Confusion

I have to admit I am always a little slow and behind the times. Only tonite ,April 14,2011 days before tax time have I had time to sit still and watch the DVD from the world games at Kentucky last September.

I have no doubts that I have learned the most about riding from watching old tapes and videos. One can watch them over and over and each time one sees more and more. Years ago,Sally Cousins had the most incredible collection of old Badminton tapes at her place in Pa. I would creep over there through horrible ice and snow and devour those tapes over and over and over.Each time,something would seep into our blood and indirectly tell us how to make our bodies react when the spring thaw would allow us to actually jump. Those were the days before everyone had the luxury of travelling south and riding all year long.....

Tonite was a new tape. A new group of incredible horses and riders at Kentucky.It boiled down to Ingrid Klimke,William Fox Pitt,Andrew Nicholson and the delicious Micheal Jung......Everyone was there. Karen,Pippa,Mary,,,,,Italy,France,Canada,,,,,,USA.....The world.It went well for some. Others had the most minute of problems.Some had career changing issues. That's horses.

I wonder if those people deal with some of the same things I deal with.Do they have financial worries? Do they worry every night about losing their farm and their house? Do people that live locally in their towns say things that are 1000 per cent untrue and out of character about them?I wonder. Do all those bad things go away with a world championship medal?

Today in my town I heard 2 incredible stories about this imaginary person that would stop Nora Roberts dead in her tracks.REALLY?DID YOU REALLY JUST SAY THAT???????How does this happen?The riders I know have no time for such things to be true....The riders I know have no time for anything except staying focused and productive.I cannot understand some of the things that I hear and experience.....

OK. Eventers are supposed to have hard skins and be able to hold the line. Is it easier when you have medals around your neck?What does it take to be left alone?Isn't being honest and true to yourself and your clients enough? Apparently not.Does a stop at the very last fence of a world championship course constitute a reason for a client not to pay? If one is famous do the people around you tell fewer stories and stay truer?I am not sure. I am confused.

Well she went clear but had time faults......That must mean she is no good. Or the horse wasn't good enough.OMG .....Are you kidding?The average normal human has no idea.......And the unaverage human that chooses to event as a lifestyle,,,well we know we are nuts. But we still need to make it all happen.......

For some people horses are their life' s blood.We do not want to lose them. We would do everything in our power to make it work out,just to stay with the horses.But to do that other humans are necessary.. Oh I have no concept as to what makes it run smoothly I promise.

Such are the ups and downs between competition.I can't wait to get back in the truck and drive to the next competition.Scary when one feels safer having to face the immobile jumps of a huge cross country course rather than the people in one's own town.The anxiety one experiences in the start box is nothing compared to facing the stories one hears in the local tack shop.Telephone poles do not lie.........Food for thought...