So I had the privilege of volunteering at Young Riders this past weekend. It was an amazing experience. If any of you ever have the time, volunteering is both fun and rewarding. It gives back to this amazing sport we all love, for without the volunteers none of us would be able to compete. In my previous jobs volunteering just wasn't possible. If I went to a show it was to work as a groom and if I didn't go to a show it was because my previous jobs had me working weekends. I am now in a situation that allows me to be a somewhat normal human being so volunteering is more attainable. I also have this twisted idea that I might try to get certified <-- is that the correct word? as a MSEDA judge with the ultimate goal being to someday get my "r" in Eventing Dressage. I know crazy right? And since I want to do this, many hours are needed scribing and volunteering. So onward with last weekend.
As we all know my last experience with scribing was an eye opener. I took it for granted that all of my horses and students went in the show ring looking their best and doing their best. There are a lot of people who just don't care. Well this time was different. It was a championship. It was an FEI level event. It was much more polished. I was super excited when I got assigned to the President of the Ground Jury at C, Annabelle Scrimgeour. First, she had an amazing British accent (I love accents) and second she was the head judge so I knew I was going to learn a ton. For those of you who don't know, in FEI level events there are three judges instead of just one. Its intimidating as a rider, but it gives you a much better view of how your test rode because you get three opinions (sitting at different points in the arena) instead of one. We all know dressage is quite subjective so it gives you a chance to see how you are really doing. I also discovered that scribing in a large arena is TONS easier. You have more time to write and to watch whats going on because theres more room! Novel concept isn't it? I loved how Annabelle was not destructive in her comments, yet when she felt strongly about a movement she made sure to explain her scores. I was able to ask her questions and understand what she was looking for and the best part was I was able to keep up with her AND my scores would have been pretty similar on more than 80% of the tests. (better yet were her british terms, "rather big circle" "muddled lengthening") I was stoked because she's an "S" judge and I was able to see so many things. Yay, I'm not completely useless in what I see!
I must say I was super impressed with the riding ability and the presentation of the horses and riders. Its nice to know that some of the up and coming riders can clean up and take care of their horses for shows.
And then on to Saturday where I "Area Stewarded" for the first time. It was also a good learning experience and EXTREMELY intimidating. I have ridden at the upper levels and at the FEI level. I know the rules, but wow when your put on the spot and asked to be in charge in that situation it is intense! For the day I was assigned the jumps back by the "hollow" they use at Rolex. For the 2* the riders had to jump off the huge drop at the root cellar and go to a skinny brush and then jump a log in the hollow followed by a skinny before they headed for a long gallop to a trakehner. It was pretty well ridden. We only had one fall that was because the horse slipped and fell on the landing side of the skinny brush (horse and rider were ok, just frustrated) and a hairy moment at the log going into the hollow for one rider where her horse went to take off, saw the drop and lost momentum in the air, leaving a leg at the fence, but keeping a cool head his rider rode on through and finished successfully in one of the top spots for the 2*. The 1* had to do the double bounce step down at the hollow and while we were concerned it might ride tough, for those who chose to do it instead of the option there, it rode well. We only saw one rider look straight at the ground and almost end up there. Her coach was standing near and said, " well her instructions were to trot and look up, she cantered and looked down- glad we got that on video" It was interesting to hear the different Chefs, Coaches, friends, and family members accounts of what their team was supposed to do.
All in all it was a well run, well ridden event. I was more impressed than I thought I would be. I had an excellent experience and I give tons of credit to the smooth running to people like Mary Fike and Bev Henson who were in charge of varying parts of the Eventing portion of the NAJYRC. They are incredible people in our area and we take them for granted. Oh, and thanks to Janice Holmes as well for helping me understand where I was supposed to be. Otherwise I'd probably still be asking exactly what I had to do to be an area steward? And were they sure they wanted ME to be doing that job? I really could just jump judge.... lol.
So I encourage more volunteers and make sure to say thank you to those out there. They really are the backbone of our sport.
Off to Cobblestone this weekend and will have a full report!
Signing off~
Mandy
Cam (Chatt Hills Adv)
Then and Now.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
The Importance of Grooms
You know I never got to properly thank my many amazing helpers/grooms/moms with food/friends at Midsouth Horse Trials the other weekend, so I thought I'd say thank you and remind everyone just how important grooms (unsuspecting friends) are in the horse show world. I also thought I'd share what it means to be a groom. If you didn't understand before you will now, and maybe you will rethink trying it out because it looks like your dream job.
When most people think of grooms they think of poor immigrants working ungodly hours lunging horses and cleaning stalls at the big hunter shows.What they don't think of are poor riders who want lessons or to compete at the upper levels so they commit their life to being paid less than minimum wage, eating Peanut Butter sandwiches, and moving home to live with their parents so that they can afford to compete at the top of their sport. Wait, didn't I say that being a groom was a barrel of monkeys? If you believed the first paragraph then your more gullible than a kid who believes a man who tells you "there's candy in the van with no windows". Here's what a day in the life of your average event groom looks like:
5:30AM Get up, don't shower because your just gonna get covered in slobber/tack soap/bath soap/ turpentine/furacin/surpass or any other number of crud at the barn, eat a granola bar (2nd cheapest thing next to PB&J), and rush out the door, wait go back and put some pants on, then rush out the door to the barn (or in my case the 20min drive to the barn)
6:13AM grab the first horse on the list and do a record time groom and tack up for the trainers first ride at 6:30AM- wait until 7:45AM for trainer to show up (ok this only counts for the trainer who puts too much on their plate...which incidentally is most of them)
11AM- have tacked/untacked/bathed/wrapped/walked in, out, up the hill, down the mountain/set fences/changed bits/ on no less than 8 horses....take a deep breath
11:15AM...run like a chicken-with-head-cut-off out to field for that last horse the trainer was asked to ride..she wants to be on in ten min...horse is on the other side of the 80acre field and thinks its funny to trot away from you
11:33AM your 8min late and your getting yelled at...why did you forget that darn 9th horse-that you weren't told about, but you should know about because of E.S.P?
