September 16th, 2014

It was a cold but nice day in Autumn when I was getting ready for the horse show. The show that I was going to was in Massachusetts even though I lived in New Hampshire, and I decided to procrastinate on packing. I had exactly two hours to get ready to leave and my mom was trying her best to not scream at me.

“Aurora, we have to leave in two hours and you haven't even gotten Snow ready yet,” my mom said exhaustedly.

“I know Mom. I’m coming,” I yelled down the hall in frustration.

I had to keep packing otherwise, my mom would have made me leave anyway. I was only going to be away for a week, and still my suitcase was overflowing while I was trying to stuff more things into it. My mom was coming with me but my dad needed to stay home since he had to work. I was going to miss him but it would be nice to spend time with my mom and anyway, my dad never acted well around horses. He was always worried about me getting hurt, even though I was always wearing my helmet and never went jumping without a trainer.

“Aurora, if we're gonna make it on time we have to get Snow ready now. Like right NOW! If you don’t get your butt out the door I’m going to the car without you,” my mom yelled. Now my mom was ready to push me out the front door.

“I’m coming. I’m coming.” Now I was getting frustrated too, and was definitely overpacking.

After I finally left the house, I went to the barn to get Snow ready. I bathed him yesterday and he thankfully didn't roll in his stall overnight. Since he didn’t roll, I just had to groom him again and get his things from the tack room. Some other kids from my barn were there too, also getting ready for the show. I saw the ribbons on the other kids' horses stalls, and I needed a ribbon just like that to get into the blogger shows. I helped mom get the trailer all packed up and we hit the road.

After about an hour in the car, we were close to Massachusetts. It only takes about two hours to get there, and my eyes felt so heavy whileI was trying to stay awake since it was 5:00 in the morning.

We got to the show at about 7:30 a.m. and had to find a parking spot that would fit the truck and trailer so we could get set up for the day. The first thing that I had to do was make sure Snow was all ready and get him tacked so I could warm up. I was doing a few classes that day, some flat and some jumping, but I had to do well in the classes to get into the bigger shows. I finished tacking up Snow and was ready to go to the warm-up ring.

“Honey, are you ready to warm up before your class?” my Mom questioned.

“Yeah Mom I’m going to go now,” I replied.

I walked to the warm-up ring and saw how high the jumps were since other kids were already there. I did a few laps around the ring and did some practice jumping with one of the trainers from my barn who was also helping some other kids.

“Alright Aurora, I think you're ready for your class. Why don’t you don’t you go get some water and a snack before you compete?” Jess my trainer said.

“Okay Jess. Thanks for helping me,” I replied and left the warm-up ring to go get some water.

I walked back to the trailer and took Snow’s bridle off and put his halter on. I gave him some water and ate a granola bar myself. My Mom was on the phone with my dad since he wanted to check in before I went into the ring. I was going to leave before she could say anything, but my mom told my dad she had to go before I could leave with Snow.

“Honey, are you ready for the show?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think I’m ready. Jess helped me with the course,” I told her.

“Okay, but be careful, and most importantly have fun,” she told me.

My mom always says that, and I know she means well, but I had to do well and not just have fun at this show. I really want to get into the bigger shows for next year since I was old enough for it now.

I put Snow’s bridle back on, and Jess took me to the outside of the ring, so I could watch other kids before it was my turn. I was shaking now, and was glad that I had someone there with me, so I wasn’t alone waiting for my turn. She was helping me with my course since my jumping class was first. I would normally do a flat class first, but the flat classes for my age group weren’t until later.

“Ok Jess, I think I got it now,” I told her.

“Alright, I believe in you, kid,” she said.

“Number 371,” the announcer said.

“That's your number. You’ve got this kid,” Jess told me.

I walked into the ring and did a courtesy circle and was heading to my first jump. I made it over that one with only one mistake and was focusing on remembering what jump was next when something happened.

I fell off. I hit the fence and fell right off. 

“Shoot!” I yelled in frustration. I thought I yelled but with everything happening around me, no one heard me.

I got up and was trying to figure out what happened. I was dirty, couldn’t feel my leg and was very dizzy, but I didn’t want to think anything of it or let my mom know anything about me feeling this way. As soon as I looked up though it was a different story. I saw Snow basically towering over me and everyone was in shock. I had fallen so I was laying next to the and Snow had stepped on my leg before he ran. He ran all around the ring, even though Jess and my mom were trying to catch him. They did finally catch him by the time that I stood up.

“DISQUALIFIED,” the announcer said over the speaker.

I had a few more classes to compete in later that day, and I wanted to be able to keep going so I could at least have a chance at doing ok. I walked in so much pain back to the truck while Jess was making sure that Snow was ok and I got an ice pack from the cooler and felt better with it on my leg. I told my mom that I wanted to keep my boots on to stay ready because I didn’t want her to hear the real reason; that I couldn’t take my boot off since it hurt so much.

I got ready again for my next class – just a flat class this time and my leg felt a little better since I was icing it.

I was putting my helmet back on when “honey, are you sure you want to get on again?” my mom asked.

“Yes mom, I’m sure. I’ll be fine,” I said.

“Okay, but I’ll be right here if you need me, or if anything happenes,” she told me.

“Alright, people in the 14-17 age group flat class, you're up,” the announcer said.

“Love you mom,” I told my mom.

“Love you,” she replied back.

I walked to the in-gate, and was getting ready to go. This time it will be easier since it's just a flat class and it's not just me in the ring. Jess said good luck and I hopped on Snow and started walking around the ring with all of the other kids. I did all of the things the announcer said, and I think that I did pretty well in this class. 

I walked back to the trailer when Jess and my congratulated me. They said they were proud of me since I kept going, and my mom was so happy that I was okay.

I had to wait about 30 minutes before I would hear the winners and I was getting annoyed about how long it was taking, and couldn’t stand still. They called everybody back into the ring, and lined everyone up before announcing the winners. They started with the lower ribbons, and they didn’t say my number, then they announced third. It wasn’t my number. But when they announced second place, it was my number! I got second place.

When I got home that evening, I was so excited. I was really tired though, and went to bed with a smile on my face.