National Horse Show 2023

Every year I have been fortunate enough to qualify and go to National Horse Show it has been such a surreal feeling. Pre-2020 Sarah dreamt of qualifying for the THIS NHS Adult Medal but definitely had doubts of it ever happening for her. I remember the inaugural year thinking, “yes, this is my goal.”

What I would like to take the time to do first is commend the National Horse Show for having an adult final that is inclusive and actually attainable for the adult amateur who cannot show multiple times a month or season in Wellington to receive multipliers to qualify for some other adult amateur finals – not naming any names. Kudos to NHS!

You can check out my horse show packing blog for some pointers on what I brought with me. I also posted a reel of my clothing articles – it is key to back for all seasons when going to the Kentucky Horse Park in the fall.

I will say this year my “pre-show” jitters stayed relatively contained. I didn’t really start to get nervous until the weekend before we left. Even when it happened they were manageable, which was amazing. Seriously, I used to get so nervous I wouldn’t be able to sleep and couldn’t eat before I showed or the morning we left. Luckily, a lot of mindset work has really improved that for me!

Day 1, Tuesday, October 24, 2023 “Ship In Day” … I want to start with thanks to TrainLikeAthletes I was able to lift up my 4×6 mats … By. My. Self!! … As of right now the KHP does not have mats, the base of the stalls are concrete (the new updates to include stalls with mats – YAY!). So in 2020 I bought a set of 6 mats at 30-40$ per mat and have saved myself TONS in the 5-6 times I’ve been back to the KHP. As we all know stall mats are heavy so I am ecstatic to have made that “win” before even sitting on Ocelot’s back! I got the mats in Ocelot’s stall, added his 6 bags of shavings (to start), topped off a water bucket and unloaded him before we started working on the non-living items. Being organized on loading makes the unloading process much more efficient! We got everything unloaded and then it was time to clean Oce up a little and go hack in the Alltech. Ocelot usually starts a little forward on Day 1 which I now appreciate, rewind to 4-5 years ago and I did not appreciate or enjoy a forward Ocelot. He even had a little bit of silly business this year, which makes me happy to know he’s feeling that good a few months shy of turning 20. It’s almost like he knows he has to prepare me for green horse antics/sillies, I cannot say it enough how great a teacher Ocelot is. After a great hack we went back to our stall and started soaking grain. Then off to graze! Our favorite part of Kentucky. If you can’t find me with my horses at our stalls we’re almost always grazing. The best thing happened while we were grazing… We spontaneously ran into two other equestrians who we knew through Instagram – Brianna (@khaleesi_horsegram) and Sara (owner of @shop_hunterclub). It was so fun to chat and meet ponies in real life! After over an hour of grazing we wrapped up, tucked Oce in for bed and went back to the hotel to get some sleep before our early morning for Day 2.

