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Name: Katelyn Stephenson
Age: 18
Location: Whitehouse Station, NJ
Primary horse’s name: H. Saint Kieran
Age, breed, pertinent info: 10 year old 15.3hh Hungarian Warmblood
Age, breed, pertinent info: 10 year old 15.3hh Hungarian Warmblood
Level currently competing: Starter, BN
Short term goals this spring/summer: successfully complete a full BN event, and possibly move up to Novice by the end of the summer
Short term goals this spring/summer: successfully complete a full BN event, and possibly move up to Novice by the end of the summer
Year-end goals: Be consistently jumping 3ft-3’3 courses and continue training despite lack of eventing near Saratoga, NY while I attend Skidmore this fall.
Overall goals? Because I will be off to college this fall, and Kieran will be coming along, I know it will be a challenge to maintain our level of competition, especially since my school of choice is not conveniently located near much eventing. It will be a big step for me to tackle this road block and figure out a way to keep “the dream alive.” I know it will be a lot of hard work, but after 3 years of very hard work to get Kieran to where he is now, I certainly won’t let college put an end to my adventure with my quirky gelding!
What’s the best thing you’ve learned recently? It’s OK to experiment! I have come up with a collection of over 8 bits, I’ve researched the most unorthodox of tack designs, and in the end, the experimentation benefited my “sensitive” gelding. He now quite pleasantly goes in a simple rubber dog bone bit, a Micklem bridle, an anatomic girth, and much to my bank account’s dismay, a “new” stubben jumping saddle. Though most would think such investmenst in hit-or-miss products could be a waste of time and money, I personally couldn’t have had the horse i have now if I didn’t experiment. The difference between Kieran 6 months ago vs Kieran now, is outstanding, and in that time it just took a few simple tack changes.
Favorite eventing moment/story? Taking Kieran to his first event with me. It was the weekend Hurricane Sandy hit, actually, I believe it was the day before! I wasn’t expecting to place well, I wasn’t even expecting to go clean cross country. I’d accepted the fact that I had a green horse and with the weather already starting up, chances of having a perfect day were slim to none. But to my surprise, Kieran was pleasant, no, dare I say, perfect. Dressage test was remarkably uneventful, and then stadium equally well. But the icing on the cake was a totally clean x-country and a blue ribbon! Not many people can say they came home with a blue ribbon after their first event with a horse!
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