Tonight my KICKOFF for the winter training season formally began. In the cold clear night air in northern Alabama, music could be heard pulsing through the pastures and mingling with the damp fog, filling my round pen with rhythm and purpose. My yearling fillies, Dixie and Merry B, were eager and ready. Their eyes were shining; and as we have worked over the past few weeks, I can feel them mentally maturing and reaching for more, attuning themselves to me, lightening themselves in each task--and occasionally nipping me as they test the boundaries as yearlings will always do. They are growing, they are mentally maturing, coming into themselves as young horses do, and they are READY. Both fillies have a weanling show season under their belts; they have trailered and tied, clipped and bathed, showed from outdoor grass tracks to air-conditioned arenas. Now they are ready to mature and to shine.
Championship shows begin right here, in my muddy round pen, with me dressed in my insulated Carhardtt overalls, the horses with their muddy winter coats, because it begins inside my mind. This is how and where I start to sort through the mechanics of leading the fillies, getting the head position right, getting their gait flowing, the tail swishing, keeping their focus on me, and to getting the energy and purpose calibrated “just so.” This is where we sort through the exercises and the daily grind and start to find “competitive edge.” Competitive edge is those little strengths that shine through, maybe a bold attitude, confidence and speed, where I know that if I pull that filly off the rail and urge her forward to show her stuff, she won’t panic or freeze but will come right with me and knock the judge’s socks off with an outstanding flowing gait and electrifying charisma and show presence that says “LOOK AT ME; I’M THE BEST THERE IS.” The chills go down my spine as everything just clicks into place, and I KNOW that she is giving the performance of a lifetime.
I have had those special moments--I’ve been there and done that before, and somehow, I will evoke that same brilliance out of these two fillies that are still young and unformed. I don't have the answers of how to get there yet, but that is the journey we are taking and that is the purpose we hold in our minds - an ELECTRIFYING, soul-shaking performance.
Working amateur owned and trained means I do everything myself. I plan all the workouts, the rest periods, when to push, when to give in, all the exercises, all the feeding, all the conditioning. I cope with all the setbacks, the plateaus, the occasional kick or bite or wild runaway, the injuries, and the sicknesses (mine and the horses'). I set the purpose and tone for every workout. I set and organize my focus, so I can organize the focus of my fillies.
Tonight my focus is on the passion of the championship. As the music washes over me, with The Who singing I Can See For Miles and Miles, I can see myself back in the show ring in the world grand championship class with Quantum, my solid black filly. 30,000 people cheer and wave flags in the stands. I can feel the energy; I feel my horse revving her engine in the entry chute, quivering as she waits for me to turn her loose. Quantum is a champion through and through. She is bold. She is brilliant. She has that intense eagerness of a show horse waiting for the cue to “turn on” and yet has the steadiness of extreme confidence in herself that she is going in that show ring to “own” it, “own” her performance, and “own” her ribbon when the numbers are called.
Moving far beyond the fear of my blind spots, the pain raging in my eye and face, I access that place inside myself where championship performance is born. Right here in the muddy round pen in the clarity of a cold December night. I feel myself connect with that space inside me that fuels the passion, and I know I’m ready. I am ready.
I am ready to go to the next level, to take these two fillies to the next level. We’re ready to take the mechanics, the simple lessons, and the conditioning sessions and began to organize the power, the purpose, and the energy until it is absolutely electrifying!! Brilliance is about to be born.
I can see for miles and miles and miles…and I can see myself on the big screen TVs in my mind’s eye as I enter the world grand championship show ring next fall to set the crowd hanging on the edge of their seats...even though for now the barn floodlights are still blurred and distorted and I am "feeling my way" around the pen in the semi-dark by the movement of the horse in my hand...This is my own technique for working vision-impaired, to keep one hand on the horse to feel her movement and focus change even when my eyes can't see it...