One of our Jr. Apprentices, Katherine Fishback, 12, was at Sport Horse Nationals in Nampa, ID, Sept. 23-27th.

Kat took her NSH pinto, Superman and also took Dot, a 1/2 Arabian-1/2 Oldenburg, bay 2 yr old filly (A Midnite Minuet) that belonged to the late Alice Mehl.  Kat's dream was to get her little rescue horse to Nationals someday, and thanks to the help from so many people, these dreams will come true!

Tuesday Update

Superman and Dot trailered up on Monday. Both were pretty nervous about the long trip.

Katherine was also nervous, hoping her horses were ok. (They were. ;-)

Katherine's Grandma and Grandpa and Nana all came up for a few days to see Kat show Superman. Kat was so happy to see all of her grandparents and was so glad they got to come up!

Tuesday morning, we got up early to see our friend, Kylie Kerchner, show her horse Star in halter. She and Star did very well, but did not make top 10. Great job, Kylie!

Kat got out Superman and Dot several times to longe and walk the grounds. Soup is fine with all the activity, but Dot, being 2, is nervous and excited. Kat and Soup got to practice and have a lesson with Wendy at 6pm, after all the awards were given out for the day. Superman did very, very well!

Katherine was very, very tired last night and slept in until almost 11am!

They have changed the schedule, so Superman and Kat will show under saddle on Thursday at 3pm instead of today. Dot and Kat's class has also been changed to Sat. @ about 1pm instead of 7pm. I think the extra day for Soup and Kat will be good. It will give them time to practice more and get used to the activity!

Our friend and Vista alumnus, Stephanie Whitlow (Snuffy) rode Striker on Wed. They had a great (to me perfect) ride and barely missed moving on to the next round. She and Striker came in 9th and they only took the top 8. Congrats to Stephanie for an incredible ride and to Striker's owner and Vista friend, Merlynn Olsen!

Thursday Update

Well, Thursday was very exciting. Katherine longed Dot and Superman in the morning. Superman has gotten used to everything and was very good. Dot is still very excited and a bit nervous. Both of the horses cry and whinny a lot when the other is gone!

Then, Superman and Kat got a good lesson with Wendy which again, went perfectly. Kat and her Mom washed Superman down and made him gleaming white! Katherine went a little overboard with the purple shampoo, but we got all the purple out, thank goodness! Kat's Grandma took her to lunch and to relax a bit before their class. Kat's mom and Grandpa stayed behind to work on Soup's hooves. After all the sanding and steel wool and hoof polish, Superman had the shiniest hooves there!

Kat got all dressed and she and Wendy went to warm up down by the Sport Horse arena. As usual at horse shows, it was "hurry up and wait."

The 1/2 Arabian Amateur to Ride class was absolutely huge! They split the class into 2 parts instead of 3 parts, so there was 25 riders/horses in each section. Katherine and Soup were in the 2nd section. Mom was too nervous, so she went up in the stands while Wendy did her thing which she does SO well and made sure Kat was ready to go and calm.

Kat and Soup went in towards the end of the line and went in like this was just like Vista or the S. Jordan Equestrian Center, something they do everyday. Their ride was just perfect...just beautiful. The Utah crowd was in the stands and were all in agreement that Superman looked the best we'd ever seen.

Unfortunately, either the judges didn't agree or with all the horses just didn't see; the competition was just top notch...Kat and Soup did not make it to the second round.

Both Wendy and Kat are so proud of Superman and Katherine...they just rode beautifully. Superman and Katherine absolutely belonged there; they were not out classed or out ridden at all. It's just the luck of the draw, but we are all so proud of their wonderful ride!

Katherine was disappointed, but there was no crying or pouting. She was very mature about it and we were all proud, not only of her ride, but of her good sportsmanship.

We all cleaned stalls and fed and watered all the horses. Then, some ladies came up and were a bit interested in Dot, so, even though Kat was tired, she showed Dot off for Wendy and the ladies.

We then went out to dinner; Chuck O Rama buffet, Katherine's favorite.

Friday Update

Today (Friday), we are taking it easy, just decompressing. We got the show at about 2pm and did all the chores...cleaning stalls and water buckets and Kat took particular pride in sweeping up the breezeway and making the Team Sha-Wen area look great! We then learned that Wendy had found a buyer for Dot, Alice's 2 yr old filly, and wanted Kat to help take Dot down for the vet check. The girl's name is Kelsey Bretin and she's from Calgary, Canada.

