Change of Plans

I woke up with a set plan of action to conquer the day. The game plan: load queen clothes and accessories, pick up horse blanket from my best friends, pick up chaps from Robby, hitch trailer, load Max, arrive early with plenty of time to settle and warm up Max and chit chat with contestants. The reality: a quite different story. It started off right on track and with a perk! Nathan took off work early to drive me to Little Rock so I don't have to do so alone. Despite truck key switch ups and daily to dos interfering  we hit the road at 3pm thinking we'll get there just on time. 

All was going smooth until we hit Russellville. Good Ole RussVegas. Let me add, I went to Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, AR for two years and NEVER witnessed traffic on I-40. Never. We sat at a standstill for 45 minutes. Provided, it did give plenty of time to do makeup and get ready. We attempted to relieve the tension by singing crazy songs really loud... but eventually I had to face it. We were going to drive three hours and not get to do a queens run. I called the pageant director to let her know I would probably be late and got exciting news that due to an added performance, the queens runs got pushed back to 7:45! 

Upon arrival, I did a quick and calm tack up. Threw on my sash and hat and trotted Max around for about 10 minutes. Not long enough. We got to the coliseum just in time but Mr. Max was not a fan. He's never been road indoors before and the noise seemed to echo. He started trying to buck before our run but then did not even want to lope! He just got all bunched like a balloon ready to pop! I got him to finish out with a decent run but he was not happy. 

During the PBR I had the privilege of visiting with the five talented young ladies vying for the title of Miss Rodeo Arkansas State Fair as well as the current queen. And of course, did some autograph signing and photo taking. After the performance, I rode Max in the coliseum for a good forty five minutes. When we were finished, he was drenched but still had white in his eye because he was still on edge. I gave him a long cool down and walked him a round a while outside because it was pretty cool. 

We arrived home at 3am. The last 30 minutes of the haul were brutal! Loud music, windows down, our eyes were still slamming but we had one more rodeo under our belts and wrapped up the fall season. Now to practice, practice, practice until the spring rodeo season!