Sierra's First P.O.A. Show

We had one LONG day yesterday, but to Sierra, it was one WONDERFUL day!

We were gone for almost 12 hours - 8am to 8pm. I was exhausted. Sierra loved every minute of it. Don't get me wrong....I was happy to be there with her. But, I about died though when I heard that they do this one weekend a month for about 8-9 mos. of the year. Talk about committment!
Sierra started off the morning in the "Western Pleasure" shows. All of the girls dress us up in these fancy,western clothes. Luckily, Sierra's riding teacher had old hand-me-down outfits that the younger girls could wear. Check out Sierra in her Lavendar:). Unfortunately, there were about 15 or so girls in her western classes, so she didn't get a ribbon. She was a little sad as she told me "I lost". I tried to cheer her up as we knew she had more classes to do. Also, we knew that her pony, Pepper, really wasn't a "show" pony - he's a rock solid trail pony...and he's even becoming a good gaming pony. But, we tried again as we moved on to the "English" shows.
Doesn't she look cute?! Trotting around in the "English Pleasure" class. It was the same as the western pleasure classes though - too many girls that had well trained show ponies:(
But, she still enjoyed doing it. Finally, in her fifth class, she earned in her first ribbon due to the small amount of girls in it:) - in "Hunter Under Saddle 18 and Under".
Then, it was time for "Hunter Hack Crossrail." Pepper is a pretty good jumper. Unfortunately, he hit the last jump with his back foot. BUT...she ended up 2nd in her open class (out of three:). WooHoo - that meant another ribbon for the "Hunter Hack Crossrail"!
This was a shot of her in the English Pleasure class. The girls would have to go around the arena and change gaits for the judge as it was announced (walk...trot....lope, etc). Sierra loved it!

At the end of the day, were the GAMES. The most fun part for sure!
Here, the Flags game, was simple....pick up a flag from one bucket, run around and put it in another bucket as quickly as you can. Most of these games she had never done before, but she had a lot of fun trying.

She earned a 1st place in the "Figure 8 Barrels" and the "Single Pole".
Have you even seen soooo many spots? All of the girls and their POAs - Pony of the Americas - (a breed that was a cross between the Shetland Pony and the Appaloosa horse). Sierra's at the very end enjoying a cupcake.

Overall, she came home with eight ribbons (most for the games of course). She was in heaven. I was a bit relieved though to hear her say she would be happy doing it once a year....not every month. Well, maybe we'll try for every three months or so since she did enjoy it so much. It was great to see her soooo happy - in her element. It was a LONG, but WONDERFUL day!