A Little Dog Horse Show Recap

A most excellent show companion.

Hi Guys! It's Lyra here. Mom is totally exhausted and has lots of work to catch up on, so I'm here instead to give you a quick overview of our weekend. Mom promises she'll get to the details on the horse later. I don't know why, though. It's obvious I'm so adorable you won't want to hear about that mean smelly horse when you can hear all about me.

Is any show set up complete without a husky? No.

See that photo up there? Can you believe that horse gets so much delicious food and I get nothing?! Well, okay. I mean. I did get a bunch of pizza crusts, handfuls of dog treats, shared a yogurt, and ate a bellyful of Pig's grain when no one was watching. But still! Look at all that food! What a spoiled brat he is.

Hrm. Sorry. I'm getting distracted. This is supposed to be about a show recap after all. So let's start at the beginning.

Trailer Queen.

We arrived at the show grounds on Friday. Mom wanted to ride first thing, but I honestly wasn't happy about it. The skies had opened up earlier, and everything was wet. Wet feet are the worst. Who wants to spend time riding horses when you have wet feet?

Anyway, mom said her ride went well. Then she and Jan (did I mention Jan was there? I love Jan! She gives excellent belly rubs.) loaded me into the back of the car to pick up PIZZA. I guess neither of them wanted to leave the show grounds until too late to grab dinner elsewhere. Something about horses needing food and warm blankets. I don't quite remember because I was completely focused on the pizza crusts.

Majestic dog under wildly unpredictable clouds.

Saturday dawned rainy, with the promise of more rain. Being a good dog, I resolved not to complain about all the mud I'd be asked to tromp through over the course of the day. That is the life of a horse show dog, after all.

Mom was up first for a ride. She spent the morning rushing around trying to get things done before Liz showed up and the whole group could go off and catch the Grand Prix classes. I don't know what is so exciting about watching a horse prance around in a ring, but I appreciated being in the dry covered arena for a bit and hanging out with cousin Kenai.

Later mom got all dressed up and headed out with Pig into the rain. She said something about "omg this is stressful" and "I'm going to walk till our legs fall off, then maybe see how the test goes." I don't know what that means, but I do know we all got wet watching her do it.

Sloppy, sloppy ring and pouring down rain.

I hung out with Jan while mom rode, and she was fun. We stayed at the ring where everyone wanted to pet me, even though I was soaking wet. Finally we headed back up to the barn to dry out. I guess Jan had to ride or something. Mom was in a really good mood when we got up there, and she asked me if I wanted to celebrate. I'm always up for a celebration.

Is this celebrating?

Liz, Kenai, Mom, Pig and I walked down to the rings with Jan to watch her ride Penn. Kenai was really bored with sitting around at shows. I tried to sit super quietly to show him how a horse show dog should act, but he wasn't interested. Still, he's a very good dog when his momma is taking photos.

Husky heaven at horse shows. Kenai and Liz photographing Jan and Penn while Lyra sniffs a thing to lend moral support.

Finally it was time for food and fun! The show and sponsor had put together a Derby party in the show office, complete with snacks, beer, and a live stream of the race! There was also a puppy provided for my entertainment. This party had everything!

The puppy was not fond of poor inquisitive Lyra.

Even Emma couldn't resist our Derby watching ways, showing up just in time to watch the race run and give me requisite belly rubs. In fact. This whole party was really all about people rubbing my dirty and wet belly.

When your dog is so filthy she leaves a mud smear on the floor of the show office...

I guess it was also about bloggers meeting up and hanging out, too. Definitely an excellent way to end a long day of rainy horse showing! Check out this epic group. All these people meet my doggy approval, giving excellent neck and belly scratches.

Madness at a blogger Derby party.

Sunday I was not ready to get out of bed. Mom said we had to, though. She also promised the weather would be better, and she did not disappoint! It was beautifully cold and mostly not raining. So exciting!

We took plenty of time before Mom's ride to enjoy the weather. First hanging out with Pig for awhile on the side of a hill...

Goofy horse. Has to get his rolls in.

