And to send us valiantly on our way, something very special arrived in the mail this week. Katchi and I received our USEA Silver Medal for Training Level. When I sent off the forms a few weeks ago, I thought - well, what the heck, we earned it, we might as well claim it. But, when the certificates and lapel pin arrived, I realized, it really is something special. The USEA went to a lot of effort to make the medal program both achievable and meaningful. It is not a consolation prize and it most certainly represents hard work and success. It's unlikely Katchi will stay at Training level long enough to earn his gold medal - but perhaps we'll make a gold medal at Prelim a long-term goal!
So, with my newly awarded silver medal lapel pin on my jacket, Katchi, my mom, and I are off to the Virginia Horse Center in the morning. The Training Championships is a pretty small class - only 11 entries. It's a little disappointing for my competitive nature, knowing there were 50+ horses in what would have been Katchi's Training level division at AEC's. But I'm sure it will be a great end to our 2010 season!
Wish us luck!
Good luck you two! Should be a beautiful drive down to VHT with the leaves changing in the mountains. Have a great ride!
ReplyDelete