Jenny Salinger

Not so slim shady? whats up?
Yes, I do realize that it has been five days since I posted something (whoops..). With our days spilling into nights and nights packed full there isn't much time to get on the computer- or do anything- so I will likely only be posting weekly. To start that off heres my week in review:
Sunday 1/20
This was the pre-'FEI Trainers Conference' conference. USDF was generous enough to offer us WITees admission for volunteering, a huge thank you to Kathy from USDF for helping us out! I didn't attend that day, however, and to be completely honest I dont really remember what I did do. I had a nice lesson with Lendon and probably did barn chores and school work :) To cap off the day we had a lecture about how to stay positive and not let fear/frustration/anxiety interfere with your riding. ( I found out that my 'calm place' is a vivid image of the sky and fence line at my barn)

Monday 1/21
Monday is usually our off day but this week it was day 1 of the FEI Trainers Conference with Steffen Peters and  Scott Hassler. I wasn't scheduled to work this day either (hint hint, I worked on tuesday). But I did go and watch in the morning. It was more than amazing to watch Steffen ride these phenomenal horses, and his ability to talk- in depth- while riding is amazing and really adds to the experience. And I really liked Scott, he had the football coach kind of vibe that I dont see much in the horse biz, and I miss that. He even suggested to us that we try to be the best coach for our horse, not the best rider but we are coaching them to greatness (pretty cool). One of Steffen's quotes about the conference was "the better each one of us does the better the industry" that sums up what the whole thing was about.  (I have many pages of notes so if you are interested in hearing more about the clinic email or facebook message me so I dont bore all the non-horsey folks reading this).
That night we went to the reception and talk, basically a question and answer, with Steffen and Scott. I'm sure this would have been an amazing experience had I had the energy to be alert at 9 pm (sounds sad but thats about when I check out).

Tuesday 1/22
Yes, I did work tuesday. I was lucky enough to be assigned as Steffen and Scott's personal assistant for the day. While the work wasn't glamorous: getting Steffen millions of water bottles, fetching Scott equal amounts of coffee, finding a rag for Steffen to clean his boots with... but I got to sit next to these guys all day. (well Steffen was riding most of the time, but I think Scott and I really bonded [in my mind]). It was interesting to see Scott and Steffen interacting, I think theres a bit of a bro-mance going on there. We wrapped up the day by moving the hundreds of chairs back into their places-and yes there were over 300 people there so over 300 chairs- all while the most in shape man to ride a horse watches (nothing like that to motivate you).

Quote of the day- "We kept it real"- Steffen Peters

Wednesday 1/23
This day was the FEI education workshop at Hampton Green. I wasn't one of the demo riders so I had a  nice-early-7am lesson with Lendon. I learned that I just need to GO FOR IT!!! I'm not going to blame my 'eh'ness on the fact that it was early, but did I say it was at 7 am (as in morning time). After some, lets call it- inspiration, I had a better ride and was riding for the win, not just riding.

Thursday 1/24 (hey thats yesterday!) 
Rachel Savaadra was our guest trainer today-- thank you Rachel for taking the time to work with us! My lesson with her was really good. Leopold was super steady and a ton better in the bridle. Rachel was able to give me a sort of cycle to move through as I ride, she used the visual of lunging to help me out. My inside rein was the lunge line, inside leg=whip, outside leg/rein=round pen wall. So I would bend him with the lunge line -> move him out with the whip -> block and send forward with leg-wall-> and rock back and lift up with rein-wall. This pattern was nice for me to think about, to keep me from getting stuck. The lesson was very steady and Rachel's different way of looking at things clicked well with me.
Last night Megan Davis and her family through a party for the WIT program at their home. I unfortunately had to stay home and take my last final! but I was able to get out there for the end. When I arrived most people were heading out, but the Davis's were nice enough to let a few of us stay and play some sand volleyball (which they had set up in their outdoor-genius). It was a lot of fun! and I definitely needed a break.

Today--- Friday 1/25
Hack day, not a whole lot to say here. Bareback ride around Wellington (survived encounter with gigantor dogs). Cleaned the condo. Got $1 sunglasses (get jealous). Two strappin my snazzy new WIT backpack. Writin this post.
-Chaka Khan-
       Jenny
(today's theme- 21 jump street, if you dont understand the header and closer)