I wanna be a cowgirl!

It amazes me when I realize I'm how very close I am to blowing out 60 candles on my birthday cake and I'm just now finding out so much about myself. I feel like my life up until now has been lived in a fog. I never knew I had such a passion for writing. I also never knew I had such an attraction to horses and riding.

I went to the National Mountain Trail Competition last weekend because a friend was competing and she made it sound interesting. I got bit bad with horse fever while I was there. Now I want a horse, but if I get a horse I will need a saddle, boots, horse blankets, brushes, bridles, a horse trailer and the list seems to go on and on. It seems very unlikely that it will ever happen, but my friend is excited for me and we're going to start riding together (her horses of course) and give me a chance to see if I really do love it as much as I know I will. One thing I won't have to worry about is a cowboy (or cowgirl) hat, my husband bought me one while I was at the competition.

My friend's grandaughter (13 years old) also competed. She was a joy to watch and oh boy did she ever make me wish I was 13 again and had a grandma like hers. She entered 6 competitions and I think she won something in everything she entered. But more importantly she won the judges award. Every year all four judges get together and vote on the person they think has been the most impressive. All four judges picked this young lady. She really was impressive, even I could see that and I didn't even know what I was watching (not from a judges perspective anyway). At the end of the competition they had "the games." Throughout the competition everything was judged on skill, of the horse and the rider... but on the last day they let it rip and everyone that wanted got to race through the course for a timed score. This young lady was the first one to go and even though there were about 25 competitors, some were even trainers, no one was able to beat her score. She was very impressive!

Maybe next year I'll enter the Novice category. Maybe by then I'll even have my own horse. He'll be my Trigger or Silver and love me unconditionally and do anything I ask of him... even walk backwards over a suspended swinging bridge. Hey, a cowgirl can dream can't she?