small tangent

So you'd think that 2 days before I'm scheduled to leave for my biggest competition of the season (actually, biggest competition to-date with this horse), I'd be all abuzz with news about training and nerves and everything... and I will get to all that, but I just have to go on a small tangent about something.

Actually, before that even, I have to offer my apologies for not updating here like a should. I am also doing the USEA blog entries, but I don't want anyone to think that I'm neglecting all you readers here (afterall, I do have a whopping 22 followers -- that's a lot of pressure!).

Anyway, because I love you all, and feel like I can talk a bit more personally then I can with the USEA membership at large -- I just have to tell you how excited I am to be engaged! For some of you who have been around John and I for some time, this may seem like mute news, considering we live together, fight like we're married, and in general seem fairly comfortable around each other. BUT, for me, there were definitely times where I thought I'd never get to celebrate this time... all that joking about 'common law' was hitting a bit too close to home.

So now, I'm packing things up for our departure on Wednesday. The last week has been filled with teaching and riding and Prophet has done nothing but put a smile on my face. I've taken a new road of not putting a bit in his mouth unless I absolutely have to and it seems to be working thus far (he was getting to a point where he was fussy about it). I went back to the trusty rubber mullen mouth for a dressage school last night, and he was wonderful -- glorious even. :) I've been shopping for clothes for the jogs and buying last minute things I know I'll need (such as a million pairs of rubber gloves), all the while stealing glances as my shiny new ring sitting on the all-important finger. Never did I think I'd be so stoked about this whole thing, but never did I ever see myself wearing a pink bling-bling belt in dressage either.

There's a first time for everything. :)

On to Tryon we go!!!

Some fun pics...

Ponies in the morning and.....

MY ENGAGEMENT RING!!!!

Pretty much I just wanted an excuse to show pics of my rock! :)

Changing things up...

Prophet annoying Chrissy's boyfriend

Coolest dog to have as a neighbor -- Annibell

When I was growing up, there was this great little area show circuit called Heart of America Horse Show Assocation (HAHSA). About twice or three times a month, there would be a show within an hours drive where you could go run classes all day long that were something like $8. There were eventers, Hunter/Jumpers, backyard pets and everything in between. The venues all had their own twist (outdoor/indoor/field/etc...) but the classlist stayed virtually the same (minus some 'special' classes at some of the shows), and it was awesome. Horses hung out all day and were just immersed in the process. If you had a problem, you entered the next class and fixed it. If you had a great ride, you entered the next class and hoped you'd hold it all together again. The competition was good, the classes were large and the experience gained was priceless.

Now that I'm an "East Coast Eventer", I feel like I've lost that "just go hang out all day and jump and jump and jump" quality in my horses. With our disastrous Show Jump round at Preliminary in the Fall, I was super stoked to head to the beautiful Virginia Horse Center last weekend for the Thoroughbred Celebration hunter/jumper show. Plan was to play it by ear, but to get at least a couple 3'7" jumper classes in over the 2 days. P started off a star in the hunters, placing in a very competitive class (he's versatile!). We then got to sit, and sit, and sit, and sit and wait for the jumper classes. We did the two 3'1" jumpers, and placed reasonably well (scored a qualifying placing for the Stakes class), and I definitely didn't push him for any 'speed'. The jumps weren't backing him off at all, and he was LOVING this new rollback and jump thing. It was great for him!

We then started warming up over some rather large looking single hanging rails, prepping for the 3'7" classes (which looked huge from outside the ring). Not gonna lie -- I had more then one thought about just calling it a day... but once I got in the ring and was cantering around, I realized they did not look bad at all, and we were OFF! He flew around the course, making it all feel quite easy, but once again, he was just a bit strong -- very rideable though! He took the blue in the second class -- the only clean round in the jump-off! I was quite proud of him.

Day two brought one more round in the 3'1" and 3'7" before the $1000 stakes class. Prophet felt just a bit tired from the night before, and he and I put in quite a lack-luster round for the first go, pulling two rails, and just not being impressive in general. He rocked the higher class, waking up a bit, and putting in a stellar round -- coming in 2nd to a VERY nice horse... and completing the division as Reserve Champ!!! What a star.