12PM ok lunch time...PB &J (or Ramen if you aren't sick of those little packets yet)
12:15PM why are you sitting like a bump on a log, you need to have cleaned all 9 bridles by now, and iced 4 of the horses as well as washed ALL of the dirty saddle pads...oh and theres a horse coming in for the trainer to try at 1, have the correct tack out (so call the owner and see what you need)
1:05PM Ach, the person bringing the horse is late...carry all of needed tack to the parking lot and wait for the trailer to roll in, then hastily wait while the owner coo's at Sir Snortsalot and begs him to unload..for 20 min...set tack on wheel well of trailer and show owner how to unload horse...horse knocks tack on ground...run into the barn for a wet towel...run back to trainer tacking up Snort (aka Rearing Dragon of Death) who barks at you for leaving the tack too close to the horse while getting him ready...
2PM Snort has fought with trainer so much he's staying for a month of training...go set up a stall and pray he doesn't eat you alive because you get to help try to break his nasty habits over the next month (and your the assigned guinea pig to school him cross-country for the first time because he might try to re-enact a scene from Godzilla and your the "young-un")
ooops back up from 1:05-1:59 call the feed store and change feed for one horse, call two sponsors because your about to be out of product (and schmooze about how much you like Ed's Fish Oil even though secretly its caused you to not get asked out on a date recently because you smell like it and when you go to a bar smelling like an oil dredge people usually scatter), call an owner to remind them their tax-deductible contribution to the "Team" is due, call the farrier because you have horses competing this weekend and they need new shoes, call the trainers friend to pick up their kid from school because the trainer added three more lessons this afternoon and they can't go get said child...or wait- nope the neighbor can't go..you have to...
3-5:30PM feed, re-set feed, Oh! Don't forget to pick up trainers kid (beg said kid to not scream like a pterodactyl in your car), check any needed meds...clean the 4 bridles you still haven't gotten to, order hay/shavings for the traveling weekend, take a lesson on your own horse (beg forgiveness from said horse for ignoring him because the "string" comes first) drag Sir Dragon-Snorts-Death to his new field and hope he doesn't kill the boarders horses...uhoh he thinks he's a stallion..catch him and put in private paddock...call owner and inform her the board will be a little higher because Sir Flower is special and needs his own space
5:30-7 set fences for students in lessons, go back up to the barn and clean the three stalls that the barn staff didn't get to, grab trainers helmet so she can get on a students horse, go again beg forgiveness from your own horse (read-LOTS OF TREATS), then when told your done for the day...run to your car like your pants are on fire and drive home...wait turn around there's still laundry in the dryer that needs to be folded...then run home...eat another PB &J sandwich
8PM crash and burn because tomorrow the day has to start earlier, we just aren't able to get everything done in the hours worked.
Now what this doesn't include is the horse shows (lets not even go there for those hours) or the other strange things that pop up in a day. It also doesn't include trot/gallop set days because those are even worse. I just don't think people understand what a hard life being a groom is. On the other side of things though, there is nothing more rewarding when one of your charges jumps a clean round, or gets an admirable look or comment from a passerby..better from the trainers trainer... and the epitome is when your horse gets a best-conditioned/turned-out award or wins their class..you become a proud Mama and all that hard work pays off. There is also nothing better than getting to compete your own horse and noticing the improvement you have with them because Sir Snortsfire taught you stickabilitiy.
SO, because I have been there and I know what its like to be a groom I vowed to never treat my grooms badly and sometimes all it takes is a simple "thank you." So THANK YOU Courtney, Hannah, Catherine, Catherine's Mom, Julie, and Elisa. I know we wouldn't have gotten through that weekend without your help. Now onward and upward to Cobblestone HT...lets see what shenanigans get Shamrock Eventing in Michigan
signing off~
Mandy
When most people think of grooms they think of poor immigrants working ungodly hours lunging horses and cleaning stalls at the big hunter shows.What they don't think of are poor riders who want lessons or to compete at the upper levels so they commit their life to being paid less than minimum wage, eating Peanut Butter sandwiches, and moving home to live with their parents so that they can afford to compete at the top of their sport. Wait, didn't I say that being a groom was a barrel of monkeys? If you believed the first paragraph then your more gullible than a kid who believes a man who tells you "there's candy in the van with no windows". Here's what a day in the life of your average event groom looks like:
5:30AM Get up, don't shower because your just gonna get covered in slobber/tack soap/bath soap/ turpentine/furacin/surpass or any other number of crud at the barn, eat a granola bar (2nd cheapest thing next to PB&J), and rush out the door, wait go back and put some pants on, then rush out the door to the barn (or in my case the 20min drive to the barn)
6:13AM grab the first horse on the list and do a record time groom and tack up for the trainers first ride at 6:30AM- wait until 7:45AM for trainer to show up (ok this only counts for the trainer who puts too much on their plate...which incidentally is most of them)
11AM- have tacked/untacked/bathed/wrapped/walked in, out, up the hill, down the mountain/set fences/changed bits/ on no less than 8 horses....take a deep breath
11:15AM...run like a chicken-with-head-cut-off out to field for that last horse the trainer was asked to ride..she wants to be on in ten min...horse is on the other side of the 80acre field and thinks its funny to trot away from you
11:33AM your 8min late and your getting yelled at...why did you forget that darn 9th horse-that you weren't told about, but you should know about because of E.S.P?
