May 28th, 2024
Sophie and I are officially an FEI horse and rider combination.
I literally cannot believe I can type those words.
This past weekend was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had with horses. I had big goals of getting Sophie and I to a 1* by the end of our stint in Virginia, and I am so proud to say that we did it.
To get everyone acquainted with the language, the FEI, or Federation Equestre Internationale, is an organization that governs a lot of equestrian sport at the international level. Most events in the United States are national events, meaning they are overseen by USEA and USEF. There are also a good chunk of events in the US that have internationally recognized levels, which involves all three organizations, and the corresponding levels are designated by the star rating, going from 1* - 5*.
Most eventing fans are familiar with the 5* events, with both Kentucky and Maryland being the United States competitions that run up to that level. There are also a good number of events that host up through the 4* level, some of the more well known ones are Carolina International, Rebecca Farm, and Tryon.
For the most part, the FEI levels have national equivalents, but I would say they are the maxed out versions of their national equivalents. 1* is near equivalent to maxed out modified, 2* for prelim, 3* with intermediate, and 4* to advanced. And then 5* is just for the really crazy people 🤣 They also can be hosted as short or long format, which is designated, for example, like 4*-S or 4*-L. Long formats are typically held over 3 days, with show jumping on the final day, and two formal jogs. They also typically have a much longer cross country track than the short format. Short formats can be held over three days, but many are held over two days and have cross country on the second day.
Virginia Horse Center was hosting a massive event with national levels starter through Advanced-Intermediate, and FEI levels 1* - 3*, with both the short and long options for the 2*.
For me, the 1* was being offered only in the long format, but for the 1*, or intro CCI level, they also refer to it as 'unified' - as the cross country would not be any longer than a short format, but the schedule would follow the long format.
Because it was being held as a long format, I referred to it as 'my Kentucky' all weekend. I would arrive on Thursday and would participate in a formal jog. Then I would be assigned my dressage time for Friday, cross country Saturday, and then show jumping Sunday after a second formal jog. The show jumping would also be held in reverse order of go. This was going to be a huge event for us!!
Now for the pros that do these all the time, it's all second nature and not a big deal. I actually wasn't surprised to see that the entry list for the 1* was fairly small, as I think most professionals shoot to start at the 2* level and go from there - it is quite an expensive endeavor.
But for me this was my Kentucky, and I was excited about every single part of it.
Leading up to the event, I was reading and rereading the FEI rule book over and over again. I know that there are tons of riders who do this stuff all the time, but I wanted to be extra cautious that I was crossing all my t's and dotting all my i's. What was most important to me was being on time to everything!
Drew and I got up early on Thursday to grab Sophie and head down to Lexington. We had the truck packed with gatorade, snacks, all of my clothes, and a corgi.
It was about a three hour trek, and when we got there I was feverishly keeping my eye out for signs indicating where the FEI stabling would be located and where to go for it. I was anxious for so many reasons on this trip, but mostly because this was a whole new atmosphere for me.
There was a sign as soon as I pulled in directing me to the vet tent for in-barn inspections. I pulled my trailer around and met with a few of the vets that would be there all weekend, and they were so incredibly nice. They asked for Sophie's passport and told me to unload her from the trailer so that I could take her temperature in front of them. I had my thermometer and vaseline ready to go. They commended me on keeping up with my pre-event twice daily temperature checks, and then took her pulse and her respiration rate. After clearing me they released us to head over to our stabling area. Sophie was opinionated about getting back on the trailer, so Drew took our little unicorn and walked her over to her designated stall while I drove the trailer around to it.
Virginia horse center is massive. They have hundreds of permanent stalls on their grounds, and we had been assigned a stall in a barn close to the show jumping rings, which was convenient. It was also on the perimeter of the barn, so we were able to see a bunch of the action right from Sophie's stall. In our downtime it was fun to see all the different horses go by. Since the event was running all the way from starter to 3*, there were a lot of fun horses to watch!
I set Sophie's stall and Drew helped me unload the trailer. We set up the x-pen for Wally and then Drew planted himself by the stall to keep an eye on our animals while also working remotely. He really won the best horse show husband award this weekend.
