Nationals Bound . . . next year

So, Lake Erie didn't go exactly according to plan. My goal was to place in the top three, but I was so busy thinking about not being nervous and had too much time on my hands to think about not being nervous that I didn't remember until after I rode that I had a goal. Oops. Having a goal really helped me at the Albion College show, but then again, I was also riding a horse I was familiar with. At Lake Erie, all the horses were new to me. I rode a cute little mare named Addie. She was very energetic, and if I had remembered to think about each minute detail of my test while I was doing it, I would've had a really good ride on her. That's what helped me at Albion's show. Unfortunately, I forgot to think until halfway through the very short test. I started paying attention to something other than my elbows just in time to bank it like an airplane down centerline to finish my test. *sigh* And Albion's motto is Always Thinking. Apparently not true for me yet.

In the end, I got seventh place. Not the worst placing I've done, but definitely not an improvement over my last test, which was the goal. Overall, Albion finished the season fourth in the region, and our Captain, Kjirsten, despite her broken wrist and being unable to ride in this weekend's show, won the region for her division and will be going to Florida for Nationals! What an awesome way to graduate from Albion! Maybe next year, my senior year, I'll follow in her footsteps. We'll just have to see.