Red Liberty Tryout #3!!!!!!!

8am in the volunteer, walking in there for a third red liberty tryout on a third horse, nerves kicking in, and knowing this was my absolute last chance. I got mounted took my bridle off and did a few warm up jumps. There were 11 people trying out. The instructor then talked to us a little. Some girls would get asked to the team and not ride annual that way they are guaranteed to practice all winter (since white and blue get cancelled more) and be ready for the summer shows next year. I knew this didn't necessarily apply to me since I graduate at annual so I just knew I was making it or I wasn't. We then lined up the first tryout drill which we do without jumps. I was 2-3 and they always pair us with an current RL member to help us. The drill hadn't changed from the last two tryouts so I knew it pretty well. Then we did two more drills with jumps. Reno was phenomenal, never dodged, never hesitated, kept up great. It was so amazing to have such a solid liberty horse after battling so much over the summer. Then she called the 11 girls trying out over to the rail. This is when my heart really started to leap into my throat because this is where I was denied promotion the last two times. I'm so glad they just tell us right away though instead of drawing it out. She asked two girls to stay and talk with her and said the rest of us were promoted to Red Liberty. HOLY COW I MADE THE TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!! I got handed my information packet and I think I was just trying to convince myself that I wasn't making it up and I had finally succeeded!!!!! I"M ON RED LIBERTY!!!!!!!! I was practically in tears and I was so proud of Reno. After a year on BL2, 6 months on WL3, and 1 1/2 years on WL1, I can finally say that I am a Red Liberty rider! Yes I will only get 4 practices and Annual show but for me it was about not giving up and not being defeated by the set backs. Even if I only get to ride point I will still graduate off the team and get to come back for Alumni rides and I'll have fun on the team no matter how short the time may be. My first official ride will be Sept. 9. It is gonna be hard to wait that long!!!!! After all that excitement in the morning I headed to the fort to check in for photos. Royal was taking our head shots for the annual show program. We were wearing pirate shirts which was awesome because we have worn vests for the last several years. They were behind schedule so it took awhile but that was okay. I raced to Ropes at 11 and we ran through all the specialties to start thinking about what we would like to perform at annual show. It was a productive and short class which I was thankful for because it was REALLY hot out. I had a break and watched White Horse Roman and WL3. I also walked Bo to help with his recovery, he is still limping pretty bad :( It breaks my heart. Then I went and found the horse I was riding for Royal. She's a palomino mare named September. I am going to be riding her until Bo can at least handle half of royal since all of my leaser's horses ride at 1 or 2. She is such a sweet horse and does INCREDIBLE flying lead changes. We rode in team the whole ride. 1-5 and 3-7 so pretty good spots :) I had a lot of fun with her we just need to get used to each other. That was it for my day so I got to head home and start studying my new drill!

Tenderfoot Induction Show 2017

Okay so tonight was Tenderfoot Induction show and I always have so much fun performing for the little kids. The 8 of us performing got together with our instructors and did a walk through of our shortened drill that way we were all comfortable. I was asked to call so I was super excited since I couldn't call Olympics. We costumed and got lined up but I realized they didn't even bring Reno's bridle so I rode him at liberty through warm ups and serpentine so he really impressed me. Serpentine went well and then it was soon time for our drill. Reno did amazing. Our drill got pretty fast but we stayed together and all bridles were off and almost all the jumps were taken by all the horses. Reno was incredible and I'm glad I got some more practice on him before tryouts tomorrow morning. I'm nervous but at the same time it'll be my third time so I feel pretty comfortable at this point. Wish me luck!

INCREDIBLE NEWS OMG!!!!!!!

Wow!!!! What a day!!!!!!!!!!! So first I received an email that I was 1/8 WL1 riders selected to perform at Tenderfoot Induction this friday!!!! I'm so excited!!!! I always love that show because the tenderfeet are so eager! Plus it's an extra liberty show!!!! Just as I was settling down from the excitement I got another email titled RED LIBERTY TRYOUTS!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT INVITED BACK FOR A THIRD TRY OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!! I am so grateful that I get this chance as a senior to potentially graduate off red liberty after so many horse issues and failed tryouts. EEEEEEEKKK the nerves don't ever seem to get better but I know Reno will take good care of me :) I will be sure to keep you guys posted for the show and tryouts saturday morning!!!

White Olympics and a Parade!

Saturday was a LONG day. It started with me getting to the parade route at about 6:30. I helped set up while I waited for the trailer and my monitors let me choose the costume because I was senior so I chose the pirate shirts. I got Jack settled in and my instructor came to tell my I was riding Honor Guard up front with the Colorado Flag! I was so excited getting to lead the parade route. I was sad Bo wasn't able to do it with me but Jack was phenomenal as always. We flagged at 8:30 and rode to the parade route and waited until 10. Then the parade lasted an hour. It was fun but I can see why people kind of hate them too. Very exhausting and a lot of time waiting around. Then it was back to the fairgrounds for practice. I missed ropes for the parade and liberty was not so good. Jack started out really well and we did our two individual jumps perfectly but we didn't go over a single drill jump and it was horrible. Especially with a show the next day. I think part of it was we were both exhausted from the parade. After class I lunged him over some ground poles and half jumps and he did really well. After talking with my leaser we decided that I could use Reno for the show. It could be my last liberty show ever so we want me to enjoy it. So I took him over a few jumps just to get the feel for him and I'm confident going into our show on Sunday! I then stayed until 7pm and watched the white division team perform and supported some of my friends! I didn't get home until 9:30 so almost 16 hours at Westernaires.

