Monday, January 1, 2018

2017: A look back at a life-changing year

2017 was a whirlwind with several big highs and a few nagging lows. It was probably my most challenging year yet, but it also brought some of the greatest moments. Without further ado, here’s a little timeline of my year:

January 2017

January kicked off my final semester at the University of Louisville. I entered undergrad not knowing what I wanted to do and chose a degree in Equine Business. I liked horses, and a business degree made a nice backup if I ended up not working in the equine industry. Entering my final semester was bittersweet. I loved my equine friends and professors at UofL and it was sad to leave, but there was another adventure (grad school) waiting right around the corner. I just wasn’t sure what adventure that would be at the time.

The UofL Saddle Seat team receiving their 2016 championship
award from the United States Equestrian Federation.

February 2017

The acceptance letters for grad school started coming in and the first one was all I needed. Syracuse University accepted me for the master’s program in Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. This was my first choice and I didn’t think I’d get in, considering it’s one of the best journalism schools in the country.

Newhouse on a warm October day.

April 2017

April started off on a high note. It was my last month of classes, graduation was getting close, I committed to Syracuse and I enjoyed my last horse show as President of UofL’s Saddle Seat team with a nice send off from my teammates.

The end of the month was a tough spot for the UofL equine family. The director of our program and our fearless leader, Tim Capps, passed away. It wasn’t the end of the semester we imagined. Capps was the best mentor any student could ask for and guided many of us in directions we didn’t think were possible. Although he is unreplaceable, each student that knew him left with valuable lessons, many of which came from talking in his office versus just the classroom.

Capps handing out UofL equine awards at Churchill Downs in 2016.

May 2017

Thanks to Horse Racing Nation, I was able to be a part of the media for the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks. It was rainy and muddy both days, but that didn’t dampen two of the best racing days. The best part was the lead-up to the big races. Going early in the morning and watching the Derby and Oaks horses work and being able to see them on the backside was actually the best part of the whole week.

Always Dreaming, 2017 Kentucky Derby winner.

Abel Tasman, 2017 Kentucky Oaks winner.

May also brought the grand finale to my undergrad career. I sat with my fellow equine classmates and walked across the stage at the KFC Yum! Center. Andrew’s parents and grandparents came down from New York and we spent the weekend celebrating together. I also joked with Andrew that his superlative should be “most improved.” I found it funny. He did not.

L's up from Andrew and me. Yes, my L is backwards. I'm sorry.

June 2017

I experienced some fun Thoroughbred-filled days before moving up to Syracuse. At Churchill Downs, I witnessed Gun Runner stealing the show in the Stephen Foster Handicap and Forever Unbridled rally to win the Fleur de Lis Handicap. Both horses are based out of Churchill Downs and went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Breeders’ Cup Distaff respectively. I also met some awesome people in racing that I was able to connect with again.

Gun Runner after winning the Stephen Foster.

Forever Unbridled on her way to win the Fleur de Lis.

My last day in Kentucky I had the pleasure of meeting super mare Rachel Alexandra thanks to Candice Curtis from Horse Racing Nation. Rachel was one of my first racing loves before I even started to follow the sport. In case you forgot, she beat the boys in the 2009 Preakness Stakes.

The one, the only, Rachel Alexandra.

July 2017

July 1 I made the move up to Syracuse University. This is my first time living away from home. My intentions were to go to school for one year, get my degree and get out, but I met some amazing people I’m lucky enough to call my friends. I have the best three roommates, I love the people in my MNO group and I’ve met some other great people at Newhouse.

Ice skating with roomies Erica and Lily, who are
in the broadcast master's program at Newhouse

My law roommate Lisa let me use her as a model for a photo assignment.

Getting back to some of the people I met at Churchill Downs, I was able to connect with them and others by joining Nexus Racing Club, bringing young adults together in racing. I was missing the horse scene during the summer semester. Class was Monday-Friday, nine to five and my mare, Bella, was back home. Nexus gave me another way to stay connected in the industry.

