Lower-Level Event Rider Profile

By Visionaire on

Somehow this profile got buried in my inbox.  A lot has changed in this reader’s life since then, and that will be detailed in an upcoming post.  But let’s meet Carrie and Chester now, as they were when she emailed me back in April.

 

FEATURED RIDER:

 

 

JumpingChester.jpg

 

Name: Carrie Braff                      

Age: 29 (and I have 2 years of experience saying that)

Location: Cobourg, Ontario, Canada (An hour East of Toronto)

Primary horse’s name: Sippin’ On Sunshine (Chester…or S.O.S, depending on what we are schooling.)

 

Age, breed, pertinent info: 

I have had Chester since October, 2009, he just turned 9 on January 14 (but he is going on 5), Chestnut TB, 16’3 (at the wither), blaze, 3 white legs, 4 white feet (WTF was I thinking??!!!), just started jumping about 8 months ago, has never evented in his entire life (again, WTF was I thinking?), cutest little baby face I have ever seen, has the best personality anybody could ask for and is one of the smartest, most inquisitive and eccentric horses I have ever met. His intelligence, desire to please and consistent ‘light bulb’ moments scare me to death and I have been known to say on numerous occasions that I am worried I won’t be able to keep up with him. What is worse is that he has everyone wrapped around his little finger INSTANTLY…the bugger…it drives me bonkers…

 

Level currently competing:

May 29thwill be Chester’s first everfull event, he has done a couple short courses.  We’re starting with Entry – or in the US, I believe that is Beginner Novice?!  I PROMISE to send in some updated pictures of him at his first event ever!!  I am so excited for Chester!!!

 

Short term goals this spring/summer:

Move up to Pre-training (US Novice, I think) in June, qualify for the Ontario Horse Trials Championships in September at Dreamcrest Equestrian (home to Ian Roberts and Kelly Plitz).  Learn how to deal with Chester’s ‘tourist’ mentality.  He is definitely spooky, definitely looky.  My coach/boss, her name is Joyce Hutchinson, has already drilled it into me that I need to keep his attention at all times, NOT look at what he is looking at, and keep him moving forward…easier said then done right?
Year-end goals: Finish out the season at Pre-Training and consistently improve each time we go out.  I would love for us to be happy and confident and finish xc with smiles on our faces.  Prep for the Bromont 3-Day in June 2011 at Training Level!  I KNOW we can do it!!

 

Overall goals?

Make Chester a confident and happy Preliminary horse, compete successfully at the CCI* level.  My stretch goal would be to hit Intermediate…It is not a question of Chester’s ability to hit that level, it is a question of if I am able to grow the necessary body parts to be able to do that level.  What’s the best thing you’ve learned recently?  If I had to pick only ONE thing (because there are so many)…it would have to be the newly found confidence I have as a rider and the confidence I know Chester has in me as his pilot.  (Sidebar – I grew up with horses, evented through the levels, hit university, had to sell said horses, took a 10 year break, decided to come back to it, just completed my first season back last summer and managed to qualify for the provincial championships!! Yay me!!)

The past 2 months have been absolutely monumental to me in terms of my growth as a rider.  I owe that to The Boss for drilling it into my head that the more quiet I am, the better Chester will be.  He is a super sensitive guy who has taught me a lot about riding with my body, legs and weight and NOT my hands.  The quieter I am, the more I ask him (and not tell him), the better he goes, which makes my confidence in my ability skyrocket.  With this horse, it is my job to ask him (properly I should add in here) what I want him to do then literally, stay out of his way…and he rewards me by trying his heart out for me.  


Any big epiphany or light-bulb moment? 

CORE STRENGTH makes a BIG difference….so does no stirrup work on a weekly basis…
I think my biggest strength is my dedication. I commute 225kms (I guess that is about 140 miles) round trip to work every day.  By the time I get to the barn, it is usually pushing 8:00 p.m. …but, you can ask anyone that I will be there at least 4 times a week in the middle of February when it is pitch black, freezing cold and there is 3 feet of snow on the ground…and 6 times a week during show season. 
I think know my weakness is how tense I get.  When I ride, I concentrate so hard, that I just freeze up, loose the feeling and it goes downhill from there….fast.  The Boss has been heard on numerous occasions yelling at me to relax because “I can see him getting more tense by the second underneath you! Stop right now and get it together!” (I absolutely adore her!!)  Her last words of wisdom to me before turning up the centre line/leaving the start box/going through the flags are “Just ride it and REMEMBER TO BREATHE!”  Trust me, I am working on it.

 

Favorite eventing moment/story? 

