BEST. DAY. EVER.

Ok, today was an absolute blast. The low point? My wardrobe malfunction and no back up pair of breeches. Shannon had to safety pin the hole in my butt closed and then she was nervous it would spring open and poke me, so she duct taped it, and I had a little flashy tail right on my butt. The second lowest point? The second fence, where we both popped out all crazy. For a nanosecond, I thought I was going to fall off, but by sheer fear of letting Shannon down, I willed myself back into the saddle (and thanks to my iron grip from my right leg) and then rode the distance between fences 2 and 3 trying frantically to get my left stirrup back before anyone could see that I had lost it. The third lowest point? The day ending. Tied with the fact that cross country went so fast it was over right after it started. And it really did go fast. To my absolute and total surprise, I went faster - not slower - than expected. Since I am so slow, I had completely ignored all of the rules about what to do when you're slow. Thankfully, in passing Shannon had mentioned it, so I knew I could trot between fences, but I was too scared to make a circle and have it count like a refusal. So I ended up with time penalties - but for being too fast! Charlie was a superstar. He was totally responsive, but once I took my hand off the brakes, he just flowed over the ground. When I'd sit up, he'd slow down. It was incredible. After fence 5, I decided to just trust him and hope that my muscle memory did what it was supposed to do and I just remembered our "signposts" (like ride to the fence then turn to the ditch). It'll be really interesting to see how the video comes out, and whether my riding was as fluid as Charlie felt. It felt like Mach 10, so it'll be interesting to do the math to see just how fast it was. Other than that - just amazing. Just heavenly. I loved every fast second of it. And the tiny spread? Nada to Charlie. He's a rockstar.