Surviving First Horse Show of 2015 - Part 2

Saturday morning was a very early start - I was out of bed at 4:30 a.m. and picking stalls by 6:00 and on our horses at 7:00.

Ready!

Due to probably the most awesome coach ever, our group was in the show arena practicing while most of the other barns in attendance were still just showing up to feed.

We were not allowed to jump, but could go over ground poles so coach had many jumps down for us to practice. Now this was what I needed! I got to do all the quiet puttering me and my horse needed and I felt SO much better, and because Miss Tea has major respect/fear of poles, we were jumping ground poles at about a 2' clearance. This practice got my girl over her fear of the other horses and helped me feel like I might survive the day.

My first class was Hunter Lines where the course is set up but poles are all on the ground (thank you to who ever created this class!!) and we placed 2nd!

Then on to Cross Rail Hunter. I remembered my course, kept leg on and we made it through wonderfully! WOOHOO! I could have just ended my day there, I was just so happy to have overcome my nerves at that point!  I did not place, but it didn't matter one bit! Next was Cross Rail Equitation which was just as good and we placed 3rd!

At this point I decided to scratch from my next course with higher fences because I felt I had maxed out on courage, (I was feeling physically drained from the stress!) and I was so proud of Miss Tea for how she had handled everything, it just felt like the right moment to stop and reward her for her efforts.

My final two classes were flat classes: Open Hunter and Hunter Equitation. By this time we were calm, rested and ready to kill this! The Open Hunter class was huge! We all just kept filing in and I was starting to worry about how Miss Tea would handle this much congestion once trotting/cantering started. Amazingly enough, she kept her cool and I remembered to breath and even smile here and there, and we placed 4th!

Finally my last class of the day--Hunter Equitation, and Miss Tea was perfection. She was going so well by that point that I could relax, ride pretty and just enjoy it. And we placed 1st!! What a fabulous end to an amazing day!!

I packed up feeling like I had really accomplished something good with my horse. We were both completely over-faced at the beginning of this show, but pulled ourselves together and did really well. This was the first time I saw Miss Tea put in so much effort as well. I was so proud of her for showing trust in me when she was scared and showing so much "try". My girl is growing up!

When I found coach to say goodbye and thanks for the day, she handed me a shiny new bridle. WAIT. WHU?! She said I had won High Point Equitation for the day! Holly C#%&*!

Satin and leather for a hard day's work!

I can see this getting addictive...