As I’ve sat here all winter consumed by my own mothers recovery from cancer and a broken collarbone, I wonder how the cycle has turned so quickly.

• Perhaps it was the care I was required to give my mother all fall and winter
• Perhaps it was the Varsity Volleyball my eventer daughter plays all Fall and then the club volleyball she starts up in conjunction with the start of her eventing training
• Perhaps it was the fact that I took on a redesigned volleyball uniform for the club which has taken all kinds of time.

I’m really not sure what it was, but the training season has come upon me and I feel myself catching the bug again! That bug that makes me want to see the show schedule. The bug that makes me want to see how and what our eventing friends are doing. The bug that makes me want to try this sport – even though I just turned 49.

What are you doing this time of year?

Debbie Horses

I received my regular email update from the USEF today (on behalf of my daughter). And today it was promoting advertisement “spots” in their magazine equestrian. The creative person who designed this call for advertisements was very clever. I may not have a stallion to advertise, but this perked my interest just the same.

Debbie Horses

My daughter shared this video with me. It’s Peter Atkins entire cross country run from the World Equestrian Games … from the camera attached to his helmet. What a great way to see the riders point of view!

Debbie Horses

It’s so hard to put the experience of attending the World Equestrian Games with my daughter the eventer. So I thought I’d share the nearly 1000 photos Emily took instead.

I think you’ll agree … WOW!

So ENJOY Dressage (day 2), Cross Country, and Stadium Jumping as well as a cross country course walk with Bruce Davidson.

(These are all available from the photos page as well)

Debbie Horses

After 2 days of dressage (phase 1 of the 3-day eventing) at the world equestrian games, you would have thought Emily and I would have had enough. But we were fortunate enough to receive a pair of tickets to the sold out freestyle dressage finals.

I have never seen anything like this in my entire life! These horses and riders were unbelievable. Although this pair didn’t win the gold, they were by far the most memorable dressage pair I’ve ever seen. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed watching them on September 30, 2010!

Debbie Horses

As I travel home I’ll be adding photos and write up about my experience here in Kentucky at the Eventing World Equestrian Games. Let me just say WOW!

MORE while I travel!

Debbie Horses

My very good friend, Amy Richardson, writes a family-based blog called Bliss Happens.  This weekend Amy and her daughter, Amanda, were my “guests” at the King Oak Horse Trials. This was their first EVER event and here is what she wrote about her experience. (This is taken from her blog Bliss Happens).

* * * * *

My friend Debbie is a mother mucker. you see, there is a whole lot of work that goes in to having a daughter who rides horses and competes in Equestrian Eventing.

She hauls trailors…

She carries hay, shavings, saddles, tack and other gear to and from the barn.   She mucks the stall (scoops the poop), cleans the tack, and assists Emily in preparing the horse for competition. 

Debbie walks the cross country course with Emily…all two miles of it!  While trying to remain calm about the fact that her teenager will be sitting on the back of a large animal who’s attempting to jump over these giant obstacles.

on the walk through, Amanda jumped almost half of the 28 jumps.  This was a “fairly easy” one.

Emily in the Dressage

I now have a deep appreciation for not only what Emily does, but what her mom does to support her.

Thankfully, after this weekend at the King Oak Horse Trials in Massachusetts, my own daughter is not begging for a pony!

* * * * *

It was so much fun – AND SO MUCH HELP – to have Amy along. And Amanda was FANTASTIC for her first time around such excitement. NEXT UP: GMHA … last show of the season.

HAVE A GREAT RIDE!

Debbie Friends, Horses, Shows / Events

What's a Mother Mucker to do?

As my daughter approaches her last few shows of the season before taking her Fall break I find myself scratching my head and wondering WHY we sign up for these last few shows.

Of course … it’s because my daughter loves the eventing and back 6 weeks ago when we signed up, it was August 1st and we were both still raring to go! But now, school has started and as a Junior the homework is already heavy. And she plays Varsity Volleyball for her school, which is practice every day as well. Someday (like the past 2 days) her schedule would be:

• Wake up and get to school before 8 AM
• Homework from 2-3:30
• Volleyball practice from 4-6
• Ride Billy (thank goodness there’s an indoor arena)
• Finish homework upon arrival while choking down dinner at 8 PM

One more week and she’ll attend her final show of the season: GMHA Fall HTs. These few weeks of my daughter’s overload is tough on mom as well. I know she loves it all and she isn’t willing to let any of it go. You think after all these years I’d know better but NO!

