EN guest blogger Leah Lang-Gluscic writes about her great experience at the Wayne DuPage Horse Trials this weekend. Leah quit her job at an investment banking firm last year to pursue a career as an eventer. Thanks for writing this Leah and thank you for reading.
—-
Photo courtesy of Dave O’Melia
From Leah:
Hi Eventing Nation! I just finished competing at Wayne Dupage for the first time this weekend, and thought I’d share my experience. As many of you know, Wayne Dupage has recently made the switch to the one-day format, and personally I think it’s a pretty exciting step for Area IV. I was speaking with Erin, one of the organizers/secretary, at the beginning of the event, and the popularity of the format in our area seems to be on the rise. Last year, she had 100 entries, and this year she had 165 compete and had to turn 35 people away, some with multiple horses! Now, obviously there are pros and cons to horse trials running over two or three days versus one, but I think any move that involves there being more options for riders and their horses is a great one. Plus, having been back east last fall, the one day format felt surprisingly familiar despite how long ago the fall seems!
From my perspective, having three horses entered, the two critical points to make competing this weekend a good experience for me and my horses were going to be a great layout and a well run event, and Wayne Dupage did not disappoint! The parking was located centrally to the dressage, stadium, and cross country, and the furthest walk was about three minutes. From 8:00 am to 12:15 I had rides ranging from 45 minutes apart to about an hour nonstop, so location was key. Convenient location is really only helpful however if things are running smoothly. Now my day wasn’t over until almost 3:00. In my experience, when you event over a span of 7 hours on three horses, usually there are some bumps in the road that are out of your or the event’s control. Well, as a result of a really well-run event, and probably a bit of luck, my horse running 91st in the day went on time to the minute just as my horse that was the very first to go of the day. I was pretty impressed.
Finally, I have to mention the cross country. I ran the Prelim and Novice, and both were a blast. My young horse, Bam, who started eventing a year ago, completed his first Prelim (second attempt), and I couldn’t of asked for a better course. The course was designed by John Williams, and I must say I am now a big fan. Walking the course, I will admit, I was quite worried. It was certainly true to the level, and not what I would consider a move-up. There was a huge corner coming out of the first water as well as some pretty challenging turning and accuracy questions. However, each question just made Bam feel more confident and educated and it really brought out more heart and boldness than I had ever seen in him before. We had a ton of time penalties, but I had circled before one of the jumps to give him a better approach and did not push him at all. The Novice was also a blast. I was riding my horse, AP Prime, that I got back in December. It was his third horse trials and he is going to move up to Training in two more. For where he is at, the course was perfect. It was inviting and forward but still asked the questions to get your horse thinking about the things it will need to do at the next level. I did have three entered, the third being Benjamin James in the Prelim. He had a very uncharacteristic stop in stadium and I very foolishly popped off. His demeanor was very reminiscent of this past fall when he had ulcers. He is now the best eater in my barn, is on an insanely strict ulcer management feeding program, and is looking healthy, so I know that’s not the problem. However, I think that is just his reaction to pain, so a trip to the vet to see what we can find is in order.
One thing I would like to add is that my positive experience at Wayne Dupage this weekend has not been an exception since relocating to Illinois. I really did not know what to expect when I moved, but have had a great time at each of the events I have made it to here. I am really looking forward to more first experiences at the upcoming Area IV events this season. Thank you for reading!
