A chance to ride with 5- time Olympian, William Fox-Pitt? I signed up before I even 
thought about it. How often did an opportunity like that come along? Let’s go! I didn’t hesitate for a second. Not until it got closer to the clinic, that is.
For those of you that don’t know me, I have been in the eventing world for a while now, but I am getting a bit long in the tooth. I have managed to take 4 or 5 horses up through training level, and done a few prelim CT’s, but it is safe to say, my glory days are over. Jumps look a lot bigger now, and green horses have gotten a lot less amusing. My current mounts are Wiley, a slightly quirky TB that has fox hunted a lot, and evented a little, and my young, green, very chubby draft cross, Westley.
Winter being winter, for someone with no arena on their property, I kept at it the best I could, until the snow hit, and stopped me cold. I didn’t ride at all for about 6 weeks so I was greatly cheered to get going again with Angela Ariatti’s help and arena. I had 2 weeks to get up to speed for the clinic. Angela was a bit nervous because in January, I had the brilliant plan to ship up to Lakeside and jump Wiley around some courses. I judged the hunters there on Saturday, and figured on Sunday I would skip around the 2’6 jumpers. After all, Wiley ended his season at a Novice CT. They say horses keep you humble, and I guess I was due, because Wiley wouldn’t even jump a 2-foot vertical! He wasn’t nasty about it. He just wasn’t having any part of jumping in that closed up arena. I spanked, I cajoled, I begged. Nada. We didn’t get around a single course! Most folks would think there was a serious problem, but I know Wiley pretty well. He just didn’t like it there, and no meant no.
Sure enough, jumping at Angela’s went well, and I was starting to get my confidence back up after the winter hiatus. Then disaster struck. 4 days before the clinic, Wiley was lame left front. He managed to get kicked in the field. I momentarily considered taking Westley. I had a quick chuckle imagining careening around the ring on an obese woolly mammoth that hadn’t been ridden all winter, and has only gone starter, in front of an upper level phenom before I sobered up. (Thankfully, or I would have died.)
PC: Leah Vasquez Photography.
After hosing and dosing Wiley, he was sound and good to go by clinic day, although a bit keen with a few days off. Off we went! We were riding with 2 friends the first day, that both had more experienced mounts, and many less years of aches and pains then in my worn body. As we warmed up, I watched some of the novice group before us, and thought it seemed a bit high for Novice. I started wondering what the heck had I been thinking when I signed up. When we entered the ring for the meet and greet, I mentioned that we were a beginner novice group, as the fences didn’t seem to be coming down much. The Great William replied, “Are you making excuses already?” Gulp!
That session consisted of some bounces, singles and a combination. We practiced tight turns, and not giving up on our line so we could make it happen. Key take aways were maintaining straightness and rhythm while worrying less about a perfect distance. He is a big fan of trotting jumps to warm up so that the horse has to think about his leg placement, with less rider input. Also, if we had a stop, he wanted us to back up rather than circle over the smaller jumps. He stressed keeping the horse’s options clear, which basically meant few. When presented with a jump, they need to jump it. I was extremely pleased that it went rather well for all 3 of us, and I was only called a chicken once.
It was the second day that had our eyes popping out, mine and Wiley’s that is. The soft going switched our cross country session into a Kamikaze arena cross. The ring was strewn with trash cans, dressage letters, plastic rocks, orange cones, and anything else that didn’t look like a jump. There was even a faux corner and a brush jump so skinny it had to be on Ozempic. (Westley would have gotten lodged there for certain if I had brought him!) I am quite sure that crafty Mary Lowry had some involvement in this set up. Adding to the excitement, we had a gaggle of pony club kids having a splash fest in the near-by water complex. Wiley wasn’t particularly confident entering the ring, but after a spook at one of the trash can jumps, and a stop at the Liverpool, he settled right in.
Not much for dilly-dallying, William started us on short bending line courses with roll backs. We had 5 in our group today, and hardly any problems so he started raising the jumps! Beginner novice? Heck, we were jumping novice, and I am pretty sure the upright barrels with a flower box on top and the skinny chevron would have qualified as training. By far, the most interesting jump was the 2 trash cans side by side long ways with picket gates strewn across them that were jumped from end to end, that was also a skinny with gaps between the standards. I wasn’t certain that any horse, but especially Wiley, would be able to tell it was even a jump. But we did it! All 5 of us were able to do the courses and finish on a high.
After the clinic, I got some interesting messages from friends. Some that said they could have warned me. Some that said those lines were insane! Almost all that said Wiley and I did great. That felt pretty darn good. The best thing I got from the clinic was a well-needed boost to my confidence to start the season. So, if you get the chance to ride with the incredible WFP, I would highly recommend it. Just remember that if he says parallel that means the oxer, and a chevron is an arrowhead. Then just keep kicking!
