Introduction

(Written June 27, 2014)

I'm a passionate person and life is full of adventure, but for as long as I can remember, there have been two things I loved with all my heart. One is writing. Although I've been told I'm good at it, I guess I don't really care too much about that. I mean, I am a perfectionist, but for me it's more the joy of writing. There is truly nothing quite like it. The other hobby of mine is horseback riding, or anything horse-related really. So when my Pony Club rally team, the Lucky Charms, qualified for National Championships in Kentucky this summer, I saw an opportunity to combine the two.

It all began last summer when a group of five of us headed to the Steepleview Qualifying Eventing Rally and Horse Trial. Since it was our first rally, we were terrified and unprepared, but it was an experience of a lifetime! For anyone who might not know horses or Pony Club that well, that probably doesn't mean anything to you, so I'll do my best to explain.

Eventing is a equine sport that involves three phases. First is the dressage portion. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines dressage as, "the execution by a trained horse of precision movements in response to barely perceptible signals from it's rider." I prefer to describe it as a dance performed by a horse and rider in a small arena, where the pair performs specific maneuvers as accurately and gracefully as possible. This phase tests the horse-rider partnership in that the rider and horse must work together peacefully without misunderstanding. If you haven't practiced, everyone will know!

The second phase of eventing is the cross-country phase. This is when a horse and rider rider through fields and often wooded areas at high speeds jumping various obstacles, often natural such as logs and small amounts of water. Your horse should trust you enough to overcome the obstacles. Points are taken away for refusals, getting off track, and being too slow or too fast, among other things. If your horse is not in shape, or you are not prepared, cross-country can be very dangerous.

The third and final phase of eventing is called show jumping. In this phase, you and your horse enter an arena to jump several brightly colored jumps. These jumps have poles that will fall if your horse kicks them on the way over. The goal in show jumping is speed and precision. You must clear the jumps as quickly as possible. If you touch the jump and poles fall, and sometimes even if they don't depending on how the event is judged, you will lose points.

Since it was a Pony Club event, there was one more section of the competition, horse management. This is basically how accurately, safely, and efficiently you can take care of the horses on your team. This is the part of the competition that I am in charge of, more or less. I am the stable manager.

When we went to the qualifying rally in September, there were five members. I don't ride in the competition, I just hold down home base, clean up, and make sure everything is running smoothly on time. Don't be fooled--it's harder than it sounds! However, it is a lot of fun and totally worth it. There were four riding team members on my team. One of those members will not be going to Kentucky with us. So now there are only three riding team members.

We finished third for HM (horse management), and second for the horse trial (which is what you call an eventing horse show) in September, and partially qualified for nationals. Then, all the riding team members had to go to another horse trial and get a certain score. Now we are completely qualified and Nationals is looming up only a few weeks into the future! This blog will describe our experience before, during, and after USPC Festival and National Championships 2014.