Cowgirl Queen Contest {and pre-fair show}

 It was a very long day...

It was a very warm day...

It was a very tiring day...

But sometimes it's those long, hot, and tiring days that turn out to be some of the most memorable days!

 Friday (July 1st) evening was the Cowgirl Queen contest and Pre-Fair show, both of which I participated in. But instead of giving you a long, boring description, let me tell you the events of the day in pictures...that's always more interesting, right?


{most photos taken by my sister Hannah and friend Alexandra...thanks girls!}

. . . . .

I was up at a fairly good time, and got right into getting Flash ready to go. She had her bath on Friday night, so really all that needed to be done with her was band her mane (a 2 hour job) and put on hoof black.

My friend came over early afternoon to help me with my hair and makeup. Honestly, I don't wear much makeup other than occasional cover-up and some mascara, but since it was a "special" event we did the whole deal.

The cowgirl queen contest started at 5:00pm, so my intention was to get there by 3:30, or at latest 4:00. Sounds easy enough...but we didn't get there until 4:10. I started getting a little stressed out when they announced that the Sr. Queen contestants (all two of us...) needed to be down at the gate in 5 minutes, and I didn't even quite have my whole outfit on, let alone have Flash warmed up!

First, we had to preform a horsemanship pattern. It wasn't too hard...extended jog, stop, 360 pivot, jog, left lead canter, stop, back, and then answer a question from the judge. Even though it was an easier pattern, I still managed to mess up a little bit :)

After the pattern we had rail work...basically a Western Pleasure class, but the focus was more on our horsemanship than the horse. I was so proud of Flash when she took her right lead (we've been having problems with that this year...)!!!!!

Lastly, we got to do the Cowgirl Queen salute...my favorite part!!

As I've been practicing over the past month or two, I decided that I would give this contest my best effort and leave the results up to God.  But even though I knew that God was in control, there was that little part of me that started to wonder if my best would be good enough.

When they finally announced the 2011 Sr. Cowgirl Queen, I was quite excited to hear that I had won! The glory goes to the Lord!

I want to note that even though I won this contest, please do not think that I have wonderful horsemanship and a perfectly trained horse...there were only two of us showing and it was pretty close. In reality, I hardly show at all and my horse is far from the "pleasure type" (though she is a wonderful horse!!). Both of us have a lot to learn, and I hope to keep learning as long as I possibly can!!

As Sr. Cowgirl Queen I will be competing at the State level in August. I usually only show my horse 2-3 times a year (mainly at 4-H related shows) and that is the extent of my showing experience. Competing at State will be a huge learning curve for me as I've never competed in a show that big! The State show isn't just 4-H queens, there are also many queens from saddle clubs and Iowa horse breed associations. As with Friday's competition - I'm going to give it my absolute best and leave the results in God's hands. I'll keep you updated on the State show as it gets closer to that time, but for now I'm going to share a few more pictures from the rest of the pre-fair show...

:: My little sisters doing the cowgirl queen salute ::

:: Halter class - even though Flash doesn't have perfect conformation, it's still a good learning experience ::

:: Trail class - let's just say that we have a lot that we need to work on in the two weeks left before fair ::

All in all it was a good day. Even though we didn't win any of our classes (besides Cowgirl Queen) I still had fun and got a good idea of what I need to work on before Fair. Sorry for rambling on about all this horse related stuff over the past few weeks...I know that some of you may not be horse crazy like me and I'll be back to posting some not-quite-so-horsey posts soon :)

It's show time!

Clean tack. check

practice. Practice. PRACTICE. check

Makeup and hair. check

Get Flash all "prettied up". check

Show outfit. check

Make a list of everything that has to be done so that I can check this off of the list. check

 . . . . .

On Saturday I'm competing in my first Senior Cowgirl Queen contest - and let's just say that even though I've put a lot of effort into the preparation, I still feel really un-prepared!

The 4-H horse group in our county has a Cowgirl Queen contest every year, and the winner of both the Junior and Senior divisions will get to represent our group at the state competition in August. This will be my second year competing, and my first year in the Senior division. The past few weeks have been kind of crazy trying to get everything together!