12PM ok lunch time...PB &J (or Ramen if you aren't sick of those little packets yet)
12:15PM why are you sitting like a bump on a log, you need to have cleaned all 9 bridles by now, and iced 4 of the horses as well as washed ALL of the dirty saddle pads...oh and theres a horse coming in for the trainer to try at 1, have the correct tack out (so call the owner and see what you need)
1:05PM Ach, the person bringing the horse is late...carry all of needed tack to the parking lot and wait for the trailer to roll in, then hastily wait while the owner coo's at Sir Snortsalot and begs him to unload..for 20 min...set tack on wheel well of trailer and show owner how to unload horse...horse knocks tack on ground...run into the barn for a wet towel...run back to trainer tacking up Snort (aka Rearing Dragon of Death) who barks at you for leaving the tack too close to the horse while getting him ready...
2PM Snort has fought with trainer so much he's staying for a month of training...go set up a stall and pray he doesn't eat you alive because you get to help try to break his nasty habits over the next month (and your the assigned guinea pig to school him cross-country for the first time because he might try to re-enact a scene from Godzilla and your the "young-un")
ooops back up from 1:05-1:59 call the feed store and change feed for one horse, call two sponsors because your about to be out of product (and schmooze about how much you like Ed's Fish Oil even though secretly its caused you to not get asked out on a date recently because you smell like it and when you go to a bar smelling like an oil dredge people usually scatter), call an owner to remind them their tax-deductible contribution to the "Team" is due, call the farrier because you have horses competing this weekend and they need new shoes, call the trainers friend to pick up their kid from school because the trainer added three more lessons this afternoon and they can't go get said child...or wait- nope the neighbor can't go..you have to...
3-5:30PM feed, re-set feed, Oh! Don't forget to pick up trainers kid (beg said kid to not scream like a pterodactyl in your car), check any needed meds...clean the 4 bridles you still haven't gotten to, order hay/shavings for the traveling weekend, take a lesson on your own horse (beg forgiveness from said horse for ignoring him because the "string" comes first) drag Sir Dragon-Snorts-Death to his new field and hope he doesn't kill the boarders horses...uhoh he thinks he's a stallion..catch him and put in private paddock...call owner and inform her the board will be a little higher because Sir Flower is special and needs his own space
5:30-7 set fences for students in lessons, go back up to the barn and clean the three stalls that the barn staff didn't get to, grab trainers helmet so she can get on a students horse, go again beg forgiveness from your own horse (read-LOTS OF TREATS), then when told your done for the day...run to your car like your pants are on fire and drive home...wait turn around there's still laundry in the dryer that needs to be folded...then run home...eat another PB &J sandwich
8PM crash and burn because tomorrow the day has to start earlier, we just aren't able to get everything done in the hours worked.
Now what this doesn't include is the horse shows (lets not even go there for those hours) or the other strange things that pop up in a day. It also doesn't include trot/gallop set days because those are even worse. I just don't think people understand what a hard life being a groom is. On the other side of things though, there is nothing more rewarding when one of your charges jumps a clean round, or gets an admirable look or comment from a passerby..better from the trainers trainer... and the epitome is when your horse gets a best-conditioned/turned-out award or wins their class..you become a proud Mama and all that hard work pays off. There is also nothing better than getting to compete your own horse and noticing the improvement you have with them because Sir Snortsfire taught you stickabilitiy.
SO, because I have been there and I know what its like to be a groom I vowed to never treat my grooms badly and sometimes all it takes is a simple "thank you." So THANK YOU Courtney, Hannah, Catherine, Catherine's Mom, Julie, and Elisa. I know we wouldn't have gotten through that weekend without your help. Now onward and upward to Cobblestone HT...lets see what shenanigans get Shamrock Eventing in Michigan
signing off~
Mandy
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Midsouth PC HT Craziness
I encountered another first this weekend. It was the first time I have ever competed more than two horses at once and I can now say I have a newfound respect for anyone who competes more than two horses at one event. It was a crazy weekend and it ended up being educational for all involved. I had four students riding, competed my mare, and competed two friends green horses.
Friday there were only two dressage rides. Mira went first and since her behavior is about as mercurial as the famous Christian Grey she had a not so stellar test. We went from an amazing 33.5 at Indiana HT to a 44.3 at this show. While it put us in second to last, it was still a qualifying score and I am well aware she (and I) are capable of doing much better than that. Next went Elisa and her mare Marley, who have been riding with me for a little over a month and are showing steady improvement. They also achieved a qualifying score, but we all know Marley is a much better jumping bean than DQ, so all is well.