I went and checked in at the show office to grab my number, and then took another glance at the schedule. I had an FEI rider meeting at 12, followed by the first jog at 3. I took some time to get my tack organized, and then made my way to the coliseum for the meeting.
The meeting was fairly quick, and they just gave us some information about the schedule for the weekend and the plans for the vet boxes after cross country. Everyone was all smiles and clearly looking forward to the weekend ahead. It was clear from day one that the organizers of this event were passionate about putting it together at VHC and wanted it to be the best possible event for everyone involved. They talked about how several riders were doing their first FEI that weekend, which made me feel so much better. They also made sure that we were all members of a What's App group chat that organizer Joanie Morris had put together in order to keep everything super streamlined. That was hugely helpful all weekend long!
After the meeting I made my way back to Sophie's stall and began the braiding process. It was not too long after that when Kiera showed up and started helping to make Sophie beautiful for our upcoming inspection. Thank god Kiera knows how to braid a forelock - otherwise it would've been a sad little bump on her head instead of the beauty that Kiera was able to put together. So grateful!
Once Sophie looked her best, I went to change into nice clothes and even threw some mascara on for fun, not that the eyes would be on me!
I was so happy that the 2*-L jog was first, so I was able to watch a ton of riders go before I pulled Sophie up for her inspection. It was so fun to see the riders and horses all fancied up for this moment. Some people really had the outfits down. If I do this again I need to step up my game!
Sophie and I had been practicing our jog at home so that I would hopefully not have to drag her into the trot - she is naturally quite lazy and stubborn on the ground. We do a lot of ground work at home, so I was hopeful it would pay off. Luckily the atmosphere also had her a little up, so she was ready to trot off. I pulled her up to present her to the ground jury when it was my turn, and then we had our trot up and back. We were accepted!! The weekend had officially started.
We returned to our stall after the jog, took out her braids, and threw my dressage tack on her to have a hack before the day was over. FEI riders had the opportunity for ring familiarization, which was also new to me. Basically I was allowed to hack around the ring in which I would be performing my dressage test the next day instead of just having to use the other non-competition warm up rings for hacking around.
When I first walked up there my ring was pretty packed, so I warmed Sophie up in another one of the 5+ rings we had the option of using for hacking. She started well, and was focused on me and feeling soft even with the big atmosphere. Once I noticed the crowd dwindle in my designated dressage ring, I walked her over there and went in to have a ride around. It was a little intimidating. Tons of pros were also using the space, and I was making it my goal to never get in anyone's way. I learned quickly that I had to ride a bit on the offense if I wanted to get any significant practice done. I was able to work through a few of the more challenging movements in my test before Sophie started to unravel, and I made the decision to call it a day before it got worse.
We went back to stabling and Sophie got a good groom and her dinner. When things were organized for the evening, Drew, Wally and I went up to have a walk around cross country. I originally thought that the 1* numbers were orange squares with blue numbers, and it wasn't until the next day that I learned it was actually the blue squares with orange numbers 🤦♀️ But luckily enough both the 1* and the modified rode nearly the same tracks, so it wasn't much of a change from what we originally walked.
Drew, Kiera and I grabbed some fast food for dinner, and then stopped back at stabling to do night check. Sophie was settled and ready to spend the night eating her hay in front of her new fan that Kiera grabbed for us on her way down.
_
We got to the barn the next morning to feed Sophie, refill hay, give fresh water, pick her stall, and take her for a little walk in-hand. She was awake and looking great for official day 1. Jacqui came around 10am, and her and I went to walk cross country during the spare time we had in the earlier part of the day. She helped give me pointers and reminders of what to focus on as we made our way around the course. I am so happy we signed up for that prelim at Morven last month, as it made the cross country here look very approachable.
Right after our walk is when I realized I had mixed up which numbers were for the 1* and which ones were for the modified. Luckily it only changed about 4 jumps for me, and it was still on essentially the same track, so I made a mental note to re-walk cross country one more time on Saturday morning just to make sure my head was on straight.
