Twenty, twenty, twenty-four hours to go....I wanna be sedated!!

I've had the lines from that Ramones song running through my head all day today! Certainly appropriate, considering that in twenty-four hours, we'll be at the Will Rogers complex for the big event, and my excitement level is pretty high! At this point, I'm not really nervous; I've had too much to keep me busy, but I'm anxious to get this thing started, to meet all the trainers, and to see how Eli will handle this new experience.

These last few days, I wasn't sure if we were gonna make it to Ft. Worth in one piece. On Friday, Eli came in with a big bite mark right where the saddle goes on the left side of his back. Great, that'll sure help his body conditioning score! Then, on Saturday, Ranger cornered Eli, and sent him over/through a gate and running all over part of the cow pasture surrounded by low strands of barbed wire. By some miracle, Eli escaped with only a couple of scratches, but I had visions of big vet bills and a very broken horse! That same night, Ranger choked on an alfalfa cube. Luckily, he managed to clear it himself pretty quickly, but I was beginning to think that all my horses were on a suicide mission! Must've been the change in barometric pressure from Hurricane Ike, or something. To add to the fun, I came down with a cold yesterday! Thankfully, I think the worst of my cold is over, and I should be pretty well recovered by tomorrow, although everyone will be able to recognize me by my nose, which is red from blowing it all day. Hopefully, all our rough luck has passed and we'll have nothing but smooth sailing from here on out.

We're as ready as we're going to get for this thing. We'll be doing nothing fancy, just the basics, and I will be happy to simply be there with a sound horse. There are so many that, for one reason or another, did not make it to Ft. Worth. I feel really fortunate for so much over these last few months - for being chosen as a trainer, for Eli and all he's taught me, and for my family and friends who have been so supportive. This has been an incredible experience, and I am now only left to wonder...how will it all end?

I'll try my best to post daily from the competition if our hotel has internet access.

Oh, and if you want to hear a really fun Rockabilly style cover of "I Wanna Be Sedated," look up the one by Two Tons of Steel.