Sponsor Spotlight: LMF Feeds

LMF Feeds is a West Coast based company that offers the best in quality and nutrition. Because of this, NLE is very excited to feed LMF to all of our horses. We do not compromise when it comes to nutrition which is why we choose LMF Feeds. LMF offers the perfect feed for all of the horses in our program.

LMF produces feeds for all equine disciplines, with emphasis upon using only the finest ingredients, and by using more bio-available ingredients, along with concentration of key nutrients, LMF horse feeds can be fed at relatively low intake levels.

LMF will work with you to select the best feed for each of your horses individual needs, and their customer service is second to none. Learn more at www.lmffeeds.com

Lucky me!

I'm back on the east coast and I am forced to slow down and take a deep breath.

It's a little nerve racking having so much free time but there is something peaceful about Middleburg, Virginia that eases me. Walking down to the ring today was stunning and made me step back and reflect. I have to thank my horses for everywhere they have taken me, the things they have taught me, and the stress they have caused me to mold me into the person I am today. 

The horses throughout my life have done more for me than most know. Someday I will write an autobiography that will probably shock most, and maybe inspire a few.  

The amount of travel that has happened since the first time I went to compete "away" from home at the DeBroke Championships in Jacksonhole Wyoming with my first trainer Kim Scheid, to now being selected as a Pan American Games alternant and competing at Great Meadow next weekend........well it's probably close to a million miles. 

It's easy to get drug down in the drudges of your path and feel like there is never going to be any hope of wearing the beloved pink coat, but how many people can say they have been afforded this opportunity. We who vie for medals, Hermes jackets, and longing to hear the National Anthem as you watch your flag creep atop of the world. The world that you've worked so hard to build, and in one instant your world could come crashing down, but the strong (determined and crazy) prevail. 

The last few months have created so many emotions, most would seek counseling for bipolar disorder and the feelings are enough to drive anyone off the edge. But as I spend this time at High Acre with the black stallion, I can't help but reflect on how incredibly blessed I am to not only be chasing my dreams, but to be allowed to have these dreams. 

I hope that I thank the people who help me enough for all they do to make my dreams a reality, because it wouldn't be possible without them. 

It's been a long journey and exhausting effort to be here. Some of the path has been fantastic, some hectic and some disappointing, most importantly educational. I've flown back across the country 6 times in the last few months. The effort from my village has been huge. 

MacKenna Shea, Heather Morris and Niki Clarke have had their hands full with riding and teaching everyone at home. The effort comes from everyone. My husband, kids, my close friends and my mom are the glue that is keeping me all together. This impact of being gone affects our entire team. I have to say, my team has been instrumental to my success and none of this would be possible without them. 

Along this journey it is easy to get pulled on by people who want to bring you down or make you feel like your goals are not possible. It's easy to let the people get to you who make your unrealistic expectations nearly seem impossible. Your perspective gets blurry and you become someone you are not. But the random phone call, email, text message, package in the mail makes me not forget about all of the people routing for me.

They say that the human brain can turn a thought and belief into reality. I feel like the positive people in my life have been what has gotten me this far. The people who have believed in me when the odds were stacked against me. 

When I was growing up dreaming of what it would be like to ride for Team USA, it never occurred to me that it wasn't possible. I think if I knew then what I know now, I might have had a different opinion. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying every moment and I have big dreams and goals. I want to win a lot of big things and yes I keep saying when I feel like the road is getting really hard, LUCKY ME to be doing what I love and what has saved me so many times from a path that wasn't necessarily going to be the right path. LUCKY ME to have the support system I have, my kids, my husband, my family, NLE, my friends, and everyone who continues to send me the encouragement when I need it most. LUCKY ME to have these wonderful horses in my life. LUCKY ME is what we all should be saying when we think our lives are hard and really they are just a bump in the road in comparison to some. Make yourself say LUCKY ME......and then reflect why, you will surprise yourself just how lucky you are. 

STOP and smell the roses......

It's mid February and we are already coming into the second event of the season. We have been to HITS Thermal jumper show as well as Fresno Horse Park and had a phenomenal couple of shows. 

As I take a look at the calendar I get a bit overwhelmed but I am very happy to have the opportunity that has been afforded to me. 

Each year I look at my business and the horses I'm competing and I feel so fortunate, and a bit of relief that after all of the hard work, countless hours, and sleepless long nights driving it feels very rewarding. 

I don't know what is in store for me as my career progresses but I do know that I enjoy the process everyday. 

You hear people say it's not about the destination it's about the journey and until you stop focusing on the destination and focus on the daily process you don't quite understand what that really means. 

September 2013 my best friend's brother Dylan was diagnosed with stomach cancer. This was the same week we were competing together at the Americam Eventing Championships and the same week Heather lost Rebel Express, her horse who showed her the ropes and taught her how to produce a young horse all the way to Rolex Kentucky 4*.

It was the same week we found out another dear friend of ours, Nancy Andriotti lost her life to brain cancer. 

This month changed my life more than any other event in life. More than giving birth, getting married, college, high school, living on my own, my first horse, my first heartbreak, more than any event in my life........this month was life changing. 

My brother (not by blood) but by love and friendship was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. I thought it would all be fine. They would do surgery and cut it out, he would have chemo or radiation and he would pull through, because that is just what's going to happen! But that's not entirely what happened. They couldn't cut out the cancer. It had spread and matastized all over his stomach, heart and pelvic area. It was devastating to even imagine that a strong, heathy, good man of 33 years old would somehow be diagnosed with such a horrible disease. 

It put a lot of things in my life that seemed so urgent and important in a different category. 

I'm grateful that he is still fighting his fight and doing quite well. He has always been the guy with that smile, funny joke and positive outlook. It makes you stop and realize what the important things in life are all about. 

Friendship, Family, and meaningful times with the important people who surround us and make our life complete. It might sound corny to say but I feel that too often people get so wrapped up in their careers that they never stop and smell the roses and before you know it the roses have bloomed, died and you can't even remember what they looked like. 

I guess my point to this blog is that as my career grows, as I grow as a human, rider, competitor, business owner, mother, wife, sister, friend and mentor I have learned through Dylan to stop and smell the roses. To take a bit of time each day and appreciate this wonderful life we have all been given. Life is very much what you make of it and I am a very good example of that. As much as I want to be the best rider and competitor in my sport, I also want to live my life with my glass half full. 

I want to win gold medals and gallop across every 4* in exsistance, but not to the point of losing what is most important and that is the people who have supported me all of these years to get a little closer to having something great. Those people are my village. They make it all possible and each person has made it possible for me to get where I am today. 

I live each day happier, more grateful and with more meaning than I ever did before and I have Dylan to thank for that gift. 

So appreciate your life. Big or small enjoy the process of living. Take each opportunity and make it better. Each person with ambition and drive can achieve a level they never knew was possible. 

Thank you to my village. I wouldn't be here without YOU!!