ellemayo
Sep. 28, 2008, 03:53 PM
I'm feeling sentimental today. I drive by Great Meadowbrook (Torrance Watkins farm) to get to work and I made a point to drive down Upper Church Street this afternoon. Passing all of the cross country jumps and fields made me reminisce... does anybody else remember?
I guess to most people it wouldn't make such a huge impact; just one more event in a long string of events. But to me, Over the Walls really started everything. I didn't know anything about eventing when I was recruited by my riding instructor (who is a friend of Torrance) along with 8 of my best friends and follow riders. We were 11 I think that first summer, and I didn't even know who Torrance was.
It was lucky that we weren't afraid of hard work, because that's what we did. We worked basically from sunrise to long after sunset. We were given the title "Blue Bells", and we were Torrance's elite volunteers. We worked for weeks before the event, and after as well. The first few days we scrubbed the temporary stalls with awful cleaner that gave us nasty rashes. After that it was mulch mulch mulch. I honestly don't think I've ever mulched so much in my life. Torrance insisted on everything being IMMACULATE. Every cross country jump was decorated and mulched by us, inspected by my riding instructor, and then re-inspected by Torrance. It was so fun.
We were so thrilled when the riders showed up. I remember that first trailer that came down the driveway belonged to Nina Fout, and in it was Three Magic Beans (who incidentally became my favorite horse to root for). I was forbidden from taking horses off the trailers because I was so small, but I distinctly remember a conversation where I told Karen O'Connor that I wasn't allowed to take her horse, and she responded "says who, the Nazis?", and threw me a lead rope attached to the biggest horse I'd ever seen. I was in heaven.
My favorite job during the event was stadium jumping warm-up organizer (I made up that title for myself). I was given that job because I had the biggest mouth. By that time I knew who the riders were, and I was absolutely thrilled to be able to talk to them, and I couldn't believe that they would joke around and tease me.
Watching the horses and riders compete was like nothing I had ever seen before, and I knew that someday I wanted to do the same thing. Every time I drive by the grounds I get butterflies remembering how much it meant to me.
I know this was pretty long and if anyone got to the end I applaud you. I just feel so much sentiment towards Great Meadowbrook and Torrance and everything that those few weeks every summer gave me. I'm so sad it has been discontinued. I still haven't ridden in an event, but someday soon I will, and I know I owe all of that to Over the Walls.
I guess to most people it wouldn't make such a huge impact; just one more event in a long string of events. But to me, Over the Walls really started everything. I didn't know anything about eventing when I was recruited by my riding instructor (who is a friend of Torrance) along with 8 of my best friends and follow riders. We were 11 I think that first summer, and I didn't even know who Torrance was.
It was lucky that we weren't afraid of hard work, because that's what we did. We worked basically from sunrise to long after sunset. We were given the title "Blue Bells", and we were Torrance's elite volunteers. We worked for weeks before the event, and after as well. The first few days we scrubbed the temporary stalls with awful cleaner that gave us nasty rashes. After that it was mulch mulch mulch. I honestly don't think I've ever mulched so much in my life. Torrance insisted on everything being IMMACULATE. Every cross country jump was decorated and mulched by us, inspected by my riding instructor, and then re-inspected by Torrance. It was so fun.
We were so thrilled when the riders showed up. I remember that first trailer that came down the driveway belonged to Nina Fout, and in it was Three Magic Beans (who incidentally became my favorite horse to root for). I was forbidden from taking horses off the trailers because I was so small, but I distinctly remember a conversation where I told Karen O'Connor that I wasn't allowed to take her horse, and she responded "says who, the Nazis?", and threw me a lead rope attached to the biggest horse I'd ever seen. I was in heaven.
My favorite job during the event was stadium jumping warm-up organizer (I made up that title for myself). I was given that job because I had the biggest mouth. By that time I knew who the riders were, and I was absolutely thrilled to be able to talk to them, and I couldn't believe that they would joke around and tease me.
Watching the horses and riders compete was like nothing I had ever seen before, and I knew that someday I wanted to do the same thing. Every time I drive by the grounds I get butterflies remembering how much it meant to me.
I know this was pretty long and if anyone got to the end I applaud you. I just feel so much sentiment towards Great Meadowbrook and Torrance and everything that those few weeks every summer gave me. I'm so sad it has been discontinued. I still haven't ridden in an event, but someday soon I will, and I know I owe all of that to Over the Walls.