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How Virtual Horse Shows Are Opening Doors For Riders Of All Ages · Equestrian Tea Time

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of Equestrian Tea Time.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Isabel Saj.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: My co-host is Emma Jenkinson of Emma Jenkinson Vassage.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: In this our first episode of 2026, we spoke of to Alexandra from FISTL Run Equestrian Event Services, where she runs a series of online horse shows.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: Alexandra is passionate about making horse shows accessible to everyone.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: And in addition to power classes, she offers Western Vassage Association of America, Midwest Versage Association, and National Vassage Pony Cop partnership classes and shows.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: You can find her at Fistel Run Equestrian Devent Services on Facebook.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: Also at thistleruneq.com.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Signed me into a general account instead of my account.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: No worries.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry about that.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for joining us though.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: I really appreciate it.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: Emma and I are so grateful when people are willing to come and chat with us.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: We have so much fun.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um our podcast is humble, but we really enjoy doing it and meeting folks.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I used to teach lessons a long time ago.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't inform since I've had I have my own kiddos.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I run an online horse show company called Thistle Run Equestrian Events.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I do live on my own farm here in Michigan.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: We truly offer everything.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it started off really just primarily dressage.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the vice president of the Midwest Dressage Association.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, awesome.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I was having some problems and I still do.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: I have a thyroid disorder and I have a lump on my thyroid.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: I was just feeling so tired, like I couldn't even move jumps to set up for horse shows.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: I was bringing them in my horse trailer, setting up, obviously setting up the offices for in-person horse shows, and it just got to be way too much.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: I was not physically able to even help my husband stack hay.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I was having a really tough time.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I said, you know what?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: What if I can offer these horse shows online?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it worked out really well.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: The first year we had a chunk of riders who said, you know what?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's really expensive.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Schooling shows are incredibly expensive right now, getting, you know, way pricier than they used to be.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do you remember how much it cost when you were a kid to enter a single class?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: No, I've I mean, I've been to schooling shows.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: I used to live in I lived in New Jersey for 20 years and worked at a breeding farm.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: And like for it would be 20 bucks a class, or I could go to one of the Hunter Jumper schooling shows for a hundred bucks and like show in fifth or three classes.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was like nothing.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, wow, nice.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I I grew up in Maryland.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I remember there was a little schooling show down the road.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: It was, it was just flattened, I believe.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: There, yeah, there were jumps too.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: But um, the little schooling show down the road was seven dollars a class, and I think it was like a$12 entry fee.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: And we went to there's a really beautiful farm called Swan Lake.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I can't remember if they were in Virginia because everything's right by the border of everything um on the west coast.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a beautiful farm called Swan Lake um that hosted these gorgeous indoor hunter jumper shows, and they were fantastic.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: There's Frying Pan Park in Virginia, and I believe those spots, those classes were like maybe$16 a piece.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Something like$12.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was not expensive.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: And you could go, you could show your off-the-track thoroughbred, it was cheap and it was fun, and you could order every single breakfast sandwich you wanted because it it at the time did not cost a million dollars.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, I mean, in today's day and age, the schooling barns are dying.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's so expensive to keep a horse, let alone get on the trailer.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: You're hopefully I have my own trailer, but when you've got a school horse, hopefully this barn takes us to a horse show.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm getting on their trailer, that costs money.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Plus hauling out to a horse show where it's a ton of money a class, and you might blow it.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, invaluable experience.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: You need to get off the farm, you need to do that kind of stuff.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: What if you could just get a judge's critique at home?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it really just started with me being sick, and I still wanted my friends to have a uh get some great feedback because I'm a true Virgo, a great organizer.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I said, you know what?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: What if I just keep organizing these horse shows but from home where people submit videos to me?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: I will grab the judge.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we're WDAA um, we're valid for WDAA online show points.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, nice! Awesome.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: Great local um GMOs, like uh dressage GMOs for the USDF.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um what else do I do?