The Past

In order to move forward with my goals, I need to take a moment and recall the past. There are some important lessons there, and I am going to take a moment of time to remember them. First and foremost in a riding career, the horses are the teachers. I have been very fortunate to have had several wonderful equine teachers in my life.

I was fortunate enough to have been born into a horsey family. My mom is a great horsewoman and taught me much of what I know, and bore with me as I learned compassion, good sportsmanship, and the value of hard work. I fell off the wagon many times when it came to the qualities I was supposed to learn and she stuck with me and supported my goals.

I have also been lucky enough to have been influenced by many different horses. I am going to add photos of some of them:

My Teachers

I was put on a horse at an early age, I believe this photo was taken when I was just over a year old. Dixie Joe was a Morgan Quarter horse who was the best babysitter in the world. My mother owned Dixie's dam and trained Dixie herself. Dixie taught my brother and I compassion for horses and how to ride saddled, bareback, backwards, forwards, fast and slow. She was wonderful.
















My Best Bow was a 14.2 hand American Mustang. She was one of the top two horses I have owned to date. Bow taught me how deeply a person can be connected to a horse. I have not developed that intense "connection" with any horse saved one since Bow. With the help of my mother Peggy, I trained Bow for western 4-H shows. When my parents and I went to pick Bow up from the gentleman who adopted her from the Bureau of Land Management, it was quite a time getting her into our horse trailer. I believe she was two or three years old and had not had much if any work. She was quite wild, bucked, reared, bit, and would strike with her front legs. Once she trusted you though, she was a stellar horse and could anticipate your wishes and was brilliant at keeping her head in a bad situation. She was also very cute for a Mustang and if I had her today, I bet she would make an outstanding large pony hunter. I ended up growing out of Bow's size and selling her to another little girl so I could continue my progress. I still miss her.


















Kid's Mount-N-Hi (Monte) is by far my best horse ever. Some say you only have one in your life time, and I am hoping that is not true since I have already had one. Monte is an American Paint Horse. He has Thoroughbred in his background also. I met Monte when I was searching for a horse after selling Bow. When I went to Yvonne Morris's home to see another weanling colt who I ended up buying, I was presented with the opportunity to ride Monte for Yvonne. Yvonne was my greatest mentor, teacher, trainer, and inspiration of the human variety. She also bred wonderful Paint horses. Yvonne also introduced me to english style riding and jumping. Luckily for me, Monte was a great jumper. The photo is of him winning the Paint World Championshiop in 1995 for jumping. Monte taught me that hard work and perserverance can really pay off, and that a high dollar, fancy warmblood pedigree are not absolutely necessities for eventing and hunter/jumper success.

Monte and I had a lot of fun. I rode him from the time I was 13 yrs old, until I retired him from competition 14 years later. He is currently enjoying semi-retirement in California with my mom who takes great care of him. She ponies her yearling Paint colt off of him on trail rides and he is a wonderful teacher.

Cimarron was an American Thoroughbred colt who I traded colt starting services for. I was a poor college student and could not afford the hefty $1000 price tag. I put 30 days on five young horses in trade for him and was happy to do it! Cims was on his way to being a wonderful partner. This photo was of his first and only event. He was a trier and fabulous.

My lesson learned from Cims was that horses are fragile. Cimarron was diagnosed by UC Davis as having a genetic bone deficiency where his bones were brittle. Despite the fact that he had old fractures in both coffin bones, and a bone chip in his back.... he jumped every jump for me without complaint, which led to me not realizing that he was in pain. I did realize that he was just not quite "right" a short time after this photo was taken, and took him to Davis.... where they too initially thought nothing was wrong, but they listened to me and worked him up fully with nerve blocks and x-rays. Cims was humanely euthanized but remains a part of my heart.

















Piksienna (Sienna) was my first "fancy" sporthorse. Sienna is by Pointmaker, a lovely Hanoverian stallion who is succeeding in dressage and by an American Thoroughbred mare. She obtained a Premium rating at her foal inspection for Oldenburg and was registered. I purchased Sienna as a yearling. I could not afford a fancy warmblood who was also under saddle. When I purchased Sienna I was still in college with some time to ride. I owned Sienna when I finished college and went on to a career in federal law enforcement. My work involved long hours and little riding time.

Sienna taught me the value of matching the horse to the rider's resources. She was a very talented mare, and also opinionated and did not take to being a weekend hobby. This photo (not our best shot!) was at her first event where she took second place in Beginner Novice. She was awesome and focused while at work, but could not stand the waiting her turn part of the deal, or the part-time riding schedule.

I was somewhat disillusioned with my ability to make the most of Sienna's talent for some months and then was detailed to the relief efforts in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.

