United States Eventing Association

The opening date for the 2009 Bit of Britain/USEA American Eventing Championships is drawing closer, and if you are having trouble deciding whether to enter just read this blog by 2008 Beginner Novice Amateur Winner, Annie Desmond, to help give you a nudge in the right direction!

The 2008 AEC’s were the absolute highlight of my riding career. Britannica is my 1st horse and I started eventing about 4 years ago. I had read all the articles about the inaugural AEC’s on the East Coast with interest and then envy, but it was a long way to go and it felt like something that other, more talented people would do. But I kept reading and thinking about it. It sounded like so much fun, and a way for the amateurs to get recognized. I started to REALLY want to be a part of all that! The camaraderie, the sense of having something worthwhile and important to strive for, the idea of training diligently and honoring my horse and my trainer really motivated me. I didn’t think we would win or anything, but I wanted a goal. I wanted to be really prepared, and do as well as we could. It felt like the Olympics for the little guys.

I started planning a year ahead and told Matt Brown, my trainer what I was hoping to do. To his credit, he didn’t laugh. He sat down with me and we planned our timetable and figured out what it would take to get qualified. I then grabbed a couple of girlfriends and flew out to the 2007 AEC’s to get my bearings and scout the X-C course. It looked like a championship course; beautiful, grassy, elegant. But much to my delight, it looked like something that I could possibly, maybe, do!

The long drive to Lamplight in Illinois initially really had me worried, but somehow I convinced my dear friend Sue Buxton to accompany me on this (hopefully) grand adventure. She is very brave, hauled horses across country when she was a teenager, knows how to change trailer tires on the side of the road, is trained as a vet, and can shoe horses if need be. The trip itself was SO much more fun than I had anticipated. Our dear little horses got on that trailer every morning just before sunrise and trundled off again 12 hours later. We saw thousands of miles of this beautiful country from California to Nevada to Utah to Wyoming to Iowa and then on to Illinois. We camped or stayed every night at little horse hotels along the way and met wonderful people who got up at the crack of dawn to make us a hot breakfast or just wish us well. We saw breathtaking sunsets and drove through amazing cloudbursts. Just arriving at Lamplight safe and sound felt like a wonderful accomplishment for this 40-something year-old soccer mom.

Once there the adventure only got better. Lamplight is a world-class facility and eventing people are some of the nicest people on this planet. We stabled next door to Amy Tryon (!) and one aisle over from Darren Chiacchia. We got to watch Leslie Law ride around at breathtaking speed on his golf cart and then again ride brilliantly at the young horse championships. Boyd Martin even smiled at my horse. (I think) We got REALLY up-close to all of them. People I had only just read about in magazines. My eventing heroes! Our lovely neighbor whom we camped next to at the show grounds turned out to be the 1st lady of Kentucky. She was there with a girlfriend, both competing on their sweet horses, and she introduced us to mint juleps!

It was fun hearing about where all the competitors hailed from; Texas, Washington, Florida, Virginia, Alabama, California, Colorado, Vermont, South Carolina, Michigan. I was honored and delighted to be a part of that crowd.

My husband came out, and my mother-in-law flew in from Missouri. My trainer arrived on the red-eye. My friends and fellow riders back at our barn in Sonoma County got on the internet, followed all the results and called and texted upbeat messages several times a day. I felt like a celebrity!

The fairytale ending of actually winning the Beginner Novice adult amateur division was almost unbelievable. I won many, many cool prizes that I treasure. (I even won an AMERIGO SADDLE!!!!!) I blew the photos up to almost life-size and papered my barn with them. The person who drove back to California felt like a very different person than the one who had arrived a week earlier.

I would HIGHLY recommend this adventure of a lifetime! Grab a friend and a trusty horse, get a couple of maps and fill up your ice chest. Take a chance!

Right now I am training as hard as I can to qualify for the 2010 AEC’s (wherever they may be!) at the Novice level. And in the evenings, when the sun is low and the barn is quiet, I lean into my beloved horse and rub her long, velvety ears and dream AEC dreams.