August 2017

I had a two-week break between summer and fall semesters, and decided to spend the entire time in Saratoga Springs since it was only a couple hours down the road. I got to cover some of the best races, again thanks to Horse Racing Nation, met up with some new friends and had fun in town with Andrew since he was working there for the summer. I ended my trip on a high note with the Travers Stakes and several other high-quality races on the card, and I hope to make it back some other summer.

Saratoga on Travers morning.

West Coast after winning the Travers.

Saratoga has awesome horses and awesome people.

November 2017

Fall semester was a challenge filled with stress, anxiety and self-doubt. I certainly was looking forward to Thanksgiving break. I had been in New York for nearly five months and was looking forward to going home. Andrew was back at Churchill Downs and his parents came for Thanksgiving. He invested in a weanling filly and wanted to take me out to see her. It took me a long time to notice, but the halter on the horse said “Will you marry me?” Dummy me was too shocked and all I could say at first was “OK.” I eventually realized I was supposed to say yes. It’s still crazy to think I’m engaged to my favorite person.

Not a bad way to get proposed to. 

My grandpa had given this ring to his wife when he proposed.

Thanksgiving at Churchill Downs.

December 2017

December was a crazy month. I turned 23 and celebrated with my Syracuse friends. Final projects drove me insane, but my grades turned out better than expected and I finished on a high note. It’s exciting to be half way done with grad school and see how much I’ve learned, but I will also be sad to not see my Syracuse friends every day after June. I had no idea I would meet such amazing people.

"The GOAT class." MNO G'2018.

After Christmas, my parents and I drove up to New York to spend time with Andrew’s family. We spent one day in Manhattan. It was the first time my dad had ever been to New York City and my mom’s first visit in a few decades. Andrew bought us tickets to see Wicked, the food was fantastic and we managed to make sure my parents did not get lost from the group.

Family selfie in Central Park. It was super warm, obviously.

I never imagined a year packed with so many challenges and excitement. It’s been one hell of a journey.


2018, let’s see what’s in store.

It's not good bye, just see you later.

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Sunday, July 2, 2017

A Letter to Tim Capps

Dear Capps,

I know you said it snows too much in Syracuse, but I also know you’d be proud that I’m going to one of the best journalism programs, and that I’m pursuing my Master’s in a field I enjoy.

Preparing to leave Louisville has been bittersweet. I’m excited for the next challenge, but there’s also going to be some things I’ll miss (especially the cat, and the horse you believed was crazy). What I really miss, though, is an opportunity that was never presented.

UofL Equine awards banquet 2016

I wish I could have shared my excitement with you when I found out I was accepted, but you also knew I’d get in while I thought otherwise. I’m sure in your letter of recommendation you included an undertone that essentially said, “You need to accept this student, or else…” because that’s what you did for all your equine students. At least, that’s the summary you always gave us. You not only encouraged us to follow our dreams, but you helped us along the way, often realizing our own talents before we did.

I kept hoping you would show back up in the UofL equine wing, arriving early in that last office on the left. I was just down the hall from that office when I opened up the e-mail informing me of my acceptance. I was elated I had made it in and dropped my headphones to tell Terri and Andrew, who were in the computer lab with me, right away. Unfortunately, you were not able to be on campus due to health reasons, although we kept hearing stories about your stubbornness and determination to get back to the office with your kids.

Over and over again I kept asking God “why?” and there’s no doubt I was not the only person. The only answer I could come up with was that you had done so much to help people, that God decided it was time to call his good and faithful (or sarcastic and mischievous) servant home. 

I know you jokingly (I think jokingly) wanted me to stay at UofL forever to run the equine newsletter, but I promise I left it in the perfectly capable hands of a new editor. I have new things to go learn in Syracuse, and hopefully I can apply those acquired skills to the equine industry and benefit our sport, something you always wanted your students to strive for.

