Robin picked me up at school and brought me to the ranch where we groomed our horses, tacked them up, and loaded them into the stock trailer to go to the Marana Heritage Arena. Phoenix had no problem with the trailer and we arrived at the rodeo grounds at 5:30. I paid for the competition and 2 time onlys and then took Phoenix into the main arena (where everyone else was running and warming up) to warm her up.
I took her through all of the gaits in both directions in a circle and she did great (no bucking and picked up the correct leads). We took our first time only at a trot which went well and then our second time we took at a lope. Phoenix was so excited and we got our first turn pretty well but our second turn was a little crazy and I wasn't expecting Phoenix to bound off while I pulled her around so I fell forward a little bit. I adjusted myself in the saddle and went to go take the third turn. She likes to free turn the third barrel a lot and I struggle with turning her tightly on the last barrel. Our time only was ok but I wasn't feeling very comfortable about our run later.
While I waited for the race to start I took Phoenix over to the practice arena and worked her in circles to help her calm down. The barrels were set up in the arena so I took Phoenix through the pattern at a trot to work on our turns and then we took them at a lope again. I kept having trouble getting our turns good so I worked on applying pressure with my outside leg but I couldn't keep her from trying to turn early. I decided to try holding her straight with the outside rein until it was time to pull her around the turn instead of letting her free run and then asking her to turn and it worked! I stopped running barrels after I got a good, comfortable run and I met this awesome freshman who goes to my school! Her name is Alexis and she has this beautiful palomino. She recognized me from school due to my awesome pants haha and she is super nice and makes awesome runs.
Finally, it was time for the race to start! I was number 32, Alexis was 39, and Robin was 45. Phoenix and I chilled by the in gate so I could watch everyone run and talk to Robin and Alexis. Phoenix got nervous when some of the other horses flipped out at the in gate but other than that she was pretty good. I got more nervous as our turn neared and when they were dragging before our turn I said a prayer to help comfort me and help keep Phoenix and I safe and then it was time for our run.
We loped to the first barrel and had a great turn. We started getting a little faster towards the second barrel but out turn was crazy wide (I should've added more outside leg and controlled her head better). I eventually got Phoenix to go towards the third barrel while our turn was ok and then we ran home like crazy. Overall it was a good run and most of the mistakes were mine. We got our fastest time of 22.56 and I am super proud of my girl.
Robin ran a 20 and Alexis ran an 18 which was fun to watch. I saw my ag teacher, Ms.Haller, at the race and it was fun to talk like friends about racing and horses (she knocked a barrel and got disqualified sadly). Robin and I unbridled our horses and loaded them back into the trailer and we headed home. I made some mistakes in our run and I need to start with more speed, but I met multiple new friends due to my pants at the race and had fun and ran my personal best. With time and work I'm sure we could improve and it is awesome to be able to meet so many nice people at horse events.
We arrived back at the ranch where I unloaded and untacked my girl and put her away. Today was a blast and I can't wait until our next race!
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