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 least. I realize also that this time is asking me to do the same for myself. As I am working Ginger down, I too am having a hard time suppressing the innate characteristics that drove me to go to Mexico (my competitive, analytical and problem-solving drive). This may be the harder part of working Ginger down.

As I look back at the experiences I have acquired over the past year, I can’t help but overanalyze every detail and see where I need to improve. I could say, like everyone else that rides, that this year had its ups and its downs. It had lessons to learn from and victories that I hope will carry me into the future.

Going to the Pan American Games is something I can’t shake out of my mind. My skin still tingles…

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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 event, ready as ever, and more importantly, that we could do it. I felt the same way walking around the barns yesterday as I did the first time I went novice at Ram Tap Horse Trials in Fresno. I remember I was so sick I could barely stand up straight, and I was excited with so much anticipation.

I walked out to watch some riders take on the course early. In complete honesty, when I walked the course in previous days, the course looked challenging, a true CCI** championship with some three-star questions. I didn’t know how everyone would fair. After the first couple horses, I was still very nervous, but as the day progressed so did the riding as horse-rider teams were taking the course head on. My confidence grew exceedingly at this, but as my mother kept reminding me, “I had to stick to MY plan.”

The audience was wild….

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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…

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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 being popular at the bottom. We realized that it is the relationships that we have within life that bring joy, and because of this we found joy in one another and our horses.

The girls and I would take trail rides weekly out in the farming fields behind the barn. The trails would include two pointing for far too long, trotting, swimming in the river, and of course stopping for snacks! On the way to the trailhead there was a golf course that had a snack shop. I am currently and was infamously known for my ravenous eating habits, some call it my “tape worm.” Of course, we couldn’t last the hour- to two-hour long trail ride without a bag of chips and a soda. So, we would stop at the golf course, tie our horses up and walk inside to grab our fuel.

I remember having the conversation with my riding friends…

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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 me even noticing. The veterinarian from El Salvador who I met while here has taken time out of each day to watch my horse be ridden. Ecuador invited me to have lunch with them when I was just finding friends. Mexico’s veterinarian got my mother a taxi to get to the horse park. I could go on, but the point is that I have received this quiet, but priceless help during my entire time here. I, the lone Puerto Rican…

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Once we entered the stadium, we were greeted by a roar from the crowd that was so loud that the ground we were standing on would vibrate. It was the most tremendous feeling. We sat in the bottom of the stadium as the presentation commenced. There were shows put on by Latin American pop artists and the most amazing dancing that was a combination of dancing on the ground and dancing of people suspended in the air.

Beneath every seat in the stadium…

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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 take off. I was amazed just looking at the coastline of California outlined by thousands of lights and a full moon. Our pilot conducted a mini-photo shoot of us with our horses, us with all of the pilots, us in the cockpit, us in the cargo area, and throughout the plane.

Knowing that we would not get any sleep until Tuesday evening and exhausted from our unplanned photo shoot, Ursula and I made a bed on the floor of the cargo jet out of horse blankets and Puerto Rican duffle bags only to wake up to our landing.

When we landed in Mexico, we were escorted to customs, where the Pan Am staff met us to grab our bags and help us through the customs process quickly. Once we made it to the horses, we drove in a federal police car behind the horses to the venues. First to dressage, to drop of Ursula’s horse, and then finally to the eventing facility called La Hipica Club. Nearly every other billboard while driving for 2½ hours around Guadalajara contained some sort of advertisement for the Games. As we were driving on the freeway, there was a lane designated for only Pan American Games officials and athletes. Wow, this is amazing.

Once I finally arrived at La Hipica…

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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 doing, so we soaked all the leather in water and polished every piece of leather with polish and a buffer.

I remember the night before the show. I was so excited I could barely calm my nerves. I woke up with sweaty palms in the middle of the night with so much excitement that I couldn’t fall back to sleep. The next morning we packed the horse and all the tack and headed to the small show. I rode in the cross bar classes with Little Sundance, where I did my best to jump all the jumps the first time. My tack was certainly shiny, but I could be heard squeaking from three arenas because my tack was all polished.

