In 2022 I competed in my first schooling horse shows. An adult amateur who was just looking to have a fun time and enjoy her horse out in the world.
The opportunity was never there when I was younger. As a child I belonged to a single parent household, and I was lucky enough to have gotten lessons for a period of time. I then began to work to ride…but between the way the system worked and my quiet nature I worked far more than I rode. Competition was never even a minute consideration. In college our team belonged to the ISHA…but I was required to have tall boots. Back then stretchy tall boots were not as forgiving of thick short legs. Custom boots were not feasible (Talking about $600 in 2000s money for a college kid with no financial aid). After trying every boot on in my local tack store I gave up all hope of being on their riding team.
Fast forward to 2022 when all of that changed. Suzanne, my best friend, began leasing Tiger and with her guidance we began to show together. A couple of schooling hunter shows, then dressage, combined tests, and that fall we did our first three-phase event. That event was the last time I jumped Nahe because he told me his knee arthritis was becoming painful.
Stanley came to me that fall…my first off-track restart on my own; Blade and Tiger had already been restarted. The next June I was injured for the rest of the season. We used 2024 to slowly work on building Stanley’s confidence away from home. In 2025 we started strong but then he was injured/had his eye ulcer that took him out for the remainder of the season.
For years I have been stuck at the starter level. Two foot. Two foot three inches. Our setbacks have made me feel stagnant and I was wondering if there was ever hope to break through.
And then there was my mental game to contend with. I have had injuries and accidents over the past 10 years that have deeply shaken my confidence. It has come miles since I found Andrea Waldo’s Brain Training For Riders book (The Sunday Review: Brain Training For Riders by Andrea Monsarrat Waldo). Moreso after riding with her in her clinics and in her lessons (We Had A Clinic). More-so with her second book The Imperfect Ride (The Sunday Review: The Imperfect Ride). But what has really taken me to new heights has been the time in the saddle…the sweat equity.
This past February I brought Stanley to Aiken, SC to train for several weeks with Andrea. While I was there I mentioned that I would love to ride at the Waredaca Classic Three Day Event someday. Before I came back to New York I made a plan to compete at the beginner novice level by the end of the 2026 season. If I’m going to Waredaca I need to AT LEAST be at beginner novice.
We used the time in Aiken to build my experience and confidence over terrain in the cross-country fields. That was a great start to our year, and I came back better than ever, but that training doesn’t hold if you don’t follow up and continue the work at home. Before the New York season even began I had already started to worry that I was losing momentum so I made a list…or a roadmap…of how I would get to beginner novice this year.
04/12: Larkin Hill Schooling CT: Starter
04/26 Larkin Hill Arena Derby: Starter
05/24: Larkin Hill Schooling CT: Starter
06/07: ENYDCTA Schooling CT: Starter or BN (Depending on what our status was at the time)
06/13: Hitching Post Schooling Horse Trials
06/19: HITS Festival of the Horse: Starter (This was unfortunately cancelled by the organizer)
07/03: Larkin Hill XC Schooling Clinic: BN
08/02: Larkin Hill Schooling Horse Trials: Starter (I ended up signing up for BN but this event was cancelled due to torrential rain)
08/16: Larkin Hill XC Schooling Clinic: BN
THEN CHOICE OF ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THREE:
9/6: Larkin Hill Schooling Horse Trials
9/26: Course Brook Schooling Horse Trials
10/24: Hitching Post Schooling Horse Trials
The choice of three schooling horse trials were to be my debut at Beginner Novice.
Over the spring and summer months I devoted myself to my goals. I took Stanley on my own to Pine Bush Preserve to work on conditioning. I used that time to allow him to trot and canter up and down hills and around turns while I got myself comfortable with the terrain changes. We took Stanley trail to school with Andrea Waldo at High Wind Farm in Vermont where we worked on terrain. We worked in the fields at the farm, we trained cross country at Kristal Clear Equestrian. We also took a lesson with Marcia Kulak at her farm.
