Well, we finally made it to Lexington yesterday around noon. My dad and I came as the “advance crew” to make sure everything would be ready for our team’s horses when they got here. We got all the bedding and the stall signs put up and everything else we could think of. Mr. Randy had an ETA of around 1 A.M.

As it sometimes happens, things did not go quite according to plan. They rolled into the park around 5 o’clock this morning, exhausted from the all-night drive. So, our day started fairly early.

When Smartie backed off the trailer, we knew something was up. She is stiff and a bit swollen. Immediately we got a vet out to check her. We did a couple x-rays to rule out anything major, just to be safe. It looks like she has got, basically, a sprained ankle. Oh, Smartie. Does it have to happen today? The jog is tomorrow!! So, my nerves are definitely on edge.

By mid-morning, everyone in the reining barn knows I have a problem. Smartie seems to be “the talk.”

All day long we have kept her on and off of ice, trying hard to get the swelling to go down. By lunch, she is definitely looking better. With her legs wrapped up really good, I took the last twenty minutes of our allotted riding time to see what we had to work with.

First, we walked a big circle all the way around the arena. She feels good and strong, nothing out of the ordinary. Then I trotted her the other way around, and again she felt good; no signs of anything bad. I then loped one circle each direction, and thankfully, she came up just fine. I jump off with a little less stress on my shoulders. This might just be ok.

If I can get past this jog test, we will be good to go. The vet said the stretch in her tendon is not bad, it’s just there. And Smartie’s pain tolerance does not seem to be too high.

I unsaddled, and put the ice back on. That seems to be doing pretty well for her.

After awhile, we had the vet examination, and by the end of it, nothing went “unseen” on Smartie. She was checked thoroughly, as she should be. He looked at every ankle with a fine eye. He suggested ice on all four ankles just to be safe, so that is what we have been doing.

At 5:30, we headed to the mandatory meeting and got our goody bags. I then headed back to the barn to check on Smartie while the rest of my team went to Spy Coast Farms in our decorated golf cart. We put a reining horse on the top of our golf cart, and covered the cart in our turquoise signs, since that is our color for the week. The back said “It’s ‘reining” in the south!” I thought it was pretty cute; we may have had a chance to win best decorated, but I am pretty sure the reiner fell off by the time it made it to the farm. Oh well.

Smartie was all good and laying down for a nap, so Dad and I headed to the farms.

Wow is all I can say. That is one beautiful set up.

After our supper, we headed for the bus to wind down from our stressful day. We took a detour and drove around the park a bit first, and that was just what we needed.