On the Line

Today I came across a kindred spirit! I just spent the last hour lost in a series of articles on being a working student. Tik Maynard is a Canadian writer/rider who’s been spending the last year traveling and working all over the world for various top trainers in the Olympic disciplines. His article “One Day With Ian Millar” is the top story on the Chronicle of the Horse today, and it’s a zinger. Once I read what Tik had to say about that ill-fated day, I clicked through to his website, where he wrote candidly and honestly about his various experiences of the last year. Those words are in italics because, let’s face it, too much horse-related writing is nothing but fluff and praise. I’ve even been known to write the occasional fluff piece myself (wink). But Tik doesn’t’ mince words about the positive and negative aspects of working for some big and famous trainers who seemed, um, a bit above making an effort to relate to him. And he’s just as honest about his positive experiences with some of the “good guys.”

Why are Tik and I one and the same? In 2007 I packed up my life and traveled to Europe to work for a couple of big riders, and I saw so many similarities between Tik’s experiences and my own. Thankfully, I was never faced with the situation he got himself into with Ian Millar, but man could I relate. My Ludo Philappaerts to his Johann Hinnemann, my Peter Wylde to his Ingrid Klimke. I’ve lived his “Lord of the Manor” article pretty much to the letter.

Like Tik, I also wrote about my working student experiences in a series of articles (click here and scroll down to I’m a Stable Girl Now!) for a horse magazine, but I have to say that my series don’t hold a candle to these articles in the bravery department. This guy does not hesitate to lay his honest thoughts out there for all to read. Better, he does it with style.

Check out Tik Maynard! He’s going to get some heat for these articles, but he’s got my respect!

Hmmm, it seems that show management at the Chagrin Valley Farms November Horse Show in Chagrin Falls, Ohio had to quite literally send a crew of over-zealous USEF drug testers on down the road this past weekend. The show was a rated, recognized competition on Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14, and an unrecognized show on Sunday, November 15. So show management was quite surprised when the USEF Drug Testing Team marched in bright and early on Sunday morning. A lively discussion ensued, as the USEF team was quite sure that testing should commence immediately. Further explanations failed to convince the team until a quick thinking show secretary printed out the USEF calendar from their website, which showed that Nov. 13 and 14 were the recognized days and the 15^th was an unrated day.

Even though we all know that USEF is “never wrong,” the calendar printout finally did the job of convincing the drug-testing group that they were, in fact, wrong. As show management watched them drive dejectedly down the driveway, they uttered in a chorus: “there goes our USEF drug fee at work.”

It’s unlikely that the USEF testers would have found a Pandora’s box of banned substances in the school horses that were competing that day, but the whole story leads one to wonder; if USEF can put forth such effort in insisting that unrated show horses be tested, what’s stopping the Testing Teams from expending the same effort around, hm, I don’t know, the hunter rings on the A-circuit when the regular working, or 1^st year greens are going? I’m just saying . . .

Lest you forget, I am a big big fan of the USHJA’s Trainer Certification Program. I’m STILL awaiting the announcement of the 2010 Trainer Symposium dates/locations, which I hoped would have been released by now. Who do I have to bribe to schedule one in Wellington during season??

Meanwhile I’ve got some overwhelmingly positive feedback on the USHJA Trainer Symposium that took place in Buffalo, New York last weekend. Northern California trainer Clint Sawyer and I worked at the same sales barn, at slightly different times, before Clint went on to open his own training business and I went on to. . . do what I do. Anyway, Clint spent the weekend at the Symposium and here’s what he had to say:

“It was wonderful! I am so impressed with USHJA… they have gone out of their way to put this program together. I think it is high time that professionals in this sport are held accountable to a certification program… so many people are teaching things way outside of what truly develops good riding habits….

The clinic was not only very informative, but it was fun too! Meeting top pros from around the country was truly a wonderful learning and growing experience. George did a great job (of course)… It was so amazing to watch him ride and put his theories to the test and to see results immediately…. I could go on and on!”

Thanks Clint!

I like what I do, so most of the time Mondays don’t actually feel like Mondays to me. Usually Monday is just another day to happily go about my horse-riding and lesson-teaching before heading to the office. But I was really feeling the Monday of today when I had to pull out the fleece breeches and scarf this morning. True, the sun came out after a few hours, and nothing froze or turned to snow. And I am in California, but those icy mornings are right around the corner, I know it.

And when they come I’ll have to step up my teaching game to keep nervous students on the right side of their hyper horses as we all cram into the indoor to play dodgeball with various DQs and speedy white ponies. For some reason tiny white ponies and DQs are more worthy of a spook than other obstacles. The DQs at my barn are a special bunch, as their trainer uses the “deaf rider” method while teaching. By plugging her students into a portable wireless microphone system, she makes them deaf to everyone but her while whispering into the talking end of a walkie-talkie from a chair outside the ring. Have you ever tried to guess if a passaging rider with flapping dressage whip in hand will cross your path as you gallop past on a hunter that’s just been spooked by a bucking white pony? Heels down everyone, heels down.

Every year around Maclay Finals time I feel a pang of regret. As a junior rider, I had all the ambition, work ethic and (I’d like to think) talent one could have to compete in the big eq and medal classes. Problem was, my world was Pony Club-narrow, and no one, my junior trainer included, ever even told me there was such a thing as a Maclay or USEF medal class. If only someone had taken the time to open my eyes to such a thing as equitation classes and national level competition. If only, if only.

But that’s why I was so incredibly thrilled to see that my fellow Californian Zazou Hoffman won the 2009 Maclay Medal Finals in Syracuse, NY over the weekend. Like me, Zazou comes from a family without the funds to buy her a Big Eq/medal horse. Like me, she competed at schooling shows on a tight budget and rode with a local trainer for much of her childhood. But unlike me, Zazou’s first trainer bestowed knowledge upon her, and opened doors for her that have proved invaluable. Southern California-based Meredith Bullock supported Zazou when she got her first lucky break of winning the R.W. Mutch Education Foundation Scholarship in 2005, at the age of 13. Zazou’s “prize” of two weeks as a working student at Missy Clark’s North Run during the WEF winter circuit evolved into longer stints with the top east coast trainer, catch rides on some of the best horses in the country and an impressive junior career that was just topped by the most prestigious medal final a junior can win.

She did it all on the momentum of her own hard work and talent, and without ever owning her own six figure eq horse. That’s a mighty accomplishment these days and we all know it.

Zazou’s my version of “what could have been”, and I saw a little bit of myself in her tears and priceless expression of disbelief and joy when she rode into the ring for awards and the victory gallop. I’ll only ever live those moments in my dreams, but I’m so very happy that she got to experience them in real life.