The Kirkwood Horse Show

45 YEARS AGO I attended the Kirkwood Horse Show for the first time. In 1974, it was also Scout’s first horse show. I never bought a picture, but I saved a proof. Apologies to the forgotten photographer for scanning this proof (and you can see why I didn’t buy it!). After all these years, it becomes more interesting than embarrassing. Note the string girth, the red rubber reins, which were one of my most treasured possessions, and the “item of apparel only” helmet.

At his first show, in those days, a horse jumped 3’6″. The horse show was held in a city park in Kirkwood, Missouri, a charming suburb of St. Louis, where daughter Anne lives today. Jumps were pretty rudimentary and the “footing” was a grassy area.

Now, The Kirkwood Show is held at The National Equestrian Center in Lake St. Louis and is run by the very competent team of Brody and Jen Robertson. It is a hugely popular show, with several rings, beautiful jumps (also offering Dressage indoors), nice courses, and people haul in from all around, even though it is an unrecognized show. So it’s great fun to see many pals we haven’t seen for a while – especially for me, since having dropped off social media, I feel like I live on another planet.

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Since the old ladies need to practice going forward and jumping courses, Jane and I decided to enter. Of course, we waited until the last minute, as the elderly are not good in heat, and we felt 90 degrees was our cutoff. The weather forecast leapt around as the show approached, and after a prediction of 90+ degrees at one point, Saturday dawned cloudy and cool (for August). The heavens had opened on Friday night into Saturday morning and watered the footing well. To add to the fun, Melissa and Susan came to show. I won’t call them “old ladies”, but we do have a lot in common, and I think we were all born in the same decade. Susan has been on the bench since February, between an injury and work, so she was using Kirkwood as a step back into the ring.

Loyal friends and fellow “old lady” riders, Louise and Betsy, wanted to come and watch us show. I had optimistically suggested we would be showing around 10 AM. The start was delayed a bit by morning rain, and we loaded Bart and Derry at 9 AM to head to the NEC. It was a long wait, but lots of fun, with good friends and plenty to watch. Especially Susan and Mia, who showed in the .75 meter class, which might have been the biggest class in the show, with more than 25 entries.

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Eventually, at around 3 PM, Jane and Derry showed in the .95 meter class. They put in a beautiful double clear effort, like an equitation round. It was so smooth that Jane decided there was no improving on that trip, and decided to call it a day. She scratched the other two rounds she had entered.

I went to the barn and got Bart for the 1 meter class. Of course, I was premature, and had to return to the barn to wait for another half hour, which I spent meeting the Southern Illinois Equestrian Team, stabled next door to us. Jane warmed us up well, and Bart was a double clear star. Like Jane, I felt there was no need to do more, so I, too, scratched the other two classes I had entered. It was a long day for one trip around, but very much fun, especially with our loyal cheering section having spent many hours just to watch us show.

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Not that we care about ribbons, but it turned out to be a blue ribbon day for the old ladies! Jane and Derry won their class, and Bart and I won ours! Not often we both come home with blue ribbons! And the Kirkwood Show offers a huge table of prizes for blue ribbon winners to select from. Jane got some cool socks, and I got shoe polish and a brush to apply it.

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The day was over for us, but after we left there were Hunter Derbies underway. We missed the excitement, but we heard that in the Low Hunter Derby a horse managed to put a foot through a jump gate in refusing an obstacle. It was a truly freak accident. Unfortunately, the horse could not extricate himself, and panicked. Ellen Baehr was cool headed in the crisis, and with the help of some other brave souls, they managed to keep the horse on the ground, sedated him, put in ear plugs, and used a sawsall to cut the jump gate and release the unlucky creature. I have known Ellen since before she was born. She continues to astonish me with her competence, and the quality of her horsemanship, her strength of character and her ability to teach students so much more than just how to ride a horse. One nice thing about being older is watching the progress through life of a little kid into an interesting and admirable adult. And just to add to the drama, Ellen was hit in the chin and covered in blood before the end of the drama. I snapped one photo of her on Sunday, looking rather serious as she schooled a student.