Since he had qualified for the Stakes class at both levels, I opted for the lower fences so I could go faster. He put in a lovely double clear on his first go -- even with my biff of the last fence where he proceeded to turn himself inside out in order to keep the rails up. He was fantastic for the jump-off, although I was having to keep his interest as the lower fences were definitely not holding him. We took a dramatic inside turn, and coming to the same last fence as the long course, I knew 4 strides out we were right where we needed to be... and what does he do? He figured with a couple hundred dollars on the line, that now was the time to drop a two and pay me back for the biffed spot during the previous round. UGH! But I love him anyway, and he's just a bit vengeful, just like me, so I can't blame him.

All in all, he was a super star, and I feel like his show jumping will definitely benefit from the weekend. Plus, the lady from Riders Up! Outfitters said she loved my horse, and that it looked like we were both having so much fun... I think that's better then any ribbon! :)

Southern Pines Wrap-up

Photos by C-Horse Student, Shartra Sylivant

As posted on useventing.com...

Southern Pines Horse Trials

After having last weekend off, I once again found myself traveling down the very familiar US Hwy #1 to the Southern Pines Horse Trials (I). There's just something about competing at Southern Pines that makes you think the people running the event really know what they are doing. The stalls are wonderful, the footing is awesome, the facility is beautiful and they are constantly evolving with cool new tracks and improvements.

For me, this is my "hometown" event. I use hometown loosely here, as really it's nearly 2 hours away from Raleigh, but close enough that I had a gaggle of friends/clients there for support. I'm not going to lie... it was a bit nerve racking knowing that I had someone I knew at nearly every section of cross-country. I mean, if I make a mistake in front of a jump judge, they'll just write my number on a piece of paper and that'll be the end of it. Now, to biff it in front of people who know my name and probably is carrying a camera for photographic evidence!? That's a whole 'nother story!

The plan on Saturday was to get there nice and early, go for a quick ride, get everything settled in, make Diddy pretty, walk the course, and then head to the warm-up ring at 1:30. In the past, I've never really had time to get P out for a pre-showing ride, but it worked well with my previous horse (the Big Ted) -- it would help him settle a bit so we didn't spend half of warm-up working off the stall buggers -- figured it would work well for P too.

You know, I think horses are way smarter then we give them credit for.

The day was sailing right along, each element falling into place. P and I got in a really good dressage school in the morning (just a bit 'on the muscle' but he was listening), had some lovely alone time before the groups of friends showed up, got everything ready... things were looking up! Then I got on to go warm-up for some sandbox playing, and Diddy was pretty darned sure we'd already done dressage, and that his dressage time is limited to once a day -- time to go jump!

We struggled a bit through the test, a momentary canter down centerline, a brief romp in the lengthened canter, me saluting with the whip in my hand... we got through it, and after watching video of it last night, I realized it wasn't all that bad. We ended up with a 37.3, putting us if 15th place -- 2nd place was sitting on a 30.9, so the way I say it, we were less then 2 rails from second!

Time crunch was the name of the game, as I only had a little over an hour between dressage and cross-country, however, I guess I'm not used to having helpers, because we got Diddy back to the stall, tack changed, studs done, my clothes changed and had time to spare! Cross country warm up was a bit crazy, so P and spent some time walking around, enjoying the scenery of the Horse Park. Once we started moving, I soon realized that my horse is wickedly strong, and he acted as if he somehow just found that out. He was jumping great, but was taking a bit of muscle to get back into my idea of a pace after each fence. Feeling like I should have maybe put something a bit stronger in his mouth then a rubber mullen mouth snaffle (!), we headed to the start box...

And I guess the Ark wasn't a fluke!

After walking the course, I was pretty stoked to have a go at it... it seemed to be really forward riding, rewarding to the open step. P sailed around it without a problem, and gave me some really good feelings. He's ceased the over-jumping style that he used to carry around courses, leaving us sailing through the air for an eternity. He took nearly every fence out of stride (minus the small things, which I think he wasn't quite sure what to do with), however, I figured we'd be way slow on time considering how much I was having to fight with him before the fences. My worries were unfounded as we finished just 6 seconds over, moving us up to 13th place.

Back to the barn for some ice, dinner (for the horse), wine (for me and company) and a lovely night out with clients in downtown Southern Pines (and by night out, I mean we were in bed by 9pm).

