Island Life (Part II)

In her last blog entry, senior Emily Galka outlined her duties as a trail riding guide on Mackinac Island, a job she’s held each summer since her first year at Albion. While working on the island, she’s partnered with Percheron cross mare Big Lisa, an unlikely relationship she’s come to treasure.

Here’s their story:

When the horse I first tried to ride in my job as a trail guide for Cindy’s Riding Stable on Mackinac Island didn’t make the cut (for obvious reasons), I needed a replacement mount. The very next day more new horses shipped in – and I mean that literally; horses headed to the island have to take the Arnold Line and ferry in from the mainland just like everyone else.

Lisa and I came over together on the Arnold Line this year – and went viral on the Mackinac Island News & Views Facebook group!

I remember walking through the barn when one of the newbies caught my eye. She was a large, lightly dappled grey draught mare of some sort, with extremely large hindquarters. I asked Burt Gough what he knew about that horse and he told me he used to ride her brother, Tony, as his guide horse. He guessed she was about six years old and told me she’s a Percheron-Quarter Horse cross. They planned to call her Lisa, which I thought was a weird name for a horse; it was too human and besides, she didn’t look like a Lisa.

Burt explained that they had a family friend named Tony who was a big guy so they thought it would be funny to name his horse (who was big too) after Tony. The person named Tony has a sister named Lisa so it is fitting for Tony the horse to have a little sister named Lisa. I still thought that was kind of silly, but I guess when your family owns nearly a hundred horses and buys new ones every year, you start naming horses after your friends. I was very eager to continue riding along on guide trips to learn the trails and get to know the rental horses’ personalities, so I let the name thing go and asked if I could take Lisa on the next trip.

I saddled her up and followed Kristi Gough’s group of tourists into the side yard. Lisa danced around as I tried to climb aboard and one of the tourists watched nervously. He asked if I was his guide.

“No” I said. “I’m trying out this new horse. We’re both the newbies here but hopefully I’ll last longer than she does.”

At this point all of the tourists were mounted and had a brief explanation on how to steer and stop. We started up the road and Lisa followed along. It went pretty well until we got to a trail we refer to as “the pole line,” a dusty gravel trail that is lined with – you guessed it! – telephone poles. That was where Lisa decided it would be a good place to drop to the ground and roll in the dirt.

Kristi screamed “Lisa!” and I hopped off right as her belly hit the ground. I’ve been on horses who dropped and rolled before so I knew I had to bail or she could roll sideways and break my leg.

Though Lisa wasn’t cut out for life as a rental horse, she might have a career in modeling – as long as she gets paid in apples!

I grabbed the reins and after a lot of yelling and pulling, Lisa was back up on four feet. Call me crazy, but at that moment I knew I wanted to keep working with her. (I mean, clearly Lisa needed work before we could even consider putting her in the rental string.) I asked if I could take Lisa out to try to improve on her riding manners and also get to know the trails so throughout the summer I continued to ride Lisa as much as possible and even had my mom bring up my English saddle so I could try jumping her. Slowly but surely, she became the perfect horse for me. As a tall girl, she is large enough that I didn’t look like a giant on her but she wasn’t too tall that I couldn’t climb on out on the trails. What’s more, she nickered at me every time I came to her stall and she was just the right amount of easy-going trail horse but still a challenge for me. After a childhood of riding bay Morgan geldings, I never thought in a million years I would fall in love with a grey, Percheron mare.

About halfway through that first summer, however, the decision was made to ship Lisa back to the farm. She was well-behaved for me, but if tourists (even the ones claiming to be expert riders) or other guides tried to ride her, she danced around, tossed her head, and – yes – occasionally rolled while under saddle. When she left, I regretfully remembered saying, “We’re both the newbies here but hopefully I’ll last longer than she does.”

Sometimes after work (when I’m not completely worn out), I take Lisa out for night rides on the shoreline.

Fall came and school started again. I was happy to be back at Albion and ride with my teammates, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Lisa. Would she even come back the next summer? All year I anxiously wondered if I would ever see her again and around April I got the call asking me to work for Cindy’s again. I really wanted to continue working on the island and decided to make the best of it even if Lisa didn’t come back.

The bad news is that Lisa never made it as a rental horse.

The good news is that she came back to work as my guide horse instead!

