Sunday Success Stories

(Sunday Success Stories have returned to Eventing-A-Gogo! Each week, we feature a reader's own personal journey through overcoming difficulty and adversity, sometimes against all odds, and pulling through no matter what. These stories are about those who never gave up, and who made a difference in the life of an animal who just needed a little love and care in order to turn around and really bloom again. Send your success stories, past or present, to EventingAGogo@gmail.com!)

This week's Sunday Success Story comes from Jess, who writes in to tell us: "I wanted to let you know a little about myself and my story with horses. I have a YouTube series called The Quest For Champion. I am currently training three rescue thoroughbreds, and I am documenting our progress. I've been told that they will never amount to anything but wasted time and money. They are all still very green, but we are training hard every day, and making excellent progress. You can really tell a huge difference in my boys. Just as you said, I plan on proving people wrong, and raising awareness about the wonderful horses that can be saved. I post up an new video each week, and mix fast paced eventing with awesome dubstep. I also do some dressage from time to time!" Without further ado, here is their story!

The Quest for Champion



My name is Jess, and I've been riding since I was seven years old. I've been showing for about five years now, and it's safe to say I'm hooked! I love all English riding, so I show in many disciplines with no particular favorite. Showing has become an addiction for me, I'm at every one I can get to. Throughout the years I've owned many wonderful horses, but I've never felt more fortunate to own a horse than I do now. Please allow me to explain.

I am the proud owner of not one, but three AMAZING rescue horses. I hate to think about it, but these guys were basically headed for slaughter when I found them. I saved my first horse back in 2007, His name is Lago, but I call him Gam. He was only two and a half years old, and had raced about ten times. He had some issues with fluid on his abdomen, and some other really scary stuff. We went through six months of treatment, and he recovered fully! We started our training shortly after, and had our first show in 2008. He's been going hard ever since. He's hands down the smartest horse I've ever had the pleasure of riding.

All three of my boys were in really bad shape when we met. Now they are healthy as can be, and are all currently showing with me. My goal with these guys is to take them from a bunch of "Racetrack rejects" to Champions of show. I want people to know that you don't need to have a thirty or forty thousand dollar horse to win shows. I'd like them to know that they can save a horse, and with enough love, time, and patience, anything is possible. I'd like to prove to all people that had negative things to say just how wrong they were. I was talking to a friend about all of this, and they brought up the idea of making a Youtube series. Something about the idea seemed like it was meant to be.

I made my first video in November 2010 and posted it to YouTube. This was actually Bay's first show with me! Since then, I have uploaded thirty four videos starring my boys. It's a way for me to look back, and see how far they progressed. I wish I had video when from when I first met them. It makes me sad to think of how skinny Bay was, or how Judge wouldn't stop trying to kiss me. Now they win ribbons, and do what many people said was impossible. The videos are not only is it a tool to gauge progression, but I've also been told that the videos are a great asset beginner riders.

I named my show The Quest For Champion. I wanted something that reflected the different personality's of the me and my boys. Something completely different from what anyone has seen before. It's shot in a really special way, to almost put you ON the horse and IN the show! You'll see what I mean! Your with me during every walk, trot, canter, and jump. Your with me through the refusals, and even the falls! It's really intense! I've even overcome my camera shyness and I intro every show, and share some crazy stories from behind the scenes. I upload a new video every Monday, and I'd would really love it if I could share the show with you and the readers. I was so ecstatic when I found your site. I think we may be kindred spirits. Much like Gogo, my boys event, and show barefoot :D

You can find my Youtube channel at: www.youtube.com/quest4champ
I'm also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/questforchampion/








(Send your submissions and stories to EventingAGogo@gmail.com! Gogo wants you to!)