Island Life (Part I)

Albion senior Emily Galka is spending her third summer working as a riding trail guide at Cindy’s Riding Stable on Mackinac Island, the famed vehicle-free vacation hub in northern Michigan. (Famously, Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour was filmed there.) Needless to say, an island powered entirely by horses is paradise for this hunt seat team member! She’s written two blog entries about her experiences; in Part I, she outlines daily life on the island and the experiences she’s had over the past few summers. In Part II, she’ll introduce readers to her four-legged coworker, Big Lisa.

I have worked on Mackinac Island at Cindy’s Riding Stable every summer I’ve been in college. In my time here, I’ve found a second home at “The Big House” with the Gough Family and Cindy’s crew, mastered 80 miles of trails, and fallen in love with a Percheron. (More on that later).

My parents first brought me to Mackinac Island when I was four months old. It was our first family vacation and my first time around horses. I believe that was when my love for horses began because my mom told me that as soon as I could talk, I was asking about horses and if we could get one.

My first trip to Mackinac Island was at four months and I’ve spent the last three summers there.

By age seven, my mom realized my love for horses was not going away, so she enrolled me in hunt seat riding lessons at Talamar Morgan Farm, a barn just down the road from our house. As I became more experienced, in addition to riding lessons, I was allowed to come and ride whenever I wanted – even if that meant taking a horse out on a trail ride for several hours with friends or by myself. As a teenager, my riding instructor would coordinate trail rides across Michigan that took about a week of camping and riding 25-30 miles per day. It was during one of those week long trail rides that I met Isaac, a fellow rider whose father had once worked on Mackinac Island as a trail guide at Jack’s Livery Stable.

The years passed by and I kept riding at Talamar, even getting a little bit of show experience to prepare for the equestrian team I hoped to try out for in college. Though sad to leave the horses I grew up with, I was ready to move on to Albion and it was about halfway through my freshman year when I decided to look into jobs for the summer. Isaac had worked the previous summer on Mackinac Island as a trail guide at the same company his dad worked for and it sounded like a job I could enjoy, so I asked him about it and decided it was worth a try. I was interviewed in May and by June 2014, I started work at Cindy’s Riding Stable.

Leading out a group aboard Big Lisa.

Cindy’s is a family company run by the Gough family. They also own Jack’s Livery Stable, which has saddle horses and drive-yourself carriages. Most of the crew are relatives of the Gough’s (including their three grown children) and family friends. Each year they hire a few summer workers, but many are returning crew members so in 2014 I was the only Cindy’s guide who had never worked at the stable before.

At Cindy’s there are 37 horses: 31 are rentals and six are guide horses. A lot of the same rentals come back to work each year, but there are always some who retire and we try out replacements. Every day of the season, Cindy’s crew (six guides and the barn man) arrive at the barn at 7:00 a.m. to clean stalls, brush, bathe, and saddle all 37 horses before 9:00 a.m. because by 9:00 (and sometimes earlier), we have customers at the door who want to ride. Each rider fills out a questionnaire to help the person who rents the horses get a feel for the rider’s ability in order to match them up with a horse. We then bring the horses to the side yard, help the riders mount, and give them a general overview on how to stop and steer. Everyone is escorted out of town by a guide with group sizes ranging from one to a dozen horses and once we are out of town, the guide can either stay with the riders the entire time or give them directions so they can finish on their own.

On a busy day in the summer, a guide may go out for four or five trips, meaning we are riding for four or more hours per day, five days a week. We stay open until 6:00, which means if the last group goes for an hour, we will be back by 7:00 to untack and feed the horses. Working as a trail guide may look easy, but it is very draining to manage people on horses in traffic who usually have no idea what they are doing. When I come home after work, I eat, shower, and go straight to bed. In addition to riding ability, guides need to be prepared for a lot of barn work and physical labor, have people skills, and be prepared to handle mishaps calmly and effectively. Yes, the tourists do fall off on occasion – and so do we! My first day at Cindy’s, I was told to ride one of the new horses to test it out before we rented it. I walked her into the yard, put one foot in the stirrup and the mare reared up and flew backwards. After her fit, I calmly grabbed the reins, climbed back on, and followed the rest of the group up the road; the crew later told me that it was at this moment they knew I would fit in.

