live, love, dressage: I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty!

After ten days of training, riding, showing, and grooming in Lexington, it does feel good to finally have a full eight hours of sleep. However, I am missing the four a.m. mornings of cleaning stalls and feeding horses. I am very fortunate to be surrounded by such amazing people to take care of me and raise me along my journey. So, without further ado, I will try to wrap up the week in a blog post.

I was lucky enough to be able to stay on the farm this past week, therefore I was able to get a hands on look of normal morning for a working student- which is something I was so excited to be able to do. I started at five a.m., feeding and cleaning stalls, and cleaning tack during my spare time. It was so peaceful to be able to get up and walk down to the barn in the dark (however bundling up was not something I enjoyed). In afternoon, my mom and I went to the Kentucky Horse Park to help set up arenas and prepare everything for the show, which, despite the rain, was quite fun. I can't wait to finally be able to put all of my working student and grooming practice into effect within the next couple years.

On Wednesday, we shipped the horses to the Horse Park and set up for the weekend ahead. We schooled the horses in the early afternoon, and Cody schooled around beautifully. We ran through transitions and decided that I would sit the whole test so I could keep Cody under me and I could prepare more effectively for all of my movements. It is such a huge improvement to go from not being able to sit any trot just last year to sitting my whole test this year without any problem. This weekend had the theme of 'feeling pretty', as Kristin put it. So, both Susan and I were singing "I feel pretty, oh so pretty" as we went around our rides. I will agree, it did help, and yes, I did feel pretty although the silly song is still stuck in my head.

Thursday and Friday went by quickly as I kept busy by running scores and taking care of Cody. Friday morning, I had the wonderful opportunity to watch Caroline Roffman school Susan before her Freestyle Championship. I learned so much that I could put towards and apply to my rides, too. All of my scores on both of those days were in the high sixties- which, considering it was a regional championship and the judges score harder, made me very proud. On Friday evening, I had my equitation warm up... in the pouring rain. Everyone looked like they were wearing tights as you could see pink skin beneath the soaking, white breeches. Water was dripping through the ventilator holes in my helmet and down the back of my jacket. However, the rain didn't phase Cody and he put in a more than stellar ride, leading me to a win out of 14 other older riders.

On Saturday, I had my Equitation Semi-Finals. In a huge class of twenty riders, Cody put in another incredible ride which put us sixth with an 81% behind previous Medal Final champions. Being in the top ten cut was an honor in itself. I could not be more proud of our improvement in the past year- I was even told by one of the judges that I had the best toes in the class!

Sunday was my Training Level Championship and I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out. No, the ribbon wasn't why I was so happy, but because Cody didn't do anything other than be perfect.

He went into the test knowing his job and let me focus on just having a good time. After my final salute, I couldn't help but burst into tears knowing that my 25 year old Quarter Horse put in the best ride of our life. We placed 7th behind Young Rider's who were bringing horses up the levels. I believe that Cody knew that he had done incredibly well and had the time of his life in the victory gallop. I just barely had to touch him with my calf and he bounced up into a rather lovely canter. I couldn't be more thankful for such an amazing partner.

All in all, it was an amazing show- KDA did an incredible job despite the 800+ horses and all of the rain. I can't wait for the 2016 Regional Championship that will be held at the Horse Park, again. I think I am speaking for everyone when I say that KDA puts on one of the best regional championships in the country. I am very fortunate to be able to show at the Kentucky Horse Park regularly.

A huge thank you to everyone who has gotten me here, I couldn't have done it without you all! I can't wait for the journey ahead and many years to come with such amazing people.