STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Brandon Jones!! Brandon has been at Strongwater for several years now and his enthusiasm for riding and horses is unwavering. Brandons current instructor is Ellie Behrstock. On Saturday he attended the Special Olympics, with coach Patti Lessard, earning 2 gold medals in the independent Walk/Trot trail and W/T/C English equitation classes. Congratulations Brandon, we are proud of you. Brandon describes his experience in his own words here: The horse I rode was named Clifford. He is a big, red Quarter horse. He was very content, responded well to commands, patient while waiting between classes. I think he enjoyed being able to canter at the end as much as I did. When we got to Windrush Farm, I was very excited. Registration was not outside like the last time I was there, so I thought, “Let’s look inside the barn” and there it was. I was really looking forward to riding. It was a little challenging to have to wait to find out what horse I’d be riding. I observed all of the horses that were part of the morning sessions. I did see Clifford, but I didn’t know I’d be riding him until right before it was time for my class. Between sessions, Patti and I walked the trail course to really set it in my mind. I got some good reminders from Patti, Diane, and my former instructor, Sue Ross. I had some great support from them and also Dolly Ross (Sue’s daughter) and Hope Harding and my Mom. When I was riding, I felt very confident. I just focused on the trail and suddenly it was done. Then, during Equitation, I tried to stay aware to hear the directions of the judge. When they asked if I wanted to canter, I was very excited and happy. When they announced the medals and they said “Gold medal goes to rider #22, Brandon Jones” I was ecstatic. Then I looked over at all the people from Strongwater and saw them all smiling and doing the silent Cheer so that they didn’t scare the horses. After horses and riders went outside, I was able to give Clifford lots of pats and tell him he was a very good horse and thank him for the ride.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 11:53:27 +0000
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