Family Matters, Grandma replys she responds.

     The saga continues. Here is how it all went down. My earlier blog circled around asking grandma to help out. Mind you, this woman has never ever supported my rider in any way when it comes to her sport of eventing. Whoops, I forgot, she and grandpa (RIP) did go to one of her Golden Spike shows, when she was nine. Left early as I recall.  I guess they just liked soccer better. None of my kids played soccer.

Dear Katie: I received your email and am thinking about it but there is much more to buying a horse than the original cost of purchase. How are you going to support the horse; stable, food, vet bills, admission fees to shows, etc. Your Dad can no longer support a horse for you and am not even sure you should bring it up to him as he is really struggling to just pay the necessary bills like the mortgage payments on the house you and your Mom live in. Your Mom doesn't work and probably never will so she cannot help you.

I cannot buy a horse for you that will cause more financial stress for your Dad. I won't mention this to him until you tell me you have talked to him first.

I love you and want you to have what is important to you but we have to talk this thru because I am not sure it makes economic sense right now. I can help you with the initial purchase, but cannot help you support the horse bills and neither can your Dad.

Love, Grandma
Dear Grandma:

     You are right, the only way I would be able to pull this off right now, is to take a young green horse like Maggie back up to Ocala to his or another big rider like him's barn. There I got free lessons from an Olympic Eventer, board, hay, grain, trailering, A/C, washer/dryer, stove, oven, refridgerator, my own room+ trailer parking.
     Then sell a horse from there. That way it would be pure profit. I understand that the economy is crap right now, however, there are still people buying horses. One of the other working students just flew over to Ireland with a big rider (paid for him to go shop) and bought two, probably cost her $50,000.
Since, my mother stopped working selling e-cigs, yes I know she doesn't work right now, but she sure helps me. My sport/profession is not like soccer, where I could just go to a field with a ball. Working with horses is a great deal more rewarding, but sometimes dangerous. Everyone knows that a rider really should never ride without someone else around. I am extremely thankful for all my dad's financial help and also thankful to my mother, she is my biggest supporter, my promoter (always looking for sponsorships) and my biggest fan! She also does stuff on the side, that you don't know about to help pay bills, like rent out rooms in this house. Without her I don't know what I would of done.
     This idea is over for now, in the mean time I will be saving money working at the Sandwich shop, riding the  Bean (Win Championships) and collecting fees for riding other peoples horses. I also want to take some more business classes at BBC or on line. Hope you are doing well Grandma

Love Katie

     THE END

Family Matters, this is what she wrote to Grandma:

      Eventers usually have a plan A, plan B and if necessary their plan C lays in there, dormant, ready to purge up from somewhere, most likely found down deep. Plan B seemed to jump in there ahead of plan A, and wreck everything. Plan B was to broach the subject of horse ownership to the sandwich shop owners, of where she works. Chatter mouth started talking to other worker bees, of her idea. SLAM, everyone thought it was crazy. Non horse people would think that. From there she assumed all plans were dismal. Believed she had lost her mind? All this concentrated plan A,B & C stuff came about because of super sweet young four year old mare named Maggie.
     Those people don't know anything about equestrian businesses, I told her. Plan A had to be attempted so she wrote an e-mail to grandma. Not my mother grandma, her dads mother.

Hi Grandma:

     If there was a way that you could invest a nominal amount of money and double it in 2 years, or so, you would probably want to know about it, right? I wanted to share this opportunity with you first, but if you don't want to that's okay, I might be able to get the restaurant that I work at to help sponsor me. Just think, Grandma you could be the owner of a horse! Imagine it, at all the rated shows your name would be mentioned as being the owner, then my name as the rider...lol

     There is a horse in Georgia that looks fantastic! She is a four and 1/2 yr old, Bay (color brown) Oldenburg/thoroughbred mix. Her name is Maggie, and she is 16.3 hh's tall. With this mix she should be really good at both dressage and jumping. The lady that is selling her wants a more trained horse, doesn't have the time to put into training. She said she was rescued as a yearling out of a barn in Florida and she has had her ever since. The horse supposedly is calm, sweet and has really good gates (walk,trot,canter) and is already under saddle. After being up at that Olympic riders' stables for 9 months, my riding has improved 100 %, I have loads more confidence and it would be nice to bring a young horse up, train and teach her, increase her value! Having this horse could also increase other horse owners awareness of me, as a professional rider. The lady in GA only wants $3,500 which is less than Image was. Depending on how quickly she picks up on everything and how well she responds we would try to make at least 18,000 to 20,000 in two years, more training and higher levels with rated shows could possibly generate even more than that.

