First Specialties Practice!!!! 11/29

Ok I finally was able to roll out of bed and function enough to post! Man am I sore or what!!!! So my day was insane yesterday! Holy Cow! So I had grooming at 7 and my partner and I each received a horse but only one was for Vaulting and it was Rebel #52. At least it was the 1st ride so I knew we wouldn't trot much. I was able to groom pretty quick and then carried at least 4 more saddles and bridles out to my teammates. Since I had liberty right after my ride I went into the Tack room and checked out my horse for liberty. I had JERICHO #107!!!! I was sooooo excited! He is like one of the best Liberty horses out there. Then we mounted and rode them down to the arenas and dismounted and took of the saddles again for our Vaulting horse. My partner put our vaulting equipment on while I put Rebel's saddle away. Then we headed into the arena after we changed into our tennis shoes. I gave my partner a leg up and then our instructor showed us how to help the second rider up. I was in the back. It feels really weird riding with a second person but it was super fun too! I saw a bunch of girls, new and old trying to kneel so I did and I did it! But then they said only returning Blue Vaulters should be trying tricks. Oops haha at least I wasn't the only one. It was super fun though! Then we circled and trotted a little. Our class started by 8:30 so we only had about a 20 minute ride but we will get faster so we will get to ride more. Luckily for me, Jericho was already in vaulting with no equipment on so I just took him out of there, gave him water and put my wire on his neck. I was so glad I didn't have to unsaddle another horse haha. Then I had one of my teammates hold him while I checked in. Then we headed into the arena. I tried to vault up and Jericho bit my butt. OW! That really hurt so I had a teammate hold his head while I tried again. Nope. So then I had her give me a leg up. Then I was watching WestiesGirl get a leg up and she got too much momentum and went all the way over! It was so funny and her horse looked soooo bored hahaha. So we headed out on the rail and warmed up a little bit then they called us into the middle. We discussed wire work, lifting, and how the class would work. Lifting for jumps is really hard! Plus they want to see air under our buts. Oh man. So we trotted and circled then tried a Thread so they could watch us individually Jericho was prancing and rearing in the corner waiting to go. Man he is AMAZING!!! He is a fox trotter so he is gaited so he is SO SMOOTH! Every gate just floats into the next one. He also responds better to the wire than he does to the bridle. If only we were jumping cause he charges the jumps. He is one of the few horses who loves liberty. Then they split the class in two so we could lope. Jericho's lope is like flying but I had to make sure I wasn't leading or he would take off. I barely used the reins minus stopping LOL. It was an amazing ride and I never wanted it to end. We were dismissed early to unsaddle and when I was done I had to run to batons! 3 back to back classes is a lot of work. Batons was fun but kind of boring because I have a friend in White who had been coaching me haha. But it was still a great class and I learned a few new tricks. We did Pancake, Figure 8, Finger twirls + tosses, Dead stick toss, dead stick turn around, and partner tosses. It was super fun. Then I finally had an hour break and got some food and water. Then I went up to the Auditorium and had my Colorado Stampede instructor look over a few diagrams that had been giving me fits and I had 5 to fix. Not bad. Then I watched my sister's BL4 ride. White Ropes practiced at 12 so I ran over there after. I got to call one of the flat loop routines!!! Then we just practiced Specialties. I worked on Texas skip and drag hop. After ropes I helped my friend with some diagramming and headed to help Blue Ropes at 3. It was super fun being the older roper. A lot of them can spin the loop really well and I see a lot of good ropers coming along. WesternaireForever is finally keeping her thumb down ;) So while I was helping Danielle yelled,"Really!" I was like what!? I had no clue what she was yelling at me about! Then she said pointing to my vaulting partner she already has toe dances! Then I just start laughing. She was like I get you've been giving her pointers but come on! LOL she was totally being silly and joking with me. It was great. So then she called a couple ropers over and had them try out for big ropes. They Passed!!! So I began teaching them how to spin the 15 and 20ft ropes. They both got it!!!!! I was kind of sad I didn't get to help the other kids but I like teaching how to do the big ropes. It's a lot harder than it looks :) So overall it was a really good practice and then I got to go home :) I'm SO SORE but it was totally worth it :)