Day 6-

My first round of the day was kinda iffy. Willard and I were a tad bit under pace, so we kinda buggered up most of the jumps. However, this set me up nicely for my second round of the day, as I was able to find the perfect pace and have the second best round of the week! I got a 3rd place in that class and made the decision to do the ‘special’ money class the next morning. That night after the evening grand prix all of us from the barn went out for supper at the hotel. It was so fun! My coaches are so interesting to listen to, I wish I could know all their stories. I have so much to learn from them.

Unfortunately my supper was either poorly cooked, or I have some sort of flu going on cause I was up sick for a while that night. I think I ended up falling asleep around 1:30 or 2 am, after making myself throw up just so I could try and sleep. This made for an interesting next day…

Day 7-

After finally getting to sleep the night before, I woke up still feeling a little bit sketchy. But I still rode, didn’t eat or drink much before which probably contributed to the feeling like I was going to pass out part. During warm up I literally had to focus most of my energy on staying on and conscious- riding with food poisoning is never a good idea. My round was actually decent (a little fast), until he refused the last jump-eliminating us from the class. I really wasn’t too concerned as I just wanted to get off and be on solid ground. Besides, it was a good week. The last day is always a bit sketch, the horses are tired and cranky and sick of being in the building. And my riding wasn’t at it’s best either. The course definitely would have ridden different if I was healthy.

So, overall, a first, third, fourth, sixth and a seventh. Not bad for my first year in the adult division. Lots of feedback, and lots of compliments from other competitors- even some on my ‘graceful’ falling. Thats one thing I’m good at! haha.

I’m kinda sad it’s over, I was getting used to getting up and riding every day. It was nice 🙂

I’m still kinda sick ish, so I’m going to bed!

Day 5-

New classes today, Open Low Hunter (3ft) and Adult Amateur/Non-Pro Hunter (3ft). The open low round was basically a warm up, first class of the day. Not much chance of placing no matter how good the round is. But, the round went well. A little speedy for the coach, but that’s alright.

The second round was fabulous! Definitely the best round I’ve had yet, anywhere. Beautiful slow pace, and fantastic jumps. Won that class! A friend that also shows, Dena, who is older placed third in the same class. This is my first year competing in adult/amateur classes and she made a point of first telling me how awesome my round was, and then giving me shit for beating her.

“You aren’t supposed to put in rounds like that now that you’re an adult! Not when you’re in my classes!”

Day 6-

Same classes today, plus an under saddle for adult/ami. Open round went well, a little fast again though. My second ami round, which was a handy today was decent, although the first line was slightly messy. He didn’t catch his lead into the corner after the first jump, which set him up awkwardly for the line. He kinda knocked his way over the second jump in the line. The roll back turns were very nice though. I placed 7th miraculously in that class.

Then I had my flat class for the Ami division. He went VERY well. Probably the best he’s ever gone on the flat. However, he wasn’t placed. My theory about this judge not liking greys is becoming a fact. Especially grey thoroughbreds!

Over all a good couple of days. Now to finish up the last 2 days of fair week! 🙂

Day 3-

First day of showing, went alright but not awesome. The boy was a bit strong and fresh and kinda dragged me around the courses. But we got over everything, and found things to work on so that always a plus!

My road hack went well too, it was a gigantic class with huge competition though, so couldn’t expect too much. I’m happy with they way he road through it though 🙂

Day 4-

Started out the day with a bath for the poneh and then rebraiding. Then we switched over to a different bit and hacked. He was much more relaxed today. My warm up was beautiful, good distances and everything. He was just floating over the ground.

My first class, open 2’9″ hunter went very very well, we had a beautiful round and to top it off we were placed 6th in a class of about 30 very nice horses. That was encouraging!

