CatchRide

I love riding tons of different horses and being a catch rider however, once you start to really jell with the horse they get swept away from you. Not complaining because it’s my job to get these horses sold, but I just can’t help getting attached to the amazing horses I’ve gotten the privilege to ride these past weeks in the Northeast.

The fabulous junior jumper Tyco.  And the 7 year old horse who got me back into the equitation ring after 2 years; Chi wah wah.

The difference between my lacrosse stick and my riding stick is that my lacrosse stick is always in use. Earlier in July I finished two very grueling college recruiting camps, playing lacrosse in 103* East coast heat. Last week I swapped my stick for my crop and began week 1 of 4 showing horses with Quiet Hill Farm at the Vermont Summer Festival. I’ve been away from California and my home for over a month now. While I miss my friends and family I think I miss my bed the most, especially after experiencing life in 3 different college dorms; Skidmore (Saratoga horse show), Keene State (lacrosse camp), and Wesleyan (lacrosse camp). Our house in California is being remodeled so I keep reminding myself of the early morning construction noise I’m escaping so it’s all good.  The Vermont Summer Festival is New England’s largest “AA” rated hunter/jumper horse show and offers more than $750,000 in prize money. I competed here a few years ago and it was so much fun. Vermont is laid back but the courses and competition are really good. Last week courses were designed by Anthony D’Ambrosio who handled designing duties at the 2009 World Cup Final in Las Vegas. I found his courses quite good and challenging, requiring horses to be easily adjustable. Hillary Dobbs and her cat-like Marengo made the $30,000 Battenkill Grand Prix course look easy, leaving all the rails in place and taking over top spot to clinch the win. I watch in awe, inspired to learn to ride as smooth and strong as Hillary.

I’m currently taking a short hiatus from the horses until the 19th. I’m in China working for two weeks at an orphanage sponsored by a U.S. charity called ChinaCare, which cares for and gives surgeries to disabled orphans. I was nervous that taking time off from riding could make it more difficult for me to qualify in the equitation classes, so my trainer, Andre, found a few one days for me to attend when the showing was quiet helping me to qualify in the Maclay and USET before I left. I hope to quality in the Medal when I return…..fingers crossed, just eleven points to go. When I return, I look forward to heading up to HITS Saugerties, followed by two weeks of showing in Kentucky! Then we’ll give the horses a break before my favorite show of the year, the Hampton Classic at the end of August. I miss riding and can’t wait to get back on the horses.

There are those who like the comfort and security of riding a horse they know well. I’m not one of those people.

I could ride new horses every day and never get into the show ring and I’d be perfectly content. I like to see what each horse offers, where they need more balance and strength, where I’d have difficulty in the ring. That’s not to say I can ride any horse, clearly I can’t, but it’s this process I love most of all about showjumping. Week two at Saratoga last week brought three horses for me to show, two I’d never seen before and Tyco from the first week. Tyco is a bold and easy jumper and we earned good ribbons in the lows including a 3rd one day (I probably shouldn’t mention my GPS failure in the classic jumpoff but being an honest blogger I am). I’m very proud of new horse #1 Jolly Mon, an enormous bay owned by Showcase LLC of Santa Fe, NM. He has a lot of talent but his size makes him a little hard to maneuver. He proved he can turn with the best of them, finishing 4th in the classic among 8 clear rounds. I also rode equitation youngster Chi Wah Wah in a ring I haven’t seen for the past 2 years. Riding only jumpers I forgot how hard it is to keep so still and quiet. My hats off to barn mates Molly Braswell, Lauren Fabiano, Leah Harmon and Chelsia Zulia for making it look so easy. I tried the 6:30am Bob Braswell school of equitation one day and did finish 5th in the Maclay, my 3rd and final class on Chi for the week.

While on break from horses the next two weeks I promised Bob I’d walk around balancing eggs on my fists and books on my head. Next up (after lacrosse camps) is the Vermont Summer Festival where I’ll spend a month with more mystery horses, I hope!

