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

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