Better late than never

Although the Live From Lexington contest ended weeks ago, I've neglected to thank a very important person who helped me out. It's pretty terrible that I haven't thanked her publicly yet. I didn't even remember to thank her in my last post on the contest blog, and they've closed access to the blog now so there's no going back to edit it. I'll admit that when I wrote that entry I was pretty tired but that's really no excuse.

Fellow blogger and horsewoman Stacey, who writes the blog Behind the Bit, really went to bat for me during the contest. Her blog is terrific, actually much better than mine. She posts every day (and I could never keep that up for long), has well researched articles (with references at the end!), and always has something relevant to say. She also posts some great videos of fantastic young horses, photos and videos of her own young horse, and commentary on current events in the equestrian world.

Stacey submitted an entry to the contest in the beginning, and I was shocked that she was not picked as a semi-finalist. We chatted and I found out that she made the Top Ten list, but since she didn't submit a video with her entry she wasn't considered. Honestly, if it weren't for the video thing she would have made it, no problem. She's greatly connected to both the blogging and equestrian communities, has hundreds of followers and I'm sure a much larger "silent" fan base that read her blog every day. I know I do.

We became internet friends during the contest, and I think Stacey is a really great person. She posted many entries on her blog about voting for me in the contest. She also posted on bulletin boards, really getting word about the contest out there and giving me great press in the process.

So why did she do it? She wanted me to win, I guess. I didn't ask her to do it, she took it upon herself to champion my cause. Which is really great of her, and very unexpected.

So thanks Stacey. I know that mentioning your influential blog on my little blog isn't really that much, but at least I finally said thank you in a voice lots of people can hear.