The Road To The Cup

I have been crazy busy since I got back from Lexington that I haven’t had time to even thing about writing this. But things are starting to slow down so here it finally is.

The week of Lexington was an absolute blast! It has easily become one of my favorite shows and I am so thankful that I got to see the show in its entirety. I flew out on Monday the 6th bright and early at 6 am. I landing in Louisville around 11:30 and drove to Lexington. My first stop was to the show grounds. I was amazed at the size of the place. All the barns, that seems similar in comparison to those at Lancaster, were full of barns that I had only read about in magazine. At one point I walked by Lillian Shively and almost fainted, I couldn’t believe she was within arms reach. THE LIILLIAN SHIVELY, someone I have admired for years, it was crazy! I finally found Fairfield’s stalls and since it was before evening session no one was there. After that I checked into my hotel and took a nap. Then it was back to the show grounds to watch the evening session. I finally got my first look at the ring, it was beautiful. haha I’m sure that’s not what people usually say but after years of seeing pictures and watching videos of classes there it was so amazing to finally see it in person. The classes were amazing too. The quality of horses was incredible. I just couldn’t believe I was watching classes at Lexington Junior League, and that was the feeling I had all week.

Tuesday I watched more classes. That morning was the USEF national qualifier for the adults, so I got to scope out the competition before hand. Watching that class I actually got pretty nervous because there were some really amazing riders in the class. The pattern they had to do was definitely a finals level pattern as well. I managed to get a copy of that pattern and have it in my pattern book now. Between sessions Kyle worked Star and I got to watch her go from center ring. She looked amazing and she looked right at home there. Standing in center ring I could finally see what Devon had been talking about with the slop of the ring. It’s not really noticeable from videos or the rail, but when you stand in the center you can really see the unevenness of it.  As I watched more classes that night, I could see everything that Devon and I had talked about, especially with the reversing though the center.

Wednesday evening was my first class, the USEF finals. There were 16 in my class and the pattern we had was a good one. It had been off and on raining all morning, but it was just overcast and rain free for my class. I was so nervous, my first time riding in the ring and it was my first class only added to the nervousness. Once I hit that gate it was kinda like a war zone, riders and horses everywhere, people passing and cutting across, trainers shouting out to their riders; it was intense. My trainers kept yelling for me not to get buried, which I was trying my best not to do. Finally the line up was called for. I knew I had made some mistakes and felt I could’ve ridden a lot better, but I had my pattern to focus on. Overall our pattern was pretty good, maybe a little rushed and I missed one diagonal, but I was content. They called back the top ten for awards and I was thrilled that I was callback! I ended up 9th, which I was happy with. I left the ring determined to ride better in my next call on Friday.

Fast forward to Friday and it was round two for me in UPHA finals. 16 in my class again. The weather report showed a 20% chance of rain my class with the hours after my class showing 60% chance. But the sky was sunny and the weather was warm for our gate call. In we went I rode harder and smarter than my first class. I had some great passes and did my best to keep from getting covered up. Watching the video afterwards you can so many times were I caught the judges eyes as I went by. In the line up I felt very happy with my rail ride. My pattern work was pretty good. I missed another diagonal and had some tricky parts, but it wasn't a totally flop. I am always so hard on myself, that I was kicking myself for not nailing it. But the show goes on. Anyways so after my pattern I got off and went to watch some of the other patterns. As Devon and I were watching patterns were noticed the wind pick up a little bit and some pretty dark looking clouds start to roll in. The show manager called all the trainers together and said that a major storm was heading our way and it was about 8 minutes away. He said we could either finish and do awards now or send the riders back and have the top ten return at the start of the evening session for awards. The trainers seemed to be on the fence of what to  do. Then someone hire up called down and said to send up back to the barns. So Devon and I started walking back to our stalls as Kyle led Star back the other way to the stall. We were halfway to our stalls when Devon felt a rain drop. Just then the sky opened up and it started pouring. We sprinted to the closest barn to seek shelter. As we were under that barn, somehow one of the horse’s stalls had blown up and the poor horse was freaking out in the corner of his stall. We shut his door and kept walking down the aisle. We were so close to our barn that we decided to make another run for it. I was still in my suit and didn't want it to get soaked. So I took off my derby and coat and held them in my arms and Devon threw a towel over my shoulders to keep my vest and shirt dry. Then we bolted to our stalls. We still were soaked and I had mud all over the back of my pants. At that point we didn't know who was top ten, so I set up my suit in front of a giant fan to help it dry quicker, just in case I was called back. After the crazy settled down, I went out to lunch with some friends of mine who had come out to watch me show. The show had announced that the would post the top ten on their facebook page in about an hour. So at lunch I kept checking and finally it was posted. I had made the top ten again! I was so excited! I knew I had had a much better rail ride so I was hoping to place a little higher this time around. Later on it was back to the show grounds to get ready for the evening session. My hair was still done, so all I needed to do was get dressed and touch up my make up. As I was pulling on my vest Kyle told me they just announced they were canceling the even session, due to the track being flooded out pretty much. So our awards were postponed again until the Saturday afternoon, when they would run the Friday evening session. With nothing else to do, we all went out for dinner.

