What an adventure. It definitely had it's ups and downs and tumultuous moments, but ultimately, it was a success. Even though I am still having moments of longing, strange urges to figure out how to live in the warmer weather, where riding is cheap.
It's always interesting spending time masquerading as something that feels like a costume. almost. except it also feels so right, makes me so happy, and i can't imaging spending my days any other way. It is obvious that the majority of the folks at the horse show have access to nearly infinite funds.... or at least enough to not worry. That simple thing, is something I just don't know. That has yet to be a part of my life. I mean, family has my back, I know they wouldn't ever let me fall into the pit of poverty, and yet we come from living off of the love of the job instead of being motivated by the cash produced from the work. And this is a wonderful quality that I am proud to say I will live by.... I can not imagine doping anything besides spending my days with horses and the people that love them just as much as I do.
Sometimes it's hard to watch a twelve or thirteen year old ride three horses a day in a horse show, one better than the last, and adorned in a show jacket that cost more than my whole show outfit combined by about three hundred dollars. And then they win.
But ultimately I know that I will have earned every ride I've ever gotten, that I've worked hard for and completely deserve everything I (will) accomplish.
(Though it would be nice to get a break.)
Karma. It'll come around, i'm sure.
Anyway. The show. The first day we went to try out all the horses, Costa Rican, Brazilian, Dominican, Panamanian and U.S(ian) madness. I tried my horse out first with a few other folks, and the horse was dreamy. didn't like to turn, but liked to jump (or so it felt to me). Honest, big stride. Totally fine by me.
At this first barn I met Pitta, a rider from Brazil, working from Panama who had brought a couple of students, and was riding two horses in the meter 20 class. A nice guy and a pretty beautiful rider.
(the picture is a monochromatic one of the jockey club... with the volcano in the background)
We went to Antigua after we got the horses all figured out (give or take).
We were taken on a tour by this guy who was really emphatic. He knew all the dates, all the numbers, and spoke the whole tour first in spanish, and then english. pretty repetitive, but nice. Did i mention he was emphatic?
Anyway.
Day two in Guatemala, the first day of the horse show was nice, a beautiful day, sun breaking through the clouds mid morning. I was the first of the Costa Rica / U.S. riders, and went to watch my horse go before i was to retrieve him. The layout of the show is designed so that each horse in the competition gets the same wear and tear that every other horse goes. So if you are going to ride your horse in any class through the meter 20, your horse gets entered into a raffle for an international rider. The monday before the show, you get your horse through the raffle, with one back up horse, juts incase you and the first don't mix weell, or something happens to them.
The first day of the show, the owners of the horses ride first, followed by the international riders. So by the time you ride, as an international competitor, you have gotten to watch the horse do the course once, and you have a better idea of how it likes to go and be ridden.
So, I watched my horse, standing next to the trainer from Panama, Pitta, and we watch, captivated, as the first four or five jumps go just fine and then at the five stride line the horse throws on the breaks, slamming his rider's face into the top rail, bringing the whole jump down and bringing the paramedics running. they took him out on a stretcher. And here we are watching this all unfold, my knees start to shake.... all i wanted was for this show to better than last year's which wasn't supposed to difficult because my horse last year just bucked me around the course, fitting two strides in every one stride between the fences followed by buck after buck after buck after buck after buck..... you get the idea.
Pitta was great. We rushed over to grab the horse as he came out of the ring. The best way to fix that sort of issue is to immediately get on and have the horse start jumping again, forgetting that he doesn't want to, but he has to, and then wants to. So I hop on, gallop around the warm up area, and head towards a tiny little jump, horse slams on the breaks. my spurs go in his side. buck buck buck buck, back to an even littler jump, and again, slams on the breaks at the last second.
The steward and Pitta talk it over in rapid spanish, then Pitta is next to me, explaining that it'll be totally fine, they are getting me a new horse; Ali S. We watch the new one jump the course, me shaking and nervous sweating, holding my breath through the whole course.... the horse goes great, loves jumping, only takes one rail. ride caught it in the mouth and didn't care.
Then it's my turn. I have maybe five minutes to figure out the horse, over four jumps under the watchful eye of Pitta, and then galloping into the ring for my "pista". The first jump fine, the second, we drop a rail... it's a purple and brown jump, a single vertical after a tight turn from the first oxer, towards home, meant to make the horse take it flat, and do what i did.... take the rail down. The next three jumps I don't remember, I lost my stirrup, forgetting how to ride. Coming into the line that marked the fifth obstacle, I just remember thinking, ok idiot, you either crash into the jump and fall off, or fucking RIDE! Caught my stirrup, took that line almost sideways, and rode like hell, making a good time, and finishing with a bang. No one knew i lost my stirrup, and all the crazyiness happened on the other side the ring, so no one could see the trainwreck that was the first part of my course. Which was a good thing.
I must say, although it was hard for helen to stand by and not be able to help trough the whole ordeal and have this strange rider / trainer take me under his wing and be the support that she was supposed to be for me, I really don't think i would have been able to ride that first day without both of them being there. My body just shut down. My brain couldn't think of anything besides disaster. it almost was disaster.
Helen as horse show entertainment provider. the kids were really good at crosswords. (better than yours truely) and far more excited about them then watching fifty million horses jump the same course over and over.
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