Sera started out being very quiet & good, but quickly showed that she had read the "pony manual" from start to finish and knew ALLLLL the "dump the kid" tricks once my daughter asked a bit more of her! That earned her the nickname, "Saucy Sera". Nevertheless, K kept at it and professed much love for pone-pone despite being dumped many times.
Sera has a specific knack for knowing exactly when she's being judged at a show, or watched by onlookers even if it's just a normal ride. She goes through the warm-up like an angel, even does a pre-judged round like an angel, then as soon as the round is being judged/observed Sera drops her head and crow-hops (or outright bucks) right on cue! Rotten lil' booger!!
This happens in dressage (enter at 'A', crow-hop to 'X', halt-salute, then behave well if kiddo is still in the saddle). And in trot-pole classes (warm-up round perfect, "you are being judged", crow-hop and be a turd on the first or second line), and even at demo-day after K's two-week horse camp experience (where they rode twice a day, every day!). K is only 60 lbs soaking wet so she does not have leverage in her favor!
Yet, K LOVES this pony! And is learning to be an excellent little rider in order to manage the behavior issues.
Which brings me to the brag. Yesterday K went to another local schooling show - a hunter show - in the walk-trot division over ground poles. We had another older girl ride Sera in the warm-up rounds which helped a lot because Sera tried her antics and got nowhere with them. Then K got on and from start to finish she rode SO well! For an 8-yr-old, she was incredibly mindful & thoughtful with her riding even in the show environment.
Here she is with her day's winnings (in a class of 8 Jr. riders):
Hunter Over Trot Poles: 2nd place
Equitation Over Trot Poles: 1st place!!
Hunter Under Saddle: 1st place!!
Equitation Under Saddle: 5th place
... and Champion of the Jr. W-T division! Woo hooo! She has really turned a corner with her riding at this show!! I'm so proud of how she handled herself, ribbons or no ribbons!!
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