What a year.
As 2012 comes to a near end, I can't help but think forward to 2013. It was a year that I am proud of. So much was accomplished from hard work, dedication and determination. It was a year that I can honestly hold my head high about.
Every time I jump into my truck i am reminded of all the places it has taken me; to Florida, to Georgia, to Ontario, to Quebec and through so many states I can't keep track. With my truck, my trailer and my GPS one more thing has also stayed constant - Smarty Pants. Without him, the places I travelled to, never would have been reached. My huge heartedly 8 year old, 17 hand little thoroughbred gelding has been my best friend throughout this entire year, and the previous 5 years leading up to it. I am so proud of the things we have accomplished this year, the biggest goal being completing Fair Hill International CCI*** this fall.
If you asked me 5 years ago where we would have been i'm not quite sure Fair Hill 3 star would have been the answer. Between being bucked off almost every day and my knees almost touching themselves because he was so narrow, I really had no idea what my 3 year old Smarty Pants would be capable of! But it's amazing where a little time, patience and a determined mind set can get you. It's also amazing being surrounded by a great support team reminding you of what great things you have done, are doing, and can do in the future. Without my parents i would be no where. I have them to thank completely. They were the ones to encourage me to venture to South Carolina when I was just 18 and fresh out of high school 7 years ago. (7 years already!?) They drove across the country with me, dropped me off in St. Mathews SC and said farewell. I was nervous for a few hours but immediately realized that i would become part of a new family. Until this day, i am still friends with some of the best people i have ever had the privilege of meeting. They say if you can count the number of good friends on one hand, you're considered lucky. I guess my luck is rare, because I can hold out both hands.
You know it's been an unbelievable year when you can't stop reminiscing about each an every event that's taken place. And now i can't stop thinking about next years adventures and what the future has in store. I hope that Smarty Pants and I can continue to preform to the best of our abilities and aim for goals that i know we are capable of reaching. I can't wait to pack up the trailer in 6 weeks time and head to florida to get a good start on the 2013 season. It will be a sad time though. It will be the first trip in 6 years that i will be crossing the boarder without my little best friend Buckley. It's truly unfair the hold our pets have on our hearts. With Buckley's passing 4 months ago, it still feels like today was the day i said goodbye to him. Not one day passes where i don't think of him and not more than 3 go by without a waterfall of tears where my heart mourns his loss. It took two months for me admit to myself that he was really gone. And I am only now just realizing that he won't ever come back. That dog was so damn cute. And so full of love. It's so cruel that he was taken away from me so soon. My sadness turned into grief and my grief turned into anger and i am so thankful that I have my two other horses who help me keep my feet on the ground and my mind in a happier place. I'm not quite sure what i would do without my animals. Sometimes i wish i didn't have them. To spare heartache. But then i wonder about those who don't have them at all in their lives. There must be a part missing in their hearts. A huge part. A part that i am quick to remember having. And a part I would never live without.
Our animals come and go, in and out of our lives but I can't say I would ever want to change that. they each give us something special. It may be big or it may be small. It may be for a long time and unfortunately some times it will be too short. But for however long they are with us, we should appreciate every moment. We are so lucky to have them in our lives. I believe they make us who we are and the more time we are able to spend with them, the better we become.
So this one is for you Smarty Pants. This one is for you Buckley. This one is for you Justin. This one is for you Pongo. This one is for you Jello. This one is for you Bailey. This one is for you Captain. This one is for you Texas. And this one is for you... the one i haven't met.
Cheers to the animals. Here and gone.
I love you all to bits. Thanks for filling my heart so full.
About Me
- Kelly List Eventing
- Welcome to Kelly List Eventing! Horses and the love for Eventing have been part of Kelly's life for as long as she can remember. Beginning her riding career at the age of 5, horses have become Kelly's base for a competitive lifestyle. Having competed at the 2006 NAYRC on the CCI** bronze medal team, long listed in 2007, 2008 and to the 2010 Canadian Eventing Team short list, Kelly has learned to set attainable goals and has huge goals for the future including participating in the Pan American Games, World Equestrian Games and the Olympics Games in the near future.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
You Rock, that is all.
Well, It's been a typical twelve months since my last post, but I'm sure you're all used to that by now.
I'm not even sure where to start. Since the last post on here, I feel like a million things have happened; 4 seasons have come and gone and a new family member has been added, and one has moved on.
2012 started as any other year has with the great memories of the year that passed and future goals for the year that had just begun. In the later party of January I made an incredibly emotional decision to sell my one and only Danimal (Minstral) to a new but amazing student of mine, Vasiliki Rousakiss. "Siki" purchased Danny with the hopes of starting her eventing career with a partner that would not only educate her but be forgiving and competitive. They both travelled south to train with me and my boys in sunny Ocala, Florida where they got a real taste of high energy and intense eventing competition! They competed at the beginner novice level for the florida season and moved up to Novice (pre-training) once we returned home to Ontario. Boy they've been on fire! It makes me happier than I could ever explain to see my old boy having so much fun with a new partner on courses he gallops so proudly over. I can't believe how much I learned from him. And I can't believe how much fun Siki is having and will continue to have while riding one of the best horses I've ever known.
Before I headed south I made a mistake great decision of going to try a few horses where I purchased my other super star Smarty Pants from 5 years ago. The owner of the farm had emailed me telling me about a big chestnut she thought I would love. She's good. I did love him. It was love at first sight and love at first ride. I drove home that day organizing vettings and such and wondering when the hell I could go pick him up to bring him home to the farm to join the family! It wasn't long before I was the proud owner of my first ever red head with four white socks :) So "Oscar" and "Smarty Pants" were now two cute brothers with matching white socks who were loaded on my trailer as we headed south for our winter season.
We headed south a bit later than usual this winter to make it down for Feb 18th. My sister Tanya was due to have her first baby girl around this time, so I wanted to make sure I was around to see the little bundle and take a few pictures :) baby Reid Ava Forest is the cutest baby girl I have ever seen. I wish I could have taken her with me to Florida!
I also had the lovely privilege of riding Christian's lovely boy, Roo for the winter season as well. While He was being studious and studying in Ontario to make his millions, Roo came to live with me in Florida where we had a lovely time in the sun. This was the first time in two years that I would be separated from my other half. It was good that I had 3 horses to keep me occupied and busy but it just wasn't the same without having Christian there, and at times, it just plain sucked. Call me a baby but when you don't have your best friend to talk to all the time and laugh with, the heart starts to ache while on the other hand you blatantly realize what a special thing you really have. I'm not sure if it was because I had kidnapped Roo or if it was me Christian really wanted to see, but driving to the Orlando Airport to pick him up for a visit was one of the best moments in my life. I felt like school girl opening my favourite package of candies on a friday night! Yes, I'm ridiculous blah blah blah.... but I'm in love and I can't help it.
The Fork horse trials was the second big event of the year where Christian and I packed up Roo and Gavin and headed to North Carolina. A few weeks prior i did my first Advanced back in over two years on my now very grown up "Baby G" (Gavin aka Smarty Pants". It was unreal. My Mom came all the way from Bracebridge Ontario to hold my hand, clean my boots and walk the course and tell me I would be ok and to tell me good luck as I left the start box. There's something about my mom being there. She's just some kind of rock. it doesn't matter how i do, she always has something positive to say. For instance, after a horse got lose before my dressage test there (NOT good for Gavin) and i came out quite disappointed in my test, my mother explained to me how much better we looked than last time she had seen us (a year before). In a way it made me feel better, because even on our worst of days, she reminded me how far we had come from our best days a year before. It was really special to have her with me on my upgrade to the big blue numbers on my horse she has known since he was 3 :)
But back to the Fork! Christian and I managed to not get lost ONCE on our way there. It was a sign - the weekend was going to be amazing! Both of us had great dressage tests, Christian especially since he had only ridden 4 times prior to the show and not for about a month prior to that due to school! He got a 33 with Roo - yesss!!!! Gavin was a really good boy as well! Gavin's xc was much for solid and confident than poplar place as i think he realized that the jumps were in fact a lot bigger and the questions harder and felt as if he knew what he was doing now with only a few green jumps. He then went on to show jump great with just one rail but a few time faults (my bad!). Christian had a great weekend too with a stellar xc and a good show jumping. He said there were some things to work on, but....there are always things to work on and always will be.
In the middle of all of Gavin's big upgrades and Christian visiting and Coldstone ice cream, Oscar "Benevolent" had made his eventing debut! We headed out to our first novice event at Rocking horse with one xc school under our belt. He was awesome. He was quite spooky to say the least but tried his heart out. I learned very quickly that he was unsure of hills and mound type questions so i knew the things we had to work on. But to skip ahead a few months and a few shows, Oscar is now blowing training level out of the park and is aimed at his Preliminary upgrade at Willow Wind farm in the middle of July. I have a great appreciation for this horse and his willing attitude to learn with a little sass on the side. I really enjoy working with young horses and the feeling you get immediately get as they figure things out and chip away at understanding the things I ask of them. My once little shy xc horse has now turned in to a confident, willing, well oiled machine and I can't wait for the things he will do !
It was then time for Bromont CIC***. Where did the year go? We originally had planned for our CIC*** to happen at Jersey Fresh a few weeks before but Gavin got sick with shipping fever and it held us back from training and being at our best. But things happen for a reason and as much as it sucked to not be able to compete there, Bromont was better than i could have ever imagined.
The tension was high at Bromont. It was the selection trials for the US and Canadian eventing teams so everyone was on their game and very focused. Gavin and I were in a division filled with all the best horses in North America being considered for the Olympics. I knew i wasn't there for that reason, but wanted to put in a solid weekend to show some people that we could do it too. Our isle of horses started off a bit rough when my dressage coach Jessica Phoenix was jump schooling with the Canadian Team when she unfortunately took a tumble and broke her collar bone. Fortunately she was in the hospital in for surgery the next day and somehow managed to make it back to warm me up for my dressage test at 2 pm. What a champ she was to make it! I know she can't help me in the ring, but it's nice to have someone there to tell you you're doing a good job or that that "wasn't good" or to "try that again damnit!". I was feeling nervous. So was Gavin. It wasn't our best test, but moments in the ring were some of the best we'd ever had, only with some of the sassiest moves to follow! ha! Our nerves got the best of our dancing feet that day but some nice words from the coach were all it took to realize that one day, we will get it right!
Xc day was upon us and for the first time, ever, I wasn't so nervous that I could puke. I wasn't sure if there was something wrong with me so i didn't tell anyone except a text to Vanessa that I thought the xc was going to be a friggin blast. I don't think i've ever thought a 3 star looked like a "blast" before. More like "hard work" "that's going to be tough" or "ohhhh that is going to ride tough". But a "blast" am I sick? Don't get me wrong, i still had butterflies when i went to the start box which was reassuring to myself that I was in fact human, and I could still feel things. But it was werid. I usually have those jumps on course which i have explained before where i think "if i make it over that ok, we're going to be fine". But I didnt have any of those. Every combination was set up for Gavin. He's a rockstar at going straight and holding his lines because this horse never looks for a way out. He sees the red and white flag and knows he's supposed to stay in between. It was after a big ditch and brush combo to a corner where he had jumped up quite high and made the normal 5 strides quite a forward one for me where i just knew i had the best horse in the world. It was supposed to have a bit of a "bend" in the line, but after he ballooned over the ditch/brush plan "a" was no longer an option and plan "b" of adding a 6th stride was also not an option as we had drifted a bit to the left heading towards a right handed corner. If you know what im trying to draw a picture of, you will understand that i have not made the corner out VERY difficult with it being extremely sheer and making it very easy to have a run out to the right. But I was now on plan "c" or "d" or whatever at this point and all i knew i needed to do was keep as straight as possible and be very confident in where i wanted Gavin to leave the ground. Before i knew it, we were over it like it was a caveletti on a sunday afternoon. WTF kind of freak am i sitting on i thought??? A great freak. A freak who would do anything for me and safely at that. He pretty much bombed around the rest of of the course like it was just another training level event. The two stride corners in the arena were a bit long even thought i got a good shot it, but again, when you're sitting on Awesome Pants you feel like you can do anything.
The next day the jog went great and we were ready for show jumping. Gavin felt like a superstar in the warm up. I knew we could do this. After hearing the course rode tough I knew that it was in good favour for us. I know a lot of people find related distances in the show jumping tough especially when 7 out of the 9 lines you have to remember how many strides are in between. But it makes me feel safe and it makes me feel confident because i always know where i am when i count. I count out loud too. maybe not so anyone can hear me, but loud enough so Gavin can. It was going amazing. I really was in shock when i came to the last jump and we were clear up to this point. I got about a hoof print too long to the last and had it down. At this point, I didn't care. My horse just jumped the best he ever has. I've never been so happy. Seriously. I still have a smile on my face two weeks later. There's no better feeling than having a partner you know inside out. And i've been so proud with his progress this year and his maturity level. My jumping coaches voice is always with me and i have her to thank for providing me with the correct tools to make that weekend one i will never forget. So thank you Vanessa. You've really helped me more than you know.
It was also a special weekend for all the words some people have shared that have not been so positive. Let me tell you that there is no better feeling than proving people wrong. You can do anything that you want and if you work hard enough you'll start to make other people think that too. Gavin and I did our own fist pump to celebrate our victory and to show some peeps what's up. A 10th place finish at our first CIC*** together in a feild full of the best horses in the world.
I can confidently say that you, my Smarty Pants deserve more than anyone to be on the list with them.
You truly make my heart smile and I'm glad i've been able to enjoy the ride with you.
Until next time,
Dance to your own song
Kelly
I'm not even sure where to start. Since the last post on here, I feel like a million things have happened; 4 seasons have come and gone and a new family member has been added, and one has moved on.
2012 started as any other year has with the great memories of the year that passed and future goals for the year that had just begun. In the later party of January I made an incredibly emotional decision to sell my one and only Danimal (Minstral) to a new but amazing student of mine, Vasiliki Rousakiss. "Siki" purchased Danny with the hopes of starting her eventing career with a partner that would not only educate her but be forgiving and competitive. They both travelled south to train with me and my boys in sunny Ocala, Florida where they got a real taste of high energy and intense eventing competition! They competed at the beginner novice level for the florida season and moved up to Novice (pre-training) once we returned home to Ontario. Boy they've been on fire! It makes me happier than I could ever explain to see my old boy having so much fun with a new partner on courses he gallops so proudly over. I can't believe how much I learned from him. And I can't believe how much fun Siki is having and will continue to have while riding one of the best horses I've ever known.
Before I headed south I made a
We headed south a bit later than usual this winter to make it down for Feb 18th. My sister Tanya was due to have her first baby girl around this time, so I wanted to make sure I was around to see the little bundle and take a few pictures :) baby Reid Ava Forest is the cutest baby girl I have ever seen. I wish I could have taken her with me to Florida!
I also had the lovely privilege of riding Christian's lovely boy, Roo for the winter season as well. While He was being studious and studying in Ontario to make his millions, Roo came to live with me in Florida where we had a lovely time in the sun. This was the first time in two years that I would be separated from my other half. It was good that I had 3 horses to keep me occupied and busy but it just wasn't the same without having Christian there, and at times, it just plain sucked. Call me a baby but when you don't have your best friend to talk to all the time and laugh with, the heart starts to ache while on the other hand you blatantly realize what a special thing you really have. I'm not sure if it was because I had kidnapped Roo or if it was me Christian really wanted to see, but driving to the Orlando Airport to pick him up for a visit was one of the best moments in my life. I felt like school girl opening my favourite package of candies on a friday night! Yes, I'm ridiculous blah blah blah.... but I'm in love and I can't help it.
The Fork horse trials was the second big event of the year where Christian and I packed up Roo and Gavin and headed to North Carolina. A few weeks prior i did my first Advanced back in over two years on my now very grown up "Baby G" (Gavin aka Smarty Pants". It was unreal. My Mom came all the way from Bracebridge Ontario to hold my hand, clean my boots and walk the course and tell me I would be ok and to tell me good luck as I left the start box. There's something about my mom being there. She's just some kind of rock. it doesn't matter how i do, she always has something positive to say. For instance, after a horse got lose before my dressage test there (NOT good for Gavin) and i came out quite disappointed in my test, my mother explained to me how much better we looked than last time she had seen us (a year before). In a way it made me feel better, because even on our worst of days, she reminded me how far we had come from our best days a year before. It was really special to have her with me on my upgrade to the big blue numbers on my horse she has known since he was 3 :)
But back to the Fork! Christian and I managed to not get lost ONCE on our way there. It was a sign - the weekend was going to be amazing! Both of us had great dressage tests, Christian especially since he had only ridden 4 times prior to the show and not for about a month prior to that due to school! He got a 33 with Roo - yesss!!!! Gavin was a really good boy as well! Gavin's xc was much for solid and confident than poplar place as i think he realized that the jumps were in fact a lot bigger and the questions harder and felt as if he knew what he was doing now with only a few green jumps. He then went on to show jump great with just one rail but a few time faults (my bad!). Christian had a great weekend too with a stellar xc and a good show jumping. He said there were some things to work on, but....there are always things to work on and always will be.
In the middle of all of Gavin's big upgrades and Christian visiting and Coldstone ice cream, Oscar "Benevolent" had made his eventing debut! We headed out to our first novice event at Rocking horse with one xc school under our belt. He was awesome. He was quite spooky to say the least but tried his heart out. I learned very quickly that he was unsure of hills and mound type questions so i knew the things we had to work on. But to skip ahead a few months and a few shows, Oscar is now blowing training level out of the park and is aimed at his Preliminary upgrade at Willow Wind farm in the middle of July. I have a great appreciation for this horse and his willing attitude to learn with a little sass on the side. I really enjoy working with young horses and the feeling you get immediately get as they figure things out and chip away at understanding the things I ask of them. My once little shy xc horse has now turned in to a confident, willing, well oiled machine and I can't wait for the things he will do !
It was then time for Bromont CIC***. Where did the year go? We originally had planned for our CIC*** to happen at Jersey Fresh a few weeks before but Gavin got sick with shipping fever and it held us back from training and being at our best. But things happen for a reason and as much as it sucked to not be able to compete there, Bromont was better than i could have ever imagined.
The tension was high at Bromont. It was the selection trials for the US and Canadian eventing teams so everyone was on their game and very focused. Gavin and I were in a division filled with all the best horses in North America being considered for the Olympics. I knew i wasn't there for that reason, but wanted to put in a solid weekend to show some people that we could do it too. Our isle of horses started off a bit rough when my dressage coach Jessica Phoenix was jump schooling with the Canadian Team when she unfortunately took a tumble and broke her collar bone. Fortunately she was in the hospital in for surgery the next day and somehow managed to make it back to warm me up for my dressage test at 2 pm. What a champ she was to make it! I know she can't help me in the ring, but it's nice to have someone there to tell you you're doing a good job or that that "wasn't good" or to "try that again damnit!". I was feeling nervous. So was Gavin. It wasn't our best test, but moments in the ring were some of the best we'd ever had, only with some of the sassiest moves to follow! ha! Our nerves got the best of our dancing feet that day but some nice words from the coach were all it took to realize that one day, we will get it right!
Xc day was upon us and for the first time, ever, I wasn't so nervous that I could puke. I wasn't sure if there was something wrong with me so i didn't tell anyone except a text to Vanessa that I thought the xc was going to be a friggin blast. I don't think i've ever thought a 3 star looked like a "blast" before. More like "hard work" "that's going to be tough" or "ohhhh that is going to ride tough". But a "blast" am I sick? Don't get me wrong, i still had butterflies when i went to the start box which was reassuring to myself that I was in fact human, and I could still feel things. But it was werid. I usually have those jumps on course which i have explained before where i think "if i make it over that ok, we're going to be fine". But I didnt have any of those. Every combination was set up for Gavin. He's a rockstar at going straight and holding his lines because this horse never looks for a way out. He sees the red and white flag and knows he's supposed to stay in between. It was after a big ditch and brush combo to a corner where he had jumped up quite high and made the normal 5 strides quite a forward one for me where i just knew i had the best horse in the world. It was supposed to have a bit of a "bend" in the line, but after he ballooned over the ditch/brush plan "a" was no longer an option and plan "b" of adding a 6th stride was also not an option as we had drifted a bit to the left heading towards a right handed corner. If you know what im trying to draw a picture of, you will understand that i have not made the corner out VERY difficult with it being extremely sheer and making it very easy to have a run out to the right. But I was now on plan "c" or "d" or whatever at this point and all i knew i needed to do was keep as straight as possible and be very confident in where i wanted Gavin to leave the ground. Before i knew it, we were over it like it was a caveletti on a sunday afternoon. WTF kind of freak am i sitting on i thought??? A great freak. A freak who would do anything for me and safely at that. He pretty much bombed around the rest of of the course like it was just another training level event. The two stride corners in the arena were a bit long even thought i got a good shot it, but again, when you're sitting on Awesome Pants you feel like you can do anything.
The next day the jog went great and we were ready for show jumping. Gavin felt like a superstar in the warm up. I knew we could do this. After hearing the course rode tough I knew that it was in good favour for us. I know a lot of people find related distances in the show jumping tough especially when 7 out of the 9 lines you have to remember how many strides are in between. But it makes me feel safe and it makes me feel confident because i always know where i am when i count. I count out loud too. maybe not so anyone can hear me, but loud enough so Gavin can. It was going amazing. I really was in shock when i came to the last jump and we were clear up to this point. I got about a hoof print too long to the last and had it down. At this point, I didn't care. My horse just jumped the best he ever has. I've never been so happy. Seriously. I still have a smile on my face two weeks later. There's no better feeling than having a partner you know inside out. And i've been so proud with his progress this year and his maturity level. My jumping coaches voice is always with me and i have her to thank for providing me with the correct tools to make that weekend one i will never forget. So thank you Vanessa. You've really helped me more than you know.
It was also a special weekend for all the words some people have shared that have not been so positive. Let me tell you that there is no better feeling than proving people wrong. You can do anything that you want and if you work hard enough you'll start to make other people think that too. Gavin and I did our own fist pump to celebrate our victory and to show some peeps what's up. A 10th place finish at our first CIC*** together in a feild full of the best horses in the world.
I can confidently say that you, my Smarty Pants deserve more than anyone to be on the list with them.
You truly make my heart smile and I'm glad i've been able to enjoy the ride with you.
Until next time,
Dance to your own song
Kelly
Friday, June 17, 2011
Leap, and the net will appear
Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.
John F. Kennedy
![]()
Everyone I know has a fear of failure. But there's no greater reward than holding failure in your hands and throwing it behind you. For me, my triumphant failure-crushing weekend just happened at Bromont CCI**.
Many of you know I took a spill in the water jump at Jersey Fresh CCI** a few weeks back. I immediately entered Bromont with high hopes and a ridiculous drive to get back out there and finish what I started. So Smarty Pants and I optimistically packed up the trailer (once again...!) and headed down the 401 to Quebec. 8 Hours is a long time to think about things. Things like how prepared you are. Things like what it's going to feel like when your horse may jump 35 feet into the water again. Things like if I remembered my gloves. And things like whether or not you're really meant for this. I don't care who you are or how well you can cover your feelings, but everyone feels the spectrum of excitement, happiness, nerves and the possibility of defeat.
I'm a rider who likes to know everything that could happen. I walk my cross country course with every possible ride that could occur. The "great" the "maybe's" and the "did that and it didn't go well". Of course I don't leave the xc course until I see things happening perfectly, just the way I want, but I’m no fool, and I’m no girl who looks through rose colored glasses. I've ridden enough horses, courses and competed my fair share to know what to expect. I've walked enough courses with enough top riders to find out the one's I like most and the ones who I will never walk with again. One of my favorites is David O'Connor. He says it as it is and that's it. If he thinks a jump is going to ride poorly, well at least I’m aware and I can ride accordingly, or if he thinks it's going to ride easier than it looks then I can ride the same! I'm not into sweeping things under the rug just to make myself feel better in hopes to head out confidently. Not to say that positivity and encouragement is a bad idea, but I don't think heading out on a big course thinking everything will ride perfectly and nothing is overly difficult really prepares you for what may come. That being said, as I left the start box on Saturday, I was more than nervous.
You know it's bad when you have pasties. And when you go to spit up... nothing, you dry heave. It's this moment in time 30 seconds before I leave the start box that I wonder why the hell I do this sport. I know I’m not alone, I just have the balls to admit it! But 31 seconds later that nervous energy is immediately transferred into full throttle, forward moving, 100 percent positive cross county riding. I joke with friends at the barn that I can't feel my legs before I head out....but it's not really a joke. (ha!?) But again, all feeling returns as soon as I take my first breath with my horse on course.
Bromont was big. The biggest ** I’ve ever done. Smarty Pants was sailing along the first few jumps and I knew that if I rode well we were going to have a great ride. I did however ride a little backwards to 5a where it was a bending line of 7 strides to a big corner brush at b. Since I failed to ride as positively over the first as I had originally planned to, I switched to plan b and stuck out one stride more to do 8 to the corner. No use running him off his feet at this moment and risking a drive by this early on course. Things were good. Up the cliff at the back we went and through the tough coffin at 7, 8a,b. Gavin then kicked it into high gear as we galloped up the deceivingly long upward hill toward the first water. I rode like I’ve never ridden before into the water. Gavin jumped great! Jumped off the huge drop like he's done it all his life. It was the next 6 or so strides up to the brush jump and back over a coop that I don't really remember. I was just so concentrated on making sure I gave him a positive ride off the ground that I was overwhelmed with happiness that we made it through the first water complex. It was when we hit the 4 minute mark I felt Gavin really slow down. I had come out earlier in the day to watch a few horses go before I had to get ready, and luckily saw every horse that went by, look tired. So I wasn't too concerned when it actually happened to me. I did however have a lucky moment when Gavin hung a leg at the top of the hill at a giant skinny table. This was completely and error on my part as Gavin hasn't really experienced fatigue at that level before. I should have supported him off the ground much more and I’m sure we would have avoided that situation all together. Luckily I stuck in the tack and gave him some encouragement on the way out of the complex to instill some confidence that I had taken away. He sure didn't want to do that again. He jumped the next table like it was 8 feet tall. It was then off to the humungous drop down to a skinny. I'll let you know the drop was over my head. I'm 5'11. Things were going well. We then headed through the arena and made child’s play of the angled coops. I then felt Gavin get a second wind and he immediately stepped in into high gear again. It's important to know your horse and how much you can ask of them and when. He really stepped it up at this point and he really felt great and fit. Bromont is a seriously tough course mainly because of the terrain. When you have an uphill climb of about 1:45, you really just don’t know what you're going to have at the top. It was mostly downhill from this point on so I kicked on towards the second water. Gavin flew in this time with his ears pricked on the corner flags out. Damn this horse is fun! At this point I felt like I was on a two star packer...at the ripe age of only 7. It was then over a ditch and wall and one more combination. I looked at my watch as we headed towards the last two fences on course. "we're going to make it!" i thought!!! I really thought we were going to be slower, but his gallop is just so big that he covers more ground than I think. We almost made it with just 2.8 time penalties!
It was on to show jumping the next day! I have to have a shout out to Dr. Christiana Ober and the farrier Bruno Cote. Gavin had a bit of a sore foot on Saturday night and they did everything they could to make Gavin comfortable and perfectly sound for the next morning. So thank you! You really are underappreciated and over worked.
Again, I was nervous. This was possibly the biggest two star show jumping course that I'd ever seen. It didn't help that all the faces in the arena as we walked were shades of green and white. It also doesn't help when you see top riders with good horses struggling with 2,3 and 4 rails. Christian helped me warm up, and I thank him for that. Simple things like "you're holding your shoulders really well" and "come more forward through the turn" really helped. I felt ready and I was really happy with the way Gavin was jumping and how great his entire body felt from the efforts he made the day before.
The beeper went and we began our round. It's safe to say this horse has more than enough scope as we left a good foot between the rails over the first. It's an amazing feeling to sit on a horse like that. The next jump was good. And the next line of a short 7 was amazing. I was doing everything in my power to ride to the best of my abilities. I know this horse can jump clear but it's been because of my own mistakes where we've unfortunately left rails on the ground. Things were continuing to go great. He was such a good boy through the triple. The oxer in to a long one stride was, well, long. He gave 150 percent to jump amazing over this and really used his scope to go clear. It was through the next turn where I should have pushed instead of pulled which resulted in my being a hoof print too deep to the oxer where Gavin had the front rail. Ah! poop! All my fault. I made sure not to make the same mistake into the next line around a tight turn. I rode positively through the corner refraining from pulling. Yes! did it! it was on to a tight two stride line of virticles and then 5 strides to the last oxer. MADE IT!
This feeling was almost as good as finishing my first three star on Minstral. I was again overwhelmed by the heart my horses have. I honestly can say that Gavin jumped his socks off. He gave me everything he had and I'm so thankful to have a horse like that. I did my own victory lap, because even though we didn't win a ribbon, we won the weekend. Great dressage, great xc and a personal best show jumping. That's more than I could have asked for. As soon as I saw my mother’s face I started to cry. These were happy tears. She's been there for the good the bad, the ugly and the unfortunate, and there she was for another heartfelt success.
We laughed and we hugged and we cried as we headed back to the barnns. It really takes a team of great people to make a weekend a success. I have to thank my Mom for being there once AGAIN and for all of her help. She really is a gem and I couldn't have done it without her. I also want to thank Christian for driving 8 hours to clean my tack, clean my horse, tack him up, provide support, be a psychiatrist and continue to be an amazing boyfriend. God I have it good.
You can never quit.
Winners never quit, and quitters never win.
Till next time,
Kelly
John F. Kennedy
Everyone I know has a fear of failure. But there's no greater reward than holding failure in your hands and throwing it behind you. For me, my triumphant failure-crushing weekend just happened at Bromont CCI**.