I’ve been here every summer since. Now I feel at home here and wouldn’t spend my summers any other way .

Check back soon for the second installment of Emily’s tale of life on Mackinac Island, which outlines how she met Percheron cross Big Lisa – a partnership for the ages and one that she hopes to continue beyond summer.

Victory Lap

“Life is a dreary continuum made bearable by those moments of excitement. It’s called feeling alive.”  Lee Monroe

The Morgan Grand National & World Championship Horse Show was an adventure this year, that’s for sure.  My flight was super early Saturday morning and we arrived in Oklahoma City by late morning and drove around a little bit before heading to the show grounds to watch the show get started.

My lap of honor with JDS Paladin Pazazz – so exciting!

Upon arriving, I worked as a groom for the entire week.  I took care of the horses and got them “beautified” for their classes.  The only times this became tricky was when I was showing (the other groom – also named Sarah – really helped out during this!) and when we had multiple horses in classes that were close together.  Mostly, it just kept us on our toes.  As the show continued, our classes spread out and the level of business slowed down.

When it comes to showing, I love being in the ring.  It always gives me an adrenaline rush going down the chute and I fill with happiness when I’m in there – especially when I’m having a good drive/ride.

My first class was driving Argento and overall it was a good drive.  We came fourth out of six.  After that, I had a “day off” and then I showed JDS Paladin Pazazz in the Youth Park Saddle class, which was an amazing experience.  Trainers on the sideline – even ones with other horses in the class – were telling my trainer we had the horse to beat.  Unfortunately, horse shows are always subjected to the opinion(s) of the judge(s), so I placed fifth in my class.  (Of course this is frustrating, but after so many years of showing, you tend to get used to it and just vent with your trainers and other barn members about it when it’s all over.)

The next class I had was another driving class with Argento, which was rough.  Due to this and a couple other factors, we opted not to show him in the saddle class.  Again, this sort of thing happens at shows and you take it for what it is.

My final class of the show was the Youth Park Harness class with JDS Paladin Pazazz.  We had a good warm up and my trainer informed me there were four World Champion horses in my class (one of which happened to be my horse) of five participants.  My trainer also enlightened me that my class is the hardest youth class he’s ever seen.  (Thanks.  Let’s just add to the nerves a little.)

Here we are celebrating! L-R: Me, JDS Paladin Pazazz, and Tina Lessnau (his owner).

Before I knew it, the announcer was calling for my class and it was time to go in.  Like every other class, I went down the chute, hit the show ring, and gave it my all – and I’m 99.5% sure my horse did the same.  At the end of the class, in the line-up, my trainer and I were both happy with the way things had gone, so all we could do was wait for the placings to be called. 

As I had assumed, Merriehill Home Stretch took Grand National Champion – he was the Open Park Harness horse last year, so it was no surprised he placed well.  Then, to my surprise, JDS Paladin Pazazz’s number and name was announced for the Reserve Grand National Champion placing.  I started bouncing in the cart and grinning from ear to ear.  This was definitely the highlight of the show!

The rest of the week was pretty good by comparison; our barn faced some tough competition and held our own as best we could.  Four Points Farm took seven horses down to Oklahoma, but my Youth Park Harness class was the highest placing for my barn all week.  Then, on the last day, we tore everything down and packed it all up to come back next year.  Now we spend the winter season working the horses and ourselves to prepare for next year.

As for other things in my life, I now have a bit more time to focus on school and work.  I do have quite a few things I’ve been catching up on since being back, so that’s where most of my focus lies.  All I have now is finishing up my senior year at Albion College.

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!

Looking to Next Year

 

Everyone got all dressed up for the end-of-year banquet.

