On July 1, I will turn 32 years old. On July 5, I go to summer camp! And my horse is coming with me!
You can read more about me at my website - http://www.golightlysporthorses.com/ - so I will only briefly introduce myself and my wonderful horse, Katchi, in this blog. I bought Katchi in November 2006, with an eye to transition him from a racehorse to an event horse. It had been 12 years since I last competed in an event (a one-star long format three day event in 1994) - and the road back to competion was a bit longer than I expected. We both had some confidence and trust issues - but I was determined to develop a solid partnership and training foundation - so, we kept plugging away. There were several incidents of public humilation along the way, but we finally made it to our first Beginner Novice HT in August 2008. Katchi was a star and I had so much fun! We made it to three Novices last fall and have completed our first Novice this spring (although I seriously thought we might drown in all the rain!).
As I was planning out my 2009 season, I scheduled everything around July 5-10. I read several articles about Phillip's 2008 camp (including one titled "Get Duttonized" - hence the name of this blog), and I couldn't wait to sign up for 2009! What better way to spend a week away from my office job?! Summer camp with my horse! And my mom is so excited, she is flying out from California to be my groom! Even Jim Wofford is excited about it! At a lesson with him last week, I mentioned my plans - his face lit up, and he said he can't wait to see me when I get back! Our plan is to move up to Training level the week after the camp, so we are counting on Phillip to push us on our way.
I wanted to write this blog to share the adventure of being 'Duttonized' with all my horse friends who can't make it. No doubt, I'll have some funny stories to tell and a bit of humiliation too. I know I'll learn more than I can even imagine right now. And, I hope, I'll be successful in a few challenges as well. I am going to make every effort to do daily postings the week of the camp, so keep watch July 5 - 10 to see how we're doing!
You can learn more about Phillip's Academy at his website - http://phillipdutton.com/
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