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May 2, 2025 Let's get the cool part out of the way: I can officially say that Sophie and I have completed our first 2* event together! I made Sophie into a 2* pony, and somehow I also technically am a 2* rider...simply because we finished and not by any other stretch of the imagination. On paper that's awesome. I appreciate everyone who has supported that sentiment and continues to lift me up even when I'm being tough on myself for our less than stellar performance. To start from the beginning, Sophie and I arrived at the lovely Fair Hill International some time on Thursday afternoon the week of the show. Drew and Wally joined us, and we have such a system now that it didn't take long to unload and set up shop as soon as we arrived. I caught up with a few friends, including Sara and Jan, and took Sophie for a little hand walk after her vet inspection. Ring familiarization was not too long after we arrived, so I tacked up the spotted unicorn and followed signs from stabling all the way to the dressage rings. I got lost about 3 separate times because not many people had arrived at this point, and I had nobody to lean on for directions. I ended up asking someone driving along a path through the Saw Mill Field how to get to where I needed to be, and after about 30 minutes of searching, I finally found the infamous Fair Hill tunnel and then the dressage rings just beyond. Sophie and I spent a solid 5 minutes staring at and then spinning around in front of the tunnel, but she was brave about it the remainder of the weekend. There were two other riders participating in ring familiarization when I got there, so Sophie wasn't alone. She felt her normal amount of tense and tight, even after a long hack to get there, so I started with stretchy work and tried to get her to focus on me. There were these big flag poles at the top of the hill above the rings that were quite noisy with the wind, and I could tell Sophie had her ears on that and her eyes on the hustle and bustle of vehicles and poles being moved around above us at the show jump arena, so I started to put her to work quickly into our time down there. I was able to run through my whole test plus some harder movements a few times during the ride and I left the arena feeling like she was prepared for the next day of dressage. Boy was I wrong, but more on that later. After getting her tucked into bed after our hack, Drew took Wally and the three of us drove over to the cross country start to have a first glance at my course. I had already taken a peak at the jumps on the Cross Country App, and I didn't' think anything looked particularly crazy. As we left the start box, fence 1 did make my eyes widen a bit simply because it was really big for a first fence compared to what we've seen in the past. However its rampy nature made me feel a little more at ease. Fences 2-4 were solid gallop tables, followed by a skinnier table combination at 5AB and then another big table at 6. Beyond that were some trakheners, skinny questions, water questions, a corner to corner exercise, and a full coffin. I definitely thought the challenge was real, but still nothing made my head spin. And then came fence 15. I still am kicking myself for not getting a better picture to really show case what I was seeing, but fence 15 was spooky as hell. Sophie's weakness is getting easily distracted and then losing confidence as a result, and this jump came from in between a tree line, up a hill, and had a ton of cement pillars and combined driving fencing behind it that I just had a gut feeling Sophie would find this jump to be a significant challenge. Time would tell. The rest of the course included a few more tables, a full sunken road ABCD exercise, and then the finish. I was feeling fairly confident after seeing all of the fences, with the exception of 15. Drew and I closed up shop at stabling and then made our way to get some fast food before calling it a day. Travel day is always long, but I was ready to get well rested for the upcoming morning of dressage. Day 2 began with morning feed, stall picking, and figuring out the best way to get to the dressage rings for my test later in the afternoon. I opted to do the 20 minute hack as opposed to trailering over to the day trailer parking, as I thought the long walk might be good for Sophie to stretch and relax on our way up to the rings. Jacqui met up with us mid-morning to help make Sophie look her best with braids and plaiting her tail. I donned my green shad and ran a towel over my boots and then climbed aboard to make my way down the hack path. I ended up walking most of the way with Dan Kreitl, who I am familiar with for his accolades but had never interacted with in person. He was so kind! We had a great conversation about Sophie and his rides for the weekend. I really appreciate the seasoned professionals who have been there, done that, but still take genuine interest in the little guys and their dreams. After making our way through the tunnel, I met up with Jacqui, Drew and Wally at the warm up. We did our usual stretchy warm up work, and had to get ourselves pulled together fairly quick due to the show running so well on time. Sophie felt a bit tense, but nothing out of the ordinary. We finished our warm up with a few solid canter transitions, with Jacqui reminding me to not fight with her. I left the warm up and we made our way around the ring and disaster struck almost immediately. It was quite windy, and Sophie suddenly became hyper aware of the dinging of the ropes on the flagpoles above the dressage rings, and the hustle and bustle of show jumping added to the chaos as well. Her eyes bugged and she craned her neck to the sky, and I went from work mode to 'we just need to do this' mode. She had some spinning right as they rang the bell, and we entered at A jigging away from the insanity on the hill. We did some half decent work at the trot early on, but after our halt transition about midway through the test, I had nothing left. I felt bad because Sophie felt truly terrified underneath me, and I was not able to do anything to console her in that moment. We had a semi-controlled hand gallop in place of our canter work, only held about half of one of our counter canter exercises, added a few haunches in where it wasn't required, and we never fully came to a halt at the end for a score of 1 as our final movement. It was, by far, the absolute worst dressage performance I have ever put forward. It made all of my previous tense tests look like a thing of beauty. I still gave Sophie a pat after finishing to try to calm her down (to no avail) and I walked up to both judges to thank them and also apologize. They were both quite empathetic, and apologized right back to me. The silver lining was having one of the judges write 'clear potential' on the test. I appreciate that. I shook my head at my ground crew on the way out, but Jacqui reminded me how these things happen, and we did what we could with what we had. At least I didn't get rung out! And I had no errors! A few other riders in my division called out to me to say how tough that dressage ring is, especially if the horse has never been there before. It felt really nice to see that people's gut reactions were that of sympathy and not of scorn. I had some time to breathe and shake it off on our 20 minute hack back to the barns, and then I gave Sophie some time to be alone while I went with Jacqui to go walk cross country. We drove over to the day parking, and then on our walk to the start box, I ran into Sara who had just finished her first Advanced cross country!! She was so happy and I am so excited for what's next for her and her super horse, Caden. They finished their first advanced and took home a 4th place ribbon no less. I love the ability to compete, but I doubly love the ability to be present for friends in the sport who accomplish their goals - it is so amazing to be a part of that! On our walk we got the privilege of watching the remainder of the advanced division do their cross country rides. It is helpful for me sometimes to watch these rounds so that I feel less intimidated by the jumps on my course. Although, truly, I was feeling confident about what was in front of me on xc. Jacqui gave me some good food for thought was we went around, and helped give me pointers on things to keep in mind as I rode the course. The big one was making sure to give Sophie the choice of how she wished to take on the first few fences to set the tone for the round. We then attempted to walk show jumping, but the grounds crew up by the show jump ring didn't have confirmation on what the 2* course would look like, so we decided to push that aside till the morning. We then gave Sophie a walk, dinner, and then Drew and I met Jacqui, her friend Emily, and Emily's husband, Seth, for sushi. Emily runs Traveler Equestrian and is a long time friend of Jacqui's. She had two of her own young horses contesting the prelim divisions over the weekend, so her and I shared thoughts on the course over dinner. After eating a fabulous amount of sushi, Drew and I took a quick visit over to a local brewery that he had been eyeing on the drive down before calling it a night. Day three was a big one. We got to the barn early-ish to let Sophie have a little hand walk around the barns before she was loaded onto the trailer and brought over to the day parking. If you've never been to Fair Hill to compete, stabling is so far away from everything else. The 20 minute hack worked for dressage, but we certainly didn't have time for that on jump day. The day parking is just on the other side of the tunnel from the dressage and jump rings, so that made the most sense for us for the day. After trailering over to parking, I got out and met up with Jacqui to quickly walk show jumping. I noticed the flags had been taken down, which was nice but I also was sad they had to be up the day before!!! Show jumping was on grass, which we've had plenty of times before but it had been a while. All of the lines walked a little forward and Jacqui again reminded me I had to come in and be comfortable with the bigger stepping stride from Sophie. The course itself was simple enough - a few bending lines, a 1 stride, and a triple. I was feeling fairly confident with what was presented in front of me. We went back to stabling and I quickly threw tack on Sophie and put my black show coat on, as I had just enough time between the two jump phases to dress formally for the show jumping. I hopped on and hacked Sophie through the tunnel and up to the SJ warm up. My division was not very big, so Jacqui was easily able to take ownership of one of the warm up jumps while Sophie and I had a trot and canter around. I popped over a few verticals and oxers as Jacqui set them, working on the ride-ability of my horse and making sure I didn't get in her way. She hopped over our final warm up fence super. We walked over to the ring and it was just a short time before the rope was pulled aside and I was welcomed into the ring. The buzzer sounded as I was having a big canter down to the far end of the ring, so I turned and prepared for the first jump. In very classic Kailyn fashion, I overrode the crap out of the oxer at fence 1 and Sophie had a bit of a launcher and caught the front rail. I mentally kicked myself and we popped appropriately over the second fence. I then rode to NOTHING at the one stride at fence 3AB, and we promptly added 1.5 in between, taking the back rail of the oxer at A with us. I tried to shake off whatever brain-eating amoeba had latched itself to me as soon as I entered the ring and we managed to look more professional the next few jumps. I then decided to try the opposite approach for the triple and held Sophie to the very base of the in, and by sheer willpower we got through the combination with no rails down. I chipped in at the last vertical, which we also somehow kept up, and left the arena shaking my head and patting my pony. I am not sure if it was the fact that show jumping was on grass, the fact that the jumps were a teeny bit more impressive at the 2* level, or whatever else but I was disappointed in myself that I gave my super horse such a poor sj ride, especially since it's usually our most confident phase. I was properly fussed, but I moved on as quickly as I could on the walk back to the trailer to get us ready for cross country. I shifted gears in my head as I swapped Sophie's cute Veredus open fronts for my favorite green Majyk Equipe boots, and took off my leather helmet to replace it with my skullcap. Sophie was a bit itchy as I got on her again - she knew what was next. My team and I walked over to the cross country warm up and we were a bit early, so I took time to walk around warm up and try to settle my pre-xc jitters. Once the first few riders in my division started to head out, Jacqui had me get a good gallop and pop over a few of the warm up fences. I rode the first one fine, and then the second one quite badly, so Jacqui had me do one more so I didn't leave the warm up on a poor note. Once I was on deck, I walked down to the start box. 5...4...3...2...1 Have a Great Ride! I had all the intentions in the world of galloping out of that start box, as Jacqui and I had discussed and planned for, but Sophie decided to screw around a little and we spent the majority of the time between the start box and fence 1 with our hind end in the air 🤦‍♀️ We bounced around enough that we ended up completely biffing fence 1, which I thought was one of the biggest fences on course, and upon landing I kicked on HARD. Sophie's a funny creature. She's bold and madly confident in the show jumping, and she clearly enjoys and is bold enough about the cross country, but she sometimes moves a lot harder off the leg than she looks like she might - particularly going away from home. I have competitions where I never see this on course, but I sometimes see it a fair bit at others - and this was one of the latter moments. From fences 1-4, I had to really kick on hard between the jumps just to keep us moving forward at a reasonable pace for the level. I didn't have intentions of aiming for time, but I also didn't want to have a million time penalties if we didn't have to. However, by fence 5AB, she started to be on a roll and we were able to settle into a groove. 5AB was a fairly large skinny-ish table to table exercise for the first combination, and Sophie nailed it in the five strides it was set up to be. From then on we tackled a few questions like maxed out tables, a trakhener to skinny question, a water question that included a drop and then a ride out up a mound over a skinny, a corner to corner exercise, and a full coffin. Sophie was feeling strong, in a good way, and I was having fun! After smooth sailing over an open oxer at 14, I took a breath and settled the stride down a bit to set us up for what I thought was going to be the most challenging fence on course for us - that spooky roll top at 15. Sophie was peek-y as soon as we crossed the tree line and going down over the road and up a little hill, I lost all steam in the engine and we came to a quick stop in front of the fence. It wasn't her fault - I sighed and gave her an encouraging pat on the neck and turned around to plan my approach. She was spooking at the volunteer car near the jump, as well as the concrete pillars directly behind the jump - but she didn't care at all about the jump itself. I gathered myself and turned and kicked her off of a turn towards the jump again, and rode to nothing and she popped right to the side of it. This time I got a little frustrated, turned around pony-club-kicked and flapped my elbows at her - I did NOT want our journey to end here!!! I was able to manufacture just enough steam that Sophie saw the green light and popped up and around it. I smiled and we continued on. A sunken road question, a few more big tables and skinnies and we hopped over the final fence and through the flags. Sophie was briefly checked by a vet at the finish (mandatory for the FEI's to assess horse fitness) who gave us the thumbs up to go back to the trailers. Drew and Wally met us at the finish, and Jacqui found us soon after. I am so grateful to my team of people who lifted me up and congratulated me on finishing my first 2*, even though my gut reaction was to be a bit down on myself for not having our first run be all that perfect. I got some really lovely texts from friends who reminded me that simply getting there is impressive and an accomplishment in and of itself, which I wholly appreciate. You know who you are ♥️ Jacqui held Sophie while Drew and I threw water on her and cooled her down. She didn't take much time to return to her resting state - gf is fit! Jacqui imparted some more words of wisdom my way, and we made a plan for what we should do next. I am continually grateful for her support - I am so lucky to have a coach I believe in wholeheartedly by my side. Drew and I took Sophie in the trailer back over to stabling. She settled into her ice boot routine while I loaded all unnecessary items into the tack room to clean up our area. Drew bestowed upon me the news that I did indeed finish in the top 7 in my division (7th place out of 7 🏆 ), and therefore would be able to pick up a ribbon! After poulticing and wrapping those 4 precious legs, Drew and I drove back over to the day parking to grab my test, ribbon, and do some shopping at the vendor booth (shout out VTO Saddlery!). We then grabbed lunch at a great BBQ food truck they had on site, and took a minute to take in the great weather and views. And at this point, it was barely 1pm! After a bit of downtime, we went back to stabling to meet up with Merritt and her dad. Merritt was coming down from Millbrook to take on the novice division in the starter trials that Sunday, and I was staying the extra day to support her for that. It was great to see them and catch up, and once her superstar horse Juliet was tucked into the stall next to Sophie, we made our way to the Saw Mill field to walk her cross country course. It was really cool that the starter trials courses were on that part of the property - it was the same area as a major portion of the 3* & 5* hosted at this site in the fall. The space was so open and just stunning. Merritt's course looked appropriately challenging but also incredibly fun. I was excited for her weekend! After walking xc and sj, we went back to stabling to check on the spotted unicorn, and then Drew and I went our own way to bring Wally to the hotel and make dinner plans. We decided to go to a few local breweries for food and some drinks, and for Drew to continue to add to his brewery sticker collection. It was really nice to have the night to enjoy some time in an area we aren't usually in without the added pressure of showing the next day. The next morning started fairly early, as I wanted to take Sophie for a short hack to stretch her legs before Merritt's dressage. When we arrived at stabling, Merritt was well into braiding, and I took Sophie out for a jog (she looked great!!!!) and then threw some tack on her to go for a walk. She felt good to go and even slightly full of it, as if she hadn't completed her first 2* with me the day before. After our walk I put her back to bed, and we loaded up Juliet in Merritt's trailer to go to the day parking area for the rest of the event. Merritt's three phases were all close enough that it made sense to do everything over at day trailer parking. They warmed up fantastically for dressage, and much like Sophie, Juliet did a fair bit of bouncing around (literally, all four feet bouncing together) before they entered the ring at A. However, unlike Sophie, as soon as Merritt started her test, Juliet immediately went into business and focus mode. They put down a lovely test to score in the high 20's heading into the jump phases. I know Merritt felt like they were walking on eggshells the whole test, but it is clear the two of them have been putting in solid flatwork at home because even when a bit tense, the accuracy was there and Juliet was still quite through the whole ride. Merritt had one of the best show jump warm ups to date later that morning, with Juliet bringing zero sillies to the table and they went in to jump a double clear around the stadium. Cross country was similar, with Merritt having a pop over a warm up fence, and then a smooth go around the novice course from the first to last fence. I am so proud of how far Merritt has come in such a short time with Juliet, and the future is bright! She ended up finishing to take home a pretty second place ribbon. I was so happy to watch and support her in having such a successful run at a brand new venue to the both of them. ❤️ Juliet was brought back to stabling following their clean finish, and Drew and I finished packing the trailer, loaded Sophie and said our goodbyes. It was nice to hit the road around 1pm, and we made it back to Apple Knoll just as the sun had set. It's been two weeks now since this adventure, and I have had this whole post written for a while but I had been waiting for the professional pictures to come out before posting...but they still aren't out and I wanted to get this thing published! Upon further reflection, my usual post-show sentiments continue to stay the same: I am grateful for my horse, my team, and everyone I am surrounded by in this sport. I have amazing professionals to look up to and get advice from, friends to share emotion with, and family who support me. Sophie and I did that - we finished a 2*!! And I can't wait to continue to be better for her so the next one is all this and more. Thank you for reading. K

