Emma's Horse Show

What a weekend! I have definitely been educated in the world of Horse Shows.
Here's a few tidbits of what I know...
1. These are Peruvian Horses, and Peruvian Riding. It's Western riding, but I think there are some things unique to Peruvian riding, like the type of saddle, and the strange enormous panchos and hats people wear. I'm not so sure about the weird panchos...if I were making decisions about her riding style based on fashion, this would be out! But I really enjoyed watching the show and learning.

2. When a horse stands on your foot, it freakin' hurts! Yep! Really sore big toe. But everyone has to learn the hard way, right?

3. Not everyone loves the idea of you painting a $20,000 horse. For our costume parade, we painted Cohete Indian style. Mr. Brad had approved it, but his wife was quite skeptical. It is pretty crazy, when you think about it! We don't own our own horse, so they were letting Emma ride the best horse of all. I was grateful! They made an amazing team! The paint washed right off when I gave my first bath to a horse ever. I knew how to bathe kids, so I just used what I knew and attacked this task best I could. Thank goodness for the people there to help me!

4. Horse people are not in a hurry. Everything runs late, and at a leisurely pace. Now I know.

5. My daughter has a natural talent with horses. We knew this, but it was awesome to watch! I didn't even think about her placing, but she did! She even beat all of the girls in her age group in the Parade class! She got fourth place in that one, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place were all grown-ups!!! We were shocked and pleased! We didn't stress winning or placing at all, we just kept saying "Do your best, and have fun." She did, and that worked well for her. I have to admit, it was fun! But all the girls did well, and we cheered them on all weekend. I realize a lot of this has to do with the horse they ride also.

6. I also learned that being a Mom means you will adapt to things you never dreamed of. I never even imagined being a Horse Mom. If my kids were interested in music, and we were doing any sort of music competition, this would be my total comfort zone. That was the life I lived. But horses...there I was, saddling horses, bathing a horse, mucking stalls, and giving her riding tips. What??? How did this happen? But this is what being a Mom is about. I love following their passions and seeing where they lead us. Any talent God gives them can be used for his glory, and I can't wait to see how He uses us in this world to share Christ with others and bring Him honor.
Col 3:17
17 And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.
I feel like the Lord has given us a brand new mission field, and I will be honest...I'm shaking in my boots, nervous about how to move forward in sharing the Gospel with these people. But excited, too, that God is giving us an opportunity here. And what fun!!!
Okay, here are the pictures:

This is Emma and her sweet instructor, Mr. Brad. This man is 72 years old, and still going full steam, all day everyday, in his work. Isn't that awesome? I so want to be like that! He loves, loves, loves teaching these kids! He gave them all these fun baskets after the competition, and then took them on a hayride around the Expo Center for fun! He's awesome!

This is Emma in the Parade class. After they all finished, they lined up for the judging. I think they deliberated for about three and a half hours. That's what it felt like to me. Thank goodness she was on a pro show horse, and her horse stood perfectly still as she waited. Not all of the horses did. She looked professional. I was so nervous I wanted to throw up. When they called out her name, she didn't go get her ribbon. I couldn't figure out why? Later she told me they didn't say her last name right, so she didn't think it was her! Ha! This girl better get used to having her name butchered. That's part of life in the Bacak Nation!

Here's our little Indian. That's not very politically correct, is it? Here's our little Native American.

My husband said "when I married, you I never would have thought I'd see this..." Well, me neither. I'm used to cleaning up human poop around here, so what's a little horse poop? I actually didn't mind cleaning the stalls a bit! Emma and I had fun doing it together. I think it's like kids. When you love your kids, of course you'll clean up their poop! We were loving Cohete, so of course we would clean out his stall for him!

That's it! Thanks to Pop-Pop, Jess, Amanda, and Matt & Erin for coming out to cheer her on. It made her feel very special. Also thanks to those of you who asked about it. It was a very special weekend for Emma!