I was warned that this show is a long haul both mentally and physically, that the weekend would leave me gibbering for longer than usual. Therefore, today is my second day of post-show, pre-written posts.
Way back in the mists of time, I bought Rodney with the aim of showing him at a national championship competition, namely the American Eventing Championships [Back to Eventing: How I Won the Training Level AEC]. If he had been even semi-ridable, I never would have been desperate enough to turn to saddleseat. But he wasn’t and I did. As a result, I ended up at a national championship competition – for saddleseat lesson students.
This is my standard apres-show post giving me time to recover – perhaps even more heartfelt than after previous shows. I will be tired. That’s what they tell me. Usually, my Academy shows are two or three classes in one day. Then I go home. This time I get to ride in two classes. Then, instead of sleeping it off the next day, I turn around and do it all again the next day (with luck) and then again the next (ditto).
The National Academy show allows people to nominate for Horse of the Year. I wanted to nominate Sam but missed the deadline. Not one to waste an idea, I wrote it up for you. I present Sam:
First ride
Sam is patient. I had been away from riding for several years. The first time I put my foot in Sam’s stirrup, I was sick with nerves. Sam stood. On our way to the ring, I grabbed his mane in anticipation of a bucking, spinning free-for-all. Sam walked. The same with trot and canter. By the end of the ride, Sam had me relaxed and laughing. [Sam I Am]
Sam is humorous. If he feels the rider is advanced enough, he will throw in a spook when he gets annoyed at the barn dogs. He will even bolt if sufficiently annoyed with a sufficiently advanced rider.
Sam is fancy. If the rider is truly advanced and asks nicely, Sam can turn it on. He will transform from an average-looking, chestnut, lesson horse to a sparklin’, high-steppin’, saddleseat show mount.
Sam is dependable. Lola done showing for the day? Maggie under the weather? Put Sam back in the rotation.
Sam is proud. When Academy days run long, Sam gets offended. One needs to tell Sam that he is wonderful, that he is a fancy show horse, that we appreciate the sacrifice he is making … and then stand between him and the trailer/stalls. On more than one occasion, he has turned around and headed home, much to the consternation of his wee rider. However, no matter how obstreperous in warm-up, once in the ring, he is always a gentleman who carefully carries his human cargo.
Today I am a) riding in one or two National Finals classes, b) sitting home in a huff, or c) still at the show, cheering on the rest of the barn, wishing I was home in a huff.
I keep hearing that National Academy is a show that one has to experience to believe. That I need to go once just to get the idea. While I have no cause to doubt this, I also think that I can hit the ground running. Okay, not the best metaphor for riding. I think I will not be overwhelmed by whole concept my first time out. I’ve trotting into a lot more big rings that the average Academy student.
OTOH, none of these big rings have been at saddleseat shows. Being engulfed by a horde of horses and riders, all diamonding their hearts out, might just fuse my circuits.
There is a good probability that I can outride my competition. Whether I can outshow them remains to be seen.
Today is the second day of competition. Our instructor has reminded us that the goal on days one and two are to move up. The exact placing doesn’t matter. We are not here to win the semis.
The show is over three days and 10 move up after each round. History would indicate that there will be less than 10 in my division. OTOH, there could be 15 entries and I could already be done. Here’s hoping not.
By the time you read this, I will not have been on speaking terms with my stomach for days. I have been looking forward to this show since I heard about it a year ago [Showtime].
Of course I have thoughts about what happens if I win, or win big. Or if I lose, or lose big. But I’m not going there. That would be living in the future. In the run up, I have tried to enjoy the process, the pursuit of the goal, rather than the goal itself. I’ve been to shows. I’ve taken lessons. I didn’t miss a single boot camp session [Boot Camp Begins].
I’ve done everything I could have asked to prepare. And I’ve had fun planning for the show, saying. ‘I want to do X, so that I can do Y in November’. In the past, I have been at barns where I was not ambitious enough. I have been at barns were I was too ambitious. Whatever happens, I have enjoyed working toward goal at place that takes me just the right amount of seriously.
I feel ready.
The plan is to have inundated you with Tweets by now [Newest]. See sidebar for Tweets, Twitter handle and link to blog Facebook page. OTOH, I’ve heard horror stories of the show running until the wee hours. It may be show, sleep, and surface sometime next week.
Allow me to paraphrase the Special Olympics motto:
Let me win. If I can’t win, let me ride well in the attempt.
A well-bred Appaloosa who turned out plain bay. This is how I dressed him for Halloween. Note the stripes on his hooves. His breeder was not amused. Also note Jaws next door.
Yes, before I owed four plain bay geldings (all Thoroughbreds), I leased three horses. All – wait for it – plain bay geldings (TB, TB/QH & App). This is why Hubby is convinced I will end up with yet another bay, TB gelding.
I attended a meet-up for bloggers in my area. I was told that I must merge my personal and blog Twitter accounts into one. That I must use Instagram & Pinterest & Twitter to drive traffic to my blog. That I must… Well, no. As I said in the mission statement above, until someone offers to pay me, I don’t HAVE to do jack. Too militant? What I mean to say is that I am happy with the blog the way it is. And that’s a good thing.
For me, Twitter is a way to create a moving sidebar for the blog. Of course, now that I have been assimilated into the collective [Newest], my opinion may change.
I think the meltdown got rid of the last remnants of commercial thinking. For 20+ years, I wrote what the nice people with checks wanted me to write. I wrote newspaper pieces, magazine articles, even a book to order. If I had an assignment for a new magazine. I would read several issues cover to cover, including editorials and advertisements. I would absorb and reproduce their house style. The first iteration of the blog, Back to Eventing, was targeted to a specific audience. Once I started writing for myself, I was still trying to anticipate an audience. That way lies madness. One cannot write for the Internet as a whole.
I have come to decide that writing a blog is closer in method to writing fiction. You write the story you have to tell, then you look for an audience. So this is me, writing my blog, saying what I have to say, then looking around to see if anyone is interested in reading.
Virtual Brush Box 