GoHorseShow.com is pleased to be able to offer an inside look into Elizabeth Borders’ final youth world as she will take time from her busy schedule to write daily in her blog from Oklahoma City.
EB, as she is known to most, is one of the single most accomplished youth riders to date. She is a World Champion (2006 Showmanship) and a Multiple Reserve World Champion (2004, 2006 Horsemanship). EB has maturity and wisdom far beyond her 19 years. She is a dedicated perfectionist whose love for her horses Finely Principled (“Riley”) and JD Whizkey (“JD”) is apparent in everything she does.
We look forward to her daily updates and wish her the best of luck this week! Be sure not to miss a few pictures EB has taken. Just click on slide show.
The Last Day – Time For Reflection
It’s all over! I know I mentioned at the end of last night’s blog that I wouldn’t be sad about the end of things, but there were multiple moments throughout today that were hard. Even my last midnight ride at Youth World almost brought me to tears – slightly pathetic, but it meant a lot to me.
I finished exactly like I wanted to. I’ve been over-analyzing the equitation for a VERY long time, and I got a ride that I have no complaints about. He was stupendous out there, and we had a great connection. I’m sure plenty of people are going to make fun of me for this, but I actually was wearing a mouth-guard during the eq tonight. It’s actually something that my dentist set me up with right before youth world. He showed me the increase in flexibility and strength that you get when your muscles that normally support your jaw and neck, are instead distributed to the rest of your body, especially your core. Okay, that’s my short explanation for that – if you want to check it out some more, go to thepurepoweredge.com
At the beginning of the placings for equitation, I got a little emotional about never again showing at the Youth World, but by the time I was out of the arena, I saw the bright side – I’m an Amateur! Ha, so maybe not quite yet but that’s what it feels like. With the semester I have coming up, there’s a chance I might not be able to show for the rest of the year, but we’ll see.
We all took off once the horses were taken care of for our last barn dinner of the week. It’s been nice having time to see everyone by the end of the week. The first few days were insane, but thankfully things slowed down so both me and my horse didn’t completely burn out. He still had a good amount of energy for the Eq and that is always a challenge for me at this horse show.
I just want to say thank you to Riley for stepping up to the challenges we had this week and for being an all-star. I owe a GIANT thank you to John & Jill who I consider to be my second mom and dad. I promise not to embarrass you guys when I’m an Amateur by using that metaphor, so this is my last chance. And of course, thank you to my actual Mom & Dad for making all of this a possibility. Every part of this journey has been a gift from God, who has taught me so much about myself through both the hard times and also the most joyous moments of my life.
For all of the feelings of finality this week, I know that there will soon be more horse challenges around the next bend. However, I have no idea what that entails at the moment. In the meantime, I’ll be in sorority overdrive, designing ads, and more than anything, making sure that I make it into the Graphic Design program. In other words, I’ll be plenty busy, but I’ll be sure to find time to take mini-vacations out to Pilot Point and Gainesville for a relaxing ride. My favorite 🙂
Day 6 – Friday – “To win without risk, is to triumph without glory”
A day off at this horse show felt really weird, but it was a nice breath of fresh air. We all woke up early to watch Sammy Bayer in the Western Riding finals – the early morning finals schedule for today was quite a change, but it’s nice that we all got to grab breakfast with each other afterwards. It’s definitely a change of pace. I do have to say, that was one of the most competitive Western Riding Finals I have seen. It was just one great go after another.
I went to my stalls afterwards to lunge (which I’m still unsure if the word “lunge” has an actual correct spelling, even after going to dictionary.com) after the finals to find my horse lying down in his stall. I walked in and sat down beside him. He actually let me sit there, just petting him for about 10-15 minutes – it was honestly one of the cutest Riley moments of all time. It’s just a beautiful thing to be able to communicate with and to have the trust of a horse. Watching his eyes just slowly close amidst the constant loud announcing for the preliminaries that were starting just made me realize how far we’ve come for him to trust me like that.
