Show days of summer

Show season is in full swing.  How do I know? 

1.  New tub of OxyClean for my white breeches, white shirts, white stock ties, white saddle pads, white horse boots, etc.  I've ranted before but I'll rant again, what is with all of the white??!!  I love my western turn out strictly because there's no white on it. 

2.  Bank account always seems to be lower than I thought.  I decided to get a stall for the western dressage championships so I can work him in the ring the day before.  And then I realized I really do need a show saddle blanket if I'm going to do a serious business western show.  With a matching shirt for me.  Ooof.  Ramen season it is.

 My new show pad, I got a royal blue shirt to go with it, best part was getting it on sale!

3.  The heat is insane!  95* today with a heat index around 100*.  When I wasn't showing it was unseasonably cool.  As soon as I hit my string of shows, nothing but heat advisories as far as the eye can see.  I got up at 5:45am to get my ride in while it was safe over the weekend and Trainer A is working him bright and early today.

4.  Coworkers are getting used to seeing me in breeches and boots as I squeeze in extra lessons and rides.  It's easier to torture, I mean desensitize, my horse with some help, so I'm keeping slightly odd hours in order to be at the barn when people are around.

5.  Stalking opening dates.  Not really as necessary with dressage as it was with eventing, but I'm always happier when I know for sure that I got in.  And I got a Starbucks gift card at one show for being the very first entry received.  Score!

6.  Copy of my Coggins found on the office scanner.  Yes, I got questions.  I've also learned to keep a copy of Theo's flu and rabies with me in the trailer after my last show where I forgot my flu paperwork and had to have it rush emailed to me by the vet's office.

7.  New shipment of ulcer medications for both Theo and myself.  Dosing him the day before a trip and each day of the trip has made him so much easier to handle.  Dosing myself keeps me from being utterly unmanageable at shows.

8.  Random dressage tests in my car, my purse, my living room, my office, my nightstand, and in my groom bag.  Also finding random bridle numbers in the same locations.  And somehow I never have a test when I'm in the ring and I still show up to warmup without my number.

9.  Reoccurring nightmares about missing ride times.  Seriously, had one last night where I was at Mount Holyoke for the western dressage championships and I couldn't find the door to the indoor while people counted down like I was on a game show.  Less tv before bed.

10.  Questioning my sanity on a regular basis.

Including my show last week, I've got four rated shows on my calendar between July 15 and Aug 22.  Four shows, five weeks.  Two are western dressage, two are traditional dressage.

I was going to do another traditional dressage show on Aug 26 but I'm rethinking that.  I have a 10 mile race on Aug 25, seems a bad idea to try to show the next day.

I wasn't going to do any rated showing this year, but then I decided that it would be a mistake to not have at least one check on my ego and barn blindness.  I went to sign up for one show, then saw one that was perfectly timed, then the western dressage shows got added, and here we are, in the throes of an actual show season.