Tonite's entries highlight how important the bond with your horse because when things don't go as planned you realize the importance of the journey and how great it is to have a horse to travel that journey with.
Hi my name is Emily
I own an 8 year old thoroughbred named Buck. I was lucky enough to get him from a woman who doesn't race her horses. So even though he never saw the track, he acts like he's the fastest horse ever. Every time I ride Buck I have to use all my energy to keep him calm and collected, which isn't as bad when we do jumper classes because I can let him run fast for those, but we are trained in balance seat so we do a lot of dressage shows. Living where I do it is hard to find shows in which I am trained. We normally end up doing hunter shows, me and my big dressage thoroughbred in the "A" hunter ring is not looked at nicely. This past September I decided to enter in the Keystone International Livestock Exposition also known as KILE horse show, which is a two day hunter show. We were entered in a jumper class and an equitation class. We arrived on a Friday and stayed the night in the Pennsylvania farm show building with all the unhappy horses. Buck and I got no sleep. So when Saturday finally came I had no energy to control Buck and that made me very nervous. I was scheduled to ride at noon. My first class didn't end up starting until 8PM. I had to scratch that class because no one told the dressage girl you had to memorize a test with western pleasure moves in it for an equitation class.
We waited until 11PM for my jumper class. I was shocked Buck was actually moving slowly! We have never had a problem making the time before, but in this class we did. We were on our second to last jump; he jumped it sideways. I was sure I was going off. But I thought to myself, I am not going down in front of all these people and my family (It was mostly I didn't want to ruin my show coat). So as I was half way off I pulled my self back on my horse and kicked him forward. We just made the time limit and continued to the jump off. I placed 5th out of 32. Now we had to repeat it all the next day. We found the equitation class I was supposed to be in and I went out into the show ring with about 30 other horses and tried to get myself noticed, Buck was amazing. But like I said before he's dressage trained not hunter so we didn't place. But I didn't care because he was perfect.
Then 11pm came and it was round 2 for jumpers. He was feeling like himself this time which is good because we only had 40 seconds to do the course in. I'm proud to say me and my crazy horse did it in 31 seconds. But that round only counts to get you into the jump off. It was jump off time and the time allowed was down to 30 seconds. Well people with those silly ponies that can cut turns we're flying while I was there with my 16'2hh thoroughbred trying to make all the sharp turns I could while still going fast. We competed the jump off in 26seconds... not too bad. But not good enough. I only got 6th place out of 27. All in all I was at a loss of words for my horse. Never in a million years did I think he would behave like a normal horse for a show with that many horses there (over 200) and to spend two nights in a strange building that he has never seen and a crazy indoor arena with a ton of cheering people? He was perfect. I even think I cried I was so happy with him.
Getting my horse to behave and perform at the KILE horse show this past September was defiantly the biggest accomplishment I faced with my horse this past year.
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Sarah
Many things have happened in my past year regarding horses. Two years ago I got my first horse, Wyland. He was older than we thought, but he was the best boyfriend a teenage girl could ever ask for! This past spring, after our best show yet, Wyland fell ill. We took him to Michigan State multiple times and he was finally diagnosed in late May with EHV-5, which is rare and not exactly treatable. In June Wyland passed away due to complications from the disease. It was probably the hardest decision that I have ever made to put him down.That meant I was also left horseless at the beginning of show season. Luckily a wonderful woman at my barn, Maria, lent me her horse for the summer. Her horse Jaeger and I did multiple shows together including the High School Equestrian Team. Our team even made it all the way to regionals!
My trainer also let me ride one of her ponies in a few shows to get her more acquainted to the whole show experience! Even after all our success I still couldn't help but thinking that it wasn't the same without Wyland. In late August at one of my last C-Circuit Shows there were multiple green horses for sale! I tried three horses that weekend and fell in love with one of them, Nellie! Lucky for me everything fell into place and I ended up getting Nellie! After only having her for a month I decided to go to our first C show together in October. I competed with her in the greens and some equitation classes. It was the best weekend ever! Who knew we could come out of the show with a Champion and Reserve Champion for the weekend! Nellie has been a great partner so far and I couldn't ask for a better second horse! I'm going to show her in the greens this coming year and I think I may see some jumper classes in our future too! I hope my 2014 is a little less eventful to say the least!
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Kelsey
Hi there!
My name is Kelsey Furlong, and I live in Colorado. I have owned my horse Worth (show name is 'I'm Worth It') for a little over four years now. He was a surprise Christmas present when I was 13 years old, and has been my everything since the day he hopped off that trailer, and into my heart. This year was a little bit rough for us. Worth turned 17 this year, and we began to realize that we cannot compete at the High Children's Level anymore. He had become increasingly back sore, constantly stiff, and on and off lame. As time went on, and I watched other barn mates move up, show competitively, and spend all summer on the road, I began to realize something. As much as I missed being able to go out and show, I realized how special it was to get to spend time at home with my horse. Honestly, it brought in an amazing realization of how cool it is to just be graced with Worth's presence. I got to spend early mornings with him, watching the sun rise and listening to the sweet sound of his nicker as I walked into the barn, and the calming sound of his tail swishing back and forth in an attempt to keep the pesky flies away. I began to notice more little quirks about him that I had never seen before. I memorized the feeling of each of his legs, the sweet slope of his back, and his high withers.
