Practice Makes Perfect

So I am running a little behind on the posting, but in my defense, it has been a hectic few days at the office.

Let me start off by saying that my weekend was the epitome of 'Practice Makes Perfect." Dixie and I had another horse show and she was fantastic. We both were fantastic. We had some mistakes, but everything was 100% better than the last show, even though we were Reserve then. I saw so much improvement in myself and in her, that I didn't care how we placed, I was just thrilled that we did well. Susan was thrilled also, so that made it that much more rewarding. (It's never good to see your trainer upset with you at a show.)

The first day, we had two over fences classes as well as the under-saddle. There were six in the class this time, as well as some professionals, so it was much better competition. Dixie and I jumped every single jump and did almost every line in the number. The second course, Dixie and I accidentally did six strides in an eight-stride line. Yeah, not very good.

And I am not sure how exactly we managed that with her little legs, but apparently she has a very big stride. It didn't seem to bother the judge too much though, as we received two second place ribbons for our efforts. To top off the day, we placed second in the hack, putting us in a perfect position for a tricolor ribbon.

Day two rolled around and Dixie Cup, as is her new nickname, was exhausted. Like laying down exhausted. But she was still a superstar in the ring. We missed our lead changes in the first class, which was both our faults, her for being tired, me for not making her do it. So we ended up third in the first over fences. But we came back with a vengeance and won the last class of the division :)

Overall, we went home with another Reserve Champion ribbon, only four points behind Champion. Not too shabby. She is turning out to be such a good girl and I am so happy with her. We are definitely going to have a good season and hopefully moving into the Adults.

Joe is becoming quite the horse-boyfriend, as he came to the show both days. He helped get Dixie ready and cool her out and helped me relax and figure out my courses. I'll make a horse-person out of him yet ;).

Besides running back and forth to the barn, I have been super busy at work. Going on in France, is the World Equestrian Games, and more than half of the company is overseas covering the event. And as jealous as I was to not be going, I am keeping pretty busy here. Plus, I get to to cover the Southeast Medal Finals in a few weeks :) It may not be France, but at least it is not the office for a few days. Who knows, one show may lead to another and soon I may be back traveling the world.

Till then, I am a busy bee at work, and will be even busier now that my graduate classes have started. That's right,  am officially back in school. Twice a week, for three hours, I am in front of my computer screen learning the ins and outs of layout and design. My Monday class will be awesome as it is all about InDesign and layout, which after years of being at the paper, I have come to love. The teacher said I should have no problem in the class and I am pumped to get started. On Wednesdays, I have Corporate Branding and Design, where we are using Illustrator and learning about logos and how companies use them to brand themselves. We already have our first project and my mind is already going a million miles an hour with ideas.

Not that Grad School is going to a breeze, but I am very excited to see what the semester holds and what my future will bring.

On another note, George does not have Lymes. he might have but that is not the big issue. He has started to get acupuncture, which we are hoping will help. The vet took X-rays and due to his age, (he is 25) he is developing sever arthritis in his C6C7 vertebrae and basically has no muscle left in that area, only bone. So now it is just giving him anti-inflammatories and keeping him comfy. If any of my horsey friends have ideas, i would love to hear them. George is going to live forever, but it's hard when I'm not there and a thousand miles away to know he might be eventually hurting. For now, he's good ans healthy tho and that is all that matters. :)