Royal Melbourne Horse Show January 2010 - Indy and Sassy are superstars!

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CM Sporthorses & Lyndsworth Lodge at the 2011 Royal Melbourne Horse Show!

named Debbie, who owns a horse that Mum Shell and Dad Craig
bred - CM Anna Karenina - was at the show and said she could
run Sassy out for my Mums, but didnt have an outfit - so Mum
Kath pinned her into Mum Nikkis other outfit (the pants were a
bit loose), and she looked great next to Sassy!
We were in for the Cleveland Bay classes - again - we were the
only babies!! Sassy is nearly 2 1/2 now.

I trotted out beautifully for Mum
Nikki and then stood nicely
while the judge made up her
mind. The big gelding was

Hi guys, Indy (CM Independant Miss) here, I thought I should tell you
about my big adventure to Victoria with my three Mums! I got to meet
my half sister that I had heard about but had not seen at all!
As you know, the 2011 Royal Melbourne Horse Show was on the 20th
of January - well, thats when the classes I was in were on at any rate!
My three Mums had decided I had done so well in 2010 in South my
bath at home, Mum Kath shared some of her wine with me. YUM!

Really early in the
morning of the 19th
January - about 2am
or something silly like
that - I should have
been sleeping, but got
woken up and put into
the horse float and off
we set!

One of our rest stops on
the way was the Hamilton
Racecourse. Mum Nikki
gave me a bit of a run

tastes about the same as the grass at home, but you know what it's like
when you are away - things always taste better! It was good getting to
on the end of the lead and then let me eat some of the yummy grass. It
stretch my legs a bit every few hours... and I think my Mums liked getting
out of the car too. Normally when I go to shows, I am only in the float for
a couple of hours at most - this was 12 hours!! EEPS, a LONG way!

We eventually got to a lady named Arlene's place at
Lara, and I met my half sister - CM Sorta Sassy -
who is really cute, but really little. I am told that she
is so little because her mum was a little Welsh x
Arab pony, and she is the spitting image of her.
I was lucky enough to go out into a nice big paddock
for the night - so I got to talk to Wendee, Sassy, Nic
and Kap over the fences! They were all pretty nice
- though I thought Wendee was a bit of a grump
when she realised I wasnt going to bring my feed tub
over and share my nice big bran/pellet mash with
her! Its not my fault I dont have thumbs to be able
to carry the tub, and I was pretty happy to be eating
it after just having hay and grass all day on our trip!
Really early the next morning, Mum Nikki and Mum
Kath loaded me into the float again, and Mum Shell
came out and came with us all to a place called
Werribee Equestrian Park, not far from Melbourne.

Mum Nikki got me all
spiffied up, Mum Kath
made sure that Mum
Nikki had her outfit all
clean and neat and tidy
and gave some pointers
and opinions when
asked.
Mum Shell went and got
my number - which was
1234 - that made us all
laugh, and then she
made sure my led in
halter and Mum Nikkis
boots were all polished.
Mum Shell had phoned

Arlene and said that she was going
to scratch Sassy from the mornings
classes (the Warmblood ring)
because it was all so busy and they
all wanted to concentrate on me for
the morning, so not to rush.
I was pretty much asleep though and
Mum Nikki had to keep waking me up
- I even went to sleep with my nose in
the hay bag at one point!
We had a really nice lady who was

our judge - Mary Hanna -
who my Mums said really
knows her horses!

In the morning I was in two classes - the
first one was the Led WB Best
Presented Class - there were 20
entrants listed in the program, but only
about 15 or 16 arrived for the class -
and I was the only baby - everyone else
were all grown up! (Remember, I am
only 17 months old). I didnt get called
in to the first 6, but I did get looked at

really closely - My Mums
were all really pleased.
My next class was the
Led WB Yearling Filly - I
ended up with a 4th in
that class - apparently I
was in 'really good
company' in the ring, and
the other horses were
lovely!
Sassy arrived, Mum Shell
plaited her up, and a lady

All the Cleveland Bay
Sporthorses looked
amazing (and big!),
Mum Nikki was so
excited when the judge
pinned a big blue
rosette on my bridle!

