Tenderfoot Induction Show!

Totally forgot to post about this but August 28 was the Tenderfoot Induction Show! It went really well and I never get tired of seeing the excited new faces. Ropes was interesting because the arena was SUPER muddy and I didn't have the trick board for Texas Skip again... To bad because I was on a roll! I was getting through like 10 times consistently! I finally have that trick nailed and it makes me very happy. Overall it was a good show and I had fun :)

Insane Day of Specialties 8/22

Yesterday was a great start to Winter Schedule. I had ropes at 8am and I worked on a new trick that I don't know the name of but I call it the running trick. I also worked on Tandem and Drag Hop with WesternairesForever, and of course Texas Skip. After class I was invited to preform at Tenderfoot Induction on Friday! I'm super excited to get to preform again. We got 8 spots this year so that was nice! I hope I get to preform Texas again. I had some time before Liberty at 11 so I watched Varsity and Precisionettes. I got Molly #102 for Liberty. At first I was a little apprehensive about having her again but I forced myself to take off the bridle anyway and OMG best decision I ever made. That little mare is now my favorite liberty horse. She responded so well to the bridle and took every jump like a pro! She tried to go back and jump again she liked it that much. I fixed my lifting a little and should have it down next ride. My instructors said I looked amazing today. I was on fire. I lost count of the jumps I did :) we also ran a drill and I got complimented again! I was super happy because they are looking for moves ups to white liberty this ride and next. Either way I'll be happy. I wouldn't mind staying on blue for the winter and moving up in the spring but I also would love to spend the winter on white for cancellation and conflict reasons. Plus I feel ready. I really do want to move up. I skipped batons for Liberty with permission of my instructor and it sounded like we just had a party so I didn't miss much. At 12:30 I headed over to JI for T6 at 1:00 and I got Sue. I was pretty excited seeing as I had never ridden her before. She was really sensitive and you could tell she ran red team because she would trot super fast instead of lope and would only lope super fast. Her gaits were pretty smooth though. It rained on us halfway through the ride. We worked on 8s and they can't guide but they'll learn especially next year. They didn't do terribly though. Immediately after I went to JI for T7. A girl on Royal took Sue so I got TomCat. He is a newer horse like scout. I was told to keep my spurs out of him or he would buck. He really didn't want to leave the rail. I had to literally drag him to class. He is really short! He was confused as to what leave the group of riders and go forward meant. After a little bit we started figuring it out, he needs a little spur so I gave it to him and he was fine. His trot wasn't terrible and neither was his lope. We basically played games the whole class so it was really simple. Then I ran to help my partner saddle our horse for Vaulting. We had Bingo. He was acting up in T7 and boy did he act up for us in vaulting. After we mounted in the middle we tried to get him out on the rail and it resulted in a rodeo bucking fest anytime we kicked him. All four of his feet were off the ground a few times. (Not gonna lie it was kind of fun!) We finally got him on the rail and tried a few tricks on him. He took it well until we did a pass through and their wasn't a horse in front of him. For class we played games and he didn't like having to leave the group. It resulted in more bucking unless a buddy went with him. We also tried a steppes pyramid and the owner horse next to me started bucking too so I had to bail onto Peppy. It was an interesting ride. The horses were just tired I think and ready to be done. That was the day!

Final Grooming Class

Tonight was dusty! We had our meeting and then went and looked inside the big trailers they use to haul the horses for shows. It was actually really cool. For class I got Outlaw #68. He was perfect. I got 100% so yay! Then we had saddle bag races and OMG HEAVY!!!!!! It was a lot of fun though. 

WHITE OLYMPICS OMG!!!!

