Sad Day

Westernaires was cancelled.  It was like -7 degrees

12 Hour Saturday

My day started off at 6:30am with JI. I rode Sampson and he did super well! It was pretty chilly out. We focused on foot position a lot since they are being introduced to spurs. I noticed a girl struggling with her reins and they seemed really long. Well it turned out one was unclipped. So I called a Halt Ho and we got her situated. It was one of those moments where I was happy I was a JI and I prevented an incident. Then I raced to the Mountain View room to grade my trainees diagrams. They are almost done with Flag. Hard to believe its only been a year since I was in training. I watched my sister in Nighthorse. She rode Stetson this week because TomCat was in sick bay. GoldDust was really good for Royal. I rode CP and 3-2 for Carousel. Our drills weren't as good as last week but we still did okay. Then for Flag I rode GPA 4 point. We also got our stock show assignments. Then we took some horses home and unsaddled them but left them in the arena for liberty. My liberty was at 5 and I had Levi. He honestly surprised me with how good of a Liberty horse he is! I was so comfortable I finally did my first no hands jump!!! It was so much fun! Then I rode 2nd four for our drills. I ended up leaving at about 6:30pm. It was a very long day but I wouldn't want to spend my saturdays doing anything else!!

First time riding Carousel!

Saturday was a lot of back to backs. I groomed Patrick first thing and my partner and I rode him for vaulting. He was interesting for sure but not horrible. I called the first drill and then I rode tricks for the second one. I raced to training and collected my trainees diagrams, and it took me the full two hours. I raced and rode shoshone for JI. He freaked out twice when some kids ran past the arena. I lost one stirrup but was otherwise unseated. I left a tad bit early so I could make it to my walk through in time. I was L6 (GPA 2 point) and 4-7. I GOT TO BE IN 7TH FOUR!!!! They really have to haul to keep up in the Precisionettes drills. The walkthroughs actually went pretty well and I'm glad we didn't have to go into the ride totally blind. We finished early enough so I could watch Nighthorse try riding Flag for the first time. They did okay for their first shot! Lots of work to go but we all have to start somewhere. GoldDust was in a class again so we were a little late to warm ups. The first drill wasn't actually horrible and man those drills are fun to ride! It never stops moving so it's super nice! Then it was my turn to ride team. GoldDust was in a four with Stretch, Squirt, and Betty! My little potato kept up like a champ and hit our lead changes. I am so proud of her and I had so much fun. I can't wait for next week so we can ride it again! Then we lined up Flag and I was 2-5. This drill was an absolute train wreck. After the ride I actually got to unsaddle GoldDust! She usually goes to a different class. I helped a tenderfoot unsaddle Lacey and then I took crd of GoldDust. She never rolls so she's super easy. Red Ropes is cancelled until January so I'm very sad.

A Great Ride with GoldDust!

Yesterday was chaotic. The horses were running crazy in the pasture, more so than usual. I started grading my trainees diagrams at 8:30 because I'm very meticulous so I wanted extra time. I finished at about 10:15. I had to miss liberty for grading though. Then I had my royal meeting for stock show at 11. I can't believe I only get to sell programs one more time. I wish I could've had a chance to preform. Then I watched Nighthorse. They are starting to get it together! I'm anxious to see them start riding Flag. I also watched Crimson. Then I signed out GoldDust and she was in a class. She honestly behaves better when that happens. Our ride went better than last week but still not great. I rode 4-7, GPA 3, and 2-2. So we got through three drills! GoldDust did better lead changes and didn't pop as much. I was really proud of her!  I hung out and watched my friends ride and I left about 6pm.

First Snowy Saturday

It was a cold one! Not miserable but chilly. I had to groom for vaulting at 6:45 and I had princess. My partner and I had banjo for the actual class. He was crazy but actually pretty good!! I rode base because I hurt my back last week so I didn't want to push myself too far. Then I raced to Nighthorse training and I got assigned my two trainees. I graded their practice diagrams and headed out to JI for T3. I rode Shoshone and he was having a crazy day. I had a lot of time after that before royal so I just ate food and watched classes. GoldDust was super lazy today. She did alright for warmups. For the drills we were Point in GPA 3 but I got called to go ride 4-2. One of my annual spots! For the second drill we were 2-1. 1st four!!! Our drills were a disaster though.... I think everyone on the team need to refresh since we are all riding new spots. Hopefully next week is better. I unsaddled Shoshone because golddust went to liberty and then I helped with blue ropes at 4.

The First Ride of my Final Year...

This weekend it really dawned on me that I will be graduating next annual show. I haven't quite wrapped my head around the fact that I am a senior this year and my time as a Westernaire is almost over. I am a nighthorse trainer this year so we got our binders checked out to us and we are getting our trainees next week. I'm super excited to be the trainer this year! Then I had liberty at 10. It was sooooo nice not having it right after royal. I had skeeter and he was crazy lol. Anytime we have a week off the horses just go nuts hahaha. I rode first pair so that was super fun and I have an awesome picture of skeeter and I jumping that I'll post below. I watched the new Nighthorse Rangers have their first ride and then I got ready for Royal. We were one of the top three teams at annual show so we got a game day! Golddust did really well except for stopping. She popped really bad and it screwed up my back. I'm hurting today. We also played catch up. It was a pretty short day but a good one. I should also note if I haven't already that I quit batons.

One more catch up and ANNUAL SHOW!!!!

Wow I am so sorry everyone I have been so bad about this blog. Life has been hectic. Since I last posted mostly its been JI, extra fire baton practices, royal having an amazing last ride before annual and me finding out i didn't have to share!!!! Okay so that caught up the basics and here is ANNUAL

Thursday Night - Grooming
It was ticket turn in. I sold 52. Then we had grooming. Pretty simple. We show groomed and trimmed bridle paths. GoldDust was perfect as usual. I packed my saddle bag as well

Saturday - I got up at 3:30am to report for grooming at 5:00am. Golddust looked so pretty in her purple tack! I was so happy I got to use all my own stuff for this show. I loaded her and the saddle bag onto a trailer and headed to the complex. Once I arrived I put golddust in her stall and got shavings. I unloaded her saddle bag and filled her water buckets. Once I got her settled I unpacked my stuff and ate some breakfast. We were allowed to warm up from 8-9 so I saddled her and finally got to walk through the tunnel and enter the arena on horseback for the first time. No words. After some walking and trotting GoldDust seemed ready to go back. We ate breakfast and then we had a meeting, a walkthrough, got our saddle covers, costumed in the clown costumes and mounted up! I really began to get nervous and excited. We rode serpentine and that was amazing! We waited and then before I knew it we were running in the gate. Holy cow adrenaline! I rode 2-8 for this show and I had so much fun! Golddust was a bit stubborn and had a hard time staying up in the propeller. Our stars were a little rough and our time was 6:15. We hardly had time before we were getting ready for the next show. I had batons in the pre show which went really well. I only dropped my baton once. Then I quickly changed into my royal costume (we wore the vests) and hopped in line for serpentine. Royal went in much faster after this. I rode 1-6 and man I love that spot. Golddust did much better!!!!!! It was so much fun. They even dimmed the lights! Omg the adrenaline is incredible. I was still in denial that I was preforming in annual. We nailed this drill and our time was 5:59. Then ropes our new costumes are amazing!!!! I did Laydown, Double Wedding Ring, and Texas Skip. We had a nice long break before the 7pm show. I didn't drop my baton once! We wore the pirate shirts for royal and I was point in GPA 1 so it was nice for Golddust and I to get a break. We nailed another beautiful drill with a time of 5:59. That arena is SO BIG and the corners are super round. Ropes was much better this show as far a my tricks. I wrapped gold dusts legs and gave her fresh water and headed home.

