Ride Times for August 29-30 Michael Barisone Clinic
WEDNESDAY
2 Jodie Harney & Sullivan, 6 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Surprice, First Level
2:45 Lauren Sprieser & Gretzky RV, 7 yr KWPN Gelding by Johnson, Third Level
3:30 Hannah McSween & Montesol, 13 yr Lusitano Gelding, Intermediate I
4:15 Break
4:30 Barbara Burk & De L’Amour, 12 yr Oldenburg Mare by Diamonit, First Level
5:15 Julia McElligott & Finley Nord, 8 yr Danish Gelding by Furst Rosseau, Third Level
6 Jean Loonam & Red Hot Chili Pepper, 11 yr Hanoverian Gelding, Third Level
6:45 Nancy Sulek & Range Rover LGF, 11 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Ruffian, Fourth Level
THURSDAY
6 Nancy Sulek & Range Rover LGF, 11 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Ruffian, Fourth Level
6:45 Lauren Sprieser & Gretzky RV, 7 yr KWPN Gelding by Johnson, Third Level
7:30 Jean Loonam & Red Hot Chili Pepper, 11 yr Hanoverian Gelding, Third Level
8:15 Anna Cramer & Dan De Lion, 5 yr Oldenburg Gelding, First Level
9 Break
9:15 Jodie Harney & Sullivan, 6 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Surprice, First Level
10 Barbara Burk & De L’Amour, 12 yr Oldenburg Mare by Diamonit, First Level
10:45 Becky Lee & Preacher, 3 yr Hanoverian Gelding by Rosenthal, Training Level
11:30 Marlene McGrath & Prince of Hearts, 4 yr Appaloosa Cross Gelding, Training Level
He was coming 4, big and slow and goofy. I brought him an apple from my hotel, and it took him about 20 minutes to eat it, turning it into mush in my hand. He had a huge tail and big eyes and was sweet as can be. I brought him home, got him in front of my leg and taking my hand, and he proceeded to be the most angry, hostile and fractious young man I’ve ever owned from 4.5 to 9, when he realized that if he just shut up and accepted his lot in life, he’d get a lot more cookies and work a lot less hard. But it took so, SO many hours of running backwards, gnashing his teeth and pinning his ears.
There have been so many. A working student’s horse on whom I made it about 20 feet. A homebred 3-year-old on whom I made it half a 20-meter circle. The time my OTTB dropped me into a wall, and I broke my collarbone (though I got back on AND went to school for a few days before seeing a doctor. Ain’t nobody got time for that.) My Young Riders horse, L’Etoile, put me in the dirt recreationally, at least three times in our two-year partnership. Danny’s a repeat offender as well, and once I bit it off Midge while swimming in the pond, learning a valuable lesson that falling off IN the pond is painless, but falling off on the BANK of the pond gets you three days of Vicodin.
So you came in eighth or 12th or 24th. You made mistakes, or you got in the ring and panicked, or you got cocky or you just got straight up outhorsed. Or maybe you didn’t score high enough in qualifying to get named to a team. Maybe your horse got hurt or sick or the money to travel across the country was too great. Maybe you don’t even have access to a horse to teach you that level of work at all.