The Saturday of a Very Busy Weekend

By the time I got back to school from Harrisburg it was about 1:30 am. So as you can imagine I was really excited to wake up in four hours to take a ride to Briarwood Farm for our next IHSA horse show.

Since I was not competing I was not so worried about my lack of sleep, but on the way to the show something very exciting happened. My coach told me that there had been an opening and asked if I was interested in showing!! Of course my first response was "absolutely!" but I instantly remembered that I was not prepared. I did not bring ANY of my show clothes! Can you believe it?? After all of those years of always bringing riding clothes everywhere because of my trainer's reminder that you never know when you will get the opportunity to ride, I finally have the opportunity and I was completely unprepared! So I expressed my concerns to Cory (the coach) and she didn't seem concerned. She was sure we could find some clothes to borrow before it was my turn to show. So I didn't worry about it for a little while because I figured that everything would work out.
About an hour before my class I started to ask around trying to find teammates that were even remotely my size. It is a lot harder that you would think to find clothes that fit!

Tall boots were the easiest to find. I was shocked because they were my friend's custom fit boots, they fit me like a glove! I really lucked out. I ended up finding everything pretty easily except for a jacket. The jacket situation was rough. I probably tried on five jackets before I found one that Cory approved of.

About five minutes before my class I finally had all of the clothes that I needed. It was an amazing thing! Now I had to focus on relaxing before my ride so that I could be successful after all of that hysteria.

I ended up having an excellent ride...in fact probably one of my best. I ended up with second place and I was thrilled. Considering how last minute everything was I felt like the day went really well.

So the moral of today's story is... No matter where your going (especially if you know there will be horses there) always bring your clothes because you never know... you might get lucky enough to ride! And if you happen to forget your clothes make sure you are traveling with someone who wears the same size jacket as you. ;-)

Talk to you soon!