I know it sounds completely over-analytical, but the trust of your horse is so important. You have to build it outside of the show pen and it quickly can become one of your strongest tools in a show situation. Reining has taught me a lot about this. It helps to realize that you’re working with an animal, so to teach them something; you have to think in the simplest form – good and bad. At the same time, if they do something bad, you have to find a way to show them it’s wrong without scaring them. They’re more likely to do what you prefer if you convince them that it actually is what they themselves would have preferred all along.
For example, my horsemanship turns have always been a struggle, lots of kicking and jerking. Then Pat, John, Jill, and I all adopted a new way of turning Riley this spring and ever since then, it’s been positive. At first we did have to teach Riley that if he gave in to a simple way of initiating the turn (release of the inside leg) he would be rewarded and not get kicked, plus an added bonus, he relaxed and physically turned better than ever. It of course takes a few more tools than just that but the ultimate point is that it’s all about being patient with an animal, while increasing your feel for what the current circumstances call for. There’s nothing wrong with stopping if you feel stuck to breathe and figure out a way to take maybe just even one step forward instead of three back.
So the last two paragraphs probably make me sound like a very logical clear minded person, but that’s just impossible. I always try to apply a balanced decision of logic and emotion to things, but that’s always a challenge. I didn’t mention this in one of my previous blogs, but during my Horsemanship pattern, I changed the plan John, Jill, and I had by just a tid bit. I was supposed to keep my speed conservative, but after I changed leads, I for some reason saw the quote flash in my mind that John & Jill had written on my dry-erase board, “To win without risk, is to triumph without glory.” At that moment, I knew I had no choice but to go for it. I can only hope that I can be in such a mindset tomorrow for the Equitation Finals to know what my pattern needs. If I make the wrong decision, I know life isn’t over, but nonetheless, I want to try and ride a heck of a pattern. Just go out there and make it happen. That’s my plan. Now we’ll just see how that goes! Good luck to everyone tomorrow for the last day of Youth World 08!… and I just realized that also means the official end of my Youth World career… and now I’m going to sleep instead of get sad and cry about it! haha
Day 5 – Thursday – CHEERS!!!
I’m convinced that I just finished the most emotional dinner of my life. No dinner compares. We all went out to the Ranch Steakhouse for a celebration dinner. We had our own room of four long tables, but it was at the end, when the toasts started that it made its own record. My dad kicked off the toasts, but when Sammy and I started our co-toast, my emotions were out of control.
If you’ve never seen me try to make a public speech, I tend to get really red, and if it’s something I care about, 99.9% of the time, I cry…a lot. I picked it up and finished, but with my arm around Sammy, I realized it wasn’t too surprising as she was shaking as she spoke.
Everyone that I’ve met, and specifically, all of my barn-mates are truly some of my dearest friends. John & Jill have taught us true values, and the friends we’ve all made with one another are truly unexpected and very cherished. I know even though it is the last Youth World for three of us, we’re still going to see each other very soon. I’m at least jumping on a plane to see all of them this next school year! As far as our youngin’s go, we’ll be here to watch them for all of their Youth Worlds, and I’m looking forward to their many future successes!
Okay, now back to today’s events. The showmanship finals were very competitive. The pattern had a lot of “little parts” that could shift placings very easily. I, of course, only got to see a few of the last patterns, but it was so much fun to watch three of my Briggs girls in the barn! We all uplifted each other’s spirits as we came out seeing as though we’re our own toughest critics. I’m glad we all had one another there for support.
Much congrats to TW and Kody, the World and Reserve World Showmanship Champs!
I’ll be up in a few hours to watch the Trail and Western Riding finals so good luck to everyone in the morning! 🙂
Day 4 – Wednesday – Back To Work
Talk about a long day of prelims! I love that this year they are doing things differently and we have the opportunity to go back in the semi-finals in the Horsemanship, Equitation, and Showmanship. It makes you hold your breath even longer for callbacks. At least with a low number (222) I know whether or not I made it back quickly. This is actually my first year in the “twos” because of the increase of entries, otherwise I’ve always been in the one hundreds.
