that day. He wouldn’t stand still and this 16.1 ½ hand high horse was approaching 18.3 hh. Dave Bint gave me a leg up and WHOOSH! I almost landed on the ground…on the other side of Sherlock. Somehow I was able to grab some bits of the saddle as I flew over it and managed to get into it. I think our dressage score was posted as “43.” I checked the math and “43” was incorrect. Lynda said, “ALWAYS check the math!” My real score was a hard won “48.”