"The Voice" is a popular TV Show that boasts famous singers as judges (Blake Shelton, Shakira, Usher, and Adam Levine). Blind auditions are held and if a judge hears a ‘voice’ they like they press a button and the infamous chair spins around. “I WANT YOU!” then lights up under the chair. Once the singer picks a celebrity coach that coach helps sculpt the singer’s voice in preparation of becoming the next 'voice.’
Right about now you are probably thinking, "Okay Alexa, what does this have to do with horses?"
Well, six months ago, I was in my own type of blind audition. I applied for the Winter Intensive Training program not knowing what to expect … or better yet, I didn’t even know what horse I would take in the slim chance I actually was ‘wanted.’ Surprisingly, Dressage Olympian Lendon Gray turned her chair around and added me to her team.
December 29th, I packed my trunks and headed to sunny Wellington, Florida with my new four-legged friend, Livingston, for the experience of a lifetime.
You may think three months is a long time for intensive training with people I've never met before from all parts of the US, but actually it flew by. The opportunities we 'WITees' (as Lendon likes to call us) have been exposed to were phenomenal and I cannot thank her enough for all the time and effort she devotes to youth dressage. WIT allowed me to find MY voice through an amazing mentor. Looking back on my pages of notes from lectures and lessons just puts everything into perspective. I have met some amazing people in Florida who have stimulated me to think differently. Many I know will be life-long friends. Not only do I notice a difference in my riding, but I also notice a difference in my 'self'. Before WIT, I didn't have much confidence in my riding ... I knew I had the tools to be a decent rider, but I always felt like the low man on a totem poll. It wasn't until the second month in Florida when I had an epiphany. It finally hit me that I had the beginning qualities of a competitive rider. I think what influenced my outlook and thought process was Lendon's lessons. There were times Lendon would say, "Alexa, I am keeping an eye on you, but I trust that you have a plan and it looks like you are going for it." Then I would get pointers here and there. Showing that kind of trust made my confidence grow tremendously. Lendon was the coach who helped me find my riding voice … and I think it is safe to say all of the other WITees found theirs as well.
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| This picture was taken at my first show the first weekend in February. This picture shows how I was riding with my hands too high (not following with the natural motion) and using too much curb... which in turn shortened Liv's neck, made him drop his poll, and have little bend, if any at all. Those were habits I worked very hard to break this winter. |
Notice anything different between these two pictures?
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| 1st Recognized show competing Young Riders at Global. |
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| Last recognized show competing Young Riders at Global. |
Both of the above images are shown doing the same movement: the extended trot. The difference? In the first picture, I am using too much curb rein causing Livingston to lower his poll. The second picture shows very little curb and a better uphill balance. That was the huge point Lendon drilled in my lessons; the importance of self carriage not only at home, but also at shows. Livingston and I were still bonding and figuring each other out the first week of February. With my nerves the way they were at the first show, I resorted back to old habits. Once we started meshing and my nerves calmed a bit our scores went up and we really performed as a team.
I could write a book about everything I have learned in the Winter Intensive Training program . . . from living on my own to riding in an international arena to high performance stable management.
But now that I am home school demands a huge chunk of my time therefore what follows is a list of the gist of my life lessons.
So, here we go (as quoted regularly by the only male rider in the program)
Overall, I learned how to:
- Recognize my limitations and ask for help
- Stand up for myself even when caught off guard
- Juggle school, riding, extra curriculars, and living on my own
- Call it a day when I had nothing left to offer
- Walk away from things that frustrated me and then address them when I ‘cooled off’
- Not only accept a compliment, but really feel it
- Shake off something that went wrong in my test right away and keep going
- Be prepared for the unexpected
- Not be afraid to stop and say “I don’t understand.”
Favorite phrases from Lendon and other trainers:
- Have a 'No Mistakes' ride
- Why expect 100% from your horse if you aren't ready to give 100%?
- Make sure the brakes are working ... no matter what
- Keep it spicy (in regards to adding activity in the hind end)
- If the canter pirouettes are sticky, ride them forward ... if they are forward, think rein back through the turn
- Be predictably unpredictable so your horse doesn't take over
- Trust your feel and ride your feel
- Always have a plan, even if it needs to change mid-ride, always start with something
- Don't kick the can down the road, address the problem right then and there
- If you can't quite get something, move on and come back to that movement with an open mind
- Ride EVERY corner... they are there for a reason!
- Come up with a warm-up plan and stick to it
- You know your horse so speak up if you want something to change
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| Last minute touches from Lendon before a test at White Fences. |
What I have learned about living on my own:
- I need four alarms with different ringtones in order to wake up every day at 5:30
- When I do my homework, I take up half the dining room table and the floor around me just to get organized.
- When there are insufficient cooking utensils, creativity in the kitchen becomes a joke and a priority.
- I don't like to go grocery shopping
- Sometimes spontaneity is the only way to survive
- Managing all my homework on top of the program was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be
- White floors will never stay clean for more than five minutes. Seriously, who thought it would be a good idea to have white tile floors in a bathroom?
What I liked about Florida:
- It only took 10 minutes at the most to get to the mall, the grocery store, the diesel station, and the tack shop.
