AQHA MAGAZINE May / June 2020 AQHA May-June YB 2020 WEB LR | Page 24

PG.22
AQHA FEATURE
Mavis, with OVS Victorious Q-92915 aka Qute
Photo by: Ev Lagoon Photography
the forelock and put the skinny hoods back on
to lay everything down flat. We check for clean
tails and attach false tails.
We’ll clean the feet and powder any white
socks, then blacken the hooves and spray a little
Shapley’s brown spray to all the leg chestnuts.
We‘ll groom and finally spray Hi Shine Body
Spray overall before putting the rug back on.
The hardest work is then over. Whoever isn’t
showing stays with the horses, while the others
go to get dressed and ready to show.
Finally, we fit the show halter and for the finishing
touch, we’ll add some eye, nose and muzzle
make-up to accentuate those areas. We’ll then
take the horses to the arena, rugs on until it’s
closer to our class. We take a bag containing a
towel, wipes, body & tail brush, Hi-Shine Body
Spray, Baby Oil Gel and a lambswool cloth as a
wipe-over for dust.
Buff and shine them up, brush out
and shake that tail. Check everything
else and if you’re good to go, it’s time
to show!
While 2019 began like most other years, the last part
of it was devastating for Mavis and her family. One of
their best show fillies, OVS Exhilaration, was put down
after suffering an accident. Jade was an outstanding filly
who’d won a NSW State Weanling Futurity and a NSW
State Championship. Losing her was a terrible blow,
leaving them all shattered.
‘But that wasn’t to be the end of it,’ Mavis said. ‘Not two
weeks later a tornadic super cell storm went through and
basically wrecked a lot of our property. That day, we had no
choice but to lay our new baby colt to rest. Prior to Xmas,
we said goodbye to our grand old mare, El Pajote Covergirl.
I never did show much last season, and was ready to give
up. That’s why the grandkids were doing the showing. But
life goes on and we had to put 2019 behind us.’
After having knee surgery, Mavis felt like a change and
planned to show in Reining and Ranch classes. She’d also
2019 TO NOW
show Elle, OVS Victorious, and Nicky, RSQ Shez Pho
Real. Cassandra’s daughter, Hayley, and Jessica’s daughter,
Brianna, were also looking forward to showing, while
Jessica was set to promote progeny by the OVS resident
sire, Phenomenal Touchdown.
‘After the devastating droughts and fires Australia had,’
Mavis says. ‘It was a relief to finally see good rainfall, so,
like everyone else, we were all looking forward to a better
year. Now we have to deal with Covid-19 and everything
has stopped! But, we’ll see what happens, we’re all in the
same boat, so just need to stay positive, support each other
where we can, and most importantly, stay healthy. In saying
that I’d love to sincerely thank those who’ve supported us,
all our OVS sponsors!! Of course, a huge thankyou to the
best hubby, Rob-he’s my rock, and can’t wait to get rid of
me to the shows again! So bring on the shows, whenever
that will be.’
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