Reflecting on the Thoroughbred Makeover experience has definitely taken a lot of time and lot of processing. So much training, anticipation, time and money were spent over the course of the last eight months to get myself and this big, goofy horse to this one competition. At various points over the last several months, we went from thinking we could possibly make the finale to maybe thinking we wouldn’t be able to make the trip at all, then back to being hopeful for a successful competition.

But what is success? Winning the Makeover? Sure, that would be considered a very successful trip. Winning or placing top five in your discipline? Definitely a great achievement. But what about everyone else – those of us outside the Finale participants who for whatever reason either had a bad day, or our horses had a bad day? Was the trip not successful? To each and every participant, success must be defined individually. What is considered a success to one vs. another is completely different. And this – this is what it has taken a lot of time for me to come to terms with.

Heading into the Makeover, I knew I was sitting on one of the most physically gifted and talented horses I’ve ever ridden. On any given day Mr Nobility could have placed in the top five easily. But I also knew that due to the number of setbacks we experienced, the amount of time I had to ride and expose him to life outside the farm was pretty much cut in half, including getting throat surgery two weeks before leaving for the Makeover.

Erin Gilmore Photography

We decided to take him anyways, and since my ride time was near the end of the day on Wednesday, I was hoping to be able to walk him around constantly for two days to try and show him everything he needed to see to make our dressage test a success. We schooled in a few difference rings on Tuesday and considering he had only ever ridden with two other horses in a ring prior to Kentucky, he was an absolute star with four-five horses riding at once.

Only a few baby moments appeared, but Mr Nobility quickly got back to work. We went up for our ticketed schooling in the dressage arena, and he held it together at first, but quickly became overwhelmed by the number of horses in a small space. In hindsight, instead of trying to work him through it, I should have just free-walked on a loose rein until he calmed down to show him the rings were about relaxation and nothing to stress about. But, due to our lack of real prep time, I thought asking for more focused work was better for him.

We left the rings with the hope that he just got a little overwhelmed and with less horses in there on show day, he would be able to settle. My coach and I also decided that less warmup was probably better for him, so we planned to only ride lightly for about 15-20 mins before our actual dressage test, and focus on just keeping him quiet and relaxed.

When show day arrived, the big goof actually warmed up better than he had ridden in weeks. I had no idea where this came from, but I was really getting excited to showcase his talent after all this time. Maybe, just maybe it would finally all come together…

When our turn came, we stepped forward through the in gate… just as the loud speaker came on to announce who was entering the ring. And, well, the big horse said, “Nuts to this, I’m outta here,” and immediately spun to exit where he came from. I managed to turn him all the way around to face A again and kicked him forward but he interpreted “forward” as “up, sideways and buck”. It all was a bit fast, but I think we spun in five-six circles of sideways bucks before the steward called me to hop off and come out. I was devastated. All this work, all this time, and the horse wouldn’t even go in the ring.

Erin Gilmore Photography

The steward suggested I dismount and let Mr Nobility graze beside the ring for a while to let him calm down. Since I was already one of the last riders of the day, they asked if they could let the rest of the riders go, and then if I wanted I could try again at the very end. I said absolutely, and was very thankful that this was even an option.

The big beast actually seemed proud of himself, stuffing his mouth with grass after his antics. Though, it wasn’t long before he decided braids were for suckers, and stood there shaking his head and neck so aggressively that most of the braids came flying out and created a majorly embarrassing hairstyle. Whatever, at this point we might not even make into the ring, so I was no longer concerned with appearances.

When the time came to give it another try, I mounted up and asked if I could avoid the trek around the outside if the ring, and just trot right in and get started. I also asked if I could go in the exit gate as I thought for sure he would not enter the “evil loud speaker gate” ever again.