April 6th 2025 What. A. Weekend!!! I could not have asked more of Sophie for our first horse trial of the year and first time out since I broke my foot last August. Read on to hear all the details from the weekend! Sophie and I started our drive down to Virginia last Thursday, pulling out of the driveway at AKF just before 5am. Both of us were happy to have company - I had Julia and Quinn in the car with me, and Sophie had Percy in the trailer. It was a long ride down, but my new trailer hauls so much more smoothly than my old one that it made the drive way easier. We pulled into Loch Moy Farm in Maryland around 3ish that afternoon to have a little cross country school ahead of the weekend. Jacqui met us there and provided the exact support Sophie and I needed as we were popping around the upper schooling field. It has been great to have had a few virtual lessons with Jacqui to work on our quality flat work over the last few weeks, but it was so nice to have her guidance in person again. She pushed me as she always does to have the forward, confident ride across the country that Sophie really should be getting from me at this point in our career. Sophie didn't blink at anything I turned her towards, and even bailed me out of a few questionable positions I put her in. It was good to be able to knock the rust off before the big weekend. We pulled out of Loch Moy feeling more prepared for the weekend than before, and Julia and I drove the additional 20 minutes over the border to Virginia to bring the horses to Morven. We were the first ones on the property which actually turned out to be really nice as we had the freedom to park the trailer right at the front of the barns and take our time unloading. Sophie and Percy settled in fairly easy, and we did a quick run over to Tractor Supply to pick up a few odds and ends we still needed for the weekend. Shout out to Julia for the idea of getting eye hooks to use for hanging the hay nets - way easier than trying to tie baling twine around the wood paneling in the stall! We grabbed some local barbecue for dinner and then checked into our AirBnb for the night. We were exhausted and beyond ready to call it a day. Our Airbnb was this cute little apartment close to the Maryland border off of 15, and besides being up a randomly steep hill it was the cutest little space for us to have access to for the weekend. Everything was already off to a good start! The next morning we slept in a bit and then made our way to Morven to take care of the ponies. We took them for a little hand walk after feeding them breakfast, and then we drove into town to get ourselves something to eat. Julia found a really good biscuit place I hadn't been to and it was one of the better places I can say I've eaten in town! And in classic Kailyn fashion, I was too casual about parking and we walked out to find a ticket on my dashboard. I forgot the rules for different roads in Leesburg center were more strict than others 😂 We then had some time on our hands, so I took us over to Bear Chase Brewery to catch some views in the beautiful weather Virginia was giving to us. Quinn got the chance to stretch his legs while we took some time to enjoy the sunshine. Bear Chase was one of Drew and I's favorite places to go when the weather was nice during our time living in VA, and it was my number one place to stop if we had time this weekend - and I'm so glad we did! We then took a quick drive over to Wheatland Spring Farm brewery to grab a few more beers for Drew before we went back to Morven - Drew was having some fomo and I promised I'd bring back some beers from a few of his favorite places while I was down. When we got back to the park, many other people had started arriving. Trailers were filling the lots and horses were being loaded into the barns. We tacked up our horses and worked our way down to the dressage warm up ring to have a ride. Jacqui met me down at the ring and we had a flat lesson to prepare for the weekend ahead. Sophie was actually a lot lazier than I had expected, but still was rideable and we got some good work done. Once again it was so good to have another ride in person with Jacqui. I was so happy to squeeze in two over this weekend! After putting the horses back in their stalls, Jacqui, Julia, myself, and all the pups made our way down to the start box to walk my cross country course. I had previewed it already on the CrossCountryApp, so I was locked in on what we were about to see on the walk. The first fence that had me a little bug-eyed was fence 2 - a maxed out table after a fair bit of gallop space between 1 and 2. The course continued on reasonably, and then the combination at 6AB was a skinny to a corner in a tight 4 strides on a bit of a right bend. Jacqui and I discussed what the best line would be depending on the ride in, and that helped me feel more confident. The walk continued on - there was a good angling question over two good sized roll tops, an ABC combination of a skinny, down bank, to a wedge, a coffin question, and a few good tables. Towards the final bit of the course, there was a water question that included a log on a mound heading down towards the water, and then a good slice out of the water over an angled roll top with brush on one side to make it a bit of a skinny question. Because I always need one thing to obsess over on course, this became my choice. Sophie and I had a similar question the last time we ran the prelim at Morven, and it went without a hitch, but for some reason my brain thought this was the question I needed to stress about. The remainder of the course was a single corner, an open oxer, and then the iconic Morven frame jump to finish. Jacqui emphasized to me how I need to let Sophie do her job and ride the hard lines and to not over involve myself in decisions. That night Julia and I decided to go out for a nicer dinner at Tuscarora Mill restaurant in town, which was really nice to do. It's not often that I go anywhere other than a fast food joint at an away show, so this was a welcomed change of pace. We had a delicious dinner and then I took Julia to a local bar, Nightshift, that Drew and I had loved going to when we lived in Leesburg. It was kind of amazing to have an evening on a horse show weekend where we could relax! The next day was spent mostly at the park. We got there early to course walk again, and then I spent some time watching the intermediate cross country while I walked in order to feel more at ease about the jumps on my course. I took Sophie out on an easy hack around the property later on where we ran into our friends Sarah and Caden, who had just picked up their second place ribbon in the intermediate from the morning. It was nice to see Sarah and hear her exciting plans for the year. I will forever be in awe of what she does with her incredible horse - always making it look so easy!! After chatting with Sarah, I met Julia over at the dressage warm up ring to have a short ride. Sophie felt good and relaxed, so I didn't ask her for much. Julia was putting in the work with Percy and he was looking really great. Later that evening, we got dinner at an Italian restaurant I hadn't been to before, and had a classic very average Leesburg meal. Julia introduced me to the wonders of Pepto for my anxiety-induced nerves, which was massively helpful both Saturday night and Sunday morning. Both of us went to bed a little early that night with the big day ahead. Sunday morning started early - I wanted to be in the tack by 7:50, so we cleaned and packed up the AirBnb first thing and then trucked it over to Morven to get the busy day started. I was inspired by Julia's beautiful mesh show jacket and opted to wear my new green mesh show coat over my black one, and Sophie looked stunning in her brand new white Ecogold dressage pad that was a gift from Drew from over the holidays. I polished my boots, tightened the velcro on my gloves, and then hopped into the tack to head down to dressage. Jacqui met me at the warm up and we got started right away. Sophie was much more behind the leg than I had anticipated, and I spent most of the warm up trying to get her in front of me without sending her into an upward spiral. After about 10-15 mins of getting warmed up, we started making our way to Ring 2. As soon as I trotted around the ring past the judge's house, Sophie's usual tenseness and spookiness reared its head. Part of me was relieved because it allowed me to have a little more energy at my disposal, but her willingness to be really tense is sometimes a bit challenging to work through, especially during the 4 minutes of dressage testing. The bell rang and I made my way into the ring at A. Overall the dressage was okay, and we left the ring on a 41.1. It was far from our worst performance, but I had hoped for a little better. The part I was most frustrated with was our shallow loop to the right - I had Sophie way unbalanced and ended up causing us to have an impromptu lead change halfway through. I had been practicing those all winter and I was frustrated I couldn't keep it together in the sandbox. However we shook it off on the way back to the barn and I shifted my headspace to what was next: the fun stuff! I had about two hours in between dressage and stadium, so I started packing what I could in the trailer and changed out of my show coat and into my favorite jump phase sun shirt. I put Sophie's studs in, pulled out my cross country aftercare buckets and wraps, and laid out my skull cap and vests. With the time I had, I was able to catch Julia's dressage test on Percy right before I had to tack for show jumping, and it was great to see them have a nice first ride out of the season. Julia's worked really hard on producing Percy and I am happy they got to come with us and experience the beauty of Morven! After watching their dressage, I sped back to the barn and threw on Sophie's jump tack. I met Jacqui down at warm up and we spent some time chatting while we waited for a few horses ahead of me to head into the ring to give us some more space in the warm up. When there were about 5 horses out, I started to pick Sophie up and we had a pop over a smaller vertical, a bigger one, then a smaller oxer, and then a bigger one off of each direction. Sophie felt fantastic. When it was our turn we galloped into the ring to the far side near the stone wall. The buzzer rang at the perfect time and I made my way to a big open oxer at fence one. Sophie nailed it. Sophie felt like she was on fire. We blasted around the course with only a few moments where I asked Sophie to dig deep and pop over the fences to avoid rails. We managed to hop over the final oxer with no rails and time to spare. Sophie made a sizable prelim show jump course feel like it was a piece of cake for her - she reminded me yet again that she is the coolest little mare!! I left the ring absolutely beaming. I received great praise from Jacqui and Julia, and I brought Sophie back up to the barns for a quick break before the final phase. She got a sponge on her chest, girth and flanks, and a cookie. I had about thirty minutes before heading to xc warm up, so I gave Sophie some water, continued to pack a few things up, and then got myself dressed for cross country. I had spent the evening overthinking a few of my questions on course and I had a bit of pent-up anxiety that I was hopeful would turn into energy on course. I had been drinking water and gatorade all day to stay hydrated and I felt as ready as I could to take on the course. Julia walked down to warm up with me and a line had already formed at the check in by the time we got there, so I had about 20 minutes to spare before it was my turn to go out. We spent time in the shade of the tree line and watched the first several riders head out. I was in a very competitive division, so it was inspiring to watch a bunch of long time pros take on the first handful of jumps. When I was about two horses out, I took Sophie for a little gallop and hopped over a table and a skinny log in the warm up, and Sophie made it very clear that she was ready. Jacqui was able to meet us at the warm up soon after that and she came with me over to the start box. 5...4...3...2...1...have a great ride! I pushed Sophie right out of the start and we popped over fence 1. Sophie let out a few kicks at the start but I continued on and let her go a little between the first two fences. On the approach to fence 2, a large frangible table, I made the decision to hold Sophie off of it and get in pretty deep. Sophie historically has preferred the hold ride over the push ride to the first few fences on cross country - I think it helps her get a little confidence if she feels a bunch of support in the saddle - and she was able to push her little body hard over the big table. It wasn't a pretty jump, but it was effective and we continued on. She took fence 3 right out of stride and then I had her add a stride in the first combination of skinnies, again to purposefully override to build confidence. From that point on, Sophie felt more bold and ready to go. We galloped over a big table at 5 and then I balanced her back for a skinny to corner combination at 6AB that she read really well. A few more fences and some terrain and I got back to that feeling that Sophie would jump the moon as long as I was steering in that direction. She continued to fill with confidence as we sailed around the rest of the course, including angle questions, a full coffin, a drop question, a few more bigger tables - she ate it all up. Coming out of the tree line back into the main field, I slowed her down a bit to give her a moment to analyze the upcoming water complex. We popped over the log on a mound into the water and then I rode hard on the out and Sophie sliced over the roll top out like it was easy. I can't believe I lost sleep over that ride!!! She nailed it. We popped over one more single corner, an open oxer, and then the picture frame jump to finish. I was smiling ear to ear over the last few jumps and through the finish. As much as I am now officially listed as a professional due to my teaching lessons, I channeled my inner ammy energy by loudly exclaiming how perfect and amazing my horse was as we ran through the flags 🤣 We were definitely a little slow from my micromanaging early on, but I feel confident that will get better with time. Jacqui and Julia met me at the finish and Jacqui was over the moon for us. I am so endlessly grateful to her for her support and for pushing Sophie to get to this point. I am at a point where I feel confident that I have a prelim horse - hopefully at some point soon she will feel that she has a prelim rider! I was also so thrilled for Jacqui who had two seamless novice rounds on her two horses she had for the day. It was a great day all around! Sophie got hosed, iced, and wrapped, and I continued loading up what I could into the trailer. I then got to watch Julia and Percy take on the Morven stadium ring and the cross country, both of which rode super for the team. Percy was clearly finding the novice cross country to be easy and seemed confused when the end of the course came up - he was ready for more! For those interested, Percy is for sale and you can contact Julia for information about him. Julia and I did a great job efficiently packing and loading our items into the truck and trailer and were on the road just over an hour after Julia finished her jump rides. It was so great leaving the venue after both of us had great rides and a weekend full of good food, drinks and weather. I literally couldn't have asked for anything to have been different!!! The drive home was long and slow, and after some traffic and 2 quick stops, we got home around 2:30am. I have spent the whole week trying to catch up on sleep around work and other obligations, but I am still so happy with how our first outing of the year went. Sophie was so phenomenal and is really proving to me that she not only understands the job but LOVES it! Our next outing is scheduled to be Fair Hill in a few short weeks - fingers crossed for what's next with the spotted unicorn 🤞 Thank you again to all who read through these blogs. I will hopefully have more frequent updates as we are now in competition season! K

February 27, 2025 I cannot believe we are already nearly two months into this year. With all of the insanity going on in the world right now, I wanted to sit down and take some time to put another brief blog post up as it's been a fair bit since the last one. Sophie and I have been back on a consistent schedule and working on getting both of our levels of fitness up. I have started doing home work outs and forcing myself to take trips down to the little gym in my apartment when I can. Town Hill taught me how important it is to keep working on myself as much as I am working on my horse. The only thing bugging me really is my foot, as I am limited to cardio workouts that do not involve running - which is more challenging than I had anticipated! Because the injury involved tendons, they say it won't necessarily 'fully heal' until about a year after surgery- and even then I have been told care should be taken. In my case, the only thing I shouldn't be doing while I wait for the fully healed moment is running, which normally wouldn't bother me at all (I don't actually like running), although I find that to be the easiest way to get a good cardio workout in. I've also been making sure to get Sophie feeling her best as we head into the start of the season. She saw the dentist, we've been starting some interval training in anyway we can using the indoor while we wait for it to thaw outside, I found a gently used Equicore band system on FB marketplace which I am also incorporating into Sophie's fitness work as needed which has been great, and she's seen the wonderful team at Northbridge Equine to get the proper maintenance work ahead of our first big show. Sophie has had some mild arthritis in her fetlocks, which I've known about since buying her, and we've been keeping her feeling comfortable with annual joint injections which has been working for quite some time. This year, after speaking with the teams both at Piedmont when we were south and Northbridge up here, we have moved forward with IRAP for Sophie instead in order to hopefully have more long-lasting results. It has been fascinating to learn about just how many therapies exist for these kinds of things in horses, and we all came to the consensus that IRAP was the best option for Sophie (and my wallet) long term. If you own a horse, you know how expensive injections are!! I'll include a link to more information about IRAP here for those interested, but in summary, it is a therapy that uses the horses' own blood, spins it down to isolate the naturally occurring IRAP proteins, and then re-inject them into the joint of interest. It really is a cool process that uses proteins that the horses' body is already naturally producing as an anti-inflammatory response. We are almost through the process so I am looking forward to feeling great results! We had originally planned to get to a schooling jumper show earlier this month, but the ice and snow storms got in the way of that. For anyone reading that does not live in New England, I can share that this winter has been brutal. The ground has been frozen for at least the last two months straight, and the snow is finally starting to melt as of this week. The next few weeks are set to have some days approaching the 50 degree mark if not beyond, which I know every horse person in the area is beyond thrilled for. I am hopeful to get off property for any type of schooling in the next few weeks to both get Sophie's head more in the game, and finally test out the new trailer which has had to just sit due to the horrific weather conditions. I will add that In the last two weeks, Sophie has been so much more rideable than she has been during this entire dreary winter. I think she has decided she's also over the miserable weather and she's ready to get back to the fun stuff. She's also recently started shedding, which I am also taking as a good sign!!! I am so ready for her to look as good as she feels and get rid of that winter hair. I officially sent in our first entry of the season the other week, and we have our sights set on starting 2025 at our favorite venue, Morven, at the end of March. I can't wait to get back to Leesburg and reconnect with Jacqui who will be there to support us and remind me of how to ride (yay!!!). And as much as we are doing what we can with fitness building and practice at home, I am keeping everything crossed that the ground thaws enough for us to get in a few good gallop sets and hill work before that time. Pull through for us, New England weather! I will be back with an update after Morven - hopefully it's a good one and better than our last post-horse show update 🤣 In the meantime, thank you as always for your support, and I look forward to hopefully expanding some of my coaching and volunteering opportunities in Area 1 as the season approaches - please reach out to me if that piques your interest! Thanks for reading 💚 K