The trail went well today, but my score just wasn’t high enough to make it back. I was surprised that the last half of my pattern, the part I was most worried about, (other than the gate pole) went much better than I expected – no hits, all the right strides. It’s just trail, and when it’s the prelims, you have to have either one hit, or be perfectly clean. It’s just that competitive, and props to everyone who made it through! That is a huge accomplishment, and I look forward to watching the very fun and exciting trails finals. I haven’t even seen the pattern yet, but I’m sure it’s a challenge!
Thankfully I got another nap in after the trail. I’m on a constant napping schedule seeing as though I’m unable to pull off a normal person’s night of sleep. I’m really adjusting well, but it could get interesting during Recruitment Workshops next week for my sorority (GO GAMMA PHI!) when we’re working from morning until night!
Once Equitation rolled around, I was ready for another opportunity to get in there. The eq at the World Show is always different than any other eq throughout the year – the pattern takes up a lot more space, which effects the stride of your horse. I never want the pattern to seem like it’s too big for my horse, but that it’s the perfect size and that the cones and my lines fit perfectly. My visualization is that there’s a fence at every curve. Riley’s 16.1 hands, so we try to think we’re big hunters – yeah, once again it’s a visualization, but it helps to get it mentally figured out first. Both patterns in the eq were good, just one little thing that bothered me – he wasn’t being bad, it was just a weird thing. That leaves me room for improvement, so I’m pumped about the finals! Congrats to Grace Cornett on making the Finals as well. We were all excited because her brother finally got to come see her show, only she had no idea he was even there until she left the arena knowing she was in the finals – one exciting moment when she dropped Indy’s reins and ran to give her brother a big hug!
Well I have to get some rest before our two o’clock Showmanship practice! Good luck to all in the last few days, and congrats to everyone’s success so far!
Day 3 – Tuesday, August 5th – Woop!
Let’s see, in all I would describe today as AWESOME! I’m totally worn out but it was all more than worth it! Who cares about sleep really??? The showmanship prelims and semi-finals went really well. My first go was good, but Riley’s back in the second go had a little more flare. I actually had my tail fall out less than five minutes before I showed the first time – I sprinted back to the stalls and grabbed my old tail to put in quickly once we realized that the new tail didn’t just fall out, but fell apart! I honestly don’t think I’ve ever done this much running at a horse show – unless we’re overhauling my showmanship run.
After my first go I got to nap for almost two hours!!! Once I showed in the semi’s, I handed off Riley and sprinted back to the stalls to change for the reining. I quickly got ready and then started warming up. I definitely wasn’t as calm for my finals go, but JD was overall really good. I did have a slight error, but really I can’t complain – my first time at the Youth World in reining, my first reining finals, and I ended up in the top ten! It was a ton of fun and talk about an adrenaline rush!
Right after my pattern, I ran back to the stalls, put my hair back up in a bun, changed clothes and schooled my horsemanship on Riley. It went so much better than it did the night before, so I was feeling good about it. Now, I just had to go in and make it happen. After I schooled….I then switched back to JD for the reining awards – thus the reason I had to wear my sweet horsemanship clothes on JD haha. Once again, I get the privilege to congratulate another one of my good friends, Sammy Bayer – she had a beautiful pattern and definitely stayed calm under pressure.
It was so exciting for Sammy, and I wanted to watch her victory lap, but meanwhile, I was once again sprinting back to the stalls to grab Riley for the horsemanship. I warmed up, ran up to the stands to watch the first go, ran back down, jumped on, loped a circle, and showed. He was great! I just kept the pattern going and pushed for a lot of pace. Everything went great – the rail work was solid and he just relaxed perfectly.
I had no idea how the placings were going to go. I just knew I was happy with my go. When they announced the high-point award, I just got overwhelmed by all of the final feelings of “my last year.” That’s when the tears started, and didn’t really stop. I was trying to not cry, which I’m sure made a really awesome facial expression. Once they started the placings, I couldn’t breathe – all the way up to the last second. Standing there next to Courtney (one GREAT rider), obviously keeps you on your toes. She’s a beautiful rider and I was privileged to get to be there in the middle with her. Much love Courtney! I also want to congratulate Cheyenne Peterson – I didn’t get to see her go, but I heard she did a beautiful job! Way to go Chey!