So Capps, I’m no longer at UofL, but this next year in the land of Orange is for you.

Sincerely,
Christine


PS: And yes, I do know it’s going to be cold in Syracuse. Thank you for asking a million times.
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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Life with a Retired Show Horse: New Surprises

Welcome back to another edition of Bella Goes Boing.

After nearly 10 years with Bella, you would think I know to never be surprised by her anymore, but that’s exactly what happened yesterday. It’s been a couple months since I last jumped her, so I thought she might be a little hesitant to hop over a jump again.

SURPRISE!

I had the jump set on the third lowest level, but Bella apparently thought that was too low for her standards. As we approached the jump, I was preparing for a horse that might halt or veer sideways.

NOPE.



I guess Bella thought I didn’t know what over-jumping was, so she decided to give me a hands on lesson in it. My mount transformed from a chestnut mare into a rocket ship, leaping high into the air with her ears pricked. I was merely along for the ride in that second, with an audible “OH, LORD,” escaping my mouth. I knew she had over-jumped it, but it wasn’t until I watched the video replay that I really knew how high this crazy thing had leaped.

No, Bella. You are retired. Not becoming a jumper at 17.

The second jumping attempt went much smoother. I was back on the chestnut mare I was familiar with and not a rocket ship preparing for takeoff. After the first leap, I finally understood how this little mare, who had never been taught to jump during her years of show horse training, escaped out of her paddock not long after retirement.


Moral of the story: Never, ever underestimate the power of a chestnut mare.



Much better!

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Sunday, April 23, 2017

Tim Capps: A Great Man to be Missed

Because I owe it to this man, I will try to put the words together in the right order. However, there’s a lot to say and I’m on an emotional roller coaster right now between tears and disbelief, as many of us are.

Tim Capps was the ultimate mentor. He was the director of the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program and a professor, but more importantly he became a second father to all the students that passed through. All who knew him know that signature Capps smirk, that look over his glasses that makes you think you’re in trouble, and the sarcasm that made Capps, well, Capps.

For me personally, he helped me find what I really wanted to do in life, and encouraged me to pursue it to the fullest. In summer 2015 I made a stop by the equine suite in the afternoon to say hi to everyone there. It was that visit Capps asked me about my master’s degree. As an Equine Business student, I assumed the next step meant getting my M.B.A., an idea I wasn’t crazy about. Capps asked me if I was going after an M.BA. because I wanted to or I felt like I was supposed to. The answer, of course, was the latter.

Capps then suggested I look into communications for my master’s degree. The idea stuck around in my head and I later began to research the best communications and journalism schools in the country. The next summer, before my senior year of college started, Capps took the time to meet with me and discuss a list of schools I had come up with. I was really interested in the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, to which his response was, “Do you know how much it snows there? Don’t go to Syracuse.” This was always followed by a laugh and “No, it’s a good program.”

Capps had attended the University of Tennessee for journalism back in his days, and a group of us in the equine lab one day were teasing him about having to wear orange. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to apologize for that and tell him that I’m going to be wearing Syracuse orange starting this summer, something I was really looking forward to.

It wasn’t just my master’s degree he helped me with, he also helped me realize what I wanted to do when I finished school, and that is journalism in the equine industry. I still remember being in his office one day, him looking me straight in the eye and saying, “You need to believe in yourself.” No sarcasm or jokes that time, all seriousness. He knew us all too well.

The grading scale Capps gave us in our capstone class.

We talked about our cats (that’s actually what our very first conversation was ever about). I told him the ridiculous things my horse did while he said Saddlebreds were crazy. We talked Thoroughbred racing, we talked issues in the equine industry, and we talked grad school. He always had stories to share from working in the Maryland racing industry, working on Wall Street, serving in the Vietnam War, or messing with radio stations and giving each of them different picks for the Kentucky Derby. And if you wore “UK blue” to class he was certain to call you out on it, because UofL was the better school (even though he taught at both). My favorite idea he came up with was his solution for the wild horse population and land problem: fence off Wyoming and make it the wild horse park of the west.