Katherine was upset; she was still hoping that we were coming home with Dot. But, Kat had met and liked Kelsey, so she was torn about the whole thing.

Saturday Update

Exciting last day! Kat slept in a bit today and got up at 9am. We got to the stalls at about 10am and Kat went to work getting Dot ready. Wendy had already longed Dot, so Kat gave Dot a bath and Kat and Dot's new owner, 13 yr old Kelsey, got her all groomed and pretty. Dot took special interest in eating Wendy's green shirt! :)

After getting Dot beautiful, Kat disappeared into the tack room and made herself beautiful. Her hair was a source of contention; she wanted it down and Wendy and Mom wanted it up. It stayed down, but the front pinned up.

Kat and Kelsey quickly became friends and spent time in the warm up together working Dot. Katherine and Dot were the 3rd to go in. They were both beautiful...both acted like this was something they do all the time, no stress. Dot set up wonderfully for the 1st judge and her walk and trot were just beautiful. Then, they went to the second judge. Dot was a bit fidgety setting up, but again, Kat had her going beautifully at the walk and trot. The Utah crowd cheered as they went out, sure that we had a Champion worthy showing right there!

As the class was invited back in, Kat insisted that Kelsey come in with her and Dot and so, all 3 went back in the ring for the top 10.

Then, they announced the Reserve Champion....it was Dot (A Midnight Minuet)!!! Well, this was (until this class) a very, very quiet show, but that changed...the Utah folks yelled and cheered and whistled for Kat. All her hard work paid off.

Kat and Dot and Kelsey posed for lots and lots of pictures in the ring and then came out and posed for more pictures. Dot, unlike Superman, was not afraid of the water fountain. :)

They then went down to the Dressage field for more pictures for the Arabian Magazine (American or World, I forget.) Again, it was Dot and Kat and Kelsey...Kat was almost over her sadness at this point and Kelsey will be a great pen pal (e-pal?) from now on.

We also got lots of pictures of Superman and Kat, who certainly deserved Best Ride of Show Who Didn't get a Ribbon, in our opinion.

Katherine and Superman 'blew off some steam' and galloped up and down an empty green grass strip for a while. It was beautiful to watch and several girls stopped to watch also.

By now, Katherine and Kelsey were tired and hungry, so we went to Sonic. Sonic Blasts all around.

After Kelsey got her chores done (she was at SpH Nationals as a groom, not a rider, and saved up most of Dot's purchase price all by herself!) she and Kat went looking around the booths. Kat got a shirt for 1/2 off, as it was the last day and she was happy!

We packed up all of Kat's stuff and left before the evening festivities started...Kat was just so tired.

We're leaving tomorrow (Sun. am), and Kelsey is taking Dot at 8:30am. Right now, Kat wants to see Dot off, but we'll see, it may be harder in the morning.

Sunday Update

Kat decided not to see Dot off to her new home...just too hard.  We didn't end up leaving until about 1pm.  Kat and her Mom stopped at the Oregon Trail park and at Twin Falls to see the falls on the way home.

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We would like to thank all of the people that have supported Katherine and Superman in their journey to Sport Horse Nationals this year! To those who have given donations, warm wishes and prayers, Kat appreciates you SO, SO much!

Special thanks to Wendy Onstott, who is just incredible, working with Katherine these 2 yrs. Wendy does such an incredible job with all the Vista kids, giving them opportunities that a lot of the kids wouldn't have otherwise. She makes sure that Vista stays one of Salt Lake's premiere "kid friendly" barns and that the kid's not only learn to ride, but learn all the responsibilities that come with owning, leasing and riding these wonderful animals!

Thanks also go out to Kelcie Beck, Kelsey McKinnon and Paul Hjerpe, who have all given Kat and Soup lessons during the last year and who also took care of Superman and helped train Soup before Katherine started leasing him.

Much thanks to Wendy and Katie Bogner, who rescued Superman from starvation 6 yrs ago and made sure Soup was around for Katherine when God decided they should be together.

Wendy would like to thank Pat and Stacy Postell as the persons who originally bred and raised Dot. Not only did Pat arrange the breeding and foaling, she also brought Dot over to Vista to have her handled and such. Pat also took Dot and made arrangements for her to receive her Oldenburg registry. It was also Pat and Stacy's dream to have Dot go to Sport Horse Nationals.