Mom thought I'd appreciate some time away from the show, so she changed clothes and we headed out for one of my favorite things ever... RUNNING AND EXPLORING! I'd never done more than drive through Morven Park before, so I was really excited to see (and sniff!) the sights!

Morven Park Cross Country

Of course, most people know Morven Park for its epic cross country courses. Most recently the spring horse trials ran up through Intermediate! The fences are set all through the park, making for a really scenic riding backdrop. Looks like so much fun.

Jogging off-road towards Morven Park's mansion.

But, Morven isn't just all about horses. There's a ton of hiking and other recreation to be enjoyed. There is also a lot of cool historical architecture!

Morven Park mansion. Original buildings dating back to 1780. Main part of mansion built in 1830. Built by the Swann family, eventually residence of Westmoreland Davis, governor of Virginia. 

Did you know I'm a very historically minded dog? It's true! My nose tells me a ton of great stories about those who have gone before, but when the trail goes cold I like to do my research to find out more!

Lyra enjoys reading from an informational sign on the grounds of Morven Park's mansion.

Like many places in the area, Morven Park played a role in the Civil War! At that time the house had a few towers, including one that was rumored to be 5 stories tall. How crazy is that? I had a hard time imagining what that would look like. The house is imposing enough on it's own.

Morven is very dog friendly, and we saw a ton of people out walking their dogs around the mansion.

The mansion isn't the only building on the property, of course. There's this cool old building to the left. I didn't find out what it was for, though.

You can even walk dogs right up to the mansion itself!

I was too interested in getting a closer look! I had to see this lovely thing for myself.

Such majesty.

I also had to meet this spectacular feline fellow. Probably the first cat I haven't tried to eat immediately upon meeting. Doesn't mean I don't think I could take him, though.

Beside the house is not only an awesome old carriage house, but also a carriage museum. How cool is that?! Mom said we couldn't stop and look at things, because her ride time was coming up. I was kind of bummed, but she let me run by the formal gardens and hunt for mice for a minute. That cheered me up quite a bit.

Lyra watching for mice outside Morven's lovely gardens.

If you ever get the chance to swing by Morven, definitely take time to see the house and grounds. I hear there's tours of the insides of the house too. Wouldn't that be a fun thing to see?

Lyra, from the front steps of Morven Park mansion.

Of course, I much prefer to be outside anyway. Especially in a place with just crazy views. I'd like to imagine napping on the porch while watching prelim horses leaping over fences in those fields!

Lyra and Penn show off how tiring the weekend was for all involved.

Back at the barn, I was pretty tired from our 4 mile run. Mom never got to stop, though. She leapt right into tacking up Pig and getting herself dressed and ready to ride. Next thing I knew, we were back down at the rings and I was hanging out with Jan and her trainer, watching mom warm up.

Lyra policing my warmup.

In my expert opinion, Mom's warmup looked great. Unfortunately, it seemed like Pig really could have used my confidence out in the ring. He seemed to be a bit intimidated out there without me. I wished I could have helped, there was nothing to be done.

Mom finished up her ride and I let her give me some consolation cuddles. I know that's what everyone needs. Then I took another little bit of a mini nap while she packed up and helped Jan get ready.

Being a horse show dog is tiring work.

Of course, mom had to take me along when it was time to go watch Jan and Penn ride their test. I guess she knew how important it was for me to give Penn his pre-ride pep talk.

Penn and Lyra chatting on the way to and from the rings.

I think the pep-talk helped, because Mom and I didn't need to offer anything but encouragement during their warm up. In fact, I took a nap while mom photographed the two.

Ringside dog is winning at being awesome.

Jan's class was the last one of the day, and it was super full. That meant we had to wait until the very end of the show for her results and all our final awards. I can't lie. I was kind of done with the whole process by the end. Thank god mom had grabbed a bunch of dog treats from the show office along with her awards, or I might have started to slip into a bad mood.

Lyra begging instead of posing.

Thankfully I didn't, and we were finally on the road back to the barn and then home. By the time we collapsed in bed, I was ready to never leave it again! What a crazy weekend!

The sleepiest little dog.

Are any of you recovering from a crazy weekend? Are you also a good little horse show dog? Tell me about it!