Road to Bronze Sept 2, 2015

Day 2 of the show brought 2 more qualifying scores and a big boost to my confidence.  As a novice show rider, I learned a big lesson: always pick up the day sheets or have them downloaded to your phone.  I didn’t do this, and did not realize my rides had been moved up 10 minutes.  Needless to say, I entered the show arena with mere seconds to spare.  I was so flustered, I made some big mistakes.  Monarch on the other hand was brilliant and very forward.  Even with my mistakes, our score was good enough to place first.  I think if I had been more focused, we might have been able to score in the 70’s.  The second ride of the day brought another 2nd place finish.  I was qualified to move up to second level.

Though I’m disappointed in my mistakes, I’m grateful to my horse and must let go of any regrets.  With second level looming, I need to look ahead to those requirements of increased engagement and collection.  The Grand Junction show has been cancelled this weekend because of increased cases of VS- vesicular stomatitis.  This gives us more time to train, so our second level debut will be even better.