Chapter Challenge Recap

Ever hear of the Bad News Bears? That's was a good description of the Chapter Challenge. 

For the past six months I have been battling a major loss of cartilage in my knee so it’s made it difficult to ride and care for my horse.   In fact, for the two weeks leading up to the show I hadn't managed to get on my horse even once.   Luckily, my trainer was able to hop on the day before the show and warm him up for me and then I hopped on for a short ride just to remind the two of us what relaxation, bend and straightness was.  So I knew it wasn't going to be our best show but I had a willing equestrian partner so I knew it would go at least okay.

Hah!

I woke up Sunday morning with intense stomach cramps and let's just say I lost a lot of weight in the next hour.    Nerves?  Nope... this was much worse than just nerves.

I was contemplating how I was even going to get to the barn, much less to a show an hour away.

But... with a team depending on me being there in order for them to show, scratching was not an option.  So I popped a bunch of meds with the hopes of at least getting a shot at getting to the show. 

Luckily they worked.  My stomach was still making some terrible noises and I felt horrible but I could at least leave the bathroom. 

I got to the show and thanks to a tremendous effort from my team who drove with me, helped me load and unload, and braided my horse, I got through my test. 

It wasn't my best test.  In fact, it was one of the worst I've had in a long time but it was very respectable at 60% and helped our team earn a 3rd place finish.