And, because we had soaked my bridle in water…

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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) three-day eventing.

My first horse, Ranger, came from a local classified called the Thrifty Nickle where everything you can imagine is sold from used mattresses to horses. It was with him I learned riding is about the journey not the end product. I really learned to enjoy the day-in, day-out of riding.

He took me to training level, and when I was 18, Molly Rosin (my coach at the time) found me my next horse to compete. Her name was Ballingowan Ginger (Ginger for short). When I saw her for the first time, she was short, fat, brown and slow, but I was in love. It was her calmness and personality that sold me on her.

I had no idea what this horse would become, but with some help from my coaches, Bea and Derek di Grazia and Loris Henry, Ginger has developed into more than I ever could have imagined. We currently compete at the intermediate level and completed our first CIC** and CCI** this past spring. In the least amount of words, it was a blast.

I was a full time student at Fresno State University studying chemistry and winemaking until I got an unexpected but exciting opportunity to attend the Pan American Games for Puerto Rico. I currently live and train in Carmel Valley with Bea and Derek where I sleep about 20 yards from my horse, and I currently am five days away from flying my horse to Mexico.

Aside from my horse life, I guess there are a few things I could tell you about myself….

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I must say I was the most anxious for cross country.  Derek told me that this course should be an exercise for Ginger; we needed to make time, because this was going to count as one of her gallops; this was a small change in plans because I thought we were going to go slower, but with perfect footing I knew this would be a great place to go for time.  After walking the course, I definitely saw some places where I would need to ride.  I don’t know why, but the first combination on course is always the one that I think about the most.  Maybe it’s because if we get caught out there, I know the rest of the course and the rest of day is dedicated to thinking, “What the heck was I doing up there?” and the disappointment that causes that mental video tape to play.  Nonetheless, I was nervous.  As I said, we needed to have a good round to build not only Ginger’s confidence, but my own.  The unfortunate part of having one horse is so much lies on just her doing well.  If you are wondering, “Why is it such a big deal?  Just do the dang thing”, there are some strange things to know about event riders: we are all far too competitive and we all wish for the cross country to be over before it starts, but once its done, whether we went well or terrible, we wish we could do it all over again.  So after galloping out of the box and jumping through our first combination, I got some relief.  By the end of our course, Ginger had jumped each jump the first time and…for the first time ever MADE THE TIME AT INTERMEDIATE!!  Overall, Ginger jumped around fantastically.  I am now finding out how to ride a fitter horse who will now eat up the distances in the combinations, and because of this I have to be sure not to override her.  That being said, I was very relieved we could have a strong cross country course to pack into our memory bank.

For stadium, Ginger and I had to go last because we held our first place position.  I have not had to do that in quite awhile and honestly was excited to get in the show jumping ring.  Our show jumping test was in the afternoon so I had all morning to think about our upcoming round.  In the show jumping, we recently switched to the bitless bridle, a hackamore, and Ginger is jumping stronger than ever.  When we finally got to go in the ring, Ginger was so excitable.  She jumped so well.  Over a couple of the larger oxers, mid-air, I felt my feet jingle in the stirrups because she was jumping so hard.  I just love riding her in the stadium jumping because she tries so hard.  We finished the round double clean, to end up in first place and finishing on our dressage score for the first time at the intermediate level.

This was a great final outing for Ginger and me.  It definitely raised my confidence.  Also, sitting in first place all weekend helped my nerves so much.  At the Pan American Games, I know no matter what place I am in, I am going to be feeling the pressure.  This weekend, with the afternoon show jumping, going last, and dealing with an excited horse, I had to face these nerves and make due.  It was great practice on how to stay focused and calm.

It is now a countdown until we leave for Mexico.  On our to-do list, we have two more gallops, shopping for jog outfits, packing, tying up some paperwork, and Woodside.  Ginger and I are entered to compete at the CIC** at Woodside and will do a combined test with the dressage test as a practice for the test we have for the Pan Ams and a show jumping round.  Then we will fly out a couple days later.  So until then it is boot camp and getting ready…and maybe a little shopping.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Ginger and Lauren