It is with great pleasure that I introduce you our first guest blogger for the fall season. I raved about Steph and Ollie all spring, so Eventing Nation’s readers were probably the only people on Earth not surprised by their 5th place finish at Rolex. Steph and Ollie have been named to the Canadian short list for the WEGs, and I can’t wait to watch their progress this summer and into the autumn. If you have a second, be sure to check out Steph’s site. Thanks for writing this Steph and thank you for reading.
Hi, Eventing Nation! I’m very excited to actually be contributing to this site after months of reading and enjoying it. Before the site and the title of the “eventing nation” were household vocabulary, I have always loved the way our sport is an actual community of people who love the same thing. The eventing scene is how I grew up, and it’s a full time lifestyle for me, now more than ever!
For the vast majority of the online eventing nation who know absolutely nothing about me, consider this first entry an introduction. I am a soon-to-be 22 year old from Summerland, British Columbia currently living in The Plains, Virginia. (Door to door distance from my parent’s house to my above-barn apartment, 4,325KILOMETRES! About 2700 miles) I graduated from Summerland Secondary School in 2006 and began my post secondary education at The Fork Stables in North Carolina in March of 2007, where I was a working student for Rebecca Howard, who is a long time family friend. I was there through NAYRC in August of 2008, where my horse Port Authority (Ollie) and I were bronze medalists in the two star. That was when my “actual” post secondary education was supposed to start…. But really, just because I’m not currently attending a “recognized” college or university doesn’t mean I’m not being educated…. and my bills probably add up to the tuition at a really swanky school so… that’s ok, right??
Anyways. Now that I have said my bit to justify not going to college… I’ll tell you a bit about my horse. I have had Ollie for 6 and a half years, and he is the first horse I ever competed Preliminary on. His mother is a Thoroughbred, I’m not sure if she ever raced, and his father is a Selle Francais by Galoubet. He had never evented when I got him as a youngster, and we have had some really great times along the road to where we are now. He is such a character and I absolutely love everything about him. Even (or maybe especially) the fact that he is a very opinionated and grouchy little fool. The sweet side comes out when nobody else is around.
Ollie and I upgraded to Advanced shortly after joining David and Karen O’Connor’s program in January of 2009. We had 2 successful CCI 3 star finishes last year, with Fair Hill being a huge improvement on Jersey Fresh. This year, I had the incredible experience of competing at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day event. It was the coolest thing I have ever done to ride in a competition like that. Doing what I love to do in an electric environment like the Horse Park, and getting to compete against horses and riders I have so much respect for was such a high. And because of my strong finish there, I have been riding that high all the way into summer! So… Ollie had his 4 weeks off, and is back in full flatwork and trotting around the hills in Flint Hill, VA. He starts jumping this week, and will probably do his first canters next weekend after he moves to The Plains to be closer to David and everyone else who supervises this shindig. (Dr. O and Randy) We are aiming at Millbrook Intermediate, Richland Advanced, and then the AEC’s at Chattahoochee. And then…… hopefully the WEG’s! I’m so excited to be on the Short List and I think that we’re going to field an awesome team and show the world what Canada’s been up to on the big stage!
In the meantime, I have a few young event prospects in Rappahannock county Virginia that I work with. Two of them are competing Beginner Novice at Surefire next weekend in their first recognized show EVER! All the horses I ride are owned by wonderful people who have been so supportive of Ollie and I and I’m lucky to have all of them in my life.
So, now that the introductions have been made on my end, I’m looking forward to writing about my summer and sharing this new crazy life of mine with all of you. Thanks a lot for reading, and happy eventing!
Till next time,
Steph
