I swear I know I’m supposed to do these, and then Friday rolls around and I completely forget about it! I really need to set like reminder, or get a planner or something of the sort! Anyways, it’s been hectic the past few weeks, and quite a lot has happened. I’m no longer going to WEG, I got my first product sponsor, an equine marketing company will be taking over me…essentially, and I’m getting ready for regional championships soon!
So, let’s start with WEG. I wanted to go so badly! I found out that you have to get all your documentation in 6 weeks prior to being classified. I didn’t know this (and didn’t remember from the last time), and so I decided to just cancel the trip all together. Probably for the best since there’s a huge hurricane rolling in, but still, disappointing. So, when am I going to get reclassified you ask. Well, at WEF in FL in January. I’m already working on all of the documentation, and some extra documentation to make sure they have everything they need so hopefully I can go down to a grade 3! I think I’ll go down to a grade 4, but we’re hoping for the best!
Aside from WEG, I do have some good news to report… I got my first product sponsor!!!! WOOT WOOT!! Horse Guard reached out to me a few weeks ago asking if I’d want to use their supplements (for Daytona, not me), and of course I said yes!!! After checking with their equine nutritionist to make sure it was FEI safe, I finally got my order in! I haven’t started Daytona on it yet as I haven’t been in the barn this whole week since I’ve had doctor appointments after doctor appointments, but this gives me a chance to divide everything into portions and get it all prepared for the people that will be feeding her. This is huge for me (I think anyways), cause once you get one sponsor, the rest start rolling in.
With that, an equine marketing company will be taking over my campaign! Crazy! They’ll be taking over my social media, my sponsor letter and will be able to put me out there to people who want to sponsor people like me! Hooray! So, with any luck, hopefully within the next year, I’ll be fully sponsored! Fingers crossed because I have no idea how I’m going to make it otherwise! I’ve been at this thing almost a year now and feel like I’ve gotten pretty much nowhere in terms of being recognized (is that the word??). Not that I need recognition, but you see all these other para riders and they have a team behind them and also money behind them as well. And I’ve just been doing it solo (with the help of my AWESOME trainer Kai).
Going into the big leagues and going for national competitions is scary and expensive and you have to be really good, and I’m not there yet. I don’t have the right horse (although Daytona is a gem), I don’t have the monetary resources, etc. There’s so much that goes into this that people just don’t see and I think (and hope) that having this marketing company advocating for me will be the push I need to help me go further. Daytona and I have the last show of the season coming up at the beginning of October, and it’s a little bittersweet. I didn’t start my season on her, but I’m really happy that we’re able to finish it together. She has taught me a lot about this sport and how to keep pushing. I have no idea how we’re going to do going into this, but whatever the results, I’m just really grateful that we got to do it together.
Besides that, I’m also low key terrified. I’ve never done anything like this and am honestly not really sure what to expect. I think there’s like three shows happening all within the same weekend! Crazy! We’re going to make it though and that’s the important thing! Well, that’s all for this week.. I’ll be back next Friday with some more info as things keep unravelling here in my little horse world.