Many of you know I took a spill in the water jump at Jersey Fresh CCI** a few weeks back. I immediately entered Bromont with high hopes and a ridiculous drive to get back out there and finish what I started. So Smarty Pants and I optimistically packed up the trailer (once again...!) and headed down the 401 to Quebec. 8 Hours is a long time to think about things. Things like how prepared you are. Things like what it's going to feel like when your horse may jump 35 feet into the water again. Things like if I remembered my gloves. And things like whether or not you're really meant for this. I don't care who you are or how well you can cover your feelings, but everyone feels the spectrum of excitement, happiness, nerves and the possibility of defeat.
I'm a rider who likes to know everything that could happen. I walk my cross country course with every possible ride that could occur. The "great" the "maybe's" and the "did that and it didn't go well". Of course I don't leave the xc course until I see things happening perfectly, just the way I want, but I’m no fool, and I’m no girl who looks through rose colored glasses. I've ridden enough horses, courses and competed my fair share to know what to expect. I've walked enough courses with enough top riders to find out the one's I like most and the ones who I will never walk with again. One of my favorites is David O'Connor. He says it as it is and that's it. If he thinks a jump is going to ride poorly, well at least I’m aware and I can ride accordingly, or if he thinks it's going to ride easier than it looks then I can ride the same! I'm not into sweeping things under the rug just to make myself feel better in hopes to head out confidently. Not to say that positivity and encouragement is a bad idea, but I don't think heading out on a big course thinking everything will ride perfectly and nothing is overly difficult really prepares you for what may come. That being said, as I left the start box on Saturday, I was more than nervous.
You know it's bad when you have pasties. And when you go to spit up... nothing, you dry heave. It's this moment in time 30 seconds before I leave the start box that I wonder why the hell I do this sport. I know I’m not alone, I just have the balls to admit it! But 31 seconds later that nervous energy is immediately transferred into full throttle, forward moving, 100 percent positive cross county riding. I joke with friends at the barn that I can't feel my legs before I head out....but it's not really a joke. (ha!?) But again, all feeling returns as soon as I take my first breath with my horse on course.
Bromont was big. The biggest ** I’ve ever done. Smarty Pants was sailing along the first few jumps and I knew that if I rode well we were going to have a great ride. I did however ride a little backwards to 5a where it was a bending line of 7 strides to a big corner brush at b. Since I failed to ride as positively over the first as I had originally planned to, I switched to plan b and stuck out one stride more to do 8 to the corner. No use running him off his feet at this moment and risking a drive by this early on course. Things were good. Up the cliff at the back we went and through the tough coffin at 7, 8a,b. Gavin then kicked it into high gear as we galloped up the deceivingly long upward hill toward the first water. I rode like I’ve never ridden before into the water. Gavin jumped great! Jumped off the huge drop like he's done it all his life. It was the next 6 or so strides up to the brush jump and back over a coop that I don't really remember. I was just so concentrated on making sure I gave him a positive ride off the ground that I was overwhelmed with happiness that we made it through the first water complex. It was when we hit the 4 minute mark I felt Gavin really slow down. I had come out earlier in the day to watch a few horses go before I had to get ready, and luckily saw every horse that went by, look tired. So I wasn't too concerned when it actually happened to me. I did however have a lucky moment when Gavin hung a leg at the top of the hill at a giant skinny table. This was completely and error on my part as Gavin hasn't really experienced fatigue at that level before. I should have supported him off the ground much more and I’m sure we would have avoided that situation all together. Luckily I stuck in the tack and gave him some encouragement on the way out of the complex to instill some confidence that I had taken away. He sure didn't want to do that again. He jumped the next table like it was 8 feet tall. It was then off to the humungous drop down to a skinny. I'll let you know the drop was over my head. I'm 5'11. Things were going well. We then headed through the arena and made child’s play of the angled coops. I then felt Gavin get a second wind and he immediately stepped in into high gear again. It's important to know your horse and how much you can ask of them and when. He really stepped it up at this point and he really felt great and fit. Bromont is a seriously tough course mainly because of the terrain. When you have an uphill climb of about 1:45, you really just don’t know what you're going to have at the top. It was mostly downhill from this point on so I kicked on towards the second water. Gavin flew in this time with his ears pricked on the corner flags out. Damn this horse is fun! At this point I felt like I was on a two star packer...at the ripe age of only 7. It was then over a ditch and wall and one more combination. I looked at my watch as we headed towards the last two fences on course. "we're going to make it!" i thought!!! I really thought we were going to be slower, but his gallop is just so big that he covers more ground than I think. We almost made it with just 2.8 time penalties!
It was on to show jumping the next day! I have to have a shout out to Dr. Christiana Ober and the farrier Bruno Cote. Gavin had a bit of a sore foot on Saturday night and they did everything they could to make Gavin comfortable and perfectly sound for the next morning. So thank you! You really are underappreciated and over worked.
Again, I was nervous. This was possibly the biggest two star show jumping course that I'd ever seen. It didn't help that all the faces in the arena as we walked were shades of green and white. It also doesn't help when you see top riders with good horses struggling with 2,3 and 4 rails. Christian helped me warm up, and I thank him for that. Simple things like "you're holding your shoulders really well" and "come more forward through the turn" really helped. I felt ready and I was really happy with the way Gavin was jumping and how great his entire body felt from the efforts he made the day before.
The beeper went and we began our round. It's safe to say this horse has more than enough scope as we left a good foot between the rails over the first. It's an amazing feeling to sit on a horse like that. The next jump was good. And the next line of a short 7 was amazing. I was doing everything in my power to ride to the best of my abilities. I know this horse can jump clear but it's been because of my own mistakes where we've unfortunately left rails on the ground. Things were continuing to go great. He was such a good boy through the triple. The oxer in to a long one stride was, well, long. He gave 150 percent to jump amazing over this and really used his scope to go clear. It was through the next turn where I should have pushed instead of pulled which resulted in my being a hoof print too deep to the oxer where Gavin had the front rail. Ah! poop! All my fault. I made sure not to make the same mistake into the next line around a tight turn. I rode positively through the corner refraining from pulling. Yes! did it! it was on to a tight two stride line of virticles and then 5 strides to the last oxer. MADE IT!
This feeling was almost as good as finishing my first three star on Minstral. I was again overwhelmed by the heart my horses have. I honestly can say that Gavin jumped his socks off. He gave me everything he had and I'm so thankful to have a horse like that. I did my own victory lap, because even though we didn't win a ribbon, we won the weekend. Great dressage, great xc and a personal best show jumping. That's more than I could have asked for. As soon as I saw my mother’s face I started to cry. These were happy tears. She's been there for the good the bad, the ugly and the unfortunate, and there she was for another heartfelt success.
We laughed and we hugged and we cried as we headed back to the barnns. It really takes a team of great people to make a weekend a success. I have to thank my Mom for being there once AGAIN and for all of her help. She really is a gem and I couldn't have done it without her. I also want to thank Christian for driving 8 hours to clean my tack, clean my horse, tack him up, provide support, be a psychiatrist and continue to be an amazing boyfriend. God I have it good.
You can never quit.
Winners never quit, and quitters never win.
Till next time,
Kelly
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
it happens for a reason
I've been told good things come to those who wait, hence this blog post taking a mere 12 months to appear.
A lot has happened in the past 12 months. Probably more than I can remember, and probably more than you'd care to know. But I'll try to keep it simple and i'll try to keep it entertaining, but I warn you not to read this unless you have a little time.
Let me just start off by saying I had one of the most amazing winters in Florida that i've ever experienced. For those of you who know me well, you'll know that i'm not exclusively talking about how amazing my horses were or how great the weather was, but more to degree of the collectables I gathered along the way in terms of family and friends. I hate to say I was "blessed", but it sort of turns out that that may be the only word to describe the way i feel about the people I was lucky enough to live with this year. I moved in with my truly awesome boyfriend (scary, i know :) ), and two other girls, Ashlyn and Dana. Our personalities immediately bonded and our casual (!) drinking similarities were instantly noted. It's a great feeling when people you've just met really feel like old friends or old souls, or people who you've just felt like you've know you're whole life. We quickly became a close knit family sharing things best friends would only share, and fighting about things only family members would :) I'm so very glad for the friendships that were created this year, and the fun we were so lucky enough to share (over and over and over!) and the feeling of calm that was created by the support that only a family can give. I love all of you guys and don't ever forget that!
A lot has happened in the past 12 months. Probably more than I can remember, and probably more than you'd care to know. But I'll try to keep it simple and i'll try to keep it entertaining, but I warn you not to read this unless you have a little time.
Let me just start off by saying I had one of the most amazing winters in Florida that i've ever experienced. For those of you who know me well, you'll know that i'm not exclusively talking about how amazing my horses were or how great the weather was, but more to degree of the collectables I gathered along the way in terms of family and friends. I hate to say I was "blessed", but it sort of turns out that that may be the only word to describe the way i feel about the people I was lucky enough to live with this year. I moved in with my truly awesome boyfriend (scary, i know :) ), and two other girls, Ashlyn and Dana. Our personalities immediately bonded and our casual (!) drinking similarities were instantly noted. It's a great feeling when people you've just met really feel like old friends or old souls, or people who you've just felt like you've know you're whole life. We quickly became a close knit family sharing things best friends would only share, and fighting about things only family members would :) I'm so very glad for the friendships that were created this year, and the fun we were so lucky enough to share (over and over and over!) and the feeling of calm that was created by the support that only a family can give. I love all of you guys and don't ever forget that!
