EN isn’t just your leading source for eventing news, results and commentary; it’s a community where fans of this crazy sport come together to share their war stories. We love hearing from readers and, in turn, sharing your thoughts with the world. All reader submissions are eligible for the Omega Alpha Reader Submission of the Month in which they are published. All winners will receive an Omega Alpha supplement of their choosing. Have something to share with EN? Send it to us at [email protected]!
We’re pleased to announce that Kelsey Briggs’ reader submission — “The Road to Recovery” — is the Omega Alpha Reader Submission of the Month for August. Kelsey is an eventer based out of North Carolina who has slowly but surely brought her upper level mount, The Gentleman Pirate, back from what should have been a career ending injury.
In August, I stood in my stirrups and allowed Pirate to canter, and just a few days ago, he popped over a little cross-rail, not feeling like a horse who had spent the better part of the year recovering from a broken neck, but like my upper-level event horse, ready to go jump around cross-country. I was alone at the barn, with no one to see me collapse on his neck and cry like a little girl. I don’t believe I’ve ever felt more emotion than in that moment, realizing what an incredible soul this horse has. That horse never stops trying, not even when every last odd is against him.
Kelsey will receive a free supply of an Omega Alpha supplement of her choice for sharing their story. Want to win an Omega Alpha supplement? Send in your story, clinic report, video or other article to [email protected]. If it’s published this month, it will be eligible for October’s giveaway. (Month to be determined by date of publishing, not date of submission.) Many thanks to Kelsey for writing and to Omega Alpha for supporting Eventing Nation. Go eventing!
Here are some other reader submissions we loved from this month:
Notable Cause: “Eventers Jump for a Cure” by Chesna Klimek
“This year in Area VII, the Jump for the Cure fence isn’t the only effort made by eventers to support the community of people affected by cancer. Rebecca Farm announced this week that they raised over $67,000 in donations to fight breast cancer, thanks to the Halt Cancer at X campaign at the horse trials this past July. Causes like these highlight the difference that the eventing community can, and does, make. Go Eventing, and go Jump for the Cure!”
Best College Student Perspective: “The Eventer’s ‘College Process'” by Charlotte Weisberg
“I’ve always found it to be a bit corny, but that old saying “If there’s a will, there’s a way” really rang true for me on this occasion. So I encourage anyone out there facing these big decisions to make it happen. Bring your horse to college no matter how crazy it seems. Do whatever it takes, and tackle this just like you would any cross country course. Keep kicking on and put everything you’ve got into it, until you’ve got the outcome you want. And more importantly, the outcome that you know you truly need.”
Best Burghley Blog: “Tackling Burghley Against All Odds” by Simon Grieve
“As I walked to the start, I thought of how lucky I was to be there, and before I knew, it we were off! The roar of cheering and clapping as we jumped through the main arena seemed to echo around the length of the course. The encouragement was indescribable. To complete the cross country at Burghley was simply out of this world on so many different levels. I felt so incredibly lucky. Boz trotted up sound the next day and, having show jumped, we finished the biggest three day event in the world. What an achievement after all the traumas of the previous four months.”
Best Amy Barrington Blog: “An Introduction to Amy Barrington” by Annika Kostrubala
“Amy does horses for the love of the horse. I don’t think Amy could do anything but horses. She honestly loves them, their quirks and individuality, and she loves teaching. But it’s not an easy world — this professional horse world/training/teaching thing — and what has happened to Amy is a risk we all take every time that we enter an arena, barn or pasture. We take it because we have to in order to do what is in our heart, and I dare think at times, our DNA.”