This weekend felt and still does feel like a dream! Saturday practices went really well! I JI'd for J1 and J7 so I saddled in the morning and unsaddled in the afternoon. I also had Vaulting practice and my partner and I had Rusty. He was good except his trot was a bit bouncy. Then we ran through our drill in batons and Ropes. I also tried Texas Skip the drill. But I still have to show her on Sunday before she would put it in the lineup. For the morning JI I rode amigo. I did much better on him this time actually got through the cones and had a perfect rollback. His stirrups just don't fit me though. Then for J7 I got the honor to ride scout!!! he was really good except he would not pick up his right lead no matter what I did left lead was fine. You can tell he's still in training but he's very responsive and it was a lot of fun to ride him. I went and took a nap and the volunteer and then headed back up to groom and saddle for the show. I groomed Hickory. Once we were at the show my team did a few walk through a and watched the first few acts. Then we headed down to costume during white star. My anxiety was setting in. I costumed and put on my chaps. We lined up to get horses and I got JERICHO!!!!! Omg I was so excited I've always wanted him for team and now I got him for Olympics!!! I put my saddle cover on and mounted up. The flag dads asked who had team flag and I raised my hand :) The team flag was put in my flag boot and we were at the gate before I knew it. Jericho was very excited and didn't want to stand forward. I called In HO! And away we went!!! Jericho was amazing! A little excited going in but settled down nicely. I focused on calling and watching where my team was. Our star was perfect!!!! Then the next thing I knew I was flying through crossover and headed into salute lines! And we were out! It went SO fast!!! I got out and started bawling. It felt amazing and the adrenaline was pumping. We did so good. I don't know how I knew but the whole team did. We all knew that was an amazing drill. Jericho turned into a giraffe and tried to eat leaves off the tree. Then we headed to un costume. We ran a 5min 18 second drill in an arena twice the size. That's how fast we were moving!!!! I was still crying because I was just so proud! We headed up and watched glory riders. They did really well. My team and I felt like they would get first and we would get second. Then we headed down to the paddock and raced in! We found a spot on the rail and waited in anticipation...

Show Attendance - Mustangs (AA)

Single A

3rd: Hoedowners

2nd: Trailblazers

1st: Legionnaires

Double A

3rd: Cowboys

2nd: White Star

1st: Mustangs

Triple A

3rd: Indian Braves

2nd: Glory Riders

As soon as the announcer said Glory my whole team stopped breathing. OMG could it be?? Then he said," and in 1st place with 124.7 points is a great team, a lot of fun to watch. The carry blue flags..... let's bring down the COLORADO STAMPEDE!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!! My whole team ran down screaming and I was handed the plaque! I was trying so hard not to cry as our picture was taken. Then We ran back and I was group hugged by my team and I lost it. I was full on sobbing. Two weeks ago we couldn't even do a star or get through our drills and we just won WHITE OLYMPICS!!!! I was so proud and it was just so many emotions running through my head. I unsaddled Molly and went home. 

Specialties

Sunday was another great show! I helped set up costumes before I went to show my instructor Texas Skip again. I got through 5 times and she said she'd put it in!!!! OMG! The only problem is we didn't bring the trick board down... oh dear. So I costumed and in the gate we went! I called the drill and the tricks. I preformed butterfly up the arm, double butterfly, large butterfly, spoke hop, in-out-through, handshake, and accordion. They all went really well. Then I stood up alone and went in front of my whole team and that giant crowd and jumped through texas 2/3 times. I saluted out of habit. I regret not trying a second time but 2/3 jumps isn't bad for having to suddenly deal with clumpy dirt. I still met my dream of being the first white roper to preform that trick in a show. It took 10 months but it was sooo worth it to hear the announcer say my name. Quick change to vaulting and onto patches. My partner butt vaulted and we switched in the corner. I went into one leg hang and felt brave and let go with one hand. This put more weight in my feet so when I went to pull up I slipped off. Only problem is I can't vault back up so I had to run a crossed the whole arena before someone finally got off and helped me back up. I missed my favorite tricks though :( I was really embarrassed. I finished out the drill strong though that's all that matters. Batons went amazing! I didn't drop my baton at all and we were ion sync most of the time. Time for awards! 

 Ground Specialty Sportsmanship - White Belle Star + White Bull Whips

Horse Specialty Sportsmanship - Indian Braves

Ground Specialties 

3rd: White Batons (YAY!)

2nd: None

1st: White Belle Star + Indian Dancers

Horse Specialties

3rd: Harness 2

2nd: Harness 1

1st: White Dressage

Then Vaulting had to clean up after the rental horses. I was bummed ropes didn't place but I had fun. I've never been so tired, dirty, and happy at the same time. 

Colorado Stampede Grooming #2

Tonight was easy. We learned how to pack a saddle bag and trim the bridle path. I had Ashley #71. She was perfect. Leg wraps were easy and she was very tolerant of the scissors and having her whiskers trimmed. My yest is next week wish me luck!

Last Ride Before Olympics!!!!!

