Big Ups (and a few downs...)

I understand that under the best of circumstances horse shows are a bit of a wild roller coaster -

We had a fabulous round! That was the worst ride in the history of riding...

Delicious greasy breakfast sandwich! oops I didn't eat all day and now I have a horrid headache...

The weather is great! My toes are falling off from frostbite...

We won! We came in dead last

 I could show forever!  This is absurd, take me home NOW. etc etc...

The show last week was no exception, and the horse show hangover is in full swing with exhaustion and frustration currently overshadowing the victories that were dotted along the way. 

In general, it was a fun show.  We won a cooler (COOLER!) and came away champs in our division for the PNW Equitation Finals. (big win).

Prairie's Barn Buddy also won his Eq Finals, they matched :)

We also had some epic screw-ups and craptastic rides that left me wanting to crawl into my trailer and go home early.

I'll get excited about our win (and cooler) later this week, when the exhaustion from showing in nearly the last class on the last day and then subsequently hauling home (and removing braids) in the dark leaves my short term memory. 

For now, before I get the videos uploaded and actually unpack my trailer... I'll sum up:

Wednesday: Great schooling day, felt dialed in

Thursday: Large & Pre-Green Division, moderate disaster, mare was maybe for sale.

Friday: My Eq, Super fun and super good!

Sat: Wedding-Palooza, so we skipped the Hunter division, but had a nice hack in the am

Sun: Eq Finals, Big win, and HUGE eff up in my Medal class that dare I say ruined the best round I've ever had.  (sad face).  Also, I nearly got in a fistfight with the back gate lady, but removed myself from the situation (moral victory). and Prairie won another cooler! this one has really pretty piping and the embroidery is subtle and just on the left flank.  She looks super classy ;)

Can't wait to extoll the virtues and failures over a nice glass of wine later.. but all in all, I'm glad we went.  I had to be a bit more independent at this show, and I think it was really good for us in terms of our nerves, confidence and stress levels.