Oklahoma, Here We Come!

Remember the blog post I made last month about Nic kicking some horse butt? Well, he's continued to do so. Two weekends ago we headed down the road to Nampa, Idaho with our new found traveling friends, the Berubaums (more on this crew later). This was to be our biggest and most competitive show this year as we'd qualified for the NRHA Northwestern Affiliate Finals. All the NRHA Affiliate members with qualifying runs were invited to come to the Regional Finals. It's actually not difficult to qualify (as long as a rider completes a full show season with an Affiliate group, they can usually qualify) but the competition at the Regional Finals tends to be tough. This weekend was no exception.

My intent in heading down to Nampa was to do as well as I had at the last show. I knew the competition would be tough and wasn't planning on trying to qualify for the Nationals in Oklahoma. My traveling partner, Lindsey Bernbaum had other plans. Lindsey is currently a straight A senior in high school. She trained the horse she is currently showing and has proceeded to really kick butt the last two years. She actually went down to Oklahoma last year and placed in the top five in nearly all her classes. Lindsey was a motivating friend to travel with as were her sister, Brittany and mom, Roxie. All three girls ride well and they were good to have along as they kept my nerves in check and provided hours of entertainment.

My first Affiilate class was my Rookie class. This class is for riders who have not earned more than $500 during their show career. At the start of this season, I thought my Rookie class would be a drop in the hat. Boy was I wrong. I pretty much needed to score over a 70 to even be in the money at the Affiliate club level. I now worried that a 70 would be nothing at the Regional level. I was right. I went into my class just focusing on trying to beat myself in my last run. About half way through my run, I felt that Nic and I were hooked up and on the same page (as much as one can be with a large beast). I ended my run happy with myself....my happiness escalated as I heard my score...a 71. This put me in second place but there were about 25 more riders to go (there were 43 riders in my class). By the end of my class, I had been bumped down to fourth but had qualified for the Nationals (only the top five riders in each class qualify). I was happy with my run and surprised that I was still competitive at the Regional level but still had not really thought about actually making the trip down to Oklahoma.

While I did well in my Rookie class, Lindsey and Brittany were cleaning up in their classes. They cleaned up in their Novice Horse class and Lindsey took third in her Limited class (I also showed in this class and her Youth class. They were defiantly on their way to Oklahoma. This is when the taunting and encouraging began. By the end of the show, I was pretty much convinced that I should go and try for the coveted Rookie of the Year award.

So I'm officially off to the Midwest. I know, nobody vacations in the Midwest and I really don't know why all the major horse shows are located there (perhaps the cheap land and large facilities?). I do know that this trip will be full of a lot of firsts.
1. My first trip to the Midwest.
2. My first time spending three straight days in a vehicle.
3. My first time to the NRHA Fururity.
4. My first time competing at a National Level.
5. My first time hanging out with cowboys for a full straight week.

In a effort to familiarize myself with Oklahoma City, I did a google search on the city. I found these "interesting" facts.
1.Okmulgee owns the world record for largest pecan pie, pecan cookie, pecan brownie, and biggest ice cream and cookie party. Each June, Okmulgee rolls out the welcome mat to thousands of its closest friends as the annual Pecan Festival comes to town.(I'm fearing that everyone in the Midwest is overweight.)

2. The National Cowboy Hall of Fame is located in Oklahoma City. (This is why all the major horse shows are located in Oklahoma City...plus Cowoby's would not fare well in Seattle.)

3. Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He grew up in Yukon, Oklahoma. (I love Garth Brooks.)

State Motto: Labor Omnia Vincit {Labor Conquers All Things} (What the hell does this mean...when in doubt, work???)

Oklahoma's four mountain ranges include the Ouachitas, Arbuckles, Wichitas and the Kiamichis. (What a joke, there are no mountains in Oklahoma, just slight hills.)

Oklahoma is bordered by six states: Texas to the south and west, Arkansas and Missouri to the east, Kansas to the north and Colorado and New Mexico at the tip of the northwestern Oklahoma panhandle. (I wonder how many confederate flags I'll see.)

I'll keep everyone posted on how the show goes. I head down just before Thanksgiving and return the second week in December. Lindsey reported that we are lucky enough to see places like the world's largest pickle and the home of Rubbermaid on our way down. Sounds like so good photo ops.