On a more horse related topic, this year was one of extreme happiness and the polar opposite. As most of you were aware, i spent all last winter rehabbing my favorite horse, Minstral to soundness in hopes to compete him at the highest level of eventing this year. Things started off smoothly with a great month of preparation in January of 2011. It was a great feeling to see our name on the entry status at Rocking Horse horse trials for the January event. We had a stellar weekend having personal bests in all three phases…pretty awesome seeing we hadn’t been out together in two years! It wasn’t until I got home that evening from the event where I realized Danny wasn’t ok. You know, that voice in the back of your head. The one you want to tell to shut up, go away, come back another day? The one that’s always right. The one that makes you feel sick to your stomach because you know the facts are correct. That voice never lies and this was no exception. I just knew that Danny had re-injured himself on the same leg where I spent 18 months ever so carefully nursing it back to full strength. It was like I was lost. I couldn’t feel my body. I couldn’t even cry because I was waiting to wake up on another day where this wasn’t happening. The next day I had an ultra sound done on Dan. I could see clearly where there was a new lesion above and below the old one. Apparently it’s quite common for this kind of injury to occur after stem cell is done on a suspensory ligament. The fibers surrounding the original injury have to work extra hard and sometimes stretch too much and aren’t strong enough to hold together. I’ve never broken down like that before. There I was standing beside my best friend 100 percent sure that I would never ever be able to compete him at the Advanced level again. For all of you who have a dream, and all of you I know you do… There’s absolutely no worse feeling than that of being slapped in the face with the cold reality of a dream you have to let go. I’m not going to lie. I was in a bad place in my head for a while. Not only did my horse just injure himself, and a lot of dreams were forced to be placed elsewhere, but my little horse Smarty Pants had a very mild case of pneumonia. He had to be on a severe and strict schedule of antibiotics for a week, but fortunately came out of it fine. He took a few weeks to recover fully, but I eventually got him back into full work so we could event at the end of February.
I never had a real respect for Valentine’s day, probably because of the fact that I was most likely dating an asshole, fighting with one, or didn’t have an asshole to fight with at all. But this Valentine’s was different. Still having a fresh wound from Danny, I wasn’t really back to myself yet and all my house mates were great in the fact that they gave me my space and didn’t ask too many questions, mostly in fear that they would make me cry or have to listen to my tear filled mumbles… but at the end of the day on Feb 14th I received the most special Valentine’s gift in the history of Valentine’s gifts. As a lead up, I’ll let you know that I’m dating one of the most sincere, respectful, loving, understanding and genuine human beings in the world. His name is Christian Bennett and every day I wake up I can’t help but think how lucky I am to have met him. So, here I am opening my gift. It was an odd shape, clearly a collage of multiple photos from the back? Yep. I turn it around only to find my most favorite photographs of Danny and I from all the competitions we completed together. Let me also tell you that I’m not a “cryer” but this hit something inside that I couldn’t hold in. This was so much better than chocolate. And much better than flowers. Flowers die, and chocolate tastes good for the moment, but always makes you feel guilty too soon afterward. But this, it was perfect. I could look at it every day and smile. And cry. But most of all, feel proud of what we’d accomplished. Every time I looked at it on our bedroom wall reminded me not to be sad of what was lost, but helped me realize how far Danny has helped me come. It was the most special present and I thank you for that Christian. And I thank you for putting the feeling back into Valentine’s day J
Two weekends ago I was in New Jersey competing at Jersey Fresh CCI** on my sweet ass horse, Smarty Pants. This was his second ** and our dressage went pretty awesome! Despite some conflicts with judging and such (you can get caught up on www.eventingnation.com ) I carried on into cross country day. You know those jumps on course that you have in your head that you say “phew! Glad that one is over” and then you carry on without a doubt for the rest of the course?? Well the dock in the water at 6a was that one for me! Unfortunately I didn’t get to the part of “phew, made it!” it was more like “SHIT, I’m getting wet”. Yep, Gavin decided that this water was a little early on course and the adrenaline hadn’t quite kicked in yet. He took a good gander at it and ballooned 22 feet (ok it was probably only 4 feet) over it landing completely still on the other side. You know what happens when you’re on a horse and the forward motion completely stops? You keep going. And I sure did as I cart wheeled through the air and did a lovely dive for Canada into the Jersey Shore water complex only spicing things up by landing of my feet. YES! Perfect 10! As I was trying to get myself and Gavin out of the water to clear the course, I noticed my right foot wasn’t working so well. So, I resorted to infant style and crawled out of the water jump. Hawley Bennett and Christian were the two behind me so I HAD to clear the course as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to be the one responsible for a hold on course!! As the medics helped me off course and into the ambulance, I was worried about who had caught my horse and where the hell he was. Thankfully, my mom , who after hearing that someone needed to get Smarty Pants, sprinted effortlessly like she was in the 100 meter dash at the Olympics, and came to Smarty Pants’ rescue. My mom surely was scared wondering what had happened to me as I couldn’t take him back to the barn myself. I honestly don’t know how my parents watch me do this crazy sport. But it never fails. Both my Mom and Dad come to every event. And they’ve come to every event ever since I started riding. The only time they don’t make it is when I’m competing in Florida at regular horse trials. They’re always there, always have been and I hope they always will. It doesn’t matter how I do, I can always count on them to say something productive. I look forward to hearing “have fun” from my mom as I head to the start box and the recaps of how “smooth” my ride was from my dad. They have complete faith in my riding abilities and the horses I have, and without them none of my success or happiness would have happened. It’s really a great feeling to have such a support team and for that to be my mom and dad. They’ve always been involved in everything me and my sisters have taken an interest in. Not once have they ever said I couldn’t do something, even when things may not be going that great at the time! If I’ve learned one thing from my parents it’s that you can’t get anywhere without hard work and dedication but you’ve also got to be realistic about things and not everything that you want to happen, can. One of my favorite parts about the big shows or three day events is that I get to see my Mom and Dad! I love you guys so much and I hope to see you at all the upcoming events. Thanks for everything, really J
I’d also like to send a big shout out to Christian for finishing his first CCI** at Jersey fresh in fine fresh form, which in turn qualified him for YR’s this summer!!! Sawwwweeeeet!
And anyone else competing, getting married, moving out, starting over, starting fresh, keeping on, or just smiling, best of luck to you, and best of luck to your future.
Today is the day to get it right.
See you soon,
Kelly
Monday, June 14, 2010
Make Your Own Cheer
Three words: WHAT A WEEK!!!!
Bromont - Absolutley beautiful. Absolutely perfect. Absolutley the best time in 2010.
Sooo.... on Tuesday afternoon Smarty Pants and I packed up the trailer and headed down the 401 speeding over giant pot holes and swerving around crazy French drivers on our way to the Three Day Event at Bromont in Quebec. It was a glorious adventure, all thanks to some fresh CD's that were solicitously prepared by my great friend Christian Bennett. There's nothing better than having a solo dance party in your truck, singing words that you don't really know, heading to a place you can't wait to get to. After 7 hours of constant raving, Gavin and I arrived at the newly renovated Facility of Bromont. Boy is this place nice. I was here last year, but it's easy to forget just how magnificent this place really is. As you drive in along side Bromont I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the Mountains, the perfectly cut grass, the the proffesionalism of the facility, and the butterflies in my stomach. It's been five years since I did my first CCI* on my first One Star horse, Minstral at Midsouth in Kentucky. I was having flashbacks of all the things i've learned since then, and all the heartache that accompanies that, and all the ribbons i've picked up and all the pictures i've run out of room for and all the experiences i've been so lucky to put under my belt. A lot has happened in five years, and I can't help but be proud of where i've gone and the horses that have helped me get to where i am, and where i want to go. I also couldn't forget about the task that I was about to ask Gavin to do with me. I truely feel honored to own such a cool little horse. I often forget that he is only 6 years old this year, because sometimes he acts as though he's done this all his life. Don't get me wrong, he defffinately has his baby moments... like how i had to ride him 4 times on wednesday. He really is a ball of energy so i just kept taking him out for rides untill he thought that groaning and spooking at his own shadow wasn't quite necessary anymore. He's quite the character, but i wouldn't change a thing about him. I've learned his ways, tried to change them, failed, and just came to the realization that people and horses are who they are, and you must just learn to adapt to their ways of life! A great life lesson learned indeed!
I love wearing my Top hat and Tails. There's just something about the outfit that makes me feel like a winner. I think Gavin felt like a winner too, because we put in our best test of the year! We scored a 56 which is our best score at the FEI level! This put us in 20th place at the end of the day out of 40 starters. Gavin was SUCH a well behaved gentleman. I did shed a few tears as we did our final halt (which wasn't quite square but i didn't care!). We had no mistakes and no blond moment errors that took us off course, and preformed all the movements to the best of our abilities. I couldn't have asked Gavin to be any better and he was giving 100 percent concentration into the job he was asked to do. I took a sigh of relief as i was very content with all that had just happened. A lot of work and time is spent on this phase of the sport and it's easy to get frustrated when things don't go as planned. It was just two weekends before when competing at Grandview horse trials where i was sitting on what i thought was a firecracker in the dressage ring! Gavin was quite "up" and my arms were quite "sore" by the end of the test and was a little bummed out about the preformance we had delivered. So with only 13 days between that test and Bromont, lots of things had been smoothed and a sense of "calm" had washed over us both on this wonderful day of dressage. I have to thank the warm weather and the heavenly dressage Gods above for that one.
Friday was a nice day. I decided i would go for a trot around the old steeple chase track in the morning for a change of scenery and pace. Pace it was as my calm dressage horse turned into a fire breathing dragon cantering sideways, snorting at all xc jumps and jumping over every change of footing. Whoopsie. Not getting any better the second time 'round, i decided it was a wise choice just to head back to the rings! I'm not quite sure if Gavin thought he was back on the race track or what, but i wasn't sticking around to find out! I'm not quite sure where this horse gets his energy but i swear sometimes he also see's ghosts. So, we had a nice ride once we got back to the safety of the ring and then headed back to the stall for some R&R...who am i kidding, i mean a beer..ok beer(s).
