It was nearly 8 AM and the sun was shining brightly upon the many buildings that were filled with horses. The practice ring was starting to fill with hustle and bustle as fellow participants warmed their horses up. I walked to barn 9, as tension was building up in me as I approached my mare’s stall to get her ready for the awaited clinic. I opened the metal stall door and slipped the rope halter on my beautiful black overo mare. Her crystal blue eyes seemed extra worrisome as she was anticipating what was to come.

            I groomed her until her coat glistened and her mane and tail flowed in the gentle breeze. I put on my new leather/crystal barrel racing tack on her. I led her out of the building and before I got on her I absorbed everything around me. I stay content because I have to for my horse. Even though I felt as if my stomach was about to come out of my mouth, I had to stay as calm as could be because everything around me and my horse was chaos. My horse stayed calm as long as I did as well.

            I got up upon my horse and patted her on the neck to reassure her that everything was alright. I gave her a slight nudge with my heels and we were off. We walked for what seemed like forever, through many crowds and tons of people. Many people would stop just to take a look at her eyes and they’d state how they’ve never seen a horse with such eyes.

            After nearly an hour of weaving through people and avoiding other horses we finally made it to the entrance of the coliseum. The coliseum was huge, and you could hear the people roaring inside with excitement and interest.

            A brief hello from one of the staff members snapped me out of my paranoid thinking about how huge the crowd was going to be. The staff person asked me, “Where do you want your props? How do you want to enter? Where do you want your barrels?” By the end of the multiple questions, I was absolutely and utterly confused. I knew that I didn’t have a say in any of that stuff, only the clinician did. Then, out of nowhere a very petite woman with blonde hair walked up to me and asked me how I was doing and then I realized that she was the clinician. Here I was right next to the 11 time World Champion barrel racer, first million dollar cowgirl, Charmayne James. It then dawned on me that the staff thought I was Charmayne.

            Shortly after our acquaintance, Charmayne was summoned to the coliseum to start the clinic. As she walked through the large entrance of the coliseum into the arena, I heard the announcer, “Now please welcome the 11 time world champion barrel racer and first million dollar cowgirl… Charmayne James!” The crowd went crazy, everyone was cheering and applauding.

            Now it was time. It was time for me to go in that coliseum in front of dozens of people on the mare that I put my heart and soul into, the mare that everyone thought would be nothing, but here we are. I gave my mare a slight nudge with my heels and she dropped her head down and we were off into the huge entrance. The lights shown. The crowd roared. Then my mare and I’s tension died down and we took in the success we had achieved.