“To ride or not to ride – this is a stupid question.” ~Brandy Michelle

As the 2010-2011 year rolls to an end, the new officers of the Equestrian Club have been starting to take over their new positions.  This means as I’ve been completing my tasks as treasurer for this year, I’ve also been picking up my tasks for president next year – which includes running the last club meeting.

Honestly, it wasn’t a hard task because the last club meeting covered relatively simple stuff.  We mentioned Sleight Desserts, the leadership awards event for the entire campus (congratulations to Nora Cox and Alyssa Olson for receiving the Outstanding Club Member Award for equestrian), the end-of-year equestrian banquet (which occurred this past Tuesday), and a wrap up from the hunt seat zone show.  (Good job to my fellow blogger Lauren Levy, Brittney Stanton, Emily Thompson, and Emilie Taylor!)

Dressage team (girl) power! L-R: Coach Danielle Menteer, team captain Kjirsten Sneed, Greer Clemons, me, Nora Cox, Sam Green, and Alyssa Olson.

The main topic of discussion at the club meeting was just recapping the entire year.  It was an open floor discussion and we got a good conversation going. We discussed what we need to improve on and what we thought went well.  We also started to discuss ideas for next year.  It was nice to have the club members give input on the activities and events we put on this year and the ideas they had for next year.  (Personally, I think the equestrian club is headed in a good direction and I’m excited to see where it goes next year.)

I’d like to say GREAT YEAR to every Albion College equestrian girl.  (That’s right – we were all girls this year.  No boys, unfortunately.)  The banquet was a lot of fun and I enjoyed hearing about all the accomplishments Albion College equestrians earned.  Also, the end of the year videos (made by Alyssa Olson) were awesome.  They showed off wonderful memories each of the teams had during the year and it’s always a blast to relive your own team’s events and inside jokes.

With that said congratulations to all the equestrian girls for an amazing year.  Also, good luck to my summer blogging teammate Kjirsten Sneed, who will be attending IDA Nationals this weekend.  She’s almost done with her senior year at Albion and has just one more task to complete.  Her entire Albion College IDA team wishes her a great ride and we hope she goes out with a bang!

I think that wraps about everything up for me.  I had my last dressage lesson for the school year on Monday and am excited to be taking some more over the summer, since I’ll be on campus this summer for the Gerstacker program.  I think it’ll really help my dressage riding progress even further and I love that I can take what I learn in my dressage lessons back to improve my saddle seat riding even more.

(Point) Tally Ho!

“No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.”  ~Winston Churchill

Oh, blog.  Where to begin?

Since returning to school from winter vacation, I’ve continued my dressage lessons and improved my dressage riding skills.  The third weekend in February, I accompanied my dressage teammates to Lake Erie College, where we had our final regional dressage show of the season.  Overall, it went all right; we didn’t place that high, but we sure had a blast!  (I’m pretty sure if there was a competition for having the most fun, Albion College would have been champion. We were laughing and joking around, but were serious when it was necessary.)

The whole team had so much fun at the Lake Erie meet!

After all the showing was done, we had to tally up region points.  Guess who was doing that for Albion?  That’s right, me!

I’d totaled all the points from the entire season for all the competing riders and schools.  So when Danielle, our coach, was approached by another coach about having to break a tie breaker, I was quite confused because I didn’t have tie on my point sheet.  After I mentioned this to Danielle, she had me go ask the coach who’d claimed there was a tie and the girl tallying points from her team.  I told them I didn’t have a tie on my sheet and we sat down and went through the entire point sheet, found the error, and learned there was, in fact, no tie.  (Thank you, Albion College accounting classes!)

 While we were there, once we’d finished going through the team points, we double-checked to make sure we had the same points for all individual riders.  We also made a list of the top eight riders for each division.  After everything was double-checked (it felt like triple-checked by that time!), our regional representative went to the front of the room to announce the placings.

L-R - Sam Green, Johnna Serydynski, and me at Lake Erie. Go B Team!

