My Saturday at IHSA Nationals

Kira was assigned to assist Sarah at the draw table for Saturday and Sunday and I realized that all but two of the St. Andrews hunter seat horses were finished. So around 8:30 we loaded 6 horses and as many buckets, fans, tack and extra feed that we could. I made great time back to Laurinburg and was met by Kelly Meehan, Rachel and Marianne to unload everything. I filled up on Diesel at Nic’s and drive back to Raleigh. As I arrived the first of several severe thunderstorms  hit which later in the day delayed the show making for another late night for everyone.

Saturday at IHSA Nationals is the day when the volunteers, officials and organizers are recognized. The competition continues, but around lunch time there is a break in the action for the Parade and Celebration of Teams and Horses, Presentation of the Collegiate Cup (for team hunter seat), Sportsmanship Awards and additional recognitions as decided by the IHSA Board of Directors.

The parade of teams is a wonderful spectacle with all 450 competitors, coaches and one horse from each school that provided horses, all marching around the arena. Each zone has its own banner and each team carries a banner. Kellie G. led Will to represent the St. Andrews western horses and Ozzie was the hunter seat representative. The parade is followed by the awards. St. Andrews hunter seat team was tied for 8^th place with five other schools. Coach Duda was please saying, "we earned more points than last year!"

The recognitions continued but it was time for me to load up six more horses and a bit more equipment to return to Laurinburg. I knew Peggy was going to be recognized with the IHSA Pioneer Award as I had written about it for the program. The Pioneer Award is only awarded when someone does something extraordinary for IHSA – such as organizing the National Championships!

I was sad to miss the presentation but needed to get the horses home. Turns out my timing was excellent as after I left Raleigh they experienced torrential rain that flooded the horse complex and put the show on hold. I had another easy trip back and the barn crew was quick to unload horses and equipment.

Today Dale takes the trailer back to Raleigh and once the show is over the rest of the horses and the remainder of the equipment will ship home. So I am missing the action today, but following it on the live streaming which you can find at ihsainc.com along with the results as they happen.