Bay Sporthorse apparently! Mum Kath and Mum Shell
were in tears behind me!
Then there was more excitement when the judge put a
white rosette on Sassy's bridle!! She came third in the
Best Presented class!
All my mums and Debbie were so excited, and so pleased
with both myself and Sassy!

Because Sassy and I were the only two babies
entered into the Cleveland Bay ring, we were put
in the class with all the big girls.
Mum Nikki and Debbie both worked their
backsides off to have me and Sassy run out nicely
and stand there with our ears forward (which was
hard for me, as I was sleepy!).

The lovely judge brought over a nice big blue ribbon and put it around my
neck! I had won the Led CBSH Mare or Filly - Any Age at the Royal
Melbourne Horse Show! Sassy was awarded 4th place and Arlenes girl,
Wendee, came 5th - I cant remember the other placings, but I am sure
Mum Shell will fill you in on that later!

Because I had won the
class, I had to go in for
Champion and Reserve.
The horse I was up
against was just lovely.

awarded Champion Cleveland Bay
Sporthorse, and I was awarded Reserve
Champion Cleveland Bay Sporthorse.
It was so exciting.
My Mums were so pleased with me and
Sassy, and were really excited that there
were TWO CM Sporthorses babies at the
2011 Royal Melbourne Horse Show and we
both did really well!
Incidently - it was Sassys FIRST ever show!

Above is Mum Kath and Mum Nikki with me and my ribbons, and then a pic of Mum Nikki and I.
Below is a pic of Mum Shell, Mum Kath and Mum Nikki and I. They were all pretty happy as you can see by the smiles!

After the show, my Mums were
REALLY tired, and so was I.
They loaded me and Sassy up into the
float and took us back to Arlenes, and
gave us a nice big feed each and
made sure we both had plenty to drink.
Mums Kath and Nikki went back to
where they were staying, and Mum
Shell had a shower, and then 'flaked it'
at Arlenes. The next morning, both
Sassy and I were loaded up and we
had a long drive back to Aldinga
Beach to Lyndsworth Lodge - another
12 hour trip!

We got out for a break a couple of times, but the pics above were taken at Casterton, and we got to eat some grass, have a
drink, and meet a metal emu.
Mum Shell and Dad Craig are REALLY thankful to Mum Kath Hurrell and Mum Nikki Chadburn from Lyndsworth Lodge for all
the work they have put into me, and everything they are doing with me.   I have to say I am pretty darn happy with it all too!
At Lyndsworth Lodge - where I live, Sassy was put in a little paddock next to my stable, and that was ok - til Josh, Norman and
myself got let out - and then she dove through the fence! OOPS, Dad Garth was NOT happy with her, and she is going to get
some lessons with the electric fence when she gets home apparently!
The day after we got home was something called the "Tour Down Under" - a bicycle race - and there were LOTS of 'men in
tights' on bikes whizzing past us, and police cars with flashy lights. That was a sight to see!   Apparently my mums had a bit of
fun and were seen on TV as the race went past the front gates because they were dressed up in silly outfits!
Dad Craig arrived a couple of days later to pick up Sassy and Mum Shell and take them both back to Minnipa.
Sassy is going to be Mum Shell's new harness pony when Beau retires, and also be a lesson pony, and do some shows too.
This was my first big trip interstate, and my Mums said it was soooooooooo worth it.   Apparently we were really lucky to have
gotten over to Melbourne and back again - as there has been lots of flooding in those areas and roads were cut off, then
cleared when we went through, and are now flooded again.     We hope everyone stays safe and it is all over real soon for you.
So, that was our big adventure!   Lots of fun, lots of smiles and laughs!   Good stuff!