Who waits until they're in their 30s to learn how to properly drive a manual vehicle? And then does it on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road in a foreign country in their friend's slightly "older" model vehicle (sorry Rebecca)?
Every day I wake up, and—unless I forgot to remove eye make-up on the rare occasion it’s ever applied, or have enjoyed an evening with friends and generous pours of wine—I usually look about the same. Depending on the week I may look a little more tired or sun-kissed than the week before, but on a whole I don’t notice much difference.
It’s been exactly a year since one of my favorite horses, Waitangi Notebook, better known as “Mouse,” suffered a serious pasture accident. She slipped and fell in her paddock running from the sound of gunshots in the woods.
When she got up, it was immediately apparent she sustained significant trauma to her left hind pastern, but the damage ended up being worse than we initially thought.
I bought Donner six years ago. He was 5, and I was retiring my previous four-star horse to the lower levels. I initially got Donner as a project.
He was a beautiful stamp of a horse, had a good canter and a good enough jump. He was wild, but the price was right so I figured I'd take the chance. Either he would turn out to be something for me in the future, or I'd put some work into him and sell him on if he didn’t turn out to be an upper level horse.
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| Osborne 9 jumped well at Jersey Fresh and wasin second in the CCI**. 
This winter has been trying. I began 2014 completely motivated and excited to build upon the successful preceding year. This year I decided to be a little selfish, and for one month I left my students and clients behind so I could devote a little time to my own training. While I took a big financial hit, I headed to Ocala with just my more experienced horses. I would then meet my students, clients and the rest of the horses in Aiken mid-February. But as we all well know, Murphy’s Law of horses states that when you make concrete plans, they rarely go as you intend. 
While some people detest the off season or quiet work, I really love it. My goal is that every horse I have coming back into work after vacation from a long season or big three-day comes back stronger and more mature than before. In my training, I use this time to stay away from physically strenuous training and instead focus on filling in holes. 
A Post Three-Day Hangover: the feeling one gets when months of blood, sweat, tears, money and emotional and physical stress come to a grinding halt at the end of a three-day event, and one is left thinking “Now what?” I think we all have one brewing after the culmination of Pau. One becomes so intensely focused on achieving a goal, and then in an instant it's over. 
Well, I'd say it was an overall good day for camp America at the Pau CCI****. There were some brilliant rounds, but sadly a few heartbreakers. Hannah Sue Burnett's Harbour Pilot slipped coming around a turn at the first water, and they both ended their day early there. Kristi Nunnik and the lovely R-Star jumped the wrong option at this same water and also had a shorter trip than they would have liked. Good news is both horses and riders are absolutely fine and are just annoyed and hungrier for more! ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTMOST POPULAR    ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENT Sign up for our weekly newsletter!Contact UsBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time. For Customers
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