After talking with Jean and Erin about the opportunity, they offered for me to stay on as Erin's assistant trainer. I would have been riding more, which I would have been happy with, and I initially told AJ that I was going to stay at Valhalla. But, he still wanted me to come down and have a lesson with Bilinda on Forrte, which I did. Bilinda teaches a lot like Erin, which made me very comfortable with her. She took me aside later and told me that she wanted me to come, and also told AJ that she thought I was a very good rider with a lot of feel, but that she also liked the fact that I am coachable. I got to thinking about what a good opportunity I was passing up, and I changed my mind.

I have only been here 2 days now, but I feel like I made the right choice. AJ had to start from scratch here, so everything is new. What a difference to the run down place I am from! Not only is everything new, but AJ also gets the best in quality in everything. The barn has the best of everything, including this bedding that never has to be taken out - all you need to do is pick out the poop. Forrte has been in his stall for 2 weeks now, and it is true to its word. The house is also furnished with top quality furnishings, new beds, etc. The kitchen is going to be redone. For the office he went out and bought the best laptop McIntosh makes, and got me an incredible new phone. All those things are nice, but they are besides the fact that he has one of the best trainers in the country, and has imported some of Holland's best horses. Cinderella, the 3 year old filly, won 4th place out of 100 horses that had been each picked from 100 horses. She is really going to be something. I am very excited for how the future looks for me right now, and I am enjoying every moment!

Yesterday was my birthday. It was actually one of my better birthdays. The day ended with dinner with my friends, and then going out for karaoke. It was a lot of fun, and I like being able to bring people together.

I started out the day by going to visit AJ's new farm in Ocala. I got there the night before, and we went out for dinner and chatted. He wants me to come work for him. I would be his go-to person, and make sure everything gets done, as well as be in on decisions with him. I would also be doing his books, which would be a great use of my degree. The trainer he has working for him is Belinda Nairn, who got to the Olympics twice. She regularly goes to Holland and imports horses for clients. She is importing some for AJ, one in particular that I would get to ride and show. I really love working for Erin, but I think this opportunity is too good to pass up. I talked to Erin about it today, and we started throwing around ideas for ways to work out me staying here, but I don't think it's going to work. And now that I know Erin understands my situation and is supportive, even if a little sad, I am getting excited for the new opportunity again. There is a lot of potential gain, which also means it's risky, but I know that I can always come back here if it doesn't work out. Plus, the qualities in me that have yielded me success this far are still there, and I get to take them with me.

Today marks my one year anniversary here at Valhalla. I have come a long way in my riding, and I am very thankful to Erin to instill in me such good basics. This week we are hosting a clinic with Herwig Radnetter, from the Spanish Riding School (upholder of the classical standards of dressage), and I am fortunate enough to ride with him twice. I rode with him when he came over the winter, and came away feeling very frustrated with my riding. However, I had my first lesson with him the other day on Adeline, a moody mare that I have been riding for this past year, and think I made a better impression on him. I was very pleased with Adeline as well. Other than trying to yank the reins out of my hands a few times, she worked very well.

I got a lot from my lesson with Herwig. First of all, do not squeeze with the legs, this makes the horse tense. Have a little weight in your stirrups and let your leg hang. Ride the horse forward, look up, and feel that you have equal weight in both reins. If the horse is offering you a steady contact and is in a good frame, ride with a quiet hand. If the horse is not round enough you can play with the reins, but once the horse is round, be quiet. From there you can half halt and have it mean something. Also, when aiding the horse to canter, from the trot or the walk, slide your outside leg back, wait for a response from the horse that says "I know you want to canter" and then depart. Herwig says that if the horse understands what you want, then he will do it - which begs the question from me "why do they do it?" Practice collecting the horse and sending it forward without building tension. Play and see how strong the horse is already. When asking for a shoulder-in, just turn your upper body. Use your aids if needed, but play around to see how little you can do. Also, in the canter, if the haunches are coming to the inside, just turn your upper body to align the horse and weight your inside seat bone. I can't wait for my second ride with him, I will be riding John and Karrie's stallion, Tanzlen. I have just started working with him, but so far he has been a lot of fun. I have been riding him while Beth is in Canada.

Erin had an accident today. She was riding Infallible in the outdoor, working him in the walk, when he started bucking and bolted. She was thrown onto his neck and actually rode him that way for awhile while he continued to buck. When she saw that he was headed for a tree and a fence, she came off. Luckily it doesn't sound like she broke anything, but she is going to be pretty sore for awhile. That is the down side of horseback riding =(