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: You can submit for the Thoroughbred Incentive program points through my shows and oh wow.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: So pony pay for Pony Cup um small horse.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: So anybody with a small horse and under can submit for my classes as well.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just been absolutely fantastic.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a great way for people.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's people who are para-dressage riders um in our program who were it would be pretty difficult for them to leave the farm, an entire crew.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, somebody who's a para-dressage rider might need extra hands, extra accommodations and stuff.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a little that adds an extra layer of difficulty.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: I want to see them off the farm so badly, but how nice is it that they can ride in their regular lesson, film a ride, submit it, and they can get some awesome ribbons.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, for me, it's more about accessibility, accessibility financially, accessibility because everybody doesn't have a trailer, everybody doesn't have a horse.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: So you could even film your class on your school horse, which is kind of nice.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I try to break a few of those barriers.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of us who are into horses really only got into it because somebody took a chance on us or were kind to us and let us ride that one horse, or you know, with those instances.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I hope that I'm doing the same thing for other people to give them like an easy entry chance at getting some really great feedback from judges, but also about yourself.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no, that's that's awesome.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I see many people, not many people, but I see more and more there doing the online shows.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: And uh no, showing is just expensive.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like, well, everything's expensive.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm 55.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: When I was younger in my 20s, a really nice saddle was a$2,000 saddle.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: And if you paid$2,000 for it, you could sell it for probably$2,000.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: I have my saddle now that I have, I paid a little more than$6,000 for.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: If I try to go and sell that saddle, I would be lucky to get half.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: I would, I would be lucky.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of stuff is just like even when you get nice stuff, you can't it, you don't get the resale on it.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: And then now all of our horses have to have chiropractic and they've got to have a pamper blanket and they've got to have PEMF.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, it's we're spending so much more money on just care and stuff now.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's the you know, the baseline entry cost for horse ownership, where you used to just have a horse in the backyard and day saddle and get on and go.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Now the standards are just getting to be we're we're almost really pushing ourselves in into a corner.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then with time, too.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like for me, it's how much time it takes to go to a horse show.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I don't have a whole day to throw away putting horse on a truck, going there, standing around, figuring out that that my second test they scheduled all the way in that ring back there, next of the scary stuff.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's really it's it's so for me, the the online thing is it's so much about just just time.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Going to horse shows is a huge, not only is it a lot of money, but you're lucky if it's only one day.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, so many instructors are burnt out because it's a long day.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, the instructors, you're talking about that person then getting to the barn at ridiculously early hour of the morning the morning.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: That person having to take responsibility for putting the horses on the truck, taking them all down there, wrangling kids all day.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Some of them are gonna cry, some parents are gonna get upset.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's a long day, it's a it's a big deal for everyone.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, no, the online shows are great, and I'm so glad to see more people doing it in the future.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: We're we're all just gonna be able to live stream Pivot rides and do it.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: How do you do it with dressage tests in terms of does everybody have to have the regulation size ring?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: So we ask specifically thistle run.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: I ask that my riders, I have riders, I mean, at my own farm, I don't have an indoor arena.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: I have a grass ring that I go out in school in.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I ask if you could measure it as close as humanly possible, that would be great.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: That would be awesome.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because in the lower levels, you can ride in the what's the small arena in the up in the larger levels as you start moving up, you got to be in the big ring.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I literally have people who just put out traffic cones.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I have people that don't have the big empire fancy large letters.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have people who put down buckets.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: As long as the judge can see what's going on there.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what's kind of fun.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've scribed enough, I've run enough in-person horse shows that when you sit in a judge's booth or you're in the judge's car, there's a lot of times they're they're not, they themselves are not writing writing to scribe as, but they'll look down or look over at something, and they don't always catch everything that's going on.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: And they're in their car pretty far set back, so they can't always see everything that's going on in an online horse show.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: They can pause it, they can rewind it, they can look it back if they want to.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, nice! Yeah, right.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: So they have a little bit there.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: It there's gonna be a little bit more of a higher level of scrutiny there.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: But I have people that ride in all types of arenas, have all types of different lettering systems, whatever works for them so that they can get scored.