December 31, 2024 What a year it has been. I feel like time stood still when I first broke my finger back in November of 2023, and then as soon as I was able to get back into the saddle and ride consistently, everything since has been a whirlwind. Photo by Kiera Equestrian Media So much happened this year that I wanted to approach it month by month. In summary, I can say that 2024 was by far the most influential year of my life in the equestrian world. I learned so much about myself, my horse, and the things that are important to me. Rewind with me as I recall everything that happened from January - now. January January started off somber. I had spent the holidays with family, and then Drew and I traveled back to Virginia on December 30, and I had plans to pick up Sophie from Jan's the next day. It was nice to spend time with both of our families, but we also had just both gone through cases of COVID which dampened the experience. I was also struggling mentally with figuring out what I was going to do next in my life. I had just had surgery (number one) for the finger, I had parted ways with Surefire after deciding not to travel to Florida, and I was sad to have discovered that I was not ready to dive into horses full time at that stage in my life. I discovered that I required more flexibility in my schedule, and that kind of career does not allow for that. I had contacted several barns local to us in Leesburg, and I happened to find one that particularly piqued my interest: Chapel View Farm. It was close to our apartment, it was affordable, and I liked what head trainer Jacqui Ross had to say on her website about her teaching style. I had toured her property mid-December and it was a no brainer that Sophie and I had found our next stop along the way to figuring out permanence. I loaded Sophie into my trailer on December 31st and hauled her from Purcellville over to Leesburg to our next home. I originally had her on solo turnout, and it was not long before she was moved to be with a wonderful group of mares in the paddock next door. I started watching Jacqui ride her string of horses, teach lessons, and take lessons with other professionals in my spare time. I was riding Sophie, but mostly in a casual way as I dealt with my finger issues. Jacqui let me take my time figuring out what I wanted to do, and never pressured me into taking lessons. This gave me time to breathe and wrap my head around what was next for me both with horses and professionally. Outside of the barn, I had been diligently applying to substitute teaching positions. I figured that since our stay in VA would not be permanent, I wanted to find something that I had experience with and also paid above minimum wage. Subbing fit the bill perfectly. I was able to get in at the Loudoun County Public School system, but it took forever for me to officially get placed after paperwork was processed. Between working on the employment process and fitting in tons of physical therapy, I was fairly busy. Most of my spare time was spent hanging out at the barn, enjoying quiet time with Sophie, and learning from Jacqui by watching her ride. I was starting to get my feet back under me, and I was also trying to spend quality time with Drew and Wally. Sophie looking at Chapel View Farm February I finally got all my paperwork squared away by the end of January, and I started entering classrooms at the beginning of February. I spent a very brief period as a floating building substitute, where I was choosing assignments as I desired daily at any of the high schools across LCPS, but I was quickly taken in as a permanent building sub for one of the high schools (luckily, the one closest to my apartment!). My background as a full time science teacher, and my ability to use a computer, led to the office staff finding me to be immensely useful to their daily sub program. They wanted to have me available. It was great for my own schedule to be guaranteed to be at the same school everyday, and it allowed me to start to find a routine again. Once I knew I had employment under my belt, I entered Sophie into a few local schooling shows. The first was a jumper show where Sophie and I cleaned up with 2 blue ribbons in the 3' and the 3'3 divisions. She was a firecracker that day, and I got to spend time getting to know Jacqui and her amazing crew of people. The second show was a dressage show, and Sophie and I gave our best shot at two tests (I believe 1st 1 and 2), and we scored okay. I was happy to get out and do something with her after several months off, but it definitely was not our best performance. Jacqui chimed in during my warm up for the second test, and was really helpful in getting me to feel more confident going in to the second ride. I left that show with the learned knowledge that I needed to get back into lessons. I started lessoning with Jacqui here and there, and I found her input to be exceedingly helpful. I also continued to spend extra time watching her ride or teach lessons when I had the time for it, because I was enjoying doing so. Jacqui's string of horses, which were a mix of her own personal horses and horses in training, were a varied bunch. She had a few upper level dressage rides and UL dressage prospects, some event horses, and some young and / or green horses that were finding their feet. I found myself learning something new during every ride she had. She also would talk through what she was doing or feeling each step of the way, which was great for my education. Towards the end of this month, after several PT appointments, a cortisone shot, and check-ins with the doctor, it was unfortunately determined that I needed a second surgery on my finger. The swelling had nearly disappeared, but I was unable to bend the second joint much at all. It was significantly impacting my ability to use my hand for many daily functions. I remember crying as the wonderful nurses got me set up in the pre-surgery room because I was so beyond sick of needles in my hand. I was hoping this would be my last one for quite some time. February is also when I started this blog. I found it really helpful to give myself something to do during subbing assignments and during recovery, but also a great way for me to get in touch with my own brain. This has been a perfect way for me to reflect on so many things. Soapie March March began with a myriad of PT appointments. My wonderful therapist was working so hard to get my finger functioning at a relatively normal level, and the second surgery proved to be successful right out the gate. I was able to make nearly a full fist with my right hand, and I could hold my reins in a slightly more normal way again. I was thrilled! I then had almost every weekend in March booked and busy for one thing or another. My dear friend Jess had her bachelorette trip early on in the month, and we spent the weekend on the beach in North Carolina. It was a blast!! The next weekend Drew and I traveled back to Mass to do some apartment hunting, and to attend my mom's biannual quilt show. That weekend was crazy, but so nice to see everyone in a short time frame. Drew and I also made our decision that weekend about where we would be moving to, which was a huge weight off of our shoulders. The weekend after that, Sophie and I took on the schooling horse trials at Loch Moy, and finished in third in the training division! It was a miserably wet and cold day, but our team of me, Sophie, Drew and Jacqui made the most of it. I felt super prepared for our first official outing coming up the next weekend. I also was feeling very at home and happy at CVF, and our ability to not only perform well but to have fun on a day as miserable weather-wise as that one spoke volumes. At the end of March, Sophie and I made the long (10 minute) journey down the road to Morven for their spring horse trials. We were joined by Kiera, who helped on the ground, and Jacqui came over to coach me in all three phases. Sophie felt SO super, and we finished in fourth in the training division adding nothing to our dressage score. I was feeling confident in our ability, and Jacqui and I fleshed out my plans for competitions in Area II with the time that I had left. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography April This month continued with the large number of PT visits and working at the high school, and Drew and I started to really explore Leesburg when we had spare time. We began finding restaurants, bars, and shops that we really enjoyed spending time in, and I think I speak for both of us when I say that this is about when we actually started falling in love with Leesburg. I think our first six months were stressful and chaotic but, by this point, which was also after Drew's busy season at work, we were starting to realize there are a lot of things to love about the area. I had a brief weekend at home early on in the month for Jess's bridal shower, which was so lovely, and made it back to Virginia just in time to watch Drew at one of his most successful men's league softball games before I drove to North Carolina for Sophie and I's next event. Sophie and I had some proper cross country schooling with Jacqui over at Loch Moy before we left, and then I made the 6-ish hour trek down to Southern Pines for an event at Carolina Horse Park. Not only did Sophie and I get to explore the amazing venue at CHP, but I also got the privilege of spending some serious quality time with my friend Kristen, who is located in Southern Pines. She opened her place for me to stay, and she also acted as my groom and official videographer that weekend. It was so good to see her, and I think she brought Sophie and I some good luck! We finished the weekend in 5th place, moving up several spots after clear jumping efforts. It was a long ride home, but it was a worthwhile trip in so many ways. After coming back from North Carolina, Sophie got a little break and I drove up to my old stomping grounds in CT to run a clinic at N&C for a group of students who would be new to showing in the upcoming season. Charlotte had invited me up to run it again, having also done something similar the year before, to show the new competition kids around packing the trailer, prepping their horses for the shows, etc. It was super fun, and it was nice to spend the weekend seeing old friends - both human and horse! Sophie and I ended the month of April on a huge high. We finally got to contest the prelim level again at Morven for the Loudon Hunt Pony Club horse trials. As much as I was nervous, I felt prepared and Sophie was feeling as fit as ever. We started with a respectable dressage test, followed by a show jump round that was far from our best, but very educational. I learned quickly that Sophie needed to be allowed to have a bigger stride to make the prelim combinations in the show jump ring happen - we had a true horse show 1 stride combination that I settled too much on the in of, and Sophie put in so much effort to get us over the out in one and a half strides and we ended up landing on the back pole of the oxer out. Sophie was no worse for the wear, but I had the sense knocked into me and we finished the rest of the round not touching a rail. I have not made that mistake since! We then had one of the most fun cross country rides I've ever had. We had one run out early on, which was yet again a mistake that was a result of me being micromanage-y, but then we powered on to jump everything else, even some of the harder questions we've ever had posed to us. The icing on the cake that day was having our friend Elaine and her puppy Azula come support us - so fun! Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography May May was special, with two very significant events. The first of which was one of my best friends' weddings! Jess and Joey had the loveliest wedding up in Mass, and I was lucky enough to be by her side as a bridesmaid. Drew and I had an amazing weekend celebrating them, and it was once again so nice to get back home that weekend. The second event was my goal for our year in Virginia: Sophie and I were going to contest our first FEI together. We spent a wonderful weekend at Virginia Horse Center, surrounded by family and friends, and finished in 7th place with just a second and a half of xc time and two rider rails. Drew, Wally, Kiera, my mom and dad, and their pups, cheered us on as we jogged down the strip, pranced down the centerline all dolled up, galloped through the terrain at VHC, and sailed over the beautiful jumps in the class sj ring. It was the most impressive venue Sophie and I have seen, and we had a blast. I think my favorite part was making so many new friends. I love having so many people I can continue to cheer on from a distance these days! Another stand out moment for me was heading up to dressage - Jacqui was able to join us that day, and she and Kiera worked together to make Sophie look just beyond stunning. I was so proud to ride that horse up to the dressage ring, especially donning my green shad that I had been dying to wear. That weekend will be a highlight for me for a LONG time. Photo by Kiera Equestrian Media June June was busy. Drew and I had started packing for our move, and I was nailing down Sophie and I's next home. I had it planned officially at this point that we would be moving into Apple Knoll by July 10, so I wanted to make the most of the time we had left in VA. I started the month off with a run around prelim at Middleburg HT, where Soph and I only added one rider rail and some expected xc time to our dressage score. I was thrilled with her jumping efforts on cross country, and her stadium round was the best she's had yet - the rail was due to my leaning off to one side, I was kicking myself so hard for that one because she was truly jumping out of her skin! I then started to have some more time on my hands as the school year was coming to a close. I had enjoyed my time as a sub in the Loudoun County school system, and I made a lot of friends while I was based at Heritage High School in Leesburg. My supervisor there even wrote me a lovely letter of recommendation that I think helped me secure the job I got at my current place of employment! Drew and I really started spending more time enjoying Leesburg and the surrounding towns during the month of June. We brewery hopped around and found some great places to eat and drink in the area, particularly this one bar above a restaurant in downtown Leesburg that had the best vibe. We tried nearly every restaurant in a 10 mile radius, and took Wally for a lot of walks around the local neighborhoods. I also decided to put myself into bootcamp with Jacqui. The days were quickly getting hotter, and she had a lot of horses to ride. I am so grateful she trusted me enough to let me sit on any one I wanted, and I started joining her in the mornings to get the horses done before the real heat kicked in. She was also kind enough to give me pointers on each one I sat on. Jacqui is known for riding anything that comes through her barn, and some of her horses were very tricky to ride, but it made me a much better rider for it! I really think those few weeks of riding all of her horses really enhanced my ability to ride Sophie on the flat, because many of those horses did not let me get away with my usual mistakes. It was one of the best learning experiences I've ever had in the saddle. At the end of June I made a surprise trip down to Atlanta to visit Bella while she showed Medici at Bouckaert HT. She had no idea I was coming, but her team did, and it was so worth the trip! I just stayed for the weekend, but it was so fun to watch her be successful with Medici in person. Plus that venue was just stunning, and I'll have to get back there someday. Wally in the way at Middleburg July July was a big month. I had one more FEI to get to, and we were moving back to Mass. There was A LOT to do in a very short amount of time. Drew and I still tried to get out and enjoy our favorite spots in and around Leesburg one last time during our last 10 days there, and I was spending most days still at the barn and then home packing. I did allot time to go visit my old pal Winslow at the retirement farm during our last few days there as well, which was good for the soul. The weekend of July 5 was HOT, but Sophie felt beyond ready to conquer the 1* at Maryland International. It was a cool thing to experience the short format at an FEI especially since I had the long format treatment at Virginia Horse Center just a few months prior. Sophie and I did our dressage test on the Friday, and then had both jump phases nearly back to back on the Saturday. The Young Rider Championships were also happening that same weekend, and it was great to catch up with a few Area 1 people while we were there. Sophie and I ended up taking home a pretty white ribbon after moving up several places and having one of the fastest xc times of our division! I was so proud of my little spotted unicorn that weekend. Our time in VA culminated in a huge successful outing at a fantastic venue. The morning of July 10th, I got up early and said my goodbyes to Jacqui and the ponies at Chapel View Farm. It took me about 8 hours to get up to Apple Knoll, and Sophie was a great passenger in the trailer the whole way. It took Drew and I very little time to get settled, as most of our family and friends are local to this area, so it was really just the animals that needed a minute. Wally was a lot happier immediately in our Walpole apartment than he was in Virginia, mostly because of the door being sealed to the wall better, but he still was unhappy that other dogs lived in 'his house' (according to him, the whole building is his). Sophie took some time to settle at AKF, but I was so happy to see that she was keeping the nasty faces to a minimum and that the barn staff were already starting to like her. Sophie had a fair bit of time off, so I focused on my new job at MassBioEd for most of the month. I was spending a lot of time in Cambridge, and I liked my coworkers and what I was doing right away. Things were really looking up. I started getting Sophie back out towards the end of the month, and that was about the same time I really started to get to know a lot of people at Apple Knoll. It didn't take long before I made some great friends! Apple Knoll has such an amazing community, and I am lucky to be a part of it. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography August August was all over the place. Drew and I started the month off by heading to Iowa for the Hinterland music festival. It was really fun, and a cool experience, but we still felt frazzled on our return home since we still had moved less than a month prior to traveling. Sophie and I were still settling in at AKF and trying to get into a routine, I was still trying to find a groove at my new job, and we were prepping for Town Hill at the end of the month. I had big plans for the end of our fall season, and I was fitting in conditioning rides and jump prep where I could. Apple Knoll has acres of trails and cross country elements starter through training level, so I was lucky enough to be able to school at home as needed. We had one jump school in a clinic with Jerry Schurink, and then we popped around some of the cross country elements on our own. Everyone knows how Town Hill went, and that weekend certainly did not go as planned. It was fun to spend the weekend with our old friends in Connecticut, but any dreams I had of a spectacular fall season came crashing to a halt as I fell off of Sophie towards the end of our cross country ride at Town Hill, breaking my foot. The experience gave me fast friends, a new plan, and perspective on how I should prep for the spring. Surgery took place right at the end of the month. Drew and I at Hinterland September September was a month of recovery. I was sidelined from the saddle all month, so I spent my days at the barn grooming Sophie and watching other people ride when I could. It was really challenging at first when I was in the non-weight bearing stage, but I was not going to let crutches and/or a scooter stop me from seeing my horse. I got a lot stronger with my upper body during those few weeks of non-weight bearing, and Sophie's coat always looked fabulous. I had the privilege of watching Brenna, Julia, and even Kylie at one point ride Sophie for me. It was so nice to see others enjoy her as much as I do, and I got to learn a little bit more about her from the ground seeing her go with others. Outside of the barn, I was busy at work getting into the schools to start running some labs. I also spent some time in September with my parents, Wally, and finishing up odds and ends like getting my car registered to Mass. I also made a last minute plan to see Pitbull and T-Pain in concert with some of my new barn friends, and Drew and I saw Vampire Weekend for the second time this year, and we had some amazing seats to boot. I finished the month off by passing the written test for my MA riding instructor's license, and I helped coach Merritt at Coursebrook where she finished her season taking home a well-deserved blue ribbon. Photo by Addie & Reese Weiss October By the time October came around, I was partially weight bearing and had already taken a few bareback rides on my pony when I could. I was still being cautious, but if you're a horse person, you know how hard it is to be forcibly out of the tack. Julia was spending a lot of time with Sophie, and I was having a blast watching the two of them go around on the flat and over fences. On October 7th, I was cleared to fully weight bear in regular shoes, which obviously meant I could throw my boots on and get back to some real riding. I flatted Sophie that evening! The rest of the month was quiet, and I focused on getting Sophie and I back into a routine. I had way more atrophy in my right leg than I had expected, and to this day I am working on getting it back to full muscle tone pre-injury. Mid-October I found out that I had won tailgating passes to the Maryland 5 Star cross country day, so Drew, Wally and I took the trip that weekend to watch some serious jumping action. We got to see a lot of friends, had good food and drinks, and enjoyed a weekend away. October 23rd was my first time jumping Sophie since I fell off, and it was also my first official lesson with Adrienne. I have ridden with her a bunch of times since, and I thoroughly appreciate her approach to coaching. I am learning a lot, and Sophie and I are having so much fun! I ended the month by reuniting with my longtime friends from high school, and Drew and I took a day trip to Plymouth with my dad to check out a few breweries in that area. Maryland 5 Star November The month of November was full of adventures. I had a lot going on at work with teacher workshops and continued school visits, I watched my mom at a dog show, I went to watch Drew at one of his hockey games, Drew and I tried some new restaurants, we spent a day at Equine Affaire, and we took a day trip to go to the Snow Port festival happening during the holiday season. Sophie also had some adventures in the form of participation in a Boyd Martin clinic, and a trip with Julia and Percy to Westport to go run around on the beach. I was continuing to build up the number of students I was teaching lessons to per week, and I invested in new show boots. I also had my 12 week post-op appointment and was told that everything was looking fantastic. The only bummer in November was finding out that my trailer needed a lot more work than I had originally planned on. Bringing it in for a regular service turned into getting a new trailer, and I am so grateful to my good friend Meg, and Ryan at Whitehorse Truck & Trailer for getting me on the road in a still used but much nicer trailer for Sophie and I to use this coming show season. After spending a nice Thanksgiving with family, we finished the month at a family friend's wedding on Long Island. Sophie doing Sophie things December I learned a lot about Facebook Marketplace at the beginning of December, particularly that the trailer market was still pretty hot. I was able to sell my old trailer quicker than I had expected, and fortunately to someone who was a lot handier than I am and didn't flinch at the repairs needed. Sophie and I continued to take lessons with Adrienne and have been still working on being a little more under control in the show jump ring. I ended up having her hocks looked at due to her more exuberant than usual bucking episodes, and she did get those injections, which I think has helped. Bella came up to visit towards the middle of the month, and after taking Sophie for a spin, I was able to borrow Sugar (the best!!) to go on a trail ride with Bella - and it was our first time riding together in well over a year and a half! Outside of the barn, Drew and I went over to see the lights at La Salette, I had a wedding for a coworker in Somerville, I reconnected with my friends at a Christmas party, and Drew and I had a lot of quality time with family during the holidays. My parents took us just this past weekend for a few days in Newport, including seeing the Breakers mansion and Blithewold house all lit up for the holiday season. Reflecting 2024 has been so educational and exciting, and I am so grateful for every singe experience I had this year. I learned SO much about myself and my horse, and I feel confident that 2025 will be another year of adventures and learning. I am incredibly happy at Apple Knoll, as is Sophie, and I am already feeling at home there. Sophie and I are so grateful to Jacqui and everyone at Chapel View Farm for giving us such an amazing home for the first half of the year, and I look forward to continuing reconnecting with Jacqui as Sophie and I spend time traveling south for competitions in the spring. In 2024, Sophie and I traveled to 8 horse trials, bringing home ribbons at several, completed our first (2!) FEI competition, placed at an FEI, competed in the long and short format at an FEI, competed in 4 states up and down the east coast, moved back up to prelim, lived at 2 amazing barns, rode with several fantastic coaches and clinicians, ran on the beach, got a new trailer, worked with 4 equestrian brands on content (3 new ones this year!), and learned a lot about each other, as we continue to do so. I got to go to the Maryland 5 star, Equine Affaire, a Boyd Martin clinic, I got back to teaching lessons and coaching, I rode so many horses, broke a new bone and had 2 total surgeries that I learned a lot from, got to ride with Bella and also traveled far away to watch her compete, I got to visit Kristen, I saw my CT friends, reunited with my MA friends, spent more time with family, made a lot of new friends in several states, and celebrated two lovely marriages at weddings in the summer and winter - and I got the privilege of being a bridesmaid in one! Drew and I experienced a festival for the first time, went to several concerts including seeing Vampire Weekend twice, moved into our current apartment (our favorite one yet!), and continued to try new restaurants and take Wally on adventures. Several of my friends got engaged, and I was able to travel to see old friends (and students!). I started a new job that I am so happy at, and Sophie and I are back to a regular groove after months of up and down with injury and recovery. I also started a blog 😁 I am so ready for what's next - as long as it does not include more broken bones and surgeries - and I am excited to continue to record my experiences on this platform as I go. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to those who take time to read and share in my thoughts. I am humbled to know that there are several of you reading this, and I am hopeful that I will have more in store for this little website as we get in to the new year. Stay tuned! Apple Knoll Farm ♥️ Happy New Year, and thank you for reading. K

November 26, 2024 The last few weeks have been filled with several fun things, including attending the 2024 Massachusetts Equine Affaire, getting back to teaching riding lessons, a beach trip, and riding in a clinic with the one and only Boyd Martin. Read on to hear the scoop about everything! At the end of October, I started accumulating a few clients to teach at AKF, thanks to Adrienne's support. Right now I am doing 3 per week, all beginners, and it feels so good to be back teaching. As many of you are aware, I am a teacher by profession, and I have always enjoyed the art of teaching riding lessons in particular. Most people who come to take riding lessons really want to be there and want to learn, and so they are often a lot more willing to absorb information I give to them than you might find in your average classroom teaching experience. Apple Knoll has a breadth of amazing, capable school horses and ponies that provide me comfort that not only will I be teaching lessons in a way that feels safe and does not overwork these animals, but also that the students will learn something from them. So far in my beginner lessons I've used a handful of wonderful ponies, including Jelly Bean, owned by Adri and pictured below. I have known Beanie my entire life with horses - her mom was one of the first lesson ponies I ever rode, and my sister spent years riding and showing Beanie. Teaching a lesson on her really made me feel like my equestrian experience has come FULL circle 🥰 ___ Earlier this month I made my nearly annual trip over to the Big E for Equine Affaire. I've been going to this event almost every year since I was a kid, and I was eager to get back to it after having missed last year due to living in Virginia. I dragged Drew with me and we spent a Saturday shopping, watching, and enjoying everything Equine Affaire has to offer. I went in with a small list of things I wanted to keep my eye out for, and I was able to snag a few good deals as we wandered in and out of the hundreds of vendors. Drew and I also got a handful of free items from spinning deal wheels and filling out raffle papers. I think that the volume of vendors is getting closer and closer each year to what it used to be pre-covid. There was a lot of good shopping! The one thing I will say is that going on the Saturday, especially going in the afternoon, limited the amount of really crazy finds as most things were already pretty picked over by then. An example of this was seeing a pile of Parlantis at a bigger vendor booth for under $300 (❗️) but the boots left by the time I got there were the most random sizes. I did still try on every single boot in the hopes that some miracle would happen, but alas, it was not meant to be. We got to shop, pet ponies, and see some of our horse friends, so it was a successful day regardless. I thanked Drew for his company by stopping over at Treehouse Brewery in Charlton on the way home, which was a pretty cool place. I look forward to getting back to EA again next year, and I'm even considering getting Fantasia tickets since it's been a good decade and a half since my last time seeing it! ___ A few weekends ago, I had the incredible opportunity to ride in a clinic with Boyd Martin. For those of you who may not know, Boyd is one of the top event riders in the world, having finished 10th overall at the Olympics this year with his super horse, Bruno, and he was also the highest placed rider representing America. I have seen Boyd in passing several times, both at shows and also while schooling at his amazing Windurra facility, but I have never actually ridden with him. I like to think that my involvement in the sport has gotten to a place where I can keep myself professional and collected at all times no matter who I am riding with or talking to, but I still was excited in the back of my head to just simply have the opportunity to ride with Boyd. It's Boyd!! I decided to sign up for the clinic once I found out that I hadn't gotten into the clinic I had signed up for at Equine Affaire, but to be honest I am actually so thrilled it worked out this way. Sophie and I had just gotten back to jumping recently, and I would rather embarrass myself at a clinic with local audience than in a place like the coliseum at EA where hundreds of people from all over would be watching. And, like I always say, my horse stands out because of her markings, so we WILL be noticed 😅 I trailered Sophie down to Seekonk, about an hour away from AKF, and she was so happy to finally have a buddy with her for this trip - Megan and her cool TB Taco joined us for the clinic, and it was really fun to have friends from home coming with us. I put Drew to the task of being my 'groom' for the day so that he could also attend, and a few of our other friends from AKF came to watch and support as well. I love the AKF family so much!! My group ride time was bright and early at 7am, so we got to the host barn, Blue Horizons Equestrian, right as the sun was coming up. The facility has a great big indoor ring that we used for the clinic, and it even had plenty of space at one end of the ring for a whole host of spectators. Luckily Sophie didn't find any real scary parts of the ring, and she warmed up quite well. I had three other ladies in my group, and after warming up and introductions, it was clear that Sophie and I were the odd ones out. All three of the other horses in our group were seasoned 1.20 - 1.40 jumpers, and boasted big, floaty, rhythmical canters that Sophie and I would never be able to emulate 😂 I knew that we could hold our own but there was a good chance we'd provide some spice in the action. And I was certainly right about that. Sophie did a fair amount of hind end up in the air movement that I did not ask for, and terms like 'wild and crazy', 'spicy', and 'fiery' escaped Boyd's mouth as we completed each exercise. At the end he made a comment about how Sophie could likely go all day, and I agreed. She had lots of gas in the tank, and she made sure everyone knew it. All in all I was thrilled with how she went, spice and all. It was our first off property trip in months, and she could have been a lot more crazy. Even with a little bit of extra flair, we still completed all of the exercises as designed no problem - aside from the very first line of cavalettis that Sophie felt was far too boring to respect 🤣 I got a lot of really kind words and compliments from spectators after our ride that day, which felt really good. After watching my videos back I am quite pleased about how my own riding looked, and Sophie really was a great girl for the whole experience. My biggest takeaway was the idea of including a small cavaletti bounce exercise at the end of a bigger course in order to force Sophie's brain to slow down to process something like that instead of going directly from the final jump to being done. This is something I might try to incorporate at home when I can. Megan rode Taco a little later that afternoon and had a great ride with Boyd. Like my group, they stood out a little from their hunter counterparts, but that didn't stop them from nailing every exercise. They were superstars, and Taco brought minimal bouncing to the party 😁 Both ponies shipped back home quietly, and Sophie enjoyed several cookies for being so good. I missed doing fun things with her - I love taking her on adventures... ...and the adventures continued this past weekend!! I roped Julia into coming with me to the beach because 'Sophie really wanted to go' (obviously). Sophie has always been a delight to ride on the beach. One of my favorite fun facts about our relationship is that the very first time I rode her, way back in early 2019, was on Fairfield beach - and it was Sophie's first time going to the beach. So, needless to say, getting to ride on the beach with her always holds a special place in my heart. I had carefully picked a day where the weather looked good and the timing of low tide was just right, and of course the weather changed every hour leading up to that Saturday morning. Luckily Julia didn't mind, and she still came with us despite the crappy rainy morning we were having. We were also really spoiled to be joined by my friend Merritt, who was visiting AKF to participate in the Area 1 Young Rider clinic happening that weekend. Her ride on Saturday was much later in the afternoon, so she kindly volunteered to come be the photographer and muck tub carrier. So grateful to her for all of the footage and for being such a good sport in the rainy cold weather!!! Overall I am super proud of how the horses handled themselves given the conditions. It was not only cold and drizzly, but also fairly windy, which caused the water to be a little aggressive looking and loud. Sophie and I had never been to the beach in these types of conditions, and Julia and Percy had never been to the beach at all, so it was a little impressive to everyone. The white caps on the bigger waves were definitely scary, but after some coercing, both horses did eventually take steps into the water. And we have pictures to prove it! After some time spent working through lots of spooking, we eventually went up to the main beach and had a little gallop. Both horses seemed to thoroughly enjoy that part! My favorite thing about the whole morning was that in every single video, no matter how much spooking and sideways action was happening, both Julia and I were smiling and laughing the entire time. It was such a great morning, all things considered. I promised to take Julia and Percy back on a better day, and that we'd have even more fun then! We went back to the barn and I spent the rest of my Saturday and most of the day Sunday watching a bit of the clinic that was happening. Ariel Grald was the clinician, and I think she did a great job with the Young Riders from the small bits I did see. Everyone looked like they were having a great time in both their flat and jumping rides. I continue to love watching what the Area 1 Young Rider program is doing even though I can no longer participate myself! Melanie does such a great job with the program and gets such wonderful experiences organized for the riders. I also may be biased, but I think the group of riders that comprise Area 1 YR are pretty amazing! Next on the list for me and the spotted unicorn is just spending time continuing to gain strength in my right leg, and focusing on our quality flatwork. Adrienne has also fully set up the derby course in the outdoor for the winter, so Sophie and I will definitely play around in that sometime soon 👀 As always, thank you for your support reading my blog. This is a time to express gratitude, and I am so incredibly humbled to have support from so many people in my life, both equestrians and not, that care about my journey with horses. This blog was first and foremost for myself to get back into writing and keep a journal of sorts, and its an added bonus that there are a bunch of people who are interested in what is going on in my world. Thank you, thank you!!! K Bonus pic because Sophie is making the world's most ridiculous face.

