equestrian

    Every little girl seems to have a horsie dream in her childhood. I ended up carrying mine out. I started competative horseback riding when I was 10. Equestrian sports, it's called, comlex name for a simple sport. I trained english style Hunters/Jumpers. Bought my first horse when I was 12, never thought we could have afforded her, but I couldn't bear to lose her when my lease ran out. Keri Me, was her first show name (the one I bought her under), though I later changed it to Keri On Dancin' after I moved to strictly Dressage. Ah, but I must explain. I started out on the stiff Hunter circut, where you jump boring courses, with the same strides in each line, and generally look like an old tird doing it. Eventually my brain just started shutting off, so I miserably fucked up my classes.
       Keri was origionally a jumper, and that was her thing. Jumpers was a totally different world than the stiff old Hunters. Jumpers we got to scream around the course, didn't matter strides. If you got around and didn't knock a pole you had a damn good chance of winning the class. And that I did. My first show I championed in two seperate divisons.
       Keri was by no means young, by the time I was 13, she was starting to show her age of a ripe 20 (old for a horse), I had a falling out with my Hunter/Jumper trainer and moved on to the greener pastures of Dressage. Dressage is your basic flatwork, as you advance your horse learns self carrage and more advanced lateral movements. We get to learn these lovely tests according to the letters placed every 10 m around the 60X20m arena. I quickly advanced through that as well, I was Training Level Junior Champion for my first year into it. Sadily my second year was cut short when Keri needed to be retired to ensure that she could live out her life painlessly, which is now what she's doing in my Vet's backyard. :)
      After Keri was retired, I stopped riding for about a year, and my weight sky rocketed from 135 to 175 in a matter of months.   That was my life, and I became utterly depressed. After six months of being rather fat and gross, I decided it was time for a change and started going to the gym every day. Got my weight down to 145, which in my opinion is a very healty weight, not overly skinny like I was when I was 135, and put out fliers that I was searching for a new horse.
       A new horse arose from the woodwork, Cast Iron, or Casey as I call him. He's a trained Intermediare I (two levels away from the top level) dressage horse. Dressage has become my forte, and my life love. I plan to be at the top of the sport by the time I am 21. With the help of Casey I have become 3 levels away from the top of the sport within the past year. I'm 16 now, so it's only up up and away from this point. Casey turned 21 as of the official Jan. 1st birthday for Thuroghbreds. He's beginning to show his age as well, and I am on limited time with him, I realize this and ride him to the fullest every time I put my foot in the sturrip.
      In short, being an Equestrian is a deep rooted part of me, my life, my love, and my sanity.