Favorite AECs Moment — Honorable Mentions sponsored by SmartPak

From Talia:

We were all standing by XC warmup waiting for friend and fellow competitor Skyler Decker to start XC.  In that brief moment of quiet before heading to the start box I snapped this photo of sisters Brooke and Lauren Mannix cheering Skyler on before madly dashing to the finish line to watch her ride. That moment just encompassed the friendship and helpfulness that we experienced at the AECs.  Everyone was willing to lend a hand, from holding a horse to giving us a lift on their golf cat to letting us borrow forgotten supplies.  Everyone was wishing each other good luck and cheering competitors on.  It was an amazing experience, we can’t wait for next year!

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From Brittany’s family:

This is Britany Crown and Get Tricky a 16 year old OTTB just after a beautiful double clear xc round.  She made the long trip, 26 hour drive, to AECs from Denver, CO.  After their best dressage score to date two days ago and a double clear xc, they sat in 3rd place in the Novice Amateur division.  Tricky is the youngest 16 year old OTTB you will ever meet.  He is a charmer and flirts with everyone he meets, wrapping his head around you for a big hug.  He started his eventing career later in life at age 14 and quickly proved himself to be a xc machine!

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From Alyssa:

To say that this weekend was fun would be an understatement. I came back to the American Eventing Championships at Chattahoochee Hills this year with a new horse, a new attitude and a new plan. Last year did not go as planned. My previous horse and I had a rocky weekend that ended with a fall at the last cross country jump. I was so disappointed and just crushed. That horse has a new job as a dressage horse. But Bold Discovery aka Black came across the USEA classifieds when I was searching for a new horse in January. He seemed perfect; experienced, quiet, and kind of in our price range. Too perfect. I’ve horse searched enough times that if a advertisement seems to good to be true then it probably is. So I put the ad off and continued trying horses but didn’t find what I was looking for. When I first tried Black, he intimidated me but my mom loved him. And her opinion meant a lot so I tried him again. Needless to say, I fell in love when I took him cross country. I had never had a horse that loved cross country as much as Black.

After my clean show jumping round on Sunday, I was so happy I started crying as soon as I saw my mom. She was already crying and was so happy. As far as I knew, I was still in 7th and it was the best 7th I could ever imagine! This weekend I had finally overcame my nerves; even if it took singing Shania Twain’s song, “Today Is Your Day” throughout my entire cross country and stadium rounds. But I had managed to keep my cool. At that point I thought I had gotten everything I wanted out of the weekend. What came next I could have never imagined in my wildest dreams. They started calling us back in for the awards ceremony and they called my number second. I thought to myself well that can’t be right. Sure enough it was! Black and I came in 2nd in the Novice Amateur division! I was so shocked all I could do was have a stupid looking smile on my face. All my hard work had actually paid off–how many times in riding can you say that? Black is the horse of a lifetime and has shown me that there is a reason to keep working hard and that it actually pays off. This moment that my mom captured of Black and I receiving our ribbons really captures my favorite memory and captures the entire spirit of the American Eventing Championships. And having my parents fly in from Maryland, my boyfriend, and my Smiling Horse Farm family there to support me made it even sweeter! But not only was it a big moment for me, it was a big moment for eleven other people. As we were standing in line waiting for our prizes, me and the winner, Liz Messaglia, starting talking about how exciting this was and how much fun we had all weekend and how rough our rides were last year. As each person came around from getting their awards we all congratulated each other. What a cool moment. Isn’t that what this is all about? Being apart of the eventing community is truly one of it’s own and I’m so proud to say that I am apart of it.