Sunday- I got up at 6:30 and was down to the barn at about 7:45 for warm ups. GoldDust was READY TO GET OUT! Lol she was very appreciative of the time out of her stall. Batons was less successful this show for me. We were all getting tired and worn out. Plus the lights make the batons very shiny and hard to see. For royal we rode in the pirate shirts again. I was 4-2. Outside of the mini propeller! It was so much fun!!!!! This was our best drill ever. Literally perfect. GoldDust was perfect and our time was 5:52!!!! I started crying coming out because I realized i have less than a year in westernaires left and the weekend was over! It was sooooooo much fun!!!! Ropes I have no words for. I nailed my best texas skip ever and it was the most incredible feeling having the audience cheer!!!! I quickly packed up and began cleaning but I still almost missed the trailer. Then I rushed to westernaires and got golddust taken care of and I took her home. I was so tired I could barely lift the saddle bag or walk. I had so much fun and I wish it could have lasted longer but I also love sleep!!!!

Interesting Saturday

Yesterday I had batons and vaulting at 8 but since I'm preforming at annual for batons I went to that class. We got to twirl fire so that was fun! I'm probably dropping after annual though... I'm bored besides fire. Then we had our annual meeting at 12 and I am SOOOOOOO excited!!! GoldDust was really good but team was rough. We are running way over time and we are still only riding three drills. We have a lot of work to do in two more rides. Red Ropes was at 4 so everyone was pretty tuckered out.

Horse Training Tryout 3/3

Tonight I rode one of the black draft horses Big Sonny. He was a bit difficult to catch but I did it on my own! The ride was interesting he's very different than normal horses so it was a good challenge. We also rode a drill. I was told that they aren't taking new trainers until after annual but that we'd talk then. So a few more weeks of waiting!!!!!

Getting Close to Annual!!!!

Yesterday went okay. I rode Squirt for JI at 8. It was a little rough because the class is so small. My next class wasn't until 2 so I watched some classes and hung out with my friends. GoldDust could tell I was having a crappy day because she was a perfect little angel for me. We only got three drills in and I rode my usual positions. Then I had Curtiss for Liberty and we worked on teaching the new girls our drill. Then I saddled Curtiss for the JI trail ride! It was SO MUCH FUN! We got to explore the hills and run around in the fields. Curtiss loved it and so did I! Only 3 more practices until my first ANNUAL SHOW!!!!!

Horse Training Tryout 2/3

Tonight I got to work with my baby Stretch! He is still very traumatized by his accident at inter club so I spent the majority of the night desensitizing him to the flag. I feel like we made baby steps in the right direction. We rode one drill so I did get to ride him a bit. Overall I felt really good about the night. One more tryout to go!!!!!

Red Liberty Tryouts and More 9/24

Today was the day! I got GoldDust for the tryout because they try to match you with your team horse. The tryout went really well actually but I was not accepted onto the team. They said I look really good for the spring just work on my control a bit more. Which I expected because GoldDust isn't the greatest liberty horse. I was just honored to get invited to tryout and I can also aim for the spring!!! Batons conflicted with that so I didn't have to go. Then vaulting was at 9 and I rode Quinella. I was super tired from tryouts so I only rode base. Ropes we got our stall cards and they are finding memo themed!!!! I love it hahahaha. Royal had an okay day. Not as good as last week but we are slowly pulling it together. I also got to call one of the drills because the rider was absent so that was a blast!! Our Top Ten JI ride is scheduled for next weekend hopefully!!!

Horse Training Tryout 1/3

Well I survived my first night of mustang training tryouts. I rode Scarface and he did wonderfully. He has a really crappy reputation but he's a super amazing horse. The only incident we had was when a flag fell on his butt and spooked him sending us into the corner of the arena where I fell off. Neither one of us were severely hurt and I feel like it was a successful class. Super pumped for next week.

Ticket Rally 2016

Ticket Rally is so not fun or exciting anymore. The ticket horse is named Buckaroo. Oh and my stall card won!!!!!!!!!

SOMEBODY PINCH ME!!!!!

OH MY GOODNESS CAN THIS WEEK GET ANY BETTER I JUST GOT CALLED TO TRYOUT FOR RED LIBERTY ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW AM I DREAMING!!!!!!!!

OMG HORSE TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG I JUST GOT INVITED TO TRYOUT FOR THE HORSE TRAINING TEAM!!!!!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR 7 MONTHS FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday 9/17

My morning began at 6:30am like normal and I got to ride Betty for JI! She is super smooth and hyper lol. Then Liberty was at 11 today and it was evaluations for Red Liberty so I was especially excited that I had my Liberty boy Rock!!! He has been out for a while with hives. He was SOOO hyper. He was charging and rearing like crazy. We were doing a double jump and I didn't land quite right so he dodged the second one and I fell. I rolled and we were both okay. I don't think I'll get called to tryout this year honestly. I'm really aiming for the spring. Royal was amazing today!!!!! Holy cow! Something finally clicked and we got through 4 drills!!!! I'm riding 2-8, 1-6, GPA1, and 4-2 for annual unless something changes. I really like all of my spots. Then it was cleaning because of standard drill and then I stayed to watch my sister in the show and her team took first place in AAA! A very long day but super fun.

Saturday 9/10

Saturday went well! I rode Lucy for Vaulting first thing. She really does't like doubles but my partner was gone so it worked out! Batons we began prepping for annual show so nothing too crazy. I had an amazing day for ropes. I'm getting really close with double spoke hop. It's been like 3 years with that trick but I haven't been 100% dedicated to it. Our walk through went well and I submitted a stall card entry. I hope it wins it looks super cool. Then for the ride it was rough. We are not working as a team at all. GoldDust was also having a bit of a mare day. Oh well.

Life is coming together

Wow. Saturday was just incredible! My morning started off with JI as usual but I got stretch!!!! Anytime I get to ride my boy is truly a gift. He was a ton of fun! Definitely not the same horse I used to be assigned to but still the same at the same time. Then I had the yearly JI meeting and we announced top 10! Guess what!!! I'm #7!!!! With 38 hours and only 1/3 red division girls on the top list. I'm super excited for the trail ride. Then I had walkthrough for Royal at 12 and I tried out a lease horse in Crimson warm ups. It was interesting and I don't think he's gonna work for me just because I have so little time left. Then for Royal something clicked finally for GoldDust and I and we had an amazing ride!!!! I rode 2-8, 1-6, and 1-3 so really good spots! Then I rode star for Liberty at 3 and she did alright. It was a long day but a much needed break from the world crashing down on me. Seven rides until annual show!!!

One MAJOR Update

Wow have I been bad about posting. I've been sooooo busy I'm so SORRY! Let's pick up where we left off.

