Pessoa USEF Medal Finals 2015 - the final one, ever....

I just experienced the last time I will ever step into the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pa. as the mother of a junior rider. How do I feel? Giddy and sad at the same time, if that's even possible! Eleven years we've sat in these stands watching 3 daughters compete in the Medal Finals. Eleven years of highs and lows, of sometimes not even making it around, sometimes your horse decides to rear going to a jump, sometimes the nerves are so much that you fly around the ring because you just want to get around! Sometimes you are on the standby... to get knocked off. Sometimes you never make the standby. Sometimes you are lucky enough to make the top 25. And then there is that time, this time, when your child says to you, "I just want to get a ribbon at finals." And she does! We couldn't be more proud of Lizzie and her journey.

We live in Michigan and Lizzie rides with Aaron Vale in Ocala, Florida.  Lizzie has been with Aaron since she was in 7th grade.  Lizzie attended Greenhills school, a college prep school and would fly to Florida to ride or meet Aaron at shows.  

Lizzie's Equitation horse, App For That got hurt the beginning of HITS this year. This was a devastating blow and he would be out 6-9 months. Lizzie tried many horses during HITS and while Aaron had gotten some lovely ones in from Europe, because it was her last Jr year, Lizzie wanted a horse that had already been to Indoors. 

I received a call from my friend Laura Hindle who owns Freedom, a lovely Equitation horse! In May, Freedom arrived at Aaron's and our wonderful journey with Freedom began! Just and FYI, Freedom will be for lease/sale the end of this month so ... get on that quick!!

Lizzie is a Freshman at the University of South Carolina and on the Equestrian team.  They had a meet on Friday, Lizzie competed in that, got in her car and headed to the airport to fly into Harrisburg! She arrived at 9:30pm, we headed to the Farm Show Complex for her to ride!

Saturday, Lizzie and Aaron talking over the warm up class.

Sunday morning!! 6:30am course walk and the first horse is in the ring at 7am! Lizzie drew the 188th spot so she had many trips to watch and 3 standby lists. Her time arrived, she and Freedom laid down a very solid trip but she had 50+ trips to sit through before the 4th standby list.  She was on it! The judges had a list of the top 25 riders that they would bring back for another round.  Lizzie was on it and in the 9th position! Another solid round! The judges would bring back the top 6 riders and test them! Lizzie was on that!!

Realizing this was my final time writing the standby list!

Lizzie and Freedom ended up 6th out of 280 riders!!  It was truly an incredible day and so much thanks goes to Aaron!!  He has been such wonderful trainer and has made a great impact on Lizzie's (and all of our) life! He is by far the best horseman there is and we feel extremely blessed to have had him train our girls!

To watch Lizzie and Freedom, here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPaUuAIDNxc

How great to have Lizzie's Head Coach, Boo Major,  from the University of South Carolina present!

Lizzie and Aaron, picture presentation!

A very special moment!

Our groom Lencho! The best guy!

At this point, we literally ran to the car to get Lizzie to the airport to head back to college!  We arrived 25 minutes before her flight was taking off! She made it! Eric and I started our drive back to Michigan, arriving home at 3am! I can't tell you what it meant to read every text, post, comment, etc.  

Next stop: Washington DC for Equitation Finals!  

Lizzie signs with South Carolina Equestrian Team!

This morning we had the privilege of watching Lizzie sign her National Letter of Intent to be part of the South Carolina Equestrian team!

Lizzie's love of horses started at a very young age!  She would watch rounds over and over and never tire of it!  

Sisters, Sarah (L) and Lizzie (R)

Lizzie and her trainer Aaron Vale have a special relationship that has grown over the years! Lizzie typically calls Aaron "Grandpa" which gets funny looks when they are walking a jumper course or Indoors! They also took pride in telling people that Lizzie was adopted because she had dark hair and Emily and Sarah are both blonde! We owe such a huge gratitude of thanks to Aaron and everyone at ThinksLikeAHorse for being a huge part of this! 

Middle of the night schooling at Harrisburg

Indoors!

Washington Int'l Horse Show

Lizzie attends Greenhills School which is a private college prep school in Michigan and her horses are with Aaron in Ocala, Florida.  Without the program offered by Aaron and his team of employees, it would have been difficult for Lizzie to achieve her level of riding and her school work.  Because of this unique situation, and with the support of both Aaron and her teachers, Lizzie has excelled in both riding and education, both of which caught the eye of several NCEA riding schools.  After making several Official Visits, Lizzie knew that South Carolina is where she belonged.  

