Rider Recap: And So It Begins…
Thanks to our new Austin Eventer, Lola for her contribution!
So, my crazy husband, Gary, gets a wild hair and tells me he wants to Event. I’ve tortured him for years with Dressage and small jumps. In fact, since I was having difficulty schooling him, I took him to Lucy’s for a lesson. While there we met Lisa, and I’m not sure what happened. One minute I’m thinking my jumping days are long gone and then I’m in the jumping arena trying to remind my, dare I say, fifty (well, I have a few weeks yet) year old body that two point is possible. Gary is bopping around in heaven.
Fast forward and I’m at Pine Hill for the day with Lisa, Lisa H., and Carrie. When did GAG fences grow so large? It’s like I’m six again and the fences are gigantic and giving me heart palpitations. Lisa instructs me to jump the Log? Are u #%#@ kidding me? Sorry, but that is going to require WAY more medication. The woman has some kind of brain warping magic because she had me jumping logs and loving it. Well, after I shoved my heart back down my throat.
Fast forward and I’m back at Pine Hill with Lisa, Carrie and Gary. The man is vibrating with excitement while I’m trying not to puke. Did I mention that I have a BIT of anxiety about jumping? Sure enough, Lisa used her powers again. This time we took turns. Gary and I would do the huge GAG fences. Lisa and Carrie jumped slightly bigger ones I got caught up in the excitement and jumped with a smile on my face.
That evening we ate like kings and drank like them also
The next day we go out to do stadium work. Am I having another frigg’in hot flash? Nooooo….it’s just my heart racing at all those fences. Lisa instructs Gary to jump through a little grid and off he goes grinning like a schoolboy. Then she looks at me and I say I’ll just watch. Uh huh, NOT! What does she do? She smiles and words come out of her mouth and dig into my brain. Suddenly, I’m cantering the fences too.
I’m not sure how Lisa is helping me to conquer my fears, but all I can say is it’s Rock’in Awesome! Now I’m starting to feel like Wonder Woman and breaking through all kinds of barriers. Our next goal is to ride the GAG division at a schooling show. I’m sure she’ll use her powers to get me through it. Between Gary, and Lisa’s encouragement, my jumping days are just beginning again.
