Horse Show Narrative

Everyone has had an important event that has happened in their lives, mine is my first State Horse Show. It was a very amazing experience in my life that I will never forget. I remember everything that happened before during and after the event. This event made me become more serious in my barrel racing.

The day of the event was very nerve wracking. All I could think about was my run. My nerves are running wild as I am warming my horse Cowboy up. Our turn to run is approaching and I can tell Cowboy is getting nervous and excited himself. I hear the announcer call “Emma Varner on Cowboy from Crittenden County” and my heart begins to race. I tighten my hands around the reins as I head up to the alleyway. As we approach the gate my horse becomes more and more uncontrollable. At this point I need the help of my friend to get me into the alleyway because of how difficult Cowboy is acting. After a little bit we finally get him into the alleyway

and the gate opens are we are off.
The adrenaline is rushing through my body and I can tell it’s going through Cowboys too. We approach the first barrel at a fast pace and I check him at the right moment and he slides around the first barrel like a pro. Now the hardest barrel is completed we have to more easy turns left to go. We are running towards the second barrel again at a fast pace and I check him and we slide around the barrel almost tipping it over. As we are coming out of the second barrel I look back nervously to make sure we left it up. I feel relieved that I see we didn’t knock it over. Now were heading to the third barrel and I am anxious about weather we are going to knock this one over or not. So to avoid knocking over the third and final barrel I take a wider turn which was risky because it may take up more time. But doing this I avoided knocking the barrel over which would disqualify me. Now we have made it through the pattern and he’s running home as fast as he can. You can hear the crowd cheering us on as im kicking and kissing to Cowboy. We make it past the time clock and come to a halt. The announcer says “You came out with a 14.99.” I feel so relived after hearing that because I have been the only person who has ran a 14 the entire day and that point I knew I had it in the bag.
Unfortunately the waiting game is not over, we have to sit and watch the rest of the competitors run.

I get extremely nervous each time a new competitor comes into the arena not knowing if they are going to beat my time or not. The good thing is there are not that many left and still no one came close to my time. Finally the last competitor runs and I realize I have ran the fastest time and have won state. I feel overwhelmed with excitement and was extremely proud of myself for all the time and work I have put into this. Now I still wait anxiously for the announcer to announce the winners. It’s that time now and as he announces the winners we come into the arena to get our ribbons. Not only did I get a ribbon I got a belt buckle that says 4H State Barrel Racing Champion. I have never been more proud of myself and Cowboy before. All the hard work and effort we put into this paid off.

This day held an a very memorable event in my life that I will never forget. All the excitement and anxiety I felt this day will not be

forgotten