Saturday was the crazy day. There were 4 XC rides, 5 dressage rides, and 3 show jump rounds in all. My day was set to be wild. I made the mistake of drinking one of those 5-hr energy drinks in the morning before we got to the Horse Park and because of that little bottle of stimulant I was shaking like a kid who has had too much sugar and walked into an amusement park. Mira was foot perfect on cross-country and we were up on the clock until about fence 14 when I slowed her a bit, knowing we would be pretty good on time and still a little apprehensive to push because of our still mysterious metabolic holdups. Elisa and Marley got around their first prelim clean and looking excellent, much more controlled than in the past. Then we went into some dressage rides. Chelsea was a bit nervous, so Weber fed off of her. They had some hairy moments in dressage warm-up (Weber felt there needed to be some jumps out there), but went in and put in a pretty good dressage test. Following them were Kandace and my wonder horse Cameron at their first recognized event. As always Cameron put in a very steady test. That horse is so amazing. I was so blessed to have had him as long as I did. It was then my turn again on a green sale horse, Ted (Return to Sender) who walked all the way from Egypt (where the trailers were parked) to the dressage like a champ (even when some kid on a bicycle tried to mow us down). He was a little worried in warm-up but once in the dressage ring decided he was a big kid and actually put in a really steady test. Following Ted I ran (ok on a golf cart courtesy of my awesome older sister) out to cross country to warm-up Chelsea. She was again pretty nervous (having not competed since last summer) but worked very hard on keeping calm. She and Web had some sticky moments on cross country and ended up calling it a day about ¾ of the way around the course, not because of elimination, but so that she could teach Web the lesson of patience with his rider. I then ran back to dressage in time to see Catherine and her wonder pony put in a test worthy of admiration. (I am so proud of her and that pony, mostly because of the confidence he has given her) And again back out to cross country (can you say running like a chicken with its head cut off?) to help Kandace and Cameron get going. Cameron was his usual goofball self in the start box, shaking his head and demanding to start like someone lit a fire under his bum, but went out and showed Kandace just why I loved him so much. Then it was back to dressage for me to ride, Julie Congleton's awesome little mare, Lola. Julie had a crazy busy week judging at the Midsouth Pony Club Rally so when she asked me if I would ride Lola I was honored. Lola is a dressage machine, so showing off in the dressage ring was right up her alley. And then before the day was through Ted, Lola, and Ransom pony all had to show jump. Each went in the ring like old hands and jumped double clean. I was so proud of everyone Saturday, but went home and was in bed by 8pm.
photo courtesy of Perry Photographic :)
Sunday was the last of the early days. I was supposed to be the second horse in the show jump ring, but when another rider scratched I was up first. I was exhausted and Mira had on her wings, so we would have jumped clean if I had been allowed to sleep for 6 more hours. I quit riding at fence 9A on a very winding course so we had one rail, but at least I know it was my fault. As always Marley was perfect and jumped brilliantly for Elisa. We finished 9th and 12th respectively in a large Preliminary division. Cameron and Kandace jumped into 7th place in their large Novice division. Then Ted ran cross country like he had been doing it for years, and Lola jumped around the same (putting Julie in tears because the “fiesta table” didn’t cause us any problems) and with the pony bringing up the rear and finishing in stellar fashion. Lola finished 6thand Ted finished 8th in their large BN division, and the pony finished a stellar 5th in his division of over 25 rides!
All in all it was an incredible weekend for Shamrock Eventing although I was so exhausted Sunday I slept for almost 13 hours between Sunday afternoon and Monday. We look forward to Cobblestone HT coming up in July. Mira is well on the track to do the CCI 1 Star at the fall Midsouth HT, hopefully Ted will sell soon, and the rest of the crowd is excited about the upcoming shows. Oh! And not to forget, the pony will be competing at the Area championships at Cobblestone. Wish us all luck in training!
TTFN~
Mandy
Friday there were only two dressage rides. Mira went first and since her behavior is about as mercurial as the famous Christian Grey she had a not so stellar test. We went from an amazing 33.5 at Indiana HT to a 44.3 at this show. While it put us in second to last, it was still a qualifying score and I am well aware she (and I) are capable of doing much better than that. Next went Elisa and her mare Marley, who have been riding with me for a little over a month and are showing steady improvement. They also achieved a qualifying score, but we all know Marley is a much better jumping bean than DQ, so all is well.
Saturday was the crazy day. There were 4 XC rides, 5 dressage rides, and 3 show jump rounds in all. My day was set to be wild. I made the mistake of drinking one of those 5-hr energy drinks in the morning before we got to the Horse Park and because of that little bottle of stimulant I was shaking like a kid who has had too much sugar and walked into an amusement park. Mira was foot perfect on cross-country and we were up on the clock until about fence 14 when I slowed her a bit, knowing we would be pretty good on time and still a little apprehensive to push because of our still mysterious metabolic holdups. Elisa and Marley got around their first prelim clean and looking excellent, much more controlled than in the past. Then we went into some dressage rides. Chelsea was a bit nervous, so Weber fed off of her. They had some hairy moments in dressage warm-up (Weber felt there needed to be some jumps out there), but went in and put in a pretty good dressage test. Following them were Kandace and my wonder horse Cameron at their first recognized event. As always Cameron put in a very steady test. That horse is so amazing. I was so blessed to have had him as long as I did. It was then my turn again on a green sale horse, Ted (Return to Sender) who walked all the way from Egypt (where the trailers were parked) to the dressage like a champ (even when some kid on a bicycle tried to mow us down). He was a little worried in warm-up but once in the dressage ring decided he was a big kid and actually put in a really steady test. Following Ted I ran (ok on a golf cart courtesy of my awesome older sister) out to cross country to warm-up Chelsea. She was again pretty nervous (having not competed since last summer) but worked very hard on keeping calm. She and Web had some sticky moments on cross country and ended up calling it a day about ¾ of the way around the course, not because of elimination, but so that she could teach Web the lesson of patience with his rider. I then ran back to dressage in time to see Catherine and her wonder pony put in a test worthy of admiration. (I am so proud of her and that pony, mostly because of the confidence he has given her) And again back out to cross country (can you say running like a chicken with its head cut off?) to help Kandace and Cameron get going. Cameron was his usual goofball self in the start box, shaking his head and demanding to start like someone lit a fire under his bum, but went out and showed Kandace just why I loved him so much. Then it was back to dressage for me to ride, Julie Congleton's awesome little mare, Lola. Julie had a crazy busy week judging at the Midsouth Pony Club Rally so when she asked me if I would ride Lola I was honored. Lola is a dressage machine, so showing off in the dressage ring was right up her alley. And then before the day was through Ted, Lola, and Ransom pony all had to show jump. Each went in the ring like old hands and jumped double clean. I was so proud of everyone Saturday, but went home and was in bed by 8pm.