Horses in the East get to graze! Molly Braswell, me and Rachel Herman pictured

Leg two of my crazy summer began last week at the Saratoga Springs Classic Horse Show in New York. I’m here via California (and Guatemala) to show and ride with Quiet Hill Farm between talking to East Coast colleges about their lacrosse programs.  Saratoga, what a great place for a horse show. For one, it’s on the grounds of the famed Saratoga Springs racetrack (many scenes were shot here for Seabiscuit). Racing doesn’t start until July but there are hundreds of thoroughbred horses in training. On any given morning to and from the rings, you’ll find yourself riding side by side with the jockeys. You can watch them breeze on the Oklahoma track and even take a tour of the Sheik of Bahrain’s private barns.

The show rings are set among the trees in a really pretty setting with lots of fields to graze your horse on. Remember, I’m from California so a grass field in the summer is unique to me. I rode a jumper named Tyco and ribboned in the lows. He’s such a cool horse. I can’t wait for this week. I’m also part of the Quiet Hill stables and that has been really fun. Like horses, we teenagers are herd bound so it’s really nice to ride with a group and cheer each other on. Congrats to Chelsea Zulia and Molly Braswell for their 1, 2 finish in the USEF Talent Search, Bryn Sadler for her win in the low Jr.s and Molly’s 2nd in the high Jr. classic. Great job Rachel Herman for her children’s hunter win and also Robin Swinderman for multiple wins in the AO Hunters. A few years ago I rode back East with Quiet Hill and trainer Bob Braswell. I’m so happy to return and excited to see what’s in store for this next week.

For leg one of my crazy summer I was in Guatemala last week. The main purpose was to do volunteer work for my high school senior service project. I chose to work at one of Just World International’s programs. Just World International is a non-profit developed by former show jumper Jessica Newman and focused on supporting education for children in developing countries. As a Just World Junior Ambassador I have been supporting their projects for the last few years. I thought it would be great to get hands on experience with the kids I help support so off to Guatemala and the Los Patojos project I went. In a small building about an hour outside of Guatemala City, Los Patojos takes in school age kids each afternoon and provides them with all the enrichment the schools lack, including a solid meal. The purpose is to keep them off the streets and focused on creative outlets that we take for granted. The kids were like sponges, excited and grateful for any effort I gave. I helped with math and english homework and then joined in with music, break dancing and juggling. I brought a suitcase full of musical instruments, juggling balls, face paints and clown noses. We had so much fun!

On Friday,  we drove to a small horse show in Guatemala City. There were only a few hundred horses and entries were only $15 a class but the jumps and courses were nice. This is the rainy season for Central America so the show season is much smaller during the summer. I watched a 1.35m qualifier for the upcoming Central American games. At the show I met Juan Andres Rodriguez, trainer/rider for the El Cortijo stable and 2008 Olympic competitor. He is a primary supporter of Just World and Los Patojos and has brought social responsibility to horse shows in the area. Like most other Latin people I’ve met, he was incredibly warm and welcoming, inviting me to lunch with a group of 30 to cheer on his native Uruguay in the World Cup (soccer).

After lunch we drove to his stable, navigating the roads half covered in mud from Tropical Storm Agatha, which claimed the lives of more than 150 a few weeks ago. El Cortijo houses some 90 jumpers and some dressage horses, most imported from Holland. The grounds were really nice and the stables expansive. Clients could sit at the clubhouse and watch us ride in the large indoor, outdoor or grass jumper fields. I rode two young Dutch warmbloods, a 7 y/o bay and a 6 y/o black stallion. They were both well trained and had great balance for such young horses. Juan Andres does a really nice training job. He put the jumps right up and let me have a little fun with them. Both horses would do well in the American market. I was invited to return in November for their International Show and next summer as a working student. I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity. It was an amazing experience and I loved using my Spanish.