- It was sooooo warm!
- I got a head start on my tan ... maybe just a slight farmer's tan depending on the angle ;)
- There were an amazing amount of top riders in a consolidated space
- There were recognized competitions every weekend
- The closing date for shows was virtually the week before the show
- I could hack to the Global Dressage Festival showgrounds
- There were no truck-lift restrictions! ... aka it was "eye candy every day"
- Most of the roads I drove on had two lanes each direction so there were fewer backups!
- SMOOTHIES.
- Palm trees.
- It only took 30 minutes to drive to the beach.
- There was a plethora of fun things to do... when we found free time here and there!
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| I LOVED LOVED LOVED Hampton Green Farm ... WIT's host farm :) |
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Horses and drivers shared the road... and riders always had the right of way!
How cool is that? |
What I didn't like about Florida:
- Drivers drive terribly
- There were random bumpy sand roads
- Everything was flat ... minus the man-made 'hill' at White Fences
- There were alligators
- The weather was more bipolar than PA's weather
- Diesel was SUPER EXPENSIVE
- Us northerners never felt tan compared to the Floridians!
- The 6 speed bumps I had to drive over just to enter and exit our development
The WITees had to have a little bit of fun before we left!
The last two weeks of the program were filled with talk about 'going home plans.' It was really sad. I didn't want to leave. And to make matters worse, packing seemed like punishment for leaving.
I mean really ... it would have been easier to just stay! ;)
Barn packing ... everything goes in a trunk to be dealt with later :)
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| Brook Ledge took good care of transporting Livingston :) |
Here we go.
What I missed about home:
- My friends and family
- Mi Alma (my young horse) and Louie (my first pony)
- Charlie (my dog)
- MY BED!!!
- Hummels
- Pony Club Meetings
- Study hall and lunch at school ;)
- Hills and farmland
- Ice cream and Oreos (it was Lent while I was in FL)
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| 1st Pony Club meeting back home |
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Right back into action helping at the Eastern PA Region Pony Club Horseless Rally as
Assistant Horse Management Judge |
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| Bomb proofing clinic with Mi Alma... I missed my 'baby' boy |
Attending WIT was definitely an adventure that challenged my comfort zone. I am blessed with people in my life who supported me in many ways be it surprises in the mail, phone calls, spontaneous texts, or visits to Florida.
Honestly, that is what kept me grounded and less stressed.
My parents have supported me in every single aspect of riding ... from picking me up after I would fall off Louie, to cheering me on ringside at a competition, to managing the barn, and every other physical and emotional aspect in between! They saw something in me as a young adult and rider that I didn't see in myself until Florida... And I still don't think I have as much faith in myself as they do in me!
Words cannot express how grateful I am to be their daughter ;) <3
I also have been blessed to have trained with super people ... from Jocelyn Gardner my very first trainer who instilled in me the love of the sport and taught me to 'do it again' if it didn't go well the first time; to Jan Huffman who, during a period where I was afraid to ride, taught me that I am the boss of my horse and how to build trust and think beyond the ring; to Ange Bean, my dressage trainer since I'm 13, who taught me how to compete and show on the recognized circuit as well as important sport horse management and veterinary skills that prepared me for my HB certification in Pony Club. Ange also taught me to take my riding seriously but not myself . . . which incidentally was a HUGE life lesson for a person who always took EVERYTHING seriously; to Gert Stearns, Livingston's owner, who taught me what I needed to know about her horse before heading to Florida, as well as how to think outside the box and adjust to such a powerful horse.
I have a lot to be thankful for and y'all are at the top of my list! YOU, too, helped me find my voice by supporting this endeavor!
Although I am finding my 'riding voice,' sadly I must admit it has been a very difficult time finding my voice in other areas now that I am home. One of the areas I struggled in was writing this blog. My first attempt was during the first week at home ... and thank goodness I didn't publish it! Why? Because it was the most depressing thing I think I've ever written ... there was no feeling in it and the message was simply "I don't want to be home. I miss Florida." *Tears*
After scrapping that blog, I started over... actually getting my inspiration from a speaker at the Albright College Scholarship Recipient Dinner (btw that's where I have officially committed to attend college because Albright is supportive of my desire to continue training as well as my interest to dual major in marketing and psychology). When the speaker said she found her voice at Albright, I thought "Wait a minute ... WIT helped me find my voice!"
Hmm. *Inspiration for this blog post*
I know I have a ways to go, but my goal for this year is to let my voice be heard at the North American Junior Young Rider Championships held in Lexington, KY. On top of that, I am hoping to make it to the Festival of Champions later in the year.
You're continued thoughts, prayers, hugs, and encouragement would be much appreciated ... Region 1 has 7 declared Young Riders to date ... but only 4 riders make the team and head to NAJYRC in July. And for Festival of Champions (Nationals) only the Top 12 Young Riders in the entire United States are invited to attend this show held in the fall in Lexington, KY.
Although this is the last blog post about WIT, I promise to blog throughout the rest of the year to keep you up-to-date on my "post-WIT" goals!
In the meantime, I hope ya'll get out there and find YOUR voice 'cause there's nothing better than living loud and proud!
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