Autumn in the Rockies Horse Show Happiness is Here!

Okay, so this was a complete shock to me. I knew that the Langer Shows were coming back in September, but I didn’t realize the Autumn in the Rockies horse show was starting THIS weekend! Thankfully, I remembered to find out when the show was starting. And it is NOW!

The Colorado Horse Park in Parker, Colorado, has been playing host for the Langer Equestrian Group horse show series for as long as I have lived in the area. I feel very lucky to have such a great show series so close to home. And even though it was last minute, when I asked Lynda if she wanted to go today, she said of course! So off to the horse show we went!

Autumn in the Rockies Series

I have to warn you in advance. I have been practicing with my Nikon D800 camera to get better with it. So I took lots of photos at the show today. It’s funny, I have been struggling with making sure I get the focus right. And instead of taking the time to figure it out, I have just been using my totally automatic Nikon D7100. I have just been so worried, I mean, what if I took the pictures, and they didn’t turn out? It’s always safer to go with what you know, right?

But today, I decided to throw caution to the wind and take the better camera. Which means there are going to be a lot of pictures in this post.

The Grand Prix Class

The one thing that has not been consistent with this show series is what time the Grand Prix is going to start. I mean, over the summer, they would hold the class at 8:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., or 4:00 p.m. It was always different and never consistent.

Thankfully for Lynda and I, it started at 8:00 a.m. today. YES! This is my favorite time for the class. It’s not too hot, not too crowded, and I have time once I get home from the show to get all of my chores done and still chill a bit for Saturday. But for now, I am just so happy to be at the Horse Park with Lynda.

We thought we had got there on time, but it had already begun. But that’s ok! Because we were hanging out with horses in one of the best places to watch a show.

And there were plenty of horses to watch. The one thing that I really noticed at this show was how field and happy everyone was this time. I think the last time I went, that show got under my skin a bit. Or I should say some of the people did.

But maybe it was because there were so many horse shows back to back that people were kind of over it. Because this time, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was smiling! And so friendly. Everyone was happy!

No matter who I found to take a quick picture of, they were smiling.

They were happy to be there.

It seemed that everyone was having a happy day. And this was so wonderful. I mean, I know I was having a super happy day, and Lynda was having a super happy day. It only makes sense that the riders were having a happy day too.

Autumn in the Rockies Grand Prix

Okay, back to the Grand Prix. The jumps were huge, and the course seemed challenging. I am always impressed at how easy the riders make this look.

And of course, my latest favorite was there, Bjorn Ikast.

He had his 4 horses that he had been showing the entire summer series. All 4 were back for this show. And he is so close to getting the leading jumper rider bonus that is being offered by the Langer Group. I believe he is just one more win away from that happening. But today, there was one rider who came so close to winning….

This little rider is incredible. And she is 12 years old. This incredible equestrian is going places. Her family probably has a lot to do with the. Her mom is Alexia Honegger and she owns Millbrook Equestrian in Elizabeth, Colorado.

This young lady is fearless. She flew around the course like she had done it every day for the past 5 years. She is truly a joy to watch. It was very impressive to watch her ride.

What was even more impressive with Haley….

This was her very first Grand Prix. And she came in second.

Holy cow. Talk about inspiring!

Autumn in the Rockies Vendors

Watching the Grand Prix was so much fun. Oh, and I almost forgot! They had a free breakfast too! And even though we didn’t have tickets or a fancy table, we were invited too. In fact, everyone was invited to enjoy breakfast on the berm. It was delicious!

This was such a fun way to start the weekend! I wish they did this for every show! Having a fancy breakfast while watching horses is my idea of heaven!

And once Lynda and I finished watching the Grand Prix, we made our way down to the Vendors.

I was so happy to see Hannah of HB Tack was there! Oh, and she is having a sale on some of her tack! I have been wanting one of her saddle pads, and she had them there! So even though I just donated boxes and boxes of tack to Drifter’s Hearts of Hope for their upcoming tack sale (September 23, 2023, in case you want to stop by!) I had to buy a saddle pad –

It’s so pretty!

And she has these bridles on sale at the horse show right now too!

And I found another favorite vendor too…

This is the trailer of a super nice lady, Jayme, who owns a company called Equoware. And let me tell you, she has some REALLY nice things. I found a gorgeous sweater –

Which is a little out of my budget. But who knows, maybe one day it will be on sale. Jayme said she does have sales during the off-season for horse shows.

The navy blue is so pretty. And the first layer shirt is just perfect with the sweater. I love fall!

Equoware is also the place where I first found the Penelope horse tack. This is really nice tack made of buttery leather. One day I will buy this halter – it is just so beautiful!

Autumn in the Rockies means Horse Show Fun!

I am just so surprised and happy about this trip to the horse park. This was such a different experience at this show. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun this show was.

I saw some things I had never seen before, like a horse wearing sunglasses. How cool is this? I didn’t even know they made sunglasses for horses! This is such a great idea.

And there were many, many riders at this show that were having just as much fun as I was.

Even the pooches looked happy too.

Autumn in the Rockies – Week 1 is Done

And that’s a wrap on the first week of LEG Autumn in the Rockies series. There is one more week to go, and I am so looking forward to the last ‘big’ show of the year.

There are some smaller shows coming up, which I’m hoping to get to as well, but time will tell. I hope I can get to them, so they will tide me over until next spring. Which is really a long time away!