Final Blog – The Best
The
word “best,” by way of the dictionary means “surpassing all others in
excellence, achievement, or quality.” But, in my opinion, it can vary depending
on the view of the person saying it. This year’s Congress was my best ever! I have had much better
Congress’s in terms of coming home with ribbons and trophies. This
year, I didn’t win, nor did I place… heck, I wasn’t even a finalist, but…
I enjoyed every minute that I was there.
My goal this year was to take
nothing for granted. I knew going into it that it would be the last Congress
with my mare, and with the hope of getting a new horse being out of reach at
the present time, it could possible have been my last Congress to compete at
for a while. I wanted to cherish everything.
It
is easy to get there and become distracted and discouraged. I will admit,
it’s depressing watching everyone tear down their stall decorations, and it is
intimidating riding around the pen with people who have been to 100 shows in
the past two years, when I have been to only one. It is hard not to get
frustrated when your horse thinks she is supposed to hit every pole during
trail practice… and it’s aggravating when your show clothes don’t fit the way
you want them to. But you see, this year, I didn’t care!!! All the
little things to me weren’t as important. To me, I just wanted to enjoy my
horse and our time together.
I
think, looking back, especially my memories of being a youth kid, we forget
what we are doing, which is having fun. We forget the animal and how none
of it would possible if it weren’t for them. We get so focused on having
a perfect ride, a perfect pattern, a blue ribbon, etc… that we forget to
remember to enjoy what we are doing. I will admit, when I was showing 30
some weekends out of the year, it is easy to lose sight of that. But now
that I am older and appreciate my memories more, I can take a step back and
appreciate the opportunity of competing at the Congress.
My
trail go was okay, not nearly good enough to place, but, I came out of the pen
estatic. You would have thought I won the class. My mare had been
in retirement for 2 years and was only in training for one month before the
show and we went in and had three rubs and one big tick, but she was beautiful
going through it. It was an adrenaline rush that I miss soooooo
much. I just wanted to go in there and at least look like I knew what I
was doing.
As
far as the showmanship goes, it started off with a little bit of
drama, but it wouldn’t be the Congress if there wasn’t any
drama. When I went to find out what split I was in, my number wasn’t on
the list. Somehow the show office messed up my entries, because when we
pulled my original entry form, there it was plan as day. They had somehow
entered me in the NSBA trail (which I did not enter) and they did not put me in
the showmanship. BUT, they were GREAT and fixed it on the
spot. They just wrote me into the last split. HAHHA
My
number was 4149 and I was in the split with all the 8000 and 9000 numbers.
I’m sure it looked like I messed up, or
missed my go, or something. I am not really sure what the judge’s think
when an odd number comes into a different split. But… it didn’t really
matter to me. All I wanted was to show! Which I did!!! And I will
be totally honest… I HAD THE BEST GO I HAVE EVER HAD IN THE SHOWMANSHIP!
My sweet horse was unbelievable.
I walked out of the pen trying to catch my breath (mainly because I am out of
shape) and tears were rolling down my face. Somehow I knew I wasn’t going
to get a call back, and as I walked through the gate all the emotion of it
being my last show hit me.
My mare, my precious Delta Dawn and I were done. Of the thousands of
patterns we had done together, that was the last… and we nailed it!!!!!
It was the most wonderful moment I have had in a long time. You see,
between going to college, getting married, and having to work, I lost this part
of my life. I lost myself somewhere in the past five years. I lost
the one thing that gave me self worth, fulfillment, pride, accomplishment,
confidence, and so much more. And for that one week of the year, for this
one Congress, I had it back.
It didn’t matter to me if we won, it
didn’t matter to me if we placed, and it didn’t matter if we got a finalist
ribbon. All I wanted was to enjoy that time with my horse, my trainers, my
friends, and cherish the opportunity of showing.
And… I did that all. It was truly the best ever.
Blog #4 – The One
We all have that one horse that changes our lives
forever. The one that we compare every other horse to. The one we
can’t give up because we can’t replace it for any price. The one horse
that no one, no thing, no other horse could ever replace.
My mare was given to me as a
gift from my parents when I was 12. Little did I know back then the
impact that she would have on my life. She was not the best horse or
the most expensive horse, but she was mine. My first true friend, my
first teammate, my first true
love. She wasn’t great at anything, but good at everything. She is
stubborn like me; likes her space, hates her blankets, has to have her food,
and she loves me.
