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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Secret Santa

12/30/2014

 
Dear Amanda and Tristan,

How is it that the simplest thing can be infused with so much meaning? When I opened your Secret Santa gift, I both squealed in delight and nearly burst into tears. How could you have known that I have coveted a halter nameplate since my early teens? It's mortifying to admit, but I never felt as though I had earned the right to sport such fanciness.
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Simply gorgeous. Thank you, Amanda.
It's a simple thing: a halter nameplate. How can it mean so much? As a teenager, I swooned over fancy horses in magazines and always admired those regal names engraved on lovely halters. I've owned many horses myself, some who were quite fancy, but I always felt like a nameplate was something that had to be earned.

Somehow, you managed to find the most perfect gift for me: one that I've always wanted but would never buy for myself. From the bottom of my heart, I say thank you, thank you, thank you.

Sincerely,
Karen

The day Amanda's gift arrived, I was headed out for a trail ride where my husband was going to meet me with the dog. After he parked, he handed me a package while I was saddling. Somehow, he knew that I'd want to see it right away.

I stashed the package in my trailer's tack compartment and went riding. As soon as I came back, I took care of Speedy and then ripped open the envelope right there in the parking area. I was overwhelmed by what was inside. There is no way that Amanda could have known that her gift would be so meaningful to me.

As soon as I walked into the house, I begged my husband to get out his tools so that he could help me attach the nameplate. He insisted that he be allowed to finish his lunch first, but as soon as he was done, he helped me punch some holes. When he had finished, he told me he was on his way to Home Depot so that he could get some Loctight for me so that the screws wouldn't fall out. I know my husband has no idea what a halter nameplate means to me, but he sensed how important it was to me nonetheless.

Amanda also sent an engraved bridle tag with Izzy's barn name. This touched me just as deeply. She had given me a nameplate with his regal name, just like I had always dreamed of, and a bridle tag with his barn name.
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I love how it looks. This is a very special gift.
It was the best gift of the year, and one that I didn't even know I wanted!

Follow Amanda and Tristan, her BLM Mustang, at Bel Joeor: Life + Horses. And lots of thanks to Tracy at Fly on Over for hosting the second annual Blogger Gift Exchange.
Genny link
12/29/2014 11:00:55 pm

What a wonderful gift!

Austen link
12/29/2014 11:17:04 pm

How sweet! I love nameplates!

Amanda link
12/30/2014 12:09:23 am

You are so, so very welcome. :) One of the first gifts I got nearly a decade ago when I got Tristan was a halter with a nameplate, and I remember how touched I was. It seemed so very appropriate for your new guy! There's something really special about them, isn't there?

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/4/2015 12:04:23 am

Definitely! You have inspired me to order one for Speedy too. I couldn't find the exact one that you ordered, but I found one very similar. Speedy has the same halter, and the one you ordered matched it so perfectly that I simply had to get one for the Speedy pony too. Of course it will take forever to get here, but that's okay. I waited more than 30 years for the first one. I think I can handle three weeks. :0)

Karley link
12/30/2014 12:15:21 am

What a great gift!!!

martina peterson
12/30/2014 12:38:49 am

and what is really neat is to have such caring and kind friends. That is worth more than silver or gold. But, then again you are like precious diamonds to so many. I'm not kidding love mom

Lauren link
12/30/2014 12:46:04 am

So special - I love it!

Tracy link
12/30/2014 02:04:23 am

How gorgeous!! I love and cherish my halter nameplates as well :-)

emma link
12/30/2014 11:41:26 am

what a lovely gift! can't wait to see it on the horse :)


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
    ​Welcome to my dressage journey.
    Picture
    Photo by Lori Ovanessian
    Email Karen

    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
    Picture
    July 2020 (PC AJSK Photography)

    About Izzy

    Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at Second Level. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
    Picture
    October 2020

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    Bakersfield Dressage approved!
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    FOR THE SMALLER EQUINE ATHLETE
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    I love her stuff!

    National Rider Awards

    • USDF Bronze Medal - 2020 
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    Lapel Pin
    • USDF Second Level Rider Performance Award - 2018
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    • USDF First Level Rider Performance Award - 2015
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    • USDF Training Level Rider Performance Award - 2013
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    State Rider Awards
    • CDS Ruby Rider Award - 2018
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    Ruby Rider Award, 2018
    State Horse Awards
    • CDS Third Level Horse Performance Award: Speedy G - 2020
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    3rd Level Horse Performance Award - 2020
    • CDS Second Level Horse Performance Award: Speedy G - 2018
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    2nd Level Horse Performance Award - 2018

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    CDS Sapphire Rider Award
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    3 Scores/2 Judges/60%:

    Score 1: 60.610% Bhathal
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    CDS Championship
    ​2nd Level Qualifying 
    5 Scores/4 Judges/61%:

    Score 1: 
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  • Home
  • About
  • Horses
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Imperioso
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Education
  • Local
    • Shopping List