County

A saddle may arguably be the single most important investment one can make in their riding career. Saddles, like cars, are a combination of function, comfort, style and durability. Saddles, also like cars, can cost a small fortune, ESPECIALLY when you (rightfully) choose a brand of high quality and reputation. 

As far as saddles go, there are a zillion makes and models, styles, fits, etc. It is absolutely best to research and compare different ones. I am personally of the belief that the comfort of the horse is the most important factor in saddle shopping. The rider needs to be comfortable and secure, of course and able to hold correct position, but the horse's back is the most at risk. Thus, I always advise to find the best fit for the horse first and foremost and not worry too much if your comfort is a little compromised. 

before our County dreams came true

As far as saddles go, County Saddlery is a cut above most American brands, and are widely known for the benefits to both horse and rider. My coach, Brendan Curtis *USDF Gold Medalist* swears by this brand, and steers all his clients toward them when they are in need of a new one. He's told me that over the 20+ years of his riding career, he's tried many a saddle and he will always go to County first, as they have met every possible standard and never steered him wrong. 

As luck would have it, County Saddlery agreed to sponsor me with one of their saddles to aid me in trying to make the 2016 Paralympic Team. I was so pleasantly surprised when after I wrote to the company asking for a saddle, the president, Gene Freeze responded to me in the affirmative! I had been concerned about finding a way to purchase a saddle for my new gorgeous steed, Right Tyme, because with a horse of this caliber, you want to do every detail right. I knew I wanted a County, but wasn't going to be able to afford one anytime soon. So, on a whim, I reached out to the company through their website's "contact us" section, explained my intent, who I am, what my accomplishments are thus far, and where I am now, and went right ahead and asked for a saddle. It took very little time for Mr. Freeze to reply, and he was very complimentary and wonderfully helpful. 

Shortly thereafter, an appointment was set up for County rep Roxanne Bowman to come to Flintrock with demo saddles to try to fit my boy and me with a saddle. Lo and behold, we found a match! Our fitting was today, and Roxanne's first guess was the magic one. I's a 16.5" Perfection-my personal favorite of the brand's line, a medium tree, and it is gorgeous. it feels like it just sucks me into the horse's back and locks me in, and it's unbelievably comfortable. My handsome boy took the opportunity to act up a bit today, but nothing terrible, and I felt perfectly stable anyway! 

Just to put the icing on the cake, Roxanne threw in a gorgeous no-slip pad as an added gift. It sports the County logo so that I can show off my awesome sponsors at shows. They adjusted the flocking on sight to fit my boy, and once he muscles up and reaches his top fitness again, we will be unstoppable!! I am so honored, and so grateful to be backed by this proven and respected brand, and I will happily advocate to everyone who's looking for saddles! What a day (and MONTH) it's been. THANKS COUNTY SADDLERY!!!

The best of the best

Spooky Nook Sports

I don't dare talk back to these guys! (But I love them) 

