Helen Grace had her first horse show on November 15th. She was a little nervous in the weeks leading up to it about people watching her, but Ms. Jody did a great job of explaining it to her and really playing it up as a fun event.
The weather was COLD that morning, but she bundled up and was confident and happy as we headed to the barn. We thought she was going to be first up, but she ended up being last in the group of five. Bless her heart for having to wait, but she was cool as a cucumber and didn’t show any nerves. We realized a perk of going last was getting to sit on the horse for the awards ceremony!
The show was divided into two classes- equitation (how she performed and carried herself on the horse) and under saddle (how she made the horse perform). In her age group, she scored third in equitation and second in under saddle and also received a reserve overall ribbon. (Some girls shared a ‘place’ so that they all received 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in each class.) She was so precious shyly raising her hand when they called her number, and we were SO PROUD of her!
While she has received two trophies for soccer seasons in the past, this was her first experience with place ribbons. We’ve tried to make a big deal about how different these ribbons are than trophies because she EARNED every point of these prizes. After getting a better understanding of how the process works, she said, “Well, I want to get a champion ribbon next time!” That’s my girl!
Our Hasseltine cousins surprised us by showing up at the barn that morning, and HG was proud as a peacock to show Hayes and Hastings around her stomping ground.
Only proof that Mama was there- she was dancing around me as she didn’t want to take a pic.
Peeping in the ring to see what was going on
Finally on Beanie Baby and ready to go
Raising her hand in the awards ceremony
Aaaaand she’s DONE!
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