November 2015

Words and photos courtesy of Liz Sobecki

Wow, what a roller coaster of a year it has been! At the start of the year I stumbled upon a young mare, Matavia Furst Lady, aka, Lizzie. After one ride on her, I fell in love. Over the year we have grown together as a partnership and I have learned so much from her. If you had told me at the start of the year that I would have found a gorgeous young Warmblood mare to work with like Lizzie, I wouldn't have believed you. I honestly feel so privileged to work with such a lovely horse, I'm amazed at how quickly we have been able to gel together. Lizzie has taken everything in her stride. Two whips?! No problems. Random leg twitches/spasms?! No worries! For most adult horses that in itself is a lot to take on. But to be disabled and have a new, let alone young horse, that can sometime complicate things. I pinch myself daily to make sure Lizzie isn't all a dream. 

Photo courtesy of Liz Sobecki

November 15th brought Lizzie and I's first competition together. We entered two Preliminary tests (1.2 & 1.3). First test of the day was the 1.2, strangely I had no competition nerves, which I thought for sure I would! It was my first competition on a horse under the age of 7 (Lizzie just turned 5 a few months ago). Lizzie warmed up beautifully, she felt like butter in my hands and was listening to all my aids perfectly. Trotted into the ring feeling very happy with our warm up! She listened to me extremely well throughout the test, a few rider errors on my behalf, but I was very pleased! We placed 3rd and received 61.7% - not too shabby for our first attempt in the dressage ring I thought! The 1.3 followed shortly after, and once again, Lizzie warmed up beautifully for me. Now this time in the ring, we really felt like we were back at home training, Lizzie flowed much better and felt more relaxed. In saying that, neither her or I never really felt nervous in the first test, but by the second test everything seemed so much smoother. We placed 1st with 64.9%! This made my day - first competition together and our first blue ribbon, both on the same day! So proud of the little girl, she is such a 'cruisy' horse and changing her environment didn't change that. I'm glad I took my time getting to know Lizzie throughout the year, making sure we knew most of each other's buttons before taking her out competing. Of course none of it would have been possible without my coach, Ruth Schneeberger! 

My year itself has brought many highs and lows. I left the family home in May and moved in with my partner, which for me, was the first time I had moved out of home! It has been amazing to find a whole new type of independence. I bought myself my first car and now I don't even know myself anymore! Something so small, yet so influential on daily life. I started training with a Strength and Conditioning Coach from the South Australian Sports Institute, which has been fantastic! Feels great to have reached so many goals this year in both on and off the horse training. 

Photo courtesy of Liz Sobecki

With the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games on the horizon, training has been at its peak. Unfortunately we are less than 6 weeks out of Paralympic year, I am still without a mount for Rio. However I am still not going to give up! When there's a will, there's a way, right?! This year I have already had two extremely successful Rio fundraisers, every day I am getting closer to my goal of one day competing at a Paralympic Games. One day, who knows, even at an Olympic Games.  

So all in all, 2015 has had some pretty good memories and some incredible experiences. To anyone that has ever been told that you can't do something, or you're not good enough; don't believe them. You CAN do it and you ARE good enough. Believe in yourself and anything is possible. Yes, you may stumble on your journey to success. Get up and don't give up. 

Don't just follow your dreams; chase them. 

Until next time, 

Liz Sobecki.

Photo courtesy of Liz Sobecki