My first horse show!

Today I went for my first horse show. I was rather nervous given there was only 3 people in my division (hence the high likelihood of coming last) and I got Wisconsin, my 3rd preference of horse to ride. My first choice, which was Ohio (the easiest horse I've ridden) is in the same competition as me! So yeah, I was quite apprehensive but also full of anticipation going in.

A typical ride starts off with me tacking the horse, so I went off to tack Wisconsin. I couldn't find his bridal and he was not in his stall! WTH? Where is my horse? I asked around and was told that he is currently in a show! This meant that I only have a few seconds to change the tack from the previous rider and use mine. So I carried all the tack with the help of a friend (from Caltech) next to the competition arena and waited there for the show to finish and used the change time in between to put on my tack. I rode Wisconsin for a couple of strides before we were called in to start the competition. The others had a lot more time to warm up - now, a horse needs warm up but more importantly you need to 'warm up' to the horse and he has to 'warm up' to you. The previous rider on Wisconsin probably weighs twice as much as me and Wisconsin needs to take awhile to be warmed up to me. You can see how seriously I'm taking this.

Before I get into the details of the show - just for context, I was in the Walk/Trot 18+ division. These shows are divided into 2 parts, the first part is Equitation where 'the effectiveness of the rider and overall aesthetic of horse and rider combination' are judged, the second is Pleasure where 'the responsiveness of the horse and overall pleasantness of the horse' are judged. In my opinion these two are basically the same thing, you cannot do well in one without doing well in the other.

Walking on beautiful Wisconsin

They first asked us to walk around then to pick up the rising trot. Wisconsin just wouldn't pick up the trot even though I was kicking him with all my might, then I resorted to using my crop. To which he responded by nearly going into a canter - so I slowed him down to a trot all the while thinking, damn it, I just blew this. Anyway, I did the best I could. After 10min they told us to line up so that our numbers would face them (my number was 415). I was smiling and awaited for the last place call. Amazingly, I was 2nd place - I couldn't believe it!

Rising trot

Then the Pleasure part of the show started, they asked us to pick up the rising trot. At this point, Wisconsin was already listening to me and my rising trot pick up was smooth, then we did a change in direction whilst keeping the trot etc etc. We then lined up again, waiting for the placements - they said 1st place, 415! I came 1st! I was so happy...

If I have ridden Ohio, I would have come first in both sections - there is no doubt about that. But under the circumstances, I'm just thrilled to have gotten 1st and 2nd places.

My ribbons

I've just placed my ribbons on my bed post, and there will be plenty more where they came from! Feels like a child doing it, but hey, there is nothing wrong with being proud of your achievements. This made me think about my past achievements, other than academic wise. I don't really recall any other types of awards - maybe a few for sports? But they were nothing like this, at least nothing that I myself wanted to get into. So this is extra special for me.