The competition consists of rail work (pretty much a western pleasure class), a horsemanship pattern, and the cowgirl queen salute to top it all off. This year there are only two of us competing in the Senior division, so that helps a lot. We will mainly be judged on our horsemanship abilities, and then slightly on appearance. It's kind of fun to have an occasion that I can go all out with Western show attire :)

If you think about it, I would really appreciate your prayers on Saturday morning (the show starts and 9:00 - bright and early)! Right now I'm a little bit nervous about the whole thing, but also really excited about the opportunity. The results are in God's hands - I'm going to give it my very best and leave the rest up to Him.

I have a busy preparation day ahead of me tomorrow, as it is the "get-all-the-last-minute-things-done" day. I'll try to post a lot of photos and the results sometime later on this weekend, so I hope that you'll check back soon!!

I love my horse :)

County Fair...last update :)

Well, the County fair got over last Thursday, and in a way I'm glad it's over. It was really a fun filled week, but it was also tiring! I thought I'd fill you in on the events of Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday was quite busy with the swine show, livestock judging contest, communications judging, and the open horse show. Hannah and I both got blues for our pigs, which isn't too bad. It would have been fun to get top in the class (or champion!), but it was still a great learning experience.

On Tuesday night was the judging for the communication events. Our club's skit went onto State, but for our song we got a lavender, which means that we were the first alternate in case one of the other acts canceled. Us girls were kind of disappointed about that, but even in the midst of things such as these, God is at work (I'll tell you the rest of the story after I finish up the County fair update).

Wednesday was the parade, and Thursday night was the livestock auction which concluded the County fair. All in all it was a fun week, and I'm looking forward to next year!

Ok, I mentioned earlier that God is at work even when we don't see the big picture. This past Tuesday I got a call from our County extension office asking us if we would like to go onto State with our quartet! Another girl is going to be leaving for college, and won't be able to do her Share the Fun act at the State fair. Now that I look back and see the whole picture, I'm just amazed at what God can do. We were quite disappointed that we didn't go onto State at first, but I think that God was planning it that way just so that we could see Him work. If we would have gone onto State right away, we probably would have taken it for granted. Our God likes to work in ways that will amaze us and show us His power.

I apologize for not having any pictures in this post! I don't have any other photos from County fair loaded on our computer.

County Fair Update

I have to apologize for not keeping my blog up to date in the last few weeks. Our 4-H county fair started last Friday, and it goes through this Thursday! Today doesn't have much going on, so I'm actually home for the afternoon. I know some of you had mentioned that you would like to hear what is going on during the fair, so I though I'd give you a little update.

Friday wasn't too busy...we just took the horses to the fairgrounds. The dog show was also on Friday night, and Hannah showed our dog Bentley. They got 2nd in their obedience class. She was quite excited about that, and is also looking forward to showing again next year!

On Saturday I showed my Quarter Horse, Flash, and my sister Sarah showed her Shetland pony, Misty. Flash and I didn't place very well in any classes...but I'm alright with that as we have greatly improved since last year, and that's what counts. Sarah showed Misty in the 2-3 year old halter class, and there was only one other person competing against them (which was really nice since this was Sarah's first year showing). Misty was a little ornery, but they still placed 1st in their class...great job Sarah! We also had our exhibits judged on Saturday, and all of my pictures got blues. The seasons collage went onto State!

 (Sarah showing Misty)

(Myself showing Flash)

Yesterday was communications, and I participated in two Share the Fun acts. The first was a skit that I did with my club, and the second was a vocal quartet that I did with my sister Hannah and my friends Alexandra and Jessica. We did the song "On Faith Alone" by Robert Pierre; Hannah and Alexandra played violin, Jessica played piano, and I sang. We hope and pray that all we did represented Christ, and that He got all of the glory! I think that all of us were quite nervous, but we were able to do it almost perfectly...which is better than we have ever done before! We got a blue ribbon, and tomorrow we'll find out if we go onto State or not. One of my close friends and her family had been missionaries overseas, and she came in on Saturday. Their family came to the fair yesterday...it was great to see them again!

(From left to right: Hannah, Jessica, Rebekah, Alexandra)

Tomorrow is the swine show, and then Thursday is the livestock auction. This will probably be the last post before fair is over...it's quite a busy week!

~ Rebekah