A Steward Goes Eventing: Arrival Day

I'm excited to announce that I'm off to eventing camp! Four days of dressage, cross country, and stadium jumping at Full Gallop Farm in Aiken, South Carolina followed by a schooling event at Poplar Place Farm in Hamilton, GA, all under the expert tutelage of Halliea Milner of Go With It Farm, Milton, Ga. I hope you'll follow along as I blog about my little venture into equestrian's dark side.

First, a bit about myself. I'm best known as an IEA steward and IHSA coach, which basically means I spend a whole lot of time standing on the ground telling people to ride confidently forward to their fences, and markedly less time actually riding confidently forward to the fences myself.

Me in my natural habitat

And a bit about my mount, Sam. A Dartmoor/Holsteiner cross, Sam combines a snotty little know-it-all pony attitude with the lazy slow fatness of a warmblood, all wrapped up in 15 hands of sass. I would argue that his most endearing quality is that he's cute when he's angry. I'm sure he would disagree.

My gallant steed

In all seriousness though, remember that 'confidently forward' stuff I mentioned earlier? Well, Sam's got that part covered. He's one of the favorite draws in our IHSA region, always carrying his rider safely around the course, with angry pony faces included at no extra charge. If this little hony could talk, he'd say he could do his job much easier if his rider would just shut up and hold on, which is exactly what I plan on doing this week.

And finally a bit about my accommodations: my three horse living quarters trailer that has never been lived in in the six years I've owned it. I plugged it in earlier this week and was ecstatic to hear the AC fire right up (did I mention its 95+ degrees in Aiken this week?). So I've got AC plus a super comfy air mattress, a mini fridge, and my lap top. A palace fit for a queen? Maybe not, but suitable for this hunter princess? I think so. 

My accommodations, actually really cool!

Well, enough for now. Time for some Fourth of July fireworks. Stay tuned, cross country schooling tomorrow morning!

Amanda Garner is an Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA), Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), and Georgia Hunter Jumper Association (GHJA) steward, schooling show judge, IHSA coach at University of North Georgia, and owner of Epiphany Farm, LLC in Dahlonega, Georgia. She is also a member of the IEA Board of Directors and the author of "A Parent's Guide to the Interscholastic Equestrian Association."