Friday was also a special day because many friends and family were en route (see my french!?) to Bromont to cheer us on and help out. Mom and Dad were almost here, and Kaitlyn and Christian were also on their way. It's a nice feeling when you know you have great friends and family that will travel hours and hours to support you, help you out, make you laugh, and keep you company. I feel this year is an exceptional year for realizing the obvious and understanding that you can't take anything for granted. A few weeks ago there was an incident involving a very close friend of mine that opened my eyes to life and near death and what everything in the world meant to me. It was almost as if i was a numb living creature before, because now its as if everything has real color and purpose and i truely go through the day being greatful for what i have. I take great interest in how I am feeling, how I want to feel and how I make others feel around me. I'm not sure why it took me and an almost-tradgedy to figure this out, but i guess things happen for a reason and I was meant to feel this experience as deep as possible to understand the meaning of life itself and all the things i have yet to discover and offer.
I rode at the crack of dawn on the Saturday morning of cross country. It was one of those days though where i really didn't feel like i belonged in my body! I set sail aboard my trusty steed aiming at the green numbers in a mind set where i wanted to make time today. I knew we were capable but i started off a little "Picky" and a little slow, but finally got my **** together by the time i got to the coffin. Thank goodness because after climbing Mt.Everest you had a nice turn to a virticle log, one stride to a ditch, then 4 strides to a corner - a pretty decent question for a one star i thought. Gavin was perfect. He really is a xc machine, and he's so good at the technicle things i swear he doesnt even need a rider. We then struck off in a wonderful gallop across a huge feild which took us to a trekhaner heading into the woods. This was a much easier effort than the year before on Gavins part as we didn't hit our head on the trees above this time around! He then cruised around the next few fences before leaping ever so boldy and largely into the first water! i was shocked... he was a real xc horse now! we then galloped over some angled coops and then towards quite a large ditch and brush which i hit at a sweet distance and sailed over wich a smile on my face. It was then up to a table turning up a steep lip on a hill to a skinny toothbrush. Check check! jumped it amazing! Gave Gavin lots of pats as we headed down to the second water. It was at this point i realized my horse was getting a little tired and was leaning on me for balence. We had a little argument about which speed we should be going. "Gavin, i think we should slow down" "Kelly, i think we could speed up here" "Gavin slow down" "Kelly, hold on" . Things weren't happening as quickly as i would have liked so i ended up having a serious discussion which resulted in a head toss, a large spook at the crowd gathered at the water a loss of concentration and a bit of a hop over the "A" element of the water. This then lengthened the 4 strides to the goose in the water, where i had to sit tight and let Gavin figure things out, which he did just fine and then three more strides to the skinny out. It wasn't the ride I had originally planned, but that's cross country for you, and we went away with a little tap of the whip to intill some confidence that may have been lost. We then jumped a little bench on our way to a log to a corner and then on to the last fence. We made it through the finish line 8 seconds over the time and in good shape. I wasn't 100 percent thrilled with my preformance. I thought i could have given Gavin a better ride, and i was disapointed in my lack of decision at the water. I was upset and stewing over this while my team of Kaitlyn, Christian, Felicia and my Mom cooled out Gavin in the Vet box. It then occured to me that my 6 year old actually took care of me. This made me happy. This made me proud. And It made me realize that I have given him the confidence and skills necessary to carry on when things aren't perfect. But i guess the only way you really get better is to get a little upset at yourself when you ultimately know you could have done a better job. Gavin has a heart of gold, and he has a talent that matches perfectly with his heart. I was pleased with his fitness and his recovery and gave him well deserved pats on the way back to the stall.
Everything looked good Sat night. No bumps or brusises and Gavin jogged well in hand. So i tucked him in for the night and gave him many kisses and a little bit of beer for a job well done and wished him the best of dreams. I returned early the next moring to bathe and braid and go for a nice hack before the jog at 8. Everything went well. Gavin was happy and feeling great. The show jumping course was set, so i suited up and heading down to the ring. SURELY this was the two star course. Nope, it was the One star. Holy smokes was it big! The course was tough with a lot of related distances which I love because i CAN count!!! There were two in and outs, many bending lines and the oxers were wide! I was 22nd in the ring as i moved up to 14th place after xc. I was fortunate enough to watch some early rides so i knew what to expect and which lines were riding in what. There were decisions to be made and lines to be held and I felt as though I was ready to preform at my best today. I walked the course twice and stood by the side to visualize myself jumping the fences in pefect form, getting all the right striding and hitting all the right distances. God i looked good in my head! I do this often. Even for dressage and xc. I visualize myself riding the way i want and don't move on until it's perfect. It's weird, because i actually feel like i'm doing it as i picture it in my head. I can feel the saddle and the reins and how much pressure i have. I feel where my body is and i can hear my horse breathing. Once my round was perfect, I took Gavin up to the warm up and started warming up. My coach Vanessa Fenwick texted me a few reminders for my round which i then relayed to Christian who helped me warm up. "hold your shoulders, keep your hands up, sit in your saddle". Seems basic, but it's easy to forget the little things when the nerves kick in. I was thankful that CB was there to kick my butt and remind me of these little things. I then headed down the shoot to the final phase of the weekend. I was actually quite nervous. I wanted to do well. And i wanted to give Gavin a well deserved ride. Things were going well. I had a nice ride down the first line of 6 strides and Gavin was jumping great. I held my shoulders at the next virticle and he jumped it well. It was then 9 forward strides on a bend to a humungoooo square oxer. He jumped it so freaking well he nearly jumped me clean out of the tack! It was then on to another square oxer two strides to a virticle. I got nice and deep to the oxer but didn't have quite enough support off the ground to help Gavin jump up enough. He just nicked it with his toe and we had the rail. Shoot! but we put that behind us. He backed up well to the virticle out of the comination which has been difficult for him because he's such an exuberant jumper he forgets how to harness his power! We then had a nice 9 strides to another virticle and hit the next line bang on of 8 strides to another huge oxer. Things were great. We were both confident and doing our best. We then sailed down the next line of 6 to another in and out, and then on to the last fence. Great! done!!!!! Just one rail which was ok because it was my fault. I was extremely happy with the way things went. I thought my horse jumped his socks off and i thought i rode really well! We had a good team effort and i felt we worked together today to make each other as happy as possible! Even with our rail we moved to 9th! There were quite a few rails being dropped as the course was seriously tough! Gavin and i then entered the ring once more to recieve our ribbon and take part in the victory gallop. It was great! I loved the cheering squad of my three BFF's (hahah!) and was happy that my parents got to see a great round too!
All in all it was a fantastic weekend with some of the "best's", the "ok's" and the "fantastic" parts of the challenges of eventing. I'm pretty tired today as some of the high has worn off, and the thought of unpacking has prevailed. My truck is a disaster, which for anyone that knows me isn't news to you, but really, it has reached an entirely new level of nasty. You know it's bad when I think my truck is dirty.
Well, i better get a move on.
Thanks for stopping by.
Don't miss a thing.
Love, Kelly
Bromont - Absolutley beautiful. Absolutely perfect. Absolutley the best time in 2010.
Sooo.... on Tuesday afternoon Smarty Pants and I packed up the trailer and headed down the 401 speeding over giant pot holes and swerving around crazy French drivers on our way to the Three Day Event at Bromont in Quebec. It was a glorious adventure, all thanks to some fresh CD's that were solicitously prepared by my great friend Christian Bennett. There's nothing better than having a solo dance party in your truck, singing words that you don't really know, heading to a place you can't wait to get to. After 7 hours of constant raving, Gavin and I arrived at the newly renovated Facility of Bromont. Boy is this place nice. I was here last year, but it's easy to forget just how magnificent this place really is. As you drive in along side Bromont I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the Mountains, the perfectly cut grass, the the proffesionalism of the facility, and the butterflies in my stomach. It's been five years since I did my first CCI* on my first One Star horse, Minstral at Midsouth in Kentucky. I was having flashbacks of all the things i've learned since then, and all the heartache that accompanies that, and all the ribbons i've picked up and all the pictures i've run out of room for and all the experiences i've been so lucky to put under my belt. A lot has happened in five years, and I can't help but be proud of where i've gone and the horses that have helped me get to where i am, and where i want to go. I also couldn't forget about the task that I was about to ask Gavin to do with me. I truely feel honored to own such a cool little horse. I often forget that he is only 6 years old this year, because sometimes he acts as though he's done this all his life. Don't get me wrong, he defffinately has his baby moments... like how i had to ride him 4 times on wednesday. He really is a ball of energy so i just kept taking him out for rides untill he thought that groaning and spooking at his own shadow wasn't quite necessary anymore. He's quite the character, but i wouldn't change a thing about him. I've learned his ways, tried to change them, failed, and just came to the realization that people and horses are who they are, and you must just learn to adapt to their ways of life! A great life lesson learned indeed!
I love wearing my Top hat and Tails. There's just something about the outfit that makes me feel like a winner. I think Gavin felt like a winner too, because we put in our best test of the year! We scored a 56 which is our best score at the FEI level! This put us in 20th place at the end of the day out of 40 starters. Gavin was SUCH a well behaved gentleman. I did shed a few tears as we did our final halt (which wasn't quite square but i didn't care!). We had no mistakes and no blond moment errors that took us off course, and preformed all the movements to the best of our abilities. I couldn't have asked Gavin to be any better and he was giving 100 percent concentration into the job he was asked to do. I took a sigh of relief as i was very content with all that had just happened. A lot of work and time is spent on this phase of the sport and it's easy to get frustrated when things don't go as planned. It was just two weekends before when competing at Grandview horse trials where i was sitting on what i thought was a firecracker in the dressage ring! Gavin was quite "up" and my arms were quite "sore" by the end of the test and was a little bummed out about the preformance we had delivered. So with only 13 days between that test and Bromont, lots of things had been smoothed and a sense of "calm" had washed over us both on this wonderful day of dressage. I have to thank the warm weather and the heavenly dressage Gods above for that one.
Friday was a nice day. I decided i would go for a trot around the old steeple chase track in the morning for a change of scenery and pace. Pace it was as my calm dressage horse turned into a fire breathing dragon cantering sideways, snorting at all xc jumps and jumping over every change of footing. Whoopsie. Not getting any better the second time 'round, i decided it was a wise choice just to head back to the rings! I'm not quite sure if Gavin thought he was back on the race track or what, but i wasn't sticking around to find out! I'm not quite sure where this horse gets his energy but i swear sometimes he also see's ghosts. So, we had a nice ride once we got back to the safety of the ring and then headed back to the stall for some R&R...who am i kidding, i mean a beer..ok beer(s).
