Now I can finally say it: TUEQ’s fall semester is OVER! It’s definitely bittersweet. I’m super excited to have the last few weeks of the semester to say goodbye to friends that are going abroad and to work on my final exams, but I will definitely miss the massive quantities of team time I’ve enjoyed for the past few months.
We’ve been invited to the Holiday Tournament of Champions at Centenary College this weekend, and on Friday six of us will pack up my car and take a road trip down south. And by south I mean anywhere it’s 5 degrees warmer than Boston. And by that I mean central New Jersey.
It’s hard to believe that TUEQ’s first-semester regular season is over, but it is. We have five shows under out belts, a lot to reflect on, and a lot to be happy about.
First, I should catch you up on our most recent shows. The day after our Tufts show was the Boston University show hosted at Holly Hill Farm in Hanover, Mass.
Hosting a horse show, no matter how small or informal, is a massive undertaking. It requires hours of preparation, an inhuman amount of patience, and several very supportive, flexible and understanding co-coordinators. Oh, and a lot of cash.
PHEW.
For the first time in the last two weeks I’ve been able to take a deep breath, relax and SLEEP. After a double-header horse show weekend, I’m pretty much ready to hibernate for the next two years.
Good news! Ivan and I are happy to report that we had a fruitful and uneventful New England finals, placing sixth in the open adult equitation, 18-22 and 11th in the Medal Final. Considering that I added a freestyle halt last year and only practiced a handful of times this year, I’m pretty psyched!
A good IHSA team needs a good support system, and TUEQ is lucky to have a fabulous one.
Dani White, the owner of August Farm in Holliston, Mass., kindly lets us use her wonderful array of school horses to practice on almost every day of the week. Even though they have the technical label of “school” horses, each one provides a unique learning experience and tries harder than most other “show” horses I’ve ridden.
Last weekend, TUEQ traveled to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire for a pre-season practice show.
I’ve been back riding at school for three days, and I already have a long-distance relationship with my stirrups. I can barely trot three times around the ring without hearing “…aaaaaand drop your irons” (and barely trot three more times around without feeling that familiar burning pain we all know and love). I know it’s good for me, and the end results are certainly tangible, but I can’t help feeling a pang of terror every time my boots part from my hallowed stirrups.
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