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: WDAA has very specific rules.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: They do want to be able to see um, like those cones.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Want it to be as close, they want it to be the precise ring size if you're trying to get um points towards their programs.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: But for my shows, I'm really here for people to get a really great learning experience.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, don't ride in a super teeny tiny, teeny tiny.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'd rather you out riding in the field, yes, than in a super crazy tiny ring.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I haven't come across anybody that has have a super crazy tiny ring yet.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh make up a schedule at the beginning of the year, or are you constantly adding events as the year goes on?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I have gotten a pretty great program so far.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: So what I do right now is I start kind of a early spring series.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a spring summer series that starts in April and it runs all the way to September.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's six shows and there's one a month.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: So April, May, June, July, August, September.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Close on the 15th of every single month.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really easy to remember.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: I open all my shows January 1.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to ride and submit a video today, go for it.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Go for it.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'll invoice you when you submit, no big deal.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're just gonna have to wait till the closing date for the judge to get it, and the judge will score.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I've got a spring summer series, and then I do um three in the winter that are more of my holiday shows.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I do a Thanksgiving show, a Halloween show, and a Christmassy show, all closing on the 15th of each respective month.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: So it's great.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: That no, that is awesome.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so what do you do?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: I've now seen uh people posting some videos online where like their cute little kid gets uh the ribbons in the year-end championship from the online horse show that they did.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: So, uh, what is your ribbon and your uh your your prizes?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: I give out they're pretty crazy.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: I can go grab it if you want me to.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have these massive ribbon boxes.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: They're oh wow, they're beautiful framed boxes.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow and have a huge ribbon bigger than the size of my head and a beautiful like gold plaque on the bottom.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: I do it for each division, I do a champion and reserve champion, so they get big, big, big ribbons, and then I do larger ribbons for a third through.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'll take it all the way through.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: If I had a 10th place, I'd take it all the way to 10th place.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you complete the summer show series, and then for my winter show series, I do some really lovely neck ribbons if you complete all three shows.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I try to make it just really lovely, really beautiful.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: I make sure everybody for every single class always gets a ribbon.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna get you're not gonna go home empty-handed.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: I want it to be really fun and really rewarding.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: I got a lot of lesson program kids who enter.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've got the pair dressage riders who enter.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: I've got a group of hunter jumper kids who enter because I offer hunter jumper classes.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I really want to make it super rewarding for these kids so that they feel confident to go to the schooling show when it's time for that.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of these people who enter my shows, they're usually I've got a chunk that are just training green horses that they're not ready to leave the farm quite yet.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: So have some really rewarding constructive feedback at home.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Rather than hiring a clinician to the farm.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: Then, okay, now when they go off on their own, okay, we got a few different points of views, yes, different judges' critiques.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now I can go off and be happy.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: No, well, it's awesome that you're getting the kids also.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: This is a a very clever way to get people used to visiting videoing their riding.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm in a lot of online education programs, and it can be a lot of adults are very hesitant to video themselves riding.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, I don't want to see, I don't like, I don't want to see what I look like.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's very few people past the age of 40.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, a lot of us are carrying 30 or 40 extra pounds, and we're like, oh my God, I don't want to look at it.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but getting the kids started early early, you know, getting used to making a video of themselves, having someone evaluate it and have that be okay.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: That that's a really good idea to get the kids rolling.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: And these kids are already making TikToks, they're already on Instagram, they're already super, they know exactly what they're doing.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: But you brought up a point about being self-conscious, right?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what's really cool is I have a walkthrough on my prize list as well, where for Thistle Run, you can actually on YouTube, you can go and make your videos private to whomever has the link, can only be the person to see your video, so it's not public out in the world web universe, um, which is kind of nice.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I do have a lot of people who are like, Oh, I'm really self-conscious, I don't want people to see my video.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: No worries, totally fine.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: This is the way that you make it a private link only video, which is great.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: So people can feel, you know, we had a few parents who didn't want their kids on the internet, obviously.