Pair Pace

I had no real idea what a pair pace was when my sister invited me to witness one... she invites me to all her horsey events, but I can't usually go. Well, I thought it was high time I made another event. It turns out that his was really good one to go to, as this is the sort of equestrian competition that I'd like to do.

So, what is a pair pace? Well, you take a pair of horses and riders, as above, and the riders then ride a course of cross country jumping. There is an ideal time listed for four different paces, and you win by getting the closest time to ideal in the pace that you pre-select. I think I have that right...

My sister and her partner did a little too well, riding far too fast for their pace... they could have won the fastest. They rode well, though, and their four-legged team mates delivered very good performances. I thought that Vanya, the cestnut in the lead there, did exceptionally well considering his advanced age: he was my horse when I was a kid. Today, he belongs to my sister and she has made him far more than I could have ever hoped to do. I can ride a horse and know enough about them, but that's it. My sister is a master of equitation and the equine species in general. The other horse, Dudley, is an ex-race horse, so this was not that big a deal to him, or so it seemed. In fact, from this photo, it seems the rider had a harder time of it.

Both mounts and riders ended the course winded, wet in the case of the horses and glasses foggy in the case of the riders. Oh, did I mention that this event was a costume event? It's that time of year. I may be biased, but I really like the outfit that they used... I saw a few others that were pretty cool, including a cow, contruction, and gypsy-themed costumes... but CSI owned, I thought. Too bad the numbers covered so much of the riders' costumes.


Coolest part? Vanya still remembers me. I could not find the trailer that my sister had arrived with, so I walked the staging field and waited for a horse to look at me. It worked perfectly. Vanya had me pegged before I even saw him or my sister. I got to help get him ready (put cleats on his shoes) and cool him off... this photo shows the end of that... you can see he's tired... Also, I know what it looks like, but I am not holding his halter. Vanya is about the nicest and friendliest creature I've met, so a loose hand on the lead rope is all it takes... and that's if he's excited.

This was the end of a very cool weekend for me. I got to shoot, go to Phantom Canyon Brewing Co. with friends, have a great bike ride, and hang out a bit with my sister and an old four-legged friend. Not bad. Eh, I'm blathering... this post is all about the pictures anyway.