The Bumpy Road To My Bronze

If I am unable to express my gratitude otherwise, all I can say is that this is only the beginning. My sincere gratitude goes to the horse that transformed what seemed to be all of my impossible hopes and dreams into not only reality, but made them seem so miniscule now that I have bigger, better goals in mind. Regarding my bronze medal, I earned all of my first level scores on a “made horse,” Zoe & I could not be more grateful to her for creating me as a rider. I then earned one of my second level scores on Barbara Wozniaks, Seven, who is also a somewhat “Made horse” & what a blast he is. After I got my first level scores and my one second level score, it was the end of 2019 & I was 12 years old, I had just acquired Auggie, who was going to be my FEI Juniors horse and hopefully eventually become my young rider's horse with the thought of the European tour in mind for the far far future. I was so ecstatic to welcome Auggie into the family. I had created a timeline for myself which included so many big goals but one of which entailed me earning my final scores toward my bronze medal on Auggie in 2020. Just like the rest of the world, 2020 did not go to plan by any means. In March, Auggie completely tore one of his suspensories. He didn't have a typical rehab. I will not go into detail, but it was a continuous struggle and he is just now, as of 2 months ago, starting back into full work. So, obviously, all of my dreams were put on pause for the foreseeable future. It took a massive toll on me as a rider and as a person, however, I changed my entire perspective on life because of it & I knew I would always put Auggie before any of my dreams. Unfortunately, his rehab just kept getting longer and longer and longer.

At the end of 2020, a lesson family in my barn purchased their first horse. By the winter of 2020, they were having quite a hard time getting the horse to simply ‘go.’ So, I started riding the horse 1-3 times a week just exercising it. I always had a complete blast riding him, but quite honestly, at the time, it was most likely because I was going through major riding withdrawal. I continued to find & put buttons onto this horse as he progressed. I vividly remember being straight up AMAZED that this horse who would not move for me originally, was starting to do shoulder in. Fast forward, I rode him once a week through the summer of 2021 and he kept progressing. Then, for random reasons, I did not ride him from September through January of 2022. I started him back up once a week in February. In March, I opened up another level of him that absolutely no one knew about. He put his heart into each ride and I could just feel it. His talent was overflowing, but he put his everything into anything I asked of him.

The greatest decision I ever made was proposing the idea of competing him with his owner. They so kindly said yes. In May, we made our debut at FEI Juniors and epically failed, score-wise, but I came out of the ring sobbing because I had never had the opportunity to show off the work that I put in in such a motivating way. This horse had worked harder every day for me. Fast forward again, It is now the first day of September and I have successfully qualified him at 3rd level and the FEI Junior team for regional championships. This weekend I took him out and got my final score at second level to earn my USDF Bronze medal.

For many, this is the end goal & this was my end all be-all goal, and now, I truly think to myself, this is only the beginning.

To the Moody Family & to Jack, I wish I could begin to explain the gratitude my heart holds for you. You have let me expand into the rider I am. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

This is only the beginning.