Jacqui and I then popped over to show jumping and walked the course that was set for I think the 3*. We weren't sure how similar the course would be to the one that I would be riding, so we figured it was worth looking at while we had the time. The course I ended up having to do on Sunday was similar in some places, so I am glad Jacqui and I walked through the ring while she was there.
Jacqui and I returned to Sophie's stall and she began the process of braiding. Jacqui had offered to braid Sophie and I took her up on it, as she's a pro at making the horses look fantastic. She did Sophie's mane, forelock, and tail, and then she and Kiera even added some quarter marks. I will say that this is the best I have ever seen Sophie turned out. I was obsessed!!!
I got myself dressed in my whites, my beautiful green shadbelly, and my lovely new stock tie and Jacqui made sure I stayed away from Sophie until I got on in order to stay clean!
My mom, dad, and the dalmatians (Echo and Bowie) came around this time to support me for the weekend. They made the drive all the way from Cape Cod. It has been years since both of my parents have been able to come watch me at a show, and I was so excited for that!
Jacqui and Kiera got Sophie tacked and took her out for me to get on. We headed to the warm up ring with about 20 mins to use. There were plenty of rings I could have used for my initial warm up, but at our rider meeting they informed us that we had to check in at the final warm up ring before going to our competition ring. This particular warm up ring was located in the ring next to where I would be performing my test, fortunately. The final warm up also had a full dressage ring set up in it, which was incredibly useful. I practiced a few of the movements I had found more challenging when working through this test at home, and Jacqui coached me as I went. Sophie was feeling good and strong.
Once it was my time to head up, I gave Jacqui my whip (as I am not allowed to have it in the show ring per FEI rules), and checked in with the steward at the gate. I took a few laps until the bell rang, and then we entered at A.
This test was by far the most complicated test I've ever ridden at a show. It was in the large arena, and it had movements and turns at letters I am not used to. I had practiced it at home a bunch both on my own and with Jacqui, so I felt prepared, but it was still a test where I really had to be extra on it every step of the way.
I came out of the ring happy. It didn't feel perfect, but it felt solid for us. Fortunately, the judges agreed, and I ended the day on a 34.6 which is my best dressage score at an event with Sophie to-date! The judge at C had given me a score of 36.09, and the judge at B decided on a 33.7. It is really interesting to read through both judge's comments on the same test. One commented that we were a 'well suited pair' 😊
The funniest part of the day was listening to the announcer by the dressage rings as I was going into my test. None other than Will Coleman on the stunning Diabolo were finishing their test in the ring next to the one I was going to be entering. The announcer was providing a few stats for each rider during their tests, and they had a lot of commentary about Will and Diabolo's recent 4* win at Kentucky and all of the other accolades that pair already has. The announcer then shifted to introduce me, noting that I "had a 4th at Morven this spring, and an 8th place at Huntington 2 years ago" - I've had more interesting placements since then, so I am not sure why that of all things was the one to pull, but it was so funny hearing them talk about someone like Will and then someone like me - I'm just out here trying my best!! 🤣
Jacqui had to head out to make it for afternoon lessons once we made it back to the barns, but I am so thankful that she was able to be there for me that day. She's been really helping me with the flatwork and it was nice to have her there to help warm us up, as well as make Sophie look just stunning.
Once Sophie was settled in her stall and her braids were taken out, we let her be while the rest of my squad got dinner. My parents had been to VHC a few years ago for my sister, Brenna, when she was competing at IDA nationals, and my dad was dying to get back over to the Devil's Backbone brewery near the park. Drew, Kiera, myself and my parents dropped the dogs at the hotel and made our way over to the brewery. It was burger night, and all of us were happy to have some good food, drinks, and to be out of the heat.
Sophie had a brief night check, including a little walk around the stabling area. Cross country day was nearly upon us.
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Day 2 was a bit of a long one. My initial start box time was 2:49, but then that was pushed back by 30 mins due to heavy fog in the morning impacting the early rides. The day started just like the previous, with us getting Sophie's stall freshened up and me taking her for another walk. I can't lie: I was outwardly pretty anxious. I usually am able to keep it together fairly well at shows, but I so badly wanted to finish well this weekend, so I was putting a lot of pressure on myself ahead of cross country.
