Event Stalking. An online guide.
You’re not going. Your horse is lame. Your cousin is getting married. You’re broke. Whatever the reason, you’re not going. And you’re okay with that, really.
It starts innocently enough. You see on facebook that ride times have been posted. Your friend rides at 8:16. You don’t envy her her 5 am wake up call after staying late to braid. You don’t. While you’re on the event’s site, you might as well check out the cross country course. Fence five looks like a booger. Half halt then sit back and kick.
A couple days later you see your friends have arrived safely and are busy getting settled in. Facebook again. You like their posts and wish them luck. Weather.com says a chance of rain.
You manage to forget about the event you’re not at until mid-morning. Then you find yourself checking live scoring to see how dressage is going. It’s a qualifying ride so far, but just barely. He can be a real pickle in the dressage arena.
The rain appears to have held off. You watch a few Rolex highlight videos on the USEF Network. Cross country scores start to post. Fence five is a booger. It catches a couple of riders, but not your friend. She’s clear and in time. That will certainly make up for the dressage.
You send her a smiley face. She’ll like it later.
You’re surprised to see your coach had a stop. And a little, teeny tiny bit secretly pleased. See, a little voice in your head says, it’s not that easy. Of course, the horse was green as grass. No smiley face for him. You don’t want to spend the next month without stirrups.
Photos start to post. You like them all. Then it’s time to feed, run errands, do laundry. You do have a life outside of eventing, after all.
The next morning, it’s another clear round in stadium. That deserves a Q! Her non-horsey friends will ask what that means. She’ll explain that she got another qualifying ride toward the next level. Not that she’s ready, she’ll note.
Cross country video from the previous day starts to hit YouTube. Looks like someone was wearing a helmet cam. It’s just like being there. Minus the thrill.
