. We need a little more testosterone around here 
Watch for exciting pictures to come! We had a fabulous horse show. Although the start was a little shaky.
The hotel we stay in--and that almost everyone else stays in--is horrible. Just horrible. But year after year we go back because it's right on the show grounds and takes pets. So off we went with our two traveling cats, JD and Cleveland, and our parrot Mina. I grumbled the whole way to Louisville because I REALLY hate staying at this place. James and Ali continued to reassure me everything would be all right. Then we arrived and Ali, the animals and I went up to our room with the bellman. He opened the door ...
Have you ever seen the movie Animal House? Seen a frat house after an orgy? That's the sight we were greeted with. Cigarette butts all over, beer bottles, dirty pillows, smelly sneakers ...
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
After maid service and two cans of Lysol, we moved in and got down to business. The first part of the week we rode in our qualifying classes. This is the toughest show with the best horses and riders, so it was hard. James failed to quality Humdinger (see horse page), and I got such a low ribbon with my Hackney pony Heiress I decided not to show back in the championship. I managed to get fourth with High Roller, my miracle horse; Ali won her qualifier with I'm Good To Good; she won her qualifier with Seize the Moment; she was fourth with Tigerlee.
In the championships, High Roller (Rocky) gave his all for me. If you haven't read about our horses yet, he's the one who broke his hip. I was told to euthanize him because he would never recover. But he has the biggest, bravest heart of any horse I have ever known. He made it through the injury, and he made it through the hardest, biggest class I've ever ridden in. One of the judges later told our trainer his performance was "phenomenal". We won the Reserve World Championship. Needless to say, when they called my number I burst into tears. Later, he was so tired he lay down in his stall. I went in and sat beside him and he put his head in my lap and went to sleep. And people wonder why we love horses so much ...
Ali was a superstar, as usual. She won a unanimous victory with my road pony Seize the Moment. She got a nice ribbon with I'm Good To Go, but the big story was Tigerlee. This is a very difficult horse we recently purchased for her. Most people thought she would never be able to ride him, much less show him. But show him she did. To the World Grand Championship! I will post pictures as soon as we return from our mother/daughter trip to Europe.
That's right, we're off again. This afternoon we board a plane for Frankfurt, then on to Budapest and, later, Prague. We're going to see the sights, of course, which I'll report on our return. And--what else?--go horseback riding!
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