Name: Brena
Age: 32
Location: North Carolina
Relationship to Eventing: Novice Rider — hoping to move up to Training Level this spring
Favourite Eventing Moment/Story: Since I grew up just north of Lexington, Ky, Rolex and the Kentucky Horse Park were a big part of my childhood. So I was intimately familiar with eventing, but I thought that it was something only crazy brave people did with very fancy horses. Being terrified of jumping downhill or galloping too fast (bad runaway experience), I stayed safely in the hunter and dressage arenas. But in 2007, on the urging of a friend, I did a 3 day long eventing clinic with the legendary Scot, Ian Stark, down in Aiken. My horse, Solo and I had never even jumped a log together. Solo is my first horse after a lifetime of longing, purchased out of a backyard in 2006 as an ex-track-pony and rejected hubby horse. At the time, I didn’t even know if he could jump and he wasn’t sure what a circle was. I think Ian cried inside when he asked me, “So what have you done with this horse?” and I replied, “Pretty much nothing.” But everything changed for us at the second or third jump we worked on. It was probably a Training level (we were in BN) question: jump up a big bank, one or two strides on top, then jump off the equally big other side. My eyes bugged out when he told us to do it, and my heart pounded cantering towards it as Ian called out, “Don’t let me down, now!” But perhaps being clueless helped; Solo hopped up and off like he’d been doing it all his life. I galloped away with a ridiculous grin on my face and by the time we splashed through the water jump at the end of the day, I was hooked. Even the bystanders commented, “Hmmm, I think we have a new eventing convert!” That day, I knew that this was our sport and every day since, I’ve been able to think about nothing else. I still thank the great Ian Stark for showing Solo and I that we could do this together and giving us the confidence to believe in ourselves and our relationship, putting us on this fantastic journey of which I wouldn’t trade a second.
If you had to pick one reason why you love Eventing, what would it be? The journey with your horse, wherein your partnership and trust grow every day as you try to tackle three disciplines at once and not lose your mind!
Overall Goals in the sport: Complete the Training 3-Day at Waredaca in 2012
Biggest Role model (could be anyone– a famous rider, course designer, vet etc): Most recently this would be Becky Holder. I rode in a clinic with her in the fall of 2010 and I was blown away by her grace, professionalism, character, humour, strength, and talent. Although I appeared to be unable to talk to her without saying something incredibly stupid and embarrassing, I learned an incredible amount in just three days and have a huge amount of respect for her as a person and as a horsewoman.
Link to blog or website, if applicable: http://www.teamflyingsolo.com
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