February 14, 2024
Picture: Captured by Joan Davis of Flatlands Foto, Sophie and I over a table on course, both smiling.
Since as far back as I can remember, riding at the preliminary level of eventing has always felt like a reach goal. Just like high school seniors will apply to at least one 'reach' school, the idea of running prelim was something I occasionally thought about, but never really dreamed would come to fruition. I never aspired to be riding full time at the upper levels, but for me, being able to compete at the prelim level seemed like an other worldly achievement. I would be incredibly successful if I could get there one day.
When I started riding with Charlotte at N&C, prelim still seemed something of a whisper in the wind. I had a lot to work on from the ground up, first. I truly didn't think about running at that level until the day I ran training level with Sophie for the first time.
Sophie has been a dream in more ways than one (and a nightmare in others), but it wasn't until we completed our first training level run at Flora Lea farm in the fall of 2021 that I started to formulate the idea of prelim being approachable in my head. Sophie was clearly talented in the jumping, and it was just a matter of me learning how to navigate properly in order to maybe make this dream a reality.
In the early spring of 2022, Charlotte and I marked our calendars for my attempt at the level for August of that year. Just putting the words 'Huntington - P' in my calendar made me feel insane. I couldn't believe that we might actually get there.
We ran a few events early on in the spring to get the rest of our MER's. One was a training level run at Huntington, where my dear friend Eliza was running prelim on her superstar mare. Watching her complete that run (and do such an amazing job!!!!) allowed me to get a glimpse as to what questions would potentially be on my course there later in the year.
We had a run at the modified level at Hitching Post farm in the spring as well, where Sophie blew me away with her willingness to try, even when I was not at my best. The course was twisty, turn-y, and terrain-y, and we still jumped clear only adding some expected time to our xc day. I will recap that show at some point, too.
By the time August rolled around, I was newly engaged, and also was prepared to be a newly minted prelim rider as my MER's were complete. Charlotte carted just myself and the spotted unicorn all the way to Vermont for our go (forever grateful for that!!). I was fortunate to have an incredible team to support me throughout the day - Charlotte, Drew, my dad, and my long time barn friend Kylie. Everyone traveled at least a few hours to watch me go - I was determined for it to be somewhat successful for myself and for them!!
Picture: X, halt, salute. Captured by my dad.
Dressage started off on an okay foot. As told in previous posts, it is our weakest phase, and Sophie and I have a history of fighting with each other over who is allowed to be more tense during our time in the sandbox. I think I got incredibly lucky, because the judge that day was someone who knew both of us, and had recently done a fix-a-test for us at our home base weeks prior. We finished with a 37.4, which was probably generous but also pretty good for us at the time. I was delighted.
Picture: Sophie making light work of the show jumping, and me holding on for the thrill.
Show jumping came and went quickly - it is usually our most straight-forward phase, and that day was no different. She tore up the grass as we rocketed around the show jumping, adding only 1 rail to our score. I didn't even realize we had a rail until we walked out and Charlotte informed us - I was having so much fun as the pilot and didn't even hear the clip of the hoof on the rail or the tumble of the rail to the grass. Either way, I left the show jumping full of excitement and some anxiety over the culmination of our efforts: the cross country.
Picture: Charlotte and I course walking for show jumping. Captured by my dad.
We always warm up quickly for xc. She doesn't need much prep, and especially if we've come right from show jumping, she's already a bit fired up. We popped over a log they had set for the warm up off of the right lead, off of the left, and at an angle, and then made our way to the start box. Drew, Kylie and Charlotte had already ventured deeper on course to get good video angles (best people for that!!) and the only person there filled with more anxiety than myself - my dear, dear father - took his post at the start box to capture the start and finish with my mom's good camera. He felt better seeing that angle than any of the 'cooler' jumps later on course (LOL).
(A brief shout-out to my mom, who could not join us due to being sick and stuck at home, but supported with so much heart from a distance - and even trusted my dad with her camera for the trip!!)
Picture: Captured by Charlotte, me in front of the last fence on course, showing off my beautiful KMA breeches
I took several deep breaths as I made my way to the start. I usually like to consider myself semi-stoic and focused at events, but this was different. Event riders know that the details of all three phases are important, but the reason we do this sport is the cross country. It's exhilarating - there's nothing like it!
