Cow Palace

When I got home from Thailand, I jumped right into the middle of preparations for our team's performance at the Grand National Rodeo at the Cow Palace in San Francisco (ok, Daly City) the following week. I was jet lagged and crazy tired. However, riding my horse is right up there on my list of Top 10 Things I LOVE to do!

Our coach, Margaret, was really stressed. She was the one in charge of the whole competition this year and therefore our team was not allowed to compete. However, we got to have the coveted spot of performing on Saturday night - the BIG night. Practice Saturday morning was oh so stressful. I even broke down in tears (something I do when things get overwhelming, I guess). After practice I was SURE that our performance was going to be the biggest disaster EVER!

We arrived at the Cow Palace and it was absolutely pouring rain. Like buckets! We were allowed to each take up a stall and bring our horses, tack and gear in. What a relief! Things were tense while we tacked up and went into the practice ring. One member of our team got really delayed in traffic and we thought we were going to have to cancel - she was one of our two lead horses. Margaret was having an absolute meltdown. I felt so bad for her.

So when the time came that we were lined up at the gate ready to go in, the announcer came over the loudspeaker and announced that the San Francisco Giants had just won their division and were headed for the World Series. The crowd went absolutely ape crazy! Some of the horses on our team started to whirl and get very nervous. The crowd was insanely loud.

I was proud of my mare, Ellie. This is her element. This is where she shines. She is a show horse and dang proud of it. (After the performance when Margaret watched the video she said that my horse was absolutely perfect and didn't show any hesitation whatsoever. In fact she said it looked like Ellie was saying, "Yay! I get to lope. Everyone look at me. I'm the pretty pretty princess. I'm the star of the show!" Lol).

When we entered the ring it was like our team suddenly became this focused in-sync (for the most part) group. I am so proud of my team and how we did our coach proud. I'm proud to say that I ride on the Diablo Ladies Drill Team.

Check out our performance. I do, however, have to tell you something funny . . . this was recorded by some women that left our team and, for whatever immature reason I can't imagine, have taken up the hobby of stalking us. They can be heard making crude comments in the background but by the end of our performance, they pretty much are quiet. Hmmm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYc5RstFDSs