Sunday was the last of the early days. I was supposed to be the second horse in the show jump ring, but when another rider scratched I was up first. I was exhausted and Mira had on her wings, so we would have jumped clean if I had been allowed to sleep for 6 more hours. I quit riding at fence 9A on a very winding course so we had one rail, but at least I know it was my fault. As always Marley was perfect and jumped brilliantly for Elisa. We finished 9th and 12th respectively in a large Preliminary division. Cameron and Kandace jumped into 7th place in their large Novice division. Then Ted ran cross country like he had been doing it for years, and Lola jumped around the same (putting Julie in tears because the “fiesta table” didn’t cause us any problems) and with the pony bringing up the rear and finishing in stellar fashion. Lola finished 6thand Ted finished 8th in their large BN division, and the pony finished a stellar 5th in his division of over 25 rides!
All in all it was an incredible weekend for Shamrock Eventing although I was so exhausted Sunday I slept for almost 13 hours between Sunday afternoon and Monday. We look forward to Cobblestone HT coming up in July. Mira is well on the track to do the CCI 1 Star at the fall Midsouth HT, hopefully Ted will sell soon, and the rest of the crowd is excited about the upcoming shows. Oh! And not to forget, the pony will be competing at the Area championships at Cobblestone. Wish us all luck in training!
TTFN~
Mandy
Monday, June 18, 2012
Well it seems I haven't written in awhile. I feel I need to just clear the air. I should in all sensibility write about Indiana Horse Trials and how much of an interesting weekend it was, but I want to write about understanding the pain of entering an event (of any kind) and not actually getting to compete. There is nothing worse and sometimes people can be critical about you, your horse, your training (all kinds), the events you enter (on foot, wheels, or horse), the food you eat, and any other number of "getting there" techniques. In the end it either works or it doesn't, but when circumstances are beyond your control its just that much worse.
I have dealt with getting to an event and not getting to compete. it happened to me more than once with Cameron. The two worst were at Poplar at the CIC 2 star where I made a bad decision in that I chose to use a double bridle in dressage, against advice from my trainer and ended up having a disastrous unqualifying test. At the time Cameron had already been around the intermediate course there, so it wasn't worth wasting his legs just to jump around when my score put us far down on the leaderboard and it wasn't a qualifying score. Then there were the two times I entered Richland, the first time at Advanced, when I had a horrible trailer accident and didn't get to go. The second was at the CIC 3 star when I had entered and because Cam had jumped around Millbrook and came up lame afterwords we had to scratch. All of those times I lost large sums of money, caused untold stress and heartache to myself and my team, and managed to lick my wounds and keep on kicking.
As you all know I learned about the Tough Mudder event last fall when I saw some fellow eventers do on in Virginia. I was hooked. We all know I am somewhat of an adrenaline junky (skydiving and eventing just aren't enough) and am always looking for new more challenging activities. Along with a couple of friends I entered the Tough Mudder the was set for March 18th in Attica, Indiana. I was stoked. It was October 2011 so we had plenty of time to train for this grueling obstacle course event. Well, as we all know in late February the TMHQ sent an email that the safety officials felt March in Indiana was too cold, so they chose to move the event to June. We stayed with our Sunday time (June 17th) and while we were disappointed we figured the weather would be better and we had even more time to train.
Well we went this past weekend. We set out with a team of 6, "Asses from the Bluegrass" to do our first Tough Mudder. The trip to Indiana was uneventful. We had a good dinner and went to bed later than we should have because we were so excited. I was exhausted so when Olivia woke me at 12:30AM I was super confused. She said we had all just received an email stating that the Sunday TM was canceled. After about 15 minutes of serious contemplation (arguing) and internet research on our cell phones we found out because they had, had bad storms Saturday afternoon that they were canceling Sunday. Naturally we were all distraught and couldn't believe this was happening. We drove 5+ hours, got a hotel, ate dinner out, had t-shirts made, took time off work, and planned on having a kickass time at this thing the next morning and now because of some rain we were unable. AND unlike horse shows there was no phone number to call and no one to talk to, to ask if they could just start a little later. The next morning we drove up to the site and to our sad surprise there was not a bit of standing water near the start/finish.
This is just past the start/finish area...HUGE puddle (<--Insert sarcasm here)
I understand there is a safety issue with getting emergency personnel to the back of the course, but like I said, if they had just started later...
And this one is the monkey bars...its about 100 feet before the first picture..no mud in sight....
The other difference is at least they gave us a free entry to another of their events. Sadly though I am not sure if I will be able to attend one this year due to conflicts on all of the other weekends. I think I will be on a mission to try to make the Missouri one work. It is fall break weekend after all.
