When I was a kid and someone would say "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I remember thinking I wanted to win the Olympics and be a professional horse rider of coarse. And like all my teachers have said practice makes perfect. At that time I thought if I did exactly that, practice practice practice I would get there. At that time no one told me all the sweat, tears, lack of money and sleep deprivation that would occur in the attempt to reach that goal of mine, being a professional rider and better yet riding for the team. Recently a friend of mine had mentioned how happy my blog posts have been. Actually, to quote her directly she said "STOP SOUNDING SO HAPPY! Your making me want to drop out of school and move out there." Don't get me wrong, all that happiness is legit, but unfortunately with this sport practice, practice, practice does not always make perfect.

When I first moved out here I knew I would be working hard. I knew my life would be horses and I knew this would either secure my decision in being a professional or make me reconsider, in other words this would make me or break me. When I say working had let me be more specific.I work about an average of 66 hours a week. with the excpetion of days like yesterday when we arrived at the barn at five and left at 7 30. 14 hours at the barn . An average day may consist of riding, icing, revita vetting, riding, cleaning stalls, turning horses out, cleaning padocks, blanketing, unblanketing, cleaning stalls, grooming, icing, wrapping, cleaning tack, cleaning the barn, cleaning horses, packing, unpacking, graining X3, feeding X3 and finding time to eat somewhere in the middle of that. Eating is very crucial to my happiness. Throughout all of this maddeness as an upper level rider I need to find time to also prepare for the competitions. Packing for myself, getting my horse ready and getting myself mentally prepared. Allison does a very good job at making sure we can get that done, does not make it easier though. There are only so many hours in the day! Coming out here I had worried that maybe I was making this move to soon. Maybe I should have some more advanced runs under my belt first? When I mentioned this to my mom she reassured me both my horse and I were ready for this. Coming to the east coast It was like going from being a big fish in a small pond to the exact opposite. Its hard not to feel like I have something to prove, but at the same time it is nice to not have anyone know me. I can do my thing and thats that.
After the first pine top Chloe had a leg that was worrying me, It was a bit larger then normal and of coarse seeing how she is all I have right now I got paranoid. I made sure to ice and revita vet and wrap! It went away and I decided maybe it had to do with a combo of the hard footing and studs which she is not used to. I kept working her and all seemed normal. This past Pine Top was my first advanced of the season. It was a one day so we went down the night before. Chloes legs seemed again a bit bigger then normal. I was hoping it was because she was not used to being in a stall. I walked her and they went down. The idea of something maybe being wrong but its nothing apparent just kills me. I decided I would run her slow and keep an eye on them after each phase. Dressage was first and her test was actually very good. I did simple changes instead of flying changes because I didn't want to press her for them quite yet. We had a steady test and overall I was very pleased. Next was show jumping. It was similar to the previous pine top course, lots of weird striding and they made good use of the terrain. She jumped so well last time I was really not too worried about it. She warmed up well and I went in there and jumped the first three, came to the fourth jump a vertical. Nothing special just a vertical. She stopped. I was so confused but nonetheless I came around and road it tough and she stopped again and off I came. When Chloe spooks at a jump I can feel it three strides out and all it leads to is her jumping even bigger then the normal. This was not her spooking. I gave her two good rides to it so I honestly can say it was not me. I cried my whole drive home with occasional pauses to eat chocolate. This just was not my horse. Driving home I felt the pressure of being back here, wanting to do well, being on the developing riders list, having Jimmy Wofford tell me it was good to see me on the east coast, pressure to qualify for the three star and all this combined with me worrying about my horse, and knowing that this is my shot and falling off was not a good start. So I cried and ate chocolate and talked to my mom. It did help. I got back to the barn and sure enough Chloes legs were big. This time not the right one but the left one. Great. I iced her and iced again and poulticed and wrapped. I did dressage and jumped half a course, this was not enough to make her legs big. I know my horse and I know that know matter how much other riders may tell me that this is normal for upper level horses I refuse to accept that until all other possibilities are crossed out. The next day her legs looked good and today even better. She will go to the vets tomorrow and hopefully it will be good news. I have training sessions on Thursday and Friday and I hope that I can ride in them, but Chloes soundness comes first.
Sometimes after a long hard working day I go back to my childhood dreams when everything seemed so simple. When practice practice practice as the answer to my dreams. It is comforting to sometimes forget about all the pressure and demands of this sport and remember that we do this because we love horses. Just ten minutes of sitting with Chloe reminds me of this. I love that horse and I love riding her and at the end of the day that's why I am back here.
I will keep you all posted on Chloe and please send good thoughts this way.
Xoxo Kelly and Chloe

