We've Got Ribbons!

My Pretty Show Pony (AKA Sadie) has won 3 ribbons in 2 outings this show season!
First and Third place at her first "real" dressage show...
Seventh place at her second "real" horse trial...
I'm so proud!
And maybe that's why I haven't written anything lately. I've been too busy getting ready and stressing out over shows. Every time I go to a show I wonder why the heck I do this to myself. It adds about 15 hours of chores to my already outrageous amount of horse chores. It makes my digestive system do funny things for the whole week before hand. The day of the show it makes me feel like I might die (perhaps exacerbated by previous show-related near-death experiences). It makes my mouth so dry and cottony that I almost gag. Sounds fun, right?
But it is! When it's all over. There's this nice adrenaline rush. There's the exhiliration that goes with reaching a goal, or getting closer to it, or learning what I need to do next time to do a better job of it. And sometimes there's ribbons to show for our efforts.... but it's not about ribbons. Really. It's about fun. And learning. And challenging myself.
So, here's to the next show and torturing myself!