All Of His Toys

     Of course most people hope that when they go to some big event, their horse is going to be perfect and they will get to work on some serious and fun things. I, of course, wanted this. However, when my horses started living up to the meaning of his name in German rather than his registered named I had to just "ride it out."
     Kyra Kyrklund put it perfectly when she said my horse acts like a "child having a temper tantrum and throwing all of his toys of the pram."
     Even though my horse was a bit petulant I still learned a lot. I learned about how important having a soft  seat is for a horses back. I also learned how use two bucking straps (one on each side of the saddle with only one end attached) to keep my hand from moving forward as my horse is being naughty! This weekend also showed that it would be very beneficial if my horse went with my trainer to Florida this winter. I plan to keep working on trying to find a way to get my horse to Florida this winter. I know some way, some how, I will meet the people that will believe in me and want to help me get my horse into training.
     Non-the-less I will still say I had a great weekend. I met many people, who were all very wonderful. They all seemed to be impressed that I was laughing at my horse when he was having his temper tantrums.
   

NEDA Fall Weekend Symposium featuring Kyra Kyrklund Day One

     On Wednesday I took the day off from school so I could pack everything I could think of, that myself and my horse might need, for a weekend at UMASS Hadley. By noon time, on Thursday, with the packing complete and the horses being loaded a trip to UMASS Hadley was soon to be made. On Friday, riding in front of Kyra went well. I made it onto the Symposium, Yay!

      Saturday, today, I will admit, I was extremely nervous riding in front of about 400 auditors. I know Link sensed my tension because I also know he was nervous himself. It lead to an interesting ride, I will say that. With some moments of Link saying "Oh my, this is really scary." Along with "Um, sorry mom, I think I want to be done now." Regardless, it was a good ride. I now have a game plan for tomorrow, and I hope this plan will help so I can have an even more successful ride tomorrow!

     Thank you to all of the people that help me and support me with everything I set out to do in life! Just to name a few; Mom and Dad, (I could not do what I do without you guys! You are the best parents ever just so you know) My trainer (Willette; So thank you for braiding my horse for me because I stink at it and need practice. Thank you for teaching me everything I know so far about dressage. Thank you for being there for me even when I cry out of frustration. I could go on forever so here is just and over all THANKS), Melissa (for taking care of the ponies at home when we go on trips) , all of my "Barn Moms" (Thank you Annette and Cynthia for coming to the Symposium! You guys are so supportive, AND FUN) Thank you to everyone that is giving me suggestions and helping me to find sponsors. Also another big thank you to the NEDA staff that organized this weekend event! It is a great learning experience for everyone that attends. I think I should also mention a few of the people that are, kind of, "in the back ground." I thank to my brother for those late night talks that usually consist of "You are a good rider, but don't let it go to your head. Keep it up, love you sis." They do mean a lot to me. (: Finally, to my "friend" I know you don't understand horses but thank you for putting up with my late night text messages that are most likely annoying AKA "I can't sleep, OMG!!!!!!!" THANK YOU GUYS! I really appreciate everything you do for me!

Game Plan = Eliminate/forget about my stage fright and do some hardcore riding! (: