My Riding Resume by Debbie V

I started my riding career when Kristen was 6 years old. I had a good friend, some of you know, Chris Hibbits & her daughter Annie, who rode with Nancy. Chris convinced Nancy to run a kids birthday party- I think it was the first and last (but maybe not). Kristen loved the horses and Chris told me I had to get her on one. She was a hyper kid who was athletic but never stuck to anything so I figured what harm could it be??? I found a local barn on Easy Street, that was just starting up. The lessons were very reasonable, something like $12.00. The ponies were not! Surprisingly, our own Amy was at the barn at the time and the owner convinced her to give Kris lessons. Amy made me get rid of the white K-Mart cowboy boots (I bought her when her first instructor told me to get her some boots)and buy some real paddock boots. Well as bargains go... these lessons were too good to be true and Amy soon gave up the teaching due to employment issues. We didn't see Amy again until Kris graduated from college last May. After Amy, we came to Nancy. Kris was in 2nd grade. Nancy had several assistant trainers who worked with the kids so Nancy was not her instructor (She didn't do the beginners). This is where Kris and Rachel became friends ... some 18 years ago. I, as you can imagine was a riding momzilla. Not having an understanding of anything, lessons, expenses, progress, ribbons, etc- I was very unrealistic. Let me say it again VERY UNREALISTIC! I wanted my kid on the best pony, for the least amount of money, winning each time out while taking 1/2 hour group lesson once a week. And why couldn't she have free riding time to SCHOOL the pony?? She was a good rider, right??? It took me many years to comprehend what this whole riding thing was all about. Once Kris got her pony(Timmy Pony)- my education started to build. I could brush the horse, pick feet, clean stalls, bathe(no easy feat because he was a gray) and painted jumps, quite intricately,if I don't say so myself. I watched every lesson. We then bought a green horse, George, who continued my education. At this point Kris was riding with Helen since Nancy had gone back to school full time and given up the horse business. Learned a whole DIFFERENT perspective from Helen. Helen didn't care for George for Kris and we decided to sell him (after speaking to him through the horse psychic). Cindy Taylor was leasing Best Chance and running a horse sale business, Innview Farm. We brought George back to be sold. Kris enjoyed the easy, carefree style of Cindy and decided to keep George and stay at Innview which was at Best Chance. Cindy only had 1 adult rider, Carol; 1 teen, Kristen and 1 child, Lauren. They all rode all sorts of sale horses. Talk about an education... This is where I learned more about horse care, barn care, selling horses, preparing horses for sale, showing horses to perspective buyers, ordering feed, prices, layovers, body clipping, the Pony Hunter circuit, (you had to see Kris the first time she jogged a horse-never saw it before) even rehabilitating a starving rescued horse (along with Carol). Kris finished at Best Chance with Kim who gave her a project, Honour- She trained this baby almost exclusively on her own from race track stallion to 3 ft. in a year. That's where she developed her love of the babies and her patience. Honour was sold. Kris went off to college, stopped riding regularly for four years except for stopping in to the barn on holidays and summer. My riding days appeared to be over and I did miss them. Kris then started grooming for Nancy and you all know the rest. You might ask yourself why this is MY story? You need to appreciate that I did it all, except actually ride. And one day this fall, Nancy said it was my turn to get on something and I took her up on the offer. Did I mention that I "watched every lesson?"- I knew exactly what I was supposed to do and how it should look, just couldn't do it. Now just waiting for my next lesson- I've been told I'm a natural- Kris had to get it from somewhere, right??? I'm 56 years old and for the record- Elaine is MY HERO!