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!!!!