I ended up skipping the Western Riding after the horsemanship, because of how much horse I ended up with in the finals – he needed a break to last for the other three events we still have.
Well, that is it for the day! I’m in need of that thing that normal people call… sleep, I think? Congratulations to everyone – there were a lot of great runs today!
Day 2 – Monday – Prepare For Reining and Horsemanship Prelims
I’m officially at the Youth World! I’m just now going to bed at 5:30 AM. I rode both of my horses tonight – JD in the warm up and then Riley once General Riding opened in the Coliseum.
I’m really excited to make my reining debut at the Youth World here in a few hours, but more than anything, I just want to put together an effective ride, and incorporate everything I’ve learned in the past two years.
Thankfully I have a later draw in the Reining so that I can grab about four hours of rest before I make my way back out to the show. By the time I put Riley in his stall for the rest of the morning, I looked over to see JD passed out – literally buried in shavings. (See picture) He is honestly the sweetest horse I’ve ever owned.
Horsemanship schooling went well also. We started schooling the rail when we first got out there to get our horses listening, but mostly to work on locking in our posture. That’s one thing I learned as an 11 & Under – if you can perfect your own posture, you become a much more effective rider. It is strange to start training your body to ride a horse like that, but give it…oh, a few years and it’s what you automatically default to as soon as you get on a horse – this has made the reining interesting but I’m progressing towards this adjustment.
A quick, but very deserved CONGRATULATIONS to Alexi Child who had a beautiful go in the Cow Horse Finals last night!
It’s been a very fun day – some of my favorite people arrived in the OK City this afternoon! For a few of us, it’s been a full year since we were all simultaneously together, so it’s going to be a fun week!
That’s all for now. And if you have a thing for Bowflex infomercials, watch Comedy Central at 5 o’clock in the morning – it was left on in my room and I’ve been too lazy to turn it off yet….. random, I know.
Day 1 – Sunday, August 3 – Move In
Oklahoma!
(Please re-sing the title above with the appropriate Broadway Show melody for good effect)
Can I just say how strange it is to be in the Superbarn after spending five years in the cattle barns in Ft. Worth! It feels like a completely different horse show and I’ve never seen so many people at the waterpark here in OK City. Riley actually got loose at about 3 in the morning during Texas Classic one year and security discovered him alone meandering around his Cattle Barn home – he obviously recognized his familiar home. But we’re ready for Oklahoma City – it’s very different to have Youth World here, but we’re both also very familiar with the facility.
John & Jill (Briggs) came with the horses Saturday afternoon and Pat (Patrice St-Onge) is bringing JD and Olivia’s horse today for the reining warm up tonight! Unloading everything went record fast this year.
I, of course, was the girl doing donuts in the golf cart in front of the horse trailers at the check-in booth. Yes, it might be my last year, but I have to do a few things that aren’t too serious or mature so I don’t feel too old – I know if you’re reading this and are older than me, you’re laughing at the ridiculousness of me feeling old when I’m 19, but it’s just the last youth year effect.
I’ve always pictured myself as the younger girl in the barn – I got really used to that, but obviously time doesn’t stand still so I’ve had to adjust to the idea of being at the other end of the spectrum. I’m ready for my last year, my last Youth World, and contrary to everyone’s initial thought, there’s absolutely no pressure – for figurative purposes only, this week is just one giant victory lap to wrap things up. I currently have two healthy and talented horses to show at the Youth World and just getting to walk into the arena is a blessing.
I’ve accomplished a lot of my major goals in the past few years, so for the next week, I just want to go in there, ride smart, and let my horses shine. They’re both absolutely extraordinary athletes, so my challenge is to get them prepared and ready to perform to the best of their abilities, and my official goal for the week is:
Go in there – just my horse, the pattern, and me… give my all and walk away.
It’s basic, but I’m a huge supporter of simplification – it gives direction and I’m just going to wear myself out if I think beyond what’s in my control.
