Their head honcho had hit the dirt. Red Hills

 

   Her phone rang, the working student answered cheerfully, "Hey what's up, how is Red Hills going?" There was a long pause and then her face turned a bad shade of cheerless. "He had a fall" she repeated to us. Instantly, simultaneously we (riding daughter and I) both gasp!  There was a rush of air, then I couldn't breathe at all. Frozen, we stood there in a circle, eyes wide, brimming with tears. Their head honcho had hit the dirt. "Oh NO!" All the ambition for the day ran away and woeful worry came stomping in.
     This was lousy news.  The two afflicted young riders became depressed, stickened with anguish, paralyzed and disturbed. All of a sudden, they didn't want to do anything. At that moment, neither one could continue riding horses. Down deep, prayers and well wishes seized our thoughts. Please, please, please allow everyone to be okay, especially the horse. Please, please, please kept spinning in my head. Reports of their conditions were being txted by the groom/barn manager.
     Both rider and his horse were up on their feet, however, the two had to be wheeled away. Rider was en route to the hospital and the horse to his stall. The updates trickled in. Rider may have a broken wrist. "Oh NO!" once again. Horse won't put any pressure on one of his front legs, "Oh NO!" somemore. It was a sickening span of time.
     The left behind riders mucked and swept, filled water buckets, fed, and brushed ponys while waiting for updates. Little by little, news was coming in. It was confirmed that the big rider busted his wrist. Crap, that sucks! Then, the scoop on the horse: initial x-rays of the champion, loved by everyone showed nothing. YES! That was the BEST news we could hear. I started jumping around like a kid with a brand new bicycle. Daughter and her horsey peer cheered! The day brightened. "Does this mean WE get to ride HIS horses?" A sly smile tracked across her face.  My rider has become extremely fond of that horse.
     CONGRATULATIONS! To Allison Springer and her awesome Aurthur, winners of the CIC three star division. Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice who won the CIC two star. Candace Tribe and Catalina winners of the one star. Jessica Phoenix took the Advance division with Exploring. Caroline Martin and Classic Touch came in first in the Open Intermediate~A, while Mara DePuy won with Chequers Macon in the Open Intermediate~B. Boyd Martin guided the late Colin Davidsons' mount Crackerjack to the top of the Open Preliminary~A division and Doug Payne kicked it with Camerlingo in Open Preliminary~B. Prelim Rider was awarded to Brent Leytem and Space Pictures.