Team Frankie tee shirts have been designed and will be available to order next week I hope! Shirts will be $20 and available in blue or white. I am having one made so I hope to have it posted online soon! These shirts will help fund a trip for Frankie and me go to Jan's this summer to prepare for the CIC 3* at Richland Aug 23-26. After that we plan to head to Plantation in Sept, before hopfully being quilified and goint to run the CCI 3* at Fair Hill in October! It is going to be an exciting summer and fall! Please buy a tee shirt and show your support! :)
Summer is almost here! There are only six school days left and for one of those, I will be at Chatt Hills. Frankie will leave Thursday morning with Megan, Jenn, Hannah, and Heather on Megan's horse bus and head to Atlanta. Tom and I will head down right after school on Thursday. Between my school team and my horse team, I am able to go to Chatt Hills for another Advanced run. I wish I would have been able to go to Jersey Fresh to run the CIC 3* this week but we had state testing and being present for testing is really the only thing that is nonnegotiable in my job so I consider myself lucky.
My principal, Kyle Sexton, has been very generous to me this year. It is hard to explain qualifications, "move up" shows, flow of competitions, and ALL the rules that go along with this sport to people that are not actively involved in the sport because let's face it- It sounds crazy most of the time! I also have no good answer for him when he asks me why, with the horse park right here, are all my shows are so far away and require two days off! Having his support is imperative and he has really worked with me this year and I cannot thank him enough! The support I continue to receive from my friends and coaches is just as important and always present.
I have had some great show jumping lessons from Craig in the last two weeks. As I was warming up yesterday for my lesson, watching Craig put the jumps in the 4'3" cups, I thought about how far we've come in a year, and how a year ago I would have NEVER jumped those jumps! I was just gearing up for the OP at Maydaze this time last year! It was just a surreal feeling as I even noted to myself how different her canter is and how different she feels in the bridle. If you find yourself in a rut right now, hang in there!! Peaks and valleys- remember! That is why we love this sport- we never truly "master" it. Horses will always humble us and even the best of the best have bad days!
I remember when I heard Mary King speak this winter and she talked about William Fox-Pitt having something like 7-8 rails in the show jump somewhere.... I thought to myself...."Well, no one WANTS to pull rails and we all try not to but if WFP can have that many.... I surly can have the many." (and I have). By filling my head with productive thoughts of what I need to do to jump well, I don't have time to think about things that are not helpful and often distracting. Trust me, the canter can still get too quick, flat, and off the pace out of the turn, and my reins still get too long, and I let her neck get a little long at times but I am to a point where I can recognize, adjust, and move on. This is huge for me.
I hope your summer is filled with big dreams and that you don't let anything get you down! I will keep you posted from Chatt Hills! Look for the tee shirt design to be posted next week!!
Sounds like fun - and hard work! Can't wait to sport a Frankie Tee! BTW, I was at Burghley when Bruce Davidson pulled NINE rails (at the time 45 penalty points) with Noah! We can ALL have our peaks and valleys!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck!