Jingle Bob

Took DN2 & DN3 to a Schooling Show at the Tacoma Unit yesterday. A schooling show is a show that is really just for practice. Ribbons are awarded, of course, but it isn't necessary to wear show clothes, use the fancy saddles and headstalls, or, for that matter, even clean your horse. They are usually put on as a fund raiser, and provide a great opportunity to train your horse in the show environment.

I don't show by the way. I'm just not into prettying up my horse to ride in a circle. Give me a wilderness trail any day.

Anywho...there was a young lad of about 18 or 19 there. To cut to the chase, this lad is a cowboy wannabe. I know a few cowboys (I'm not one by the way), and he was clearly a poser. He had a big goofy feather in his hat, a very large belt buckle that I'm certain he bought, as opposed to winning as a trophy. And cue the Washingtonian trying to talk with a Texas accent. Since no one else in his family talked like that, it was clearly contrived. That's not a dig at Texas accents by the way...just at people who try to fake it.

The way to tell he was a poser was simple. All I had to do was watch him ride his horse. Actually I got to watch him ride two. He had absolutely no control of these rank nags he was riding. At one point when his horse was bucking and rearing, he shouted out "Boy, he's acting like he's a stud colt". No...he's acting like that because he wants to use you for a lawn dart, since he's tired of you riding like an asshole.

But the icing on the cake was his spurs. They looked something like this:

It looked more like he was wearing a pair of circular saws than spurs. Note the two little items hanging from each spur. Those are called Jingle Bob's. They cause the spurs to make that noise you hear in the movies when you walk. I don't anybody that actually wears them. Or at least I didn't.

When he was riding, they sounded like sleigh bells. LOUD sleigh bells. They echoed through the arena. I heard more than a few people in the stands make snide comments about them. They were annoying and distracting to the point that, after a few classes, the judge made him remove them. I did not witness this, but apparently boyo threw a bit of a temper tantrum.

At least the arena got quieter.