God Blessed Texas…

“With His own hand

Brought down angels from the promised land

Gave’em a place where they could dance

If you wanna see heaven, brother, here’s your chance

I’ve been sent to spread the message

God blessed Texas.” {Little Texas}

Now that I’ve got you singing along, I can’t wait to share all about our recent trip to the big ol’state of Texas!  Erik and Kirsten had competed all year to qualify for the Extreme Cowboy Race World Championship in Hamilton, Texas.  After 23 hours, we pulled up to the Circle T Arena.  Erik said it was like a mirage in the dessert.  Literally, in the middle of nowhere, this horse venue was amazing.  Multiple arenas, a beautiful inn, the event arena with an attached steakhouse.  This place was so neat!  I was happy to be staying there for the next 7 days.

We arrived a couple of days early to let the horses rest up.  We explored the little town and found the nearest Mexican restaurant.  We also ventured out to an antique shop and a really cute farmer’s market.  We found the b i g g e s t pumpkins ever at the market.

Like they say, everything really is bigger in Texas.  Seriously, that pumpkin is HUGE.

A lot of my clients and friends have asked what cowboy racing is?  It’s an obstacle course you and your horse tackle together to showcase your speed, control, knowledge, accuracy, and horsemanship while displaying tasks a cowboy would do on a ranch.  It is so much fun to watch.  The show lasted from Wednesday-Sunday and I never got bored.  Wahoo!

After the first day showing, I talked my parents into visiting Magnolia Market in Waco {from the Fixer Upper show on HGTV}!  I’d always wanted to go and it was an hour and a half away from the arena.  It was such a unique place.  We loved it!  We bought a few souvenirs and got some cupcakes from their bakery.  Try the Cup o’Jo cupcake if you go!  Highly recommended in my book!

After a couple of days enjoying Texas, the show started to get more intense.  There was 8 divisions.  Kirsten and Erik competed in 4 divisions total.  There was 2 rounds for each division and your scores were accumulated to decide who made it to the Top 10 for Finals!  Our goal was to make it to Sunday, when the finals were held.  After you made it to the finals, your score sheet was wiped clean and you got a fresh start.  Kirsten and Erik gave it all they had in the arena.  Not only did they make it to the top 10 in every division, but they both did a great job and definitely represented South Carolina well.

Between the two of them they brought home 4 buckles and 3 checks!!! It definitely made the 23 hour ride back home much easier.  I cannot express enough how proud I am of them!  This was a WORLD horse show!  If you’re not of the horse world, that’s a pretty big deal folks.  There were over 200 horses and riders from parts of the United States, Canada, and Europe.  There was so much stress and pressure throughout the week, but Kirsten and Erik handled it extremely well.  Shoutout to their awesome horses too!!  All those late nights at the barn, eating dinner at 9pm, and traveling every chance we got was so worth it!

Texas was good to us and we can’t wait to go back!  The people are friendly, the horses are beautiful, there’s a cowboy hat around every corner, they have cute farmer’s markets, gigantic gas stations called Buc-cee’s you can spend 2 hours at, perfectly cooked steaks, and now memories we will have forever!  Texas, we love ya.

God blessed Texas,

Fallon