I was gone for two months. The stable where I had her and another horse boarded did not care for them properly since I was not there to oversee. I returned from Katrina to find that Sienna and another horse were thin, and did not recieve proper farrier care. I was very upset that I could not even ensure the proper care of my horses.

I let Sienna go to a very great horse lady and friend who I knew would give her the best home. I continue to track her progress as she is ridden like she was meant to be for her temperament and talent. I have no regrets.

Nickolas is a lovely Canadian Thoroughbred who I bought after some medical problems put me off of Sienna for a few months. I was concerned about my ability to ride Sienna and get back into "riding shape" and needed a quiet horse to help me out. I went to see Nick in Idaho at a rancher's house during a blizzard. Nick had been ridden western and used in stock yards after his mildly successful racing career.

I loved him at first sight for his quiet demeanor and large 16.3h size, and the price was very low... so I bought him, loaded him into a trailer towed by a snowplow and took him home! Nick absolutely served the purpose of helping me rehab, and more. This photo was of his first dressage show three weeks after purchase, where he scored a 68% and the comment that "This pair has a lot of potential" from the judge as well as a second place ribbon. Nick's only downfall was that he could not jump to save his life. I affectionately nicknamed him "Gomer Pyle". Nick taught me that in fact a fast Thoroughbred who wins races and retires sound..... won't always jump at least 3 feet high!! Nick was also boarded with Sienna during my stint in New Orleans and went with Sienna to their new home with my good and trusted friend Molly who then found Nick the perfect dressage home with people who love him.

Post Hurricane Katrina

After my return from Katrina, I was at my lowest point ever with horses. I had not competed or ridden consistently since around 1998. I had not been able to take care of my horses as I would have liked. I could not trust boarding stables to care for them despite the big monthly price tag.

I decided to get completely out of horses and stop feeling guilty all the time (save one lone yearling colt that my mom was caring for and who I planned to give to her). It was both a relief, and disappointing to let go of something I had wanted so long.


The Second Chance


A year later, my life changed dramatically when I fell in love with a wonderful man and married him. He is also a federal law enforcement officer and was transferred from our home in CA to Kansas City, Missouri. I made the obvious choice to move with him despite the fact that I had to quit my job to do it. Now he is supporting my return to riding. It is the most wonderful gift.

We have purchased a home with acreage and are building a small barn... so I can take care of the horses to my own exacting standards and will not have to rely on anyone else.

Who would have thought at this age, that I would have the chance again? It is exhiliarating and scary at the same time. Am I good enough even for the low levels? What if I fail and there is not one good reason for it besides a lack of talent? What if this is what I was supposed to be doing all along and I enjoy great success? Will I love it as much the second time around? Who will my equine partner be?

I am determined to find the answers to these questions.

What an adventure!
P~

Is It as Much Fun the Second Time Around?

Yesterday I volunteered my time as a jump judge for the Heritage Park horse trials in Olathe, KS. It was a blast. The organizers were great and treated the volunteers like they were royalty. The weather was perfect, and the horses were beautiful. BUT, (and I guess this is a good thing considering the purpose of this blog), it was still hard to watch others ride while I was earthbound. I could see all the lines I would take, had an opinion on how I would have ridden that particular excitable, lazy, or difficult horse to get over that jump. I also realized that I was not out there... I was safely perched in my chair with my watch, radio, and score sheet. Hmmm.

For the past year, I have been debating whether or not to get back into competitive riding. I have always loved it, but found myself sidetracked by life's other challenges like money, family, career, education, etc etc. At this time however, I find myself with the ability to go and try again for a competitive career (no not the olympics.... I am 30+ and WAY behind... What sitting trot?) but I would love to just see how far I can go if there was nothing to hold me back. Now I haven't won the lottery or anything and eventing will be a financial strain AND somewhat of a gamble. But I really don't have any other excuse for not getting out there like my heart wants me to.

So having decided to risk it, I am dipping into retirement savings (yah I know, not smart) to buy the right horse. I have always bought young and green and started them myself only to not finish them due to the life challenges outlined above. This time however, I want a horse that has some experience, who is talented, and not so old that I would only have him/her for a short time before having to deal with where/how to keep my geriatric horse. The search continues. It may be a few weeks, but I will let you know how that goes! And in the meantime I will figure out how to make this blog look more interesting and put some photos up.

Oh, one more thing. I am doing this blog for several reasons like keeping up with family and friends who are far away, etc... but mostly I am doing it for the other returning or adult amature riders out there who are returning to the sport and feeling akward about just going for it despite the million reasons and excuses not to. Let's share the excitement, some commiseration, and progress together.