So now I have a little inkling as to how it feels to be all of those people that wanted to run Badminton this year. My little adventure doesn't compare in the slightest to the money that those people spent (flying themselves and their horses to England, living expenses, etc) but I do understand the heartache. You prepare for these things and think there is no way weather can get in the way, but sadly because of all of the climate changes we have had, the weather ends up being the most deciding factor in many adrenaline fused activities. Personally, I say bring on the tough weather, it just makes it that much more of an achievement when you finish. That and the devastation that this weekend caused is extremely hard on a person as neurotic as I am :(
And yes it is called a Tough MUDDER....so naturally more rain would make it better right? Guess not....
signing off~
Mandy
I have dealt with getting to an event and not getting to compete. it happened to me more than once with Cameron. The two worst were at Poplar at the CIC 2 star where I made a bad decision in that I chose to use a double bridle in dressage, against advice from my trainer and ended up having a disastrous unqualifying test. At the time Cameron had already been around the intermediate course there, so it wasn't worth wasting his legs just to jump around when my score put us far down on the leaderboard and it wasn't a qualifying score. Then there were the two times I entered Richland, the first time at Advanced, when I had a horrible trailer accident and didn't get to go. The second was at the CIC 3 star when I had entered and because Cam had jumped around Millbrook and came up lame afterwords we had to scratch. All of those times I lost large sums of money, caused untold stress and heartache to myself and my team, and managed to lick my wounds and keep on kicking.
As you all know I learned about the Tough Mudder event last fall when I saw some fellow eventers do on in Virginia. I was hooked. We all know I am somewhat of an adrenaline junky (skydiving and eventing just aren't enough) and am always looking for new more challenging activities. Along with a couple of friends I entered the Tough Mudder the was set for March 18th in Attica, Indiana. I was stoked. It was October 2011 so we had plenty of time to train for this grueling obstacle course event. Well, as we all know in late February the TMHQ sent an email that the safety officials felt March in Indiana was too cold, so they chose to move the event to June. We stayed with our Sunday time (June 17th) and while we were disappointed we figured the weather would be better and we had even more time to train.
Well we went this past weekend. We set out with a team of 6, "Asses from the Bluegrass" to do our first Tough Mudder. The trip to Indiana was uneventful. We had a good dinner and went to bed later than we should have because we were so excited. I was exhausted so when Olivia woke me at 12:30AM I was super confused. She said we had all just received an email stating that the Sunday TM was canceled. After about 15 minutes of serious contemplation (arguing) and internet research on our cell phones we found out because they had, had bad storms Saturday afternoon that they were canceling Sunday. Naturally we were all distraught and couldn't believe this was happening. We drove 5+ hours, got a hotel, ate dinner out, had t-shirts made, took time off work, and planned on having a kickass time at this thing the next morning and now because of some rain we were unable. AND unlike horse shows there was no phone number to call and no one to talk to, to ask if they could just start a little later. The next morning we drove up to the site and to our sad surprise there was not a bit of standing water near the start/finish.
I understand there is a safety issue with getting emergency personnel to the back of the course, but like I said, if they had just started later...
The other difference is at least they gave us a free entry to another of their events. Sadly though I am not sure if I will be able to attend one this year due to conflicts on all of the other weekends. I think I will be on a mission to try to make the Missouri one work. It is fall break weekend after all.
So now I have a little inkling as to how it feels to be all of those people that wanted to run Badminton this year. My little adventure doesn't compare in the slightest to the money that those people spent (flying themselves and their horses to England, living expenses, etc) but I do understand the heartache. You prepare for these things and think there is no way weather can get in the way, but sadly because of all of the climate changes we have had, the weather ends up being the most deciding factor in many adrenaline fused activities. Personally, I say bring on the tough weather, it just makes it that much more of an achievement when you finish. That and the devastation that this weekend caused is extremely hard on a person as neurotic as I am :(
And yes it is called a Tough MUDDER....so naturally more rain would make it better right? Guess not....
signing off~
Mandy
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Cross-Country Schooling!
Schooling
cross-country. Another phrase that can bring dread to some people, to
others it brings excitement and promise of an adrenaline rush. The Kentucky
Horse Park Foundation generously puts on schooling days at the Park throughout
the summer which provide the Eventing crowd a chance to jump fences on the
famous course. Yesterday was the first one of the season and naturally it
became somewhat of a clusterf**k as usual(which was not necessarily because of
the astronomical number of people there or the craziness of riders and horses
careening EVERYWHERE). If you haven’t been around me that much then you don’t
know my middle name should be either klutz or clusterf**k. SO since everyone loves stories here goes.
The plan: take Ransom/Catherine G, Marley/Elisa,
Ted/Maggie, and Junood/myself (with Sara/Everest out to hack) to meet
Skip/Catherine D and Eveen/Keebler
(dubbed our fun Irish friends) out to school some lower level stuff in the
evening on Wednesday. I knew Elisa was my only Preliminary person so she would
get to school some big stuff while we did the little stuff. We were supposed to meet
at the KHP between 5:30/6PM. And since I
am a bit neurotic about time (and everything else) I wanted to leave the farm
as soon as everyone got there, so I got home early and brought Ransom and Ted
in.
The actual happening: Maggie had to fit a saddle to Ted
since she is looking at him as a potential horse to buy (shameless plug here- Ted is for sale,
16.2hh TB gelding- FANTASTIC jumper, tons of potential and cheap!) so she
wanted to take him schooling with us. Well, she had to change her air vest cord
from one saddle to the other..we are now ten minutes behind. Me being the
impatient person I am I decide to go load Ransom and Ted while she is doing
this. Meanwhile Elisa pulls her rig around behind Catherine’s and tries to load
Marley. Tries is the operative word here. Marley said she wasn’t keen on
getting on the trailer today, so sorry it sucks to be us. It ended up taking much prodding and Marley
finally walked on ( in all fairness it was a Brenderup and according to Elisa
they don’t even sell those trailers in the US anymore...I could say something
snarky here, but well I like Elisa and the trailer actually wasn’t as much of a
death trap as I thought those trailers were…must be the reason they didn’t make
it in the US..) We are now 25 minutes behind.