I bonded closer with my horse than I had ever felt before. His growing old, and loosing a little steam wasn't a curse at all, it was a blessing. I don't need to go out and show and win every weekend. I don't need to jump huge fences to feel like an accomplished rider. I realized what an incredible opportunity it was to even have something as special as Worth in my life. So to many it may not seem like a huge accomplishment, but for me, it was. We are all blessed to be able to surround ourselves with these brilliant animals, and this summer was my realization as to how much he really means to me. We may not have won a big classic, or jumped the moon, but we grew as a team, and are closer than ever before. He is my heart, my whole world, and I'm the luckiest girl alive to have something as fantastic as he is in my life!
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Amanda
I had knee surgery april of 2012. I was off of riding for many months. When I came back it was almost too painful to ride English and show hunters and equitation. Well, starting January of 2013, I made the choice to change to dressage. This has been a year full of accomplishments and many set backs. Having shown hunters for many years and being very successful, asking my mare to come into a frame was very difficult at times. However, we both worked together to almost completely relearn everything on our own. No trainers. The reward was amazing- an even stronger bond with my mare.
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Arden
For as long as I can remember I've begged for a pony or horse or even a donkey. Finally being 18 years old I decided to take matters into my own hands. I rescued a 10 year old OTTB named Karma. She had been saved from an abuse case where she and another horse were eating the bark off the trees in their pasture because they had no food and no water. Upon being brought to the rescue stable, she gained 50 pounds just drinking water. I went to visit karma and it was love at first sight. I got out of my car and she whinnied at me and came to say hi. Karma came home with me the next day. Being so underweight caused any muscle she had built up to deteriorate. I knew adopting a rescue horse could be a challenge but I really was not prepared for the emotional ride I was about to be taken on. I just started college and the change for me was really hard to go through. I eventually brought Karma to school with me and we got each other through so much. There are days when we would be working and I would have to stop my ride because she would reduce me to tears. How could a mare who had been through so much still give 110% to someone she had only known for a few weeks? Karma and I have been each other heroes in more ways than one. She gets treated like a princess and I get through college a little bit easier. Karma is nothing like your run of the mill OTTB. She is constantly looking for love and attention, and striving every day to please me. Getting the opportunity to rescue a horse is something everyone should have. I have made so many accomplishments with my horse this year, but most of all we saved each other.
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Megan
I'm not sure if there is a limit on how much we can write, but I would like to share with you what I felt was my biggest accomplishment with my best friend in 2013. On March 9th, 2013, I adopted my first horse, Art. He is an off the track thoroughbred and is 10 years old. He raced for 7 years winning over $160,000 dollars and had over 70 starts. His retiring and retraining process began with me and we became attached at the hip very quickly. I have owned him for 10 months and have only taken 5 lessons on him. I have retrained him completely by myself which I take great pride in. Through everything Art and I have been through together, I believe that our greatest achievement was establishing the bond that him and I have together. We have created this bond by not only listening to one another but by using trust as our way to communicate.
Today, I am able to ride him completely tackless at liberty and jump bitless which are accomplishments made through time and trust. I also keep Art barefoot and naturally trimmed by a AANHCP practitioner which has been a journey in itself for his well-being and integrity of his hooves. Many of my closest friends doubted that Art would be able to be barefoot and naturally trimmed because he had stereotypical 'thoroughbred feet'. This was very discouraging to me, however, I stuck to what I believed in. Today, Art has very strong barefoot hooves and can tackle almost all terrain as they are still strengthening every day. Art has given me many opportunities that I will always be grateful for and will appreciate for the rest of my life. This year, Art and I hope to compete in the Very Green hunters at some shows, and the one I hope to debut at is on our one year anniversary. I am very proud of him and the achievements that he has made in his second career. I cannot wait to see what the years coming have in store for us.
I hope Art and I's journey so far will inspire the hearts and minds of others that when you put your mind to something and are determined to fulfill your dreams, you should never give up on it and always stick to what you believe in.
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Hannah
Every single new year I like to write out a list of goals that I wish to achieve before the year is up. When the year changed to 2013 I wrote that I wanted to show at a 2'6 hight over fences with my horse. I got my mare, Sara, March of 2011, she is an OTTB and I had trouble with how hot she could get. At our second show ever she bucked me off and I broke my collar bone, but that didn't scare me away from her, it made me want to do better and prevent that from ever happening again. I put in the work and got results. I learned how to handle her in scary situations and I believe she learned that I was someone she could trust. We started showing again at a hight of 2' and progressed onward. I was schooling her over 2'6-2'9 courses and my instructor gave me the okay to start showing her over bigger fences. I signed up for the 2'6 mini prix at a local horse show series we attend and we ended up winning the class! I knew that we had done exceptional in the class but I was so happy to hear that we won. Since then my mare Sara and I have gone on competing this year at bigger heights. We've accomplished our goals and had some ups and downs but nothing ever stops me from feeling pride every time I look back and see just how far we've come. Sara has shown me what I can do if I am willing to put in the hard work and determination.
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Lizzi
Every New Years Eve I make myself a "horse show goal." This year my goal was to win a medal (last year it was to test and this next year its going to be to win a classic or a derby). This year I achieved my goal. The show before the one that I won my medal was super rocky with refusals all around and lots of chocolate chip cookies (chipping in). That show that I won my first medal I took a deep breathe and I started to enjoy showing again. It wasn't all pressure to do well and if I didn't I would beat myself up about it. I went into the ring and preformed my best and just didn't care about what the outcome would be (if it was first place then awesome, if not then oh well). The show that I won my first medal was probably the best show yet because my horse became a happier animal as well because he wasn't feeding off of my nerves. In a sense scratch my previous comment about winning my medal. My biggest accomplishment this year was having fun and enjoying the sport for what it is, refusals and all.
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