This year Elly and Selah both competed. They both did such a great job! While the last 4 months have added greatly to my stress level 😂😂😂, I know it's been a time of sanctification for all of us. I am so proud of them both on so many levels. Work ethic, perseverance, sportsmanship, character. It's been a rough year with a lot of obstacles but they stuck with it.
Elly picked July. July was scared of her own shadow when she came in. Literally EVERYTHING spooked her. No one could get close to her and she was a kicker. But Elly was patient with her and got her through it. Now she loves attention from people.
They had several set backs in training from injuries (both July AND Elly😁) to, SURPRISE, an unknown pregnancy that ended with a baby being born 7 weeks ago and we welcomed August!
That's a real bummer to training, as you have to give time off then the work was completely different after for awhile. Her options were to take the horse back and get another, drop out, or change her plan and routine and finish the last 7 weeks out knowing she had a huge disadvantage. She finished out. And they did great! Elly felt really good about her freestyle. Even the wind didn't dampen her spirits. 😂
The hardest part of the whole thing for Elly was giving them up. I expected the tears to flow at some point but I thought it might be after we got home, away from everything. But she stood in that stall with them after they got adopted and held onto them and cried her heart out. It broke mine. One of life's hardest lessons is having to let go.
Elly placed 4th in the freestyle. You can watch it here:
Speaking of spooky horses, Selah picked Skeeter. Oh. My. SKEETER. There's a reason that's his name. This horse bounced back and forth. He'd do well for awhile then he lose his mind. Both Abby and Sherrod recommended that she send him back. So did another professional we consulted with. But at the time she considered it, she didn't think there were other horses to choose from and she didn't want to drop out altogether. Plus, it was hard on her to consider just giving up on him just so she could get a better score. So she kept him. She continued to work with him and she got him pretty consistent in hand. At least he has ground manners now! 😜
Selah was able to ride him but he was never consistent in his behavior so she made the tough decision to not ride him for competition. She knew going in what that would do to her scores.
I'm so proud of her for not giving up and not dropping out when she knew she wouldn't have a shot at scoring well. I'm proud of her for making it about more than winning. Both of them.
One important thing that Selah learned about herself through this is that she has a love for photography. 😍 And she has a really good eye!
I think this picture is so neat! I love how she captured herself in his eye!
You can watch Selah's freestyle here:
I would be lying if I said I'm not incredibly relieved that it's over. But I am thankful that they were able to do it. I can see how the experience was good for both of them and how they grew from it. Me, too, actually! 😜
P.S. This is my Thursday post, early. I won't post again until NEXT Thursday, May 27.
