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The big show
A few weeks ago, I got an email from the Side Saddle Association (well, you have to really, don't you?) begging for more people to enter the rather grandly named The Jane Hallett Costume Concours d’Elegance at the South Of England Show, on account of how last year they only had half a dozen people doing it and it was in danger of being cancelled.
Which sounded interesting.
I enquired a bit further (in particular, about what lines in the description like "Fancy dress is not permitted [...] competitors should produce a brief written resume of their costume for the Commentator" actually meant (historical costumes only, you can't go as a fairy or whatever, it turns out)), and thought "what the hell". As far as I can tell, it's more of an audience attraction thing than a proper showing class: it's in two parts, one where you go into a ring at the insignificant end of the show ground and ride around getting judged, then another (over an hour later: the gap is presumably designed to test your ability to be lady-like and not get horse poo and slobber all over your fancy frock) where you go into the main ring and ride around showing off your frock before they announce the winners.
(I'm still bemused by the fact that, in the first part of the class, "competitors [...] may be asked to give a short display in small groups," though: normally, you do a short display on your own. If you're in a group, who decides what you're going to do next? Do you get together in the Green Room and plan it? If so, how do you know who you're going to be in a group with? Although I've been working on the assumption that they'll just ask people they're planning on giving rosettes to to do this, and so I needn't concern myself, I should probably make more of an effort to find an answer before the show, shouldn't I?)
So, yes, there we go: on the 7th of June, I'm off to the South of England show, with my faux-Georgian faux-military blue riding outfit, and my pony, and a mountain of stuff and helpers. Things to do before the show include:
- figuring out how to get on the horse in at least the underskirt of my outfit, because I haven't got a bloody clue how to do it (I normally mount astride and then swing my leg over, which seems likely to lead to tangling with anything more than an apron on) other than knowing that it traditionally requires a Big Strong Man to give you a leg-up
- riding in at least the underskirt of my outfit to make sure GB doesn't bother about it (I can't imagine he will)
- hoping that the previous thing will show that the skirt is long enough for me to just wear my normal boots under it
- buying a brown bridle
- deciding if I'm going to be Authentic (wear the natty, feather-trimmed tricorn hat that came with the outfit) or Safe (wear my riding hat. Possibly with, say, a blue ribbon tied around it)
- oh, and, er, getting less crap at riding side saddle.
This should be interesting. To the best of my knowledge, neither of us has ever been in a show before, other than me leading a pony in-hand once.
Which sounded interesting.
I enquired a bit further (in particular, about what lines in the description like "Fancy dress is not permitted [...] competitors should produce a brief written resume of their costume for the Commentator" actually meant (historical costumes only, you can't go as a fairy or whatever, it turns out)), and thought "what the hell". As far as I can tell, it's more of an audience attraction thing than a proper showing class: it's in two parts, one where you go into a ring at the insignificant end of the show ground and ride around getting judged, then another (over an hour later: the gap is presumably designed to test your ability to be lady-like and not get horse poo and slobber all over your fancy frock) where you go into the main ring and ride around showing off your frock before they announce the winners.
(I'm still bemused by the fact that, in the first part of the class, "competitors [...] may be asked to give a short display in small groups," though: normally, you do a short display on your own. If you're in a group, who decides what you're going to do next? Do you get together in the Green Room and plan it? If so, how do you know who you're going to be in a group with? Although I've been working on the assumption that they'll just ask people they're planning on giving rosettes to to do this, and so I needn't concern myself, I should probably make more of an effort to find an answer before the show, shouldn't I?)
So, yes, there we go: on the 7th of June, I'm off to the South of England show, with my faux-Georgian faux-military blue riding outfit, and my pony, and a mountain of stuff and helpers. Things to do before the show include:
- figuring out how to get on the horse in at least the underskirt of my outfit, because I haven't got a bloody clue how to do it (I normally mount astride and then swing my leg over, which seems likely to lead to tangling with anything more than an apron on) other than knowing that it traditionally requires a Big Strong Man to give you a leg-up
- riding in at least the underskirt of my outfit to make sure GB doesn't bother about it (I can't imagine he will)
- hoping that the previous thing will show that the skirt is long enough for me to just wear my normal boots under it
- buying a brown bridle
- deciding if I'm going to be Authentic (wear the natty, feather-trimmed tricorn hat that came with the outfit) or Safe (wear my riding hat. Possibly with, say, a blue ribbon tied around it)
- oh, and, er, getting less crap at riding side saddle.
This should be interesting. To the best of my knowledge, neither of us has ever been in a show before, other than me leading a pony in-hand once.
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Well, so did horse box, but I'm from the US, so different euphemism for the win.