Valonia down the steps at Stoneleigh Burnham 2013!
I am extremely lucky to have the grandfather I have. Fritz Henning, or as I like to call him, ‘wiki-Fritz,’ is the smartest person I know. His desire to learn can’t be compared to anyone else. His knowledge and depth reach far beyond most. All you have to say is Civil War, or Gettysburg, and he will give you a one hour dissertation with dates and specific events. The man never wants to stop learning and he never wants to stop educating himself which I find incredibly inspiring. Of course Fritz doesn’t just have an answer or an explanation for everything, he also has tons of questions. I can’t tell you how many times he has asked me the following, “why do you like this sport….or, what exactly is the point?” Usually, I stare at my grandfather for a second and instead of really explaining what it is that draws me to this sport, I blurt out, “I just love it!”
Simply put, we just love it….but why do we love this sport? What is it about eventing that is so addicting and alluring? We spend thousands of dollars on competitions, shoeing, vet bills, feed, trailers, trucks and so much more. We spend hours sweating and working our butts off, and for what? How many of us really come home with a blue ribbon every other weekend? How many riders and horses improve dramatically at each of their outings? We spend all this time, money and energy and even if we do win a blue ribbon, it’s just a ribbon…it’s not money, or a saddle, or a sponsorship. Of course at the huge events a blue ribbon comes along with several more prizes, but for the majority of us, a ribbon is just a ribbon…so again, I ask….why do we do this?
I spent Sunday all day at Stoneleigh Burnham in Greenfield MA. I took my mare Novice and my goal was to go clean on xc. I recently bumped her down a level after having some issues going training, so all I really wanted was for her to be in front of my leg and to jump everything I pointed her at. I become so fixated on going clean xc that I failed to ride her pro-actively in show jumping and ended up having a very green stop at the first fence. I was livid. I couldn’t believe we had a stop. I got mad and rode around the rest of the course. My anger and frustration translated into a very positive and forward xc round which I was pleased with, but I couldn’t wait to get to our next show so I could redeem myself. We ended up 2nd overall, but I had some serious thoughts on my drive home.
I started thinking about how we ride like who we are. Denny has told me repeatedly that I need to be more aggressive and almost angrier when I go out on xc. I am a non-confrontational and fairly reserved individual, so becoming very angry or aggressive all of a sudden takes serious focus for me. I have to mentally prepare myself for this state of mind. Some competitors just have this edge while others do not. I have to fight with myself to get this aggression to come out. I think I have a slight edge but it needs to be drawn out from time to time. So I really thought about how I need to almost become someone else, or become my alter ego in order to go clean.
Im not sure about everyone else, but I do this sport because it is seriously addicting. I feel like I can’t get enough and every time you almost win, or almost get close to doing well, you want another go at it. Or, even if you do win, you want to try and replicate that same feeling. Or you totally mess up and make terrible decisions, in which case you can’t wait to get out and compete again to make things right. Not only is this sport addicting, but having amazing horses with whom you develop incredible relationships with is like nothing else. Eventing is a very precise and an extremely challenging sport. You can’t just do well in one phase. You can’t not go clean on xc….or you will NEVER win. You have to go clean xc, but you also have to do well in the other two phases. Eventing is like a jigsaw puzzle and putting all the pieces together takes a very long time. When put together correctly, magic appears in front of you. When put together incorrectly, or when pieces are still missing, the whole thing looks distorted.