We have been doing the work.
In the stadium ring I also did the work. Our trainer Kristal comes every Wednesday, and I join the group on the days when I am off (I work every other Wednesday). This consistency and quality of training has built my confidence in allowing Stanley to move forward like he needs without feeling out of control.
Last week I filled you in on our debut in the jumper world at the beginner novice heights…the work is beginning to really show (Jumping Out Of My Comfort Zone).
On Sunday September 6th Stanley and I finally debuted at beginner novice for a three phase horse trials.
On Saturday I walked my cross-country course for the first time. I felt like I OUGHT to be nervous but each jump made me feel more confident. I had trained over the Novice jumps during the summer clinics so these looked like a cakewalk. Exactly what I needed for my first time. The course looked great. The footing was fantastic. I walked away with mental notes about a few areas:
- Fence 5 was a gate coming out of the woods. In Aiken and at Larkin Hill he has refused this fence (Aiken had one nearly identical). It seems harmless but he questioned it both times so I told myself to be prepared, be clear, and be committed.
- #10 was a combination…water to a rolltop. He’s never “refused” water but he often stops first before going in. A refusal would be a backwards step, which so far he’s been good about not doing. I had to be prepared for this and to get him forward and connected enough to jump the rolltop afterwards.
- Fence 11 was a log sitting at the top of the VERY hill I broke my foot on in 2023. I trained at this farm over the summer but none of the trainings had me ride this hill. This would be the first time on this hill since my accident three years ago. I didn’t feel scared but I felt AWARE (now THAT is PROGRESS!!!). I told myself to really focus…ride forward up the hill but make sure he lifts his head to actually see the log at the top…and then to stay balanced and ride down the other side at a diagonal…trotting if needed.
Sunday arrived and I brought Stanley to this packed venue early…but it was already so busy I parked in the back row. Probably a blessing, to be honest. Stanley remained in the trailer while I checked in, re-walked the cross-country course, walked the stadium course, and watched a few of the starter stadium rounds. By all reports from our neighboring trailers, he was content, quiet, and polite. He only whinnied when he saw me coming back.
I had Stanley saddled for dressage, so I cinched the girth up some more, put on his bridle, and unloaded. We mounted and walked over to warmup calmly. It may have been the busiest environment he’s experienced yet but he was the same confident, relaxed horse he’s become over the course of this summer. I gave myself 15-20 minutes before my scheduled ride time even after I had heard reports that they were behind. When I arrived to warm up the steward told me I was next!
GASP?!
What in the actual heck? I was EARLY!
My ride time as of Saturday was 1:26PM. The ride time on my packet said 1:21PM. I was prepared for 1:21PM. I was not prepared for 1:10PM.
I warmed up the best that I could…I trotted him around to loosen him up. Asked for a canter each direction. I worked on suppling and bending him. He tends to warm up well and get more tense after the warmup…so since we were in this position I used it to my advantage…Once he was suppling a LITTLE better (it’s our constant pursuit) I acted as if our test was still part of our warmup…we trotted over to our ring and greeted our judge.
The bell rang and we trotted down centerline. We completed our circles and our transitions. He nearly fell asleep on me during our right lead canter. We made mistakes but we still rode an accurate test. We made BETTER mistakes. NEW mistakes. Instead of being TOO TENSE…he was almost TOO RELAXED! I’ll take it. We still needed more bend and more suppling but it was better than our tests before it. He didn’t look around or get distracted by what’s going on around him. He stayed with me…wishing he was still asleep in bed. I was thrilled with that. It wasn’t more of the same so that means we’re getting somewhere.