November 1, 2024 A few weeks ago, I entered a contest on instagram to win a tailgating space at the Maryland 5 Star for cross country day. I enter contests on Instagram a lot (shamelessly), so I often will enter them not really ever thinking I might win - but with sheer luck I won this one! I was so excited about this win for many reasons, but mostly because after having such a great time last year, Drew and I discussed how maybe one day we could do the tailgating thing in the future instead of just the general admission passes. We had no expectation that we would be doing that this year at all! We also got a few extra passes as a part of winning the tailgating experience, so I invited a few friends to make the experience even more enjoyable. We were so excited to take the truck, Wally, and some great snacks and drinks on the road to go watch some high level cross country action! We drove down after work on the Friday night and made it to Maryland just before midnight - about an hour later than planned due to some crazy highway closures in New Jersey. We were then up fairly early the next morning in order to get to our tailgating spot on time. We met up with my friend Julia, who also drove down the night before, and drove about 20 minutes to Fair Hill. We ended up having a great spot for tailgating that was about halfway between the vendor village and the furthest part of cross country, and right in front of the sunken road complex. Julia, Drew and I set up our space and started digging in to the drinks and snacks. What was really funny is we happened to be parked between several clearly well-seasoned tailgating groups who had full on set ups and tons of decorations for their spaces. Our spot looked like a hole in comparison - complete with a table we needed to duck tape together upon removing from the truck because it had broken at some point during the journey down 🤣 We made do, and got set up with our chairs and Wally with his x-pen. My first order of business was wandering over to the vendor village to take a peek at what shops would be on display. I made a mental note of the booths I wanted to make a second run through later in the day, and we then made our way back to the tailgating to get ready for the 3* cross country action. As previously mentioned, our spot was located right near the sunken road exercise, which provided us with fun viewing all day in both levels. The first few horses from the 3* all had different takes on their path through the sunken road, and it didn't take long for me to get that deep feeling of admiration you find when watching those at the top of the sport. It takes so much to get there, and I find it very inspiring. I was so excited to run into Jacqui during the early part of the day. I had sent some tickets to her, and it was great to see her and catch up on all that has happened on both of our ends the last few months. I already have big plans for the spring, so we discussed that and started getting excited about what's next for me and Sophie, as well as her and her string of horses. We continued watching the 3* from our spot, and I had us wait until my friend Sara Schulman came by before moving on to watch a different part of the course. To get those who might not know caught up, Sara was who I worked with for a few months at Jan's. She competes her horse Cooley Chromatic 'Caden' at the 3* level of eventing with aspirations of reaching the top of the sport. I've heard that the Maryland 3*-L is one of, if not the, hardest 3*-L tracks in the country, but Sara and Caden made it look smooth sailing. They are amazing and Sara is a huge inspiration to adult amateurs everywhere that you can still be 'an adult ammy' and make it to the top amongst the big wigs. This article on Eventing Nation is such a great read about their journey! Once Sara and Caden had zoomed by, we went to go walk the rest of the course and catch the remainder of the 3* action at different spots. We popped by the second water that had the new waterfall jump to be used in the 5*, the roller coaster question, the insane ditch and wall skinnies, and even trudged all the way up to the infamous crab water question. By the time we got up to that part of the course, we were sweating and about ready to turn around. We watched the few remaining 3* riders take on their rides at the crab water, and then we turned and made our way back to the tailgate. When we got back, we ran into our friends Elaine, Terrence and Azula. It was so nice having Elaine be local to us in VA, and we've missed them!! I was so happy to get a few minutes to catch up with her while we were there. For those that paid attention to the 5*, you might have heard or seen that of the 20 something riders who entered, only 8 completed cross country. We were fortunate having our tailgating spot be so early on the course as that allowed us to actually get to see most of the 5* riders come through. Of all the riders, it was really special to get the opportunity to see Tamie and Mai Baum tackle some tough questions on a 5* course one last time - even though she retired later on course, it was still special to see them come by our spot. Once the 5* action concluded for the day, we packed up our tailgating spot and made our way back over to the vendor village for some shopping and socializing. Wally also did some socializing, and met up with a mini-me. Way too cute!!! Patrick Ennis of Devoucoux New England, and a client & friend of AKF, invited Julia and Drew & I to come and spend some time at their booth in the vendor village after the competition had wrapped up for the day, so we spent some time there having drinks and snacks. What was super fortunate during that time was that Sara happened to walk by with her family so we got a chance to catch up in person. We were keeping all of our fingers crossed for her heading into day 3 of competition - she was in 2nd place in the 3* overnight! Drew and I ended the night eating at Cane's, and then we hit the road early the next morning to get back to MA. We had such a great time, and I am grateful to both The Cross Country App and The Maryland Five Star for hosting the tailgate giveaway! Extra shout out to Bonnie with the Cross Country App for checking in with us during the day and giving us some hats. -- Back at home, Sophie and I have been working really hard to get back to a normal schedule. I looked back at my calendar and realized that Sophie has not been in a regular weekly program since early July!! After the Maryland International, Sophie's been flexing between time off for vacation, time off for rehab, a little prep for Town Hill, time off due to my injury, and being ridden by others a few days per week, up until about three weeks ago. And her and I haven't had regular jump rides together for about two months now - so we have a fair bit of time to make up for. I am so grateful that Julia was able to help keep Soph's fitness at a good level while I was out, and now that the spotted unicorn and I are back together, I am trying to work her in some capacity 5-6 days per week. At the moment that is looking like one solid jump school day, one lunge day in the Pessoa, one day of light trot / canter sets, and 2 -3 days of flat work. I have been struggling in our first few jump schools back with Sophie being overly eager to take over and jump with or without me, so I have just started taking lessons with Adrienne to have support on the ground as I work through this. I am pretty confident that once Sophie feels settled in our regular routine, she will find the jumping to be a little less exciting, as it will hopefully feel less like a rare occasion. We had our best jump school back so far today with Adrienne, and I only had a few jumps that really felt like I had no say. I am grateful that my horse is always so keen to jump, but I am looking forward to when it feels more like a partnership again and less like a battle of strength! I also really think the loss of muscle tone in my right leg has not helped with this either, as that's Sophie's heavier and tighter side, and so I am having to work that side of my body 10x more to get through to her while I am still working on strength building. But we are getting there! And it's nice to know we have the whole winter to keep getting at it before we start our spring show season. I am excited to continue to get stronger and work with Sophie to get us back to feeling normal. Alongside riding consistently again, I am also SO thrilled to share that I am officially back to teaching lessons! Adrienne has been kind enough to add me to her string of incredible instructors, and she has so many wonderful school horses and ponies at her farm that have already proven they are worth their weight in gold in my first few lessons back. I am very much so looking forward to the winter season of spending time at the barn with my horse and with students! Thanks for reading this update and continuing to support the blog. Hopefully only up from here! K

October 8th, 2024 I will readily admit that being forcibly out of the saddle has been tough on my brain. When I broke my finger, I could still find ways to ride, as I had full use of my left hand and enough use of my right hand to make casual hacking work just fine. I also was going through a pretty rough depressive episode, so my head was not in its usual space regardless. This time feels so much different. Sophie and I came off of such a high moving back to MA, having finished our stint in Virginia taking home 4th in the 1* at Maryland. I was over the moon about getting out to Town Hill and gearing up for big fall plans, and having it all come to a sudden halt because of my own mistakes has been a tough pill to swallow. I would obviously much rather myself be hurt than Sophie, but knowing that my injury was likely quite avoidable has given me a severe level of FOMO watching my peers near and far continue having success in their fall seasons. I am a super supporter from the ground, and I love watching my friends and peers ride, but I also love riding alongside them. In an attempt to not spiral, I have found other ways to enjoy the things I love about this sport that don't require me to be in the tack. First, I recently took the MA instructor license exam, so I soon will be able to go back to teaching lessons. I am eager to advertise and start building a schedule, but even just having the certification under my belt will be a relief. (As a side note, the level of knowledge the state of MA requires for a riding instructor's license is offensive at best. I have had a pretty staunchly negative experience going through this process with Mass so far, and if you've also had a hard time with it please let me know! Would love to commiserate 😂 ) I also was privileged enough to have been asked to coach a student I had taught in the past at Coursebrook Farm HT last weekend. Merritt and her stunning horse, Juliet, had a fabulous outing finishing on their dressage score of 30 to take home the win! Merritt has been working hard back at her home base barn, all while starting at a new school, and I am so proud of the efforts she put into her rides that day. Especially after Juliet gave her plenty to work with in the warm up ring! I have always loved teaching lessons, but there is something special about coaching at shows that I really, really enjoy. I think it is wonderful to watch your students experience both positive and negative outcomes that help continue to motivate them to do better and work harder for the next one. I am not Merritt's every day trainer, but I have taught her a bunch in the past and have watched her grow so much as a rider that it was truly a pleasure to watch her efforts culminate in a well deserved win to finish her season. Way to go, Merritt! Then this past weekend I excitedly signed up to volunteer at the Apple Knoll fall horse trials. It was an easy decision for me to sign up, as it's my home base and I'd likely be there anyway, but I also get so much energy being in the show environments. I still don't think I'm fully past the general excitement I have about being back in Area 1 surrounded by familiar faces, but I also know how important volunteers are to this sport. I have made it a goal of mine to try to get out and volunteer a little more when I can because the sport needs it - especially Area 1!! I signed up online to help run the show jump warm up, which was mostly due to me still being in a boot and hiking out to cross country would be hard, but also being in warm up allowed me to see and chat with a bunch of people. I enjoyed watching the variations of horses and riders from training all the way to starter, and I am grateful that the day ran smoothly and safely for everyone. I was pretty isolated in the show jump warm up, but I heard great reviews from everyone all day about the way things were running. It was such a gorgeous fall day and everyone was in great spirits. A huge shout out to everyone who helped organize such a beautiful event, I am grateful I got to be a part of it in some way. Aside from the last two fun horse show-filled weekends, I have also been thoroughly enjoying watching Sophie get along with Julia. I know I mentioned this in the last blog, but it truly has been one of the best parts of my day. I had Julia give Sophie a little jump school at the barn after the show Saturday, and I put the jumps up a little bigger than I had the last time they jumped around. Sophie was a little rocket (and definitely brought out some of her feral energy) and I think both horse and rider had a blast playing around over bigger fences. I had a smile on my face the whole time watching from the ground! I am also happy to add that as of last night, I am officially back in the saddle . I might've had a sneaky bareback hack here and there over the last few weeks still in the boot, but the doctor checked everything today and confirmed that I can now be boot-free. He did suggest I stay off of riding for two more weeks, so I am sticking to flatwork and minimal posting trot as a compromise 🙃 As I've said before, I am being smart about how much I push it, and I know and trust Sophie so well that I feel comfortable getting back into the swing of things with her like this. Last night I had a little flat ride just to test the waters, and I felt good, and so did my horse. I will be heading over today to give her another good flat ride and maybe start the clipping process if I can find the motivation! Happy to be able to be back in the saddle, and as always looking forward to what's next. We will see! :) K

August 29, 2024 It's times like these that I get so excited to have a place to write all of my thoughts at free will, because WOW this weekend was full of things to talk about!! If you follow my social media, or if you were at the event, then you are well aware of what went down. For those tuning in for the first time by reading the blog, the TL;DR is that I fell off on cross country and subsequently broke my right foot. Sophie is completely fine, and I am no worse for wear besides being down a foot. Photo by Connecticut Photo The weekend was set up to be pretty busy for me, as I was driving to Connecticut on Saturday morning to drop Sophie at our old home base of N&C Equestrian so that I could head over to a friend's house for a surprise birthday party. I took Sophie for a brief hack early on Saturday morning to run through my dressage test one last time and then loaded her on the trailer. I hit a ton of traffic on 95 (shocking) and it took me an hour longer than anticipated to get to N&C that day. Upon arrival, I threw Sophie in a stall and got myself dressed in normal people clothes to go see my friends. We had an amazing time, and I got back to the barn around 8ish. I had to braid for the show, but luckily I have become quite proficient at that task so I was able to get Sophie's braids done in less than a half hour. I took a little extra time catching up with some of the barn kids who were also still show prepping at that hour (shout out to Lila and Sophia 🥰 ) and then I was in bed a little after 9. A huge thank you is owed to Charlotte for providing a space in her lovely home for me to sleepover, as well as a space for Sophie to sleepover before Town Hill. It made the drive in the morning over an hour shorter than it would have been had we been coming from Mass! I got up at 4am on Sunday morning, got into my show clothes, loaded Sophie, and hit the road. I had to stop for gas, ice, and a snack, and then I was on my way to the top left corner of CT. My ETA kept climbing as I drove up there that morning, as getting to Town Hill is essentially no highways and lots of mountain climbing. I also had to make one bathroom stop which unfortunately added to my arrival time, but I still got to the venue around 6:45am. I hoofed it over to get my packet and then ran over to the cross country start to get one walk in before I had to be on for dressage. This was my first time going anywhere without a designated groom or second pair of hands, so I had to plan my time accordingly. I was able to walk all of the cross country, and I thought the course looked fair for prelim with a few tougher challenges. I'll go over those in detail in a little bit. After solidifying a plan for cross country, I ran back to the trailer to get ready for dressage. I am lucky that a few of the amazing girls at N&C were willing to help hold my phone for Jacqui to FaceTime in for my warm up, and Sophia ended up taking that role that morning. Not only did she act as a phone holder, she also fully tacked up Sophie for me for dressage entirely on her own accord. I was running late, so I was extra grateful for her help. Sophie was brushed, tacked, and looked her very best thanks to Sophia's generous efforts! ♥️ Once I was on, we walked over to warm up and Sophia found a good spot to hold up Jacqui as I started my warm up. Jacqui gave her usual helpful pointers and guided Sophie and I in the right direction virtually. Her efforts paid off, and Sophie and I scored a 34.2 - which is one of our lower scores to date! I was happy with our test overall minus our left lead canter. Sophie was a bit tight and tense, and I struggled to find her shoulders going left. I usually have a harder time to the right with her, so that switched things up for me a bit. However most of our trot work and our lateral work felt super! I thanked the girls for their help and brought Sophie back over to the trailer. I didn't have a ton of time between dressage and the jump phases, so I quickly studded and booted her and then ran over to walk show jumping. Town Hill was putting in every effort to make the footing phenomenal, including continual watering of the show jump ring all morning. It paid off - I don't think I noticed any dust