Photocredit: Connecticut Photo
Your Name – Suzanne Adams
Age – 50
Location – Area 1 – Massachusetts
Relationship to Eventing – Novice Rider, Groom, Owner, Volunteer, Adult Rider
Favorite Eventing Moment Story – Long ago (June 2008), I was a Weenie Re-Rider. It was the start of my second summer Eventing my mareish Mare – Fame and Frolic (aka Sugar). We were entered at Valinor Horse Trials… my second event, just after getting eliminated in Stadium Jumping at King Oak Farm Horse Trials.
I walked the XC course and was soon overwhelmed by the size of the entire course, the seriously hilly terrain, the enormous view in the first main jumping field, the size of the jumps and the new questions to navigate. Overwhelmed… almost to the point of an anxiety attack. It was drizzling and I knew that I couldn’t handle this course. I wasn’t ready for my first down bank, my first real ditch, lots of downward jumping, turns up and down hills, my first up bank and big galloping down hills… WASN’T READY… REALLY NOT READY.
Friends said, you can do it… don’t worry… Sugar knows all of that stuff… But friends are there to support you… do they really know or are they just being nice. I decided, after the walk, that the course was too big to do for my first of the season… all of our issues and problems were circling like demons despite any new age coping skill I applied to chase them off… didn’t we break our wrist, didn’t I fall at Flora Lea at the same barn jump at Valinor, didn’t I lose my stirrups schooling a down bank, didn’t Sug spook at at ditch, didn’t Sug spook and dump me at our last outing and on and on and on…
I decided to withdraw… not ready. Next time I’ll go. In making that decision, I wanted to be sure I was right, so I walked it again. That jump wasn’t too bad, neither was that one… oh, I don’t like that one. Ok, I’ll withdrawal. Wish my instructor was here to get advice… help me know if it was show nerves or reality. I came off the course and there was my trainer warming up someone in the SJ ring.
So, her advice? To finish, I just have to start. Any step forward was more than I’ve done this year. So getting out in the warmup was more than last year, getting in the start box, leaving the start box and every jump after that was better than I’ve done this year. And, if I came to something that truly scared me, I could honorably retire on course knowing that I did more that day than I’ve done all year. So, I finished XC, loving every moment, having fun knowing that I had permission to stop honorably if I was scared. That piece of advice is with me always! To finish … I just have to start.
If you had to pick one reason why you love Eventing, what would it be?: Being alone with my horse… just the two of us running cross country… no one else exists in the world for those 5-7 minutes. It is the greatest feeling in the world!
Overall Goals in the Sport: Move up to Training, do a T3DE, Compete at the AECs (qualified), clinic with Lucinda Green, Prelim, get certified as a TD.
Biggest Role model: Jimmy Wofford… I love his books, I love his quotes. I think he has the ability to take on difficult situations, say the tough things and remain likeable.
Link to blog or website, if applicable: http://confessionsofanaaer.blogspot.com/
If you’d like to submit an Eventing profile, follow this link for more information, and send to [email protected]. Congratulations to Suzanne for winning a copy of Jimmy’s new book, “Cross-Country with Jim Wofford: 26 Lessons to Improve Your Eventing Skills from the Olympic Rider and Top Coach.”
