What Does One Do With a Bronze Medal?

I swear this is the LAST post about that Bronze Medal. I am sick of writing about it. It took forever to earn it. It took forever for it to get here. It took forever to figure out what to do with it once I had it in my hands. I already wrote about its disappointing size. It's a little bit too big to actually pin to a jacket, and it's a lot too small to display. Frankly, the lapel pin checks all my boxes. It arrived quickly, and it's purpose was clearly stated on the box. Not really. I made that part up, but you get the point.

What are you supposed to do with it?

After thinking on it for a bit, I decided it needed to be displayed, but I had to add a lot of other stuff to make the display big enough to actually see. Framing something the size of a quarter requires some creative thinking. Fortunately,I save everything related to shows.

I have every score sheet I've ever earned (except two that I lost in November, and I am still mad about it), so I decided to display two of the Third Level Score sheets. Knowing that I might want to use it someday, I saved Speedy's number from the day when we earned the last score needed for the Bronze. I also saved the ribbon we earned. Don't get too excited, we were the only rider in the class so it's blue. We won by default, but it was a pretty ribbon, so I kept it. 

Shadow Box

I decided that a shadow box was probably the best way to memorialize our accomplishment. I laid out a couple of tests, the ribbon, the number, a document listing all of the scores needed, and of course the medal itself. I rearranged things a few times and found a configuration I liked. I took a few measurements and found a shadow box that looked like it would work.

For the document, I wanted to show when and where Speedy and I earned our scores. From First and Second Levels I had quite a few scores to choose from. Rather than use the first scores we earned, I chose scores that were meaningful. Two of the scores were earned under the watchful eye of Hilda Gurney. Another score was earned at the CDS Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) - two of them actually. For the Third Level scores, I wanted to show that we earned at least one score from the championship level test - Test 3. I typed it all up, printed it out on heavy card stock, and used rubber cement to mount it.

My Dressage Wall of Honors.

It took Speedy and I forever to get through Intro, Training, and First, but once we did, the scores at Second and Third came relatively quickly. I have a feeling it might be a long, long time before Izzy and I earn any scores towards a Silver Medal. We'll need two scores of 60% or above at Fourth Level and two at Prix St. Georges. I never thought a Bronze Medal was even a possibility, but there it is hanging on my wall.

Now that I know that the unthinkable is​ possible, I am not ruling out a Silver Medal.