Sunday! - My LAST White Olympics
Since I quit vaulting and batons my only white specialty is liberty so it was really weird only having one team to worry about. The show ran very smoothly and I got to take Reno into serpentine too to get a little more comfortable. He had Dressage with his normal rider right before my class so we had a quick change but it was mostly just strip all the tack and throw me on. He was amazing!!! We nailed every jump and even took the lead when a horse dodged for a minute. I even did a no hands jump at the end to finish it off! I was grinning from ear to ear. I forgot what it's like to have a really good liberty horses lol. I will be very content if that was my last liberty performance. We cleaned up and headed home!

WHAT A DAY OMG!

I still am in disbelief of how Saturday went. Ropes was bright and early and we just did some specialty practice. My friend and I are getting closer to our double texas trick!! Then I went to take Jack into a blue liberty class at 9. I have two practices until Olympics and maybe one last red liberty tryout... lotta pressure. The class was rough. I fell off when he dodged a jump. He was stalling and refusing. It was kinda a mess and it made me very discouraged. So it was finally time for my liberty class and the red liberty people were there evaluating of course. I think I learned a lot in the blue class and Jack knew I needed him because he WAS AMAZING! We didn't even hesitate at any warm up jumps and we even got our bridle off for the last drill. I was beaming with pride, i was so happy. Sadly I had to leave right after for work but it was a great end to the day.

My first ride back after vacation!

Thankfully the impending afternoon rainstorms held out but the arena was still super thick deep mud. So our we greatly decreased our speed which probably helped us tighten up a little. The owners had to clean the volunteer and we didn't finish until 6:10 and I had to saddle Bo and Jack. I rode Bo up the arena and he was hardly limping. We started trotting and he was definitely limping but it was less than before. Loping he was fine. We did half of warm ups and I felt like he had done enough. Especially with the poor footing I didn't want to push him. So I switched over to Jack. The first drill I was 4-8 so that was a ton of fun! Then I was 1-1 and got to call!!!! I was so excited :) Then we lined up a third drill and I was GPA 3 point. I haven't ridden point since February so that was a shift but I know we are giving everyone a chance in team and I rode amazing spots the first two drills so I didn't care. We only got through half of that drill anyway. We rode with flags so luckily it wasn't too windy. Jack did amazing and I'm figuring out how to sit his weird gaits a little bit better :) Overall it was a pretty successful ride.

Rough July

Sorry for the lack of posting but the last month has been pretty hard. So after Estes we had only a few weeks to prepare for western heritage show. On the first of July Bo pulled up lame in Liberty. He started limping really bad on his front left. He got a massage and we found soreness in his top line. We were instructed to stretch him out and do some exercises to help alleviate the stiffness. I rode one of my leaser's other horses Jack for one practice. We then rode Bo around and after some trotting he pulled out of his limp. I rode him for liberty saturday and for royal on Wednesday and he did just fine. Then the next saturday he started limping again. I followed the instructions of work him out of it (just stiff muscles) but it didn't seem to be getting better. I then felt the limp shift to his front right so I pulled him out. I felt horrible for riding him as long as I did but I was doing what I was told. I was in tears when I brought him to his owner as I was so concerned for his well being. At this point Heritage show was in a few days and I had no horse to ride. Jack was being ridden by one of my teammates so I took Karma in for heritage and a teammate lent me her red liberty horse. So I went into heritage show on two horses that I'd never ridden in class and I called the liberty performance and rode no bridle and hit 3/4 jumps. I'd call that a huge success. Then Royal I rode 4-1 and 3-7 and Karma did phenomenal since it was her first big westernaires show and only my third time riding her. The drills could've been better but we stayed together as a team the best we could and got out of the arena together. Performing for red ropes was super fun and we got buttons added to the front of our costumes. The first show was better than the second for everyone. It was just super hot and miserable. Precisionettes promotions happened that night and Nighthorse move ups happened on Friday. They moved 20 to Royal and 28 to Crimson. It'll be nice having a full team with points again since the stock show move up didn't happen. Sadly I had to miss the graduation ride and new girls first ride because I was on vacation. On July 31 Bo went to the vet and my leaser called me with some bad news, Bo has been diagnosed with early stages of Ringbone (arthritis) He is immediately retired from all classes except for Royal and Roman (with another rider) that means all of our hard work in liberty is gone, although I am extremely pleased that we accomplished a no hands jump with no bridle during our last class together. He will be getting treatment to keep him comfortable through annual that way I can graduate off him for royal and I couldn't be more grateful for that. It is kind of poetic that as we run out of the arena together in october it will be his graduation run too, since he will retire from drill team after annual. Although I only have a few weeks to prepare another liberty horse for olympics and possibly red liberty tryouts (although I'm not sure I'll get another shot with a new horse)  I know that not using Bo in liberty is what is best for him and that's all that matters. He has had a long westernaires career and I am honored to be the one to ride him through his last show. That being said I rode a rental horse for liberty yesterday and I got skeeter! He did really well even though he was crazy excited hahaha. I'm not sure if I will use Jack for olympics or rent. We will see!