Rewriting The Past
I realize, being who I am, that I have a tendency to be overly competitive and overly analytical. When I see a problem, I want to fix it immediately. Since my return from the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, these qualities certainly haven’t changed. My job since I’ve been back has been to work my horse down from her fitness. To be frank, it isn’t the easiest goal I’ve ever had to achieve. Ginger is holding onto her fire. Trying to suppress this for the time being, after so many months of building it, is hard, to say the...
read moreDisappointed But Not Defeated
I woke up this morning with a feeling of incompletion after cross-country at the Pan American Games. Twenty-four hours ago I couldn’t sleep or eat. I woke up with clammy hands before my alarm. I was ready for the day. When we arrived at La Hipica Club, we loaded the horses into trailers and took all our supplies over to Santa Sofia Country Club, where the cross-country was to be held. I got on for a quick ride when I got there to feel the footing and get a little air in my horse’s lungs. I kept reminding myself that we were ready for this...
read moreDressage Day At The Pan Ams Was The Best Possible
It was the best I could have imagined. It’s like she knew today was the day to do her very best in dressage. She never put up a fight but was compliant and better in the ring than I could have ever expected. Today my horse, Ballingowan Ginger, and I put in our dressage test for the Pan American Games. It was surreal. As I trotted into the big arena, there was a large audience, huge flower boxes and a big-time feel to the arena. It hit me… To continue reading this post, please click on the following link:...
read moreRiding On A Golf Course Is A Dream Come True
It is good to remember the past. It brings me home, reminds me of what I’ve been through, and strengthens me for what is to come. When I was young, I was on the show team at the barn where I grew up learning to ride called Mountain View Corrals. The team was comprised of my best friends. We understood one another at the age of 13 to even now. We would spend summers riding horses, swimming, playing and eating. The girls and I had similar priorities in life with riding, family, faith and friends at the top and outward appearances, boys and...
read moreThe Spirit of the Pan American Games has been Overwelming
Walking down the barn aisles on the first day was overwhelming. I tried to ask for help in broken Spanglish, which left me wondering if I even spoke English. I came early to the Pan American Games without a groom, without a coach, without a veterinarian and without a team. I relied on my past showing experiences to pull me through. The Pan American Games, however, is not just like any other horse show experience. After I found my stall, I was pleasantly surprised when one of the grooms quietly carried all of my things to my tack room without...
read moreOpening Ceremonies
I had the chills, the kind that run up and down your spine, and my heart was beating so hard in my chest it was hard to breathe as we walked into opening ceremonies at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. A screaming crowd of 50,000 people shook me. On the way to the stadium Puerto Rico put on quite the show with drumming, dancing and singing all the way to the stadium. It was exhilarating to be surrounded by people with such a joy for the moment they were in. All the way to the stadium, people cheering for the 6,000 athletes from 42...
read moreTouching Down in Mexico
Anyone who ever said the Pan American Games are “kind of a big deal” made the understatement of the century. It finally hit me that this was a huge deal when I stepped onto the tarmac on Monday after 16 hours of traveling to look up at a HUGE jet only to realize that this jet was the one that would take Ginger and me to the Pan Am games. Our three superbly hilarious Mexican pilots made the trip more than entertaining. Ursula Lange, my Puerto Rican teammate who will be riding in the dressage, and I got to ride in the cockpit for landing and...
read moreMexico Bound
When I was a little girl, I had my very first horse show at a local schooling hunter-jumper show. I remember when Laurel, my riding coach, asked me if I would like to go. I was giddy with excitement and couldn’t be more proud of myself. I rode a school horse named Little Sundance. The day before the show I brought home the barn’s tack that I would be using to be cleaned. My dad, who is one of my greatest supporters, was so excited that I was invited to show that he stayed up all night with me to clean my tack. We had no idea what we were...
read moreMeet Lauren Billys
I have had the awesome opportunity to blog for a major horse magazine called The Chronicle of the Horse. My blogs will continue on their website, but I will put snipets from each blog with a link to continue you to the remainder of the article. I hope you enjoy! Hi. My name is Lauren Billys. I am 23 years old. I’ve been riding since the age of 8 and grew up falling in love with horses in boxer shorts, tennis shoes and half chaps. My best friends and I learned how to ride by trail riding, swimming down the river, and (my favorite)...
read moreA Weekend of Firsts
As I mentioned last week, this past weekend was spent at the Twin Rivers Horse Trials in Paso Robles, California. Upon arriving at the event, I was unusually anxious and nervous. I really wanted to be sure that this was a positive and confidence building outing for Ginger and I so we could pack our things and prepare for Mexico the next two weeks without replaying the mental video of something not working out at our most recent show. As I have mentioned probably countless times before, Ginger has been conditioned and is getting fitter...
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