This is me at age 8 on Patch.  I learned to canter and jump on him.

 So this isn’t the most recent photo of me and my boy by any means, but it will always be one of my favorites.

I am thankful for my wonderful horse Corey who has taught as much as I’ve taught him over the last 4.5 years.  Though he started out green, we’ve both learned a lot over the years and I owe him for being the rider that I’ve become.  I’ve learned more about how to train a green horse than any trainer could ever teach me. It’s been a learning process for the both of us, but I can proudly say that we’ve accomplished a lot together.  He’s my best friend and he’s always been there as a shoulder to cry on whenever I need it.

I am thankful for my trainer, Kelly Bates, for helping me through all of the struggles Corey and I have faced over the years.  When we moved to her 3.5 years ago, we had been ditched by our old trainer who moved to Florida without warning.  When the assistant who was still in town threatened my horse, who he was already afraid of, she moved up the date she was supposed to pick him to the next morning.  We were a mess when she got us after all the nonsense we endured with our old trainer, but she never gave up on us and spent a lot of one-on-one time working with me to help fix my horse who loved life who no longer wanted anything to do with jumping after some horrible experiences.   Not only has she helped me make Corey the horse that he’s become, she’s been incredibly supportive of my riding career.  She has given me opportunities to work with her sale horses and her projects that none of my previous trainers ever thought of giving the kid whose parents couldn’t afford to give me the fanciest horses or pay to show every weekend.

I am thankful for my barn friends.  When I first came to my current barn, they were all very welcoming.  It was a bit intimidating, being the new kid and everyone knew my name and stayed around to watch my first lesson, but now they are family. Coming from a barn where I felt like an outsider to the girls who had owned their horses for years when I had just been a lesson kid, this was a welcome change.  While we are all very competitive against one another, we are always super supportive of each and every rider at the barn.  If I don’t win, one of my barn-mates better be the person with the ribbon above mine.   We congratulate one another on good rounds, we dust each other off after falls.

I am thankful for my parents, who have stuck by me all these years, even with all the complaining I get every time they see a bill.  I am thankful for JMR for the experiences it’s given me. For the relationships with the judges and members alike that I would’ve otherwise never had the opportunity to meet.  I am thankful for all the old trainers I’ve had, the good and the bad.  Each one helped get me to this point.  I am thankful for all the horses I’ve ridden over the years. From the ones at the fair, to the ones at camp, to the crazy draws I’ve gotten at IEA, to my lease Santana, who I could never forget, to the horses I currently have the pleasure of riding, to the ones that I will ride in the future.  Each and every one has something special to teach me and I remember fondly the ones that have past and look forward to the ones to come.

This is one of my favorite projects, I’ve been working with him a long time to get him this far and I’m proud of him.  I’m aware of the fast that my hands are too low.  It is one of my bad habits.