Pine Top

Competition season is here!! FINALLY.
Pine Top was the past weekend and that was Chloes and my first outing since being back here. I will go into more detail about that in a second but first I want to fill you in on everything that has happened in the past few weeks. I am currently located in Aiken, South Carolina. I am with Allison Springer at a lovely farm called Buckleigh Farm. It is literally walking distance from both Full Gallop and Paradise Farm. Okay so let me start off by saying one of my first lessons I had when I got here was a cross country school with Phillip Dutton. We went to this amazing schooling facility called Gibbs. It was Chloes first time out in a while and mine as well. So needless to say she was...yes you guessed it...excited! I was in a lesson with Mara Dean, Kelli Temple, Ryan Wood and Jennie Brannigan. Now you see Phillip is a man of few words but when he does talk he is worth listening too. He watched Chloe jump and told me he like the way she jumped. I was trying not to pee my pants with excitement. It gets better though!! We continued schooling and she was acting pretty green and I was having to ride pretty tough. Well apparently when Phillip tells me to be "more in my leg" He means it. I came to a ditch she stopped and I fell off. Pop goes my air vest. Told you it got better. He looked down at me and says "Thats why you need to be in your leg." Why do I have to learn the hard way???? My first cross country school on the east coast and I fall. I suppose better there then Pine Top! All in all the cross country school with Phillip was super. I left there feeling extremely prepared and my horse felt confident! Cant complain about that.
The next few days before Pine Top I took a few flat lessons with Allison. I cant tell you how much I enjoy these lessons. She stresses how important your seat is, without that you cannot properly use your aids. It makes sense...if only it was that easy though! She is awesome to work with. Her lessons are upbeat and positive yet you work hard and leave there with a better horse. I have also gotten the privilege to sit on some of her horses. Like Arthur, if someone told me a year ago I would be doing that I would have laughed...Its pretty cool. Now onto Pine Top. On the east coast many of the barns trailer in to the shows, they don't stay on the ground. That is definitely a concept I have to get used to. I was feeling a bit disorganized throughout the whole show, but it all worked out in the end. The morning of dressage I pre rode Chloe and she was fantastic. I always find if I have time to ride her twice it works out in our favor. A few hours later was our test. She warmed up great but when it was her time to go she was the last horse out there and the rings on either side of her ring were being taken down. This led to some tense canter work, but I was extremely pleased with her trot work. It doesn't help having to follow Boyd Martins winning test on Remington either. I'm not sure if I will ever be used to sharing a warm up with Boyd, Phillip, Will...all of them, its overwhelming! Next we had show jumping. Allison and I had walked the course prior and found it to be a bit odd with weird distances and odd lines. I personally thought it seemed large and was thrown off a bit by the terrain in the arena. Also, having to put studs in for show jumping, so much of this is new to me! Chloe warmed up great...but I was still nervous! Allison was the ride right before me so I got to watch her go around and see what striding she put in. The course rode a lot better then it walked and Chloe jumped hard for me. We had a double clean go and once again I found myself forgiving her for her canter work in her dressage test :) Next we walked the coarse for cross country and I found myself feeling really excited! It asked all the right questions to prepare us for advanced while still making sure you will walk off feeling good and confident. Allison warmed me up and once again I really enjoyed how up beat and positive she was. It helps with the nerves. Chloe sailed around the course and was jumping super. All until we jumped into the second water. I rode poorly and she caught me on it. She was not focusing and by the time I got her attention it was too late. Allison had said you have to ride every cross country ride like its a catch ride. You take nothing for granted and you give it your all. I like that motto. As for all the hard stuff she didn't look twice. I was so pleased with her! I took all the direct lines and walked off the course feeling confident and ready for advanced! I almost forgot to tell you all, when I was walking to warm up Phillip was trotting by and he said "Good luck Kelly" BAHH he knows my name! Yes, I am totally star struck...but I am enjoying every minute of it.
Chloe has been in dressage boot camp. Allison rode her today and got her absolutely AMAZING. I wanted to cry...actually it is possible I did a little bit. I am so excited to get her dressage to where it needs to be and it is nice Allison is so confident it will get there.
I have made some good friends since I have been here and even have had a bit of a social life! Crazy right?? Last night we went to Doug Paynes for a bonfire It was nice meeting new people and getting dressed and putting something besides breeches on was refreshing!
I have a quiet week this week then the craziness starts back up again. I have three days of training sessions with CMP. and then its Pine Top. The advanced is a one day so I am trying to mentally prepare myself for that and seeing if I could somehow have Allison pass as me on dressage day and just ride Chloe. Only kidding.....kinda. In the mean time I am going to enjoy this 75 degree weather. I miss the west coast and am rooting for all of you at the shows! Good luck with the start of the season and to all of you young riders keep kicking butt!