Friday was also a special day because many friends and family were en route (see my french!?) to Bromont to cheer us on and help out. Mom and Dad were almost here, and Kaitlyn and Christian were also on their way. It's a nice feeling when you know you have great friends and family that will travel hours and hours to support you, help you out, make you laugh, and keep you company. I feel this year is an exceptional year for realizing the obvious and understanding that you can't take anything for granted. A few weeks ago there was an incident involving a very close friend of mine that opened my eyes to life and near death and what everything in the world meant to me. It was almost as if i was a numb living creature before, because now its as if everything has real color and purpose and i truely go through the day being greatful for what i have. I take great interest in how I am feeling, how I want to feel and how I make others feel around me. I'm not sure why it took me and an almost-tradgedy to figure this out, but i guess things happen for a reason and I was meant to feel this experience as deep as possible to understand the meaning of life itself and all the things i have yet to discover and offer.
I rode at the crack of dawn on the Saturday morning of cross country. It was one of those days though where i really didn't feel like i belonged in my body! I set sail aboard my trusty steed aiming at the green numbers in a mind set where i wanted to make time today. I knew we were capable but i started off a little "Picky" and a little slow, but finally got my **** together by the time i got to the coffin. Thank goodness because after climbing Mt.Everest you had a nice turn to a virticle log, one stride to a ditch, then 4 strides to a corner - a pretty decent question for a one star i thought. Gavin was perfect. He really is a xc machine, and he's so good at the technicle things i swear he doesnt even need a rider. We then struck off in a wonderful gallop across a huge feild which took us to a trekhaner heading into the woods. This was a much easier effort than the year before on Gavins part as we didn't hit our head on the trees above this time around! He then cruised around the next few fences before leaping ever so boldy and largely into the first water! i was shocked... he was a real xc horse now! we then galloped over some angled coops and then towards quite a large ditch and brush which i hit at a sweet distance and sailed over wich a smile on my face. It was then up to a table turning up a steep lip on a hill to a skinny toothbrush. Check check! jumped it amazing! Gave Gavin lots of pats as we headed down to the second water. It was at this point i realized my horse was getting a little tired and was leaning on me for balence. We had a little argument about which speed we should be going. "Gavin, i think we should slow down" "Kelly, i think we could speed up here" "Gavin slow down" "Kelly, hold on" . Things weren't happening as quickly as i would have liked so i ended up having a serious discussion which resulted in a head toss, a large spook at the crowd gathered at the water a loss of concentration and a bit of a hop over the "A" element of the water. This then lengthened the 4 strides to the goose in the water, where i had to sit tight and let Gavin figure things out, which he did just fine and then three more strides to the skinny out. It wasn't the ride I had originally planned, but that's cross country for you, and we went away with a little tap of the whip to intill some confidence that may have been lost. We then jumped a little bench on our way to a log to a corner and then on to the last fence. We made it through the finish line 8 seconds over the time and in good shape. I wasn't 100 percent thrilled with my preformance. I thought i could have given Gavin a better ride, and i was disapointed in my lack of decision at the water. I was upset and stewing over this while my team of Kaitlyn, Christian, Felicia and my Mom cooled out Gavin in the Vet box. It then occured to me that my 6 year old actually took care of me. This made me happy. This made me proud. And It made me realize that I have given him the confidence and skills necessary to carry on when things aren't perfect. But i guess the only way you really get better is to get a little upset at yourself when you ultimately know you could have done a better job. Gavin has a heart of gold, and he has a talent that matches perfectly with his heart. I was pleased with his fitness and his recovery and gave him well deserved pats on the way back to the stall.
Everything looked good Sat night. No bumps or brusises and Gavin jogged well in hand. So i tucked him in for the night and gave him many kisses and a little bit of beer for a job well done and wished him the best of dreams. I returned early the next moring to bathe and braid and go for a nice hack before the jog at 8. Everything went well. Gavin was happy and feeling great. The show jumping course was set, so i suited up and heading down to the ring. SURELY this was the two star course. Nope, it was the One star. Holy smokes was it big! The course was tough with a lot of related distances which I love because i CAN count!!! There were two in and outs, many bending lines and the oxers were wide! I was 22nd in the ring as i moved up to 14th place after xc. I was fortunate enough to watch some early rides so i knew what to expect and which lines were riding in what. There were decisions to be made and lines to be held and I felt as though I was ready to preform at my best today. I walked the course twice and stood by the side to visualize myself jumping the fences in pefect form, getting all the right striding and hitting all the right distances. God i looked good in my head! I do this often. Even for dressage and xc. I visualize myself riding the way i want and don't move on until it's perfect. It's weird, because i actually feel like i'm doing it as i picture it in my head. I can feel the saddle and the reins and how much pressure i have. I feel where my body is and i can hear my horse breathing. Once my round was perfect, I took Gavin up to the warm up and started warming up. My coach Vanessa Fenwick texted me a few reminders for my round which i then relayed to Christian who helped me warm up. "hold your shoulders, keep your hands up, sit in your saddle". Seems basic, but it's easy to forget the little things when the nerves kick in. I was thankful that CB was there to kick my butt and remind me of these little things. I then headed down the shoot to the final phase of the weekend. I was actually quite nervous. I wanted to do well. And i wanted to give Gavin a well deserved ride. Things were going well. I had a nice ride down the first line of 6 strides and Gavin was jumping great. I held my shoulders at the next virticle and he jumped it well. It was then 9 forward strides on a bend to a humungoooo square oxer. He jumped it so freaking well he nearly jumped me clean out of the tack! It was then on to another square oxer two strides to a virticle. I got nice and deep to the oxer but didn't have quite enough support off the ground to help Gavin jump up enough. He just nicked it with his toe and we had the rail. Shoot! but we put that behind us. He backed up well to the virticle out of the comination which has been difficult for him because he's such an exuberant jumper he forgets how to harness his power! We then had a nice 9 strides to another virticle and hit the next line bang on of 8 strides to another huge oxer. Things were great. We were both confident and doing our best. We then sailed down the next line of 6 to another in and out, and then on to the last fence. Great! done!!!!! Just one rail which was ok because it was my fault. I was extremely happy with the way things went. I thought my horse jumped his socks off and i thought i rode really well! We had a good team effort and i felt we worked together today to make each other as happy as possible! Even with our rail we moved to 9th! There were quite a few rails being dropped as the course was seriously tough! Gavin and i then entered the ring once more to recieve our ribbon and take part in the victory gallop. It was great! I loved the cheering squad of my three BFF's (hahah!) and was happy that my parents got to see a great round too!
All in all it was a fantastic weekend with some of the "best's", the "ok's" and the "fantastic" parts of the challenges of eventing. I'm pretty tired today as some of the high has worn off, and the thought of unpacking has prevailed. My truck is a disaster, which for anyone that knows me isn't news to you, but really, it has reached an entirely new level of nasty. You know it's bad when I think my truck is dirty.
Well, i better get a move on.
Thanks for stopping by.
Don't miss a thing.
Love, Kelly
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Smarty Pants Rocks My World.
So, I’m not going to lie…I was a bit concerned when I arrived at Wits End this morning. I hopped on Gavin a while before our test do have our “pre dressage buck “ ride which was going quite well, until the 100 m/hr wind decided to whisk on in!! If you’ve ever ridden in some serious wind, you know the term “wind up their ass” and the movements that usually follow whilst on horseback… Gavin had a miniature moment of this, but I kindly whispered to him that it would be EVER so kind of him to keep his special moves in a box for another day, and preferably a day when I’m not on him. Thankfully Gavin listened to my pathetic cry and decided to keep it together. As we trotted down the hill and back up to the new and beautifully built dressage ring I thought “ wow, this horse has come pretty far since last year as I could have easily been sitting in the dirt because he dumped me in the warm up”. And then I chuckled and told myself to shut up because we weren’t even in the ring yet. And we still had all three phases to go. ( ! ) He was quite spooky going ‘round the outside of the ring and got a little stronger than I’d like, but I was going to deal with what I had and make the best of it. We had some good moments and some really great ones too, and only one “oh my god, did I even do that move?” I also had a serious blond moment and managed to do an extra 20m circle (which I may add was BEAUTIFUL!) in the wrong spot, at the wrong time and definitely NOT in the test at all. I’ m going to blame it on the wind…totally understandable… right? So, we ended up with a pretty decent test. BEST intermediate test we’ve ever done .
After the show jumps were propped up with sticks, rakes, sandbags, and anything else that would keep them anchored from the wind, Gavin and I were ready to tackle the course. This ring is HILLY. And my horse was feeling EXUBERANT. And my nerves were a bit shaky. Thankfully my show jumping coach, Vanessa Fenwick made the trek to Wits End to help me warm up. And I thank her for that. She really does make me ride the best I can. I had one of the best rounds I’ve ever had on Gavin !!!! Unfortunately, I got him a bit too close to the base of the fence which was quite a big oxer going uphill and we had the rail. I couldn’t have been happier with him though. He was truly a great boy and had a round I can’t help but be proud of.
Then, I started tacking up for xc, and I felt slightly ill. I knew the course was well within our capabilities and wasn’t really worried about not being able to do something. I was nervous because I didn’t want to mess up. And I was nervous because I wanted to give Gavin the best ride possible. And I was nervous because I haven’t aimed at the Red Numbers in quite a while! Luckily my friend Hilary came along to be part of the cheering squad and just as they were heading out to find a good place to stand she turned and told me “don’t worry Kelly, you’ll be able to feel your legs soon!”. Thanks Hils!!! I once told Hilary to remind me to tell me this exact thing when I was doing my first Advanced in over a year. And she was right as usual. I felt my legs just fine as we sailed (but spooked HARDCORE) over number one which was followed by a “wabang, a waBUCK a waBANG buck BUCK” by Gavin. Boy was he feeling good!!! After he realized the jumps were a little bigger than usual, he started paying less attention to the birds and his bucks and started to listen to me. Man is this horse good on xc. I thought Minstral was a solid citizen, but this guy is something else! He was jumping everything I pointed him at confidently and well, with only a minor green moment at quite a large bank to a huge brush off. There was a brief moment in Gavin’s mind to say “holy smokes mom are you SURE you want me to jump off that?” and I said “absolutely yes dear, please proceed”. And after that was smooth sailing and confidence building and just plain FUN! I love this horse! And I love him even more now looking at the possible things we could accomplish! I also had a great time jumping into the water. I could have used a seatbelt but Gavin was sure not to touch the brush on the way in as that would be poor jumping form in his eyes. He was quite brave into the water which I was very proud of him for. Gavin has had some difficulty becoming brave enough to just take a leap of faith into the water… not having any major issues, but just being a little on the sticky side in the past. So I was absolutely thrilled with his effort to trust me.