We had about 1.5 hours after our dressage to prepare for the stadium and cross-country phases. I untacked and stood Stanley at the trailer with his bag of alfalfa. My fiancé Zac, Suzanne, and another friend Emily and I sat in our chairs stealing some shade from the neighboring trailer. I put my bib number into the pinny. I set my optimum time watch…this is the first time I’ve been able to use the timer. I chose to do countdown mode with an additional 10 seconds so I can start it as the starters count me down. Stanley had some emotions and called out a few times. He swung his butt around for a little while. This time he didn’t build…after about 10 minutes he self-soothed and learned to cope. He settled into his alfalfa hay bag and remained content.
It felt like time went by in a flash…suddenly it was time to tack up again. I forgot my XC pad so I grabbed a spare saddle pad from the trailer (Ivory with floral patterns). We got his saddle on, his XC boots, and his bell boots. I got my vest, medical arm band, optimum time watch, bib, helmet, helmet camera. I mounted and began our walk to stadium.
The stadium warmup was the most stressful part of the day. There were riders everywhere. I kept my cool and it helped to have so many friends riding with me in the same level. I called my jumps. Crossrail! I jumped it from both the left and the right. Vertical! Left. Then Right. Oxer! Left and right. Stanley was still sleeping…he jumped fine but was lazy and slow…tripping a few times. We waited as a few riders went…there were still 10 before me.
When there were two riders in front of me Kristal had me loosen Stanley up again and take a couple jumps. Good thing! He crashed through a jump knocking rails everywhere! It seemed to wake him up though because the next couple we did he was back to being his sharp self.
When we entered the stadium ring Stanley got out of bed. He was alert and eager…not spooky but he wanted to have a look around. We navigated through our course and as we did, I remember the words of both Margie and Marcia.
Rhythm. Track. Balance.
I did my best to maintain those three key responsibilities and let Stanley work out the rest. I had to add leg right before the purple oxer as he felt like he wanted to back off, he responded in kind with a nice jump. In Beginner Novice we begin to add combinations to the stadium courses. He wasn’t expecting to see it despite training plenty at home. He came into fence 9a and began to back off so I gave him a slight tap on the shoulder and added leg, the perfect boy hopped over at the last second. He brushed the rail, but it did not fall down. A clear stadium round!
As with most events there’s no time to waste. The stadium ring empties you right out into the XC warmup field. Obviously we were warmed up but we were still a little disconnected. Kristal told me to pop over each of the small XC jumps and get out his XC gallop.
We hopped the small lop pile and… there he is! My cross-country machine came to play. Stanley’s XC gallop shined bright and he was suddenly awake and ready to attack cross country.
I felt ready so I walked him over to the starters and checked in. The previous rider had been eliminated so I was next…just 60 seconds out. We walked around the starting area as the wonderful volunteers counted me down. At ten I started my watch. At 5 I picked up a trot and turned toward the flags. At 0 Stanley eagerly cantered through our start box and toward fence 1.
Stanley didn’t care we were headed away from home, he didn’t care there were people and horses all over. He was on course and asking me…where next? I turned him right and we approached fence 2…over fence 2 I pointed his nose toward the clearing in the woods so he knew we were headed that way. Confused at first he obeyed and locked in as fence 3 came into view. The first real beginner novice question and he didn’t mind at all.
We had a nice gallop stretch to the other side of the field where our faux ditch #4 awaited us. On the way over I heard my name. Suzie and my friend Crystal were cheering us on! Having a blast I uncharacteristically put my reins in one hand so I could turn and wave as I went by. It was quick but I’m proud I was relaxed enough to do that!
We popped the ditch with no issues and galloped into the woods to the far field. Fence #5 was a gate…in Aiken he stopped at a similar one with questions and he did it again while schooling with Margie over the summer. I was prepared for him to ask questions again…especially having the fence out of the woods. No issues. He jumped it and looked for the next jump.
Around this time, I started to ask myself if this is what people mean when a horse chases the flags. He felt completely in tune and ready…happy to charge forward but waiting for the next instructions.
As we approached the jumps in the back field I just had to pick up his head, and he acknowledged and took each jump.
