Smarty once again proved to be my steady eddy. We hauled nine hours to Lynden, WA to compete in Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Race. I took Smarty and his daughter, Smart Little Cayenne. Neither horse had been in the arena so I chose Smarty to run on Friday night. He was good as gold and loped around that arena and over every obstacle like he'd been in there every day! He won the go round.
I rode Cayenne on Saturday. She was in rare form and not in a good way! I managed to milk her through the preliminary round in the Extreme Cowboy Race and somehow she won her go, also. Both horses made the finals to run on Sunday.
Since I had two horses in the Open Division, the management had me go first on one and last on the other so I had time to switch. I rode Cayenne first to get her out of the way. She was a lot better than Saturday but still really bothered by the arena and was acting very mare-ish at the in gate. She ran a beautiful course other than not ground tying at either spot and not standing still for the dismount, pick up right front foot, and remount obstacle. It's hard to demonstrate that you are picking up the horse's foot when she keeps picking it up on her own! She had some great points like beautiful jumps and coming when called for me to mount off of an obstacle. She has so much energy pumping on the inside that it is hard to remain calm on her! She probably feels the same about me!
I hurried and switched horses. Husband, Ransom, gave me a "calm down" talk and I ended up with plenty of time to watch other contestants go before I had to run again. I stopped shaking and started breathing before I went in the gate on Smarty. Smarty just oozes confidence and calm.
Our run was super! Smarty was his usual quiet self and helped me just sit back and work out the details. Our free ride (gallop around the arena) was relaxed, the gate obstacle was smooth, the tarp carry was wonderful except for it hooking on his tail after I hung it up and rode off. He was pooping and I didn't pay attention. He didn't care at all about his tail accessory and I think he deserved extra points for my mistake! He walked a step or two at the first ground tie while I was "milking" the cow. His jumps were beautiful and he was in the correct lead every time. His trash walk (trot) was on a totally loose rein with no hesitation. The obstacle where I ground tied him and crawled through a tunnel was great. He stood stock still like it happened every day! We didn't make it through the cones without spilling a water cup but we tried :) He stood like a champ while I dismounted on the near side, reached under him to squeeze his off side chestnut for him to pick up his right front foot, and mounted up for my last free ride. I was (and still am) so proud of him! Here is a link to his run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY-aoCQ8D7I
I had missed a couple runs when I was switching horses so was not sure how everyone did. I figured Smarty was in the top 5 but didn't want to get my hopes up. During the awards, I was called up for the Reserve Championship. I was so happy and yet beating myself up for not fixing little bobbles that make the difference between 1st and 2nd place! Then they called me back up for the Championship!!! Cayenne had won the Reserve and Smarty took the Championship by a long shot! I was over the moon!
I am so thankful for my wonderful horses and even more so for my husband! Ransom was on the sidelines helping me get prepared, encouraging, calming, and videoing the whole weekend. I think he understands my horse sickness a little better and saw the extremely competitive side of me. He even told Craig Cameron how I always ride my horses whether it's after dark or in the rain :)
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