Show- Saturday and Sunday

Ok, I'm going to finish up the weekend update. I have started school again, and I know I should be doing my macroecon reading, but I HAVE to finish this!

Saturday was a REALLY early morning. I didn't want to drive home from LAEC on Friday, so Dad was stuck driving me to the center on Saturday morning. I had to get up at 3:30 so that I could be there by about 5:20. It was still totally dark out when we got there and I had to find the light switch which had been hidden by the new stapled curtains.

Caroline braided Smiley first... we had another REALLY fast turnaround so she was on hand to help me with the switch. I warmed Smiley up and he warmed up REALLY well. We only had one other "incident" with another horse, but other than that, he was a PERFECT gentleman in the warm up. This was really exciting for me because I have battled with this for so long and always been prevented from having an easy warm up (or warming up properly at all) because of this problem. With David's help, we have really gotten to the bottom of it and seem to have almost eradicated it (haha, famous last words). No spooking in the test, but some tenseness. I was VERY happy that the walk work was clean (sometimes he jigs- only in the test tho, never in the warm up or at home). We have really been working on that. Now we need to get what we had in the warm up in the test- on BOTH of the horses. A little something for me to work on.

Venturo was next- this warm up was good, but I didn't feel the test went as well. The test was far too fast- what was power in the warm up had some tension added in the dome and it went too quickly. Never the less, both horses did REALLY well and I was so proud of both of them.

I was done by 8:30 am, which was REALLY nice. Poor David didn't have to ride until 9 pm that night. I took care of them, chatted with a whole bunch of people... met two really nice girls from Majestic Equestrians (stabled across from us)- Kristen and Nicole. We hung out a bit in their tent and then went and watched some rides in the dome. Mackenzie rode, but I missed it AGAIN (thought I could catch her second ride which she ended up scratching). Mom and I went and picked out two new browbands for the boys. I wanted something that really stood out... we found one for Venturo that was red and then ended up picking the same one out for Smiley, only in blue. When we brought Smiley up to the POH tent to try some on, we would NOT let Lisa even hold one up to his neck. She is wonderful with the horses, so it wasn't her- he is just very particular about that sort of thing. I am realizing more and more what a special relationship we have.

They are really beautiful and unique... People On Horses makes such cool browbands and I feel like they are the "true" signature browband makers. I watched most of the open PSG, which DB WON!!!! I knew four who were in the class- Kerstin, Swea, Tom, and David, so it was a fun class to watch.

FINALLY, I went home and crashed.

Sunday was the awards ceremony... Both horses rebraided. I took Venturo in the First Level awards and had Thomas lead Smiley in. It was just a very special moment for me, to have both of my horses in the awards ceremony- both doing well even though the tests this weekend were not reflective of how good they can be. In other words, these were NOT our best tests ever, we still have a lot to perfect in and out of the ring. Venturo had never even shown First 3 or 4 before and he went and got Reserve Champion. Smiley was WAY tense this weekend- something that I think will improve with more miles. They played "Man, I feel like a woman" (good thing the sole male in the class didn't do the awards ceremony ;) ). Before the music, Thomas did a small victory sprint with Smiley to the exit of the equidome. I did the big trot with Venturo around the ring and then made the mistake of having him canter the last bit- we almost ran over the winner and had to do a quick circle to get him back under control.

The team awards were next- I rode Smiley in these awards and had David lead Venturo in. The other girl on our team- Rebecca- I know in a round about way. She rides with Tom, and I know Tom's assistant, Swea. We got 3rd and did a victory lap together- at the trot- with Smiley. He had no "issues" with her horse and they looked SO darling on the video- almost like we could do a pas de deux with them. Unfortunately, a girl got bucked off about 3/4 the way through the victory lap and we spent a few minutes keeping our horses calm while they tried to catch the horse that was galloping around the equidome. Smiley was like, "Oh. My. Gosh.. It's all ending now!!!"... not actually, but you get how he was. The awards were REALLY fun- and I had quite the cheering section because not only did David show up with a few people from our barn, but my parents were there, Caroline, and the Majestic Equestrian parents were kind enough to be on my side too. I actually teared up a little during the first ceremony.

After the team awards, Rebecca and I walked our horses out (from all that "hard work"). Afterwards, we packed up (with some help from Caroline), tracked down some videos, and were on our way. Smiley was better about getting on this time, but not perfect. (David, who insists that Smiley is and always has been perfect, recoiled at this notion)

I CRASHED on Sunday... and then started school on Monday (OUCH!). Campus is SO different this year. They finished the new housing section, changed the big parking lot to student housing parking, added a new lot behind the hub. The new library really looks almost finished. There is a new quad with a bookstore behind the library... the new bookstore really looks like a real university bookstore. The campus really feels like a university now, tons of students- things are a lot busier this year. Update on classes tomorrow.