Day 2, October 25, 2023 “Warm Up and Age Group Eq Day” … so this was definitely a much earlier day. Ocelot is very particular about his feeding times, so we made sure to get there to give him a small serving of breakfast before riding. I want to say I had the 7:12am slot for my warm up over fences. We were given 8 minutes to school. I started with a semi-good pace but was loose in my position. My trainer shouted some reminders to me and quickly I got it back together to end with the numbers I needed down the bending lines… my arch nemesis. Then it was time to untack, graze and after about an hour Ocelot got the rest of his breakfast. After that we put him up and went to go watch some of the younger adults’ rounds. I was very pleased to find out I was in section A of the older adults, starting at 3/3:30pm. Section B started at … 6:50pm – UGH. I have slowly started to figure out what foods fuel me at horse shows without disrupting my stomach. If you have trouble with food at horse shows or in general I highly recommend reaching out to a certified dietician for information. I am not going to share my “pre-horse show” meal here because what works for me what not work for you. Then after A LOT of waiting and a few more grazing sessions it was time to get ready to horse show. I get Oce groomed and tacked up myself – I’m pretty particular (shocking). Hopped on at Barn 13 and walked on down to the Alltech. Oce warmed up great and we went in for course 1. NHS does not mess around in the equitation, you always start with a line. The dotted line is in effect as well so you can’t tour the entire arena. You also have to be on it with your pace from the get-go. First up was a 5 stride off the left lead and then bending to an unimpressive jump at the top of the ring which was supposed to be executed in 7 strides. I landed in a pile a little after jump 2 because I wasn’t expecting to ACTUALLY get the right strides the first line. For reference, last year we jumped into the center of jump 1 – an oxer – because yours truly had 0 pace. Any ways, back to this year. I landed off 2 a little unbalanced so when you watch the video I land to the right and end of on the outside track a little too much and there was the add step. Moving on… to another bending. For someone who does not love bendings, I really put myself in situations where I have to do them an awful lot. My thoughts, that’s the only way you get better. Jumps 4 to 5 rode 7 strides. I did a pretty dang good job keeping to my inside plan and track. Next, around to jump 6 – a gappy oxer away from the gait – FLASHBACKS to 2022. But I nailed it in the recommended 8 strides – YAY! Jump 8 coming around the top of the ring, a skinny wall-ish jump. It was 4 strides to a 1 stride. The 4 walked a bit snug. When things are snug that is hard for me with Oce. You have to sit up and be tall but you can’t think too much whoa otherwise you’re getting the add step – see why I ride the struggle bus with my gigantic strided Enzo? So there you have it – round one done! You can watch it here. It was pretty dang good I might say. I was able to head back to the barn and give Oce a minute before my second course and flat. Okay, fast forward 30-40 minutes and I get to go back for my second trip after jumping 1-2 warm up jumps. I try to not use too many schooling jumps and will often go in with a less than perfect school because Oce is getting older and I’m trying to savor all the jumps he has left (I might be tearing up writing this). Okay, focus Sarah, round two. Okay so we start up the other line – the bending 8 – starting with the gappy oxer. I got the jump in done well but landed on the left and was too far on the outside track before I started making a decision to try to redirect and we added there. Then around to the 4-to-1, done well. I love a combination with Ocelot. Around to my 5-to-7, NAILED it. Then around to my bending in 7. You can watch round 2 here! He was fantastic and I was so happy how I rode, even with my mistakes. We then stuck around for the flat, which I rode well for me, but I still have work to do to get a piece of the eq flat. My winter homework is to find more depth in my heels and continue to work on stabilizing my lower leg. I also don’t package Oce up a lot because honestly, he doesn’t like it and I don’t want to do that to him at nearing 20. After this I untack, take him out to graze while his food soaks and then after an hour or so bring him back so he can have dinner. After he eats and has some peace and quiet I bring him back out to take care of him after working so hard for me. Poultice, wrap, Ulcergard, you know, all the things. Then I tucked him into bed and we headed back to the hotel where I fell asleep in -5 seconds.

Day 3, October 26, 2023 “Medal Finals Day” … After the age group eq I felt pretty confident going into medal finals day. I went around 15/20 in the order so a good place to be. The course was REALLY fun. Check it out posted below. The course started similar to how round 1 from our first day of showing. Oce has a pretty good left drift so we jumped out of the first line great and to the left side. This put us on the outside track. With the unimpressive top jump without a ground rail, Oce know he could really get to the base which did not help us out and we had a really snug add. But I kept coming around the corner to our first 2-to-6 and did it so well. When I first got Ocelot it wasn’t until 2020 that I started being able to really do 1 and 2 stride lines well. So I was ecstatic. Next, around to the skinny wall away from the ingate. However, here his left drift helped us maintain the inside track for the 6-to-2. I had to sit up tall because this one was a tad more snug than the first. Then around to the top to a bending 6 strides – NAILED IT! Getting pretty good at these bending lines I might add. Then I had to just ride off the rail to the THIS jump. This jump was in the middle so I had to keep my body even and not anticipate the change of lead otherwise we were going to have a swap. Success, no swap! Last was the hedge jump at the end. This kind of caught Oce’s eye because I honestly think he didn’t realize we were jumping it until I added more leg. I suspect he thought it was filler/end decorations. Overall, such a big improvement from THIS NHS Adult Medal Finals 2022! We did not make the call back because of our add so we went back to the barn and I took care of Oce and we headed back to our hotel for the night. Watch my medal finals round here!

