He also started training a green five-year-old Belgian Warmblood sales horse, Sam I Am, who'd been with Grazing Fields only a little longer than he had, and whom Kathy had brought to the WEF for the experience. In Florida, Chris rode a more experienced horse. (Carlos has since found a perfect career at Grazing Fields as a mount for both Juniors and adults in the 3-foot divisions.) However, Kathy was concerned that he might not be reliable enough for the 2004 Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, to which Chris would be going as a Grazing Fields working student. When I walk into the ring, I feel as if I've done the course before."Ĭhris's horse Carlos grew in confidence with steady, consistent work. That helps me a lot and keeps me focused. "We developed a few techniques: For instance, I close my eyes while I'm standing at the in-gate and go over each part of the course: where my horse should be underneath me, where my aids should be, the striding between fences, how I should ride each corner. Kathy helped me so much with not just how my body's working in the ring, but how my brain is working as well." Now my rule is, 'I tell you the course once you remember it you go out there and do it.' So he can think more quickly, and he's gotten quite good at it."Ĭhris remembers: "I would sometimes get a little desperate on course: If I didn't know where I was in terms of the distance to the jump, or got a little nervous, I would be inclined to just kick my horse off the ground or have my whole round look a little desperate because I wasn't really confident. When he first came here, he used to have to repeat a course to me three or four times before he could go in the ring and execute it. We worked on keeping his heels down and his reins shorter, but my main goal was to teach him to think for himself, and think more quickly. "He certainly had all the pieces," she says. Kathy and Chris agree that the part of his riding that needed most improvement was what he calls "focus and concentration" and she terms "the head game" of equitation. "But a few of them stand out, and Chris certainly is one of them." She's always willing to find a way to help motivated students who have tight budgets. Working students are not unusual at Grazing Fields, says Kathy Fletcher. And after the workday ended, around 4:30 or 5:00, "I rode any horses I could get my hands on."
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He worked a full day Saturday and a half-day Sunday-"I needed to be able to get home and do some homework!" He used his one-hour Saturday lunch break to ride. His duties as a working student included feeding, mucking stalls, and turning horses out. Kim recalls, "The kids did well in the ring, but there was also a really nice feel about the program: a kind of family atmosphere and team spirit."Ĭhris was in his third year of high school, with only two more years of eligibility as a Junior rider, when he came to Grazing Fields after the 2003 equitation finals. "I care so much that I want to see what other people do, and who they train with." He and his parents soon noticed something special about the group of competitors from Grazing Fields Farm, several of whom went on from Regionals to the Maclay finals. But he had a bit of a stop in him at 3-foot-6, especially if I got a little inaccurate to the jumps." Chris and Carlos had a good round at the Maclay regionals (though they didn't qualify for the national finals), but refusals eliminated them at the Medal finals in Harrisburg.Īt shows, Chris made a practice of watching other riders and their trainers, looking for tips to improve his own riding.
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He packed me around all day over 3-foot fences. "He was great, hardy enough to stay sound through all the lessons and showing I needed to do to catch up. In 2003 he qualified for the national Medal finals and got as far as the Region 1 Maclay finals with Carlos, a horse the Ewanouskis had recently bought. Competing regionally only whetted Chris's appetite for bigger challenges, such as the 3-foot-6 equitation divisions.