Lisa and I are currently spending our third summer together at Cindy’s and, though it is a lot of hard work, we have a lot of fun as well. Since it’s my senior year, I’d like our partnership to continue, so this fall I hope to bring Lisa to Albion. It would be a new and different adventure for both of us!

Emily will begin her senior year at Albion this fall; a biology major with an art minor from Cadillac, Michigan, she hopes to head to vet school after graduation. She is also a member of the hunt seat team and often plays chief photographer for Held Center mascot Ace, the miniature horse.

A Young Alumna Reflects

Back in 2010, the Albion College equestrian program featured three of our students in a series of summer blogs. One of those bloggers was a student who graduated in May but had a really unique internship with Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota, Florida that we asked her to share with us.

Mary Applegate ’10 has a high-flying career as a marine biologist – the exact job she hoped for when she graduated from Albion.

That alumna was Mary Applegate ’10, a four-year member of our intercollegiate dressage team, a two-time IDA Nationals qualifier, and our 2010 Most Valuable Rider winner for dressage. In re-connecting with her as part of our “Where Are They” Wednesday photo series on Facebook, we thought it would be fun to let her share a more in-depth description of what she’s been up to since graduation.

Here’s Mary, in her own words:

My “official title” these days (e.g. how I get hired/ fancy words to make me fit a box) is “OPS Fisheries Biologist I.” In reality, I’m a Marine Mammal/ Marine Protected Species Observer, and in the simplest terms, I’m a marine biologist.

My job is quite unique, a little crazy, and hard to understand.

In a nutshell, I fly around in small planes and work on boats for a variety of research organizations where we survey marine protected species – specifically marine mammals and sea turtles. My job is especially unique because I work on a variety of seasonal contracts throughout the year, which takes me around the country.

I have settled into more of a rotation these past few years and work seasonally in the winter in St Augustine, Florida for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on their North Atlantic Right Whale Program. This position involves aerial- and vessel-based research on the distribution, photo documentation, and ship strike mitigation for these critically endangered animals, which use the coastal areas of northeast Florida and southeast Georgia in the winter to give birth and nurse their young calves. (Learn more about my current project here.)

Applegate at work.

I alternate this project with a variety of other contracts, which vary from dolphin research, coast-wide species distribution population surveys, and even river and stream conservation.  As you can imagine, this leads to quite the dynamic and ever-changing life, which is wonderful. I think Albion really prepped me for this because, aside from getting an amazing education, and having wonderful experiences in the sciences, when I look back, I realize that Albion really prepped me for the diversity of my career. Albion as a whole emphasizes creating a well-rounded student who is prepared for anything, and that’s the key to my career. I left college not only with an amazing educational background but ready to take on anything the world had to throw at me.

Unfortunately, my career right now makes it difficult to stay active in equestrian activities. That can be a sad reality of the real world, especially in a nomadic job and life like mine. The upside to my travels is that I often have a bit of time between projects to catch up with family. I’ve developed a good relationship with a barn at home and often will go work horses, take lessons, and get my horse fix in. I’m very lucky in that regard and look forward in the future to settling in one place and getting more involved with horses – and hopefully show again!

Applegate at her final Intercollegiate Dressage Association national championship in 2010. She finished sixth individually in 2008 and fourth individually in 2010 to cap her career.

Overall, Albion helped to shape me into a very well rounded career-minded person. Not only did I leave with a strong background in science, I left with an interdisciplinary mindset that develops from a strong liberal arts college background. Learning to mold, adapt, and problem solve through the IDA team and my riding lesson experiences not only set me up to be a well-rounded rider, but taught me traits that strongly carry over in my career.

I work with a diverse group of people in situations where teamwork is essential. Being a part of a collegiate team as well as the equestrian club emphasized teamwork and encouragement that has really prepared me for the variety of people and experiences that I have encountered on the job. It also equipped me with leadership skills that prepared me for not only working with a number of people, but being able to guide others through new experiences in the field.

To learn more about Mary’s post-grad experiences with Mote Marine Lab, you may read her 2010 blog entries here. (Please note that blog entries post in reverse order.) To find out what other Albion equestrian alumni are up to (both in the saddle and in the workplace), visit the Equestrian Center web site.

 

 

 

First Albion, then the Worlds

“A lovely horse is always an experience … It is an emotional experience of the kind that is spoiled by words.” ~Beryl Markham.