Next we head to the park. I told Sara (Junoods
owner) to go in the campground entrance because as we all know that’s the way
to go to the schooling area start. She called me while we were driving and said
that way was closed. We decide to re-route to the main entrance. I then tell
Catherine to over the dam bridge (the one we walk over for Rolex) because that
way is faster too. She gets up there and it is also closed off because of the
hunter show that is going on. We have to re-route a 3rd time now (and
were 40 minutes behind. Catherine and Eveen have been waiting for us for over
an hour now but their Irish and good natured so they were willing to wait) and
come upon the state vet. I always hate meeting the state vet. Most of them
don’t know anything about horses, all they do is check the dates on your
paperwork. God forbid they hire a horse person to do this, that would be beyond
the State of Kentucky’s thought process.
We get through and head on up to the schooling area (on the other end of
the park). I get a phone call from Catherine as we go to park (she wasn’t right
behind us… her coggins on Ted has expired and she forgot to check it. They
won’t let her through.
Now we are in
open panic mode (with me telling Elisa every five seconds, "wouldn't it be funny if?"- she was not amused...she asked why it would be funny, I said because its better than saying, "I'll be *!^%@^. pissed off if..")<-- another aside here..people get really frustrated with my neurosis..I know I say things like, "house on fire" and "wouldn't it be funny if" among other things..its what makes me who I am. :)
We are an hour and a half behind and we now have to take
Elisa’s rig back to the front of the park to pick up the pony so that Catherine
can school. Maggie has volunteered to take Ted home. Catherine is upset and
feels really bad, but we get everything moved (with the state vet dude staring
at us the whole time) and finally head back up to the schooling area (did I
mention it was at the other end of the park?).
In the end we finally get on and go schooling. We picked up
a new person who came with our Irish friends, Miriam and her adorable shire
cross, Baby. Elisa had a brilliant school with Marley (sometimes all it takes
is a bit change) and Ransom pony jumped brilliantly, even over some training
level questions (Catherine really NEEDED that). Eveen and Miriam jumped some
stuff I think they would never had tried if I hadn’t been there and we
corrected some habits of Catherine D and Skip so their schooling went from
a bit frantic at first to absolutely lovely by the end. Junood was out for his
first cross-country school and bless him it was a MADHOUSE out there! I think
everyone and their brothers’ mother came out to school! He handled it extremely
well and other than a severe dislike for the ditch (we have to work on that
more, I am not keen on camel jumping) ß
don’t ask me how I know what a camel looks like when it jumps, he ended up
being extremely brave and jumping everything else, including the banks and
running through the water. In the end he had settled mightily and I got a text
from Sarah later that evening that for the first time ever he was not stressed
on the trailer ride home…maybe we need to stress him with hundreds of horses
galloping around more often.
So now you know how our clusterf**k of a school went. I am
extremely proud of the whole group. We had such a positive outing. I look
forward to what it means for us for the summer.
For now safe travels and good luck to all.
Signing off~
Mandy
Monday, April 9, 2012
Horse Show Attire
This past weekend most of you know I scribed at the Spring Bay HT. It was tons of fun and I’ll talk about that in another post. What I want to talk about today is something else. We all know when we go to horse shows we should be turned out properly right? Some of us (me) never did Pony Club but that doesn’t mean we don’t know what proper show attire is and better yet, some of the people I saw were riding for bigger name trainers in the area and were even more poorly turned out than the ignorant crowd. My main “rant” about this is something I was told many times by many different trainers/mentors/friends/parents- “ a well turned out horse and rider adds confidence.” It’s also courteous to the judge, the volunteers, your trainer, any owner you might be riding for, heaven forbid a potential sponsor, college recruiter, organizers, and yourself. I have to say I was slightly appalled at some of what I saw this weekend. Let’s have a rundown of proper as opposed to improper.
Let’s start with the helmet. As we all know approved helmets are now required and as most of you know I am a HUGE helmet advocate. Its amazing how one little piece of equipment can mean life and death, but better yet it’s EASY to wear. Most people have gone to a velvet or similar type helmet, and as long as it’s black and fits you properly, great, wear it. Even helmet covers are ok, as long as they fit and are black. It didn’t happen in my ring, but seriously, you would go in a ring with not only an old dirty helmet cover on and think people wouldn’t notice? Not only that but when the judge says something to you about it, be nice, take the critique and FIX IT. Don’t come back in the SAME ring three more times with the same helmet! Eventers are nice! BORROW!
And what about the hair? I can’t say I am a huge fan of those gaudy show-bows, but at least your hair is neatly put away in them. When your hair is flying out the sides of your helmet like Pegasus wings- don’t you think your horse might be a bit embarrassed? Seriously- the horses are here for us and ol Flash does not like it when you’re trying to help him around the ring with your hair just a-flappin in the breeze. Either put it in the helmet (although Charles Owen says no ponytails up in helmets) or better yet WEAR A HAIRNET and if that still doesn’t help…get hairspray…it’s only one day and it washes out.
Now on to clothing. A black or navy blue coat is appropriate, and it should be long enough to cover your seat, but not so long it’s a dress and not so short it looks like a sweatshirt. And if your shoes are too small you wouldn’t wear them…same goes for the coat. A stock tie is absolutely necessary, and while even I used to have the dreaded “pre-tie” at least it was clean and pressed, not dirty yellow and wrinkled (oh yeah…saw a bunch of those). On to gloves. I don’t know what trainer in their right mind would send their kids into the arena in white gloves. In case it was confusing- white gloves show EVERY movement of your hands. If you aren’t Anky Van Grunsven don’t wear them. Even when I ran around a 2* and advanced and wore tails even I didn’t wear them.. I don’t want the judge noticing if I have an attack of the “it” hands.