I am, after all, just a mother mucker.

Debbie Horses

After two successful dressage outings – both which also included an RF in the final stats – many of our horse friends were emailing us and sending us facebook messages that read like this:

“We’ll have to glue her to the saddle.”
“Let’s get a big ball go string and tie her up there.”
“Put velcro on your bottom.”
“Next time we’ll duct tape you to the saddle.”

There were more … but you get the idea.

So, after  GMHA August horse trials, my daughter signed up for Valinor Farm to run Prelim/Training as a schooling to get back into the groove and work out the kinks.

Off this mother mucker drove through summer traffic south on I-95 around Boston for a one day event – which included our overnight camping adventure. I did my usual tack-cleaning therapy session, complete with ipod tuned into Grateful Dead tunes so I could dance around the stall. Since there weren’t many people around, I didn’t feel funny grooving to the music as I applied the cleaner and conditioner.

We went with rider friend Tiffany Cunningham for a great Indian food dinner before hitting the hay (aka the tent) and awake to a beautiful morning. this was our view from the stabling area:

The view from stabling at Valinor Farm

Dressage went fine, with the exception of a canter on the wrong lead.

Show jumping was … well, different. The warm up, actually. Billy didn’t want to go over the warm up jumps and that never happens. But just before going into the ring, Emily kicked him on, he went over, and off to the show jumping ring he went – with no hitches at all.

Within 30 minutes she was out on cross country, where I strategically placed myself near the water for optimum viewing. Emily was number 3, so I didn’t have long to wait.

Rider 1 came through … STOP at the bank down into the water.

Rider 2 came through … STOP at the bank down into the water.

I heard Rider 3 on course, clear through jump 4. Soon after she came into view. Clear 5. Couldn’t see jump 6 or 7, but I saw her coming toward where I was standing – a log at the top of a steep hill. CLEAR over jump 8.

And then … horse briefly stops at the water and JUMP DOWN THE BANK – through the water, and out the other side.

No Duct Tape Necessary!

Emily and Billy continued to a successful AND COMPLETE finish. Confidence regained. Nuff said.

Next up – King Oak Farm on September 12, 2010. I hear they have a bounce there in the fall horse trials. Anyone know?

Debbie Horses, Shows / Events

Last weekend we traveled to Vermont (again) for the GMHA August Horse Trials. The weather was nothing short of PERFECT. It’s the first time in the last 2 seasons of going to GMHA that it wasn’t either POURING or WICKED HOT (that’s Maine talk for very hot).

If you’ve read these posts before, you know that dressage has always been the sticky point for my daughter – the eventer. Two weeks ago, at Fitch’s Corner, Emily and Bully for Billy had their first real dressage success with a score of 32.6. Excited and yet not ready to call it “success”, Emily attributed it to the test – Prelim Test C. GMHA required Prelim Test B, the test she’s had trouble with … until now. With a score of 33.9, she was sitting in first place after dressage. Perhaps this is a trend?

Stadium went well, but two rails dropped her into second. Still excited to be doing so well, she prepared for cross country day (held  last on Sunday at this show). This mother mucker, of course, went to volunteer as a jump judge. I was judging #3 and #20 for prelim and watched her as she went by, galloping toward and successfully over the coffin, and into the woods. With a 5:50 optimum time, I knew it would be a while before I saw her come out of the back field and within view.

The advantage of being a jump judge while my daughter is riding is that I can hear everything as she proceeds through the course. All clear through jump 15 – the last jump in the back field. Next was through the stream, up the hill, and over a pair of offset jumps (a bounce).

“Rider down at jump 16. Rider is up and walking home.”

It happened fast enough that I didn’t have to wonder and worry (while at the same time trying to keep my composure to watch others coming over jump #3 and #20). First walking toward me was her dad, shrugging and wondering what happened. Next was friend Lauren Leavitt, also wondering what happened. “She looked great going through the field.”. “He hit #6 with his front legs, perhaps he was lame.” SPECULATION. We waited and wondered.

Finally, my eventer came through. She was in tears – not hurt, but in tears.

“He was such a good boy” were the first words out of her mouth. “It was my fault – I was sitting too far froward as I came up the hill. He was such a good boy.” as she reached down and gave her 16h2 bay thoroughbred a big hug around the neck. I wanted to cry right along with her.

And so goes another horse trials. There’s always something to work on, but the journey is fun to watch.

Debbie Horses, Shows / Events