We all wandered up to the fields once Sophie was settled for the morning and once again walked the course. Now that I was confident of which numbers were mine, I wanted to triple check that I was prepared for each question.
Kiera, Drew and Wally went back to Sophie before me, and I popped across the street to watch some of the 2*L cross country. VHC is so vast that there are two areas where they can have complete cross country courses. They ran starter through the 1* on the VHC side, and then prelim through the 3* on the 'Oak Hill' side which was across the road. Both sides had tons of terrain and spaces for a good gallop. It was just amazing! I watched a few of the 2* riders come home, all with smiles on their faces. That helped motivate me for my ride later in the afternoon.
We spent a fair bit of time just hanging out with Sophie before it was go-time. My parents joined us a little bit before I started tacking, and I took a few moments to be quiet and go over my course in my head a bunch. I had a solid plan and I felt ready.
Around 2:45 myself and my crew made our way up to the warm up. Drew and my mom stationed themselves near the middle of the course, and Kiera and my Dad saw me off from the start box and planned to meet me at the finish. I liked that even the warm up was on a bit of a hill, so we had the ability to practice on the terrain before heading out on course. I gave Sophie one good gallop up the hill, and popped her over a few jumps in each direction. She felt great. I never spend too much time in the warm up for either of the jumping phases because she knows her job.
When the rider before me left the start box, I made my way over with a few more good luck wishes from my team. The woman at the start box was so kind and had such nice things to say about Sophie's petite stature. I think our little conversation helped me take a breath.
5...4...3...2...1 have a great ride!
Sophie blasted out of the start box and over fences one and two. We saw different distances to fence three, but she climbed over it like the catty mare she is. 4AB and 5 rode on well, and then she had a bit of a spook going in between a line of trees to 6A and B. She popped over those and then we galloped up and over an open oxer at 7. We climbed up the hill in the back field to 8 and Sophie had a really good spook at some stumps on the ground and some spectators she wasn't expecting to see out on course. We regained our focus and hopped over the trakehner at 9, a table at 10, and then went right on stride to the combination at the top of the hill at 11A and B. We soared over 12 and I let her have her head and balance down the hill to 13. I made a major adjustment to 14A, which was a roll top followed by a sharp right hand turn to a down bank. Sophie took a good look down it (as did I, oops), but then stepped right off and moved up to the C element. That was the only combination I was even slightly hesitant about, but it was almost an identical yet slightly less technical version of what we had experienced at Morven the month prior, so I was confident that she would get it done - and she did!
She popped over the log in the water at 15, had a good gallop over 16, and then absolutely ate up the water complex at 17A and B. Over 18 and 19 and we blasted through the finish flags. I thought we came in right on time, but between the spooking on course and a few sticky rides by me, we added 2 seconds to our time. I was still thrilled, though. She was a super star and made the course feel easy. I could tell that she was not as impressed with this course as she was with our last one at Morven - she wasn't putting in as much effort over most of the fences. She's truly becoming such a wonderful cross country horse.
The vets performed a shortened version of the vet box, and only checked to make sure that Sophie did not look too tired and had no marks or welts from spurs or a crop. They cleared us and my team hustled to get her untacked so we could throw some water on her. Kiera did an awesome job of having her aftercare buckets filled and ready, and we got Sophie cooled down fairly quickly. I walked back on foot and my wonderful team brought back all of our tack and my gear back down to stabling. It was nice to spend the walk with just me and my girl reflecting on what a fun cross country ride we had.
Sophie got to spend time in her favorite Drew Boots, and stood quietly while I did our after care routine. Once she was wrapped and served her dinner, my team and I went over to downtown Lexington to Heliotrope brewing. Drew and my dad love a good brewery, and all of us love pizza. They had incredible sourdough pizza on the menu, and we enjoyed great food and drinks while sharing fun stories. I was in such a better state for socialization now that cross country had passed - and with flying colors no less!
We did night check and then returned to the hotel for the night. One more day to go.
