California
Jan 15, 2010
It’s been a while since I’ve written, and though we haven’t been eventing over the last couple of months, I have been as busy as ever. It seems I never miss a chance to fill a spare moment of time with something to do. Regardless of how many horses are on vacation, there’s a never ending list of other horses to fill that time with, and inevitably, I am picking my way through the pitch dark on my last horse of the day, trying to find our way back to the barn. Amid my daily crunch to get everyone ridden before the sun set, we got the exciting news that I won the USEA Young Rider of the Year award again. It took me a bit by surprise since I had withdrawn Finian from so many events during the year, thus not getting any points, but the events we did finish carried a heavy enough point load, it was enough to top the leaderboard. It was even more exciting because it was my last year as a Young Rider, and a third time winning the award seemed like a nice way to go out on top. It also meant I forced myself to take two days off and go to the USEA Annual Meeting in Virginia to receive the award. It was a great chance to spend time with some of my sponsors, Dr Van Noy from APF and Sharon Gladski from Mountain Horse, and to generally just lay low without the temptation of something else to fill my time. I even read a book cover to cover, something I’d forgotten could be so enjoyable. I came home with a nice loot of prizes and products, and having spent quality time making new contacts.
Back home, and a bit re-energized about the upcoming season, I couldn’t help but feel behind the ball with getting the horses back to work after their time off. I had an itch to get going right then and there, and couldn’t help but picture myself as Lewis Carroll’s rabbit exclaiming “I’m Late! I’m Late!”. That feeling didn’t last for long though, because as soon as January rolled around, I found plenty of ways to jump in full bore and fill up the time I didn’t yet have. It’s been every day, every weekend, a schooling show, clinic, or x-country school, and with all the horses going better than ever, I’m feeling much more at ease with the calendar. I’m excited for the upcoming training session with Mark Phillips in two weeks, as well as our first event of the year at Galway Downs at the end of the month. In the mean time, I’ve got more x-country schooling and a combined test at Twin Rivers, as well as a barn full of horses to body clip, pull manes, and otherwise make look a little less feral. Sooner or later I’m going to master time travel, of course with my exemplary ability, I’d still manage to overbook myself. Oh well, no time to get myself into trouble, or anything else for that matter. I’m pretty sure diversity in life is overrated!
I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and that the new year brings great things to all.