until much later in the day. I walked through the stadium course once and thought it looked great. It was fairly technical, with three fences that crossed centerline, but that kind of ride I find really works for Sophie. The more turns, the more careful we tend to be. I made my way back to the trailer and ended up catching up with another few friends from my previous barn, riding student Mina and her mom Stephanie! Mina leased Sophie for quite some time, even before I started riding her, so I am very grateful for their continued support of me and Sophie as a team. They hung out with me as I tacked Sophie for the jump phases, and Mina brought her camera to practice taking pictures at the event. I have noted in this blog post which pictures she took - she is super talented! Check out her instagram at amk.photography. Photo by AMK.PHOTOGRAPHY Once it was about 20ish minutes from the start of show jumping, Sophie and I made our way over to the ring. The prelim division was small, so there were only a few horses to navigate the warm up with. I also feel very spoiled at this stage because prelim warm up is so much less chaotic than anything below!! I was able to take Sophie over each of the warm up jumps one time, cross rail followed by vertical followed by oxer, and she felt great. Once I was one horse away from entering the ring, I popped over the oxer one last time and then we left warm up to go wait our turn. We made our way into the ring, the whistle blew, and I could feel the dragon begin to unleash. Sophie cracks me up- she went from literally falling over at the trailer from her sleep deprivation issue to becoming this fiery beast as soon as we entered the stadium ring. The course rode so well, and Sophie popped over the fences like it was easy. The new beval bit really worked for this phase. In the moments I wanted to pull, I didn't have nearly as much immediate impact like I do with the gag, so I was (in a way) forced to stay out of her way a little. I really think that is what helped us jump double clear. Jacqui had been emphasizing to me how important it is to let Sophie go a little in the stadium because she is a small horse, so she needs a little more power than I feel comfortable with in order to make the strides and jump clear. I took that to heart during this round and it paid off! I left the stadium ring feeling pleased with our round, but definitely a little tired. It had been a busy weekend already at that point and I could feel it catching up to me. I also made the mistake of not drinking enough fluids that morning, nor had I eaten anything to that point. I also did not think to ask anyone near me to carry my water for me to have in between phases and I majorly regret that. It was starting to hit me how challenging it was to not have a second pair of hands following me around at all times. Photo by AMK.PHOTOGRAPHY I waited until it was one minute from my time out of the start box before popping Sophie over one of the fences in the cross country warm up. We landed and Sophie went to take off and it took a lot of my core and leg strength to keep her contained. I had a lot less communication with her in the beval bit. I was immediately feeling regretful over not swapping back to the gag for cross country, but I had nobody to help me at that point and the decision had already been made. 5...4...3...2...1 Have a great ride! We blasted out of the start and straight to fence 1, which was a raised log. I tested my half halt and discovered quickly it wasn't really there. We had an odd take off but landed at a good gallop. I tried to find the half halt again before fence 2 and I was able to dig deep for it but it still wasn't great. Photo by AMK.PHOTOGRAPHY We flew over 2 and 3, and approached 4 which was a pretty good size ditch and wall. I don't think Sophie or I have seen a ton of ditch and walls so far in our cross country experience, but I did feel that having this as fence 4 was pretty hard. It was early on so we didn't have a perfect pace and as a result both of us had a teeny peek at it as we got closer. Sophie is fairly brave when we are moving, so with a little extra push from me she took the chance at jumping it. We landed on the other side and galloped into the back field for fences 5 and 6 which were both big tables. After sailing over 6 I really shoved myself into the tack to bring Sophie back to me for the coffin complex at 7ABC. Together we got balanced enough to float through the coffin like it was easy, and I was so happy with how Sophie found the C element on the out. We continued on at a good clip and approached a big log in the tree line at 8. I didn't have enough power to balance Sophie back the way I normally would have wanted and, as a result, we kind of scrambled over 8. It rattled me a bit because it didn't feel super safe - I was unhappy with the lack of strength I had to set up a jump that should have been straightforward and ended up being messy. My brain was a bit muddled so we ended up also feeling a little sticky over a table at 9 as a result. I kicked on after landing from 9 and then started asking for Sophie to balance well before 10AB which was a step up to a corner. She went right up the step and then I realized I was too focused on the canter getting to the combination that I never put my eye on the line to the corner. I found a line that worked okay and kicked, and the good girl clambered over the corner just inside the flags. We were close - my left knee grazed the white flag as we passed over. It was at this moment that I considered pulling up. I was feeling weak and like I couldn't access Sophie the way I usually can, and I didn't want anything dangerous to happen. We continued galloping into the next side field and I mustered up what I could to give a big table at 11 the right ride and then a downhill brush combination in 3 strides done at 12AB. Both obstacles rode really well, and Sophie was jumping phenomenally. That gave me enough of a good feeling to keep on keeping on. We exited the side field and galloped uphill over another large table at 13, and then I again started asking waaaay ahead of time for Sophie to come back to me before the water complex. The water exercise seemed fair for the level, but was definitely challenging. It was a drop into water, 5 strides through the water, then out over two very wide skinny offset houses in a forward 2 strides. I had trouble walking this exercise that morning. In order for the offset houses to line up well, you really needed to land in the water and almost go left to then go right to get the houses. And you only had 5 strides to do so through the water. I got Sophie balanced well for the drop into water, and I made sure to jump the leftmost side of the down bank. Once we were in the water, I picked a line (not a great one) and rode straight out towards the offset houses. As a result, we leapt over the first one, and I had nothing left to get to the second one. Sophie rightly so decided it wouldn't be an option, and we picked up 20. I circled around left and still found an angle over the house at the C element and she hopped right over it no problem on the second approach. I was frustrated, and my bad riding was really starting to show. Stupidly, I continued on. Following the water was a long down hill gallop to a big red wagon. I had nothing left in the tank to start balancing Sophie as far ahead of time as I needed to, and we went careening down the hill towards the fence. I gave one last effort to find our half halt and balance, but I didn't have it. That's when Sophie took over and decided there was no way for us to get over that jump safely at the pace we had, and she dipped hard left around the table. She went left, and I went right. Photo by AMK.PHOTOGRAPHY If you can believe it, this was the first time I have fallen off of Sophie . I think my foot stayed in my stirrup slightly longer than I had anticipated during the fall, and just as it got loose my air vest also popped and I tumbled to the ground. I landed on my right foot awkwardly and then the rest of me rolled to the right. Sophie continued on until our friend Julia grabbed her and took her off of the field. The scene was a lot more dramatic than I ever would have wanted, but I was both in shock and trying to catch my breath as my air vest squeezed the life out of me. This was also my first experience with the air vest going off, and I think mine is just a fraction too big for me, which didn't help with the feeling of suffocation. I was trying to roll around but I couldn't get myself in a position to get up. I was so embarrassed!! One lovely bystander rushed over to me and asked if I was okay and what she could do. I managed to ask for the air vest to be unclipped (in a dramatic, breathy way like 'air vest...please...get off...') and I had instant relief as soon as those buckles were released. The EMT was by my side in an instant and helped me get up. I immediately had pain in my right foot. I couldn't stand on it at all. They had me remove my boot and sock and there was already noticeable swelling over the middle of my foot. I could not put any weight on it. They suggested I get X-rays as soon as possible. I did not want to cause more of a scene and ask for an ambulance, plus my brain was moving in 1000 directions trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with Sophie, my rig, and myself that I needed a minute to process. I declined ambulance services and instead had a volunteer bring me in a golf cart back to my trailer. This gave me a minute to breathe and figure out next steps. Once I got back to my trailer, I started to realize just how lucky I am. Not only was Sophie fully cooled out and untacked, thanks to Julia and so many of our friends at Apple Knoll, but I was immediately bombarded by amazing AKF barn moms Hessie and Addie ready to give me pain meds and figure out how to get me to an urgent care. They worked to find the nearest urgent care and luckily there was an ER only 10 minutes down the road. The amazing Addie took me over to the ER and got me set up in a wheelchair, rolling me into the lobby. She sat and waited with me, and it only took about 10 minutes to get seen. Addie rolled me to my designated room and sat with me as they took X-rays of my foot from a few angles. Just a few minutes of waiting and they came back with the news that my second metatarsal was broken at the base. On the images it just looked like a bone chip to me, but the doctors didn't seem too optimistic based on the location of the break. I guess the base of the first and second metatarsals are the connecting location for nearly all ligaments in the foot - so not a great spot for a break. Addie advocated for me to get something to eat and drink, and also made sure that I was given a CD with my images to take with me to an orthopedist later in the week. I am so glad she did that - it has proven to be very helpful to have access to those! Addie also asked the nurses to wrap a plastic bag around the temporary splint they gave me in order to not get the splint filthy back at the show. As much as I would have wanted my mom there with me, Addie was the best fill-in mom I could have asked for!!! Once I was checked out, I crutched my way to the parking lot and Addie pulled the car around to bring us back to the venue. I arrived back at Town Hill to a horse that had been fully iced (thank you Julia!!) and fully wrapped (thank you Fiona!!) and was ready to hang out on the trailer. Our friend Gwen from AKF loaded her right onto the trailer and Sophie stood quietly as I sat down to take a minute to connect with my family. My family was all very far away, but it ended up being okay because I had two amazing barn families present at the show - everyone from both Apple Knoll and N&C jumped in to help me and Sophie get through the blip in our day. I love both sets of people endlessly and I am not sure that thank you will ever be enough for what everyone did for me on Sunday. I spent the rest of the day crutching around the venue to spend time catching up with a ton of Area 1 friends. I specifically wanted to do Town Hill for how beautiful the venue is, to support Area 1, and to reunite with all my friends I hadn't seen in over a year since being in Virginia. I wasn't about to let my broken foot get in the way of getting time to see everyone! I spent time on the sidelines seeing so many old friends and then cheering on the later in the day riders from all over. I got to watch most of the BN show jumping, and it felt truly like I was home being surrounded by all the wonderful people who came to Town Hill. After some time catching up with friends, Gwen was ready to help me head out. She took the wheel of my rig and I took the passenger seat as we made our way back to AKF. It was about three hours on the road, but we made it back to the barn just after sunset. Drew met us as we got there, and both Drew and Gwen took care of Sophie and my trailer as I did my best to stay off the foot and not feel too bad about directing them. I am learning with this injury that I have to get over my issues with asking for help - there are a bunch of things that I just cannot do especially since I am not supposed to weight bear at all right now. As if I didn't think the community at Apple Knoll was amazing enough by this point, a few people put me in contact with Alicia McKersie, a long time friend of Adrienne's, who happens to be an ortho PA! She immediately got me in contact with a few top orthopedic surgeons in the area, and I was set up with an appointment by Tuesday and surgery scheduled for Friday. As much as I wish I didn't have to do a surgery for the third time in less than a year, I am hopeful that surgery means the recovery process will be very correct. I will keep those interested up to date with how this recovery goes - and I am hoping this is my last injury (and certainly my last surgery!!!) for QUITE some time 🤣 So Town Hill was a massive learning opportunity for me. I likely will never again travel completely solo to a show - having a second set of hands is so necessary especially when there is always a risk of getting hurt. I am not invincible, unfortunately. I absolutely need to do more serious prep for our next outing. I have been very fortunate that Sophie maintains a good level of fitness, but I do not! Prelim is hard (all things with horses are hard, to be fair!) and I need to be more rigorous with my own preparation for things like this. I was too casual about the bit change way too close to the day of competition. I need to keep my own physical fitness up so that I can properly ride and manage my horse, who might be little but is very strong! Especially when she is prelim fit. I said this on my instagram, but I did not deserve to cross through those finish flags on Sunday. Sophie absolutely did, but not me. I am inspired and determined to be better next time for myself and definitely for my horse. Sophie deserves the best ride possible as she often gives it her all. If anything, I continue to fall more and more in love with my incredible mare even when things like this happen because it shows me more about her true character! She has so much heart and try, and she also has some sense of self preservation and won't do something dangerous. I cannot wait to get back in the saddle and get back out there with my spotted unicorn. 🦄 I am headed into surgery tomorrow, and I will let you all know how it goes. In the meantime Sophie will get a little unplanned vacation and lots of cookies 🥰 Photo by AMK.PHOTOGRAPHY Thank you again to everyone who offered a hand and made Sunday manageable for me despite having broken my foot. I owe a lot of people a lot of things! One thing is for sure: barn families are so important. And beyond that, I think horse friends are some of the most important kinds of friends. I am feeling so humbled to know just how lucky I am to have so many of each!! And thank you to everyone who has reached out to check in on me. I appreciate each and every one of you! Here's hoping I get back in the tack in no time 🤞 K

