When I was eight years old, I asked Mom for a palomino pony, and she told me that we would be lucky to find a pony of any color that was in our price range that was also suitable for children. But fate has a funny way of working out and two weeks into our search my mom got a call from my aunt who told us she found an ad in the local newspaper that we may be interested in. The ad read, "Palomino Pony, Bombproof, $500, Malta, IL." The next day we were headed to Malta! When we pulled up, we saw an old, shaggy-coated, palomino pony standing in a dirt field. He was 14 years old, 13.1 hands, foundered, and hyperthyroid. Mom asked the girl to perform one "test" and that was to gallop him to the end of the driveway and walk back with a loop in the reins. He executed this perfectly, I was in love, and mom wrote a check.
     I learned everything on that pony. I trail rode him everywhere. If I said go, he always went. He trusted me with his life. I would crank my stirrups up very shortly to pretend I was a jockey in the Kentucky Derby, and we would race across the countryside! We did 4-H where we excelled at every class, many times beating the fancy show horses! When I was nine, I discovered pony club. Buddy and I were amazing at gymkhana! Buddy had never been ridden english or jumped before I got him but he took to it like a fish to water. He helped me accomplish my D-1 and D-2 pony club ratings. We also played around with equitation and hunters, and we won and placed at NIHJA shows. My fondest memory of Buddy is when we competed in our first and only mini event and won the Barrington Mini Event at Beginner Novice in 1999. When I outgrew Buddy, we sold him to a great home with my dear friends, Tina and Rachel Redman. Rachel had had quite naughty ponies and had lost confidence in riding (she was only 8 years old). Buddy quickly restored that by proving himself as the best pony ever!! 
      All great things end at some point and Buddy passed away into a new life due to complications with diabetes and cancer in 2001. His body is buried under two big pine trees on my parents' farm. He truly was the the best pony in the world and my best friend. May your soul live on Buddy Holly.

      When I turned 11, my parents and I knew that it was time to look for my next pony, as Buddy was quickly getting outgrown. My trainer at the time, Cathy Jones-Forsberg, found a 15.0 hand Paint for me to try. His name was Scout, and he was to be my new pony. Scout had evented Novice in Iowa (although I do not think there were too many eventing opportunities in Iowa in 1999)! What we didn't know is that Scout had quite a significant trust issue, and this caused him to be afraid of many things including:  jumps, paper, and RIBBONS!! We never did get to do a victory gallop carrying a ribbon. I loved Scout though. He was a couch to sit on, and his dressage was lovely. He was fun to jump when he did, in fact, jump. What was not fun was him sending me into standards or the middle of oxers or on top of logs. This happened too many times to count! Another thing Scout enjoyed was winning the dressage at events and jumping around the whole cross country course cleanly minus the refusal at the last jump!!! He did this to me only twice before I learned how to ride!!
      He was a great pony for me. We successfully competed at Beginner Novice and Novice, and he taught me determination. I outgrew Scout's abilities in 2001, and he was sold to a lovely home in Wisconsin in 2002. He is still with them today, and they have given him the most fantastic home for life.

      "Cricket" was made of the right mix of elegance and durability. She came into my life when I was 13 years old. Her young rider owner, Nicole Chiampas,  graciously took a largely deducted price for her since she wanted Cricket to have a great home. I will always be thankful for Nicole's generosity. Without it, I would have never been able to have such a wonderful horse!
       Cricket took me from the kid that scrapped around Novice on her little, naughty pony to a very finessed, knowledgeable rider. We competed from Novice to CCI* level, including winning the Bronze Medal Award for 3 top 5 finishes at Preliminary in 2003 and being on the Area 4 North American Young Riders Team (NAYRC) in 2004 (www.youngriders.org).  Cricket and I won a ribbon at just about every show. She was difficult on the flat when I first got her but, through a lot of patience and classical training, her dressage got fantastic. In fact it got so great that she got a 25.5 at Training Level (average score for her was always in the 40's) and also had the lowest dressage score of our team at the CCI* at NAYRC in 2004! She was all heart cross country, she absolutely loved her job, and she took excellent care of me!
      She was the horse to show me how much I love eventing. Cricket was 17 years old when she did the CCI* at NAYRC. She was also the fastest recovering horse of the day, and the vets could not believe she was 17 (thank you Eric Dierks for your conditioning program)!! I had plans to run her Intermediate later that year or in 2005 but I reconsidered asking so much of her. Instead I sold her to an adult amateur man who she carted around Novice. In February of 2006, I got the devastating news that Cricket had been in a freak pasture accident. She fractured her skull and had neurological damage. Choosing the best option, her owner had her put down out of her misery. I miss Cricket every day. She was truly the most beautiful horse I have ever seen. Your soul lives on my darling mare. You will always be remembered.
**Dressage test from Young Riders CCI* in 2004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM8Ns93XFWQ
**Show Jump and Cross Country Prelim at Champagne Run 2004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwZStbb4SIQ

