Grand Champion All-Around Cowgirl :)

Susanna had so much being rodeo princess this summer! What an honor it was for her to be selected. She had to ride a pattern, take a test, write & prepare a speech and have an interview before a panel of 3 judges.  It was a very educational experience. She's sad it's over, but she gets to wear the crown & sash once more at the rodeo banquet in February where she will be presented with 2 buckles and a saddle!!! She won "All Around Cowgirl"
SO exciting!!!

This is a dream come true for her.  Especially since her horse had medical problems this season. He was diagnosed with EPM and had a thyroid imbalance. Once he got on meds for both of those conditions, he was back to normal.  EPM is pretty serious, but we caught it early and so far, he's doing well.  It's something we'll have to watch very closely. But, our vet says he should be just be fine on the meds she prescribed for him. Very thankful for our vet and that my oldest daughter works with her!
Also, Susanna taught Croppy him a new event: polebending. It's been mixed results & they're still working on it.  Some days they smoked the pattern and won it.  Other days they knocked over poles.

They did well barrel racing most of the year.  That's a strong event for them:

Croppy is a jam-up break-away horse.  But, Susanna is still learning this event.  We don't have a way to practice as much as she could use, but we did find a place nearby that she can start practicing.  We used to have to drive 2 hours to get practice on live calves. But, she practices roping a dummy almost every day & she managed to catch much more than last summer.  She also got fastest time of the year with a 3.86.

She improved so much in goat-tying this year & got her times down in the 11s now. She rides another horse for goat-tying & I don't have a pic of that, but I will post about my other daughter (Alyssa) with that horse (Red) next. She hopes to get even faster times next year. She's very happy with her moving dismount this year...she worked really hard on that & taught Red how to keep running to the right after she got off.  Still has work to do on it, but she's going to a clinic next month.
I'm so proud of her...she's worked so hard, cared so very well for her horses, overcome obstacles & had very good horsemanship & sportsmanship.