I sat yesterday reading Sinead Halpin’s latest Chronicle blog and was quite impressed and inspired by what she wrote. My heart broke for her when I found out a few days ago that she lost her dad suddenly. I can't imagine what she's going through. The timing of reading that and then her dad passing is just devastating.
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| Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda, aka "Ping," on their way to winning the inaugural Land Rover Great Meadow CIC***. |
I know it's been quite a while since I've blogged, and to be honest there are so many things I'd like to share with you all that it's a little bit overwhelming to think about where to start.
It's hard to say what the most special part of a memory is when every part of it is something you’ll remember for forever... And it's great when it's one that memory is a good one, but with horses and life there are a fair few that are the other variety... The not-so-good ones. They say you need to experience those bad ones to appreciate the good, and I would say from my personal experience thus far in life that that statement is true.
I was lucky, at a young age, to get a job working under show jumper Susie Hutchison, a woman who had a profound effect on my riding career and life.
I remember going to work for her at Indio, Thermal, Showpark and a lot of other venues in Southern California. I very honestly was completely out of my depth and at first quite overwhelmed by the experiences, but I grew to love the scene of it all and truly enjoyed jumping the young horses for her.
Well, the season has come to its end, and everyone is writing about the year they’ve had in Eventingland. This time last year I was on Cloud 9 after the season that Cambalda had!
Even though there were more lows thrown into the mix this year, there’s been a lot more growth for me this season. With the addition of Arianna and Jackie to the team, life has become so much less stressful for me, and I know my horses are in tip-top shape. They give me so much more time to focus on the riding and teaching now that I really trust that they know the program and my horses.
Well, a lot has happened since I wrote my last blog! The end of the season is fast approaching, and there have been some exciting happenings at TPF and for the Brannigan eventing team.
One of the most exciting things is the addition of No Objection to my upper level line-up, and I’m thrilled to have the ride on this amazing horse. Nina and Tim Gardner, who are the most amazing supporters, are the proud new owners of “Ben” (AKA No Objection), and I was thrilled when he ended on his dressage score at Chattahoochee Hills to come third in the CCI** there.
Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive in the loss of my grandfather. All the kind words really mean a lot to me, and I am so lucky to have so many amazing people that have been so supportive.
Though it was good to go home and see my family and friends (who are like family to me), it was nice to come back home and get back into the swing of the program at TPF— that’s really what makes me feel the best.
I seem to find myself in front of a computer when something upsets me, and I’ve found that writing this blog has, ironically, helped me through some highs and lows. So today I just wanted to take a moment to write about a person who has been an amazing role model in my life. To be honest with you, without his support, I surely wouldn’t have the riding career on which I have started to embark.
Well, it was an interesting weekend at the Plantation Field Horse Trials in our hometown of Unionville, Pa. I had a down but also had some good ups as well.
I took an unfortunate fall in the preliminary division on a young horse doing his first event at that level. The coffin caught us out when I was trying to ride him pretty aggressively to get the job done.
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