Aug.13 - Saturday
Today was the Jeffco Fair so for ropes and batons we went down to preform. It was pretty fun getting to show off. Then for liberty I had GoldDust and she was okay. I didn't wear spurs and that was interesting. She did well but she hesitated a lot more at the jumps because I didn't have them on. I miss rock as my liberty horse... He is currently in sick bay with hives. Vaulting we just practiced our drills. I also JI'd on JD and then switched to Scout so the rider could have a better horse for equitation testing.
Aug.17 - Wednesday
Tonight was alumni night! We probably had about 16 alumni show up and about 8 of them were renters. I got the cursed honor of sharing with one of them. She reimbursed me for my rental fee which was SUPER considerate. I thought she should ride warm ups to get used to golddust before jumping into drills. So I walked down to the arena. At the ride I was watching the alumni and how much they have missed this and it really hit me. That'll be me soon. I cannot imagine only riding at westernaires once a year. So when my alumni offered me a turn I told her to enjoy the ride and use the whole hour. She was so appreciative and happy I was hardly upset about not getting to ride. I just hope when it's my turn someone will be so kind.
Aug.19/20 - WHITE OLYMPICS
Saturday was LONG. I was at westernaires for almost 17 hours straight. I JI'd on Stax first thing in the morning and then went on a trail ride with Shoshone the next hour and he was so excited and was bucking and loping in place a lot. It was a lot of fun. Then I had Vaulting which conflicted with ropes but because I had a show I went to vaulting. My partner and I decided to rent for practice and the show because her horse wasn't working out. We rode Utah Girl. I slipped off at one point which was super funny. Then for liberty I had GoldDust and i wore my spurs because of how she acted last time. I think I was tired but when we went over a jump she would take off and not slow down. I finally had to put the bridle on it was so bad. But when I relaxed and calmed down enough I realized it was my spurs and that I was clinging on with my lower legs more than my thighs. I felt so bad for getting angry at her when she didn't know what she was doing wrong. White Liberty 1 named officers. I didn't get anything but I wasn't really expecting to because I just moved up in the spring. We had to end class super early because we had our head shots for royal for the annual show program. We wore our purple vests but we didn't tuck them in so they would lay flat. It went super quickly. Then I raced to batons where I practiced fire most of the time. Then I changed into civilian clothing and headed to watch my sister in the show! There were a lot of Halt Ho's and it was a rough show overall but everyone persevered. My sister's team placed 2nd in AAA. Then we packed up and headed home. On Sunday I got to Westernaires at 12 for grooming. I was told I had Outlaw for vaulting and GoldDust for Liberty. I groomed GoldDust because outlaw was being used for steps. Once we were down at the arena I checked in with all my teams and set up my quick change area. Then I got Outlaw ready and got costumed for vaulting. Which went really well! I held all my tricks and even stood through the whole propeller. I was super proud especially after falling off last year. Then I watched most of the show until it was time to get ready for batons. Which was a major success personally. I never dropped either of my batons including fire! Then it was the stressful quick change to liberty which kind of sucked. GoldDust dodged every single jump despite all my attempts to correct her. And we had a couple halt hos. Then it was awards. None of my teams placed but I didn't really expect them too. Overall it was a pretty good show and a great conclusion to summer.
August 27 - Saturday
We are back to Winter Schedule!!! I had batons early at 8 and we just celebrated olympics and ate food. Then I rode Bandit for JI at 9. Most of the kids rode bareback as their last tenderfoot ride celebration. Then I had ropes at 11 and my friend and I created tandem crazy legs and it was super fun!!!! I had vaulting at 12 and my partner and I rode her horse and it was okay because we just played games. GoldDust was in Liberty at 1 but I made it to Royal in time. We rode with flags. Our ride kinda sucked. I hope next week will be better. I rode 1-7 (I LOVED THIS SPOT), 3-7, and GPA 4. We only got through 2 1/2 drills. With only 8 rides until annual show this was concerning. GoldDust was being a pain as usual. Then Royal had cleaning at 3 and my day was done!

- Now that life is back under control I'll definitely get back to posting regularly

Royal Rangers - Aug.10, 2016

On wednesday I had GoldDust again. I was determined to have a better ride with her. Grooming was fine she's super easy she just bites your butt sometimes with the first hoof. Then we had warm ups which weren't horrible actually. Then we lined up the first drill and I was 2-5. Then the second and I was 2-8. Both went okay. We were threatened with trotting if we kept leaving riders behind. It's just hard because we have two owner horses who can barely get above a trot and there really isn't a spot in our drill where we can put them besides CP without issues but we don't want to punish them because of horse difficulty.  We will get back to the royal we were a month ago it's just going to take some time and patience and next week is Alumni ride so we are all just going to try and survive lol. Then the third drill I was 3-1. I missed the peel off for spanish bowline and lost my stirrup so the whole drill I rode liberty style lol. Luckily they found all the pieces and I put it back together for the next class because we just cooled down our horses after that. I really need to go back and study my drill again since we are riding different positions again. A refresher would be really nice.

Out with the Old in with the New

On Wednesday July 27 we said goodbye to our ten riders moving to precisionettes and welcomed our 19 new girls to Royal. It was a good night. The drills were rough but we pulled through them! I had GoldDust again. I rode 1-8 and was supposed to ride 2-8 the next drill but the girls moving to precisionettes got to pick their spots so I got pushed to point. I helped with the welcome bags and the girls seemed to appreciate them. I'm currently on vacation so I've missed Saturday 7/30, Royal 8/4, and I will miss tomorrow as well. I'm definitely starting to get horse withdrawals and I'm ready to come home.

Saturday 7/23

Today was long and hot but what saturday in the summer isn't. I rode squirt for JI at eight was a little too excited but I feel like I handled him well. Then I filmed my friend in red trick at nine and rode Shoshone for JI at 10. He was fabulous. At noon Ropes just practiced specialties and at one I had rock for liberty again! He did extremely well and I really enjoyed having him for liberty. On our last jump we had a rider fall and break her arm and she was taken to the hospital. Kind of a sucky end to a good class. Batons was really boring at two I'm considering dropping after annual show but I'm not sure. Vaulting at three went really well. My partner rode trick for warm-ups and I rode trick for the two drills I was proud of how well I have my tricks for as out of practice I am. Also on another note Royal gained 19 new members to our family. They moved up half of Nighthorse to Royal and about half to Crimson.  I'm super excited to welcome them and not be the newbie anymore more. Lol. 

Heritage

Herded show was not the best day for me personally. Royal did amazing in the first show but I almost came off after propeller. I was 3–8. In my flag came out of the flag boot but I hold onto it throughout the entire drill until was able to get it back in the flag boot. Then the second show star dodged every single jump in liberty. I was extremely frustrated and we had two halt hos. Then for Royal I was 3–6 and this time we stopped coming out of propeller GoldDust just turned right I went left I caught the saddle and she stopped as I slid I almost save myself but eventually just step down. Put my foot back in the stirrup and climbed back up it was only about a 10 to 15 second halt ho. my flag stayed in the flag boot and I waved to the kids as well to let them know I was all right. It was a good show for my teams but for me personally it could have been better. Our ride was canceled for the night because of the show.

Saturday before Heritage

All my classes went well. I had sonny for JI and ended up switching with a girl on dusty so she could actually move some. Then Ropes went well I taught my teammates Texas skip and started making some progress with the large loop. Then for liberty I had star. She actually did better than I expected but still dodged a couple and was lazy. Batons was boring and vaulting went well I'm starting to ride tricks more to get ready for Olympics. Overall a good day

Catch Up!

I was not there on Saturday because I was out of town Wednesday the ride went really well. Golddust was amazing with her lead changes but seemed a little more tired than normal. We did warm-ups two grand entry drills so I sat out and three drills. So very successful night. I'm riding 3-6 and 3-8 for heritage. I really like riding team more now that we have almost no points. Lol. GoldDust wasn't needed for the next class so I took her home. She never rolls lol.

Scary Moment

Tonight was just a rough night for royal in general. I was surprised to find I had Snookie for the ride. Her RT rider just graduated plus they weren't riding tonight so I don't think I will keep her but who knows. We did two grand entry drills so I got to sit and watch. Then we did two drills. I was 3-6 and when we hit Mariners cross I felt like my cinch was loose. Then we hit propeller and I felt it shift over to the right. I called a halt ho just in time. My saddle was over to the right about to tip over. Thank goodness Snookie stopped on a dime and my team as well. I was able to dismount move the saddle re cinch and off we went. I was so angry at myself and embarrassed. I was so sure it was tight before I went in. The drills were rough tonight too. I rode 3-8 for the other drill. Overall not a bad practice but not a good one. 

