Life Signatures

The early mornings, the hours of riding, the mishaps and the danger…it’s all worth it.

And the ribbons start to pile up. As each class came to a close, the girls would listen with anticipation and each time we hear the Oakcrest team called, we cheered abashedly.

The girl was done riding and after a tough start, redeemed herself with nothing but blue for the rest of the day. She watched her teammates finish the last class and waited for the results but we all knew…it was in the bag.

The blues piled up…we all knew.

They came out on top for the day. That clinched the season for them as well, they were high with victory.

I’m 5 foot 1 and the husband is 5 foot 7. I look at this picture and I think, is the girl the tallest girl on the team? How is that?

This is really why we have victory, the respect and love they have for Miss Wendy is something to see.

And the admiration and love for Miss Tina who is notoriously camera shy but consented to a group picture. She’s the ultimate horse whisperer.

Back home at our farm, Joker was showed some love herself. She was a flawless performer. She was almost as proud of Joker as I was of the girl.

They are starting to look alike don’t they? The bay coloring, the big brown eyes, the mane and the perky ears.

And the work wasn’t done either. Trailers had to be unloaded and cleaned. Horses had to be fed and hayed.

I snapped a few post-meet photos and while the girls and the other equestrian moms were unloading and cleaning up, I went to my van and fell asleep. Hey, I’m just the photographer…me and horse poop don’t mix.

When the girl asked us last year if she could join the team, I was a little wary. I’m not a horse person, neither is the husband. We wondered about the time commitment and the money involved. But this is something the girl has in her blood and her passion for it is wonderful to see. So her parents go along for the ride. And we are proud of her commitment to this…but I know I said that already. It’s just so true. Glad we did it – really.

Little Madison on Guinness. First Place – Blue Ribbon.

Little Alexandra on Brave Mouse. First Place – Blue Ribbon.

Little Morgan on Guinness. First Place – Blue Ribbon.

The Oakcrest team is kicking some horsey butt. And now… the girl’s turn.

Since each farm rides their own horses in the finale, the discussion for the entire month before the meet was “Which horse should I ride?” For the girl, that question has only one answer – Joker, of course.

But Miss Tina had other ideas, after all, she’s the trainer. The decision about which horse the girl would ride changed and changed again. Finally it was settled, the girl would ride Cleo for the first class, Brave Mouse for her second class and Joker (yeah!) for her last class.

The girl told us for days beforehand,
“I don’t like Cleo.”
“She pulls to the center.”
“She follows other horses.”

To which we say, “Everything will be fine.”

As it turns out, everything was not fine.

As I was snapping away at Morgan getting her ribbon, the girl gets in the ring with Cleo. I immediately see something is wrong and I grab the husband’s arm in a death grip. Cleo is literally going sideways in the ring while the girl is kicking away at her haunches and fighting the reigns. Cloe starts to rear and pull and I think, “She going to get thrown.”

I’m the ultimate optimist.

Miss Tina goes into the ring and grabs the reigns. Miss Wendy brings in Joker who is tacked up with someone else’s tack. The girl gets off of Cloe and gets on Joker with seconds before judging starts. I sigh with relief, but the girl has lost her footing and her mojo. She’s behind the horse – so to speak.

The girl on Joker with Morgan’s saddle. Pink Ribbon – Fifth Place.

She was disappointed but I have to say, under the circumstances, no one got hurt. Miss Tina believes that Cleo was spooked by the clapping of the throngs of fans (or rather parents). It was the first time poor Cleo has left the farm…it was an experiment gone awry. All in all it could have been worse. The week before, the B team had a horse rear and a horse run away. Animal control was called and they couldn’t find the horse until the next day.

Cleo was taken outside and put in a trailer right away, not to be ridden again that day. Little Abby was upset, since she was supposed to jump Cleo in her class. She went outside to visit her and came in with tears in her eyes. She reported to Miss Tina that Cleo was sweating in her trailer, to which Miss Tina replied, “She’ll be fine. She’ll survive. And you can tell her she’ll never have to leave the farm again.”

Gees…no wonder why these girls are tough.

Four times that day we see girls get thrown off horses. One of which was our own Little Alexandra.

She was riding just beautifully,

And the next thing we knew, she was flying through the air like a canon ball off of Brave’s back. I saw the whole thing in slow motion and there was something unseemly about snapping away at a little girl in danger so I lower my camera and stuck my fist in my mouth. More on that later.

She was crying, I felt so badly. A minute after Alexandra flies off the horse, Miss Tina literally throws her on Brave’s back, tears and all.

Talk about getting back on the horse after a fall. It’s not just a cliche, we live it.

Little Alexandra gets escort off my a multitude of trainers – and her mother. She is going to ride in the next class again,  and on Brave Mouse. These girls are braver than I ever can hope to be in a lifetime.

I really wanted to get pictures of the girl with Joker in her horsey show get-up since the only time that she rides Joker is when she’s in her poop-filled farm boots and chaps.

I’m going to say it again for the last time, I’m so proud!