In the pouring rain they groom and tack up their horse, they get their "game day" face on and they walk the 8 minutes to the schooling arena. Their trainers "coach" them and help fine tune a few movements. The Technical Delegate (TD) calls them up. Whips are dropped and the walkie talkie or other communication device is removed. The coach murmurs words of encouragement and reminders. They exit the warm up and head up the hill to the main arena. They enter the arena completely alone and ready to do their test...
I am in awe. I don't know how else to express it. There is so much determination in these young people to succeed and be the best they can be. And some days they are rewarded. Today, our Region 3 Team was rewarded! The Junior girls received Reserve Champion (Lauren Knopp), 4th place (Katie Dagge), 7th place (Jessica Deimler) and 9th place (Ellen Wall). The Brentina riders received Reserve Champion (Alyssa Eidbo, from our own barn!), 3rd place (Kim Schisler), and 5th place (Devon Kane). We will know tomorrow how our Young Riders fare. McKenzie Jenkins, Mary Cameron Rollins and Caroline Roffman are amazing young women ready to be recognized for their abilities.
With the Festival of Champions nearly over, the girls are turning their sites on the NAJYRC titles in Lexington, Kentucky! We are so proud that Lauren, Katie, Jessica, and Ellen will represent the Juniors from Region 3! They are a group with deep connections and friendships: they were incredibly supportive of each other here in Gladstone and have already turned their excitement and attention to the new competition and challenges looming before them.
Meanwhile, we were organizing for the trip home. In the pouring rain, we packed the trailers, organized our soaked belongings into bags and staged the various items to be packed in the wee morning hours before dawn. My trailer was surrounded by a sea of mud and a wonderful man from the USET helped me to hitch and maneuver my trailer from the grass parking lot to the temporary tents. It made packing so much easier to have it at the edge of the stalls!
Jess and I plan to be on the road before 6 a.m. with a 14 hour drive ahead of us to Atlanta. My husband, Michael, will go with us to the barn and help us with the final loading before he heads back to the hotel to pick up Karen and go to the airport for their flight back to Atlanta. Jess and I already have our book on CD to listen to, but this time we will have to plan our stops to include gas AND food, since we won't have breakfast and lunch packed.
Being at Gladstone and the Collecting Gaits Festival of Champions has been a wonderful experience, again! How incredibly fortunate we are to have experienced this three times with our amazingly talented daughter, Jessica. We are so proud of her and all the young people who were here this week. We leave here tomorrow with heads held high.
And for Alyssa's dad:
A big "shout out" to the folks from Fox Glen! I'm thrilled to hear you have all been enjoying my blog from Gladstone!
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