Sunday's show jumping was run in reverse order of standings, so everything had to sort of guess their ride times. P was jumping great in warm-up, but was just a tad bit full of himself (yet again, seeing a trend here?). I changed his bit to a metal snaffle (hey, it's an upgrade from rubber!), and I liked the little bit of extra control it gave me (he did not). He went in the ring and was a rockstar (minus one lead conversation we had before the last fence). I was a bit disappointed in myself, feeling like I could have rode better and not picked so much between the lines, but I guess I'll have to fix that this weekend at the jumper show.

Thinking that there was no way that we would make the jump from 13th up to the ribbons, even with the scores being quite tight, I took the boy back to the stall, pulled my boots off (exposing some very sexy black and grey horizontal striped knee socks) and headed back to the ring to watch the end of my division. Much to my surprise, P and I jumped up to 9th place with our double clear, meaning I had to have my picture taken with my ball cap, striped socks, and pretty grey ribbon (although I'm totally pulling a Plushenko, and referring to it as Platinum).

Diddy came home to a scheduled visit with the vet to get some maintenance out of the way, so he gets a couple of days off. We'll travel to the Virginia Horse Center this weekend for some goes at the Thoroughbred Celebration Show's jumper classes, before the final countdown to the 3-Day!

However, we may need a rally call to get some more entries in the 3-Day at Fence, as it appears there are only 6 entries at the moment... you know you want to do it! :)

Until next time... Ciao, ciao!

It's always harder when you're not in the irons...

As a rider, I spend a larger majority of my time on the back of 1000+lb animal who can't communicate through speech. There are some major risks with this activity, especially since my sport involves traveling at high rates of speed at obstacles that do no move. I calculate those risks every time I put my foot in the stirrup, and try to counter-balance them as much as I humanly can. I wear a helmet every ride (not a practice that I always had, but now, I do), I do XC in a safety vest, I make sure my horses are schooled to the absolute best of their ability (which includes letting them know that I'm ok with a stop, here in there, if they think we may not make it over to the other side on all fours), I "know how to fall" (meaning I spent a lot of time as a kid catapulting off my pony, on purpose, and tend to usually land close to my feet) and I have a very healthy fear for what I do.

I think people (eventers included) are made to believe that to be in this sport, you have to be a fearless individual, willing to risk life and limb to make it across the finish line. I can tell you that is NOT the case. I am afraid of heights, afraid of speed, afraid of a lot of things, but I am not afraid when I'm on a horse -- BUT again, I have enough FEAR to respect what it is I do everyday.

Recently, two good friends of mine were seriously injured on the same day in Georgia. Rebecca Howard and Jan Bynny are two riders that I have been lucky enough to know on a personal level for a while now (worked for Rebecca and trained with Jan), and I have a lot of respect for how they do what they do. To have them both injured on the same day, I think, put a lot of things in perspective for a lot of riders (that, in addition to the injury to Courtney King-Dye), including myself.

However, what I did not calculate, was the effect that those falls had on the people around me --the people who don't feel comfortable slinging a leg over a horse everyday and taking off through the field.

Believe it or not, horse people have non-horsey friends, and those non-horsey friends quite frequently don't really 'get' what it is we do, and how we do it. Yes, it's a 1000+lb animal, who thinks and acts for itself, and yes, they seem big and scary, and yes, my friends have been seriously injured doing exactly what I do everyday... BUT it's what.I.do.

My SO, who once had no problem slinging a leg over a BULL (I think horses seem way nicer), is really on the fence about my sport. He worked with Rebecca and knows her very well, and I think to see someone that HE knows personally effected like this hit him very hard.

I have tried to remind him that in his former sport, even when you did well (rode out the 8 seconds) you still had to fall off a bull who was trying its darnedest to injure you... that argument isn't working. :)

But, you know, as I'm sure any coach or parent who rides will tell you, it's so much easier when it's your feet in the irons. I watch my students do 18" cross rail courses and no one likes to stand by me cause I get very nervous when they are in the rings (I've even been known to leave nail markets when someone throws in a chip stride). The kids are fine, I have confidence in what I've taught them to do, BUT I also know that you can't control everything, and sometimes accidents just happen.

I do know those accidents are just so much easier to deal with when it's you in the irons.

