Emilee

It was June 22, 2016. Our turns were great, and our time was 16.4 seconds. The
game was called “ The Mailbox” a game that takes all the focus of the horse and the
rider. The objective is to retrieve mail out of a mailbox 180 feet away from the starting
gate. I never thought that we could go as fast as the people before us that were going
17 seconds, and lower. I learned that the goal is not pushing and pushing, it is the love
and the training that is put behind the horse that will finally bring you up and past the
others. This event made me realize it is not only the horse that needs the work, but I
need the confidence and the self-love to give myself, to get to where I want to be.

I’m last in the lineup, with 20 people in front of me. I have to keep track of all the
times that I have to beat. The announcer calls my name. My legs started to shake in the
stirrups, I was excited but nervous. My time to beat is 16.8 seconds. I give my horse
Shadow a great big pat on his shoulder and tell him, “It’s time to go to work”. As soon as
those words come out of my mouth, he is rearing at the bit, ready to fly through the
starting gate.

I yell, “Get um boy”! We go through the starting gate at a full gallop, leaving the
audience in the dust. The sun was beating down on my shoulders, my heart was
pounding out of my chest. It took us 5 seconds to get to the end of the 180-foot arena.
In a blink of an eye, I shoved my hand into the mailbox and grabbed onto that very little,
rolled up newspaper. The next thing I knew we were gone; I was eating the dust that we
stirred up on our way in. I tried to keep the sand out of my eyes. As we crossed the
timer line, I glanced over my shoulder to the screen that had my time on it: 16.4
seconds. Not even a whole second faster, but we made it to first place! A rush of
adrenaline and complete astonishment came with this ribbon.

People applaud us as we run out of the gates. The cheering and screaming
made Shadow “strut his stuff”. We finally came to a walk, and I could feel his heartbeat
through the leather of my saddle. I ran up to where my family and friends were. The
excitement and all the joy made me feel blissed out. I walked Shadow back to the
trailer, made sure he got plenty of love and treats because he was such a good bo​y.
T​hen I walked to where they held the End of Events award ceremony. Out of the six
games that we placed in I received five third place ribbons like always. I was astonished
when the announcer called my name for the last rac​e. I​ received a first place ribbon.

Looking back on the race, I learned that the reason we made it as far as we did
wasn’t that I pushed Shadow and made him do something. We won this event because
Shadow’s heart was in the race. I didn’t push him harder. I let him take the reins and let
him lead the way. He led the way and we won. ​It wasn’t the day after day of training like
other barrel racers do, ​we won this event because of the relationship we had and the
bond we share. I apply this journey to my life. It reminds me that I do not have to be
perfect and that I do not need to push myself in order to succeed in my eyes. It is well
worth the trust and the confidence in myself to carry out the same motto that I have with
Shadow: It is very easy to succeed when faith and confidence is part of my everyday
journey.