     Chivas came into my life when I was 14 years old. He was an almost 4 year old unbroken Appendix Quarter Horse in Oklahoma, and Mom and I drove there because he was pretty!!  We were looking for something that would be a good horse (meaning sane and forgiving) for me to train from scratch. He definitely fit that bill, and we bought him!
     Chivas is hands down the most challenging horse I have ever trained. He had no natural rhythm and jumped with his legs hanging. I was told by plenty of people that he would never amount to anything but I perservered because I know that horses can be developed to be better than how they were born. I taught him how to jump using Jimmy Wofford's Gymnastics book. I don't have a single picture of him with hanging legs because of that book. In fact, he turned into a fantastically photogenic horse!! Over time, his rhythm established while he learned self-carriage. He moves more like a big pony than a horse but I made the most of it. He got 7's and 8's on his dressage lengthenings consistently because he has so much power to his movement; he just doesn't have the long step to match it! 
      He was in my life while I grew up and learned; as I learned new things, he was my guinea pig!! He is an extremely forgiving horse because he always dealt with me changing how I rode him every 6 months!! He competed through Preliminary, and he won or placed at just about every show he entered. He helped me earn Area 4 Training Level Reserve Champion Rider of the Year in 2004, and he won 5th place Area 4 Training Level Horse of the Year that same year. He is full of personality (a.k.a. Curious George) and can be quite cheeky at times, but he is a good soul that loves cookies and having a job. 
     I sold Chivas to the most fantastic home I could have ever hoped for in the Greenville, South Carolina area, and he is in love with his new 11 year old girl that treats him like the spoiled prince he really is!! They are currently competing in Pony Club rallies, and they will soon be competing at USEA recognized Horse Trials. I can't wait to watch them win!!
**Cross country video of Chivas's first Preliminary in 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8mQVX33xcs
**Show Jump Preliminary at Richland Park in 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxJXqMaM9LU

      Never in my wildest dreams did I EVER think I could buy myself a horse that had gone Advanced. Was she a nightmare at dressage? Yes. Did she have a stop in her in the show jump ring? At times. Was she the fastest, strongest, most unturnable horse I have ever ridden cross country? Most definitely yes. But did I love her? Yes!!
      "Red" came into my life in April of 2006. I was not really looking to buy another horse. I had Chivas, and I wanted to sell him and buy a youngster after that. But I found her ad in the USEA Classifieds and pursued purchasing her. She was old, not very sound, extremely hard to ride, and a little crazy. But she was an athlete. I made the owner a ridiculously low offer because it was all I had. Luckily, her owner accepted, and I had myself an upper level cross country machine! I was very ambitious and fearless (maybe even foolish) when I got Red. I took her Prelim twice, and then I gave Intermediate a go for the very first time in my career. We had a wonderful cross country round going clear but unfortunately she tied up after cross country, and I decided to withdraw her. I did a few more Intermediates on her in 2006, and I took her with me while I worked for David and Lauren O'Brien in North Carolina. While training with David and Lauren, we were ultimately aiming to compete at the Jersey Fresh CCI** in 2007. Lauren helped me with Red the most because she really respected how hard Red tried. The two of us improved significantly, especially our dressage. I was very much excited about the prospect of a spring CCI** on my mare.  
      Unfortunately, after battling many soundness issues, Red's body finally gave way, and her soundness was no longer maintainable for competition (Or so I thought at the time. If only I knew what I now know. I believe she would have gone for at least 2 more years if I could have known about ancient healing modalities). She was retired just a month shy of Jersey Fresh. She lived out her retired years at the farm until she passed away due to leukemia in April of 2010. Red gave me confidence and patience. She was a great horse, and I feel lucky to have owned such a determined "fire-breathing dragon!" Your soul lives on Red Ted. You are missed.
      "Hell hath no fury like a chestnut Thoroughbred mare!"
**Cross Country at Maui Jim Intermediate 2006 (my first time): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCPLPRTJt5g
**Cross Country at Pine Top Intermediate 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oUnqQ4aO_A