_
Sunday morning had an early start, as the final inspection was at 8am and I needed time to get Sophie turned out well. My whole team came to watch us get our trot on. Kiera once again put a perfect forelock braid on Sophie, I braided her mane, and we made her shine with a good groom. I put on one of my old teacher outfits, mostly because it was a shade of green, but also because I wanted to put on something slightly more formal for this jog than the first one. We pulled Sophie out of her stall when the time came, Kiera painted her toes, and I took her for a few practice trot steps as we waited our turn to present.
As we waited in the 1* jog line, I got to briefly catch up with Tim Bourke who had a horse in the division. He's another Sophie fan, and he commended us for our first run at an FEI. It felt nice to be seen like that!
The steward that checked me in right before it was my time asked if my horse was the cool mare with the white splotches on her neck. She smiled as she walked to see Sophie's spotty side when I answered her with a 'yes!'. We are all well aware that I love my horse, but it feels special to see other people admire her just the same.
There was a mild tension in the air that morning, as a handful of horses from both the 2*-L and the 1* were held. I knew Sophie was fine from how she felt, looked, and moved during a few practice trots, but you still never know what the ground jury might see.
I presented her with a smile. They moved us along to the trot up, and Sophie moved with grace. Hearing "accepted" over the speakers filled me with immense joy!!
We took several family and team photos and then brought Sophie to her stall. My show jumping did not start until 12:25, so we had a few hours to kill. My parents went back to the hotel to get the dalmatians and to check out, and Drew, Kiera and I started cleaning up around our stabling area as much as we could. The venue was so packed with cars that there was no way for me to pull my trailer around early to start packing without being ridiculously in the way of everyone else.
We grabbed breakfast from the food trucks and I spent time simply sitting with and enjoying the company of my horse. It's not often that I get the chance to do that at shows, and it felt really wonderful to share her space. She made it clear she'd had a long weekend - a few of her classic narcoleptic episodes creeped up on us as we sat with her. I told her she'd have a good amount of time off after this crazy weekend!
Around 11am they had the course for the 2*-L set in the jump ring for walking, and it was essentially the same course for the 1*, so Drew came with me and we walked it together. It was a less technical course than what I had jumped at my last few events, and I was feeling confident that Sophie and I would have a good time in the ring.
By noon Sophie was tacked, I was dressed back in my riding clothes, and my team was ready to support me for the show jumping phase. Kiera put my hind boots on for me after they were checked out, and once again another steward asked me about Sophie's markings and complimented her stature.
As much as Sophie might have been falling asleep all morning, she perked up as soon as her feet hit the footing in the warmup ring. Her ears pricked forward and I felt her body come to life underneath me as we started trotting to warm up. Kiera came in to help set some jumps for me, and Sophie threw great shapes over the warm up fences. Just like for cross country warm up, I don't spend too much time over the fences as she knows her job and I want to save as many fresh jumps as I can for the big ring.
We exited the warm up ring before it got too busy and walked over to the covered arena next to the show jumping ring. I watched the two riders ahead of me have good rides, and I walked up to the ring when it was our time.
I walked into the ring, had a little trot, and then tried to halt for a salute to the judge but it was more of a wiggling sideways walk as Sophie knew what time it was. The buzzer rang and we shifted into a canter and had a look around the backside of the ring. Sophie made it clear to me she was focused on the jumps and wasn't looking at the crowd next to the ring.
I let her have a big canter up the long side of the ring and then asked for her to come back to me in the turn to jump one. She had a great pop over the first fence and an even better feel over the second. She left a little long to the first oxer on the far long side, and then popped easily over a triple of one strides. We turned to our next exercise which was three related jumps on the diagonal, each about 6 strides from the other. Sophie had a little bit of a funny take on the first one and we took our first rail, but then I asked her to get a little closer to the second and third jumps on the line and she was careful with her feet. We approached the outside line confidently and she jumped a two stride combination with ease, and then the last line was either a tight six or a little bit of a long five, and I allowed her for the longer five. In hindsight, I probably should have kept her for the tighter six stride ride to make her be a little more careful, as the longer five ride caused us our second rail. Overall she felt fantastic, and I was still so happy with how the ride went. I gave her huge pats and lots of 'good girl' remarks as we exited the ring.