P-Diddy and I head this weekend to Southern Pines Horse Trials for a last jaunt around the XC course before teh 3-Day (which is just 3 short weeks away!). I'll be updating via the CHorseEventing Twitter/Facebook (found on the left hand column). Here's to having safe rides for everyone this weekend!!!!!

Ciao, ciao!!!

Where are we going and what's with this handbasket?

Starting last Monday morning, I was pretty stoked about having a weekend at home (no competition travel). I had these huge, well-laid plans about cleaning my truck/trailer/car/house, spending some real quality time with the Diddy/John/Ted/Puppies/etc... and scheduling a few lessons/rides in there.

Well, if you know me, you know I don't really hold still well and I'm pretty much moving at 1000 miles a minute or sleeping. Which also means that I tend to push my own personal plans aside in order to fit in others, so I pretty much stacked my weekend... and I mean stacked.

Lessons, rides, looking at horses, more lessons, more rides, a jump school on P (after he taught a lesson for me), and even a o'dark'30 hack on Sunday night.

And guess what? My trailer and truck still need cleaned, and my car has this faint smell of leather, horse sweat and possibly something else that I just can't place.

BUT I had a blast and LOVE being that busy. So, I'll probably continue to do roll with the punches, and pack my "weekend off" with crazy amounts of work.

This weekend we're off to the Southern Pines Horse Trials -- wicked good ride times, with my first ride (dressage) at 2:12, xc at 3:28, and the show jumping on Sunday. So glad to have the 'home event' with friends coming down to hang out -- should be a pretty good party!

Oh, and one more cool thing -- I'm blogging for the USEA about my Journey to the FENCE T3D, so check it out at www.useventing.com.

Fit pony = Crazy pony

Trot sets are getting to be interesting!

Here are some great shots from the weekend from Hoof Clix (www.hoofclix.com).

Ya know when the stars just align?

There must have been something in the water for the Sitton's this weekend.

For the few people in the US who did not hear my high praise for my horse as I came through the finish flags, I'll just have to fill you in on how stellar my Diddy-man was this weekend.

He had me a bit concerned, as he wouldn't eat his grain, and was just behaving way too well in general -- and for anyone who's been around P, you know that if he's behaving, he's probably not feeling well. He would eat his hay and graze just fine, but just no grain (until right before we left, but I'll get into that story in just a bit).

Anyway, being the concerned mother that I am, I was fully prepared to withdraw or retire at any moment that he did not feel up to the task at hand. We warmed up for our dressage and he was quite nice, but I thought we were a bit outclassed. Don't get me wrong, P give a great presence, but there were some REALLY nice horses in our division. Really nice. Diddy finished the warm-up, felt nice and swing-y and we trotted out of the covered, over to our dressage ring, and quickly discovered that the top of the footing was frozen. UGH. "Pony is not going to like this." P remained workmanlike, and I ended knowing there was a lot more we could have given. I told myself that there was no where to go but up when you start in last, and I continued out to walk the XC course.

Passing by the Sec. on the way back, I scanned the results from the bottom up, not seeing my name by the time I got up to the middle of the back, I was disheartened to think they hadn't finished scoring the whole division -- but low and behold, there my name was, sitting in 2nd!

Still worried about the pony's health, I warmed up for the jumping phases, acutely aware of every step, in case he wasn't feeling 100%. He launched around the warm-up... and then around the course. I about fell off during the ride when I heard Denny Emerson say "that's a nice jumping horse" from the sidelines.

My life was compete. :)

But it was on to XC. For some reason, after jumping the naturals in warm-up, I felt like I was sitting on a grown-up horse. Butterflies that usually start practicing cartwheels in my stomach weren't really givin' it all they had today because my horse felt.... awesome.

And awesome he was -- he came out of the startbox like his tail was on fire (in a good way), and rocked the entire course. I changed my gallop position a little bit so I was rode closer to him (for as big and bad as he wants to seem, I think he's got some poultry in his pedigree), and he finished in stellar form -- faster then he ever has gone, and I never once felt like I had to push him.

And just as was coming off course, John called my mom (their own little routine, so everyone knows I'm ok), and she let him know my baby (21) brother had just hit a homerun!!!! What a good day for the Sitton kids!

Hopefully the show photographs will be up soon, but here is one that friend/fellow eventer/volunteer extraordinaire, Patricia Roberts (of Fenridge Farm) took over the Trakhener.