She was, still is, and
always will be everything to me. It’s a relationship that words
can’t describe, money can’t buy, and nothing can replace. Sometimes I
think it is something my husband may even be jealous of! Only because he
doesn’t understand the relationship between a girl and her horse.
Since 1998, I have put almost
800 points on her, a few top 10 finishes at the world show, a
handful of top tens at the Congress, including my most meaningful with her
which is the 3rd in the youth trail. It doesn’t seem like a lot on
paper. We don’t have any big trophies, we didn’t win any saddles, never
got any end of the year awards, but the things I have accomplished
with her are the most meaningful because I feel like I did them on my own.
You see, the majority of the
time I have had her she has lived with me. I was at the barn before
school started and the minute school was out I was with her until seven or
eight each night. My world revolved around her. That is thing
about this mare; she was/is my best friend. Everyday I would leave the
barn feeling like I had the best conversation in the world. Even now, all
it takes is a snuggle with her to make any day better.
Saturday her and I will
compete together in the Amateur showmanship here at the Congress. It is a
bittersweet day for me that I have chosen not to think about until now.
Tomorrow is it for me and
Dawn.
For the past four years I have said that she was retired. Three out of
those four years when the Congress rolled around I decided I was going to show
her (because I love this show, remember), just like I did this year.
We are here to do this for
fun. We are here to enjoy our last class together. It’s just me and
her, together, having the time of our life enjoying something that the two
of us know like the back of our hand.
It’s harder than I thought. For 10 years we have traveled here to
Ohio, and for 10 years we have competed together as a
team. After this year Miss Delta Dawn and I will never show here
together again. She will be 17 next year and been going strong
since she was two. It’s time… time for her to enjoy her retirement,
for real this time… forever this time.
She is the one horse, my one
horse, who changed me; the one horse that made me, the one horse that will
forever be my favorite.
[NPI]/Media/0/jpg/2009/6/1d24ac2d-1ec9-b7d0-76b6ae84214ae4a7.jpg[/NPI]People think I am crazy
because I have her with me permanently on my forearm.
[NPI]/Media/0/jpg/2009/6/1d24ac2d-1ec9-b7d0-76b6ae84214ae4a7.jpg[/NPI]All I can say is, she means
that much to me.
Blog # 3 – But I Just Got Here!
I
am not really sure how I feel about the Amateur classes being at the end of the
Congress. Yes, I know I have been here since Saturday and got to watch so
much of the show, but today is Thursday and it was my first class, so
technically I feel like I am just getting started. As I have said a
thousand times, I love it here, but all of my classes fall on the last weekend
and I get to experience the gloomy side of the Congress.
As
I am getting my horse ready and getting dressed to go to the show pen,
everyone around me is packing up all their stuff to go home. Everyone but
me is past the point of exhaustion, is tired of the Congress food, they all
have the “Congress Crud” and everyone is ready to sleep in their own bed.
But I’m not… I just got here.
When
I was a youth kid I never got to experience this part of the Congress.
All the stall decorations are coming down and the isle way
is starting to look like a real barn instead of a mini village. The walkways are
dirtier than before because people are too tired to sweep them, the poop piles
are sky scraper high, the lines to lunge are shorter, the smell is
stronger, the horses are officially tired, and everyone is ready to go home…
even the dogs.
It’s
an extremely sad feeling for me to watch all this, especially since I was so
excited to be here. I feel even worse because my trainers are done as of
today, but they are staying until Saturday because I want to show in the
Amateur Showmanship.
[NPI]/Media/0/jpg/2009/6/1d24ac2d-1ec9-b7d0-76b6ae84214ae4a7.jpg[/NPI]
Looking
at this list, how could it not make me feel guilty!?!?
As
I mentioned in an earlier blog, I am not here to win the class, I am simply
here for fun. This is my first real horse show in two years so the
chances of me actually going in the showmanship and doing well are
slim-to-none. But that wasn’t my goal. Same with the trail, all I
wanted to do was go in, show my horse, feel the adrenalin rush, at least look
like I knew what I was doing, and enjoy myself through the process. I
accomplished that today, and I have the same expectations for
Saturday as well. But I swear, it is hard to stay upbeat and excited when
everyone around you is “over” the Congress.
