I recently attended my good friend Lynn Symansky’s wedding in November. I was lying on the beach in St. Croix listening to Hannah Sue Burnett tell a funny story to Jennie Brannigan. Lillian Heard and Ryan Wood had just walked back up to the house and Danny Symansky, Lynn Symansky’s brother, and my husband [Tik Maynard] were swimming in the ocean.
The whole drive I had been chugging Red Bull and giving myself pep talks about developing a thicker skin while anxiously surfing my XM radio. A few weeks earlier I had been having some conversations with peers about our need to cross-country school more often and in more “uncomfortable” situations. It’s pretty easy to set everything up to go according to plan while schooling, and often that is important, but if you’re looking to sharpen your instincts for a championship competition there’s only so much trotting back and forth over a ditch that’s going to help you.
I was in a field in Germany cursing myself for the wrong choice of shoes because the ground was very, very damp when I was introduced to a well known German eventer from times past. The greeting smile had not left her face when in perfect English she said, “I was there at fence 5 in France.”
I froze. She continued, “He was a bit fresh and in my opinion a bit fast.”
I honestly have been trying to write this blog for a few days and it seems every time I try, I have a mixture of emotions that I struggle to put into words. It seems crazy that last week I was in France representing my country at the World Championships. The result—not optimal, and the experience I am still digesting.
I was paired with the five best teammates I could imagine, a phenomenal coach and a horse-of-a-lifetime, seemed a recipe for success. But a comment made by veteran teammate Phillip Dutton stood out in my head at a pre-game chat.
I assume the position: fully dressed for cross-country, sitting on the tack trunk, striking my crop at the grass, adjusting my helmet, fidgeting with my watch and eventually settling into a deep stare at nothing in particular.
Sarah, my working student, asks if I’m all right. She’s not yet been to a competition with me where I’m heading out over an advanced track, and she’s confused by my lack of normal confidence and chatter.
I’ve timed it perfectly. I can get down to watch Michael Pollard’s dressage test in the riders’ tent at stabling and give myself exactly 25 minutes to get ready for my own dressage test. I already have my top hat and tails ready, and my breeches and shirt are in my bag, which is next to my spurs and boots.
I am literally congratulating myself on being so organized!
Well, we’ve been here a week, and I have to say it’s gone by so slowly and so quickly at the same time! Megan and I were driving home yesterday from Hartpury Horse Trials, and I turned down a horrible song on Radio 1 and asked, “Did we just do a three-star this weekend?” And she said, “Yup, actually this morning.”
That’s one of the cool things about England—an hour down the road you can run a three-star with William Fox-Pitt, Andrew Nicholson, Bettina Hoy, Mark Todd, and a few Americans you know as well, and be home in time for an early dinner!
Tate and Megan have begun their adventure to the U.K., and I am sitting here (while I should be packing!) thinking that in exactly 30 days, whatever is going to happen in Europe will have happened. Time is a funny thing, in that I feel like it was just a few minutes ago when I was writing a blog about entering Rolex, and now here I am about to spend the next month in England preparing for the Land Rover Burghley CCI****.
When I got the call about going to the Olympic Test event I had mixed feelings. My first thought, on a selfish level, was excitement. I certainly was dying to see the venue. But my next thought was, “Is that the best use of USET dollars?” I know we need information about the venue as far as terrain and logistics, but isn’t this why we have our coaches, directors and managers go to the event?
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