United States Eventing Association

As Eventers, we all know the emotions that come from the word "plan". First, there's the initial excitement that we have one and we will follow through. Then, it's the slow seeping doubt that begins to invade all thought: well what if my horse loses a shoe beforehand? What if there's a scary ditch on course that we can't get past? My last jump school didn't go as well as I wanted – should I really be doing this? And finally, there's pure panic mode: I can't find my cross country-very-specially-colored socks – this means that somehow I won't make it to the show and I just can't possibly go on! That was actually a very long-winded way of saying that hurricanes can really screw up your plans.

Morven Park Horse Trials was slated to be a big upgrade for two of my own horses as well as a student and her horse. Maybelline Cover Girl “May” and I were supposed to do our first Advanced, I was taking Vanquish in the CCI* and my student Abby Bodurtha and her own What Everett Takes were in my CCI* to do their first FEI event. Because of the incoming rain and weather, the horse trial divisions were changed to combined tests (which I thought was very smart), and from the recommendation of my coach Lynn Symansky, neither of the CIC* horses ran cross-country, again a smart decision for both of the horses. While I completely agree with the decision not to run any of the horses cross-country, there's always a slight tug in my heart when not completing the whole Event. With May, I was very excited to practice an Advanced CT, but I had been hoping at some point to reach my goal of completing a full Advanced horse trials.

I've been trying for most of my life to reach the Advanced level and very frustratingly have had multiple setbacks getting there. I know many riders taking multiple horses to that level and while they make it all look quite easy; I can tell you that it certainly isn't. I've had my upper level partner May now for 10 years - I bought her as a green 6-year-old, and we have very luckily climbed up the ladder together, neither of us knowing very much from the beginning. We reached a point two years ago where I thought it was all finally coming together and we had signed up for our first Advanced at Millbrook Horse Trials. Only a few days before leaving for the Event in a training ride I felt her take a few wrong steps. After a full vet evaluation, my worst fears were confirmed and May had somehow injured herself and not only wouldn't be competing at Millbrook, but would possibly never compete again.

Many successful vet trips and two full years later, May and I had climbed back into the upper levels and she felt better than ever. Her first Training level cross-country course this spring was terrifying (I ended up having a full minute of time penalties due to trotting about half the course). After her first Intermediate back at Virginia Horse Trials I broke down and cried.

Throughout all the trials and tribulations of Eventing, and there are many, I think we need to reflect on just why we do this darned sport. A big moment came to me at Richland Horse Trials when I was on the CIC2* course with May this August. I conquered the first water, which terrified me when I walked it, and jumped through the double ditch and brush combination that had been giving me nightmares the night before. That’s when I finally took a deep breath, and realized just how much fun I was having. I was on my absolute favorite horse doing my favorite thing in the entire world. And while we still had about half the course to go and no idea what else would happen, in that single moment, everything was perfect.

I think most of us Eventers are planners. We want to plan what our next show is, when the next move up is, what to do with our horse over the winter time. The list goes on and on. While this is certainly not a bad thing, plans with horses sometimes come to fruition, and sometimes they snuff out very disappointingly. But in the overall context of this crazy world, it's very rare that the color of the ribbon actually matters. Because every once in a while, when there's a moment that's just so perfect it takes your breath away, you need to revere in it, and go back to it when times get tough. Maybe that's getting the correct lead on your baby horse, or putting in that foot-perfect show jump round, or winning a gold medal for your country. Or maybe it's cantering around a CIC2* course on the first horse you trained from the ground up, when a lot of odds, soundness and otherwise, had been against you for years, and no matter how you finish, just doing it for the pure passion of it is truly wonderful.

Whatever your reason, hold on to it in the good times and the bad because life is never full of certainties. I'm certain that most of my best memories have been made in the saddle, and I want to continue that trend for as long as I possibly can.

About Ashley Kriegel Trier

Ashley is a CCI2* rider who is based out of The Plains, Va. Following a lifetime of riding and competing and several years as a working student for CCI4* riders, Ashley branched out on her own as a professional in 2013. She currently is competing her own horses at the Intermediate and Preliminary levels and bringing along a few young OTTBs all while teaching a slew of juniors and adult amateurs to learn to love and compete safely in the sport of Eventing. Ashley will be sharing her experiences navigating the Eventing world as a young professional in her monthly blogs. To learn more about Ashley visit: http://ashleytriereventing.com...