Specialties 7/2

I finally had some free time to JI so I signed up for the eight and 9 o'clock classes. I got Patrick and he did fine for grooming besides being a little pushy but that's normal. That class went fairly well Patrick is pretty good at the cones. Then for the second class I got my baby boy stretch!!!!!!!!! It has been months since I have ridden him and I was so happy to be back in his saddle. There was a girl on Rocky who I stayed next to most of the ride because she was pretty scared I was really proud of her though because she did most of it with lots of encouragement. I did the cones with stretch and it was literally flawless no head tossing perfect lead changes ahhh! I've missed that horse. Then I watched red Roman and white liberty 4 until red ropes. The majority of our team is on varsity who was away at a show so we just practiced tricks. My friend and I spent the hour trying to come up with new tricks. Then during the last 5 minutes my instructor had me try a 60ft loop!!!! I've always wanted to try that trick! She even gave me her rope to take home and mess around with!!!! It's super tangled though so you only have a few tries before you have to stretch the rope out again. For Liberty I had GoldDust! They gave everyone their team horse if they do Liberty because of heritage show. That way we have less horses to bring down. She is AMAZING at Liberty :) I had a lot of fun with her. Batons we practiced a drill and some tosses and left early. Vaulting went well personally! I did tricks the whole ride stood through the whole propeller and mostly held every trick all the way across! The team needs some work. But we will get there. I can't believe it's July already. Summer always goes wayyy to fast.

Summer Ride 6/29

It was so weird not having the seniors there. I rode GoldDust again. We rode two grand entry drills and I was in serpentine because I'm new. Then we rode two drills and I was 3-6 and 3-8. GoldDust was so tired by the end but she did really good. I think we are beginning to figure each other out. She was taken by the next class so I headed home :) Two more rides before Heritage Show!

ESTES!!!!!!!

I LOVE SHOWERS. I will never under appreciate them again. I'm going to break estes down by day.

THURSDAY
- Grooming night. Between my partner and I we were done and packed in less than an hour. Luckily GoldDust barely has any white so we didn't have to give her a bath.
FRIDAY
- I woke up at 4am to get to Westernaires by 5:30, we got GoldDust all wrapped and groomed. Then my partner loaded her while I loaded a Keno for a guy. Then I carpooled up to estes and got there early after some Starbucks hahaha. So we loaded our stuff into the gym before turning in the car keys and checking in. Then by the time I found my stall my partner already had gold dust settled. We forgot to buy extra shavings which came back to bite us on Saturday. Then was lunch and all teams practice before the practice show at 1. I got to ride serpentine all weekend so that was a real treat! The practice show was good. We never got a line up so that was frustrating but ropes was at the end of the show so i had eons to change. I had a small horse quick change from royal to crimson. Then we had dinner and it was show time!!! We wore our purple vests with black jeans. GoldDust had a perfect place to tie the saddle cover down so that was really nice. Royal did AMAZING!!!! It kind of sucked that I was a point but it was still an amazing drill. Ropes I messed up lay down but handshake and Texas went AMAZING!!!!!!! I was so ready for bed. We had a 10min walk from the horses to the gym and we had to walk it sooooooo many times each day. Not to mention changing outfits every 10 minutes. I fell asleep before lights out at 11.
SATURDAY
- 6am wake up call....love it hahaha. We had breakfast and got the horses stretched out and exercised. Then we headed into town to promote the show and shop. I bought a horse hair keychain that almost identically matched stretch's color. After that was personal time. I chose horse time so I hopped on GoldDust bareback and just let her walk the whole time. We trotted a little but I really just wanted to give her time out of the stall. Then we had senior speeches......I'm just gonna say i cried like a baby. Then we had dinner and got ready for show #2! Our seniors chose pirate shirts but with red jeans. I prefer them with black but oh well! I will never get over how comfortable those shirts are. Royal had a good ride but not as good as friday. Ropes on the other hand was perfect. All my tricks were amazing!!!! Then we hiked the hill yet again and went to sleep.
SUNDAY
- 5AM WAKE UP! At this point everyone was sooooo done and ready to go home. We got the stalls cleaned out and checked by a barn dad. I waited to load golddust. We were up the ramp for the last trailer spot but stax was freaking out so they put teddy on instead of me. So I waited for another 20minutes. I was one of the last waiting to load. I finally had my friend load gold dust because my carpool had to leave. So we drove down to the fairgrounds. Once I arrived at about 9:30 i found out trailer 102 blew a tire.... guess which one gold dust was on. 102. So All the other trailers arrived at about 10 and mine didn't show up until about 12:30. I was so hot and tired and ready to go home. So was poor gold dust. My partner and I were desperately just trying to kill time. I finally got home at about 2pm.

Estes was so much fun. I was so done with walking and changing clothes but my I am very happy to say that my first red division and travel show is complete!!! I can't wait for next year!!!!!!! GoldDust was a perfect little angel who always drank her water and did everything I asked of her.

Last ride before Estes!

We got the share list for Estes. I had GoldDust with my friend on Crimson. So happy it wasn't a boy or precisionette. The ride went well. I rode my usual spots. We are extremely ready and are going to rock it! It was super sad to see the seniors all decorated. So sad they will be leaving us this weekend

White Division Show 2016!

Wow yesterday was spectacular! I started my morning at about 7 I helped my friends groom for their liberty. My partner and I both had conflicts with White Vaulting so we went to Blue Vaulting at 8 for some practice before the show. We decided that she would ride tricks because I hadn't been in so long. I finally got to JI @10 and I rode Dodger!!! He was so fun :) I bought a 30ft rope to try for Texas skip and it made it sooooo much easier. Red Ropes was fun! We ran through our drill a few times. I am preforming Laydown and Handshake and we will decide at estes if I am preforming texas skip or not. For Liberty I had Rock again!!!!!! He wasn't having the greatest day. If the horse in front of me dodged he would too which was frustrating. But otherwise he is a great liberty horse. Batons was fun! I had to call the fire baton drill which was one extra thing to worry about besides the fire hahaha but it was fun! Then I had a few hours before check in for show. I drank water and tried to stay cool. For grooming I had bantaro. Thankfully all the horses were really clean so it didn't take long to show groom. I had Rock for show!!! I was so excited to have one of my favorite horses. Once I got checked in with all my teams, set up my quick change area (I had a back to back from batons into liberty) and got costumed for vaulting. I was riding my partner's horse for serpentine because she was in grand entry. Vaulting went well but we missed a whole maneuver.... something got messed up with circle. I don't know but we made it work!!! Then I had a long time between act 4 (vaulting) and act 20 (batons) I got to watch a lot of the acts and then I got costumed for batons. It went really well! I didn't drop my baton during the normal drill and I only dropped my fire baton once!!!! Then I raced out of batons and quick changed into liberty. They didn't get my vest on tight enough so one shoulder was off the whole time and I lost a cuff going in the gate and my shoe was halfway on but I didn't loose it!!!! White Liberty 1 was the only Liberty with NO HALT HO's!!!!!!!! Rock did amazing! I got thrown in the line up so I was behind better horses so we went over 2/3 jumps so a huge improvement :) It was so much fun and I already can't wait for our next show. By the time I got all my belongings gathered all the horses were taken so I headed home :)

Getting close to Estes!!!!! 6/15/16

Yesterday was incredible!!!!! Royal had such a great ride. I rode GoldDust #33 and she was actually really good!!!! She's soooooo chubby though lol. She was a little lazy but she has good gaits and gets the job done. She's stubborn with flying lead changes but she will pick up whatever lead you'd like from a trot. We rode with our hats! And flags!!!! I was so incredibly happy hahaha. We easily got four drills in and they were sooo good! We lined up outside the arena and ran in too. I was GPA 3 and then 3-6. My usual spots :) I honestly really liked GoldDust. Having to kick again was interesting Hahahaha. My friend graduated though :( it was so sad but exciting to watch her run through the graduation lines. I'm gonna be so sad next week when our last five seniors run out. Then I took GoldDust home and that was it! ONLY ONE MORE RIDE BEFORE ESTES IM SO NERVOUS BUT EXCITED AND I HAVE NO CLUE WHO MY SHOW HORSE IS!