My life never seems to slow down.  I’m a senior now at Albion and I keep trying to figure out where the time has gone.  Since my last blog (which seems as if it was forever ago), I had an internship with Ernst & Young and studied abroad in Sydney, Australia.

Oklahoma, here we come!

The internship was a wonderful experience. n I learned more about the accounting field and what I want to do in my future while I spent 10 weeks working for one of the Big Four Accounting Firms (E&Y) and had the opportunity to work alongside fulltime accountants.  I loved it!

After my internship, I spent about seven weeks helping around my barn and riding a lot of horses.  My riding ability increased tremendously and I felt on top of the world.  Then, in late May, I hopped on a plane and flew to Sydney, Australia, which was another wonderful experience.  I spent eight weeks studying there, which was composed of taking a single class and participating in an internship, which exposed me to a completely different work environment and allowed me to learn how much I love doing auditing work.  After the eight weeks of my program, I spent two weeks travelling around the country to visit family that lives there and even did a three day boat trip off the Great Barrier Reef.

In summary, the start of 2012, for me, was full of life changing experiences.  It has shown me that I’m ready for the future and can’t wait to graduatem – which happens to be this coming May!

As for the horse world, back in April I made the decision to lease a three-year old Morgan to show at the Grand National & World Championship Morgan Horse Show (if I qualified).  Unfortunately, during my ten weeks in Australia, I didn’t ride at all, so when I came back I was quite rusty.  It took me a while to get back into the swing of things, but in late August I went to the Jubilee Regional Morgan Horse Show and successfully qualified myself and Argento for Worlds.

Since then, I’ve had only four weeks to prepare.  Along with showing Argento, I have also been given the amazing opportunity to show the stallion JDS Paladin Pazazz.  As such, every weekend, I’ve driven to and from school in order to keep on my a-game.  Now all the preparing is almost over – the horses leave today for Oklahoma and I join them on October 6.  Then the show begins!

Along with the craziness of Worlds, I’ve been managing five classes, the Senior Resident Assistant position in Wesley Hall, and being president of the equestrian club. As a senior, my schedule is very packed, but I’m enjoying being a very busy student. It keeps me on track and, for now, a majority of my focus is on the Grand National & World Championship Morgan Horse Show (and school, of course).  Once the show is finished, I will be able to open up my schedule a little bit to other senior year activities.

It’s been a pretty good year thus far and I just keep my fingers crossed it will continue this way!

The Start of Senior Year

Howdy, readers!  I’m back at Albion for my senior year!  (How did that happen?  I swear I was just a freshman yesterday!)

Summer treated me fairly well.  I took a couple of classes at Washtenaw Community College for some extra credit hours, worked at the Portage Yacht Club, and – most importantly – I made it to a few horse shows.

Bridle-less western pleasure? No problem!

Unfortunately, it was a bit of a rough season for Image.  Between some pulled shoes, a farrier problem, a sore shoulder, a shoe boil, and dust allergies, there was barely any time to ride her (although I’m pretty sure she liked it better that way).  However, she performed extremely well at all of our shows and I was happy with almost every ride I got out of her – especially under the circumstances.

Since I wasn’t able to work her like usual, we spent a lot of time riding bareback and bridle-less and also working showmanship at home.  As a result, I got brave and started entering us into the LMHA jackpot classes.  They offer hands-free showmanship and bridle-less western pleasure – which played right into what Image and I were working on!  By our last show, we won hands-free showmanship and we even placed second over some really nice western horses in the bridle-less class.  (I think it’s safe to say that we had a great season and that we went out with a bang!)  It was great to be back on my little wonder mare!

And speaking of wonder mares named Image, I also entered her in a photo contest – and she promptly won us a free one-hour photo shoot.  Talk about a cool contest to win!  Our shoot is the end of September, so I’ll make sure to share a few of the best with you!

So, as I said, I’m back at Albion again.  Classes are going well and the western team just held their tryouts last night.  Our new crop of riders looks promising!

And now, for the best news ever – I officially start my internship at Nottawa Paint Horses tomorrow!  That’s right; I have an internship at the barn!  It’s in barn management and I am going to be learning all about the horse business and a little about horse training too.  This is the first time that Denise has done this, so it should be quite an adventure for both of us.

Now it’s back to studying.  I’ll update you more as the internship and the semester progresses.