Your breeches can be white or tan, but if they are white…keep them clean…seriously, no putting on hoof polish, baby oil, petting your horse, cleaning tack, etc. while they are on…if you rub your hand on your pants..we all know. And finally your tallboots. Just clean em- that’s all. Don’t come in the ring looking like you have been wallowing in a mud pit with the pigs (that is unless its pouring rain and your slogging around in the mud just desperatly trying not to drown).
And NOW your horse. If it has white, BATHE IT. If it has been wallowing with you in the mud then BATHE IT. There is little worse than trotting around the arena on a dirty horse. If it’s too cold then hot towel and again eventers are generally an amiable crowd…if somewhere in your schooling no one taught you to hot towel, someone will show you. Let’s move on to braiding. If your bad at it DON'T DO IT. Ask a friend, pay someone, ask that friendly person in the next stall, but if you come down to the ring with your horse looking like he stuck his mane in a blender and you put rubber bands around it that is just as disrespectful as going without braids and if that’s what they look like then not braiding is a better choice. Finally, CLEAN YOUR TACK. It’s THAT simple. Grab a sponge and some dishwashing soap (if you are like me and living on a shoestring budget). It works fine. And finally your saddle pad. At least buy a $10 white saddle pad and then ONLY use it for shows. It’s even worse when you have a LOGO from a prominent farm/company/ or trainer and your saddle pad is dirty it reflects poorly on that person who is on the saddle pad as well.
It’s simple. If you look good and your horse looks good, then it’s proven that you will ride better. You make a better impression and it’s respectable to everyone involved. I know for a fact that I don’t want to stand out negatively,the easiest way to avoid that is simply to dress nicely.
Ok my rant is over. I just don't like anyone to disrespect the people who are out there painstakingly puttion on a show for us. These people spend countless hours out there so we can have a good learning experience. The lease we can do is dress nicely and be properly turned out.
signing off
~Mandy
Monday, April 2, 2012
A little about the Weekend and a tribute to Will
Words cannot express the pain of loss, of any kind of loss. People can tell you it will be ok, everything will be alright but when you experience a loss of someone you care about you just can’t agree with them. I lost my mother eleven years ago and to this day I think of her every day. I experience a dull pain whenever I think of the hole in my life where she isn’t and I thought that was the worst pain I could ever feel. I think this past weekend I felt a kind of pain that rivals that to a degree that I never imagined possible.
What should have been a good first event of the season this past weekend at the Ark HT in Monroe, NC turned into a bittersweet, long, slightly surreal weekend. The trip down and setup was smooth, albeit the last 25 miles of the drive are hell on wheels because there is a light every 200 yards and Charlotte traffic is awful.And don't even get me started on the trip home (what was supposed to be 7.5 hours became 12 because of a horrible accident on I-75 which caused us to sit at a standstill on the interstate for 2 hours) Since the Ark is a one day, we knew it would be tight and we had a plan.
Saturday ran smoothly to start. Mira went first and put in a nice dressage test (in a downpour), but then the sun came out and so did Mira’s “jackrabbit shoes.” She had wings on her feet that day and nothing was gonna make her touch a rail or a cross country fence. She finished in perfect time and we won our PT division. Kellie Driscoll took her own Remington who was foot perfect in dressage. It was during her warm-up for showjump that I heard something no one wants to hear at an event. There was a “hold” on cross country. You always fear that announcement. It means one of a few things and none of them are ever good, but as always you hope it was no one you knew and you pray everything is ok for all involved. I didn’t dream it would affect us because you only hear about that stuff happening to other people- not to the people you are directly associated with.
Kellie had an excellent show jump round and headed out slowly to cross country because the “hold” was still in effect. I told her I would run back to the barn to grab us some water and be back in a few, she had plenty of time (as an aside here since this isn't the main purpose of the post, Kellie did end up having a great run, as did Catherine and her pony Ransom who had an excellent first horse trail).
There is nothing in this world worse than walking around the corner of your barn aisle and seeing people standing at your group of stalls talking and just knowing something isn’t right. There is nothing to describe that feeling you get when you know it was a friend you were showing with for the weekend that was affected in that “hold” and no way to express the pain you feel when you find out the horse that you have been around for years isn’t coming back to that stall.
Now, let me tell you a little about Willpower aka “Will”. When KC was selling him I wanted that horse so bad. He was such a nice animal. He had the cutest ears, floppy like the nicest dressage horse from the minute the rider got on him. He was quirky. He loved to jump and like little Mira put his heart into every fence. I have never seen a braver/bolder cross country machine either. We will never forget Will standing in the barn aisle ground-tied patiently waiting on Maggie to come back to him or the flames she clipped on his rump every winter. Let’s also not forget seeing Maggie in the barn aisle late on those winter evenings blow drying Wills coat (yes I said blow-drying..with a hair dryer) because he would sweat and she didn’t want to risk putting him out wet. He had a heart of gold and would let even the rankest beginner go for a trail ride on his back or teach an up-down lesson. Will earned nicknames like “Willard” “William” and “The Pirate”- so named by my niece, Maddie when she saw Maggie leading him to his field one day last summer with that ridiculous pirate fly mask from Rolex on.
Will was a good soul and as I said on facebook the other day, horses, like dogs show us unconditional love. Any animal that can repeatedly jump fences at a gallop when asked, or dance around a dressage arena, and keep his toes up over rails that fall even when they are exhausted goes to heaven. All dogs do, I truly believe horses like Will do too.
Will is in heaven Maggie, he died doing what he loved for the person he loved the most. He will be watching over you and your future horses giving you the "willpower" to fly around with wings on your feet.
RIP Willpower. Hang in there Maggie!
Signing off
~Mandy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)