The World's Championship Horse Show has been over for a few weeks now, but the feelings I got when my name was called out as the unanimous winner of my class are still with me. The week leading up to the Fair and the week of the Fair were extremely crazy for me. During those two weeks I learned a lot about myself as a person and as a rider because I had to balance moving into college in Florida and showing at the World's Championship Horse Show!
LOUISVILLE 2016 IS IN THE BOOKS! What a week. What an incredible, thrilling, exhausting, stressful, emotional week, with the highest highs and the lowest lows. But that’s why we do it, right? That’s why we’ve all chosen this sport. A sport with a live animal as your teammate, rife with unpredictability, subject to the judgement and finality of three people standing center ring.
As a journalist, I'm trained to not have favorites. In fact, during college and graduate school, my classmates and I studied and debated topics of journalist ethics and integrity constantly. I graduated in 2011 with a strong belief in the need for impartiality, and a determination to bring that level of professionalism and objectivity to the show horse industry.
There are only two more weeks before the Fair! Ahh! I feel like this summer has flown by, but it's because I have been having so much fun traveling with my family and showing my horses. I just got back from the East Tennessee Mid-Summer Classic Horse Show. It was nice to have one last show with my barn family before I head off to college.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and show season! I just got home from the Blue Ridge Horse Show and I am now quickly preparing for another show in Morristown, Tennessee. This will be my final show before the Fair!