Go Brits!

The End of Summer

Wow – where did summer go?!

It was a tremendous stress-reliever to have leased Sara for the summer. (Photo credit: Jordan Tieche)

I haven’t blogged in a while because I have been insanely busy and, unfortunately, it hasn’t been with horses, but rather work.  I just finished the last day of my internship with Pfizer Animal Health last Friday and the last few weeks were hectic to say the least!  I was given the opportunity to give several large presentations on my summer’s worth of work and that was a great experience.  When George Jessel said, “The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public,” he was definitely talking about me – but it was worth the nerves to present to some upper-management.   Overall, I really enjoyed my internship, not only the work but also the people!  I made some great connections and friends during my time there.

The main downside of spending so much time at work the last few weeks was that I couldn’t take days off to any horse shows with Sara.  Just having her around was a great escape for me though – even if I only had time to see her for half an hour on my lunch break.  It was great stress relief!  She settled in really nicely at Todds’s and has definitely come a long way just in these past few months.  It has been great to work with her and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to take her home for the summer.

As all good things have to come to an end, however, this summer does too.  I can’t believe that school is starting again in a few short days – I have so much left to do!  I’ll be moving into an apartment with my fellow blogger and hunt seat teammate Heather Waldron on Sunday and I haven’t even started packing, so I’m sure this weekend will be just as busy as the rest of the summer was!  I am ready to go back, though, to see all of my friends and all of the girls on the hunt seat team.

Let the apartment shopping and packing begin!

Life After Albion

They say that college is the best four years of your life. It has now been a year since I graduated from Albion College and began my time in the “real world,” and I’m afraid I have to disagree with that statement.  College is great – but the best part is that it gives you a taste of what’s to come.

When I graduated from Albion, I left behind many things: friends, memories, my horse, familiarity with what I had called home for the past four years.  But what I took with me was a feeling of preparedness for the real world and enthusiasm, knowing that I was taking another step in my life.

That “next step” was law school.  This past May, I successfully completed my 1L year at Michigan State University College of Law.  The changes were huge – I moved from a tiny town (my hometown of Washburn, WI, and Albion are both small) to what I consider to be the bustling metropolis of East Lansing.  I went from an average class size of 18 to an average of 74 for all of us first years (the whole class is divided into four relatively equal sections).  I used to be able to walk to class in three minutes, but now I take the bus 15 minutes just to get to campus.

Jumping Koby into the water at a clinic with Robin Walker last spring.

In the midst of all these changes, however, the one constant was riding.

Let’s backtrack a few years…

When I studied abroad in Grenoble, France, I lasted about two weeks before finding a barn so I could take lessons.  When I started law school, I researched barns in the area at the same time I was looking for an apartment.  When I first emailed Ruth, owner and trainer at Stapleton Farm, all I was looking for was somewhere to take one lesson a week so that I could get my horse fix during school.  What came of it was so much more.

I knew Ruth from IDA – she coached the MSU dressage team.  Her farm web site offered a few lesson horses and when I emailed asking about lessons, she responded that we could probably work something out with a horse that knew second level movements.  So we began with one lesson a week on a sweet Arabian mare named Lark.  When Ruth left to train out east for a few days, I asked to ride Lark while she was gone…and pretty soon I was riding more horses in the barn.  A few days each week, I got out of class and headed to the barn, the one place where I could think about something other than contracts and torts and how exactly one goes about filing a civil lawsuit.

In October, I started riding Koby.  Bought as a project and school horse, he wasn’t quite fitting in with Ruth’s school program.  He had a sassy attitude and cute face, but he really didn’t know much.  I started working with him, introduced him to jumping, and we took off – literally and figuratively!  By the end of the semester, I had learned where and how to sue people, what to sue them for (everything, according to my torts professor), what makes up a contract, and how to be an ethical lawyer.  Meanwhile Koby had learned how jump a 2’6” course and that balance is a good thing.  Both of our educations continued after Christmas, as I entered the world of criminal law and property rights and Koby was introduced to barrels under jumps, leg-yields, lengthenings, and (finally!) cross-country.

I put in long hours studying and a few “study break” hours at the barn, working with Koby along with a few others.  (Fergie was my other main horse, a wonderful chestnut mare with whome I scored a 70.0% with at Training Level at Waterloo in June.)  We started thinking about summer employment at school and I knew I wanted to try to find something local so that I could keep riding.