DeNiro is the most special horse that has ever come into my life. He changed my life forever, and I am eternally grateful for him and eveything he has shown me. He will be mine until he goes to Heaven. He was another case where I was not looking for a horse (funny how I never am but they always fall into my lap!). I was bored one day and browsing through the Pony Club Classifieds, and there he was: a young, black beauty that had gone Training Level twice. I had no money but I called anyway, and I asked if he was available for a free lease. His owner, Lindsay, is such a gracious person, and she worked with me to make it possible to free lease DeNiro!!
     When I went to try DeNiro, Lindsay informed me that he had a healing splint bone fracture. This meant that I could only try him out lightly with no jumping. Well after a few weeks of riding him here and there, I knew that, despite his rather sensitive nature and greenness, I had to have him!! All winter long, I worked on DeNiro's flatwork. He was such a different ride for me than all my previous horses. He panicked a lot and threw his head in the air when he was asked to do different movements. I tried all sorts of bits. I worked with a few different trainers. They would get on him, and they would fight with him. When the time came to finally be able to jump him for the first time, it went so badly that I was in tears, and I thought I should just give up on him sooner rather than later. He ran through the little jumps with his head straight in the air, back stiff, and eyes panicked. But something told me not to give up on him. Something told me he was special, and he needed me to show him how to be that horse.
     We competed Training Level all summer. He was a freak of nature cross country, a complete machine that loved his job. I moved him up to Prelim after just 4 Training Levels with me. His first Preliminary was at Wayne DuPage HT in August 2008. Annie Logan, my amazing vet who is a chiropractor/accupuncturist, worked on DeNiro for the first time ever the night before dressage. At the time, this was a bad idea. DeNiro apparently had some major anatomical issues going on, and he was so sore the next day for dressage that he could hardly canter in his test. I didn't know if I should run him cross country but it wasn't until the next day, so I decided to warm up for it and make a decision. He felt different to me in warm-up, and, most of all, he felt great! He had some power to his hind end for once! Cross country at Wayne that August was truly the smoothest cross country course of my life. It was just a huge game to him. He was effortless around the course. To run around Prelim on a horse that makes it feel easy like he does is one of the best feelings in the world. In fact, it is the best feeling in the world. We concluded the fall with one more Preliminary around Midsouth Horse Trials in Kentucky, and he again made light of the monsterous course. I had found my dream horse!! 
     The next year, 2009, came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. DeNiro still had those body problems from 2008 hindering him and, to make matters worse, he crushed a small portion of his cannonbone free-jumping. My horse was to miss the 2009 show season, so I found ways to bring him back in 2010 better than ever. This led me to meeting Lisa Gaylord (www.horse-rx.com). Lisa is an equine massage therapist who is certified from Prairie Winds Equine College in Colorado (www.equinemassagecollege.com). Lisa changed my horses's life. Watching bodywork and energywork produce miraculous changes in DeNiro changed my life too. I knew I had to learn this work and help horses the rest of my life. We worked on DeNiro all spring, summer, and fall. Annie Logan, DVM, joined us in the summer, bringing her own gifts of chiropractic work and accupuncture to help DeNiro even more. In July of 2009, I found the most wonderful therapeutic farrier, Sheldon Olsen (www.triangleh.com), who topped off  Lisa's and Annie's work by giving my horse balanced hooves to stand on. By November of 2009, DeNiro was truly a new horse. He could do things he had not been able to do before. He was happy, confident, supple and sound for the first time in many years. 
    I made plans to winter in Aiken, South Carolina for the winter of 2010. I was quite a lucky girl to be able to take that semester off from college and go pursue my dreams with my wonderful horse. I trained diligently with the most fabulous trainer, Kadi Eykamp (www.kadieykamp.com). I learned more from Kadi in 4 months than I had from everyone else I had ridden with over the years. She taught me how to train a horse, not just ride it. DeNiro and I started having low dressage scores and no rails in show jumping. In fact my last show with DeNiro at Preliminary involved a first place finish after dressage and a double clear show jumping round. Unfortunately I rode poorly to a skinny on XC and had 1 run-out but I was so proud of my DeNiro. That show was to be the last show for DeNiro and I for a long while. All the trauma his body had gone through in his earlier years caught up with him without my team of Annie, Lisa, and Sheldon to keep him at his best. I found out that a particular trauma to his deep digital flexor tendon had deteriorated his navicular bone, meaning that his tendon had been injured for YEARS, and his tension, resistance and "crazy, psycho attitude" before Lisa came into his life were because of this issue going unaddressed. This is when I made the final decision to do this work myself. I would never be unable to help a horse in need ever again.  I love you, DeNiro, and I owe my newfound passion in life to you.    
**DeNiro is currently making a comeback to the sport he is so very good at!! Look for him competing in the fall of 2012!!**

I was not going to buy another horse after I sold Chivas. I had DeNiro, and I was finally going to make things a little easier for myself financially with only one horse. But who can resist a horse that gives kisses like Norman (aka Mr. Jean) does?! While this fact is indeed very true, the other reasons I decided that I needed to buy Norman were because of his absolutely fabulous jump and that I just knew he was suppose to be my next horse. I had a connection with him. He needed me, and I needed him. That was enough for me to hand over the cash! 
     Norman came to me in March of 2010. He had done the jumpers previously. What I heard about him was that he was relatively mean and bucked a lot. Well, of course I like horses with "issues," so I went to check him out. He held his back so still as I rode him around, but I sat quiet as a mouse up there teaching him that he could trust me and relax into my soft spine. He felt symmetrical enough to me that I knew I could help him with the stiffness in his spine, and he went around for me very willingly. I wanted to show him compassion after he had had years of being a "machine." Norman has made great strides with me.