New Arrival

I have some exciting news to report... I am very pleased to announce the arrival of Sayonara SF, the newest addition to my team!  I vetted Sayonara SF - or Sprite, as her friends call her - on Wednesday, and brought her home after she passed with flying colors.  Sprite just turned 3 and seems to have a lot of potential.  We've begun basic ground work this week and will hopefully be starting her soon.  She is very sweet and is settling in to her new home quite well.  Stay tuned; more updates to come!

Carving Out a Life in the Business

This is an exciting period in any aspiring professional event rider's life: just finished the first year of college, working hard in any and all spare time to make ends meet and continue earning rides on people's horses (catch riding is really the most useful skill ever!), and trying to figure out how to make this life work.  It's also a bit scary with lots of unknowns.  I've been learning so much about how it all seems to hinge on perspective, and keeping your priorities in mind while continuing to work towards your end goal.  The jump from working student to a competent individual is a gradual one with many shades of gray between the two stages of being.  You have to work hard.  All the time.  While keeping up with the regular working student life and duties, you start picking up small jobs on the side.  Pulling manes, cleaning stalls at other barns, clipping, braiding, while at the same time working to make it more and more just exercising and riding other people's horses, but at the same time accepting that no task is too menial.  After all, when all the manes are pulled, it can be hard to pay for gas and groceries when every cent saved is going to go towards the next upper level prospect.  It's hard, but it's exciting, and moments of perspective like these remind me that it's all worth it.  After all, every professional had to go through this stage to get where they are now.  If it were easy, would it be as special to finally "make it"?  Would it be as important a goal if failure were not an option?  I think this is the crux of why we like eventing as a sport.  The thrill from cross country that comes from overcoming the very real challenges that are confronted on course.  This is the same thrill that I aspire to get from life.

As Luck Would Have It...

I haven't posted in a while, for a couple of reasons, I guess. As is pretty common in the horse world, I had a string of bad luck last summer, and the year didn't go as planned for me. After the CIC 1* at Fair Hill, everything was going great and we were ramping up the program to head to the Virginia CCI (and finish qualifications for young riders). Sadly, tragedy struck the morning before we were scheduled to ship out. As I pulled in to the barn at 7 to turn in, feed, and start work, I saw Indy standing in the field, three-legged lame. I knew in an instant that things were about to change, with that cold, sinking, and utterly heart-wrenching feeling that something was deadly wrong.  I'll spare you the blow-by-blow, but it turned out that he had a puncture wound through a tendon in his hock, requiring immediate surgery.  After several exhausting trips between world-class clinics, and I pulled in to the drive of the hospital that would operate on him later that day.  In the surgery they found that flesh-eating bacteria was already in the wound, meaning that Indy's life was in danger.

The next week was a roller coaster, but Indy is a scrappy little guy and tough as nails, and he was doing pretty well.  When I was informed that he had bitten a groom at the clinic, I knew that he was going to pull through.  He was finally released from the clinic and able to come home.  He was making a miraculous recovery and the hours I was putting into his care were paying off.

By June we were walking, then trotting, slowly building up, and then ... I had an accident.  I had a fall, cross country schooling a young horse, resulting in a concussion and the tree of my precious new WiseAir saddle being broken.  I woke up in the Baltimore Shock and Trauma Center with amnesia regarding the incident.  It took the rest of the summer and beginning of fall to recover, and meanwhile, I began college.  At long last, I was able to start riding Indy again, and as school started, we recovered together.  I owe thanks to the many people who helped me during that time.

In October we were ready to go to a small horse trials again.  We were both so happy to be there, it was one of the best days of my life.  Throughout the summer I had gained a sense of appreciation for the highs of the sport, and will never take another fabulous cross country run, or clean stadium round, or even another horrible dressage test for granted.

Happily, I learned that Indy and I were qualified for the AEC's and the Area 2 Preliminary Championships.  While we weren't going to be ready for the AEC's in time, the Area 2 Champs were a great way to cap off the season with a 6th place.  I'm so grateful for our comeback.  While 2012 didn't turn out the way I had originally envisioned, I believe that I've managed to come out a better rider, and more importantly, person, than I was to start.  I have learned some valuable lessons, and all I can say from here is, onward!  I will continue striving to achieve my goals, and will document as much of my journey as I can.  The next four years will certainly be an adventure as I combine eventing and college!

