Blue

DJ's mom and I went trail riding this past weekend.  It was actually a competitive deal.  During the ride there were six obstacles that the riders performed and got judged on.  They judge the horse and the rider so it is a team effort. 

I have competed in FFA shows in the past. I'm talking in high school. Freshman year to be exact. Yeah... Approximately ten years ago. Trail class usually consisted of opening the arena gate, opening a mailbox, getting a rain jacket and rubbing it on the horse, crossing some poles, backing through an L shape, and ground tying. Nothing too crazy and in a confined area.

This competition you go out in small groups and ride the trail until you get to an obstacle. Our first one we had to go into mud and drag a life preserver out of the lake. Once everyone in the group completes the obstacle you continue on the trail until the next one. The second stop was a cowboy curtain. Made of red solo cups!  Beings this was the first time attempting this sort of thing, I went in the starter class so I didn't have to do this obstacle. We were allowed to try it though. Pony wasn't thrilled with it. I didn't push too hard though because he was already acting like this was his first time out of the barn! We continued on to the next where we had to pick up a spider web and hang it on a tree branch while going over poles, and stopping straddling one. The fourth obstacle was a gate sort of thing. They put pool noodles on some poles to make them look a spider. We had to walk through without touching the noodles. They also gave the option of getting off and walking through. The next one was a barrel that we had to put a lasso around. The final challenge was a black cape that we had to take off the pole and rub on the horse.

After completing all the obstacles we finished the trail, after getting a little lost and going in a few circles.  We then ate lunch and visited with each other. They had drawings for all sorts of stuff. His mom won some horse treats and I won some wild flower seed. After that they handed out awards. She received 4th place and I won the class!  I couldn't believe it.

They had a mounted archery demo. I had never seen this done besides on tv!  It looked like fun but sounded expensive so don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon!  We left after that, but were able o see most of the entries for the costume contest. There were some pretty good ones!  Way more creative than I was thinking!!

Overall it was a good time, but boy was I tired when I got home!!  Hopefully I can make it back to participate in some next year and try a different class. We'll see!!