So tonight was amazing!!!!!! I got Bandit #1 and had to saddle Blaze #11 for a teammate who was running late. They were both fine. We got to ride outside even though it was storming before but it cleared up. We rode Standard Drill for warm ups. It went well but not as good as last week. Then we lined up our drill. I was 1-1. We also got flags. I finally got one of the horse flags! I was very excited. The wind was very strong so it was hard to hang on. WE ACTUALLY GOT OUR STAR!!!! It was such a great feeling :) I actually trotted at some points and I was on the inside! We pulled off three amazing drills tonight. It was amazing! We also shaved a minute off our time we rode a 5:14 drill tonight :) We also got to do a victory lap for two of our riders birthdays. Bandit loved it! He was being a brat with his lead changes though. I just had to pull his head a little more and then he would switch them. I was so proud of my team. Our instructors said if we do exactly what we did tonight we could win olympics on saturday! GO COLORADO STAMPEDE!!!

Guess the Horse #32

The winner last time was indigoisawesome! Congrats :) The answer was Levi #88

This week's riddle is I am the definition of mare. I am 21 years old and my daughter is Dixie. I have really smooth gaits and run white division and tenderfeet. My number is between 30 - 35. Who am I?

Summer is almost over :(

So yesterday was fantastic! My morning started out with batons where we just worked on our drill. Then I had Nugget for liberty and omg was he amazing!!!!! So smooth and so responsive to the wire. We worked on drills so the instructors could see who was ready to move up. I took off my bridle. It was kind of annoying because the horse in front t of me kept knocking the jumps over so I only got two full jumps but I fixed my lift :) I then found out my JI test score. I got a 93% I passed!!!! I'm officially a JI :) I'm so happy :) I went and met indigo is awesome and rayogirl. Then my last JI class I had Sampson and he did okay we had to put cards under our feet and try not to loose them and we worked on runaway horses. After I had to unsaddle quioxtie and Sampson. Then was ropes. I have to get through Texas skip two more times to get it in show. Vaulting I got Dakota :( he bucked me off in star but it was a tiny one. We got him loping though!!! It was an exhausting way to end the day. 

Stampede Grooming #1

Tonight went really well. We talked about showing out of state, requirements, and other stuff. It was pretty brief. We cleaned saddles and my friend and I cleaned Dodgers :) then guess who I happened to get for class!? Dodger! He was perfect. We just show groomed. I finished soooo early though. Next week we will get wrapping and clipping demonstrations. Looking forward to it :)

Finally a Good Ride - Stampede 8/6/15

So tonight went amazing! We got to pick our horses and I finally got to ride Dodger #6 for team!!!!! OMG HE WAS PERFECT :) He didn't move an inch or fuss at all during grooming. Our ride started out with Standard drill as our warm up. Our 2nd Lieutenant called again. *Hold your breath* We actually got complimented!!!! Our standard drill looked sooooo good. I think it really energized our team cause we pulled out 3 awesome drills and I rode 1-1 the whole time :) We still suck at Star and making our "S" for salute lines but we actually could pull off a pretty decent White Olympics next weekend :)  Dodger was freaking perfect! Took the flag no problem he just trotted off instead of walked. His lead changes were so good and his turns were incredible not to mention AMAZING gaits. Ugh I love him. We also had a short meeting about annual show boosters. Then while we were waiting to go unsaddle Cisco took off down the street, blowing right past Dodger and I. He reared up and tried to take off but I wouldn't let him so he just spun and reared and danced around. It was SO FUN!!!!! LOL then he spooked at a tarp on the way up. He took FOREVER too cool down, I was the last one walking my horse not to mention he still had to eat. It took me about 45min to 1hr to be done unsaddling. I'm so happy my team is pulling it together. I have my first of three grooming classes tomorrow so watch for another post :)

Crazy Saturday - 8/1

Well yesterday went very well. Batons was pretty laid back. We worked on our drill and specialties. I finally got to go to liberty and I had Snookie #125! I was so happy. She is sooo smooth. I took of my bridle without hesitation. I was basically told by my instructors that I wouldn't get moved to white because of my attendance but in okay with the winter in blue I can still move up in the spring and be in next summers shows. I have my lift down but I fall forward after the jump. Snookie listened so good. She like to try and eat but went for the jumps so well. We worked on thread jumps the whole time. Then I re saddled and studied in the valunteer with a friend for JI. I took my test at 2 and I felt pretty good about it :) I feel like I will pass. I find out on the 8th. Then ropes was epic! I got the through Texas skip four times in a row consistently!!!! I might actually get to preform it at Olympics!!! Eek! So happy :) then for vaulting my partner and I got patches!!!! Or as white vaulting has nicknamed her Beyoncé :) she was amaozngn. So smooth such a nice break from rebel and Yukon. I actually kneeled and stood at a trot and also let go during star as well :) I really need a class like that after our streak of dying Hahahaha.