I think my favourite moment was when Hinrich Romeike and Marius took the Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  Why?  Because very much like myself, Hinrich, is an amateur.  He works as a Dentist during the day then rides at night and has achieved the ultimate in winning double Gold at the Olympics.  I work in Human Resources during the day, ride at night and usually don’t get home before 10:00 p.m.  I have BIG dreams to achieve on a small budget, one horse and limited riding time.  To know there is someone out there like me who has in-fact accomplished that goal/dream is more motivating then I can put into words.  That said, if anyone wants to be my sponsor, SPEAK UP!

 

Link to blog or website, if applicable: http://carriesembarcadero.blogspot.com/

ChesterBoy2.jpg  ChesterBoy.jpg

Categories:

Eventing Nation, Rider Profiles
  • Anonymous

    Cool someone else from Cobourg! Never thought I'd ever see that on EN

  • clb

    Ha - small world isn't it? I love the Burg!!

  • http://请填写你的网址，多个可以用逗号或者竖线分隔 anonymous

    40 个 aftertaste of micro-fiction collection is definitely worth watching and! (many of which are my favorite ...

    1, middle of the night to go home, open the door and found the ground more than a pair of shoes from strangers In the room in a circle, no one ah! look back, that pair of shoes was gone.
    2, you have to do a heart transplant, he looked fondly of his wife in bed, take the signed form hands shaking a bit. sheets of paper, draw a red heart above and the line of small print: bit of the old woman wearing a shroud, he came away to prepare her late biological mother figure suddenly appeared in front, lingering, he feel a terribly upset, had ordered the temporary retreat the next day on the peaks indicate that the demolition plan indefinitely postponed and later mayor told that the secret Granny door of the court previously dug a trap, night cap of wood, was guarded day and then, interpolation drill rod, down die!
    4, listening to a mopper say: , he first wrote about her little piece of paper, she looked and said, years old, ? mother to do Pork, no mother's voice
    6, licks with foam, he always said this, she was always smiling in silence. standing face to face, they hold tightly. The next day, morning exercise found that people in the park of an old man to go quietly, her arms a picture frame, photo frame is a mottled discoloration in the photos.
    7, graduated that year, the girl asked the boy a question, know the answer, but still asked, dull boy at a loss of standing there, the girl fit of anger gone, the girl go after more and more uneasy, return to place the next day, the boy is still there, only the hands of more swimsuit, see the girl came and said, people coming and going downstairs to wait and see, who pulled him whom he was anxious to go back. father asked: find my way home, your mother is still at home waiting for me. was deaf and blind, her boyfriend gone, only the mother has been by his side. to know I love the rain, she would often help me out, feel the rain beating his hands, but fortunately the rain this year particularly. the. > 10, a devout believer in the jungle when the ascetic as fatigue, fainted in the woods, eyes again when I saw her almost to her as a fairy, cheeks flushed: . has changed. a woman: you are. a man: to eat? woman: home cooking it, affordable, you can eat package, my child favorite kung pao chicken. men: Waiter! I also give my son to play a copies, not spicy, not spicy food children Zhangdou!
    12, the cat pounced a Nvwang true story: She saw thing I read in a magazine reported that she found herself falling in love with a man on the cover of her to enter his circle, she began to work, the university entrance exam, study, business. Finally one day, she attended the banquet of a field, met the man, only brush toast To close to him, her struggle to the top of the pyramid and now She forgot the original intention of one day, she interviewed on the magazine, has finally become someone else's mind.
    13, ; hey, parents spend money for old age, was nothing happy event. ... Are both of them are male baby? Dir a daughter, he said to her: hard work; daughter married off-site that day, his arm around her shoulder and said: there is me; he received notice of her dying day, repeatedly said to her: I would ; her to go the moment he kissed her forehead softly said: you wait for me. in this life, he did not once said to her always thought he was just stomach it, so she sometimes greedy, but the mouth will steal my heart so happy feint, he was her doctor, she is often angry and have nothing to say, but I hope she can always have that kind of vitality Finally natural hiding, and her weakness lay, she said: I have been very happy
    16, his real life girl, he put his real life girl, decorated as the world's most beautiful and most noble woman. that beautiful and noble woman, Jianjue he was good enough for her, and left him to marry Homer. a few years, night can not sleep soundly, his voice became hoarse ... ... concert, his fans with him to cry. Since then, he only belongs to the world of music lover.
    17, lay dying, he called around to it: burned down ... that night, it returned home, opened the drawer ... 1969, sunny day, it is another zero to that paper for the boys to worry about that, from now on, the exhibitions. 18, he encounters her in her city, still beautiful to see her and her lovely daughter. roadside reminisced, he lied been married, have a bigger than her daughter, son, said they have not In the past, only a greeting, she looked at his watch, said the back, the family remembered. waving goodbye, familiar and unfamiliar back each blessing each other. on the road, said her daughter did not want to return to my father that, like her with her current with tears hugging her daughter.