My second class (after another very nice warm up), Sr Low Hunter (3ft) brought another beautiful round, even better then the previous. Coming to the last line I asked him to take a pretty long distance, which he did. The big jump caused me to lose my stirrup, but I continued down the four stride towards the final oxer, where he jumped beautifully and landed nice. I thought I was good until he took the corner, and I was thrown off balance. I almost managed to stay on, but gravity got the best of me and I went tumbling.
I managed to twist in the air so I landed on my ass/back and rolled into a backwards somersault back onto my knees. Surprisingly my neck is okay.  My back injury/shoulder/hip is feeling the aftermath a bit right now, and I’m sure that I’ll feel everything tomorrow. Although I didn’t hit my head too hard, it’s been a little fuzzy too. Nothing sleep won’t help I’m sure.
It really sucks to fall off AFTER the last jump. Especially after a round like that.

Hopefully I can pull off some more rounds like I had today, cause those felt perfect! Minus the accidental dismount of course!

 

Day 2!

Today was full of riding, riding and more riding. I got there in the morning and hacked my boy for a bit and he was rather good. Soon after that I went and did schooling rounds with my coach- where Willard was good as well, but very fresh and strong. Which is regular for him at shows. Then I took a break and did some shopping with momma and came back to the barn a few hours later and hacked again. This time we apparently found another source of energy as Will had even more energy. So we galloped for about 40 minutes, trotted, galloped some more.. finally got him to a workable level and then the other horses in the ring left and he fretted again. Long story short, one of us has energy left over. I think you know which one it is.

I found these really cool adhesive ice patches at Zellers. They aren’t as good as pure ice.. but they do help take some of the initial pain out of my already aged joints. I swear, hip replacement at 20 sounds about right for me.

Tomorrow is the first day of competition for me! I’m super pumped! Completely different from last year, I was just batshit nervous about EVERYTHING. This year I feel much more confident and relaxed. Which I hope will have a positive effect on my riding, my horse, and everything in between!

And now, I think I’m done icing for now.

Goodnight all you non existent readers!

Day 1 of the Winter Fair has been successfully finished!

Although it the fair hasn’t officially begun yet, many of us keeners got there today to let our horses settle in and get prepared for the week of competition ahead. Willard was surprisingly calm and seemed quite at home; good thing. He even got to go into the grand prix ring tonight and hack around for a bit. That was SO COOL. I think I’m more excited about that 20 minutes then anybody else was 😛

The poneh is comfortably tucked in a almost-feather-duvet-level stall, layers upon layer of straw and shavings. He’ll probably sleep better than me on this plain ol bed.

I”m still trying to figure out how I’m going to manage to complete all of my major final assignments this week while simultaneously competing in the biggest show of the year. It might be possible. But it’s been one day, and I’m already beat. I just finished stretching and icing and I’m about ready to fall asleep.

More later!

With all this nonsense going on in Japan, it’s easy to see how luck we are to live in a place like Canada- where the ground is for the most part not quakey, and the radioactivity levels are normal. My heart goes out to all those in Japan, and those who have family living or working there right now.

I hope that everyone has a new appreciation for what we’ve got right now in our safe homes and solid ground. Sure our lives might be in turmoil for other reasons, or things might not be going our way. But at least we have a roof over our head, food, power, water, and our friends and family are safe.

How do you find that one thing you want to spend your life pursuing? I mean, it’s not something to take lightly. We go through high school being told that math, science, english, and every other class is important for our future. But, so far in University I’ve used next to no math, and the english I’ve used is completely different from what I was taught in HS.. How do you know what to chose? University offers so many classes and topics to study. Which one is best suited to you. I guess for some people it’s a clear choice. They know what they want, and how to get it. That’s their path in life, and it’s been laid out for them.

For the rest of us, it’s a gamble. You chose one thing, try it out, discover you don’t want to spend your life on that path, but then you’re back to square one.  That’s where I am right now. Being a gym teacher is still very high on my life list. It’s something I’ve know I wanted to do for a long time. But so is Athletic Therapy. It intrigues me. Maybe that’s jusst because I spend so much time in that department anyway.  But even this year, with the minimal kines classes I’ve had, I’ve become more intrigued in the topic. I haven’t ever been good with science, but this type I am alright at.. which is encouraging. Thankfully my major in Kines provides me with many of the same classes for both Ed, and AT.

