Fair day 1

  I was so nervous all day today, but things ended up going good.  I lunged Phoenix and put on her boots and then she hopped into the trailer.  When we got there it didn't take long to tack Phoenix up and head over to warm up in the arena.  She was a little hot in the arena, but not too bad except for the corner by the fair rides.  She spooked and spun and backed up every time we went in that corner of the arena and I ended up having to dismount and walk her into it to help her calm down.  She trotted and loped well and there was no bucking and rearing this time.

  When we started our barrel run, Phoenix kept shying at the beginning because we were headed towards the rides (and gun noises from games) so I ended up having to circle her just before the eye and restart.  We took the first barrel very slow, but Phoenix did it and then we finished out the pattern.  We ended with a slow 27 but way better than getting disqualified from last time.  

  Next was pole bending.  We took it slow and even though I normally don't like to break gaits, I decided to take the pattern at a trot with a little loping and it worked out well.  It wasn't our fastest run, but all the poles stayed up and Phoenix did good.  We received a  37 or something around that I believe but honestly I don't remember.  

  Finally, Phoenix and I decided to try goat tying again.  I slow loped and trotted her up towards the goat and hopped off, running towards the goat.  I grabbed the end of the rope and followed it up to the goat, where I flanked him.  I sat on the goat (left knee on his stomach and right knee into his hind end) and tied it.  I took my time, so my time was slow, but my tie stayed and I got a 44.  It wasn't too hard and I believe I could run Phoenix a lot faster and tie faster next time so we receive a faster time.

  Though our times were super slow, I am super proud of my girl.  We improved from our last 4h show (where we got disqualified in every run) and I didn't fall off.  We had clean runs and worked on confidence, which is what we needed.  I had a lot of fun and wished everyone good luck, which felt a lot better than being in a bad mood last time.  Staying calm and doing whats best for training isn't always easy, especially during a show, but it really pays off.  Also, Phoenix and I received Reserve Grand Champion and will pick up our awards on Friday after the rest of the horse fair.  Here are the pics my dad took which I edited (minus the awesome pics)