Sophia's First Horse Show

Everyone is so proud of Sophia and how well she did in her first ever horse show. She's come quite a long way since the first time she rode Lacey, the little Quarter Horse my mom bought for her this summer. Mom took her into the lead line class at the Crow Wing County Fair this past weekend (August 8th).

Before starting this whole endeavor, my sister had to get her daughter's approval of course. Obviously she didn't want her to get into the ring and freak out at being in a big place with a bunch of other kids. According to Amy, Sophia's only concern was she wanted a "shirt with sparklies on it." Easy enough :)

Participating in a horse show was a big step for Sophia, who'd only ever ridden a horse on the Bernier property inside a smaller arena. At the fairgrounds, she competed with about 9 other kids (plus handlers) in a huge arena and a bunch of spectators. Mom says she chit-chatted the entire time about the rides on the midway, the horse in front of her, the people in the stands, how they both had sparkly shirts, etc. etc. etc.

She did well and Lacey even backed up - barely! - in the line-up. Of course I'm biased and I think she should've won, but she ended up with fifth place...which is perfect since her absolute all-time favorite color is pink! She was ecstatic and grinning like mad, waving the ribbon for the entire grandstand to see. It was pretty darned cute.

During the rest of the riding classes, she happened to notice that a first-place win was accompanied by a trophy. She informed her mother, "Next year I want a trophy. But I need a blue ticket in order to get one of those. So next year, I want a trophy."

Looks like next summer she'll be practicing for her comeback!