Fake It 'Till You Make It

Today was my first horse show with Ambush (affectionatly called Bob), the Arabian gelding we are leasing to purchase as my WAHSET horse. Bob did amazing as was to be expected, but I could have done better. Even though I have been riding for going on five years, I missed out on learning a lot of basic priciples when I first started taking lessons... one of which was riding in a curb. When I was young and taking riding lessons I would ride a horse in a curb, but I was never taught how to use the bit effectivly. Then I moved on to working with green-broke horses, in which cases I almost always rode in a smooth snaffle. Now I'm working with Bob, a finished, National-quality western pleasure horse, and I don't know how to ride in a curb bit. It was sort of frusterating, going into my western classes and messing Bob up... bless his heart for putting up with such a clueless rider.
At the end of the day, however, my own lack of talent was all I had to complain about, and wasn't enough to spoil a fantastic day. I did extremelly well in all my classes, and even though I wasn't able to show Bob to his full, amazing potential, I know I'll get there someday... and not quite perfect was good enough to land me a lot of ribbons at this open show. Even if we I wasn't 100% at this show, I keep remembering what my trainer told me... "fake it 'till you make it". That may be how it's gonna be until I learn how to ride Bob at the level he's capable of.

Here is how I did in my classes...

Class #68, English Pleasure Green Rider Walk/Trot
First Place, Rider #128, "Bob" ridden by "cowgirl4christ"

Class #71, English Pleasure 13-17
Second Place, Rider #128, "Bob" ridden by "cowgirl4christ"

Class #75, English Pleasure Saddle Type
First Place, Rider #128, "Bob" ridden by "cowgirl4christ"

Class #103, Western Pleasure Green Rider Walk/Trot
Third Place, Rider #128, "Bob" ridden by "cowgirl4christ"

Class #106, Western Pleasure 13-17
First Place, Rider #128, "Bob" ridden by "cowgirl4christ"

Class #109, Western Pleasure Saddle Type
First Place, Rider #128, "Bob" ridden by "cowgirl4christ"

Obviously I competed under Bob's registered name and my real name, but I don't feel comfortable posting eiter on the internet :D

My first place wins in both hunt seat and western qualified me for the championship classes in both divisions. I entered the English Pleasure Championship and came out empty handed... by that point in the day Bob was running out of steam, and lacked the enthusiasm to pull off another ribbon. At the very end of the day, me and my trainer agreed that it would probably be best not to enter the Western Pleasure Championship... Bob was even more tired by now, and the saddle type class had been a good ride; best to end on a good note. I was dissapointed that I wouldn't be riding in that class, especially when my trainer told me that he was almost certain I would have taken Grand Champion. However, in the end, you've got to do what's best for your horse. So now I have a new goal for me and Bob - win a championship class together! :D
All in all, it was a very very fun weekend, and I'm looking forward to me and Bob's next show together. Our next one will be in January, the second in the series that this show was a part of.

I don't have any pictures from this show at the moment, but the professional photographer took a lot of pictures of us together, and when we order those I might post them on here.
What a great day!