It's not about the ribbons...or is it?

After much primping and preening, Wassachusetts and I made our 2011 horse show debut.  Granted, it was a local show with very few horses and riders in attendance, but we were undaunted and arrived ready to put in our best effort.

The day was chilly with a brisk wind blowing over the horse show grounds, which made my mind start to convulse with the thought that Wassachusetts might be overly excited and a bit of a handful.  Coming off the trailer, he looked more like a race horse than a hunter-jumper destined for the show ring.  With nostrils flared and ears pricked forward, he pranced down the trailer ramp to survey the area with shining, alert eyes.  Even though he didn't look like a seasoned show horse, I was captured for just a few moments by his striking beauty.

As we approached the outdoor schooling ring, my nerves start to tingle and anxiety levels rose.  Would he be ridable or would we embarrass ourselves with antics?  That's one more tricky thing about working with a green horse:  You never know what you're going to get.  In a text earlier that day, my trainer assured me that he would be fine, and, in typical fashion, she was right.

I got a leg up from a friend and off we went to warm up.  Wassachusetts was calm and relaxed as if he were a tried and true veteran of the horse show scene.  Next, we headed to the indoor where the show was taking place and I swear he had a swagger to his walk.  He was owning the day.

I started to unclench my tightened muscles and took a few deep breaths, but it was entering that indoor that cinched it for me.  Inside the building were my trainer and a handful of the best boarders and riders that I could ever hope to share a barn with.

No kidding.  The riders at my barn and their families are some of the finest people I have had the fortune to meet in life, let alone in the horse world.  While they are serious about their riding and are very competitive in the show ring, they're also the ones dusting your boots, shining your horse's feet and cheering for you on the rail.  No one could ask for a better support system.

Perhaps the icing on my horse show cake that day was that a very good friend of mine, who also happens to ride, showed up to offer her support and an extra hand when I needed one.  She held Wassachusetts while I learned my courses, adjusted tack throughout the day and kept my mind clear of nerves and focused on my riding.

It was a long day with two divisions and a total of 7 classes.  By the time we entered the ring for our fourth class over fences, my legs felt like pudding and Wassachusetts was all out of giddy-up-and-go.  We were whooped.

Yes, whooped but so satisfied with the day that I could have - if I'd had a shred of energy left - crowed from the rafters.  Wassachusetts and I managed to put in a respectable day.  Were we perfect?  No.  There was plenty of rider error and the marks of an inexperienced, young horse all over the day.  Regardless, we'd managed to get a ribbon in every class, including a fancy reserve champion ribbon in our second division.

But it's not about the ribbons...that is, unless you're one of my kids.

It was nearly their bedtime when I stumbled home ready for something to eat and a nice glass of red wine.  There was plenty of fanfare when I walked through the door as we smothered one another in hugs and kisses; then came the big question.

"What did you bring us?"  they both cried out while ogling the blue Nike bag I carry to horse shows.

I gave them the go-ahead and with a gush of sheer joy, they unzipped the bag and dug around for the ribbons.  Streaks of colored satin whipped around the room.  My son danced around the kitchen holding a blue ribbon in one hand while clipping a sunshiny-yellow ribbon to the front of his shirt.  My daughter, after careful consideration, opted for a pink and white combination to add to her collection of baubles and potential crafting supplies.

Within 24 hours, the rest of the ribbons were spirited away.  No doubt they'll surface again to be cut and pasted to colored construction paper or maybe used as a prop during some game or creative playtime.

So, do the ribbons matter?  Yes.  Yes, they do.