Dressage Day at Fair Hill International CIC

It was a great day for dressage today at Fair Hill!  It was very exciting to ride in a shadbelly for the first time! On to cross country tomorrow :)

Morven Recap

I'm proud to report that Indy had one of his best dressage tests to date this past weekend at Morven!  Scores were running fairly high, with the top score in our division being a 30, a 38 being the second best.  Although initially our 41.7 doesn't sound too spectacular, but it put us right up there in the placings, and more importantly, I felt that I rode the test as well as I could have, and got the most out of Indy that I could have on that given day.  Stadium went similarly well, with one unfortunate rail, and cross country was a blast as usual.  We finished one tenth of a second away from the optimum time - pretty accurate with the minute markers on my new watch!  All in all, it was a solid event, leaving us qualified for the Virginia CCI * in May.  Our next outing will be in just over two weeks at Fair Hill, where we will compete in the CIC *.  Our season is off to a great start!  More updates and pictures to come.

Keep at your work everyone, we're approaching the highlights of the spring season, enjoy the weather, and everything will start to pay off soon!  Happy riding :)
-Sophia

the Second Southern Pines

We had a great weekend at Southern Pines II, which proved to be quite exciting on cross country day with lots of thrills and spills.  It was a gorgeously designed course, and quite difficult for this early in the season.

The first thing that I noticed when we got there was that during the two weeks since the last event, all the wisteria had burst into bloom, making a purple cloud in the treetops that created a general "Garden of Eden" impression.  Seeing this confirmed the fact that spring is upon us, and show season is in full swing!  I've always loved the course at Southern Pines, and over the past year a lot of work has been done on the grounds.  It shows - lush green grass is growing in neatly planted rows, and most of the underbrush has been cleared out, leaving scenic tall pines dotting the rolling hills.  The care which has clearly been taken of the grounds here make it seem almost like a pristine golf course.

Many of the big names going for the Olympic team were there to compete in the Advanced and Intermediate divisions, making the atmosphere truly vibrate with excitement.

On Friday, Indy and I had a decent dressage test, improving the trot work and walk alot, but unfortunately swapping leads in the counter canter to put us out of the running for the higher places.  Cross country day was Saturday, and the JYOP divisions went stadium that day as well before heading out on course.  It was an educational show jump round for Indy; he had never jumped in front of a crowd before and had a bit of a spook at the stands full of people - causing a couple of uncharacteristic rails - but otherwise jumped around well.

After watching and hearing about the divisions being decimated by falls, TE's, and withdrawals all morning, nerves were on edge as we headed to the start box.  I was determined to ride my butt off at every single jump and combination, and try to stick with my minute markers to come in as close to the time as I could.  At that point in the season, I wasn't sure where Indy was exactly with his fitness, so this six-and-a-half minute course would be a good gauge.  He's been on a 5 day galloping schedule and trotting all winter, so I expected him to feel pretty good.  As it turned out, he finished easily, 8 seconds over time from setting up at combinations (next time I'll have to adjust my minute markers accordingly), but I felt that I could have pushed faster without taxing him.  We jumped everything easily, and felt very solid in the technical questions - it was an absolute blast!!!  Nothing can beat the thrill and adrenaline of cross country, I'm convinced!

I was very happy to complete the event with my third qualifying score - Indy and I are now all set to go to the CIC * at Fair Hill in April.  Yay!!  Daily training will continue, along with working all the other new additions (more on these later!), as we progress towards April.  Enjoy the spring!

Southern Pines 1: Pipe Opener

I'd been looking forward to the weekend of March 10th and 11th since the beginning of last November... counting days and getting increasingly more excited as the date of my first planned event for 2012 neared, after my plans for riding at Pine Top fell through.  The thrill of competition - the intense bond with your equine partner - the fleeting, adrenaline-filled moments that decide the outcome of an event - the gratitude for your horse, your support team, and your ability to compete and strivings to get better - that is the crux of our sport, the goal to which we direct our passion, the incredible payoff of devoting endless hours of work and sacrifice to horses.

After a successful move-up in the fall, boosting Indy's confidence, and a winter of dressage/gymnastic work and conditioning, to say that he was ready to go would have been more than a mild understatement.  Indy was breathing fire as we walked to the start box for cross country, and finished the course looking for more jumps.  The excitability of the first time out for the spring didn't help as much in the dressage and stadium phases, but that is to be expected, and he is ready to come back to compete in the Junior Young Rider Open Preliminary division with me in two weeks.

A huge thanks is in order to my wonderful coach, my friends/fellow students and their families, and everyone else who provided a support network.  And not to forget my family and everyone who helped take care of the barn at home!  It was a great weekend that re-ignited my passion for the sport and desire to continue competing to the highest level I can attain.  It kindled the fire that I've been fine-tuning and strengthening over the winter, and Indy and I cannot wait for our next show!