Kristin's Blog post # 6

Starting Somewhere

It seems surreal to sit inside knowing it is 11 degrees outside today and ponder the fact that I just completed my first event of the year. This event was a big deal for me, for many reasons.

1. It would be my first event in over 6 months. Last year, Trance and I only had three events total, the last one being in July at Intermediate. Every event Trance went double clear last year, but something just did not seem right. While to people watching his rounds looked perfect, something about the way he felt just seemed…..off. It was hard to explain, but something made me a bit uneasy. In the end, it turned out he had a stress fracture. I very luckily caught it before something terrible happened on course, but it ended my season prematurely. Consequently, I have spent the past 6 months wondering if the strangeness I felt at the events last year was the stress fracture, or Trance’s age, or just our inability to be in peak form with little practice. Either way, looking to the first event this year I was very nervous. How would it feel? Does he still have it in him? Do I?

2. This event determined his whole career. If he felt a bit off, or came off of it unsound, or just didn’t seem like himself (like all of last year), I was going to bring our 11 years together to a close. I accepted it would be time for him to retire to another rider to teach the levels and maybe bring to NAJYRC. I would NEVER sell him, but I was strongly considering a lease if this season was not meant to be. I want him to have fun doing his job, not constantly struggle with the demands.

3. I have done everything on this horse from Novice to the two star level. I really wanted that Advanced. We were ready a year ago, but soundness prevented us from achieving the final level. I really want Trance to be my first Advanced horse. And as my coach Skyeler says, Trance really wants to be an Advanced horse. Consequently, this show dictated whether it was the close of his upper level career, or whether we would pack for Aiken in a few weeks and aim for Advanced in a month.

The travel down was miserable. It was a 13-hour haul in pouring rain, and all for the benefit of soft footing. One thing I learned last year was that Trance couldn’t handle hard ground (and how many horses can like we had last year)? So in order to try and get this year off right, I drove to Georgia for Poplar to run the Prelim since it had been 6 months off.

The whole thing was wonderful. In dressage he was business like and consistent in 28 degrees. We can add sparkle later, but he put in a respectable and rhythmic test. Stadium was a very tough and tight course, and he handled it like a pro. The real test was xc.

He was a beast. And not a little bit, but more like a total preliminary devouring monster. In warmup he about lost his mind, and I was more than happy I had punched two new holes in my noseband and put him in a metal bit (he used to go in rubber). Skye sent me out the box and I just kept repeating, “Don’t take back.” When you haven’t gone prelim speed in 6 months it seems VERY fast to go flying at solid objects, but I knew if I let him out for the first few fences, my eye would adjust and his gallop would keep its integrity.

Every single jump was spot on. The tough coffin that caused trouble? A breeze. The bank bounce? No sweat. The waters? Bold and clean. He was just plain ferocious. He landed from each fence and bore down onto his hind legs, then catapulted forward like every millisecond mattered. I chimed in four times: before the coffin, before the bank, and before the waters. The rest I just let him gallop and picked up his poll before the big tables.

I have had four courses in my life that felt like every single fence was perfect: Intermediate at Lexington May 2011, Bromont CCI** June 2011, AECs Intermediate September 2011, and then this one. All of 2012 felt a bit off, and I thought maybe he was past his prime, but this course showed me he still wanted to do this sport. He desperately wanted to jump bigger and run faster.

The best part was that when we got home and went to the vet, he looks great. No promises for tomorrow, but for now he feels better than ever. I sent in the Intermediate entry for Pine Top in three weeks, and am packing bags for Aiken. Here’s to hoping.