64 SIDELINES JULY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Kathy and Capri jumping … gulp!
Photo courtesy of Kathy Serio
e
“Good luck.
Have fun.
Be careful”?!
By Kathy Serio
I
’ve been an amateur rider on the East Coast for many
decades now, and over the years, while setting jumps for
my trainers and barn mates, I’ve accumulated numerous
“amateurisms”— things heard from the mouths of amateurs at
the schooling ring, the in-gate and even during lessons. Equally
funny at times — so long as said “amateur” doesn’t take things too
seriously — are responses from their professional trainer to these
“amateurisms,” and also the dialog in general between trainer and
amateur.
I’ve had so many good times at the in-gate with my trainers;
however, some moments truly stand out far above the rest. I’m not
a nervous rider, and I do like to joke around a lot, so there’s often
needling while learning — not the technique a trainer is going to
use with all of their clients, but it always seems to work for me. We
all look to our trainers for many different things: to be role models,
to provide stress relief, to provide instruction, and for me, often,
to provide comic relief. Riding is and always needs to be fun for
me. If it isn’t fun, why would I even bother? I try to keep that all in
perspective: We aren’t saving lives; we aren’t inventing the wheel;
we aren’t creating cures for cancer. This should be F.U.N.
One of the funnier in-gate memories I have from horse showing
happened in the late 1990s at the Kentucky Horse Park. I was
just moving my young mare, Capri, up to the A/O jumpers and I
was riding at the August shows, with my trainer, with whom I had
a very funny and sarcastic relationship. The show was packed,
and my mom had come with me to watch. The course walk was
scheduled for 1 p.m. up on the hill in the old Grand Prix Stadium
ring, which was newer at the time.
Since mom was visiting and we had some free time, we decided
to attend the China Horse Exhibit offered at the park. At this time,
cell phones weren’t the best, although I happened to have one. It
rang as we were walking through the incredible exhibit, learning
about the underground army of horses and warriors that were
unearthed in China. It was fascinating, although short-lived.
Cell phone:
Ring, ring, ring.
Me:
Hello?
Trainer:
“OMG,
where are you?
I’ve been calling you. They
moved the course walk to … well, (giggling) to
now
and (laughing
harder) your class starts in 10 minutes!
Me:
Whoa … we’re at the China Horse Exhibit, no cell service
in the building … are you kidding me?
Trainer:
Wrap it up sister; this could get ugly. It’s your first A/O
course, you’re not getting much of a course walk, and you’re on in
15 minutes — and your mom is here to witness it!
Me:
Oh, Geez. Hello, Captain Obvious, you are
so
not helping…
So in a mild panic, we ran to the arena, where said course walk
was already
over.
Neither my trainer nor I made it on time. Mind
you, this course was
huge
, for A/O standards; it was Kentucky
after all, and it was our first outing in the A/Os. The exact same
jumps were going to be jumped in the Grand Prix later that day —
spooky, spooky, jumps, and the venue was
ginormous
! My trainer
and I
both
started to get a little nervous as we walked the course
from
outside
the ring, because the first horse was already trotting
into the arena. It was the funniest course walk we ever had — we
were laughing almost uncontrollably by the end; we were pathetic.
Trainer:
Ok, jump one – straight forward, easy, then a nice
three bending strides to the
very scary
Cherokee Indian Head
Man with Feather Headdress jump. (gulp)
Me:
Easy, peasy … (gulp) and we’re only at jump one.
Trainer: Jump two,
scary
, Cherokee Indian Head Man with
Feather Headdress jump, to a bending four strides to the
freaky
big
Butterfly Square ginormous oxer …
Me:
Um, ok … stop it, you’re ramping up, knock it off!
Trainer:
Jump three … (uncontrollable giggling) ha, ha, ha,
if
you get that far, four bending strides to a four-board PVC paddock
Continued on page 66
