Never say never. Life beyond horses....

Eventing is my passion and I love riding and being around horses. I work to ride and most days it seems like I live to ride. I think about Leo constantly and I funnel all my money into 4 things: rent, food, gas and "the horse." There is rarely any money, time or attention left for other things I like to do like travel, camping, biking, or just going out to a nice dinner. 

Well, this summer I was forced to pull my head up from the horse side of my life for a moment and look at the bigger picture. For months, I've been just sort of watching the real estate market....working around in my head the idea of buying again. I used to own a condo but sold it when Mike took a job in Charlotte back in 2011. The market was tanking at that time and I took a huge loss on the property. I used up tens of thousands of dollars of my savings to cover selling the condo at a loss. It's been 4 years and I've never recovered financially from it. At that time, I was so soured by the reality of the situation, I said I would never buy again. Well, never say never, right?  

Surfing the real estate market, I started to realize that single family homes were selling for the same price or even less than what I paid for my condo back in 2007. Then in July, my apartment complex notified me that my rent would be increasing substantially. The rent on my 1-bedroom, 700 sq ft apartment would now cost more than my mortgage once did. I started researching to see if I could find a cheaper apartment and sadly, discovered that rental prices are growing through the roof. I wasn't going to be able to get any place cheaper unless I wanted to move into a not-nice area. That was the tipping point. I got a realtor and started looking at houses. 

Long story short, I found a house. It's a dream house for me. It's a little 800 sq ft craftsman bungalow on the river. There is a good chance I won't get this house, but I am going in with my best offer and letting the chips fall where they may. This was a really hard decision for me, because it means I will use up the competition money I have saved in order to cover closing costs. Translation: I will put the 1-star on hold. And there's a good chance I won't compete for the rest of the year if the deal goes through. 

I am constantly reminding myself that I have already achieved my ultimate goal with riding which was to compete at prelim level. Everything from here on out is icing. But of course, there is a part of myself that is disappointed that I will be missing out on the fall season. I am still working through training issues with Leo and the competitions are the only real way to test if I am making progress or not. 

We competed at New Jersey at the end of July with mixed results. Dressage was his best ever. He scored a 35 and that was with a 2 point error because I forgot the test! So he actually scored a 33. That is seriously UNHEARD of for us. Stadium was a mixed bag. We only had one rail when I added one too many strides to a fence but Leo was sticky off my leg throughout the round. The stickiness only got worse on xc. He was not adjustable enough and wouldn't go forward/lengthen his stride when I needed him too. Our course was littered with sloppy jumps and chip-ins. The first water was late in the course but big and impressive: brush fence, 5 forward strides to a huge log and drop into the water, C was a skinny brush wedge. You had to ride a bank up out of the water, then go over a knoll, and approach C coming down hill. Coming out of the water, the distance was right there and I was thinking "Great, Leo and I are finally getting our shit together out here." And then Leo literally slammed on the brakes. I took the option rather than representing because other riders were getting eliminated there. We finished the course, but I was not pleased. We got the job done but I wanted to see progress not gaps in our training! dang it! 

Back at home we've been working on Leo's responsiveness to my leg. In our first post-Jersey jump school, I asked him to move up to a fence and he didn't and chipped in. That was exactly what he did all around the XC course. It's a pure disobedience. If there is one thing Leo does well, it's lengthening his canter stride. He is a professional "surger." I had to lay into him and then he was more responsive to my leg. 

This is all indicative of a gap in our training. Up until this year, I have had to ride Leo super forward and aggressive. He's a super careful horse and will easily back off his fences. He gets his bravery from his forwardness and length of stride. So up until now, I've ridden him on a 13 or 14 ft stride. We regular leave out strides in related lines, etc. But now I can't solve or answer all the technical questions with that stride. I need a 12 ft stride. Sometimes an 11 ft stride. And I need to be able to change from an 11 ft stride to a 13 ft stride quickly. Leo doesn't have this adjustability, yet. Nor does he have the confidence in that compressed step. 

This is all becoming the focus of our work at home. In our canter work, I am constantly asking him to change his stride and respond more quickly....lengthen and the collect into a 10-meter circle, then immediately length down the long side. I'm setting up more jump exercises that require adjustability as well....like a really short related distance followed by a long related distance, versus putting everything on a 12 ft distance. In our flatwork, I'm really trying to be disciplined about riding forward from my leg into my hand. Which sounds so easy but isn't. When I put my leg on, Leo's head goes way up in resistance and then I use the reins to correct him. JUST LIKE WHEN WE JUMP! ugh. I can't ignore the problems any more. 

Well, in an ideal world, the seller's will accept my offer. The house won't need any immediate work and I will be able to afford to go to one or two more horse trials this fall to finish out the year. Then re-route to the Virginia 1-Star next May. 

Or the seller's won't accept my offer. I will find another place to rent and I will continue competing through the fall and stay on track for the 1-star in November. 

It'll be interesting to see where the chips fall...