Updated RIP

Along the way I missed a few horses

March 1 - Dancer
March 27 - Winddancer, Prissy, Nevada
April 9 - Money

Winddancer - You were my last tenderfoot ride and then you were retired. I was so sad to see you go beautiful girl.
Money - You carried me through White Division show on Stampede and were an all around amazing horse. RIP

Saturday and summer schedule

With pink Ranger training coming to a close I was able to JI at 8 I rode fast Eddie he only threw a couple bucks but otherwise he was fine. Then I had my final pink Ranger walk-throughs I called carousel and I called Crimson lease so that was fun. I also got 102% on the combined final!!! Which means I passed and I am finished with training for the rest of my career!!!!  Which I am honestly sad about. Red Ropes at noon was fun I will be performing laydown and handshake and possibly Texas skip at Estes. For liberty I had rock! I hadn't ridden him in ages but holy cow does he charge the jumps. I still took my bridle off though. Batons performed at the tack swap during our practice. It was my first time twirling fire in show and I only dropped the baton once. At three I finally got to go to vaulting after so many months. My partner's new horse is so bouncy and painful which makes me worried for show. I called the tricks as well. Overall not a bad practice. Except it was so hot during all my classes I wanted to die. I drank so much water. Having for back to back also I really is going to be hard

First Summer Ride - Royal

I rode pepper. He is so short Hahahahahaha. He was really good. I had my stirrups too short though. I'll have to fix that next week. Stretch was also ridden in Royal and I was sad I didn't have him :( we did 3 1/2 drills I was GPA 3 and 3-6 again but our drills weren't that great. Hopefully next week will be better. It was fun riding outside again

Last ride before summer and Interclub!

Wow. Where do I start. Saturday was kind of sucky because I couldn't ride or participate in many of my classes...wisdom teeth surgery sucks. I got 95% on our Crimson and lace final. I was so mad at myself. I've never failed a sequence and I messed up one number so I lost all 10 points which is why I only got 95 :( ugh I could kick myself! Then we took the combined final. It was hard! You had to ready sooooo carefully. Then we watched the precisionette ride. I had ropes at 11 but almost the whole team had conflicts so we just cancelled. I did one walk through with my team but then my instructor wanted me to sit out. We then got our hats (I only tried mine on because I wasn't riding) so we we could wear them at the ride to make sure they won't come off at show. Batons had a mock practice at 1 for girls like me who hadn't been in months! Royal I sat in the crows nest. It was so hard not riding. Royal rode four BEAUTIFUL drills which didn't make my life any easier Hahahaha but I am so excited to ride on Wednesday. I'm terrified to see who I'll have. Then we bade farewell to our monitor who was retiring.

Today was Interclub and I volunteered and helped organize classes. We got to be in dress reds! I also watched nighthorse preform. Stretch's riders flag boot broke and the flag fell through it getting trapped underneath stretch. The rider stayed on but a posse man was trampled stopping him. Everyone walked away with minor injuries and nothing broken. It was definitely scary and hard to watch but after that the drill went great. It made me super excited for Estes park. The competition went great and I had fun helping the kids :) 

It's beginning to feel like summer

Yesterday we took our Crimson and Lace final and I felt pretty good on it we finally got our carousel finals back and I got 102% I only missed one point. I was pretty happy with my score. It's crazy to think that next week is our combined final and I'm finished with training forever because I won't make it to varsity big red because I joined too late. After training I went and bought some stuff from the bake sale and watch the Precisionette ride for training. I haven't JI'd in so long. At 12 I had a walk-through for Royal. I was supposed to be a GPA3 point but neither of our CPS were there so I filled in that spot. The second drill I was 3-6 again :) for the ride I had Chey and we rode with flags. We got four drills in and got to line up in the white and run in! We have solved a lot of our issues but we keep slowing down. We aren't pushing the speed as much as we need to be in Order to get our drill to 6 minutes. I had Liberty immediately after and I rode Bandit. He was actually a lot better than normal! I took off his bridle and we warmed up in some jumps. We did three drills and I rode in 2nd four or third pair. It was so dusty we could barely see the jumps! Talk about scary! Then we unsaddled and I watched white trick to cool down because it was sooooooo hot.

RIP - Tanner

RIP - Tanner #24

~ Strangles

Hectic Day - 5/21

Last day of pictures and boy am I glad. Pink ranger training was just walk throughs from 8-9. I called the Carousel one. I watched Varsity until my estes meeting at 10. I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I don't really like our stall card design though :( Then at 11 my team also had a meeting where we reviewed videos from our old rides and critiqued them. We did a few walk throughs in the white at 12. Due to all of those events I had to miss batons, vaulting, and ropes. At 1 I costumed for batons and set up my vaulting quick change. Batons and vaulting were back to back. And vaulting was a 2. Our pictures took ages because our team is so big. I raced down to royal sooooo fast when they were done. I made it in the middle of the first drill so I got to go in for the last three! I rode 2-6, and 3-6 twice. We modified part of spanish bowline to cut down our time. After Royal I had cleaning. Sorry this post is short but it was a super busy day.

Picture Day Part 1!

Wow what a fun filled hectic day! Yesterday was the first day of pictures! Due to the scheduling we had to start pink ranger training half an hour early. I was top scorer on the first quiz for crimson and lace and I passed my 3rd sequence too! We were dismissed earl and I raced to my White liberty Costuming!!! I was so excited to have all the fringe on hahaha. White Liberty 1 is a purple ish color, White Liberty 2 is green, White Liberty 3 is hot pink, and White Liberty 4 is blue. After that picture was done I changed into my Dress Reds. I got to watch the beginning of the Precisionette ride before I had to costume for ROYAL! I was WAY to happy to finally have the full costume on minus the hair scrunchies. We wore our purple sided vests with red jeans. I finally feel like Royalty. After our pictures we had a walk through in the red. I was GPA 3 and 3-6. It went well minus the talking. Then I had a short break before RED ROPE PICTURES! I had all my new team pictures yesterday so I was very excited. The cuffs actually fit very well but my vest was gigantic. We didn't get the new ones done in time :( But our parts aren't assigned so maybe I will get a vest that mostly fits for estes. After pictures were over I went and found Chey. As usual she was in class. Royal got our crap together this weekend and pulled out 2 1/2 amazing drills! I was so glad to have the royal I know and love back. We rode with flags and truly worked as a team. It felt amazing. For the ride I rode GPA 2, 3-6, and 4-2. I had to hand Chey off to a team mate so I could race to get Skeeter ready for Liberty. We rode our drill twice and jumped for the last half of class. Skeeter was SO hyper. After that I unsaddled Dixie and headed home. I also got crimson and lace final approved..... NO MORE DIAGRAMS FOREVER! I'M SO UPSET!!!!!! If only I could do Red Team training...too old. Oh well I'm so happy to be a Royal Ranger that I really could care less :)

Colorado Saturday

Saturday was pretty mellow but hectic at the same time. I helped out in the pasture catching horses. I said hi to stretch and HE FOLLOWED ME! I didn't have any treats he just followed me around. It made me so happy. I miss the big guy. Then I headed to pink ranger training. I felt good on Q1 for Crimson and Lace and I passed my second sequence. We did two walk throughs and I called one. We finished diagramming the second half. So about 45 diagrams with all the adds. I had conflicts for batons and white vaulting with pink ranger training. I rode Patrick for JI @11. It started raining pretty hard. At 12 red ropes was cancelled because of the weather and I helped move horses to the shelter so I got soaked. Royal went much better this week and we rode with flags!!!! I got to be 3-6 again and GPA 3. I really hope I get 3-6 for Estes!!! I like that spot a lot. I had cleaning after and I turned in my stall card design. Then I headed home to diagram!

Snow/Rain - Spring?