Day 4, October 27, 2023 “Hack Day” … Friday we had no horse showing. It was a laid back day. We got up early to feed Oce and then headed back to the hotel for a little while. We then came back to the show grounds and watched some childrens equitation rounds, ate some lunch. It was then time to hack Oce. During NHS sometimes there are other horse shows going on so all of the rings are not available for hacking. So I had to put on my big girl panties and go ride out in the field… in October… in Kentucky… On Ocelot… #iykyk. He was definitely a bit up and looky but we kept it together and were able to walk, trot, canter out there. Perhaps the biggest success of the show for me and him. No, seriously. We then hung out a bit longer, got him fed and left back to the hotel to get to bed early.

Day 5, October 28, 2023 “Hunter Day” … This day was hard. I didn’t show until 6:50pm and I went 26 of 26. It was a lot of firsts for me. My first night class and my first time going last in a “big” class. This was a huge test of my nerves and mental game. We got up similarly to the day before to feed Oce and then went back to the hotel to hang out while he had a quiet morning. We did the same thing as the day before, I grazed Oce a bunch, watched some equitation trips and had some lunch. Okay, so now the children’s hunters are up. Watched a handful of rounds and then I was done watching. I wanted to get back to the barn and start preparing. I think sometimes at shows I am guilty of over-watching, if that makes any sense at all. Its 6:30pm time to get tacked up and head on down to the Alltech for one last time this season. Oce warmed up okay, but I could tell he was a little tired and in a bit of a mood. I did my best to acknowledge it but not let it consume me. So time to go in the ring. I find jump one beautifully. Like amazing. Coming around left lead going away from the gait we have a 4 stride and I can feel him sucking back. I kick get a bit of a long distance and have to really work to get the number out. We then come around to the outside 7. I felt the perfect distance coming in and Oce decided a snugger option was more appropriate. Again, I didn’t make a big deal of it and kept riding for my 7 strides. Away from the ingate got us again with another snug one but what I can now really see as a big improvement in me as a rider is I continued and got out in the 6 recommended strides. Pre-2023 Sarah 200% would’ve added there. We ended with a good 5-to-1. A good line to end our show season. Perhaps not the round I would’ve liked with a score of 69. I did get a bit emotional later in the evening after taking care of Ocelot. Because after this round I was so frustrated and disappointed, I work so so hard and continue to just miss the ribbons due to minor mistakes. Now watching it I can see how many good decisions I made and how far I’ve come in the past year as a rider. I made it happen with a partner who just wasn’t having it at past-7pm at night. I’ll get that round posted soon. I have been really reflecting on it and finding the good despite not bringing home a ribbon like I had last year.

Day 6, October 29, 2023 “Heading Home Day” … we had packed up most of the trailer Saturday evening so that all we had to do Sunday morning was feed Oce, load him and get my stall mats. We stopped at Buccees on the way back – highly recommend. I got home in time to turn Oce out with his best bud Weston. Then got a quick hack in on Enzo after he had over a week off (he was an angel). Then headed to my home-home to unpack see my doggos and kitties, okay and my husband. While I wanted to drift into a post-horse show hibernation for 2 business days after I had to get right back to work on Monday, #adultammyproblems.

Well, there you have it there’s my recap of NHS 2023. I hope you enjoyed reading about it! It really means so much to me to have you and so many other people supporting me and my journey.