Scottsdale 2010 road trip, part 6

After the races, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening performance.
We fed and settled the dogs in the room and went to find supper. The food at the show is mostly like carnival food: sausages, popcorn, nachos, lemonade, and pizza, with exorbitant prices. When we walked to the far side the night before however, we came to the gourmet section. We saw stands for Greek food, Salmon, Italian Sausages with grilled peppers and onions, and Teriyaki chicken bowls. Friday night, we opted for the Teriyaki, buying a chicken bowl and a serving of vegetables. We mixed it all up and divided it three ways. It wasn't too bad for $14, including a small lemonade. But tonight, we wanted In-N-Out burgers. If you've never had one, you haven't lived. They only serve burgers, cheeseburgers, fries, sodas, and shakes but boy is it good! The potatoes are cut up and fried and the meat is ground up and pattied right there at the premises. I went animal style, loaded with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and grilled onions. It was yummy!!!

On this night, even the handicapped parking lot was full. We got the last spot available so we had a bit of a walk to the Equidome. Once again, we didn't have time to go through the vendor area but since I've been to the Nationals and Junior Nationals so many times, I pretty much knew what they were selling anyway.

We bought our tickets and hurried inside only to discover that we couldn't even go to the bleacher seats across the way because they weren't general admission, which was all that was available. We finally opted for some seats at the in-gate. We actually got a great view of the horses coming into the arena but unfortunately, since we had to sit on the second row next to the railing, we were at the expressway for everybody coming in and out of the stands all night long. And boy, did the folks walk, back and forth, back and forth. If you notice a lot of empty seats in the photos, it's because the lower seats were all reserved and purchased in blocks when they registered for the show. And, nobody seemed to sit still for very long.

The first class was Gambler's Choice Jumping. All the jumps are marked with points and the rider could choose which jumps to take. They could jump in any order but they could not jump any jump more than twice and there was a time limit. I don't know if refusals counted against them but knocked down jumps deducted points. The highest score overall won. The arena has a lot of open area. In the hot summers it must be cooler that way. Tonight it was cold! Look at the upper right corner of this photo to see the gorgeous sunset.

This rider was so young! There were three little girls in this class, a family, or a jumping class, perhaps?

The big screen was nice to look at.
Here are the three young riders.This class paid out thousands of dollars to the winners. The little girls made good attempts but were still a bit too young to be truly competitive. This class is a Scottsdale favorite and was very exciting.

After the jumping class, we saw a demonstration by the Scottsdale Mounted Police Department. I can't remember all their names but the large gray with his head turned was named Sampson. Isn't he cute?They are arresting a suspect here.
They demonstrated how they train the horses with the large ball, plastic sheeting, baby strollers, etc. Notice how muddy the ball is. It was pouring down rain and getting colder and colder by the minute.
Poor Sampson got all muddy from the big ball. Awwww!
Next up, the Yearling Filly Sweepstakes Halter class, a Scottsdale favorite. Like the colts the night before, the winner received $56,000, second place, $28,000, and the rest of the class (eight horses) got 9,600 each. It's hard to think of Yalla! in the same class as these yearling fillies. Gosh, they're so big and mature looking! I'm assuming a lot of these are early spring foals. Does a few months make that much difference?


This little filly was crazy wild. Once, she gave a full kick out at the stewards as they walked past her hind end.
Here, an exhibitor waits for the judges' decisions.The class is released to wait for the results.
Even halter classes at an Arabian show can be exciting. One of the handlers was watching his filly so much that he tripped and rolled as they trotted into the arena at the start of the class. The man hurt his leg and had trouble exhibiting the rest of the class.

This filly reminded me most of Yalla! Unfortunately, she came in near last on all three judge's cards.
This exhibitor shows the stress of waiting.

But she is the Reserve Champion Yearling Breeder's Sweepstakes Filly.

And this beautiful filly took Grand Champion. She was a standout from the time she entered the ring. With all the ribbons and flowers, it looks like good training for the native costume class. lol!
be continued...