EN’s good friend Holly Hudspeth has generously agreed to keep us posted on her journey through taking a break from advanced riding to have a baby. Holly’s advanced horse, Last Monarch aka “Stewie,” had a breakout year in 2010 with a 17th place finish at Rolex and superb performances throughout the year. Boyd is taking the ride on Stewie this spring as Holly prepares to give birth to Hailey Charles Hudspeth in June. Be sure to check out Holly’s new website and fun blog. Thanks for writing this Holly and thank you for reading.—-
From Holly:
24 weeks and counting. I thought that taking a break from competing and training would be a snap. You know, teach for a while, cheer your horse on, have a little less stress, etc. It has been a bit tougher than I thought! Being such a dedicated and self driven competitor, sitting on the sidelines has been a challenge. To begin with, I have had to change the way I teach and train. What I mean by that is, since I no longer can jump in the saddle to fix a problem or demonstrate an example, I need to be much more creative in getting the message across. It has been great for me as an instructor to come up with new ways in order to achieve the result I am looking for. I have had to work a bit harder to come up with new exercises and training techniques for my students, without the option to simply jump on and show them. And in return, it has been good for my students to know they must find the answers themselves. As each day goes on I am becoming more relaxed in this new method of training.
On a positive side, it has been a pleasure to watch my two upper level horses go. Watching Stewie and Cold Harbor “Bo” train has enabled me to step back and really see what is solid in their training, and what is lacking. When you are forced to stand on the ground and pay attention like I have been lately, you become more aware in the details of the training process, and not so focused on when you are riding or competing next. I watched Boyd jump both horses today in Aiken, and it was neat to see where they both are at in their training. I was also lucky enough to watch Jennie, Ryan, Caitlin, Boyd, and Phillip jump multiple horses. I brought my friend Pooh and working student Maxine over as well. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to learn from watching others who are so good. All the riders and horses were superb, and each rider tried harder than the next. I think it is that subconscious internal driving force that pushes people to really strive for greatness.
While I will miss the thrill of competing this weekend at Pine Top, I am, in a weird way, excited to watch my two horses go. Hopefully I will learn more about each one, but from a different angle! One thing is for sure, I am so glad competition season has started. My only hope is that it makes this pregnancy move along a little quicker! Good luck to everyone this spring season, and don’t forget to take time to watch, learn, and absorb everything you can. As I have learned recently, thinking outside the box when training horses is a good thing!