    19, such as beans and the lights will face sitting two tables in the huge shadow cast wall. ! : repeatedly in his disposed of, and often carrying his cat's legs burning with cigarettes a day, he came home as usual hugging his girlfriend, stumbled on her arm, there are many round scars, after he called her painfully aware of safety Then, he picked up the cat, the girlfriend said: My dear, there is a relative living in the countryside want it, I agreed.
    21, he was terminally ill ward serve her careful, clear soup filth she makeup looks mediocre middle of the road. In addition to evening dress, she deliberately avoided an extravagant woman, when she could see him busy to take care of you. others met say: When a wife so happy that it ! day afternoon, luxury women's early visit, renowned for her Kill. curse this small three others so arrogant? woman said, Zhejian Ren struggle my husband are 20 years of friends!
    22, every day I culmination of fine dress, and even grocery shopping is walking the dog from the day and broke up with him has been the case. that bad encounter him, must make him feel regret! Five years later, are not met him, but I loaded into the loading force ladies, on the size of the N number of magazines dinner is 50 years, he was without the slightest news in this life, I poured out the last interview thinking: fuck magazine circulation in the end how much ah?!
    23, a car accident, I became deaf and blind, her boyfriend gone, only the mother has been by his side. to know I love the rain, she would often help me out, feel the rain beating his hands, the Fortunately, this year particularly the rain. hire sprinkler, really funny, but not filming ... ... can not give each other the whole soul of love and guilt. finally one day she made a break up. that day, she was strong from the laughter: What? the shadow. when he was still young, and your spirit deliberately humorous, Cherry Garden Road school entrance stairs CORNER, where she can find. pass heart countless times, but almost never said a word suffocation graduation party he made a last message : I come back. three years without contact, and then return home, married love.
    26, in love for three years, three years her soup for him, patiently, she was sick, no taste, the central him to buy Strand acid powder. acid powder near there, go East, there are two stops it, he bought a meal in the vicinity, suffered a moment to go home, she ate one, stop and say: Thank you, and then breath after eating, the tears ripple Lian he wanted a woman or a good lie and she has to break. asked why, said acid powder. this? on this. something big tip. tip also injury.
    27, married 50 years, they seem to printed on the bones of the complaints almost every day eyes, grumbling to each other will immediately sounded. children are even afraid to go alone to visit them, because in every ear would be a disaster is a morning, When he began to complain about her evening when he suddenly found that she had gone. After a long silence, he uttered the last of the complained: stiff, he met her, she was mature, charm, always scoff him silly. clockwise rotation, silly child become sophisticated, worldly, he found that she had so admired in fact only one of thousands of women, elegant, extraordinary. left, he met another her naive, lively, adorable and she silly, he would quietly help her take care of everything, gently said something Chanel Bag, silly child, he's suddenly shocked. 29, , repeated over and over again this confession, getting more and more fluent, the more confident she saw him, waved, smiled and came. What a coincidence. the most happy face, he knew she was looking at. had passed two weeks, when the doctor gave him notice of the death, when even the most strong and well prepared, his heart is still raw so she went , leaving only a note: Forgive me selfish and increasingly reluctant to let you see my ugly look ... Honey, I love you!
    31, it first met, waiting hall, beaming smile of men shouted to her Lady child marriage together. Still later, the evanescent years, was damaged black woman happy and she burst into tears asked why, he said: that day, I love you, this is said to her.
    32 , loss of eyes] [16 years after leaving the village, Abu hard to finally take the blind grandmother many years into the city, cured of her eye. grandmother living in the city for six months, finally decided to go back to the Abu understand , Grandma smiled and said: home it! door, and occasionally a sigh in his mother buried that day, he gently put down the binoculars, on the coast, facing the mother sleeping Xiamen knock a ring head, slowly walks back to his home
    34 in Taiwan , retired after his wife scolded from morning to night I love old and fat lazy this morning I suddenly wake up coughing and spit blood, after he saw did not say a word throughout the morning, muffled smoke at noon pull me to the hospital, I finally learned that it is inflammation of the gums of the mouth of blood, he immediately stood Hospital curse me: full of tears.
    35, the company closed down, their wives and children, he come down to walk in the street. a black woman appeared and asked him, fame, money, truth, do you want? He was silent a long time, choose the truth . people smile away, he knew back home to be auctioned. See, however, raised four dogs Huan swiftly, it has been around the clock waiting for him to return. Several years later, his comeback, fame flourished his pot of gold, but for a dog bowl.
    36, lying on the elderly woman said: you, my blind eyes, you dumb, but I have never regretted it ... said: may not want to eat under the bowl, it lifted the bowl, used to go to the left handed, but her hand froze halfway through my nose, an acid that is often the death of his father's place to sit. Over the years, my mother so accustomed to put their leftover food into his bowl, but now, the people who let her down meal on longer in this world.
    38, phone inside up and take the telephone number again ... .... suddenly shaking up. lips said. .
    40, birthday party, with drunk quite well, a man asked the woman: asked the man: woman silence ... ...