This is the link to Chloes pictures from Pine Top. If you copy and paste it to your browser you can see them!!


http://www.hoofclix.com/Pine-Top-Farm/2011-02-13-USEA-Horse-Trial/KellyPughCopycat-Chloe68/15818411_v2gAW#1187561470_R45EG


xoxo
Kelly and Chloe

Chloe

I have to be honest, I spend more time thinking about what to title my blog posts then I do on actually writing the post. "Chloe" seemed fitting.
As I mentioned in my last post I had a jump school with Bonnie Mosser on Monday. I expressed how I was worried Chloe would be a bit enthusiastic and well once again I find myself searching for a word to express just how enthusiastic she was. Poor Bonnie. I think some words I heard her say were "Hang on!" "Oh shit" and "Thanks god I dont have to get on that horse." Okay maybe I am exaggerating a bit. Lets just say after that lesson it was clear to me Chloe was feeling good and fit. Bonnie taught a great lesson and said things in a way that made complete sense to me. I told her about how I am already having dreams about my training sessions and she responded by telling me how in her dreams she would show up to her training sessions about to get on her horse but she was wearing flip flops. I was so relived to know that even some of the best riders out there share the same nerves as I do. (I hope she doesn't get mad at me for sharing that!!) We both agreed that the jumps were not Chloes problem it was her rideability in between the jumps. She set up a lot of exercises to help Chloe be more supple inbetween. My favoroite exercise was when I would jump an oxer then canter through a row of canter poles. It kept Chloe thinking and working in between the jumps. It did seem to help because she did get a lot better and by that I mean bucking a lot less! I call that a success!!
I also mentioned that I had the opportunity to chat with Denny Emerson for a bit. If you are not friends with his barn on facebook....YOU SHOULD BE! No seriously he has some of the most amazing posts and I follow it just about as religiously as I follow eventing nation and that says something. Tamarack Hill Farm is the name. Anyways, We chated for quite sometime and I found him so easy to talk to. Someone who I have admired for my whole riding career, someone who has accomplished things that I dream about accomplishing and here I was sitting on his couch petting his dog listening to him talk. It was fantastic. One of the things that stuck with me the most was when he talked to me about the importance of owners. He explained to me that eventing was this magic carpet ride. I needed to find someone to go on this magic carpet ride with me. Someone who loved the sport so much and someone who believed in my riding so much that they were willing to live it through me. He said I was in a point in my career where an owner would be ideal. Apparently my parents cant keep this up for my whole life! Denny was so easy to talk to and not to mention funny. He also took the time to talk to me about all the pictures on the wall of his tack room. Who they were, what horse it was and what they went on to do. He showed me around the farm and pointed out different horses to me telling me about there breeding and what not. When I was having difficulties deciding about my future I called him for advice and he gladly helped me. Its really cool to have his name in my contact list on my phone!! Denny runs a very successful training facility in Southern Pines, NC. If you are ever in the area you should definitely check it out.
Also, a little interesting fact about The Fork. Way way way back in the day it used to be a trading post. I'm talking like revolutionary war days. When I was on a trail ride with my roommate she took the time to show me the "Human Cemetery." It sounds kind of creepy, which at first I thought it was, but after seeing it I thought it was pretty fascinating! Here is a picture of Chloe on the trail and the cemetery.









I go to Pine Top in a few short days and somewhere between now and then I will meet up with Allison. I am so excited! Eventing Nation recently did a post saying Aiken was the capital of eventing. I cant wait to be there! Chloe has been doing flat work for the last couple days and has been fantastic. Lets hope that stays the same! Tomorrow most of the east coast will be greeted with below freezing temps and rain. (It is actually pouring out while I write this) So that means ice. Have I mentioned how much I miss California weather??? My logic is with all this cold I should eat more to stay warmer...makes sense to me!
All of you competing at Galway this weekend good luck and have fun at the annual meeting!!
I will keep you all posted on the move to Allison's, the training sessions, Pine Top, and Chloe of course!!














After Our lesson with Bonnie. Chloes ears refused to go forward and I look like I am ten
years old.






Chloe meeting Biscuit the barn cat...They are friends!!















Xoxo
Kelly and Chloe