On
a side note, I want to mention this. I started doing my trail practices
on Monday. I did two 20 minute sessions on Monday and then Wednesday I
had one session that was my allotted time and then I set up four more practices
on top of that. Did you know that it is $10 for 10 minutes to practice
the trail? I spent $60 bucks to practice trail for 60 minutes. I’m
going to repeat that again… $60 for 60 minutes. I don’t agree with this
at all, but I am not going to get into my point of view on this topic. (Maybe I
will save that for another blog.)
I
want to share with you on the mental image I got waiting for my turn
to practice while being frustrated with all the money I spent. Just imagine Rusty
Green, Carl Yamber, Jay Starnes, Nancy Sue Ryan and fill in the blank with the
name of your trainer (it will allow for a better laugh) all headed to Celeste
to practice during the open riding from 3am-6am. But they are greeted at
the gate by a friendly helping hand that says “Celeste is open to 15 people at
a time for 10 minute increments and it will be $10 for every 10 minutes you
choose to practice. Also, unfortunately I know it is 3am, but we only
have 4:40 and 5:20 time slot left to practice.” Now, imagine their
reaction!!!!! FUNNY RIGHT!?!?!??!
Ohhh
the joys the trail people, and the jumpers too, have to endure trying to get
their horses ready to show. Maybe everyone is so frustrated by Amateur weekend
because they have all spent too much money trying to practice!
GoHorseShow
just did a story where they asked people what they would like to change about
the Congress (click here to see it). My answer is two
fold: don’t make the amateurs second-class citizens by shoving us all the way
to the end, and, don’t make us pay to practice trail.
Blog # 2 – Don’t Wish It Away
I spent my Sunday and Monday watching the NYATT and youth classes
here at the Congress. I couldn’t help but let my mind wonder back
to all those years that I have shown here. I used to hear people say that I would miss all this, but
I wished it away so fast. We all wanted to be old enough to party, to
get in the green wall and the round bar. We were all tired of riding
around in golf carts all night as our entertainment. I would give anything to have those days back.
I may have had to work twice as hard (or three times as hard since I
had three horses) but I think that is so much of what I miss. My past
years at the Congress were constant work. If I wasn’t showing I was
riding, and if I wasn’t riding I was lunging, and if I wasn’t lunging I
was watching, and If I wasn’t watching I was sleeping. I knew that if I
wanted to win then I had to work for it.
We are all very blessed to be a part of this industry. I think many
of you horse show people may be in the same boat as me with this; my
parents never made me get a job to pay for my first car, or to work to
pay myself through college. Even though I didn’t have to ”work”, my
parents knew that through horse shows I would learn to work for what I
wanted. I know my horses taught me humility, patience, responsibility,
and love. Without them and the experiences I had as a youth kid, I
wouldn’t be the person I am. The animal, the competition, the
friendship, and everything else involved is the essence of who I am
today.
My dad had always said that I am the type of person that does one
thing at a time, but I do that one thing wholeheartedly. When I was
younger, it was all horses all the time, then college, and then Randy
(my husband.) Somehow over the past five years I have let my horse show
life slip away. I guess it’s called growing up and having “big girl”
responsibilities. Either way, its a time in my life that is gone and I
can’t get back.
In the 15-18 pleasure on Sunday, I watched a good friend have an
unbelievable ride and get gated under all four judges. (I haven’t been
gone that long to not recognize a good ride when I see one.)
It made
me think of my last year competing here at the Congress in the 15-18
pleasure. Mr. Magnolia Zip and I had just finished 4th at the Youth
World and I couldn’t help but have high expectations coming to
Ohio. But… I didn’t make it out of my split. My trainer Mitch literally
had to walk into the pen to get me because I was crying so hard I
couldn’t see to get out.
I watched those youth kids competing and I could remember those
feelings just like it was yesterday. I wish I could just shake these
kids and say ‘HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!! and don’t put so much pressure on yourself!’
We
all want to win, it’s why we do this, but I am at a point where I would
rather show and lose than not show at all. I wanted to grow up so fast
that I wished away the best time of my life as a youth kid. I want to
tell them not to do the same thing.
Don’t wish it away… enjoy it.
Enjoy the 3am trips to Celeste or the
hour long showmanship lesson.
Enjoy the the 45 minute wait in line to
lunge or the late night rides around the showgrounds in your golf cart.
Enjoy your trainers and your friends, the laughs and the cries.
Enjoy
the horse show crushes and the best friends that you make.