All in all I really thought the day couldn’t have gone any better, and that Gavin really gave it his all. I am so happy with my little Smarty Pants I could just squish his cute-as-a-button cheeks! We drove home with our nice 4th place ribbon (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and will now have a smile plastered on my face for several days at least ! I also can’t wait until my personal photographer/super awesome friend/groom/driving buddy/singing partner Christian Bennett posts pics of the weekend! And thanks to Hilary, Maegan and Vanessa for coming to help out too! I love all of your support!! Oh, and thanks to CB’s mom for making delicious snacks for us to feed on during the day!!!
Pics to come soon!
Be known for your smile,
Love love love,
Kelly
After the show jumps were propped up with sticks, rakes, sandbags, and anything else that would keep them anchored from the wind, Gavin and I were ready to tackle the course. This ring is HILLY. And my horse was feeling EXUBERANT. And my nerves were a bit shaky. Thankfully my show jumping coach, Vanessa Fenwick made the trek to Wits End to help me warm up. And I thank her for that. She really does make me ride the best I can. I had one of the best rounds I’ve ever had on Gavin !!!! Unfortunately, I got him a bit too close to the base of the fence which was quite a big oxer going uphill and we had the rail. I couldn’t have been happier with him though. He was truly a great boy and had a round I can’t help but be proud of.
Then, I started tacking up for xc, and I felt slightly ill. I knew the course was well within our capabilities and wasn’t really worried about not being able to do something. I was nervous because I didn’t want to mess up. And I was nervous because I wanted to give Gavin the best ride possible. And I was nervous because I haven’t aimed at the Red Numbers in quite a while! Luckily my friend Hilary came along to be part of the cheering squad and just as they were heading out to find a good place to stand she turned and told me “don’t worry Kelly, you’ll be able to feel your legs soon!”. Thanks Hils!!! I once told Hilary to remind me to tell me this exact thing when I was doing my first Advanced in over a year. And she was right as usual. I felt my legs just fine as we sailed (but spooked HARDCORE) over number one which was followed by a “wabang, a waBUCK a waBANG buck BUCK” by Gavin. Boy was he feeling good!!! After he realized the jumps were a little bigger than usual, he started paying less attention to the birds and his bucks and started to listen to me. Man is this horse good on xc. I thought Minstral was a solid citizen, but this guy is something else! He was jumping everything I pointed him at confidently and well, with only a minor green moment at quite a large bank to a huge brush off. There was a brief moment in Gavin’s mind to say “holy smokes mom are you SURE you want me to jump off that?” and I said “absolutely yes dear, please proceed”. And after that was smooth sailing and confidence building and just plain FUN! I love this horse! And I love him even more now looking at the possible things we could accomplish! I also had a great time jumping into the water. I could have used a seatbelt but Gavin was sure not to touch the brush on the way in as that would be poor jumping form in his eyes. He was quite brave into the water which I was very proud of him for. Gavin has had some difficulty becoming brave enough to just take a leap of faith into the water… not having any major issues, but just being a little on the sticky side in the past. So I was absolutely thrilled with his effort to trust me.
All in all I really thought the day couldn’t have gone any better, and that Gavin really gave it his all. I am so happy with my little Smarty Pants I could just squish his cute-as-a-button cheeks! We drove home with our nice 4th place ribbon (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and will now have a smile plastered on my face for several days at least ! I also can’t wait until my personal photographer/super awesome friend/groom/driving buddy/singing partner Christian Bennett posts pics of the weekend! And thanks to Hilary, Maegan and Vanessa for coming to help out too! I love all of your support!! Oh, and thanks to CB’s mom for making delicious snacks for us to feed on during the day!!!
Pics to come soon!
Be known for your smile,
Love love love,
Kelly
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
nothing like an old shoe
Today was absolutely perfect. The alarm was late, or atelast my ears were quiet enough to not hear it. The air was thin, and everything seemed in place. Everything moved as it should have and i felt as though things would go the way i planned.
I couldn't ask for better horses. Every day i realize what great friends my equine lovers have become. I feel as though i am making significant progress with my young horse, Gavin aka "Smarty Pants". We've been busily preparing for Gavin's big upgrade to Intermediate this weekend at Wits End Horse Trials and i'm pleased to announce that the butterflies are back and are keeping me from getting a solid nights rest! There's something about competition. A competitive thirst runs through my veins like a heroin addict. A few months back i came to a fork in the road where i was questioning myself, my abilities, and my main goals in life. For a small moment in time i thought of what it would be like to try something completely different than anything in the horse world. And for a short while, i almost convinced myself that maybe i should give it a try. Thankfully, i never went through with my minds glitched plan and stuck to what i know best and what i've wanted for so long, which is competing at the highest level of Eventing. This second guess came in to play shortly after my Advanced horse "Minstral" who's better known around the barn as "Danny" (or Danimal as i like to call him ... he really is a raging animal on xc!) injured himself after the Fair Hill International CCI*** three day event in the fall of last year. As any horse person, athelete, competitor can relate, i felt lost, defeated, hurt, minimalized and depressed. I felt i had done everything i could to prepare for this event, and i knew we could be fierce competitors in a tough feild of horses and riders. But as all horsemen know, things never go as planned, and you have to take the good with the bad, even if the bad leaves you in the mud (fellow Fair Hill competitors will understand!). But after a long winter in Ocala enduing the early stages of recovery i realized that this is truely what i want to do. During the endless hours and miles of walking down the road with Danny, I thought and spoke and listened to him, and i swear he told me he was in this for the long haul as long as i was. Call me crazy, but i actually spoke to a "spiritual elder" back in November and asked him about Danny. He told me he had something to prove and he wasn't going to give up until we reached our goals and dreams. So, i'm going to listen to this spiritual guy, because he's had the best outcome of the years to come yet!
Anyways, things with Danny are looking great. The injury is healing beyond belief which makes me cry with happiness on a daily basis. You've got to know that i LOVE this horse to absolute pieces. There's nothing in this world i wouldn't do for him. I would lay on a road and take a bullet, and climb super steep hills BOTH ways just to say hello to him. He is my world, and without him i would not have gained any of my education, knowledge, bravery, skill or heart. It is to him i owe my small, but exponetially growing, mighty eventing career. I've learned absolutely everything from this horse, and i can't wait untill we get back to competion next year, with our sights set high on competing at Rolex in 2011.
Well, i think i've poured my heart out for tonight. Don't worry, there will be a lot more oogling over my horses in days to come. I just love them so, and i feel the need to spoil them rotten and share to the world just how great they are.
Take care for now, I'll be back.
Be known for your smile.
Kelly
I couldn't ask for better horses. Every day i realize what great friends my equine lovers have become. I feel as though i am making significant progress with my young horse, Gavin aka "Smarty Pants". We've been busily preparing for Gavin's big upgrade to Intermediate this weekend at Wits End Horse Trials and i'm pleased to announce that the butterflies are back and are keeping me from getting a solid nights rest! There's something about competition. A competitive thirst runs through my veins like a heroin addict. A few months back i came to a fork in the road where i was questioning myself, my abilities, and my main goals in life. For a small moment in time i thought of what it would be like to try something completely different than anything in the horse world. And for a short while, i almost convinced myself that maybe i should give it a try. Thankfully, i never went through with my minds glitched plan and stuck to what i know best and what i've wanted for so long, which is competing at the highest level of Eventing. This second guess came in to play shortly after my Advanced horse "Minstral" who's better known around the barn as "Danny" (or Danimal as i like to call him ... he really is a raging animal on xc!) injured himself after the Fair Hill International CCI*** three day event in the fall of last year. As any horse person, athelete, competitor can relate, i felt lost, defeated, hurt, minimalized and depressed. I felt i had done everything i could to prepare for this event, and i knew we could be fierce competitors in a tough feild of horses and riders. But as all horsemen know, things never go as planned, and you have to take the good with the bad, even if the bad leaves you in the mud (fellow Fair Hill competitors will understand!). But after a long winter in Ocala enduing the early stages of recovery i realized that this is truely what i want to do. During the endless hours and miles of walking down the road with Danny, I thought and spoke and listened to him, and i swear he told me he was in this for the long haul as long as i was. Call me crazy, but i actually spoke to a "spiritual elder" back in November and asked him about Danny. He told me he had something to prove and he wasn't going to give up until we reached our goals and dreams. So, i'm going to listen to this spiritual guy, because he's had the best outcome of the years to come yet!
Anyways, things with Danny are looking great. The injury is healing beyond belief which makes me cry with happiness on a daily basis. You've got to know that i LOVE this horse to absolute pieces. There's nothing in this world i wouldn't do for him. I would lay on a road and take a bullet, and climb super steep hills BOTH ways just to say hello to him. He is my world, and without him i would not have gained any of my education, knowledge, bravery, skill or heart. It is to him i owe my small, but exponetially growing, mighty eventing career. I've learned absolutely everything from this horse, and i can't wait untill we get back to competion next year, with our sights set high on competing at Rolex in 2011.
Well, i think i've poured my heart out for tonight. Don't worry, there will be a lot more oogling over my horses in days to come. I just love them so, and i feel the need to spoil them rotten and share to the world just how great they are.
Take care for now, I'll be back.
Be known for your smile.
Kelly
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)