Many people don't consider riding to be a real sport. It's understandable-after all, when riding well, it does appear that the rider is merely a passenger while the horse does all the work. However, in order to achieve an international level of riding, it takes an astronomical amount of strength, flexibility, "feel," quick reflexes, and utter control over your entire body. One must easily be able to isolate muscle groups while managing to think about a test or course etc, and aren't these components consistent with all other extreme sports? Herein, I feel, lies the issue with our sport-especially in America. Too many people consider riding something that any person can go do. This is where horses suffer at times. Imagine the discomfort a hose has to endure if a very larger person with minimal coordination or balance hops on and starts flapping about?
I strongly advocate a high level of fitness, and truly feel riding is a privilege and not a right. I don't wish to offend anyone, but I've seen too much of vastly overweight people pounding on a rose's back, and its painful to watch! Please, be kind enough to at least be in a healthy body weight range before attempting to gallop off into the sunset. * #endrant
In order to ride at a very competitive level, then, it makes sense that one must strive to have a superior level of fitness and all aforementioned attributes, no? It is ESPECIALLY important for para athletes to go the extra mile when not in the saddle. We have less to work with than our able bodied counterparts, and must maximize what we have! 
Which brings me to this massive news that I'm very proud of:
In Manheim, PA (about 8 miles from my apartment) is the largest indoor sports complex in North America. Spooky Nook Fitness is home of the USA women's Olympic field hockey team, and they are renowned as one of the very top programs for turning out professional level elite athletes in many sports, including NFL, MLB pro tennis, pro volleyball, track and field, pro soccer, and the list goes on. They have top trainers of strength/fitness/agility/speed, who customize workouts for athletes who are attempting to go pro. They also focus on young athletes, molding them for futures as stars in their chosen arena. 
I have a close friend who pointed me to 'The Nook' to try to gain them as a sponsor. I figured why not, and I went in and deposited my brochure with little hope of hearing back. I was promptly contacted by the head of sponsorship department who stated that though they could not offer me financial backing, they would like to offer me full sponsorship of their elite pro athlete training program. 
A better thing could not have fallen into my lap!
I started there about 3 weeks ago, and let me tell you: this is not for the faint of heart! It is so hard that I can't remember a day where some muscle group didn't hurt, and there have been a handful of days where I sincerely didn't know how I was going to physically be capable of walking out of the Nook after a workout. 
*Keep in mind, this level of activity is harder for me on the premise that half my body has been working at only 50% or less for the last 15 years!* I will outline what they make me do. The workout takes 2 hours and I am expected  5 days a week. Right off the bat I was asked if I wanted to be treated any differently (they already knew the answer) and I workout with about 7 guys gearing up for the NFL draft, one girl who is going for pro tennis, and a couple pro baseball guys, and I am absolutely expected to keep up. Here's what a typical day looks like:
10 min warmup at full speed on elliptical

shuffle runs: (60yds down and back, meaning 120yds total 4x)

walking: as fast as possible 120yds perfectly straight 3/4inch line, one foot directly in front of the other (4x)

over/unders: a ballet bar with 2 heights of bar (like a paddock fence) that i straddle the lower bar and have to squat to duck under the top bar (so going between) back and forth 3x16

single leg hamstring holds: like a reverse plank, I lie on my back with feet elevated on lower bar and one leg at a time i lift my body so it's a straight line angle off the floor. Each leg I have to hold for 45sec. x3.

glute raises: feet up with knees bent, I have to raise my hips high up while squeezing everything down the back side. 3x12

ab/aductor: lying on my side I have to do straight legs apart as high as possible (abductor) then cross the top leg with knee bent and lift the bottom leg up off the floor (adductor) and do both 3x12 on each side. 

abs: leg lifts 3x20 between 30sec bicycling hold(3x30sec)

firehydrants: On hands and knees I have to raise one leg at a time from the hip outward with knee bent like a dog peeing on a hydrant. 3x12 on both sides

kickbacks: on hands and knees I have to kick straight out backwards with heel going high as possible toward the ceiling. 3x12 each side

Birdogs: On hands and knees I have to raise the opposing arm and leg  straight out in front and behind at the same time like a hunting dog. 3x12-you cannot imagine how hard it is for me to balance on left arm!!! But now I can.:)

Sorry for the novel, but now you can see why I have been absolutely wiped out, because after all that, then I get to go ride! And then all I want to do is sleep! 
I can't say I love the butt-whooping, but I GRATLY appreciate it, and the noticeable progress keeps me going. I've cut off a whole half hour from the date that I began to today! That is something to be proud of. I'm positive I would not be able to ride Right Tyme if I didn't have this program in place. Lets just say I hibernate on the weekends! 

Proud to be sponsored by this world class facility

I Apologize for the Delay but....

...There is a very good explanation as to why I've been MIA for the past month. My fingers (and the rest of my body in it's entirety) have been too knackered to so much as type a sentence. And if that's the case how do you think my brain feels? No, no, no. It's just that I've only got 5 fingers to work with and they're responsible for absolutely everything, and sometimes they just can't go on. When I tell you why, you will understand.

Now, I've had three MASSIVE, COLOSSAL, ASTOUNDING things occur since  December 1st. It's going to take quite a bit of explaining for each, so I am going to detail each development separately. I shall start with the BIGGEST and most EXCITING, and follow with the others in the next couple days. 