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Great parenting.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: So made sure the videos were link share only, and then after like a month after the judge had already judged everything, they just delete the video.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: So that's gotcha.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that that that makes perfect sense.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: So, do you have mostly kids or some adults or or a mix?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: What's what what's you know, it's quite a mix.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the vast majority of my riders, though, are me.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's a millennial woman with kids or a millennial woman without kids who works full time, and they just can't dedicate it a few things.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: They either just can't dedicate the time to spend the entire weekend at the horse show.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Dressage shows are less.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: So you're calling in Friday, dropping all your stuff off.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I have to get there after work, work's five o'clock.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Do I take off early?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Da-da-da-da-da.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Got to get the horse set up.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: By the time you get the horse set up Friday night, you're exhausted, and now you have Saturday, Sunday to ride all your tests.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a lot.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I've got folks um that are not able to spend the time.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: I have people that have young horses or horses that can't leave the farm because of ulcer issues.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: So for whatever reason, they're at the farm.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: They don't feel comfortable leaving for whatever reason.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then third most, people financially, they just really like the judges.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: I've gotten so lucky with the WDAA judges.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Nine times out of 10, they're USEF.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: They went through the L program with USEA.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then they also go through the judging program with WDAA.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: So by having so many judges that are carded with multiple associations, they do a darn good job giving really great feedback, like line by line paragraphs.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: I have people giving paragraphs versus when you go to the schooling show.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, the scribe can only write so much.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: The judge can only say so much, they got to get to the next writer.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: Versus in this situation, my judges have um, I give them 10 days to score test.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: I get them back in like five, six days, usually.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: But they have the opportunity to write, yeah, write everything that they see, which is so helpful.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not in a clinic situation to where you're not saying it in front of somebody's instructor, you're not saying it in front of somebody's friends, and they can just give you everything that they see in four minutes that you give them.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like these judges are too nice, they write too many comments in a good way.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, no, that's I hadn't even thought about that part.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but you're completely right.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I've done more than my fair of share of scribing, and you're trying to very quickly, you know, put out short form and people even post online.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: What does this scribble mean?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: What are they like trying to interpret what the judge's notes are?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that is a big benefit that the judges have so much more time to give so much more detail of stuff.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: I hadn't even thought of that part.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I know some people um think that because it's online and you're recording it, that you can just keep trying until you get it uh perfect or something.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: But anybody who's tried to record it knows that even if you decide like this transition wasn't good, I'm gonna go back and re-record the attest, you're probably gonna mess something else up.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: So there you don't actually, even if you record it 10 times, it's gonna show where you are at.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: You're not actually gonna magically produce a perfect ride.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you learn pretty quick that sure you can video it 15 times, and there's gonna be probably one that you prefer, but overall, they're all gonna they're all gonna show where you are.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: None of them is the you're not gonna have the one magical test that's gonna be perfect.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: You're generally gonna mess something up.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what's kind of nice about these, you know, virtual shows is I get a lot of phone calls from women that are like, oh my gosh, I'm really self-conscious.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't love this thing.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: And he dropped his shoulder when we were doing this.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: One, my pet peeve is when somebody says, Oh, he dropped his shoulder.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, girl, you're the rider, you're the pilot.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, help your animal.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Two, uh, they get so self-conscious.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: I hardly look at these things.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: I hard I don't look at your tests, it's no big deal.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Take a huge breath.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: You are you we are equestrians are crazy people to where we are quite literally paying for someone to judge us and pick us apart because we want to be better.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to be better, if we want to be awesome, just ride the ride that you're gonna ride.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: Don't need to film it 30 times, it's not gonna get better.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is how you ride at home, this is how you're gonna ride at the show.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I laugh about that when I was doing the in-person horse shows.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: There were there's not a lot of trainers, but there are a chunk of trainers who say, Oh, she can't go in yet.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Person can't go in yet.