Saturday had some weird weather. It was a rainy snowy day but not too miserable. Just cold and muddy. My morning began with PR Training. We started Crimson & Lace yesterday. I passed my sequence first try! Then we were assigned the first half of the drill. The only catch is this drill has adds after every chart. So we got around 48 diagrams to do. I diagrammed last night and all day today and they are finished!!! Sitting and diagramming for 12 hours straight is tough but I really enjoy having them out of the way before school starts. Juniors was cancelled so I didn't get to JI today so I had nothing between training and Royal. I watched Nighthorse and Crimson. All the teams seemed to be having rough days. I was really excited for Royal because we were supposed to ride with flags for the first time, but for some reason we didn't. Oh well next week I guess. I had to pull Chey out of a class but we still made it in time for warm ups. We had a pretty long warm up to ensure the horses were ready to go. I was GPA 3 for the first drill. It went much better than last week but we still had some rough patches. I got to be 3-6 again for drill 2. I honestly really like that spot and wouldn't mind taking it to Estes! I get to be one away from the outside of propeller and break off for Spanish Bowline. This drill wasn't so hot though :( Idk what happened but I know we will pull it together. I studied Flag before the ride but I'm really going to dedicate some extra time this week to Royal's drill. We only have 8 rides left until Estes which is super terrifying but SO EXCITING at the same time. Immediately after Royal I had liberty so my teammate took Chey home. I always feel bad not taking care of my horse but back to back classes, what do you do lol. My first White Liberty 1 ride went well! I had Bernie who was fabulous but we didn't jump which was probably a good thing because the arena was really hard. We worked on our drill but it was hard because half of our team had conflicts. After I took Bernie home I left fairly quickly so I could start on my diagrams.

Saturday 4-23

Saturday began with my carousel final. It has six diagrams and I felt really good on it. I also got 106% on Quiz 2. I missed one question. We got our sequence for Crimson & Lace and we will start that drill next week. I had to miss batons due to training and I rode Zane for JI. Chey was so much better during Royal this week. She was in Liberty the hour before so that took up some class time. Royal had an off week. We weren't really working together. We did two and a half drills and I was GPA 4, 4-3, and 4-7. Chey needed to go home and was a perfect little angel for unsaddling as normal. Ropes went well! Texas is slowly coming back and I'm also working on double spoke hop for Estes. Two huge challenges. Then vaulting was in the white. We have way to many new girls on the team so it's mass chaos. My partners horse was bucking so we knew something was hurting him. We got him checked by the vet on Sunday and he can't be used for vaulting so we are going to try another one of her leasers horses. I'm just glad we figured out something was hurting him.

Spring time ... Jk

Westernaires was cancelled on Saturday due to snow. I was really ready to get my carousel final over with. Oh well.

An update!!!!!

So Saturday started out with pink ranger training. I got 110% on the first quiz making me tied for first in class. We did some walk throughs and I called the first one and was 1-7 for the second. It's hard because our training class is so small. We only had four people in team the second time. And then I was CP for the last one. I felt alright on quiz 2. The diagrams were much neater so that was nice! Liberty I had bandit who was pretty fired up. We had new riders so we just worked on jumps. I had my first red rope practice and we planned for Estes. Then Royal Chey was a little off but we rode four drills!!!! I was 2-7, 3-6, 1-8, and GPA 2. I was so exhausted by the end. Four drills is a lot!!! It was a ton of fun though. I got approved for my vaulting costume for this year and waited for vaulting. We welcomed a lot of new riders and I'm going to ride tricks for white division show. And tonight I got a phone call welcoming me to WHITE LIBERTY 1!!!!!!!!! Which rides on the base team weekend so that's really odd but I'm glad it'll break up my schedule a bit.

RED ROPES!!!! FINALLY

It is with incredible pride and happiness that I can say I'm officially a RED TRICK ROPER!!!!! I have worked so hard for this! I learned almost every trick on our list, Texas skip, and many many others. Ropes was my very first specialty and it stole my heart. I am so excited to preform at Estes! 

Scary ride...

Saturday was eventful to say the least. Rides after a week off are always a little frustrating. Pink Ranger training went well and I felt great on the first quiz! We got 29 diagrams, 5 adds, and I had two really easy corrections so I had a total of 36. I spent 12 hours yesterday finishing them all. After class I saddled my friends horse who I rode in nighthorse warm ups. He did a lot better than I expected so that was great! I'm weighing my options of potentially leasing him. The only issue would be liberty so we will see! Then royal was having a good warm up when a rider fell off of a training horse. She is okay but had to leave in an ambulance so our ride was shot. We got 1 1/2 drills in but they weren't very good. I think everyone was a little shaken up. I was 3-4 and then P2 (Q3). Chey didn't need to be unsaddled so I headed home 

This whole weekend...

Was horrible :( Westernaires was cancelled on Saturday and Easter parade too!!!! Darn cold and snow :( I really wanted a picture in full Royal costume. 

Pink Ranger Training and A SURPRISE!!!!

The only thing that could've been better about yesterday was the weather. It was super cold, icy, and snowing in the morning but really cold and sunny in the afternoon. I started Pink Ranger Training! In this class we will learn the two Precisionettes Drills. We got assigned to our trainers and sloppy copied 21 diagrams. But we also have add ins where we have to make our own diagram in-between two maneuvers. So we got 6 of those for this week, so 27 total diagrams. We are diagramming Carousel first. Then as part of training we are required to watch the precisionette ride at 10 and we got lucky and they rode Carousel for both of the drills. But they did change the sequence on us so now I have to re-memorize it. We were inside due to the weather so I JI'd on Zane in the Blue. He was super fun to ride! Then when the sun came out everything turned into mud. So that was fun....not. I watched Nighthorse and Crimson and then signed out Chey. She was on the rail so that was great! We warmed up and lined up our first drill. I was 1-7 so not a horrible position. I got to run pretty fast to get into star so that was fun and I was on the outside of spread star. Then for the second drill....I WAS 1-1!!!!! I GOT TO CALL!!!!!!!!!! All the drills were called by new girls but I was so happy to yell, "LADIES, WHO WE BE!?!?!" and the team yelled ROYALTY!!! I did accidentally call out of star in GPA 3 instead of 4 but the team just kept going so it was okay! My teammate said I broke her eardrums hahahahaha. Chey did really well. We are really starting to figure each other out. The last drill we rode CP so she was able to cool down some but she was still pretty steamy so I finally got to use my cool out blanket! She didn't need to be unsaddled so I headed home and diagrammed for 6 hours. Only 3 left to do!

Specialties 3/12- Post #300!

Yesterday I had circus horse at 8am. I got SOOOOOO close to getting on Gill by myself. I was unable to. They gave me a boost so I could do my tricks. I even stood up. But I won't be moving up because the absolute requirement is getting on by yourself. I had fun though and will definitely try out in the future. Batons we worked on creating our fire baton routine for this year. I can't wait!!! I had Cisco for my JI at 11 but the class had a ton of really stubborn horses so it was hard to get a lot done. Ropes was more tryout practice. Danielle called out tricks and we worked on them. I'm not to concerned. Royal we rode with Tenderfeet. Mine was so eager and excited. I love seeing them be inspired but us older riders. Chey did really well as usual. I had to clean the volunteer after. I really need to bring something to protect against the dust. Liberty I rode AC and got to model one of our new costume ideas! AC jumps kinda weird but I took the bridle off and he listened fairly well. Vaulting my partner's horse started limping so I rode with someone else and called one of the drills.

Royal and COSTUMING!!!!