1. I GOT A HORSE

2.I'm sponsored by Spooky Nook Sports

3. I'm sponsored by COUNTY SADDLERY (!!!!)


Ok. I will start with the obvious biggest piece-my new horse. After Thanksgiving, I was on the way back to PA with my brother and his girlfriend, thinking about the fact that it was December 1st and I still didn't have a horse to compete for the upcoming season. Brendan had told me several weeks ago that if by Dec 1 we didn't have a horse, then most likely 2016 would be unattainable. I had come to accept the thought and turn my vision then to 2020 Olympics. We were driving and I received a call from USPEA president Hope Hand, who without any lead in, said "We got you a horse!"
Insert shock/disbelief/mindblow/elation/reeling here.
She said he was from Canada Olympian Evi Strasser's Good Tyme stables, and had competed through I1 with 70%, and had been donated to Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center to be paired with a para equestrian, and they thought he and I would make a great match. The only other information I got from that call was that he was 16.1 Oldenburg, chestnut and dull to the leg. 
The following week was rife with butterfly excitement on my part and refusal to bounce up and down with me on Brendan's. Ever the charmer, my coach airs on the side of pessimism, but who can blame him-the horse business is a crooked one after all, and we love him anyway! Luckily, he was not so disbelieving that he declined to have a look at this lead with me. Within the next week, I had us booked for a weekend jaunt to sunny S.W. Florida  to follow through. Florida was, shall we say, a success? I honestly haven't the words, but let me just say that when my coach starts getting excited about something, you know it's a bit beyond phenomenal. 
As if fate was quite literally shaking me by the shoulder's, the horse's name is 'Right Tyme.' He'd been imported from Germany as a preium  stallion, and gelded only because he was arguing with other studs in Ms. Strasser's barn. He is sired by Royal Olymp, the second most expensive horse ever auctioned in Vechta. Royal Olymp had none other than the renowned Rubenstein as sire. Right Tyme's dam line is from Donnerhall. Take it from me, these are champion bloodlines. 
What a striking horse! burnished chestnut and covered in dapples, he stands tall  and alert, with a stripe down his face, 3 socks and rich burgundy mane and tail. He looks like a stallion, with an impressive crest and traditional thick Oldenburg bone. He has a very alert and maybe mischievous eye. He's certainly a head turner! Friendly as they come, this horse thrives on attention. He basically tried to crawl in my lap the first time we met!
Brendan had him perfectly figured out from the moment he mounted of course. He had him looking like a Grand Prix horse within minutes. And when I got on, I may as well have floated away. He isn't what I'd call an "easy ride," he has that stallion trait of shutting down  when you apply too much pressure, and he's not the easiest to move forward. But oh my, when he goes, it's like a cloud. I felt that we never really touched the ground. This horse does't know what it is to be on the forehand, and instead, even cantering with literally zero contact, he kept his frame and his pace the entire time. I was just a passenger. I've never felt movement like that. Brendan later told me the horse rides just like his stallion, Flavius, in that they need some convincing, but he also said this boy was a stroke of pure luck. To make a long story short(er), B and I wholeheartedly jumped on the opportunity to work with this awesome horse, and after lengthy talks of strategy and next moves, agreed to bring him up north with us for bootcamp before heading south for the season in february. 
We arrived home Monday after what ended up being a fun and thrilling weekend, and By Friday morning, our new partner arrived at Flintrock, where he is borrowing a blanket until I can get him some of his own because the poor thing is entirely body clipped which looks awesome but leaves him an ice pop! I hung out with him a lot today and he was an instant barn favorite. Very playful and outgoing. I am beyond excited to go to work with him monday and I have no doubts we are going to do great things! And once the princess, Clever heals up fully I will be blessed to have 2 outstanding equine partners to shine with! 
I' like to take this opportunity to give ENORMOUS THANKS to Susan Guinan of Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center, for allowing me use of this lovely animal, Hope Hand-president of the USPEA for choosing me to pair with him, Sarah Jancik,who donated Right Tyme rather than selling him, Kelly Layne, Australian WEG team member for giving the horse years of correct and advanced training, Evi Strasser for giving Right Tyme the Right start! And, as ever, USDF gold medalist Brendan Curtis of Curtis Dressage, LLC for taking this journey with me, believing in and supporting me, and being a coach who is at the same time fantastically fun to be around, AND a cool, calculating competitor whom I entirely trust with my education. THIS IS THE BREAK I NEEDED!!! I will share the other parts of this mind boggling past couple weeks shortly. 

Check out my horse with Kelly Layne up doing breathtaking Prix St. Georges! 
http://youtu.be/QvSH4xjMBik


And here you can see his lovely dapples:

Right Tyme, indeed!!