‘Welcome to Eventing’ is the newest of all the series here on Eventing Nation, and was the idea of one of our most loyal readers. The objective of the series is to chronicle the stories of either your first event, or the first event your horse competed at. We all know that Eventing is a game of experience, which usually translates into some comical recounting of those days before we had any idea what we were getting into by starting to event. If you’d like to submit the story of your first event, please send it along with a picture to [email protected]. We are running low on profiles, so please send yours in!
From Mica:
Hi, My name is Mica. I’m currently 17 years old and this is the story of my first event.
My first event was at Bucks County Horse Park about 6 years ago with my red chestnut OTTB mare, Maddie. To be honest it was a mess! Though the judges always seemed to like her in the dressage, my nerves on the cross county were pretty obvious. In what comes back as a blur, I’m pretty sure I pointed Maddie at several upper level fences, all of which she miraculously jumped. I was only going beginner novice at the time, and when I came up to the sunken road question, I had two refusals. Somehow I got her through this only to be eliminated at the ditch one element after! It was a rough first go, and I was pretty shaken up, but I am happy to say that did not discourage me enough to leave the sport. If anything, it made me more determined to get out there and do it right! And fortunately enough the determination paid off, I evented Maddie for several more years and still have her now; though I think it’s safe to say she’s retired to dressage and trail rides after a long run in competition. Being the temperamental mare she is, we had some rough goes, but the good rides were some of the best I’ve ever had and she truly taught me a lot. She’ll always be special to me, my one and only first event horse.
This image is not from my first competition, but from a lesson with Wendy Lewis, my trainer. You can see here Maddie and I did make it past the rough beginner novice phase! We competed successfully together through training level.