I took Koby to a schooling show last weekend at we were champions at Training Level with a median score of 65%.

In April, I took on a training horse at the farm that was in for some jumping work.  That month, I also interviewed at the Department of Human Services in Lansing for an externship position.  By the time final exams rolled around, I had secured three training horses and an externship with the Office of Legislative Services at DHS for the summer.  Classes finally gave way to summer and my days have been filled with the law and horses ever since.  I work at DHS three days a week and am at the barn riding seven days a week.

At work I research law and policy and go to meetings.  Then I trade my business casual for barn clothes and head out for a few hours with the horses.  The relationships that are cultivated through horses are, I think, some of the strongest bonds we ever create.  Between horse and rider is a partnership, but there are also the people at the barn.  Whether it’s the equestrian center at Albion or Stapleton Farm in Leslie, the barn has always been a place to find laughter, support, and sometimes, if you need it, a shoulder to cry on.

So enjoy college, my fellow Britons – but remember that it’s just a taste of what’s to come.  The best advice I can give you is that, no matter what, if you are a horse person, find time for the horses.  Make time for the horses because barn time is so much more than just riding.

Preview of Coming Attractions

Jelli has come a long way since we snapped this photo of her last summer!

I can’t believe how quickly summer always seems to fly by!

Here we are already, just one week away from our trip over to Horse Shows by the Bay.  Jelli has been doing wonderfully, but going to such a big show will be a whole new experience for her.  Thankfully, Carl arrived mid-June and we have been spending a lot of time schooling her to prepare.  My little sister, Ally, and her horse, Red, have also been working on some final touch-ups for next week.  We are all very excited and eager to go.

Other than horses, I have spent a lot of time this summer campaigning.  You see, my dad is up for re-election as a township official and I volunteered to be his campaign manager.  Little did I know that there was controversy surrounding this election and somehow I went from being just his campaign manager to now serving as a member of the “Re-elect Our Board” Committee, which meets weekly.  It has been a very fun and educational experience, but it’s also been a lot of work.  Our group walked in the local Fourth of July parade, hosted a campaign fundraiser party at my house, and made signs and postcards to distribute.  I have also helped to draft letters addressed to all of the voters in this township and, with the primary coming up on August 7th, it is definitely crunch time!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summers as much as I am.  I will have a lot to write about after the show and election – can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Number Crunching

It’s Friday and I just logged my hours for my first week at the internship with Pfizer Animal Health!

All decked out for my first day as an intern – including my ID badge!

It’s crazy to think that I only work a 40 hour work week, yet I have already done so much!  I finished my orientation on the first day and then got right into the swing of things.  So far, I’ve completed a metric data analysis project and have sat in on some really interesting meetings.  (For those that don’t know, metrics are taken to help provide insight into staff efficiency.  One example could be the number of hours worked on a project.  As a math student, that one was right up my alley!)

One thing that I really appreciate about my internship is the optional summer hours that Pfizer offers.  The option means that, rather than working five eight-hour days (a normal work week), we have the option of working four nine-hour days and then we get to leave by noon on Friday.  Even with that flexible schedule, though, I haven’t been able to go ride at all now that I’m interning.  The commute to Albion is about one hour each direction so I just haven’t been able to make the time.  (Talk about analyzing efficiency!)

Once I realized my schedule would be this hectic for the rest of the summer, I decided that it would be best for both Sara and I if she were closer to me.  With that, I worked with the staff at the Held Center and arranged for Sara to move over to Todd Neumann’s barn just as soon as all of the necessary paperwork goes through.  Todd’s barn is about five minutes from my house, so it’s perfect for my circumstances and crazy internship schedule.  Once Sara gets all settled in and we get into regular training and a routine, we’ll be able to think about horse shows again!

Needless to say, the summer is off to a fantastic start – and I can’t wait to see what it brings!

Unexpected at Waterloo

I have to say, our most recent show at Waterloo did not go as expected.

It went much better!