I feel like there is so much more to share, but I can’t really find the words right now. It really hurts knowing we will not see him again and there will be a very special person missing at graduation. Capps, thank you for helping me find my passion, thank you for being a great professor and director, but most of all, thank you for being the best mentor to us and telling us to “do it” when it came to our dreams. We love you and will miss you dearly.




















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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Life with a Retired Show Horse: The Recent Story I Didn’t Tell

I believe you can always improve. I’ve been riding Saddle Seat since 2001 when I was fresh out of Kindergarten. I’m not trainer good, but I’ve got a pretty decent handle on the discipline. I was fortunate enough to have experience in both performance and equitation. Even more lucky, I could do it all with the same horse!

As I’ve written about in my previous posts, Bella and I have been trying our hand at new activities since retiring from the show ring, and jumping is the current subject we are trying to tackle.

Bella successfully going boing. 

My last Facebook post about our lesson showed nothing but progress, but I did not post anything from Thursday’s ride before then. I’ve had lessons that are good and great, but it has been a long time since I’ve had a ride that was bad. And to be quite honest, it sucked. I’m not saying in my recent lessons I haven’t learned anything or been tested. My instructors have had me try some new exercises or worked on reinforcing other things, but I had completely forgotten what a bad ride felt like.

On Thursday, Bella and I started out pretty well and began over ground poles. The first jump I asked her to go over, she hesitated for only a second before launching herself into the air. You know those Grand Prix jumpers? With all the power from their horses, the riders almost look like they are falling forward when they land. That’s how it felt when Bella launched herself, except we were only going over the lowest level on the jump standard.

Everything seemed great for the first jump, but then it wasn’t. I could not get Bella to go over another jump the rest of the ride. This was only the second time I’d ever asked her to go over a real jump, but she had ended on a good note jumping just a few days before. However, on Thursday, every time we approached the jump she ran sideways to get away from it.

Here’s what has always made Bella a great horse to learn on: She will never try to harm you while you’re in the saddle, but she will not go through with something unless you are 100% on board with what you are asking. This trait is how she shaped me into the rider I am today.

I’ve never taken a jump lesson in my life. Andrew has been helping me teach Bella to jump, but this is something I’m just doing for fun. With Bella out of training, and me looking at graduate school after finishing up the UofL Saddle Seat team in April, my show career is about to be hung up (at least for a while). I don’t care about looking like a long-time jumper or going over a three-foot tall fence, I’m just enjoying life with my favorite mare. Having a bad ride with her though, was not fun at all. I felt defeated, and it was not something I was used to.

It was not Bella’s fault. I had psyched myself out and questioned every move I made and every move she made. And that smart little mare knew it, too. If I wasn’t completely ready and confident, she was not going over that jump. I tried, and I tried, and it didn’t happen. I knew what the result was going to be, a mentality I struggled with years ago when we had cantering issues. Well, I had the issue. Bella and my instructors just made me work through it.

Two days later, the day I posted a positive message on Facebook about our ride, went much better. I was learning to push with my legs and power through without going for speed. I even learned knee off to use leg, which growing up in Saddle Seat is a big no-no (my jumping friends are cheering right now)!

 Cantering over ground poles in true Saddlebred fashion.

I wasn’t worried about every move ahead of me, I was worried about getting over one ground pole at a time or gearing Bella up for the jump ahead. I didn’t worry about what was going to happen two or three steps ahead. I focused on staying collected and accomplishing the current step.

Bella jumped the first level on the jump standard, and then the second, and we even finished on a high note by jumping the third level. While Saturday was not perfect (pilot error), it felt like a big accomplishment. My horse was happy and having fun, and so was I. The next goal will be getting over two jumps. After seeing how that goes, we'll go from there.




We made it to the third level!