Lizzie has one Junior year left and plans on making the most of it!  She will be spending the winter in Ocala doing the HITS Circuit and hopes to qualify for Maclay, USEF Medal, Young Riders and her jumpers for Indoors!

We look forward to this next chapter for Lizzie and we are excited to see what this next year of riding has in store!  

It's not every day I'm blown away....

There are few things that take my breath away. My family is one of them. Particularly my girls after they've had their photos taken. Specifically, and most recently, Lizzie.  Our baby, our surprise, our spitting image of her father... our child who is happiest in her bed watching Netflix or in her element on her horses. Our last... she is the one who will make us empty nesters in a year. Oh how I long to hold on tight but knowing I must slowly let go... another piece of my heart while bursting with joy and pride, aches... sometimes a lot. As with both Emily and Sarah, when I scroll through their Senior photos, I cry... well no, I sob... most times I need kleenex. A lot of kleenex! 



Jesse David Green (www.jessedavidgreen.com) has taken each of our girls Senior photos. Jesse and his wife Cali are like family to us! Emily was his 2nd client!! Jesse, Cali and Emily went to church together, attending the same youth group. Yes... Jesse is 22. What the crap??? I know! So much talent in this one person.  He has received countless awards for his photography and he created Mammoth Booth www.mammothbooth.com which... ok, if you don't book this for your Grad or Wedding or, well, anything... I won't feel sorry for you!! Mammoth Booth is pretty darn close to God and Family... and Jesse for taking your photos... but the kicker is that if you book him for Mammoth Booth, you have to invite me. Seriously. But don't tell my daughters... they get embarrassed with how much I love this thing and I invite total strangers to have their pictures taken with me! Wow, that sounds a bit creepy.  Ok never mind, just book you party, invite me if you want!! 



So back to Jesse (I tend to focus on me sometimes...)  To see the whole thing, go to www.jessedavidgreen.com and you will see his blog on Lizzie! And seriously, book him. You won't be disappointed. Then you can take me to dinner to thank me! See! It always comes back to me! :) But really... I can't say enough good things about Jesse's work but let his blog speak for itself!

Lizzie and her Senior photos take 1

For the record, I adore Jesse David Green. www.jessedavidgreen.com

There, I said it.  I could shout to the moon at how awesome his photography is and how incredibly talented he is which is all true.  But the truth is that I've known him for years. (and still adore him!)  Jesse took Emily's senior pics in 2009 and we've been a huge fan of his every since! He took Sarah's last year, he runs Mammoth Booth, http://mammothbooth.smugmug.com  which I simply adore and am trying to figure out how to get one for my home.... and he just became a dad! He and his fabulous wife Cali just welcomed their son Henry into this world a week ago! 

What I love most about Jesse is his integrity, his honesty, and his genuine nature.  He is the real deal.  I pretend like I'm his assistant when we are on a "shoot" (of my girls).  I hold the camera while he switches lenses and I take photos of him taking photos.... because it's what assistants to right?! I'm thinking that I should have some water available for him because I don't want him passing out... especially if he is taking pics of my girls!!  

Tonight we met in Ann Arbor.  Lizzie knew she wanted to have some pics taken around the Law Library and her other request was for a photo in a street.  We ended up going to 5 different locations around Ann Arbor! One area I had no idea existed! The following photos I took with my iPhone! So as you can see, I'm quite the professional!.... but seriously.... contact Jesse.  You will not be disappointed!  And if you are lucky, I'll have graduated to his assistant and I'll fix your hair, necklace or anything else!

We had no idea who's house this was....

Lizzie: "I want a pic in the street"

Praying they didn't get ran over!

Back just a bit farther...

We trekked around to different spots, Jessie did whatever was needed to get the right shot! We went out on floating docks that we wondered would if they would keep us above the water! We waved off bugs! No job was too big for us!

Senior photos take 2 will be happening in Kentucky in a couple of weeks so stay tuned for those!

Thank you Jesse for your talent and your friendship over the years! It's been so much fun watching you grow as a photographer and we look forward to more sessions with you!