August 19, 2024 It has been just over one month since Sophie and I moved back to Mass, and a fair bit has happened that I wanted to update interested readers about. First I wanted to just shout out the amazing staff and clients at Apple Knoll Farm in Millis, MA. Sophie and I are still technically newbies, but it already feels like home. I have the privilege of already knowing barn manager Adri extremely well (my first riding instructor over 20 years ago!!!!), but everyone else has also been so incredibly kind and welcoming - I am so grateful!! Sophie and I are already making good riding and hacking buddies. - Before Sophie and I left Virginia, Jacqui and I had discussed with the amazing team of vets at Piedmont Equine about looking a little deeper into Sophie's fetlocks. For as long as I've known her, she's gotten her fetlocks done every spring, and the vets wanted to take a closer look to see if there might be a better solution for her long term as an upper level performance horse. They came to see Sophie following our go at Maryland and, after a few radiographs, they discovered some expected arthritis and also some calcification around her fetlock joints. I was not surprised in the slightest. As the vet explained to me, this is a very common problem a lot of jumping horses will run into, and hers is far from the worst they've ever seen, which helped squelch my anxiety. They were relieved that it was bone related and not soft tissue related. The solution suggestions ranged from surgery, to Osphos, to specialized injections - all which caused my vision to be blurred by dollar signs. I told them I needed time to think about the best approach for me and Sophie as a team. Soph was going on a planned vacation anyway, so I was not in a rush for an immediate solution. Following our move north, the also wonderful team of vets at Northbridge Equine came out to see her to follow up on what the vets in Virginia had seen. They had a look at the radiographs from Virginia, and their gut reaction was actually the same as the team in Virginia - with the favored solution at both practices being Arthramid injections . I guess that it is a commonly used injection for this type of problem, and both teams of vets have seen marked improvements on other horses with similar cases. Since two highly respected teams of vets had the same reaction, I decided to go forth with that plan against my bank account's wishes. Sophie received the Arthramid in her front fetlocks several weeks ago now, and has since been on a steady back to work plan to gear up for Town Hill at the end of the month. She has been given the green light after being checked post-injections, and I am happy to say that she is feeling great. On top of that, the vets also suggested some changes to her shoes, and the amazing farrier Dave Clancy has put in the work on that! Sophie has lifts in her front shoes, like wedges, with a slightly thicker one on her left front to offset how much flatter that foot had gotten compared to her right front. After one cycle of these shoes we are already seeing a huge difference in the shape and angulation of her feet!! I am so thrilled. At some point I will make a separate mini post on her feet, because I think it has been interesting to watch how they can change so drastically with different shoes. Message me if that's something you'd like to see!! I try to take progress pics when I can. _ Now that we are back to our regularly scheduled program, we have been carefully getting back to work in order to prep for Town Hill. At first Soph was a bit cracked out getting back into the swing of things. I get it: she went from being super fit for the last 1* we did, to moving barns again, to immediate vacation. It is a lot of change at once, especially for a horse that has a fair bit of anxiety and holds fitness stupid well. Most of our flat rides have included lots of downward transitions and lateral work to keep her mind busy. She has been finding all of the things to spook at in every ring at Apple Knoll so keeping the mind working is key with this mare! I think she has finally started to settle a bit now that we have gotten back to some jumping, and our first jump ride back was the most relaxed she had felt in a minute, shockingly enough. She continues to make it clear that jumping is her favorite. I've also been trying to squeeze in hacks with our new friends at the farm when the time allows - she is also slowly starting to enjoy those more as well. Apple Knoll has acres and acres of trails that allow for us to find new paths every time we venture out, which has been so amazing to have access to! _ In getting back to work, there has been one thing in particular I have been trying really hard to work on. I am going to be fully transparent here - Sophie and I have been struggling for the last several months when it comes to the bit I choose to use for jumping. Right now, I have her in a gag for both of the jumping phases. She has been in a gag for as long as I've known her, and I will swap back and forth between the loop and the snaffle depending on how things are going. With her level of fitness increasing drastically over the last year, I nearly always jump with it on the loop when at shows. For those of you who have not ridden Sophie or have not really seen her go, she is INCREDIBLY hard in the mouth and wicked strong at the jumps, particularly in the show jumping. She is naturally a bit more backed off on cross country, but we still use the loop on the gag there currently as well. I am a firm believer that a strong bit in good hands is better than a soft bit in bad hands, but I also would really like to be able to do everything in a snaffle. However, it is not a move that I can make right now for the sake of safe and proper riding with this horse at this time. Unfortunately I think she has been in the gag for so long that it has further desensitized her in many ways. Jacqui provided me the solution of double reins, which I would do in a heartbeat - but with all the damn finger issues, I struggle greatly with using the double reins in my right hand. That is a priority for me to work on over the winter months in order to get that skill back. My next quick answer was a bit converter. I put it on her for the first time the other day for trot and gallop sets, and it felt quite dull. I adjusted the way the holes sat so that it was one hole tighter on the loop and one looser on the snaffle, and that is how I jumped her in a clinic with Jerry Schurink the other day. She was still wicked strong, and several times got flat as she got further away from me causing us to take rails we normally would not. Jerry had some great food for thought, but he absolutely did not see the best of us during that ride, which was frustrating. Yesterday I went up to the new Greenhawk tack shop (where SmartPak in Natick used to be) and I grabbed one of those Beval bits that have become all the rage lately, and I think that will be my next attempt at a solution in between now and when I become better equipped to handle the double reins. I took her out for a trot set the other day and I was pleased with how she felt and the level of receptiveness she had towards me in it. As with literally everything in the horse world, it's a learning curve! My desperation to move away from this current gag set up is simple: it is factually too strong for us. One incorrect pump of those 'e brakes' and she loses all impulsion from her hind end. With our continuation up the levels, it's going to become more of a hinderance than a help as I need her to be able to carry some serious impulsion over bigger strides to get over prelim+ sized fences with any success rate. We've been able to make it work so far, because I have a fairly good feel of when I need to use it more versus less, but I do not want this to be my long term solution. With her natural inverted way of going, plus hard mouth, plus eagerness to jump the sticks, it has become the current easiest solution to simply get any method of communication her way, but I want to be better and I want to do better by Sophie. TLDR: Sophie has a very hard mouth, and naturally goes in a very inverted way. In order for her to jump well, I need her to lift her back and really use her hind end in a powerful way and not have her just run on her forehand (hence why I sometimes wear bigger spurs - they are not for forward motion, they are all for getting those tight shoulders and back up!!). The gag gets a quicker reaction from me to her, but it puts pressure on her lips that lifts her head in a way that increases her likeliness of getting inverted and hollowing her back. I am looking forward to getting her back out at Town Hill and giving it a good go! It's one of my favorite Area 1 events, and I can't wait to see so many of our friends there. Following Town Hill, Sophie will get another mini break as we prep to head back to Morven in October. I kept the September schedule open, and I will only plan on something that month if for some reason Town Hill goes horribly wrong (here's hoping that is not the case!!). Sophie has had a very busy year, and I want her to feel her absolute best going back down to VA for one more show before the end of the season. I will be back with another blog update after Town Hill, and hopefully it's a good one :) Thanks for checking back in to the blog! I appreciate all the continued support ♥️ K

July 16, 2024 Well I don't think I could have asked for a better way to complete our year living in Virginia. Sophie and I took on the 1*-S at the Maryland International Horse Trials at the beautiful Loch Moy Farm last weekend. She was just spectacular in every single phase, and I could visibly feel the positive results from how hard I've been working with Jacqui at home. In the weeks leading up to this, I had been spending several days riding with Jacqui in the mornings. She has such a cool string of horses to learn from, and I am certain that getting that experience has already made a huge difference in my ride on Sophie. I mentioned this in my previous post, but most of Jacqui's horses don't let me get away with my poor habits, such as hanging on the inside rein, and I could feel myself take a breath and let go of that tension multiple times with Sophie during both my dressage warm up and actual test. I am so, so thankful that Jacqui not only trusts me to ride her horses, but also is so willing to work with me and help me to continue learning and getting better as a rider. My show weekend started on Friday, and my dressage ride time was scheduled at nearly the hottest portion of the day - it was going to be about 93 degrees as I was to head down centerline. In preparation for how hot it would be, I gave Sophie a bath right before loading her on the trailer in order to help cool her down some during the 25 minute drive. Drew met me at the trailer up by the in barns, and after a quick temperature check and informal jog, Sophie and I were permitted to go to the day trailer parking. Jacqui met us after we parked and we made our way over to the start box to get one cross country walk in before I got ready for dressage. I figured I'd have more energy to walk cross country before I rode. The course was a slightly similar track to what I had done at the schooling show here in March, but with much more impressive fences and more use of the terrain. Compared to the 1*-L at VHC, this one looked a lot more technical. There were a few steeper hills, a tricky sunken road exercise and they also made use of the main arenas with some derby-style fences. It was a course that looked both challenging and super fun! Loch Moy also had done their due diligence with aerating and watering the ground so that it was safe for horses to run on. The atmosphere was also quite impressive in general, as they were hosting Youth Rider Champs and also running up through the 4*-S level. Jacqui and I made a plan for cross country, and then we made our way back to the trailer. One pit stop for a snow cone and then Jacqui got her tools out to get Sophie braided and looking her best. Sophie looked so stunning for our dressage at VHC that I wanted Jacqui to work her magic again for this one. She did Sophie's mane, tail, and even added some fun quarter marks again. I also dressed to impress, because there was no way I was not wearing my gorgeous green shad even though the weather was atrocious. They had waived jackets but I figure I am not sure how often I will get to wear the shadbelly, so I will take every chance I can get! We made our way over to the dressage warm up, and I started getting Sophie moving off of my legs. I took a bunch of deep breaths before really asking for a lot, and tried to recreate the feeling I got with so many of Jacqui's horses over the last few weeks. They all really moved well off of full use of my leg from ankle to groin. I sunk into the saddle and thought about really lifting Sophie's shoulders with my knees and thighs and to allow with my hand and push her forward from my calf. Right on cue Sophie came up and under me and was moving beautifully. Jacqui continued to guide me through our warm up, and it was the most relaxed and steady amount of communication Sophie and I have ever had getting ready for the sandbox. I was feeling really good about heading to the ring. We only spent about 10-12 minutes in the warm up due to both the insane temperatures and how amazing Sophie was feeling. We made our way up to the upper rings and I started getting warmed up outside of my designated dressage ring. Sophie had a spooky moment as we passed the side of the ring closest to the VIP tent that they had set up for the show weekend, but we got organized by the time we entered at A. The first half of the test felt so fluid and focused. I continued the mindset of using my knees and thighs to lift Sophie's shoulders up to me and allow her to stretch her neck forward into a supportive contact. I was feeling great about everything until we had our trot to canter transition to the right that was supposed to happen going towards the VIP tent that we had spooked at earlier. For a few brief movements we reverted back to arguing with each other, but then I took a breath and softened once we finished the right lead canter movements. I was able to bring her back to me just enough to complete the test without fighting. It was not our most consistent test, but the highlights were HIGH. I couldn't stop smiling after saluting to the judges - I felt like I finally unlocked something in Sophie I had been trying to find for ages! Jacqui was just as delighted as I was. It is so amazing to feel the difference in what I am able to get out of riding Sophie just after this short time drilling the flatwork with Jacqui. Regardless of the score, I was thrilled. Unsurprisingly, I finished the day of dressage sitting in last place. It was a super competitive division, and I can honestly say I gave it my best efforts. And for my record with Sophie, a 38 is nothing to sneeze at. I was confident going into the next day of jumping. The organizers were so on it with the weather all weekend, and they ended up moving all jump phase times to a bit earlier on Saturday in order for everyone to be finished with all jumping before the heat got as bad as it was supposed to be. I had show jumping scheduled for around 12:45, followed by cross country with about 30 minutes in between. Drew and I got there about an hour ahead of time in order for me to get my tack organized and check out the show jump course. Jacqui met me there and we walked it as it was being dragged and made a plan of attack. Jacqui's ultimate goal for me is to be able to take the work we've been doing on the flat and apply it around my show jump course effectively. I had a tough but important jump school with her a few days prior where we practiced using my corners more efficiently and to stop interfering with Sophie directly in front of fences. Jacqui helped get Sophie ready and looking her best, including adding some fun quarter marks again, and we made our way to warm up. I normally love formal show jumping, but it was so hot that I opted to not don my show coat this time. Unlike the shadbelly for dressage, I do believe I will wear my regular show coat again at some point (lol). Sophie and I popped over a few fences in warm up just like we had practiced at home. Jacqui guided me and it only took about four fences for us to feel prepared to head down to the main arena. They shuttled me in when it was go time. I trotted in and then paused to salute to the judge, then I picked up my canter and set Sophie across the arena to have a good look at everything while waiting for the buzzer. I did one circle and then noticed that they were still fixing a fence that had been knocked down by the previous rider and it was taking some time. I brought Sophie back to a trot in order to not keep her running excessively in the heat, and it took another few seconds, but then the buzzer finally went off and we began our course. I came in a bit tight to fence one and then took a gradual, slow turn to fence two. After that we found a good rhythm. Sophie was jumping wonderfully. I worked on getting the canter I wanted in each corner, and then tried to lay off of her as we approached each fence. The only place during the course where I did not do my best planning in the corner was to fences 8 and 9, which was a skinny plank followed by 6 strides to a wide oxer. I pulled too much to the skinny on the in, and then asked for just a little too much to the out and Sophie's canter got flat and clipped the front rail of the oxer as a result. I got it together for fence 10 though, and she popped over the last one well. Overall I was quite pleased with our go, as it was massive improvement from VHC. On the way out of the ring, one of the volunteers complimented my ride in one of the corners which felt really nice. It is very rewarding when your efforts get noticed by someone who does not usually see you ride! We went back to the trailer and I hopped off to give Sophie a break for the 20 or so minutes we had before venturing over to cross country. I sucked down some more Gatorade, and we got a bit of water on Sophie to cool her down some. One last check of the studs, a minute to breathe, and then I was back on and heading towards cross country warm up. The warm up was pretty crowded with the Young Riders getting there well ahead of their times, which was really great to see. Myself and the other 'oldies' got in brief warm ups before heading out on course. I popped Sophie over one fence, had a little gallop, and called it a day for warming up. She knew the task at hand. I had a plan in mind to pull up on course if at any point Sophie felt even a hair less than her usual self out on cross country. The heat was tough and the ground, while clearly well maintained, was still fairly solid. With that thought in mind, I didn't really plan to focus too much on time. 5...4...3...2...1...Have a great ride! We blasted out of the start box and popped over fences 1 and 2 with ease. Fence 3 was an open oxer up in the wooded side field and I had a tough time remembering my line to it with so many trees in the way. I found the line about 5 strides out and luckily Sophie also saw it and locked on. The first combination at 4A and B rode in either a forward 3 or a tighter 4, which we ended up having. We rolled back to fences 5 and 6, and then galloped back into the main field towards the first water question at 7, which was a solid boat fence into water. It's the first time Sophie's had a really solid fence into water, and it caused the water to not be visible until we were right on top of it. I kept my leg on and with one encouraging tap she pushed off those limber hind legs and into the water. 8ABC was a tricky sunken road ask, and I slowed Sophie down a few strides away to allow her to calculate it smartly and she did great footwork through that exercise. I was so pleased! We rolled downhill to 9, up a big hill and around to 10, down the hill again to 11, and up a gradual incline to a corner at 12. Sophie doesn't think terrain is hard 💪 13A and B was the second water question, which she navigated with ease through the water, up a bank and two strides to a big roll top. We turned and galloped over a table at 14, then up a mound over a skinny at 15, and then again down a hill to a table at 16. We then had a few fences placed in the sand rings, which was a really cool experience. We galloped into the arena and over a roll top at 17, and then down a hill into another arena over a bank exercise at 18A and B. Sophie is quite naturally nimble and careful, but also has developed good faith in me, so with my leg providing confidence, she navigated the questions so well. As we headed to the last two jumps, I asked for a little more to see if she was still feeling good, and to my surprise she was! She swished her tail and blasted over 19 and galloped on over 20 and through the flags with plenty of gas still left in the tank. I was blown away! My amazing team of Jacqui and Drew grabbed her as soon as I passed through the flags and I hopped off. I checked my watch and realized we were maybe just a few seconds at most over time - which was again shocking to me. I was only keeping a half eye on the time and was focused more on how she felt, and man, did she feel incredible. We made our way up to the vet box and were greeted by tons of amazing vets and volunteers who were helping to check on horses and sponge them off. We ripped off Sophie's tack and got as much water on her as quickly as possible. I held her while Jacqui and Drew did the grunt work, and my horse that just finished a challenging cross country course in blistering conditions was still finding energy to spook at anything and everything under the tent. It was at that moment I really didn't question her fitness 😂 After some time cooling down in the vet box, we grabbed all of my things and walked back to the trailer. Sophie danced sideways the whole way back, finding everything to spook at and call to. I am still laughing at how full of beans she was given the circumstances. We took our time to continue to water and ice her back at the trailer. Jacqui and Drew helped me get her comfortable and I started to pack my things as we waited for final results. At this point I had thought that I had started to move up in the standings, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that there was a chance I could secure a ribbon. After a short time waiting, we found that the culmination of our efforts resulted in Sophie and I taking home a beautiful 4th place ribbon. Cross country did not pan out well for several competitors, and many were also taking it quite slow due to the heat. I had a feeling we might move up a place or two based on our jump phases, but not all the way from bottom of the barrel at 16 up to 4! Not only did we receive a lovely white ribbon, but we also got a commemorative wine glass, a sponge bucket, some treats, Maryland Horse Trials magnets, a hoof pick, and some prize money! It felt like I won the Olympics coming home with that many goodies. Shout out to Maryland Horse Trials for such amazing prizes for competitors - even the 4th placed ones! I can honestly say that I could not have done nearly as well as I did without Jacqui's guidance. I had an absolutely breakthrough feeling in dressage, and our jump phases were some of the best riding I've had and felt. I truly feel so prepared for the future with this horse now. I cannot wait for what's next! For now, Sophie is enjoying a holiday for the rest of July as we settle into our new home after a very busy spring. I will at some point recount the entire year in Virginia in a post, but for those that do not know, we just moved back to Massachusetts. Life is a bit chaotic right now, so bare with the sparse updates at the moment! Thanks for reading ~ K

