- I moved my horse to an eventing barn and went from not being able to trot in a open field to qualifying for Area 5 Regionals and the American Eventing Championships (AEC's).
- I opened my own tack store on the campus of the barn where my horse lives.
- I rode in a clinic with Karen O'Connor!
- I traded my VW Beetle in for an SUV that will haul a horse trailer.
- This fall we plan to take my store on the road!
WHEW! So the fact that we are even qualified for the American Eventing Championships is a HUGE DEAL!!! Last October when I was still in the stronghold of fear, and mentioned my goal of riding at the AEC's this fall, a lady laughed it me. I'm not kidding! She really did!!! That's how ridiculous that goal seemed! I had hardly even jumped an x-rail! And forget riding outside an arena! But I am proof that discipline, hardwork, a good trainer, and a willingness to push yourself out of your comfort zone bit by horrifying bit, DO pay off!
Suddenly I find myself a mere 8 weeks from competing at the biggest horse show of my life thus far. What to do?! After a bit of a much needed riding vacation for both me and the Syd (my fabulous horse) last week, yesterday, Monday, began our ramping up in fitness and ability for our goal which is to complete the event on a good dressage score. The AEC's are held at Chattahoohie Hills Farm in Fairburn, Georgia September 8-12. We'll be there, and we'll be ready!
And so yesterday the odyssey began. Today, I begin to put it all down on paper (well, really to type it all into a blog.) Here goes:
DAY ONE: Fitness day! (Which translated, means "trot sets!") Since we took a few days off, and since the heat in Arkansas has been BRUTAL, I took it easy on the big bay beast and sort of started over. We did a 10 minute walk, followed by two loops of the big pasture (one each direction) at the trot, two big loops at the canter, back to the trot, followed by a ten minute walk, for about a 45 minute session. And for those of you that are wondering, one loop around the pasture is about a half a mile. Mission accomplished.
And if I'm gonna put the horse in training and really get him fit, well, I TOTALLY need to ramp up my own personal fitness level with some aerobic and weight training, but (and here come the excuses...) Mondays are HORRIBLE for me trying to juggle my store (ordering and getting reorganized from the weekend) with riding, so I did nothing for myself. Bummer...Here comes the guilt...
DAY TWO: Flat work in the jumping arena, in my jumping saddle. If you know me at all, you know I LOVE dressage. I'm a bit of an "anti" eventer that way. It comes WAY easier for me than anything done in my jumping tack. One of my primary focuses is going to be maintaining "dressage" whenever I'm in my jumping saddle and when running around the cross country course. I tend to get a bit spacey, and Syd tends to get a bit "we're going!" Hence today's work session. I waited a bit too long to get on horse today, so it was WICKED hot by the time I made it out to the arena. Thirty minutes was all she wrote, but it was a productive thirty minutes, so all's well. Once UPS arrives, and I lock up the store for the day, I'll go home and do an exercise tape. NO EXCUSES!!! And tomorrow the journey continues...
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