Inspiration

The other day I was looking through one of my favorite books, Careers with Horses, doing some research for a project.  Now, as a journalist I have to try and remain objective at all times, but I have to say that personally, this book probably changed my life.  As cheesy as that sounds, it's true.

There are so many professions listed in the book, but there's really only one that stands out in my mind.  When I read the profile on Moira C. Harris, that was it for me.  I hadn't even considered that writing about horses could be a career for anyone, let alone for me, but here was this woman, the editor of a magazine that I read religiously every month, saying that it was possible to have a successful career combining writing and horses.

I always loved reading the editor's note in Horse Illustrated.  Harris was pretty, her horse was gorgeous, she was funny, and she was the boss. All of a sudden I had an image of myself, pictured on my very own editor's note, myself as the boss, and I liked that image.  From then on, Harris became the focal point, the tangible goal for my education and potential career. Moira C. Harris became this representation of everything I wanted to be, everything I aspired to.

Earlier this year, when I had my first published grown-up article, I posted a triumphant status on facebook: "Look out Moira C. Harris, I'm coming for you!"  When I later found out that she had passed away after a battle with breast cancer I felt horrible. I worried that somehow my ambitious comment had been misinterpreted by the universe and it was my fault the horse world lost this amazing voice.

While I was paging through Careers with Horses again, I inevitably went back to the interview with Harris.  It made me so sad to read about how happy and busy she was just a few years ago and now to realize that she's gone. That's the amazing thing about the written word though, it is immortal. Long after we are gone, our words remain.  Even though she is gone, Moira C. Harris will continue inspire me, and I have no doubt- others like me, and push me to pursue the career I want.

$40,000 Nutrena Grand Prix

Finally, an eon later, I bring you the $40,000 Nutrena Grand Prix from Midwest Horse Fair:

In the past couple of years I've noticed a lot more events for the hunter/jumper people.  Before, a lot of the people I knew didn't attend because they thought there wasn't anything there for them.  Two years ago, Stacia Madden did an equitation clinic and last year, Nick Karazissis has put on a great clinic for the past two years and last year MHF introduced the Nutrena Grand Prix. Suddenly, everyone from every barn I've ever ridden at is going to the Fair and more specifically, to the Grand Prix.

Last year, the place was absolutely packed. This year it was still pretty full, but there were a couple of open sections.  I don't know if this is due to the ticket price ($18 for the cheap seats and $35 for the lower level seats) or the weather.  As you might recall from my earlier post, the weather was very crappy.

Still, the course was challenging, the competitors were good, and the hot pretzels were delicious. (I have a bit of a food obsession, don I?)  

Both last year and this year's fence had a bogey fence. Last year, it was a liverpool with wavy planks wherein the pool was pushed completely under the jump with no groundline.  This year's bogey fence didn't claim as many good rounds as the liverpool, but the first jump of the course still saw its fair share of knock-downs. From my height I couldn't determine why the riders had the first fence (pictured above ) down, maybe the horse sighted in on the fence next to it, maybe the cups were just shallow.

The crowd noise played a factor for some, but there were a lot of really good rounds at the grand prix. I was excited to see so many young riders there (even if it does make me feel old) doing well.  The horses were great, one of the horses is a half-brother to my horse so it was cool for me to see him in person albeit from high above.  To sum up, it was a great time and I can't wait for next year!

Sorry for the extremely brief (read a little lame) post about the prix that happened over a month ago.  Finals got in the way and I really want to move on to some newer (read exciting) announcements.  Stay tuned!