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46 SIDELINES JULY 2011 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE S I D E L I N E S J R

Juniorside

The Duality of Horses

Petey looks proud of himself after a successful day of showing in the equitation ring

Photo by Samantha Goldstein

By Lauren Corey

I am feeling lost without the responsibility of managing my school’s IEA team. As the school year comes to a close, it is time to make plans for the summer. The IEA season is also finished, leaving me with much more free time, but that is not always my favorite thing. The school year ending means that I can finally start competing at “A” rated shows. My mom wouldn’t let me show at all during my junior year in an effort to help me keep my grades up, but that may have been a good thing since Petey is not at his best during the winter. Despite how frustrating it was to watch all of my friends go to the shows, I can really appreciate that I finally get my turn, hopefully with a better-behaved horse.

My grandparents are taking my whole family to Africa for a couple weeks in July, which unfortunately inhibits the amount of shows I can do. But of course, no trip would be complete without doing something horse related. I have spent the last few weeks digging around websites trying to find the perfect place to explore Africa by horseback, preferably at a pace faster than the walk…Most of the places I found only offer trail rides with no trotting or cantering allowed. It is a particular challenge to find a place that will allow both me and my less experienced family members to have a good time as well as stay safe.

The Return of Summer Petey!

At long last we are getting a few glimpses of the nice California weather and “summer Petey” is much better behaved. My “winter Petey” seems impossible to control sometimes, especially if another horse is throwing a fit. Since we managed to survive the winter, I can finally enjoy jumping our courses at a more relaxed pace instead of galloping around like a two-year-old with too much sugar. I can’t wait until our first show. Petey absolutely loves the jumpers, but I like to drag him into the equitation ring for a couple of classes to do what I am best at. However, before we get to show, we still have quite a bit of work left to do. After an eventful winter full of galloping, bucking, and spooking, we both need to adjust to Petey being quiet and actually listening to me when I ask for a shorter distance. I keep expecting him to run toward the jump and land at a gallop, so it is hard for me not to snatch at his mouth when I point him at the jump. As soon as Petey feels me tense up in anticipation, he stiffens his neck, making an awkward jump. I need to start trusting him to find the right distance without being too aggressive. Once Petey and I figure this out again, we can look forward to a successful summer in the show ring.

Community Service?

Since this is my last summer before starting college, I should fill my time doing something that college

admissions people will respect. While I was doing online research, the perfect solution appeared in my e-mail inbox one day. I opened the weekly schedule for the Stanford Red Barn and there it was - they were looking for working students over the summer!

Normally barns offer training to the working students, but unfortunately the Red Barn does not have enough resources for this, so instead I will get community service hours. I emailed the organizer back and she was more than happy to have the help, so that is one less thing I have to worry about. I will get to do things like tack up the lesson horses, give them baths and feed, all of the basic horse owner activities that I don’t usually have time to do during the school year. I will relish the extra time around horses while still continuing my training with my show barn.