     Since I've come back from Ocala, I am still riding the barn owners quarter horse mare,(the Vanilla Bean) because that horse loves "eventing"! Since she is only a quarter horse, her potential to reach the higher levels is slim, however she surely could be a lower level champion...which is my goal for her. The owners will never want to sell her and my time accomplishing that goal shouldn't take very long. When I first brought this horse up to the Olympic riders place, she wouldn't load in the trailer, or move forward at all, just bucked. We did very well at our last little schooling show, 2nd place!  

Love Katie     

P.S. I haven't mentioned this to dad yet. :D

"Keep it classy!"

   

  "Keep it classy!" Their four year old would say. Where was THAT advice when my, about to blow mini volcanic rider, left the stables. All the thoughts of  how you shouldn't burn bridges, protect a good reference and sticking it out to the bitter end, flew out the window and an unstoppable rebellious furry rushed in.

     The early morning heat was rising, humidity on the choke, not a cloud in the sky.  Everybody was completely sweat drenched by eight a.m. I thought it was going to be a good day, I had even mentioned that to a passerby earlier "this is going to be a great day!" All of a sudden, blind with rage, my rider made it back to her room. She was mad, no, she was beyond mad! She was, without a doubt "OVER IT!"

     "I'M NOT EVEN ON THE RIDE LIST TODAY! I don't get it! Why am I here? Just to muck stalls! I only have a couple of days left here anyway, why won't they put my name on the list?" she cried. I could hear the fire engine voice screech in the distance, getting louder and louder. I didn't understand it either, I'm sure they had their reasons. "I am a rider, a real person, not just a slave! Why can't they see that?" my girl bellowed. "Oh for CRYING OUTLOUD!" I took a deep breath, sighed and squeaked out "Well, what do you want to do about this?" That's when all Hell broke loose. K8 continued ranting, "Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to stay and do the show, with the horse having non-sweating issues. I'm not getting to ride horses today. The BIG RIDER hasn't even mentioned anymore lessons, I've already extended my stay for three extra weeks to help them. I'm running out of money. It's SOooo fucking hot out there! The new girl is all over the list! I WANT TO LEAVE RIGHT NOW!" I throw my hands up in the air. "That's just great! YOU BETTER BE SURE ABOUT THIS!" My voice started to elevate. A pushy steam billowed out, like a locomotive does, streams of  forced heat straight out of her ears, blasted us, right out the door! I could tell, at any moment, I was going to be the witness of an implosion! Tears of frustration for a simple pat on the back, flooded the room! Where were those new rain boots I just bought? "Do I suck that bad?" Her clamor continued. "I've been here for over eight months, can't they see that I have improved!" I could tell my rider was overwrought. "They think I'm ignorant!" "THIS IS BULL SHIT!" Well then FUCK IT!

     There was NO stopping her. She started txting the barn manager and throwing all of her belongings into the car. Very early on in this game, I was told to "stay out of it" when it came to her barn business, so that's percisely what I did. Within a quick fifteen minutes all of her things were out of sight, thrown into this, or that car. It was just another ten minutes later and the horses' legs were wrapped, fly mask on, the mare was walking onto the trailer. All of a sudden, her phone rang. It was him, the BIG RIDER....I could see her panic! Her face turned the color of blood. Poor little coy wallflower was immediately immobilized. To this day, that rider, still makes her a nervous wreck."You better answer that phone!" I screamed.

     The man's deep voice said "So, I hear from the barn manager that you're leaving, right now?" He was dismayed at how she didn't just come to him, and express herself. He really couldn't understand why, nor did he have the time to figure it out. But then again, has my shy hasty ladybug ever done that?  He said he wasn't going to talk her out of this or anything. He thanked her for all of her hard work and then they hung-up. That's when the txting started...she txted... I'm sorry, I just don't feel very appreciated. Who can argue feelings? He retaliated with: I did it for thirteen months, those were 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. days, without any lessons pay, or days off. I'm sorry that your experience here wasn't worth it for you. (That's kinda like the old story, I had to walk 5 miles, there and back, up hill both ways, in a blizzard) She returned the txt with: Are you fucking kidding me? I learned so much and have improved as a rider 100%, I just wish you would of thought so too. His final message: Good, I thought so too, you have improved tremendously, also I can see that you have leaned to swear effectively too.