These last two weeks have been quite hectic. From prom, to two graduations (my school’s and our brother school’s), to exams, it’s been a little tough to squeeze in riding. But, (huge sigh of relief) exams ended last Friday.
I jumped right back into it and showed Friday at Heritage and then Sunday at Fairfield. Chasing points always brings some interesting times at one days, and Fairfield was no exception. The day started out with a 90% chance of rain and a tornado warning. It all seemed ok though, cause the skies were clear all morning, until around 3 o’clock, which was, of course right when we were starting to show. For a few minutes the show prevailed in the rain until a tremendous thunderclap sent everyone running for his or her cars. For some reason though, most people waited out the storm, ourselves included. The showing recommenced around 4 and wrapped up around 6:30. Luckily, I have some points to show for it.
On another note, a horse my trainer found for me in Europe (who we subsequently purchased) arrived from quarantine. I saw her for the first time last Thursday, and she has been great, luckily. Usually, it most certainly is not recommended to buy a horse you have never seen. That is not advice I would give out to anybody, but my trainer has a very good eye for picking horses and we know the man who sold us the horse, so we took a leap of faith.
I’m headed up to HITS this weekend, and the large Fairfield show is after that. Later this summer I’m going to China for twelve days, but I should be able to spend a lot of time riding this summer, much to my happiness.

I’m off to Guatemala to ride and volunteer. My trip is all set, except for the fact that a volcano 12 miles from where I’m staying erupted last week. Making matters worse, deadly, was tropical storm Agatha, which slammed into Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador over the weekend, killing 150 people in resulting mudslides. This will either be the worst time to go or the best, depending on how you look at it. If the main airport keeps closing and reopening it will be the worst. From a volunteer standpoint it will be the best. I’m ready, I think. I’ll be riding at El Cortijo, the family stable owned by Juan Andres Rodriguez. I really like riding in new places, especially foreign. I also will meet up with junior rider Elisa Minondo and hope to get a tour of the area through a local’s eyes. But first, final exams for the both of us.

The summer of my Senior Year is looking rather wild and I can’t wait. Gone are the days of a few horse shows each month in California with beach time in-between.  Faced with college visits, community service requirements, lacrosse recruiting requests and a deep desire to stay in the saddle, my life of juggling just got a lot more challenging.

Lacrosse season has ended but that opened up a whole new set of demands I wasn’t expecting. I was awarded All-League MVP and now I’m answering emails from college coaches. I’ve only played for 2 years so I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. I’ve already talked to several coaches about their Division I equestrian teams and provided them each with a video.  I’m supposed to meet with them in person as well over the summer. Soon I will have to choose between horses and lacrosse!

But for this summer I intend to do it all as best I can, thanks to Quiet Hill Farm in Ocala, generous parents and a great travel agent.  So take a deep breath with me as I prepare for 7 cities, 5 states and 3 countries in 9 weeks. First up is a trip to Guatemala to volunteer at Los Patojos, a JustWorld International project that supports education and other programs to children near Guatemala City. While there I hope to visit the riding stable El Cortijo and meet with Juan Andres Rodriguez, international grand prix rider and co-founder of the Los Patojos project.

Juan Andres Rodriguez of Guatemala

Old Salem spring horse show wrapped up week 1 last Sunday with the $40,000 Grand Prix. Catherine Pasmore, another student of Heritage, grabbed the win in that class, which was absolutely incredible. As for myself, I showed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The first low junior jumper class was Thursday morning, and all the equitation classes on Thursday and Friday were in the afternoon, so I skipped the first period of school on Thursday, showed, hopped in the car, frantically changed into my uniform, went to school for three classes, then skipped last period, hopped back in the car, and threw my show clothes on again. Luckily, I did not have to show Friday morning because a quick morning thunderstorm got the jumper classes moved to the afternoon. Less fortunately however, the afternoon classes were running quite late. Saturday was a ton of fun. The low junior jumper speed class was out on the grand prix field. Aiden was fantastic, and all went well… except for one line, in which I left out a stride (Not recommended!). Fortunately, Aiden took it all in stride, so to speak. Oh well, I’ll do the strides right this week. For once, Old Salem has actually had (mostly) good weather so far, and I really look forward to showing later this week.