WE HAVE A CHAMPION!!!

Yes, you read that right - WE HAVE A CHAMPION!!! I am overwhelmed with pride, with joy and with gratitude!!! As I walked away from the arena where Megan was riding today, I uttered a short simple prayer that God would grant her some measure of success - she worked so hard, refused to give up and kept moving forward - if she could've slept in Jake's stall this weekend she would have!! Her determination is truly inspirational to me - let me just explain...

She showed in her second horse show ever this weekend - again, against girls and women who have been doing this for a long time and have their own horses. Megan has been riding since she was little, but her formal training has been sporadic until about a year and a half ago. Even then she had an excellent trainer, but we switched trainers about six months ago and her new trainer, Brent, has really taken it up a notch or two or two hundred:)! (Her old trainer, Candace, is in Pennsylvania training for very high level competitions and we decided the commute to the Penn state each week was a little cost prohibitive - just kidding - we didn't really consider it!!) Brent demands a lot out of her and she goes for it - today she really went for it. She has come a long way in a short amount of time. Today her goal was to remember all her courses (the competitors ride four -five times each day and do a different course each time - the placement of the jumps doesn't change - just the order in which they are to be jumped) and to improve some little things - toes in, shoulders back, pacing, etc... We weren't asking for much - just improvement and... as her mom... I just wanted her to be able to feel proud of her efforts!

So... here's the part about her winning... There are numerous levels in competition and Meg is in the Novice Hunter-Jumper division. Each division has several "classes" meaning that the competitors ride numerous times. There are winners for each class and then one Reserve Grand Champion for the division - today Megan was the Reserve Grand Champion!!! We were just hoping that she would have five clean rides (she competed in five classes) - we were just hoping that she would remember each of the courses, go over the right jumps in the right order, have good posture and keep her toes in. Well, she did all of those things and then some - she got Reserve Grand Champion - that doesn't mean that she got all first in each of the five classes, it just means that when all was said and done, she had the highest total points. WOW!!! Let me say it again - WOW!! God completely, thoroughly and totally went above and beyond what we asked of Him - Megan was an amazing rider today and we can attribute that to her hard work definitely, but also to her Creator who filled her with peace, calmness, focus and a drive to keep going like you wouldn't believe!!

If you want to send her a note of congratulations or encouragement, feel free to either post a comment here or send her an email - meganhodges@live.com. (She would love to hear from you- she loves to get email!!)

Enjoy the pictures and the new slide show!!