Every Girl Needs a Horse Show Dad
April 3, 2008
This is one of my most favorite pictures in the whole world. I love it for three reasons:
- I was a darn cute, sweet 11-year-old
- That was my first tail braid ever for a show and it totally rocked
- And that’s my non-horsey horse show dad cheesin’ it in the background.
Not only was I fortunate enough to have a decidely horsey mother who taught me almost everything I know and coached, groomed, and paid for all those horse shows–I had a dad who tagged along and helped in his own way.
I remember one Christmas my sisters and I bought him a t-shirt that read “Horse Show Dad: It’s not just a job. It’s an adventure.” I would imagine that he agrees with that assessment after putting up with all us girls at shows.
While mom was running around wiping off boots, braiding hair, polishing hooves, and worrying about being ready in time, dad was driving the horse trailer, serving as a hitching post, buying food, and checking to make sure we were on the right diagonal or lead. Oh, and he was the one snapping photos and filming performances. I actually think this may be the only photo we have of dad at a horse show, despite the fact that he came to every single one of them. (Well, almost. He always missed the 4-H District show because of his Lobster Classic golf tournament. But who can really blame him for missing one show a year for lobster?)
He was always excited and proud when I won and disappointed if I lost (and he didn’t think it was deserved). And he always knew which riders had missed their trot diagonals or canter leads or heaven forbid, didn’t have their heels down.
We didn’t have our own trailer, so in order to use the one where we boarded our horses (and pretty much lived for summers on end) dad would go out and brush hog the pastures in return for the use of the truck and trailer. And it’s a darn good thing we had him to drive that trailer. Mom probably would have had a melt-down if she had to do it. And me? I was only 12. I wasn’t driving us anywhere.
We showed a lot of 4-H, with at least four county shows every summer. We always went and stayed overnight in a camper at the fairgrounds so we could ride in the show ring the night before the competition. There was this little ice cream and burger joint down the road. Every Friday after Smoke and I had a terrible night-before-the-show ride (bad dress rehearsal, good performance, right?) Dad would take us to Forbes for buffalo (literally) burgers, fries, and the best soft ice cream in the world.
Several years in a row I qualified for the State 4-H horse show, a 4-day competition held at the Pennsylvania State Farm Show grounds (many large hunter/jumper shows are held there too). Besides having to go ride at all hours of the night in order to get some time in the stadium ring, Dad would be at the show all day. Sitting in the stands, keeping all of us crazy, nervous women/girls calm, making sure we had something to eat.
I’m fortunate to have supportive parents who were both there every step of the way. I am especially fortunate to have had a dad who took great care of me at all those horse shows. Every girl needs a horse show dad!
Now that I’m all grown up, I think I need to start training me a horse show husband…
Posted in Jackie's Thoughts, Riding and showing, Women and Horses
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Nice post…….cool, dedicated parents…….very lucky and loved you……
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
You’re so young! That’s a great photo.
The best way to make a horse show dad is to have a daughter who has friends who have boyfriends….. Dads are scared of boyfriends.
The other way is to have lobsters and beer in your horse trailer. I know that would work here, but I’m not sure how to do it.
Great post.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Callie - Thanks! Yep, definitely dedicated parents. What I didn’t mention in this particular post is that my grandparents also came to every horse show. What a family!
Anne - I’ll have to keep those tips in mind (and hope my hubby doesn’t read the comments section. May be more effective if he’s unaware).
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Wow, that is a great job of braiding. My first time was nowhere near that good. Who am I kidding my braiding isn’t that good now.
It’s cool that your parents were so supportive. You’re very lucky.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
You are a lucky girl to have such a supportive family, but you were so cute in that photo how could they resist. Now it’s time to get hubby to all the shows to polish boots and hooves, and groom and braid…
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
RisingRainbow - I was taught to be a perfectionist by a perfectionist. Not to mention I’m a typical Type A oldest child. I wasn’t accepting a tail braid that wasn’t perfect. It’s sure been fun to be able to do it well, but it did take a lot of work to learn. If you were on this side of the country, I’d come do it for you.
GreyHorseMatters - as my hubby likes to say … “You used to be so cute. What happened?” He already has the diagonal, lead, and heels down figured out, now I just need to hand over the hoof polish and a rag.
April 4th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Jackie, I STILL can not braid anywhere NEAR that good! And I have long hair to practice on…lol…
My Dad would go along too, and do the Horse Show Dad routine. I loved having him there. He still supports my horse stuff to this day, even though I dont show any more. (I think he gets a kick out of having a daughter who does hoof care for a living!)
Heres to our Dads- may they forever Rock On!
April 4th, 2008 at 9:10 am
MrsMom - I have long hair too, but I learned to braid first on horses! I perfected my skills there and then transferred them to people (I can french braid my own hair too. Very handy!). I bet there are lots of us girls out there who had good horse show dads, even if they didn’t always understand the obsession.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Awww. You look so cute in that picture. You and your Dad both look so proud. I had a horse show Dad too, I was his only child to be interested in horses, so we got to have a connection none of my siblings ever did. My Mother was only interested in my accessories, lol. After reading your post I can’t wait to be a horse show Mom, polishing boots and running behind my child and the horse with showsheen, fly spray and a rub rag!
April 5th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Deanna - I’m with you on being a horse show mom. Knowing my luck, though, I’ll have all boys and they’ll all want to play football instead. Of course, even if I do have boys I’ll still put them up on the horses too!
April 7th, 2008 at 9:31 am
It sounds like my mom and dad are a lot like yours. My dad claims “he doesn’t get it,” but we all know the truth. He likes the horses and at shows he’s there to help out. I think he likes holding horses and walking them around a bit. That is a cute picture.
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Such a lovely story and a great photo. I am in Australia and we did the same thing when I was a teenager, and now I have a 12 year old daughter riding dressage.
Make sure you show your dad this story as he really deserves to know what you think of him, and how much you appreciate him.