Enjoy falling
asleep in the director chairs and the crock pot lunches at the stalls.
Enjoy the 8,000 dogs walking around and the smells of ammonia and DMSO wafting from the barns (I know
its gross but I promise you will miss it one day.)
Enjoy the
competition…
ENJOY YOUR HORSE. One day you will grow up and it wont be
the same ever again and you will be like me, wishing you could have
those days back again.
Blog # 1 – I Love The Congress!
My
2010 Congress started Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m. For me, getting to the Congress
can never happen fast enough. I have said this before, but I think I am one of
the few people who actually truly loves the Congress. Yes I said it, I LOVE THE
CONGRESS!
If
you can imagine, just me and my little dog Nala in my car driving 100mph so that
we could get to Columbus as fast as I could. Hey, it’s in my blood! When we arrive, we were stopped at the entrance
gates and told the show grounds was full and there was no parking.
Seriously? No parking. There is a soccer stadium on the opposite side of the
grounds. I swear it’s over a mile away. Guess where I had to park? That’s
right… all the way at the soccer stadium. And I will admit it, I pulled the
princess card… (SORRY)… I wasn’t about to walk all that way. So, thanks to good
friends, I was picked up in a golf cart.
The
closer we got to the barns the more excited I got. I swear, I am like a kid on
Christmas morning where you can’t get down the stairs fast enough to open all
your gifts. Pulling into the grounds I felt like I had 1000 presents to open.
And in true Montgomery Lee fashion, I think I opened them ALL on the first day.
Even though I am here for a whole week, I just couldn’t wait.
For
those of you who have never been to the Congress, every year there is a big
tent set up where dog breeders bring their litters of puppies to sell. There
are probably 50 puppies if not more, all looking for a home in all sizes from
teacup Yorkies to Mastiffs. The tent echoes with the familiar sounds of, “But
mom, PLEASE! I PROMISE I will walk it and feed it every day.” I was that kid
one time… and I got two dogs out of it. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Now today, for me, it’s “Randy (my husband), I know we have three dogs, two
cats, and one horse, but what’s one more dog?!” It hasn’t worked the past two
years but, there is always next year.
Next
stop, shopping. I am a girl, what can I say. Congress Hall and the Annex are
full of shops and I couldn’t let the first day go by without swiping my card a
few times. I had to go buy two new pairs of jeans because my “Lose weight, show
great” diet didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. But, any excuse to shop is still a
good excuse. The bad news is, I am still here six more days and there are still
a lot of stores I haven’t visited yet.
After
making my rounds to hug everyone I have missed, it wouldn’t be the first day at
the Congress without visiting “The Sweet Shop” for some yummy cookies. If we are
still using the analogy of opening presents, the Sweet Shop is close to my
favorite. (Obviously my diet isn’t happening at all.) On a small side note,
when I was young, even if you weren’t hungry, I would go to the sweet shop just
to see the “sweet shop boys.” Would you please just look at that email address on the banner…sweetshopboysemail.com…gotta love it!
The
day ended on a high note. My horse trainer Mitch Leckey showed in the 2 year
old Limited Western Pleasure and… He won it!!! Apparently before I got here
Mitch told everyone at the barn now that I was here the barn wouldn’t be quiet
anymore. So, because he said that, when he won I was being so obnoxious yelling
at him to the point where people were turning around glaring at me. But I
didn’t care, he won and that’s a big deal. He is one of the most deserving guys
I know and I couldn’t be more proud of anyone. It is the second class he has
won this year so far so Leckey Quarter Horses is already having a great show.
Now
that I have all my socializing out of the way, Sunday will start with the
reason I am here in the first place. I show on Thursday in the Trail and on
Saturday in the Showmanship and I have a feeling that there is lots of lunging,
late night and early morning practices in the upcoming week. But, of all the
things at the Congress that I love, my favorite part is showing.
This
will be my 10th year competing with my horse, Dawn, as a team at the Congress.
I haven’t shown her but once in the past two years so to say I am nervous and
scared is a huge understatement. The next week will be an adventure for sure.
But, when I started showing everyone told me over and over again to “remember
showing is supposed to be fun.” For the first time ever showing, this Congress
I can simply sit back and say, I don’t have any expectations for Thursday and
Saturday. My number one goal is to just have fun, and that is the biggest gift
of all, and I look forward to being able to share my experience with
GoHorseShow.com readers!
