So me and riding...well I have always loved horses and riding, but having grown up in NYC, I didn't really get a chance to. The first real chance I got was when I was 12, and I went to riding camp for three weeks. I had never had a lesson before, but read lots of books and they ended up sticking me in the advanced beginners class. By the end of the three weeks I was beyond that, and the next level and in my own class because they couldn't advance me any further for some reason or another. Needless to say, I thought I was pretty cool. So then I didn't really ever ride again until junior year in college, when I joined the newly varsity-fied-under-title-IX equestrian team at Brown. I started off in the walk-trot class, where they put people with less than a year of experience. Well I guess I was pretty good at walking and trotting because I got my 35 points in about 7 shows (5 being the quickest possible) and advanced to beginning walk-trot-canter. Well I fair flew through that class too and the advanced walk-trot-canter division besides, kicking ass against all these folks who'd been riding all their lives. Well I ended up going to regionals junior year, and getting second place in my division and so going on to the Zone championships - the first Brown rider ever to do so - but alas senior year, riding in the novice division, something happened. I lost all my confidence for most of the season, and SUCKED. I mean I was getting like fourths and fifths and even a few sixth place ribbons. I got to ride in my first jumping class in the IHSA though which was fun. I finally bounced back at the end of the year to win first place at the all-ivy show though so I ended up on a good note. And that's the story of my riding life
