As this season comes to an end and everyone is making their winter training plans, I can't help but reflect on not only this season but on past seasons as well. Although eventing is a very rewarding and gratifying sport, it is also very easy to become humbled by the competition. It is important for us as students, trainers, and competitors to take a step back, look at all of the right moves we have made, but also all of our mistakes so that we can learn and grow from them. As a rider, I have experienced many highs in my eventing career thus far that have shown all of the work that my horse, my trainer and I have put in. However, we have also experienced the inevitable lows of the sport. This season alone has been quite a bit of a roller coaster for us.
We began the year late, in April at St. Johns Horse Trials in Arizona. It was cold, windy, and raining most of the weekend, however it made for great footing. I ended up taking my sisters horse, Sampson along with my horse. When the weekend was over Boots and I ended 1st in Open Preliminary and Sampson and I finished 2nd in Open Training. It was great to see a lot of our winter training pay off at a show and it was a fantastic start to the year.
St. John Horse Trials April, 2016 1st Place OP, 2nd Place OT
Throughout the summer, we went to a few shows including Coconino in May, Copper Meadows in June, and back-to-back Coconino's in July. Our June show at Copper Meadows was one of our best shows thus far in our eventing careers. Coming out from my dressage test I was a bit disappointed, thinking that I left some marks on the table, however we scored a 29.6. Showjumping was phenomenal, Boots was jumping out of her skin. We skipped around the cross country course and finished in 2nd out of 19.
Coconino Horse Trials May, 2016 1st Place OP
Copper Meadows Horse Trials June, 2016 2nd Place PR
Coconino Summer HT I July, 2016 8th Place OP
Coconino Three Day II July, 2016 7th Place OP
The last show of our season was just recently at Galway Downs in Temecula, California. We were extremely excited to get to this show after a few setbacks this fall. Dressage showed improvement which was exciting for my trainer and I. Show jumping on the other hand was a bit disappointing. After a stop at the third fence and another at the sixth fence we left the arena with regret and a big E on our record. This was the first time in my six years of competition that I had been eliminated. To my surprise, I wasn't mad, I wasn't upset, I was just disappointed in myself. In my mind, all I thought about was how I could have ridden differently. Instead of being upset at our performance, I figured this gave me an opportunity. An opportunity to see clearly all of our weaknesses and what we need to improve on to have a successful season next year.
Galway Downs International November, 2016
As I said before, this season has come to an end and we are making our winter training plans. This disappointing end to our season has given me an opportunity to put together a better training plan for Boots and I. We will focus on our weaknesses and refine our strengths. This winter will consist of many square oxers, which I will not run past any distances to. We will focus most on show jumping while still furthering our fitness and strength in dressage and cross country. Although this season has been both rewarding and humbling, I am optimistic of our winter break from showing to better prepare ourselves to have a fantastic season next year!
Thank you all so much for reading and for letting me share my experiences in this crazy sport!