This picture that Jordan got is my favorite from the weekend!  (Photo credit: Jordan Tieche)

Randi, Sara (the horse), Jordan (one of my best friends and an amazing photographer – see the evidence in this post!) and I all headed over to Waterloo on Thursday to get Sara settled in for the night before the action started on Friday morning!  Randi and I decided to try Sara in the 3’6” jumpers this time because we thought the higher fences would keep her attention better.  We’d only schooled that height a few times, so all I was hoping for was to get around the course without any major difficulties.  Needless to say, I didn’t expect that, on Friday morning when we entered the ring for our first class, we would go double clear and win!  There were almost 20 people in the class, so it was a huge accomplishment for us.  It was such a great start to the show and Sara was everything I could have asked for and more.

We had solid performances all weekend – minus a few minor mishaps.  We only had two rails down all weekend, but they were both in our last few rounds and I think she was getting a little tired.  Honestly, after how hard she tried all weekend, I don’t care!  By the end, we won another class and placed high in three more classes, which left us reserve grand champion of the medium schooling jumper division!

Her facial expression might not look too happy, but Sara was very proud of her accomplishments – and I was very proud of her!  (Photo credit: Jordan Tieche)

(In case you can’t tell, I couldn’t be happier with how the weekend went – and needless to say, Sara got her fair share of carrots and sugar cubes too!)

One thing is for sure—we are sticking with the bigger fences.

While our rounds on courses were awesome, however, the real center of attention was Eliza, one of Randi’s newborn twins that she brought along to the show on Saturday.  She was such a cute and happy baby!  She might not be able to say it, but we all think she loves horse shows already.

On another note, my internship starts the second full week of June – so I should probably get to all of the paperwork for that!  I definitely have enough to keep busy, so Sara and Perry can have the next few days off.  Hopefully Sara gets all the rest she needs – we’ll be back at ‘em for our next show in June!

Introducing Sarah & Sara

**Editor’s Note:  This blog entry introduces one of our new summer bloggers, Sarah Erdman.**

Hi everyone!  My name is Sarah Erdman and I’m from Portage, Michigan.  I just finished my sophomore year at Albion, where I am double majoring in mathematics and economics.  I am involved with so much at Albion, from being a research assistant to a math tutor, but let’s focus on the fun stuff:  horses!

I am a two-year member of the Albion College hunt seat team, where I compete in the Intermediate division on the flat and over fences.  I have met a lot of great girls through riding and have had the best experiences as a part of the team.  I even met my roommate, Heather, during our freshman year on the team.  (For those that read her blog, you know that she is pretty awesome!)  And while I have to say that it’s great riding at the college barn during the summer so far, I already miss seeing all of my teammates.

In addition to my internship and showing Sara, I’ve also had the opportunity to help bring one of Albion’s young school horses, Perry, back into work after an injury. Here we are on the lunge line – he’s such a good boy!

And why am I still riding at Albion this summer?  This is where I get to interject some exciting and non-horsey news:  I got an internship with Pfizer for the summer!  My official title is “VMRD Lab Science: Operational Effectiveness Student Worker,” which is a really fancy way of saying that I will be trying to maximize production efficiency in the animal health department.  The great part is that this will be my first internship experience and everyone I’ve spoken with has been really nice and welcoming!  The only not-so-great part is that I’ve already gotten an email about an interns versus managers softball game that’s being held in July.  Apparently I’ll be participating in it and, let’s just say my softball skills are not the greatest…

Thankfully the game is still two months away, so I have time to bribe friends to help me practice.  Overall, though, I’m really anxious to start my internship, so June can’t come soon enough!

Since I’m a better rider than a softball player, I’ll be showing this summer as well.  In fact, I recently competed one of Albion’s horses, Sara (aka Albion College Saranac), in the first HJAM (Hunter Jumper Association of Michigan) welcome week horse show.

(Side note: When I was four, I started riding and had a pony that I named Sarah, but trust me, this time the name thing is pure coincidence!)

Here we are at Waterloo – me, Sara, and Coach Randi.

Albion’s Sara is a 16 year old Thoroughbred mare and I have loved working with her this spring.  She is an ex-eventer and has competed in the Richland Park Horse Trials, so she definitely has been around the block, and jumps anything I ask her to!  My trainer and (Albion’s hunt seat coach) Randi Gardner took me to the HJAM show last weekend and we have a couple hunter/jumper shows planned for the rest of the summer.  Because Sara was unimpressed with the 3’0 and 3’3” jumps last week, however, when we return for the third week in the HJAM welcome series, we are going to see how she likes 3’6”.  I will keep you posted!