Ears pricked, a pep in her step, and head held high. While the rides might be changing from week to week, the one thing that never changes is Bella’s personality. I say this in probably every blog post, but I’m beyond thankful for a mare that lets me learn with her.


Shout out to you, Bella. You will always be number one.

What a good pony.

We get each other.
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Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Life with a Retired Show Horse: New Heights

Bella and I have officially moved past the fallen tree limb level!



Although there are times I miss the feeling of Bella’s energy in the show ring, I really do enjoy learning new things and having fun in retirement with her. She’s smart and figures new things out pretty quick, but she also makes me work for it. That’s one thing I’ve always appreciated about Bella. She’s not an automatic horse. You have to work with her. In the show ring, I had things figured out for the most part, but I’m having to learn all over again in our new adventures.

A few weeks ago, Bella finally got comfortable going over ground poles and didn’t knock them. The next step I decided to try was a very small jump. I’ve never taken a jump lesson in my life, so Bella and I had to figure this thing out together. Thankfully, Andrew has been taking lessons at an eventing barn the past few months and he’s been able to help from the exercises he’s been doing.



At first try, I asked Bella to trot over a small jump. Apparently she thought it was easier to knock the pole out of her way instead of go over it. You would think a horse would realize it’s better to go over the pole instead of knock it after a few times, but that thought didn’t seem to occur to Bella.

Mares.

We then tried cantering over the jump and that seemed to go better, but it was clear I needed help getting Bella to power over the jump. Next ride, Andrew set up some ground poles ahead of the jump. The goal was to get Bella to keep power through the poles so we had enough to get over the jump.



While there were a few knocked poles, Bella got the hang of it pretty well. We started by laying the pole across the base of the jump, then moved it up to the lowest notch, and then the second lowest notch. There was still some pilot error causing a few mishaps, but Bella was very proud of herself. She could hardly stand still and wanted to canter around the arena to go again.

So I’ll be back out there in my Saddle Seat saddle on my retired Saddlebred trying to fix the details. We still need to work on our leads while going over poles or a jump, but I’m thrilled to still be learning with my favorite horse, and thankful Bella makes me work to figure things out with her (although she’s probably already a few steps ahead).


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Monday, February 20, 2017

Five Reasons Why We Love Our Mares

There are two types of people in the horse world: Normal people and mare people. Normal people avoid the craziness and will usually prefer a gelding for a nice ride. On the other hand, mare people never know what kind of day they will have when they show up to the barn.

However, here are five reasons why us mare people love our horses anyway.

1.) Mares have a lot of personality.

And by personality, I mean you never know if they want to cuddle or bite your ear off. Especially beware the chestnut mares (my absolute favorite).

Good thing there was a gate between us!


2.) They like to show off.

Well, they like to show off how they’re the boss. Haven’t you heard, “Tell a gelding, discuss with a stallion, ask a mare?”

Sometimes Bella "forgets" what guiding is, but she
knew the right spots to make a good pass
in front of the judge. 


3.) They keep you on your toes.

Why ride a trusty gelding when you can never guess what kind of ride you’ll have on a mare? Let’s throw predictability out the window! Will she step over the small stream of water while trail riding or will she jump it (she'll probably jump it)?

Oh look, another day where I can't catch Bella. And yes, she
wears a muzzle because she likes to tear the fence down.


4.) They teach you how to appreciate something.

When you have a near perfect ride, or your mare allows you to teach them something new, you really appreciate it after all the temper tantrums. Learning a new task is something you must work for, and it also highlights how important trust between horse and rider is.

After Bella could look at the obstacle and smell it,
it was no big deal to follow me over it.


5.) Forming a relationship with a mare is one of the most special bonds you will ever have.

Mares may not always be the sweetest or the most predictable (mine would rather run herself in the ground than let me catch her), but when you have those special affectionate moments together, you remember why mares are the most rewarding.

At the end of it all, Bella will always be my
heart horse.




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