June 21, 2024 As the time here in VA is winding down, I am soaking up every ounce of what I can with the team over at Chapel View Farm. School's out for summer, and we move July 10th, so I have some free time until then. As any good barn rat of any age knows, free time = barn time. Last weekend I made myself a part of the cheering squad for CVF at Seneca HT, and I have started joining Jacqui in the mornings during the week to ride with her as well as to watch her ride in order to continue learning. I am at a place in my riding career where I am confident that I can sit on most horses thrown my way and not die, but my ability to ride a horse in a way that allows them to use their bodies correctly and build good muscle will continue to need to be fine tuned. For a long time I have been allowed to ride backwards (from hand to leg) and Sophie lets me get away with that far too often. Over the last several months of training with both Jan and Jacqui, I have been slowly moving towards riding a horse from leg to hand instead (which like...DUH, we all know this, but it is so much easier said than done). Jacqui has done one hell of a job of helping me with that even after just a few days of riding with her in the mornings this past week!! In riding these horses that Jacqui has been carefully training, as well as having her guidance as I work with them, I have learned very quickly that I am obsessed with holding the inside rein at all times. It's one of those habits that I know is wrong, but it is damn hard to shake. Sophie will let me hold that inside rein all day. We will fight about it constantly, and I often will get her to be crooked and forcibly put together in a way that might look the part enough, but she is never really moving through. Jacqui is teaching me that it is so much more about moving the shoulders up and that my hand needs to, essentially, go away. It's a concept that many people have explained to me in varying ways, and I understand and would say the same thing to any student I would teach, but talking theory is easier than putting it into practice. However, the way that Jacqui has been explaining it to me has really started to stick, and I think I am slowly getting there. It also has made a MASSIVE difference to ride horses that are less tolerant of my mistakes. I rode one horse of hers that immediately braced against me in the canter and started to run away with me because I wanted to just grip onto the inside rein to hold the bend. Jacqui told me to soften and let go of the inside rein and continue supporting the outside shoulder with my leg and, like magic, the horse softened instantly and started to collect as soon as I allowed with that rein. Who knew that would work 😝 Another one of her horses, and a particularly fancy one at that, took full offense to me putting my leg on to ask for the canter while also clenching my inside rein as opposed to me simply shifting my inside hip bone upwards to allow for the canter to come up to me. Jacqui gave me the directions and, on the second attempt, once I had the horse straight and supported the outside of him while also keeping the bend with my inside leg, I allowed with my elbow and lifted my hip and ~voilà~ we were cantering. Both horses provided me with physical feedback that was so immediate. It is so rewarding to ride other horses and feel successful as a result, even if the success is simply picking up the canter nicely because I asked correctly and avoided falling into bad habits. Sure, I can get on Sophie and give a walk, trot, canter show and I can roughly make a 20 meter circle in just about any part of the ring...but can I do it while using only my inside leg to hold the bend whilst also using my outside aids to keep her shoulder straight and encourage her to push forward into the bridle? Easier. Said. Than. Done!!! Especially on a horse like her that is content in keeping her shoulders down and her neck inverted. It feels good to have homework! The other day I was able to get a few steps of trot where she actually felt straight from nose to tail because I was able to find that feeling of holding her outside shoulder with my outside aids and not obsess with bending her neck to the inside. Just this morning I had a very productive flat ride where I focused on lifting her shoulders from my calf all the way up through my abs, and I could physically feel a difference in her suppleness as I engaged my thighs and core more effectively. It was kind of amazing. Getting this feeling with Sophie consistently will take time and patience, and a lot of discipline on my part, but I am so excited to have been able to get a better feel for what she should be going like by riding these other horses. I've said this before, but for anyone who wants to continue to learn but maybe can't take the time or money to do consistent lessons, simply watching others ride can be so helpful. I am also fortunate that Jacqui is incredibly willing to share everything she's thinking and feeling as she rides her horses with me in the audience. I am even more fortunate that she trusts me enough to sit on all of her horses. The next few weeks will likely consist of more watching and learning, as well as more riding. I feel lucky to be in this situation and I look forward to soaking up the knowledge while I can, and hopefully will take more skills with me to Sophie and I's next home. We have one more show before the move, and I will keep those interested posted :) If you've gotten this far, I just want to share my thanks to you! It means so much to me that there are people who take interest in what I have to say and the experiences that I am having. My time spent with horses will shift slightly once I move and start my new job, but I hope to keep having experiences that are shareable and interesting. I appreciate your support ♥️ I am also hoping to build out this website more and eventually maybe even flesh out a logo and start putting it on things - we shall see. Thanks for reading! K

June 10, 2024 Sophie and I took on the Middleburg horse trials this past weekend over at the Great Meadow Foundation. We got lucky with some amazing weather, and it was so fun to get to be back at this beautiful location again. Drew and Wally came with me on Friday night to walk the course, and I felt pretty good about everything I saw. Sophie and I were taking on prelim again, and most of the questions felt super fair for the level. Nothing was going to make me lose sleep like some of the combinations we had at Morven a while back! We had a full coffin for the first time in a while, but Sophie is smart with ditches and those kinds of questions simply become all about steering and keeping my line. The water complex was similar to what we had at VHC the other week, with a solid hanging log right into the water and then a skinny (in this case, a corner) a few strides out of the water. I finished the walk feeling confident that Sophie and I were ready for it. We were one of the first out that day, and Great Meadow is about an hour from the barn, so my day started at about 5am, which is a lot earlier than I have been needing to get started these days. We've been so spoiled being so close to everything! We arrived with about 45 mins to spare before I had to get on for dressage, so I grabbed my packet and took my time unloading the trailer. Sophie was in good spirits, and Drew arrived shortly thereafter to help get things organized. I am so lucky to have him around, especially on days like this where Jacqui couldn't make it due to competing at a different show herself that day, and I also didn't have a groom lined up. Drew becomes the best jack of all trades when needed! I got Sophie tacked and we made our way over to dressage. They were having the dressage on grass this time, and it was right up against a busy road so there was a lot to look at. Sophie felt a teeny bit tense in the warm up, so I tried to gain focus by doing a lot of lateral work and little transitions. She settled slightly, but I could tell she was on edge. As soon as we entered the ring at A, we went back to our old roots. The war was evident, and Sophie felt a little like a bomb that was ready to explode. As we have unfortunately done in the past, as soon as she tenses, I get tighter, she gets more wound up, and we don't perform well. In retrospect I think we could have warmed up a bit longer which might have helped to ease tension, but I also need to keep becoming okay with allowing with the inside rein even when I feel like I can't. We had some respectable transitions and stretch work, but the rest of the test was mostly just us fighting. I saluted and patted her, disappointed that we couldn't pull out the kind of ride we managed to have at VHC a few weeks ago. There will always be things for us to work on in this phase! I watched Sharon White enter the ring after me on her stunning horse feeling pretty down about our performance, and wouldn't you know it but Sophie and I got pulled AGAIN for another random drug test by USEF!! They are so nice about it all, and I am happy to participate and do as I am supposed to, but not having time to process my poor performance in the sandbox really got to me. I remind myself that they are just doing their jobs, and I appreciate what they do, but in that moment I had really wanted about 5 minutes to myself to reflect on my dressage test. I am so grateful Drew was there to chat nicely with that lovely USEF worker while I was a bit cranky 😅 After Sophie was finished with being tested, I took out her braids and set her up with hay and water next to the trailer. Drew stayed behind to keep an eye on her while I made my way over to walk the show jumping course. Great Meadow is pretty spread out, but luckily they had amazing volunteers with golf carts that were used to shuttle riders and spectators back and forth between the main arena and trailering. I was carted over to the stadium ring and took that minute to check my score and a few scores for friends competing at both Bromont and Apple Knoll - it was a busy weekend for eventing! The show jump course was fairly challenging, with a few places where you had to make tight turns inside of jumps if you wanted to make the time. I am not usually worried about time with Sophie (we were the fastest ride at VHC in the stadium by far - so much so that they even made a comment about it over the loud speakers 🤦‍♀️ ) but I was keeping in mind that I would be needing to make these tighter turns without losing too much pace. After walking stadium I made my way back to the trailer and started getting myself and Sophie dressed for the jumping phases. There was not much time in between dressage and the rest of the day, so I was grateful I was able to walk the cross country the night before! Sophie was doing her typical routine of falling asleep at the trailer before the jump phases, and continued to snooze as I studded and tacked her. Of course as soon as my butt hit the saddle she woke right up and knew it was show time. Drew walked with us over to the show jumping arena to find his space to be my videographer. I checked in at warm up and took a few minutes to walk around and let Sophie see the sights. I was the fifth horse to go, and I never spend too much time with her warming up over fences. I also didn't have anyone to set jumps for me, so I patiently waited until some other trainers started setting fences for their riders before I made a move. I was able to pop over a few jumps and Sophie felt fantastic. I watched a couple of riders before me go in the ring to make note of the routes they took and how it looked. I was pleased to see that the plan I had made while walking seemed to be everyone else's plan as well. When it was our turn, I walked Sophie through the in gate and took a little tour around the far side of the ring to let her see some more of the atmosphere. She was on fire! We came in slightly tight to the first fence, and then she kicked out way hard for the lead change on our turn to fence two. The show jumping beast had come out to play. I tried really hard to just maintain the canter and focus on my lines, and Sophie jumped the best she has yet through the first half of the course. The turn to fence 7 was fairly tight, and it was followed by 5 strides to a one stride combination, and unfortunately I started trying to ride the line to the one stride before we got over fence 5. My poor piloting cost us our only rail, but then Sophie came back and still jumped her heart out to finish the rest of the course beautifully. I was so disappointed that I cost us a rail because she absolutely deserved a clear round - I will be better for her next time! Drew met us with some water before we walked to the cross country warm up and I beamed about how well our little pony jumped in that ring. Everyone in cross country warm up seemed pretty relaxed as I made my way there. It was a few minutes before the first rider was to be sent out, so Sophie and I joined the crowd and just hung out by the fence line. I watched the first few riders head out on course, and then popped over one warm up fence once the rider ahead of me made their way to the start box. A few minutes passed and then the spotted unicorn and I walked over to the start, ready to go. 5...4...3...2...1 Have a great ride! Sophie and I powered out of the start box and had a great ride over the first three fences. 4AB was our first combination, and the in rode perfectly and the out rode a little long, but Sophie was feeling very confident. 6ABC was the coffin, and Sophie was super careful with her feet through it. The C element was a slightly angled skinny, and I wanted to ride it forward but Sophie was more comfortable getting tight and adding in one more stride than I had anticipated, but we will made it over no problem. I kicked her on after we landed because I really want to avoid having those tight rides, and she let out a nice big kick, essentially telling me to 'f off' 🤣 I was laughing at her enthusiasm, and the amazing crew with Erin Gilmore photos caught the moment perfectly! As we headed out into the back field, Sophie was a little apprehensive about some stumps and our pace suffered a bit. I tried to make up time as we turned back towards home at the far end of the property, and kept the forward motion over the trakehner at 11 and a combination of angled houses to a skinny corner at 12ABC. We galloped back towards the main field and had great rides over a few big tables, and then approached the water. She leapt in so confidently over the log into the water, and I could feel her searching for the flags at the corner out of the water. She felt SO bold! We hopped over the let up fence at 16 and I somehow lost my stirrup, so we again lost a little bit of pace as I worked to get it back before the angled tables at 17AB. As a result of the slowed pace, we ended up putting 3 strides in that combination where there should have been 2. Sophie had a bit of expected spooking at the volunteer cars sitting under the tree line near our fence at 18, so we had a bit of a deep ride to that, but then we had an excellent forward ride over our last fence at 19. I was grinning ear to ear as we crossed through the flags. This was officially our first clear over fences at the prelim level, and I am so happy we made that happen. This horse deserves that clear ride! It has been fun to look back on our cross country rides from even just a year ago and compare it to now. Sophie is so much more bold, confident, and into the game. Cross country has always been fun with her, but now it's feeling both fun AND super doable - we are now getting to a place where the rides are getting to feel quite straight forward. Drew met us at the finish and hung out while I cooled Sophie down. He even helped sponge her down, he sweat scraped her off, and put up the butt bar when I got her on the trailer. He gets the groom's award from me for the day!!! Our dressage put us well out of the ribbons in a pretty competitive division, but only adding one rail and some anticipated time to our score was a huge win for us. I continue to be in awe of what this horse can do, and I hope to be able to take her to wherever she wants to go. We have another big outing next month, and then we will make the trek to our new (but technically old) home in Mass one month from today 💚 K