Well Saturday was really easy for me! I came and helped in the morning as a wrangler and watched my sister ride. Then I JI'd on Banjo for J2. That horse has the weirdest gaits... I'll never understand them. At 11 I got to COSTUME FOR ROYAL! I was so excited to finally put the costumes on. We have 4 total. A shirt that is reversible so it's two costumes in one and we wear this with our dress blouse. The team favorite (the pirate shirts) which is a super lightweight purple long sleeve. It is so silky it feels like you are wearing pajamas. I can't wait to wear that one in a show. Last we have "the clown costume" which is a white t shirt with puffy silver and purple sleeves sewn on. Then you put a red jerkin over and red cuffs. This one was warmer so it's only used at annual but it's a very pretty costume and I honestly liked it a lot. We helped the monitors put the costumes back on our tack truck and I finally got to watch nighthorse and see some of my friends. I also sat and watched Crimson with some of my new Royal teammates. Chey was in a class as usual but I made it in time for warm ups so that was good. We rode to music too! We lined up for Flag. I was P1 in GPA 2 for the first drill so I got to post for Spread Star and do a roll back. Chey is soooooo good at those I love it :) For the second drill I was 3-1. Something clicked with Chey and I and we nailed every lead change in the entire drill! I was so happy that we finally figured each other out. For the last drill I was 2-2. This drill wasn't as good as the first two but it was still good. I missed one flying lead chane but broke down to a trot and picked it back up. We really rode boot to boot. I don't think my legs have ever been so smashed together lol. Chey surprisingly didn't need to be unsaddled so I took Freedom and Stretch home instead :) I hope we get to ride with flags soon. I'm also officially signed up to ride in Easter Parade!!! I can't wait to finally have my full costume on. I'll finally feel official! I'm not sure if Chey's Red Team rider is doing the parade so Idk if I'll ride Chey or not. I guess we will have to wait and see.

I'm Exhausted...

CWell I slept for 13 hours so you could say I was pretty exhausted after yesterday. I had to groom and saddle to JI for T9. I rode fast Eddie and he was very full of himself. There were a few bucks involved but nothing huge. For batons we worked on synchronization so not much happened there. I had my one hour off and got food that went to circus horse tryouts at 11. I am unable to get on my myself so I don't think I will make it this year. We got to try around the world that it is so awkward riding backwards on the horses neck hahaha. I think I will still go to tryouts next week just for practice. Then at 12 I got to practice with red ropes!!! I have been waiting for this for two years I was so excited. Then that one was white ropes and I just practiced specialties. I had Chey for Royal and we rode three drills. We got to line up in the white and run into the volunteer. So much fun! We also got to ride to our drill music!!!!! I was so happy!!! I was 2-8, GOA 1 point, and 2-7. Chey was so much better with her leads today. Our drills were OK but they could have the better. Overall still a very good ride. I had Dusty for liberty and that was OK she's pretty lazy so I rode with Spurs. We rode our drill with ground poles and half jumps I called the second drill. I did not take off my bridle because Dusty was more responsive with it. Then for vaulting my partner and I successfully did all the tricks for both drills except I was not able to get into one leg hang but still a huge improvement. Her horse did amazing. I also found out we might be costuming for Royal next week!!! And I'm also going to ride in Easter parade because in Red division anybody can do it if they want to. I can't wait!!!

First Ride as Royalty!!!

Wow... yesterday was my first day as a Royal Ranger and man was it a blast. I took advantage of not having training and JI'd for J1, J2, and J3. I groomed Chief and rode him for my first class, my baby boy Stretch second, and Patrick for the third. It was JGE tryouts today so it was pretty boring but they really needed us to help keep some of the horses out on the rail. Then I had a little bit before my meeting at 12. We got bags of goodies decorated with the royal flag and customized bandannas. A few older riders came and welcomed us onto the team. I was so freaking excited!!!! We talked about expectations; no officers, no drama, one big family. Costume pieces, etc. My instructors said we weren't going to ride with flags this week but be prepared to next week.  It took the whole hour so I couldn't watch my teammates on nighthorse :( I watched the beginning of Crimson to see the girls who moved up. I don't think it really hit me that I was on Royal until I went to sign out my horse with my new teammates. I was surprised to find I still had Chey!!! She was in a class so I got to wait at the gate. Then off I went. I started to get really anxious and just tried to match my breathing with Chey's. For warm ups I rode with my trainer! It was super fun and everyone did great! Before our first drill and at the end of the ride we high five as many teammates as we can reach. Then we lined up our first drill. I was P2 (GPA 4). The caller yelled, "Ladies! WHO WE BE!?" and I finally got to yell," ROYALTY!!!!" I got so many chills lol. Our first drill actually went well. It was so different fro nighthorse because everyone was actually confident in where they were and where they were going. There was hardly any of the hesitation that I'd grown used to. We lined up a second drill and I was 3-6. 1 away from the outside of propeller!!!! Omg Royal has the biggest propeller with 34 riders instead of 28 and man do they haul! It was great! I hope one day to be on the outside. We were only supposed to get through two drills but we had time for a third!!! I got to be 1-2 for this drill. Riding team is so much fun but point isn't horrible because they are really involved in Flag unlike Kaleidoscope. Overall they weren't bad drills but we need to guide a little more to make the transitions easier and cleaner. Chey did amazing and it was nice having a familiar horse. I cannot wait until next weekend. After a few times the drill came back to me fairly quickly. I'm so proud to be Royalty and I nearly cried during the ride because of how kind and supportive everyone was. It blew me away. I unsaddled Chey and headed home :)

MOVE UPS!!!!!

I GOT THE CALL THIS EVENING!!!! I'M NOW A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL RANGERS!!!!! I'm so happy!!!!! I cried when I got the call. I've always wanted to be on this team. It doesn't feel real that I will be riding on the team that I have been watching for the past two years. Now I have to relearn Flag but it's so going to be worth it. I can't wait for the first drill when the caller yells WHO WE BE!? and I'll get to yell ROYALTY!!! I'm so ready!!! Pink Ranger training is up next probably in a few weeks. AHHHHHH I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I'M A ROYAL RANGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crimson took 12
Royal took 7
That leaves Nighthorse with 37 girls who are gonna do fantastic!!!!

Circus Horse and Flags

So Saturday went really well I had my first of three circus horse tryouts and I actually surprised myself with how well I did. Training was good I got hundred percent on my kaleidoscope final and 99 overall and 100% percent of my diagrams!!! For Nighthorse we rode with flags. I got one of the ugly maroon ones lol. I had Chey and rode C01 and 1-4. I almost forgot to pick up my points lol. Chey can be really stubborn about her right lead but we started figuring out each other and I'm beginning to learn her cues. Our last two kaleidoscope drills weren't horrible, it was fun doing Crimson's salute with flags. And I'm sure move ups will be happening here soon. Then my vaulting partner was sick so I rode with someone else. Liberty was amazing! I had Chahootie and she was perfect and we finally got to work on some more jumps!!!! I got to call the drill again but we ended halfway through so I'll get to call again in two weeks.

Ride and Kaleidoscope Final

So on Saturday I started out with training and we took our final for kaleidoscope. It really easy so I'm hoping that's a good sign. Then we talked about horse health and basic veternairy care. Afterwards I signed out my horse and I had Chey again. It seems to me that she will be my new horse to carry me for right now. The ride actually wasn't too horrible I got to be 1-5 (OUTSIDE OF PROPELLER!) and AM(1). I was so excited to finally get to ride outside of propeller. And the drill actually went fairly smooth until points in but other than that it was really OK the second drill was pretty boring for me because I was American but it's an important role and I was excited to ride it. I got hit with a giant dirt clumps during double thread though it was pretty funny. Chey was much better about picking up her right lead so I think I'm starting to figure out her cues. I didn't JI so I could film my friends graduating to Percisionettes. Then I stayed until six and film my friends trick class at five. Pretty good day and we will be riding with flags for the first time next week!!!