Now it is Saturday afternoon and back off Star and I went into the ring to get our awards. We all went and got top ten ribbons and pictures with our trainers, and got to do our pass around the ring. But I still didn’t know where I had placed, Gary and Devon knew and finally told me I had got 8th. I was bummed I didn’t place higher, I thought I had a much better ride than before. With the three judge panel I had got a 6th, 7th, and 10th place vote. Seeing that made me feel a bit better, knowing I had a 6th place vote was nice. But when I looked at the bigger picture that I had beat 8 other people, that helped ease my mind. But like I said before I am so hard on myself, that all I could think about was “if i had done this” or “I should have rode like this” then I would’ve placed higher. But it was a learning experience and a humbling one at that. Saturday night after all the classes were over, we all said our goodbyes after a crazy, awesome, long week.

My flight home on Sunday wasn’t until 7 pm, so I had all morning to explore. So I made sure to go and see the Saddlebred Museum and the Kentucky Horse Park. The museum was amazing, a little smaller than I had pictured, but still awesome. I was just astounded by all the beautiful saddlebred items they had; pictures, painting, statues, videos. Being surrounded by such beautiful things about saddlebreds, was a dream come true. After exploring the museum I ventured around the horse park. Checked out the barns, watched some of the expeditions they had going on. Then it was time to make my way back to Louisville for my flight home. I was so sad to see my week in Kentucky come to and end. But I will forever treasure all the memories I made. Who knows if I will ever have the opportunity to go back there again. But I hope that I will soon get to go back, and show back in the finals. With this first time out of the way, I feel like I am better prepared to take on the finals again. It may not be for a couple of years, but I will do everything I can to show back there. I will say this though, I learned so much by showing at Lexington and in the finals. There is no doubt in my mind that I am a different rider in some ways than when I went out there. And I will carry everything I learned there into every other show ring I enter for the rest of my life. That it was this sport is all about, learning, growing, and having fun.

Well Syracuse is a wrap! So far out of all the places I’ve shown, I think Syracuse may be my favorite. The show was full of quality horses, nice size classes, and great hospitality all around. I came home last night, so I missed the last day of competition. But while I was there, the weather was beautiful and I couldn’t ask for a better show.

I showed on Thursday afternoon in the USEF adult medal qualifier. I got to the show around 8 am to watch one of the Fairfield’s academy riders compete. Then I went back to the hotel to rest up a little bit before my class. They posted the pattern for my class before the morning session. I was so nervous walking to the show office to see what had been picked. The pattern for the class was trot down the right rail showing two changes of diagonal, at the center of the turn halt and canter a circle, halt and trot back to the line up on the right diagonal. Sound familiar? That is the same as pattern B for the NEHC medal qualifier, something we practice all the time at Fairfield. While I was a bit bummed that it wasn’t a more complex pattern, I felt confident that we could nail it. The only thing I was really worried about was getting my diagonal on the return rail, since I’ve had some issues lately. There were 2 other people in my class, both of whom competed at UPHA with me. So it was nice to have other people, especially familiar ones, in my class.

Before I knew it we were walking down to the practice ring and Kyle was warming up Star. She looked so good with Kyle and that really helped by nerves. We felt so good warming up. I felt like I was riding really strong, both mentally and physically. They called the class and in we went. Star was so amped up on our first pass from the in gate; she was awesome. Our rail work went really well. I felt like I had a much better feel of Star in this class. I nailed my diagonal second direction and our canters were nice and smooth. Then came pattern work and I was the first up. I felt so prepared and ready to tackle our pattern as Star and I left the line up. We nailed our pattern. Our diagonal changes were spot on, her halts and canter start were crisp and on point, our circle was pretty dang close to perfect, and I nailed my diagonal on the return. As were stood with our numbers facing the judge, I got so anxious waiting for them to call the winning number. Both of the other riders had really good patterns and I felt like it was toss up. When they called my number I couldn’t believe it! I seriously wanted to cry I was so happy. Doing my victory pass, I swear I’ve never smiled so big before. It felt so amazing to win this class. It was like all my hard work had paid off. Devon, Gary, and Kyle were all ecstatic with my ride and pattern. Honestly just the fact that they were happy and thrilled, was enough for me. My mom was able to attend the show with me and I was so excited that she was able to be then when I won. I am still on cloud nine and can’t believe it happened.

The rest of the show was great. Especially Thursday night when they had a mechanic bull riding contest. Gary drew the short straw and had to represent and ride the bull. He did a great job and was a great sport about it! Watching the whole bull riding contest was awesome and I swear my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much. Friday I got to watch most of the morning classes before I had to head home. I really didn’t want to leave, but with about a 5 and a half hour car ride, I had to leave before it got too late. Luckily my Mom got the live feed working on my phone, so I was at least able to listen to some of the night classes are we drove home.