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I need her to run this thing one more time.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's not going to get better one more time.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's not going to get better one more time in the warmup.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna happen for you.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: I would love that to happen for you.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna say it a different way for it to make sense for the rider.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: The horse isn't gonna magically change its mind and say, Oh, let me run that back one more time.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's the stuff we gotta do at home.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: And this is the perfect opportunity to do this stuff at home, submit your ride, see what somebody else has to say.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because how fun is it to go to a clinic and hear somebody phrase something in a different way than your trainer, where, oh, that makes sense to me now.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I understand, you know.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's really funny, usually.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh no.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, hey, listen, I don't want to take up too much of your of your time.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate you.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm amazed that so many people have been willing to show up and talk to us about their workshop and their stuff.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: But I always get great ideas when I talk to people.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: Also, I'm so inspired that folks keep doing stuff.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: We really need people like you to do the organizing.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Every, you know, dressage or horse club that I've been in is heavily dependent upon the one or two people or the people who step up and do all the organizing.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like a lot of us will show up.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: You folks who step up and say, I'm going to organize this.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to do to do this.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: So yes, I'm always uh very grateful that you guys do do these things.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: You organize the shows that all of the rest of us show up for.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for that.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: And now with the online stuff, people can come from anywhere to do your horse show.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I really like to leave people with the thought when people say stuff like that, like, oh my gosh, yeah, like I'm I'm so glad somebody else is organized or somebody else is a leader to pull it together and do that kind of stuff.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: I always take it from a place of gratitude.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like the woman that taught me everything I know about horses today, she gave me the chance to sit on her four-star eventing horse.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: And she ride this horse after I sold a real, a real piece of work.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just a kid, and she gave me the time of day and she cared about me in a way that I hope that we as adults can all care for these youth in the sport and each other.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you just started, if everybody treated each other with um this air of education and giving someone a chance, I think the equestrian world would be an incredible place.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think times are different, kids are different.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Boy, it's kind of tough.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's harder for sure.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: But if everybody can remember a time in their life where somebody took a chance on them and gave them a little hand holding, if we could do the same for others in that way, I think it would really go a long way.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we would have more volunteers in the clubs and we would have more of those things.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: But like we were talking about earlier, a lot of these clubs are really burnt out.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: The school horse farm owner is done.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: They've been doing it for too long, and they're basically losing a fortune so that you can ride a horse and complain.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of there you go, I like it.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: That pretty much summarizes it, doesn't it?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if we all just looked at horses from a standpoint of immense gratitude, if we could just be so grateful and realize we are so, we may not be financially rich, but we are so rich.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: We are so rich in life and resources.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: The fact that we're even able to touch these animals and ride them, we are at a completely different level than a kid kicking a soccer ball, you know.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: So being immensely grateful in that aspect, I find is very important.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, I think we can be grateful that uh I think we rounded Emma up.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: There she is.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: There she is.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: We gotcha.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: Good morning.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: Good morning.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: We were just talking about how we should be so grateful that we have who is deride.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: Alexander is completely right.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm very, very lucky.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, we are so yeah, we we chatted for about a half an hour about her uh schooling show program.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: Did you have any questions or comments or anything before we wrap up?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, no, I was hoping to just highlight like that there is some para rider options in that kind of thing in the online horse show.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I'm really trying to let people know about parariders and things, but other than that, no, I just think that what you do and what you have is wonderful.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, ask you about it.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: The pararider aspect is also really important because of the para riders that I've talked to, and this was more in like conversations I was having in 2020, 2021, and I believe they are still relevant conversations today, is it is so incredibly difficult for these para-dressage writers to get, and I believe I don't remember if it's like a certification, they get this official feather in their cap to say you are a level one, you are a level four.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: This is what you are allowed to compete as.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And it is incredibly difficult for them to get that.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: I want to say it's not a license, but a credential.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: I want it is hard to get into like be officially made a pair rider and then be in those horse shows and things, it is very difficult, and it's difficult because as disabled people, we're constantly like getting nitpicked about these things.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we don't want to talk in detail about it, like we or I personally would prefer to be like treated like everyone else, and so um I've discussed with online horse shows before, like what can we do?
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or um, it seems like we're judged on a separate level at a lot of horse shows and things as well.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it it just feels different to us.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't feel as it's fun that way, right?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it's um I've been really lucky.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there was a horse show series I was working for in the past before I did my own in-person shows and then now online, um, where our judges locally were absolutely fantastic when there were pair dressage riders who wanted to ride the intro A test and they need to use two whips and they need other aids, like it fine, no problem.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I just walk up to the judge or give them a little sticky note ahead of time, hey, this is how it's gonna be, and they say awesome, cool.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that's been absolutely fantastic.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: And especially for like para dressage with these online horse shows.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it I was saying earlier, it is people don't realize let's say you have a physical disability, you're gonna need extra support help, you're gonna need extra human bodies to help you do what you need to do to get to that horse show.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: You just need a little bit of extra help.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: And that is a lot.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: That is a lot.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: And how I'm not saying how much easier necessarily, but it is really great for these riders who need a little bit extra help, whether it's financially, physically, in any aspect.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: How nice is it to get great critique and feedback from home by doing the same thing you do every week?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: When you come to ride your horse, okay, I'm just gonna film a quick test.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, dad, film the test for me.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, trainer, film the test for me.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Do it, get it done.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, now I submit it and I get a ribbon in the mail.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's really rewarding.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: And there are some individuals who I've spoken to who know they're not gonna leave the farm.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's how incredibly difficult is that when you see your peers and they're able to go off.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: But the individual I'm talking about specifically was saying, like, I need at a minimum two people to help because I can't get the trailer going.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: I can't drive the car, I can't unload the horse, I need help getting on the horse.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I need just the availability of people to help is hard.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: And asking somebody for a whole weekend is hard.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Can it happen?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Can it be done?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want ribbons at home where I can do it with my trainer and get a little feedback before I shoot my thing?
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely awesome.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: And not to say, and I'm always like, I never want to offend anybody ever.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me if anything I said was offensive or anything like that.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: But everybody deserves those opportunities.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody deserves to feel like they are so important because they are so important.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't imagine how it feels if I was a kid who knew it was going to be strenuous on my family and maybe my team and maybe my trainer to get off the farm and go do those kinds of things.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: That would make me just me, Alex, as a person, that would gnaw me up a little bit.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: But to be able to get really great feedback from home, no big deal, the whole barn can do it.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now it feels like we're all a part of something, which I really I like that aspect of it.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love it.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just it is who no matter who you are, it's such a hard sport, it's so expensive, and just getting some competition, some recognition, some feedback can mean just so much to anybody.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: Let alone the price.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: Or, you know, I've for many years I have not been able to keep up like regular instruction with everyone.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so just at the price that it is, getting some feedback to move forward can be so so valuable as well.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's tough out here.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: It is tough out here.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm glad you're able to join us, Emma.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, yes, in my state.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: You're great.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: Don't don't worry about it.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, anybody else have anything else we want to uh chat about before uh let you go?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: No, okay, all right.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Alexander, thank you so much for coming out.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: No, thank you.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you guys.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Keep doing what you're doing.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: All right, I look forward to hearing the other half of it.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: I love it when episodes happen and I didn't hear already.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, like experience it fresh.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_02: That is fun.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, all right, Alexandra, we will uh send you a link when we've got an edit so you can uh take a look at it before we release it.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome, thank you so much.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome, thank you very much, ladies.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_02: Have a great day.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: Bye bye.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: Take care, bye bye.