Theatre Royal Open Prelim! Taken by May Emerson
Last Sunday was quite the day for me. I have been dreaming about going Prelim for years now. I can honestly say I thought I would have moved up at a much younger age, though the timing, my skills, and the “right” horse were not in alignment for some time. I am twenty eight years old and I finally reached my goal at Huntington Farm last weekend on Theatre Royal.
Even though I have only been riding “Vinnie” since the middle of June, I feel like I can do anything on this horse. He sure knows his job and he enjoys it too! What a treat for me. Vinnie tackles any and all obstacles without a bat of an eye.
He gladly accepts any challenge and assures me that everything will be alright. I am not naturally the most gutsy or overly confident rider that ever walked the earth. I am calculated and I tend to stress about things out of my control. Yet, this horse makes my fears dissipate instantly, like watching a pill dissolve in a liquid. He is truly an exceptional horse and I am beyond lucky to be in the situation I am currently in.
Theatre Royal OP Huntington. Taken by May Emerson
The lead up to this particular event was interesting. I began my official countdown to my move up about two weeks in advance. Well, when you start counting down fourteen days ahead of time you become acutely aware of your surroundings, your horse, and all the things that could go wrong that you would like prevent from going wrong.
What if I trip and roll my ankle? True story….I tripped and hurt my ankle stupidly running down stone steps in clogs. What if I accidentally lose my horse while cleaning his paddock? Again, true story. Vinnie saw a window of opportunity as I opened his paddock gate one morning. He went galloping out and started grazing. After about twenty failed attempts at catching the cheeky 15 year old Irish Sport Horse, I decided I needed to outsmart the smart horse.
Fortunately I felt extremely prepared after jumping a 3’6” jumper round at Tamarack days before the event. I thought if this goes really badly, Im not going to feel very confident about moving up. Luckily all went smoothly and Vinnie was a rockstar, as usual!
The night before I competed, I tossed and I turned and my mind was buzzing a million times per second. I literally dreamt that the Prelim drop into water at Huntington was similar to the drop into water that the main character from “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” had to tackle.
I was second guessing my abilities as a rider. I was worried about having enough time to walk my course again. I was a mess. I barely slept a wink and then I was freaking out that if I finally did fall asleep that I wouldn’t be able to wake up for my 4am alarm. Ahh!
Sunday finally arrived and I was a bit on edge. Excited? Extremely. Nervous? Heck yeah, I was nervous. Dressage was okay, although it definitely could have been better. I also had moved Skybreaker up to Training at this event too. I had two horses competing in a one day and rode six times between 8 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Thank God I had my family and friends there, otherwise I would have been a mess.
Theatre Royal OP Huntginton, taken by May Emerson
Prelim cross country was about to start and my heart was pounding and naturally I felt slightly nauseous. I saw my friend before I headed out. She said, “Good luck, how do you feel?” I said, “I think Im going to puke…” She said, “SUCK IT UP!” So, that’s what I did.
I sucked it up and went over to warm up. Everything went really well and the second I left the start box I felt a wave of power, concentration and confidence blanket over me. This is precisely how Vinnie makes me feels at every outing. It doesn’t matter if I’m jumping 20 inches, or 4 feet, he always makes me feel like a million bucks!
Of course I was on a high after my first successful Prelim cross country course. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone and anyone how awesome it was. In the midst of this adrenaline rush, I almost forgot that Skybreaker had never gone Training before and I almost forgot that Skybreaker had had some issues in the past with ditches, and that this particular course had three ditches on it. The only thing I could focus on was the successful cross country course I just ran around! Now I can accomplish something else. We can do this Skybreaker…I know we can!
Skybreaker OT Huntington, Taken by May Emerson
It’s truly amazing how positive energy can be transferred. First Vinnie’s positive energy took over my body and mind. I took that experience and gave everything I could possibly give to Skybreaker and we had the best cross country we’ve had to date. Eliminating fear and fearful horses out of my equation made the whole experience absolutely perfect.
Learning from a horse that understands his job has turned my world around. I cannot wait for our next outing together! I want to be taught from a pro like Vinnie and then I can teach slightly more green horses like Skybreaker what this game’s all about! This is what I like to call the cycle of positive energy!
My pal the Horse Pesterer was on grounds and caught some of my cross country on video! Thanks Dave!
