Next week, I'll be headed to Texas for the Appaloosa World Show. And let me tell you, I am not immune to the pre-show jitters! 

​For me, I am a very achievement oriented person. I have high expectations for myself, and along with that I tend to be highly self-critical. As such, when I start to feel pressure before a show, my internal critical gremlin starts chattering and nerves start to kick in.

​Oh, the pressure of the warm up pen!
It is so easy to get off track when we see what our competition is doing with their horses.
Are they spinning faster? Loping more collected? Stopping harder? Oh look, they are flexing and bending their horse, maybe I should do that!
If we do not have a set warm up plan of our own, if we do not stay focused on our plan, it is easy to caught up in trying the “win in the warm up pen.” And doing things different or asking for more in the warm up is not going to help you and your horse perform at your best!
So if you feel pressure in the warm up pen, pause.
Take a deep breath.
Stick to what you do on a normal day to warm up your horse.
You can’t win in the warm up pen, but you certainly can lose there!
Get Gritty,
Chevy

​I awoke on Saturday morning feeling sad. Today was the day that I would need to pack up my little camp, load Breezy, and head back home.

The past three days had been wonderful. I had met some really cool people, ridden along the beautiful French Creek Trail, felt the rumble and heard the thunder as I galloped alongside a herd of buffalo, and ridden in the dark on a rescue mission.