Long Day 1/30

My day started really early with grooming at 7 am. I had Jericho for Liberty!!!!! I was super excited but we were in the white. We had just started warm ups when White Steppes gave us the VOLUNTEER!!!!!! I HAD JERICHO IN THE VOLUNTEER!!! It was soooooo much fun but Jericho had a lot of kick in him but it was fun :) Then diagramming went well. I got a 91% on Quiz 3 so I was pretty disappointed in myself. I flipped two wings in the star. We walked through and rode P5 in GPA 1 and 2-1. Then we went over our homework assignment on cost to own a horse as well as got a lecture from the director on the horses legs and the importance of leads. It was extremely interesting and I really enjoyed it. Then batons we just practiced a little and celebrated our instructors birthday. I went to sign out my horse, it was so weird having the horses back at the outdoor arenas again. I had Chey! I was actually super excited. She's such an amazing little horse. It was a super fun ride, I got to lead a bunch in 1st four so that was fun! Our second drill got really missed up with points in but overall not to bad. I think we will start riding with Flags shortly. For ropes I practiced my normal tricks and then learned a few combinations of old tricks. After ropes I had Vaulting. My partner and I tried another horse out but he started limping shortly after so I hopped on with another rider who's partner was gone. It was my first time ever riding with someone else. It was weird but a nice challenge. For JI I had Hunter and man was he fired up today. Getting on took at least 5 min. Then Sonny bucked a rider off and they asked a JI to ride him. I volunteered so we gave the girl Daktari and that JI took Hunter. I hopped on Sonny and the instructors told me to get some work out of him. So I loped him around and he only offered a buck when he felt cornered. Which was difficult because we were helping the Tenderfeet lope so we boxed them in. Then we unsaddled and I helped the girl with Daktari. I helped unsaddle a few extra liberty horses and watched WL4 and unsaddled Dakota for them at the end because the rider left. I was super tired by the end of the day. 12 hours takes it out of you lol. Sadly I do believe my time with Stretch has come to an end. I'm really gonna miss the big toddler and he taught me a lot. I wouldn't have wanted to spend the last 3 months with any other horse. Hopefully I'll have a new assigned horse soon.

Mustang Training 1/28

Tonight went well! Stretch was not in the mood for lunging snd I was pulling on his lead rope to get him to walk forward he nipped the inside of my arm. Not hard enough to I break skin but enough that I have a mark. I rode with a flag almost the whole time more for my benefit than Stretch. I wanted to take away my second hand for stopping. He did good overall but a lot more head throwing. Just when we were making progress lol. Then we ran the trainers drill twice and let the horses cool off. Stretch was pretty sweaty but he cools off really quick. I helped a teammate towel off scarface and that was my night!

Training, Stock Show, Different Ride

Thursday night Mustang training was cancelled because of how many trainers were at Stock Show which included me! We got to take the big bus instead of the van. The seats reclined and we all felt so official. We shared with Crimson because they were selling at the other show. I sold in the arena and totaled 18! It was fun and I only fell up the stairs once. Lighted Grand Entry looked amazing. On Saturday I helped catch horses in the morning. They got really fired up and were running all over the pasture. Then in class I got 100% on Quiz 2 and for the walkthrough/ride I got to be 1-7!!!! I was so excited!!!! 7th four was a ton of fun! I also was P4 in GPA 4. But sadly someone else on my team rode Stretch. She did good with him but I sure missed riding him. I had Smoke instead who surprised me with his speed. He can really boogie when he wants too. His trot pops you around a lot and his lope feels super stiff so it's super uncomfortable to ride. But he was a good horse, I hope I get Stretch back though. At 2 I JI'd and got Rooster. He did really good. Quick little gaits and turns on a dime. We were in the Red and worked on fours and some individual loping. Then I stayed and watched BL1, Shadow Riders, Glory Riders, and White Trick. I can't wait for Mustang Training on Thursday so I can see Stretch again.

Mustang Training and Cancellations

Sorry about the delay I have been crazy busy. So Thursday went well with Stretch. We finally got a different pad on him and it was so much better. We did some drill practice and rode the Mustang Trainer's drill and then had to lope individually on the rail. Stretch loved it :) Saturday all my classes were cancelled except vaulting and Nighthorse because of a lot of the horses being at stock show. It was a nice break though. We got fitted for our Nighthorse Costumes!!!!! It was super exciting. I got 100% on Q1 for Kaleidoscope so woo hoo! We finished the drill and rode it for the first time. I was P7 and 3-3. The drills were pretty scary but overall not horrible. We will get it together just like before. Stretch did better than last week but still got really hyper. Maneuvering with him as a point was interesting. I can't wait to ride it again this weekend. I really want to be a CO or ride in 4th or 7th four. We will see I guess! Vaulting was interesting. My partner and I almost got bucked off and her horse was just having a crazy day and was not in the mood at all. At 3 I JI'd for T8 on Cisco and I was impressed! They did amazing! I couldn't believe how well they were circling in fours already.

Nighthorse + Stock Show

Saturday was fun and scary at the same time. Diagramming went well, I walked 3-7 and P2 before the quiz. Then we got 17 diagrams and I had 3 corrections. So the ride was interesting. Stretch was in a class at 11 so I was a little late to my ride so I didn't get to do my exercises with Stretch. Warm ups were going great and I got him to do an amazing stop at a lope but then I'm not sure what happened. He either got super excited or spooked at something but he took off into the center. I tried to one rein stop but he fought against the bit. I narrowly avoided crashing into my teammates before he finally circled around. I was a little shaken up but not scared. Then we got to play catch up!!!! I finally got to let Stretch run! Not all the way because we would've left the other horses in the dust but the problem came at the end. I went to break and stretch didn't stop. I even started slowing down earlier but i still crashed through two fours. It was scary and I was so embarrassed.  Squirt's rider fell off but she was okay. the horses were SO SWEATY at the end. The steam coming off of them looked so cool. I didn't use my cool out blanket though because I had to race off to change for stock show. I had a teammate take Stretch and use a rental blanket on him. So I got to wear my dress reds for the first time!!!!!! It was so exciting and I felt so official. At stock show I sold programs at a podium which normally sells more but I was in a bad spot so I only sold 8 :/ the top seller sold 84. I'm hoping I'll do better next time. It was still fun and man do you get a lot of attention in the dress uniform.

First Mustang Training Class!

Well tonight was amazing! Stretch was fine for grooming he just won't stand still when you're saddling and he throws his head while bridling. When we got to the volunteer we lunged the horses for a few minutes. It took a minute for Stretch and I to figure it out but we got it together. Then it was mostly individual work. I out a flag on Stretch and he did just fine. I just worked on his stops. By the end of the night his improvement was apparent. It was a ton of fun and I'm so grateful for the opportunity.

Back to Back = EXHAUSTION

On Saturday I got to Westernaires and helped catch horses at about 7am. Then diagramming went well. I got 97% on my Flag final and a 99% on diagrams because of a few motion dots. SO CLOSE!!! My overall score for the whole drill was 99% so I was pretty apply. We started Kaleidoscope, took a sequence (passed it) and got only 10 diagrams. Batons was at 11 and we worked on some turn arounds and other tricks. Stretch was on the rail like normal. I decided to keep his pad forward this ride because we rode with Tenderfeet!!! We ran pretty hard during warm ups because we went a lot slower for the Tenderfeet. My kid was on Duke and he kept biting all the other horses. The boy did soooo well with him though. I dropped off after awhile because squishing Duke only made him more angry. It was a bit hectic but it was fun knowing we were being looked up too by the younger kids. After I put Stretch away I raced to ropes. I worked on my usual stuff. Then I got Stretch to JI at 2 :) He's so good in JI he loves it. At 3 I had Snookie for Liberty and I got to call the drill. Sadly we didn't jump. But it was an okay ride. Vaulting was at 4 and I rode base on my partner's horse. He did so good and we tried a lot more tricks on him. We haven't tried one leg hang since I fell or one leg layover. Otherwise we do everything else. It was a good day but I was sooooo tired by the end. On Sunday I made my cool out blanket for Stretch! I think it ended up a little longer than wide but I still think it'll fit him pretty good! I can't wait to try it on him :)