Charlotte and I had walked the course the night before, and talked about the correct rides to all of the hard questions: the trakehner, the drop out of the woods, the right facing corner then six strides to a left facing corner, a sunken road type of exercise in the woods, the coffin, etc. The only question on the course that made me pee my pants a little was a sizable up bank, bounce to a skinny, then one stride to a down bank. Sophie and I had not had significant practice with this, and we had been sticky at up banks during schooling prior to this. Fortunately for us, Huntington must have also thought this was tricky because they had a black flag option set up at that combination. The option gave us the route of going up the bank, down the mound and then circling around the bank over a separate skinny fence, and then back to the regular course. Charlotte and I decided that if things were going amazingly well, that I could attempt the regular route. Any hesitation at any fence prior to this combination, and the smart decision would be to do the option.
Picture: All smiles at my dad (for me at least) before heading to the start box
I ran the course over and over again in my head hundreds of times between waking up that morning and entering the start box.
We were ready.
5...4...3...2...1 have a great ride!
We were off.
Picture: Captured by my dad, us hopping over fence 1
Soph was a teeny bit backed off at the first two fences, and I was late pressing the gas pedal, which resulted in an unusual stop for us at fence 3. I kicked myself for not prepping enough, and then circled back and popped over it with ease. Fence four was sticky, but Sophie's limber nature got us over it, and then we had a clear runout at fence 5 - a skinny chevron-type fence heading up a path into the woods. I thought I had set us up well for this one, but clearly my first 4 questionable fences didn't build a lot of confidence in either of us. Sophie also couldn't believe that there was a fence judge near it - in a chair no less!! There was a lot to look at.
At that point my regular cross country brain kicked in. What the hell were we doing?! I was NOT about to be eliminated at this point. I had important people here supporting me, and I did not want to let them down.
So, as they say, I kicked on.
We scrambled over that skinny on our second attempt, with me pleading with Sophie out loud to stay focused and help me out a little. We headed into the woods, and then came out over the coffin, where Sophie put one stride where it was supposed to be, but I had anticipated 2, so we sailed over the out with me lagging behind a bit. I told her how good she was, thanked her for listening to my pleas, and we galloped out into the first open field.
From then on, it was smooth sailing. Over a big table, a line of skinnies, back into the woods - out over a big drop, over the trakehner, 6 strides in between the corners, in and out of the sunken road, and then I, of course, opted for the option at the bank which went without a hitch. At that point I couldn't care less about time; I just wanted us to find the finish flags. We eased through the water and over a chevron out of the woods...then we galloped towards home.
Picture: Sophie and I heading into the corner combination on course. Captured by Kylie.
We soared over fence 18 with smiles on both of our faces, and I had tears of joy falling as we went through the flags. Love for the sport and this horse filled my head to the brim. In that moment, I truly believed they did not make enough cookies in the world to give to Sophie as a thank you.
The cherry on top was the ability to take home a ribbon that day. 8th place and the brown ribbon might not seem that amazing on paper, but I was elated to have a keepsake for this memory. We finished our first prelim on a number, albeit quite high, but a number nonetheless. Sophie proved to me that she has beyond what it takes to be at that level, and I also took big notes on what we needed to work on at home to find more success in the future. Like any problems we've had on cross country in the past, the issues are never Sophie's ability: they are usually a combination of poor riding decisions and both of us being easily distracted!
I'm always hesitant to say that Sophie and I are a 'prelim pair', only due to the cross country faults. We did finish, so by definition, we have achieved that (no longer) far reaching goal, but I'm determined to do it again and do it better!
That was over a year and a half ago, and since then we have only dabbled at a few trainings due to my insane schedule over the last year. However, I look forward to our next go. Sophie is so talented, and I often remind myself that she only started getting into eventing in 2019, and then didn't really consistently get out there until 2021. Green doesn't feel like the right way to describe her, but she certainly does not have loads of experience, yet still goes as good as she does. I really believe this mare has talent for so much, and here's to me making sure my shit's together so that I can harness it properly during our time together.
Top left: captured by my dad, us soaring over the last fence and headed to the flags
Top right: captured by Charlotte, us flying over the out of the sunken road
Bottom left: captured by Charlotte, warming up and seeing the grounds the night before the show
Bottom right: getting that aftercare done right, according to Kylie. Captured by my dad.
Picture: My incredible team. Kylie, Drew, and Charlotte. And of course, my dad, who is not pictured but is the man behind the camera.
All the thank you's in the world to Charlotte for hauling us there and back, coaching us, and being there to support us every step of the way; to my family and friends for their in-person and long distance cheering; and to the spotted unicorn. For everything. Here's to what's next.
K
-If adding course walks as a part of show recap blogs interests you, please leave a comment or message me! I have tons of pictures of my old courses taking up storage on my phone, and a fairly good memory of how courses rode, and I'd be happy to share to any interested parties :)
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