We had issues at Fence 8A. It was the combination at the end of that far field…a gate with straw bales in front of it to an upbank into the woods. It was a sunny day so the woods looked dark…I don’t know if it was the bank into the woods or the straw bales but at the last second Stanley ran out to the left. Luckily I stayed with him and calmly tried again. We wasted no time and the second approach was business as usual.
Into the woods I let him canter up the hill but we walked down the other side. It was steep and there was fresh stone dust and soft footing on our descent. We trotted as we got to the base and cantered back out of the woods. A beginner novice coop painted white making it look bigger than it is. It was no problem. We approached our second combination…the water to a rolltop.
At the water I was prepared for Stanley to back off but I waited…and waited…and suddenly we were cantering right into and through our water. I wanted to cheer and pump my fist in the air but remembered I had to prepare him for the rolltop on the way out.
Good thing, too! Stanley was caught off-guard and we had an awkward approach to the rolltop…but he got it done.
Now comes our “monster.”
I have not ridden the big hill in the front field since my accident in 2023. I was going the opposite direction, but it was still in my mind. Just like when we walked the course on Saturday I went into it with a plan. In other words…I was still in control of my mind and my body. I wasn’t in fight or flight…I wasn’t letting my lizard break take control. I was there, baby!
Just as I suspected Stanley put his head down so he could charge up the hill with gusto…I gave it to him until about halfway up. As we ascended the hill I picked him up and talked to him. I told him he needs to look up so he knows the log is there at the top.
Stanley saw it and it was “business as usual.” He popped the log and we sat back a bit to balance ourselves as we went to the hill on the other side. I thought I would bring him to a trot to diagonally go down the hill but we felt good…we stayed in canter all the way to the final jump.
We jumped the sizable house and veered left to pass through the finished flags. My helmet camera caught me saying “I effing love you buddy, you’re the best horse ever.” And he is!
Stanley didn’t feel winded or tired at all but happily came down to a walk…he knew we had just done a spectacular job out on our course.
I took Stanley right back to the trailer and began to untack. We got his boots off, his saddle, bridle. Suzie began to wipe him down with cool water while I took off my helmet and vest. We gave Stanley his protein shake (The Sunday Review: Purina Replenimash) while I poulticed and wrapped his legs.
After a bit of time Stanley was feeling content, so I loaded him into the trailer…it was cooler inside and he had his alfalfa in there. I still had to pick up my dressage test so I made the walk over. We waited a little longer when the scores became available. Even with our dressage and the stop on XC we placed fourth! There were fourteen in our division. Stanley scored 35.6 (64.4 in the dressage world) with several 7s in there and a final comment that included “ADORABLE HORSE”. The comments on our card were incredibly kind, productive, and fair…the feedback is one of my favorite parts of dressage.
I wanted to finish the event. We earned a ribbon. It felt like we had just won blue at AECs. We celebrated with another friend who came back after her own setbacks this year and she actually DID take home a blue in her division! The day was a dream come true.
So Stanley and I are officially beginner novice eventers! I thought we’d never get here but here we are. I still have a lot of practice before I would feel comfortable doing this in inclement weather…or tackling a championship level course…but we made our debut and I’m taking a moment to celebrate that.
What’s Next?!
I had grandiose planes of signing up for a RECOGNIZED event this fall. I have such good momentum that it felt like a good plan…tackle the recognized event so that it is “no big deal” in the new year. What I didn’t account for was the membership calendar year. USEA runs its memberships December through November…nothing prorated except for one month in October where it’s $50. The event I wanted to run was Course Brook on September 27th. Alas I just couldn’t come to terms with paying for a full membership just so that I could do one show. (Take note, USEA, you could have had more entries!).
So…we will plan on another jumper show…maybe some camping…maybe some trail riding…maybe a hunter pace.
It’s sad to see the Area 1 season drawing to a close, but I’m looking forward to our progress and what’s to come. This year we crushed our goals and made dreams reality. Next year I have big hopes for the classic three-day event.
The Green Horseman 
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