may 20

may 20, originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

holy crap I'm tired. and hot. and sweaty.

a 2:00 ride is cushy unless you have to wash the horse first. Maybe I just overwork the whole thing. No, I take it back. A 2:00 ride is cushy no matter what. I slept until 8:00 this morning which I never do on a show day.

Anyhow. First level test 1, final score of 59.3, final place of 5th which is nice because I haven't had a pink ribbon yet, almost tied with the friend I agreed to work to tie with. We were each thinking about coming in last, and agreed an attempted tie was a much better goal. 62.5 we were aiming for; she got 58.9 with one course error, I got 59.3 without. Next time, she gets to be high score, right?

I finally wore my lovely lovely jacket and I was SO HOT. I need to think about a cooler shirt.

I also need to figure out how to make a running braid that doesn't fall out. Also maybe invest in some braiding materials, because I held her braids together with black electrical tape today. I had a french braid but it came out. So I did hunter braids and they looked stupid. So. Rethink that aspect.

Just riding one horse, one test at a show is a very different experience from helping in the morning and then riding a test or two and then helping put away and then eventually going home. Also! coaching! which I think I really love. It gets me more out of my head, and more onto the horse's back and less clenched and pulling.