I was done with my part, right?  Right?  Um…

I was talking with my teammates when Danielle tapped me on the shoulder and told me to go to the front to announce the placings.  I looked at her – confused – and then looked at the regional rep, who informed me her computer had died.  It turned out I was the only one with the results!  Not fully prepared, I took my computer to the front of the room and started to announce team placings – until my low battery warning came on!  I quickly darted across the room to get my charger so we didn’t have two dead computers.  In the end, Albion finished fourth in the region. Good job team!

Individual placings started with Introductory Level; Nora Cox came eighth and Sam Green came fourth for us. At Lower Training, Alyssa Olson came fifth and in Upper Training, Greer Clemons was eighth.  Finally, at First Level, Nicole Howey came seventh and my fellow blogger Kjirsten Sneed finished first.  That’s right – top ten finishes all around and our captain was named First Level Champion Rider, which means she will be attending Nationals in April.

In a nutshell, that was our Lake Erie show and, even though it wasn’t our best, I enjoyed every second of it.  I think it was a great way for us to end the season and I’m sure next season will be just as good – if not better.

Wildchild - AKA "Snow-Covered Fluff Ball"

Since then, I’ve continued my two dressage lessons a week and have improved quite a bit.  I had three great lessons before leaving for Spring Break and am hoping for them to stay that way for the rest of the semester. Most of the dressage stuff is finally starting to really click for me – it’s quite exciting!

Meanwhile, I just got back from a super-fun spring break – the highlight of which was the entire day I spent at the barn.  I was there from 9:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night, rode seven different horses, went out to lunch with my trainer, and then stuck around to watch some lessons.  It was fantastic.  On top of that, I got to see my horse (Wildchild) multiple times over break and I’ve most certainly missed her a lot.  Driving to the barn to visit her was the first thing I did when I got home and my snow-covered fluff ball made me grin from ear to ear.

I apologize for a long lag between blogs, but you can see things have been busy.  My life has been filled with school, working as a resident assistant, keeping that (now famous) point tally for the IDA, and my favorite thing in the world – horses!

Taking on the World

“Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of Solitaire.  It is a grand passion.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The Grand National and World Championship Morgan Horse Show in Oklahoma was amazing – just as it was last year. (I mean, come on, who doesn’t enjoy a weeklong horse show?)

The coliseum awaits the start of the next class.

The show started on Saturday afternoon with the mares in-hand classes and ended with the stallions in the evening.  Our show got off to a good start with a top ten two-year-old mare and a Reserve Grand National three-year-old stallion.

On Sunday, I had my first class of the show: Grand National Classic Pleasure Driving Jr. Exhibitor 16-17 with JDS Absolut Flaire (a.k.a. Peanut).  There were 14 competitors in my class and I was quite nervous going in because this was the biggest driving class I’d ever been in.  (My biggest fear was a giant crash happening with all those horses and buggies in the class!)  After a pretty good warm-up, we were ready to enter the ring.

During the class, we held our spot both directions and there were no accidents – phew.  Unfortunately, Peanut broke to the canter for a couple of strides the second direction so we didn’t place, but I wasn’t disappointed.  I was more excited for the riding class anyway.

Peanut and I right after our pleasure class.

Tuesday, I showed again in Grand National Classic Pleasure Saddle Jr. Exhibitor 16-17.  Peanut and I had a really good warm-up and, as we were waiting for the class to start, my trainer said “You’re a little horse in a big horse class, go out there and ride hard.”  I was ready and the class was unbelievable.  There were 13 competitors in the class, and I had the best ride I’ve ever had with Peanut.  While we finished eighth, my trainers were very pleased with the ride and I was grinning from ear to ear.  (See photo for proof!)

After my World Championship saddle classes with Peanut, I had to quickly get myself ready for the Grand National Youth Park Harness Finals class with JDS Paladin Pazazz (a.k.a. Gizmo).  Our warm-up was really good and my trainer said we were ready. We had a great drive and, it’s unfortunate to say that the judges didn’t like Gizmo and therefore we came fifth.

Driving Gizmo!!

Overall, it was an unbelievably fun show.  I enjoyed every second of it and had some great classes.  It’s well known that horse showing is a subjective sport, but I’m pleased with the improvements I made and some personal bests occurring.  I can’t wait till next year and have another year to improve even more.  You can never stop growing as a rider and should constantly work on new ways to advance your talent.