The stewards checked her over after we left the ring and gave us the all clear, and we stayed by the ring to see how the remainder of our class went. Everyone from my division was having great rides in the show jumping, it was really fun to watch!
After the last rider went, we quickly determined that I had finished in 7th place. I had tied for 6th with my score, but the rider I had tied with had a better cross country time, which is the first tie breaker. As much as it would have been poetic to come home with the green ribbon, I was so excited to have had such a great finish, and I was really looking forward to coming home with a pretty purple neck ribbon to commemorate our time at our first FEI event.
And then the only disappointment from the whole weekend happened.
On the omnibus for the event, it read that they would ribbon places 1-8, and then the top 10 from each division would be invited back for the awards ceremony. I had been thinking all week about how fun it would be to not only earn a ribbon, but be able to be a part of a little awards ceremony afterwards!
As they brought out the ribbons, I noticed the last one they had was for 6th place. I walked over to a steward to ask if they were in fact only placing through 6th, and she immediately began apologizing to me after realizing I was the 7th placed rider. She said that there was a mistake when ordering awards for the event, and they never updated the information, so they had some other little prizes for 7th and 8th placed riders in the show office. I can't lie - I was disappointed to not have a ribbon to take home from this. It's far from the end of the world, but there is something special about those silly 5 cent ribbons!!!
We made our way back to stabling with my team, and we added a USEF employee to our squad as Sophie was chosen for random drug testing. I've been chosen for random drug testing in the past, so I know the drill. The vet came over and grabbed a few blood samples, and the USEF staff member grabbed a urine sample from Sophie.
After the testing people left, I finished taking care of Sophie and set her up to be iced. While she was icing, I walked over to the show office to check out, grab my passport, and I also got my little 7th place awards which consisted of a bag of horse treats, a VHC sticker, and a $10 Dover gift card. I do appreciate the thought they had to put something together for us lower placed riders, and she said that they wouldn't make that mistake in the future.
I guess Sophie and I might have to go back again then! 😁
My parents packed up for their drive home, and Kiera and Drew helped me get all of my things loaded into the trailer. Kiera stripped the stall while I got the trailer set for Sophie for the ride home. It didn't take long to pack it all up and head out. Once we were leaving, it felt like the weekend was a blur. So much happened, and I am so, so beyond grateful for the amazing team consisting of Kiera, my parents, and Drew. I could not have done this weekend without them.
I think one of my favorite parts of the weekend was making a few new friends. Our stabling next-door-neighbor, Caitlin Reamy (cmr_eventing on instagram), was competing in the 2*-L and also was so kind answering all my silly questions. It was nice to have someone near me who was seasoned at both competing in and grooming at FEI's so that I felt a little less lost. She and her super horse El Patrone looked amazing all weekend!
Near us in stabling and also in the 1* was Lauren Harris (laurenharris.eventing on instagram) and her awesome horse SH Just for Laughs, aka Wilson. Kiera helped braid Wilson's forelock for the Sunday jog, and Lauren and I commiserated over all things horse related all weekend. I can't wait to see what's next for that team!
During our time at VHC this weekend, I also connected with Mady Hsue of TidBits Media (mlh.eventing and tidbits.media on instagram). She captured some of the most amazing footage I've ever seen of Sophie from our cross country run and our Sunday morning jog. Her work is just phenomenal, and if you ever have the opportunity to work with her I cannot recommend her enough!!! And not only was she running around filming tons of riders all weekend, but she herself was also competing with her super cool mare, ISO Cambria, and had a fantastic run in the modified.
I will say our first FEI outing was a thrilling success. I couldn't have asked for more from Sophie, and I love all of my people that were supporting me both near and far. All of the texts, messages, and calls I received from people who were following my scores online meant the absolute world to me. Thank you, thank you to everyone that continues to support team Sophie!!
Here's to what's next. I certainly can't wait 😁
K
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