    

The Frankness of it all, flows downhill.

   

      "You're not wealthy enough to take naps." the Big Rider sarcastically stated. Whack!  There it was...walloped out of his mouth like a thrusting mare. They were unstoppable, those words of the rigid type, striking out, as if to pummel her. Picture an extremely harsh nag... possibly in season, no less, panicked in a full stampede heading forward towards you! The biting bitter truth had saturated in, once again. Only the rich, are privy to take naps, she had work to do! It was a simple reminder that K8 doesn't have a "Daddy Warbucks" shelling out dough. The millionaire Donald Trump is no where near being her father and Oprah never had any kids, so, there goes that idea. We don't own a gigantic rolling lorry with an air-conditioned living room and the dish network hook-ups. She doesn't get to have the arrogant luxury of not knowing where one of her seven saddles are or which five hundred dollar helmet to wear. Poor girl doesn't get to choose which pony to ride and which one to show?  The frankness of it all,  flows downhill, cascading to the "nitty gritty", he IS right.

     Fair and square, the Big Rider (BR) has begun to let her in on some secrets. He has shared stories and experiences of  how, he and many other not so fortunate have made it. This international eventer,  whom has been all around the world is showing her the ropes, or should we say "the reins".  Straightforward talk of equitable business deals and how to make money with buying and selling horses have been their latest conversations. "If you do all the work, then you are the one that deserves to be paid for that." BR burned this idea into her head. He has told her that there are plenty of yearlings and two year olds out there for little money or even no money down. He pointed to the three, three year old ponies that she could learn to break. He asked her about the little mare she rides, does the owner need to sell her? The wheels were spinning, she could see smoke coming from his rubber. He is man on a mission with fast rolling wheels, the kind that are hard to keep up with. He understood her place, and spilled some advice. My young agreeable rider welcomed his honorable help. She was a sponge, soaking up all of his "words to the wise". This Kings message was clear. She must find a way to fuel her fire. Obviously all eventers need to be able to fund their passion. It's a MUST to have manageable means in order to be able to support their insatable eventing habits. He does it with buying and selling horses, along with lesson after lesson. Now, how is she going to do it?

    

       

Superstitions, more common than you think, amongst eventers.

  "When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer. Superstition, ain't the way." Back in 1972, Stevie Wonder sang about the risks of holding on to rituals, and warns to be careful with superstitions. He mentions a daydream hell and the devil on his way. Now, that's a bit extreme, I know, he ends his famous Motown song with "shut up!"  I equate that with the "knock on wood" action. We use this phrase all the time. To touch wood, then knocking on it, creates a loud sound that instantly wards off any evil consequences or bad luck that might be conjured up because of some untimely boasting about a good fortune. It is my silly established rite.
     We've all heard of the established silly rite of the athlete that has to eat chicken before every game or the baseball player with the lucky socks. How can you overlook the football players and their personalized ritual dances, obviously indebted for the stardom and asking for more? The eventing rider is no different. They have their favorite whips and lucky boots. Riders have their customs and strategies that they believe works for them. In fact, a fair amount of riders are convinced that these regular patterns may actually influence success in the competition.

     A riders ritual may be a certain behavior or action that the athlete performs with the belief that these behaviors have a purpose, or power, to influence their performance. I have even witnessed one rider having to listen to one particular song, everytime, before they blast off onto the cross country course. How about the groom that will never go on another course walk again, because of what happened to the rider the last time she walked. Then there is the rider that absolutely can not go without her coffee or the entire day will be ruined. That's probably just a caffeine addiction, never the less, it's a habit that if missed might just weigh heavy into some kind of superstition.

     Superstition is generally something that initially starts off as some kind of hindsight or by accident. A superstition comes to life when a rider has a particularly good (or bad) performance and then tries to establish a "cause and effect" by reviewing the incidents of the day. The facts of what they ate or wore, or what songs were played, anything unusual possibly a haircut, a certain phone caller calling, whatever it is, it then gets labeled into affecting the outcome of the performance.
     Perhaps, the biggest value in superstition and ritual is that they may boost the confidence and the sense of control for the athlete. What ever a person truely believes, that belief is always true for them. Then there is the other side of the coin. Superstitions are nothing but a crutch. Especially, when dealing with a partner, (the horse) poor animal just doesn't understand that all the "hell that broke loose" was because a "lucky whip" got left behind. The horse just knows the rider is bummed out, and in return the horse most likely will also be broken up. That being said,  "When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way, no, no, no, shut up!"

