Bryan & Brittney Austin

This last weekend was a lot of fun and definitely a new experience for me. I have never gotten to compete in a riding show competition before but I got to this last weekend. I am on the Utah State University Equestrian Team as a walk/trot rider. That means that my class that I compete in one that we walk, sit trot, and post trot. It is a lot of fun. You first get to start by drawing a horse's name out of hat. These horses that we ride when we travel to other colleges or universities are the college or university's horses and the first time that anyone on the team gets to ride them. I drew a horse that called Chinook and she was a paint/draft horse mix. She was huge but so much fun to ride. She was smooth to trot with and very easy to get responses from. The only thing was that she was green meaning that she has not been ridden for a long time yet and she is still learning her balance while a rider is on her so she swayed back and forth just a little. But all in all she was a great horse and I really enjoyed getting to ride her. I actually drew her out of the hat for both of the shows that we got to show. This was definitely to my advantage. I got a good horse both shows. I placed third in the first and second show. I know I could have done better in the second show but I was so distracted with all the other riders and trying to avoid them colliding with me. Some of the riders in the walk/trot class are not the best at steering and control of their horse and will cut you off causing you to break gate. Breaking gate means that if you are trotting slowing down to a walk or if you are walking stop all together and you are constantly being judged while in the arena and breaking gate is a no no. The judges judge you on how you ride, respond to the horse, and how pretty you look doing it. I get to wear tight breeches which are the pants for English riding, a show shirt with a collar, and a jacket. Not to mention the oh so wonderful full half leg field boots that go up to your knees. I think I look pretty good in it all for sure. I cannot wait to see the pictures that the rest of the team took and hopefully put them up here soon. Below is a photo of both my ribbons.

 Another thing that I forgot to mention is how you actually move up from one class to the next. The classes start from beginner to advanced. They are (beginning with beginner) walk/trot, walk/trot/canter beginner, walk/trot/canter advanced, intermediate, novis, and open. Then from there anyone from novis to open can actually compete in the jumping portion as well. To move up in your class you need to earn 36 points. Points are obtained by placings that are obtained in each show. Since I placed third in both of my classes I earned 8 points. On my way for sure. I would love to point up and get to compete with the canter. 

A few weeks ago was Bryan and I's 4 year wedding anniversary. Bryan was sweet enough to send me some flowers at Logan even though we were apart. They were so beautiful and some of my favorites. My hubby is such a sweety. Below are some photos of the beautiful wonderful flowers that were waiting for me at my room when I got back from class on September 15th.