And then there’s riding. I know that’s something I’ll be pursuing my whole life. There is no doubt there. All these other things are just getting in the way.  That’s why I’m really hoping to get the opportunity to work at a barn in NZ so I can get a feel for what a career in the industry is really like. It’s something I’ve dreamed about for years on end. It’s my biggest passion, riding.

NZ will also give me, hopefully, and opportunity to figure out what I really want. A year off will refocus me, I hope. Or it will completely derail me. Both are possible.

Fail, win? Debatable!

PS Happy Bday Daniel Craig! 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rbMHLDY1pA&feature=player_embedded

I basically spent the whole day driving, in athletic therapy, driving, and sitting on a bench at my basketball team’s first play off game. Which they won 116-13. Every spare minute was taken up by day dreaming about my up coming adventure to New Zealand.

I’ve been planning this for about 2 years now, and my best friend, Jenaya, recently decided to join me. The past 4 days have ben filled with planning and scheming for what is sure to be the best 6 months of our lives. Right now I’m working on finding work. I’ve been talking to the owners of a barn down there, seeing if I can get a working position riding with them. At the same time exploring different options for Jenaya to work and live at the same place or near by.

I’m so glad I will have someone to travel with while I’m there. Spending 6 months away from home alone is intimidating to say the least, so having a close friend there with me will certainly be amazing! 

Now to sort out this work situation. It’s about 2 hours away from where we were originally going to live (with cousins in Whangarei), but if we can find room and board there? Perfect.

The past year I’ve accomplished many things. I graduated high school, achieving my goal of receiving the “most dedicated athlete” and the “top female athlete” awards from my school. Then I spent the summer working full time and showing my two horses.  My mare, Flash, is a paint western show mare. She’s had her ups and downs, but has always been successful in the show ring. She’s a chestnut, and for anyone who knows anything about horses, chestnut mares are.. challenging, to say the least. I’d owned her for 4 years up to this summer, and it was decided that fall was the time to sell her to free up some time for University.

As it happened, she was traded back to her original breeders who were happy to take her back (she was apparently the first horse who did anything for them in the show ring). In return we got a foal, Felix, along with another foal in the future. Possibly one of Flash’s, if they breed her. At our last show of the season she decided to go out with a bang. Bang being bucking around the ring and then finally coming to a dead stop, rearing as high as she could without going over backwards, and leaving me with rotator cuff issues and lower back injuries.

She was always a drama queen. She taught me how to be tough. I fought for every little thing I earned with her, but once she knew I was going to fight just as hard as she was, she would show up every other horse in the ring. Of course almost every show I had to start over with this challenge. Sometimes you have to fight for greatness, right?

My hunter/jumper gelding, Willie, is possibly one of the best investments my mom ever made. From my perspective anyway. We bought him as a 6 yr old, thinking that he would be a good horse for me to get into the jumper scene with.  He soon proved to be twice the horse we thought he would ever be. Last summer, and this spring he has grown into a handsome boy and done very well in the show ring. I’m hoping that this summer will be our best season yet. He’s in peak condition, and we have a big show coming up next month.

This is Willie and I at Winter Fair last year. This was our first time at this level of show, so we went in not having high expectations. We came home with top 7 placings in almost every class we were in. Needless to say, I was VERY happy with my horse after that week of competition.

I just got back from hacking Will, and we’re finally getting to the point where I can tell he trusts me, and he’s willing to trust my decisions.  There is no other feeling in this world to compare with the feeling you get when you find that connection with your horse.  It takes such dedication and patience to get there, but every second of frustration is worth the result. I’m finally starting to feel like I’ll accomplish something I’ve been working towards for the past however many years. I’m working with some of the best coaches in Canada, and the changes I’ve seen in myself over the past season are incredible. Not only in my skill level, but in my attitude.

Now I just have to get over these lingering injuries. Thank god for my athletic therapists!

Ciao for now!

K.