AjPHA World 2017

This little duo is quite the pair! #horseshowsissy did it again! She competed at the 2017 American Junior Paint Horse Association World Show in Ft. Worth, TX. Her first ever! It was the BIG TIME y'all! She rode and competed w/ THE BEST of the THE BEST and held her own!  After checkin the judges cards to see what we can improve on, Shelby and Hershey are 9th in the World for YA WT Trail, 11th in the World for YA WT Horsemanship and 12th in the World in YA WT Western Pleasure!!! These classes were huge and HIGHLY competitive; THE BEST OF THE BEST! 💜🐴👸🏼💜#PaintWorld #horseshowsissy #hershey #shawperformancehorses Ft. Worth, TX

We've been showing strong and heavy for about a month straight now. I never dreamed our "once a week only lesson" would turn into this! Shelby and Hershey are a great team and she's just 8 years old! It scares me to think what she will be in a few years and as a teenager. All I can do is support her, help her, guide her and be there for her to catch her fall and raise her up. 

 Time to make Hershey shiney and clean.... Who knew that bathing a 1200+ lb animal would give an 8 year old such joy....

Day 1: Trail & Horsemanship
 Preparing for her 1st class, YA WT Trail....

 mental silence and snacks...
She amazes me how she doesn't get nervous but does get "in the zone" when it's time to turn on the competitive side of her. That's one thing we have all noticed is that she can turn on the "show up and show out #horseshowsissy" and turn it off and be an 8 year old, giggly, bubbly, funny, silly, social butterfly who doesn't meet a stranger in and out of the pen. She made a new friendship too!

Here we go....
It was very intimidating to walk/ride to the show pen. It was dark and spooky and very industrial inside. It had my nerves at an all new high!

 Before each time Shelby rides, Hershey and I have a prayer, JUST US, and a moment to talk to each other. I ask her to take care of our girl and to enjoy the ride and listen to what Shelby tells her but to also saver her tail if Shelby doesn't communicate properly (which Hershey has saved Shelby MANY TIMES in a Trail pattern). This moment is done when no one else is watching and she and I can just be quiet and still and listen.

Here she goes...

               

she won 9th in the World out of 18 AMAZING AND TOUGH competitors from all over the US and Canada!

 Day 2: Western Pleasure

So so so proud of #horseshowsissy!

 It's all over for this duo here in Ft. Worth! They were quite the team and did more than just show up!

 

Hersh got a nice cool bath and a bag full of hay! She also got a brand new show halter w/ her name on it :)