To the credit of everyone working up on the hill that day by the dressage arena, THAT was an example of how a horse show should be run. Praise goes to the steward, the judges, the spectators and even the very nice competitor who stayed behind after her ride with her horse so that Mr Nobility could see another horse and not feel like he was left alone ( I’m sorry I didn’t get her name, and can’t even remember what her horse looked like, but it was very nice of her!).

We somehow managed to complete something that resembled a training level test, while doing absolutely zero training level movements. Piaffe? Very solid. Half pass? Absolutely crushed it. Canter pirouette? Who even needs a 20m circle when you can just spin around! He even threw in some tempi changes for good measure. I was impressed the judge let me finish and only docked me two points for going “off-course.”

When I halted, I heard the demo ride judge call me over to complete my demo ride, which I was a bit shocked by as I thought for sure everyone would have laughed us out of the ring by now and said, “Thanks for coming – BYE.” But not at the Makeover. This show was really about how to set green horses up for the future, and my silly 5-year-old was testing it to the max.

Erin Gilmore Photography

We left the first ring and picked up a trot immediately to confuse him, and entered to demo ring right away. I was hoping Mr Nobility would be so confused and tired, he would cooperate a bit more. We actually did a relatively straight line, but after the halt he was like, “Ughhh, this again? NO THANK YOU,” and tried to half pass straight out of the ring.

When I wouldn’t let him leave he tried piaffe again, because apparently that worked so well 10 minutes earlier. He decided that since I wouldn’t let him leave, he wasn’t going to do any movements I asked for, so I scrapped anything I had planned for the demo and just tried to get him to do SOMETHING. Once again, very little training level movements were achieved, many 4^th Level and Grand Prix movements were attempted. At one point he managed five tempi changes before he realized I had asked for stretchy trot.

I will definitely be forever grateful to the judges for letting me attempt my tests, when in reality, after a long day of judging, I’m sure the last thing they wanted to do was watch my freak of nature do absolutely nothing he was asked to do for 20 mins straight. Finally, the demo judge called to me and said I had technically completed all the required movements for a score so I could walk and exit the ring if I wanted. We jiggy-jogged out, but as soon as I dropped the reins, I immediately broke into tears. At first I didn’t know if they were tears of relief, disappointment, exhaustion, or something else entirely. The day had definitely not gone according to the plan. Not even close.

But when I saw the smiling faces of our entourage – my family, coach, friends and LongRun coworkers waiting for me by the exit – I realized that this wasn’t about “according to plan.” We had already won. We made the trip to Kentucky, despite a ridiculous amount of setbacks, and did officially make it into the ring. It was a success. I can’t remember fully due to my own teary-eyed mess of a self, but I don’t think there were many dry eyes in that moment. I could not have been more grateful to everyone who helped us get there – in no way could we have done it without the endless support we received. And there are no words that can fully express my gratitude towards each one of those people.

Erin Gilmore Photography

The week concluded with the opportunity to ride one-on-one with one of the judges on Friday, and I must say this was by far the best day of the week. And our true redemption. The judge was extremely complimentary of us, and impressed by Mr Nobility’s talent, despite his antics on show day. She understood the challenge of riding something so talented yet so sensitive. We worked on getting him to relax in the “show environment,” and she gave me many exercises to do in a warmup ring to get him to focus but relax at the same time. She definitely gave me hope and understanding that this really is only just the beginning for us.

It’s really easy to see the Makeover as the end goal, as it’s the ONE THING we work towards for the better part of a year. And then, poof! It’s over. The most difficult thing is to look back on all the work and realize that the Makeover is merely the first step in what will hopefully be a very long journey for us.

Our goal moving forward is to revisit our rides with a focus on pure relaxation and calmness. With no set timelines for the near future, we are going to work on teaching him to breathe as he works and develop a calmness about life.

But, in true Mr Nobility form, the week after the Makeover he popped a splint, so the setbacks continue, and if anyone knows where to buy actual bubble wrap for a horse, please send it my way as this beast is absolutely testing all of my patience!