Now, it’s time to change my focus again and, while still continuing my saddle seat at home, work on my dressage riding.  My first show is the Albion College home show on November 20^th.  (Sadly, I missed the dressage team’s first show at Michigan State while I was in Oklahoma, but I heard my teammates did well and I can’t wait to rejoin them!)

Riding and showing is never over, so I’ll try to keep everyone updated on my horse-related adventures throughout the year.  Emerson was right – I’m never too busy for time at the barn or with my horses.

A Tale of Two Disciplines

“Through the days of love and celebration and joy and through the dark days of mourning…the faithful horse has been with us always.”

~Elizabeth Cotton

Sarah Morris, here, and the above quote pretty much sums up my life. Riding has played a huge role, yet with both parents allergic to horses, it was a pre-school field trip that introduced my sister and I to this wonderful world.  After a few lessons with my trainer, Melinda Hyde, my sister and I were hooked – lessons became regular and we began to participate in shows.

When junior year of high school arrived, my mom, sister (who switched from saddle seat to hunt seat L), and I looked into our high school’s equestrian team and, when everything appeared as though it would work out, my sister and I leased horses and got excited for the season to start. I leased an 8 year old Morgan mare named Wildchild. She was a little crazy and challenged me in ways I wasn’t expecting, but we became a team and, in November, 2007, I became the overjoyed new owner of HDP Wildchild.

Wildchild and I at our very first show.

Horse show seasons move quickly and before I knew it, Wildchild and I debuted at a Class A show at the fairground in Mason, MI. Unfortunately, we didn’t place where I’d hoped, but my trainer told me it was the best ride I’d had on her and then I was given the opportunity to show another horse, Bellagio, in the Park Saddle Stake Class where we received the tri-color ribbon and I experienced my very first victory pass. Nothing can compare to that feeling.

During my senior year of high school equestrian team, I was placed on the C-Team with 4 other girls and we went on to participate in Regionals, where we placed third.  It was a wonderful bonding experience and a great way to end my high school career. We definitely went out with a bang!

That spring and summer found me riding a lot of horses at a lot of shows.  I placed third with JDS Absolut Flaire in English Pleasure Saddle at the first show of the season, at the Michigan All Morgan Show, I showed HDP War Dancer in the Classic Pleasure Driving and the Classic Pleasure Saddle divisions, and then, at the Morgan Futurity Show, I was handed the chance to show JDS Paladin Pazazz in the Park Harness Amateur class.  We won the class – what a way to end my summer!

The very next day (literally), I packed up my mom’s van and we headed off to my new home at Albion College and my new equestrian discipline of dressage.  Boy was it different!  Dressage was a whole new world that had been hidden from me all these years, but I made the team as an Introductory level rider and vowed to learn more.

It’s safe to say I’ll never forget my first dressage show.  It was an entirely new environment and I remember saying multiple times, “This is completely different from my shows.”  I believe I placed ninth at my first dressage show and my team placed third overall. It was a fun, new experience.  At the end of last year, our A-Team made it to the Intercollegiate Dressage Association Nationals and I ended the season with a group of new friends and skills.

Nothing compares to the thrill of a victory pass!

…which brings me up to this past summer.  Once home, I used my newly learned dressage skills to perfect my saddle seat riding and was given the opportunity to show JDS Absolut Flaire in the Classic Pleasure Saddle Junior Exhibitor Division at Morgan Gold Cup Regional Show.  I also showed him in both the Saddle and Driving Divisions at the Morgan Bluegrass Show and we placed in top ribbons in all of our classes.  Currently, we’re headed to the Morgan Grand National and World Championship Show this October.

The school year has started and I’m ready to learn more about dressage.  I’m now riding in the Lower Training division for the Albion dressage team and look forward to our first meet.

For now, I believe I’ve spilled my entire horse-involved life story. I will be sure to keep you posted with the new stories from this school year.