Looking forward.

Happy New Year! As promised, I present the 2012 recap!

  In our sport coaches are constantly telling us to "go forward", and "look up!" to improve various things with our position and horses. Whether its jumping, dressage, or just plain trail riding if you are looking down and "behind the leg" progress is very slow and often unbalanced.  Such is it with life.  Taking a glimpse back at 2012 is for me, in part, to thank all the amazing people who have done things I have only dreamt of, and secondly, to count the many blessing in my life this past year.  So forgive my overuse of the words, amazing, outstanding, awesome, wonderful...my Thesaurus is worn out!

In January I was fortunate to have an unlikely surprise as I prepared to leave for Aiken.  After looking for a long time to purchase a new truck, I found a used F350 (or rather it found me as I had gone to look at a different vehicle, and the sales lady at Junction  Auto Ann Cotrill~she is awesome go see her~ mentioned she had a truck that would be perfect) in like new condition with only 62k miles on it!  Excited beyond belief I traded in the Mitsubishi and drove off in the too big for the garage, to wide in the driveway, dually pickup!  I raced to find a suitable trailer, but couldn't quite get it all tied up before I left.

Aiken was a hectic time with many clients coming in to ride, buy horses, and train. I could have never made it through without the help of Mary Mckeon, Haley Goodwill, and Di and Steve Toth.  It was a crazy time.  It was during my time in Aiken that a couple of clients proposed to help me get the trailer I really wanted by sponsoring it for me.  I truly could not believe it.  After running the proposal past a few trusted advisors (DAD!) I took them up on their offer.  I would never have dreamed of such an amazing offer, and I truly would not have been able to pull off the trailer without them.  It has opened many doors, and I still cannot believe how amazing it is; thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it happen.  They wish to remain anonymous, so names will not be mentioned.  But it taught me two important things. One, help can come from the places you would have never expected, and two, people really enjoy being "a part of something" and its important to never take that away from them.

I also had been rallying some people to syndicate a competition horse for the eventing world that would take me to the upper levels.  I had several people say they were interested, so we began looking for a suitable mount.  Horse after horse we looked, but never found the right match.  I did find a horse in Aiken that I loved represented by Charlotte Bayley, however, when I finally got everything together he had been sold the day before.  Enter Courtney Cooper from C Square farm.  Most of you know the story of Captain, so I will not reiterate it here, but again some amazing people stepped forward, and we purchased our upper level prospect from Ireland, and he arrived fittingly on my birthday.

Over the summer I had many people sponsor so many things.  I was sponsored to ride "Z" in the Jimmy Wofford Clinic at South Farm, which was so inspiring and a real gift.  We competed lots of horses in dressage and eventing, and I had a client sponsor Captain's registrations and several horse shows after his arrival~something that was truly amazing.  As I began competing him, his illness set in and our real journey began.  I will update you on that later.

The summer also brought some milestones for me as a coach when I had three horses qualify for USDF region finals (Buenos Noches 4th level owned by Angela Hambrick- Tsjesse fan it Beielan owned by Marian Shaughnessy- In a New York Minute owned by Angela Hambrick, and two students (Tiffany George-Kete and Jessica Hart) qualify for the AEC's, with one (Jessica) topping the national leader board for several months.  Tiffany did compete at the AEC's and was 4th going into showjumping but her horse lost his footing jumping a warm up jump and it was not to be.  Buenos Noches finished 7th at 4th level  and Tsjesse took 5th in the PSG at Regionals.  They also were accepted to compete at Dressage at Devon~ another event that I never could never have dreamed of.  It was my first CDI and the boys were marvelous.  Many thanks to their owners and a special thanks to our  County Saddlery rep Katie Gussenhoffen who kept checking on Goodman's saddle and for making my first trip to Devon memorable.  Lastly, a huge thank you to Charlotte Bayley Schindelholz for her beautiful coaching, exquisite preparation, and friendship throughout Devon and Regionals! We couldn't have done it without her!

There are so many "gifts" this year that I could probably type for hours, but the biggest for me is the people.  From my family's support and enthusiasm, to the inspiring words of friends and their gracious gifts, coworkers and peers who gave immense support, there are not enough thank yous to go around.  People constantly amaze me and it is the many people in my life who made this year special.  While on a personal level there has been sadness, loss, joy, and new life, I love my family and am so lucky to have them!

So,  that brings us to Captain's progress.  He was rechecked on Friday and his Herpes points were much quieter.  His symptoms are changing and becoming less severe. He has less body sensitivity and I have been able to actually do a few training rides on him. He seems brighter and has more energy.  His progress is painfully slow, but it is progress, and I am optimistic that we will keep moving forward.  I also need to make a point to thank a stalwart sponsor who has sponsored Captain's farrier work since his arrival, and continues to do so despite his current medical condition, as well as the generosity of several people in regards to his stall at  White North Stable.  This has been so important since we have not been able to syndicate him yet due to this problem, and bearing the expenses myself has been daunting.    It is inspiring that people continue to have faith in us despite this setback!

In the spirit of good riding I plan to "look up", "go forward", and stay balanced this year.  Each obstacle brings us a chance to jump instead of step to the other side, and I can't wait to see where this wild ride takes us next! Heels down, keep those eyes up and thank God for the gift of another year to honor his mysterious working in our lives!

Happy New Year!