Arabian Days · 365 Project

Arabian Days by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I went to the Arabian Horse Show in Scottsdale this afternoon...late enough so that admission was free...early enough to see several classes display their expertise.

The first class featured young ladies and their horses in full Arabian costume.  I thought outfits for both rider and horse were lovely.

Then I watched the Ladies English Side Saddle (I'm sure I'm not remembering the exact category, but you get the drift). I have no idea how they stayed on their horses when they were asked to go faster. One girl almost got bucked off. There's really no way to get a grip on your horse if that happens!

Next I watched at a couple of practice rings.  This guy was all dressed up, perhaps for the next class to be judged.  Others were much more informally dressed.

Then I saw the judging at an outdoor ring for two or three classes.  These riders were dressed more formally than the following group.  The judges had the horses walk, trot, and "jog," among other things.  Since I don't know much, if anything, about horse shows, most everything I saw was unknown to me.

One was half Arabians in Western costume.  This guy won in his class.  The saddles of many of the riders were quite beautiful, with silver decorations on quite a number of them.  A lot of the riders were much more dressed up than this guy.  The horses were all beautiful.

I walked by the places where the big stables were housed (as opposed to individuals who stayed in campers or huge motor homes).  And I wandered through the shops, too, which cost be a few pennies. In all, a very pleasant afternoon!