Their head honcho had hit the dirt. Red Hills

 

   Her phone rang, the working student answered cheerfully, "Hey what's up, how is Red Hills going?" There was a long pause and then her face turned a bad shade of cheerless. "He had a fall" she repeated to us. Instantly, simultaneously we (riding daughter and I) both gasp!  There was a rush of air, then I couldn't breathe at all. Frozen, we stood there in a circle, eyes wide, brimming with tears. Their head honcho had hit the dirt. "Oh NO!" All the ambition for the day ran away and woeful worry came stomping in.
     This was lousy news.  The two afflicted young riders became depressed, stickened with anguish, paralyzed and disturbed. All of a sudden, they didn't want to do anything. At that moment, neither one could continue riding horses. Down deep, prayers and well wishes seized our thoughts. Please, please, please allow everyone to be okay, especially the horse. Please, please, please kept spinning in my head. Reports of their conditions were being txted by the groom/barn manager.
     Both rider and his horse were up on their feet, however, the two had to be wheeled away. Rider was en route to the hospital and the horse to his stall. The updates trickled in. Rider may have a broken wrist. "Oh NO!" once again. Horse won't put any pressure on one of his front legs, "Oh NO!" somemore. It was a sickening span of time.
     The left behind riders mucked and swept, filled water buckets, fed, and brushed ponys while waiting for updates. Little by little, news was coming in. It was confirmed that the big rider busted his wrist. Crap, that sucks! Then, the scoop on the horse: initial x-rays of the champion, loved by everyone showed nothing. YES! That was the BEST news we could hear. I started jumping around like a kid with a brand new bicycle. Daughter and her horsey peer cheered! The day brightened. "Does this mean WE get to ride HIS horses?" A sly smile tracked across her face.  My rider has become extremely fond of that horse.
     CONGRATULATIONS! To Allison Springer and her awesome Aurthur, winners of the CIC three star division. Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice who won the CIC two star. Candace Tribe and Catalina winners of the one star. Jessica Phoenix took the Advance division with Exploring. Caroline Martin and Classic Touch came in first in the Open Intermediate~A, while Mara DePuy won with Chequers Macon in the Open Intermediate~B. Boyd Martin guided the late Colin Davidsons' mount Crackerjack to the top of the Open Preliminary~A division and Doug Payne kicked it with Camerlingo in Open Preliminary~B. Prelim Rider was awarded to Brent Leytem and Space Pictures.
    

Equestrian bombardment rocks Tallahassee It's Red Hills!

  

     Teasing peeks of just how heavy this eventing engagement really is can be confirmed by the permanent Red Hills Horse Trial signs fixed on the side of the freeway. Since 1998, this sloping terrain, rich with red earth, located on the northeast side of Florida has been host to one of the biggest eventing competitions held in the United States each year. Red Hills International Horse Trials is known by the riders as the "kick off" of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup series.  Thousands and thousands of spectators tread their way through the tall Tallahassee timbers, to witness this wholloping first-class eventing competition, which is held in Phipps Park.                               

     It is truly something to see!  Equestrian bombardment rocks this capital town and in return they throw down the padded red-carpet. Locals welcome wave, instead of giving back unsure drivers the middle finger. It's nice. City officials prove that they are "no dummies," they and eveyone knows that this three star accomplished horse contest bumps up their economy, bigger than Christmas.  Organizers do an excellent job of providing fun for the entire family. Besides viewing the top-notch riders with their brilliant horses, the kids can enjoy their own four-legged experience, pony rides!  Or, if they are not into horses, how about they expel built-up energy with some endless bouncing found in the many inflatables. There will be an avenue of shops and fantastic food: blooming onions, scones, kettle corn, fries and juicy hamburgers. Now,  if you are really lucky,  Bradley's Country Store will be smoking their mouth watering best tasting sausages. Trust me......wait in line, pimp, trade, lie, steal what ever it takes to get one of those hotdogs, they are worth it. Riders sign autographs. People drink beer. Loose dogs are impounded. Even Tallahassee's local television station: WCTV,  will be there with "coverage we can count on," how about that? Reporters and their camera people mixing it up, while riders and horses muck it up.  It's a bucket-list must!

     Good luck to all the horses and their riders!