by guest columnist, Lisa Kucharski

To say that our family calendar is busy is an understatement. It’s like an intricate tapestry that weaves together the multiple activities and commitments of our family of five.

Every time a new opportunity arises (i.e. an offer to work, a meeting, another horse show) we immediately consult the master calendar on the door of the fridge and see if we can fit it in.

Some things on the calendar are flexible/optional, but if the activity requires any involvement from my mom, her world revolves around “deadline time.” That’s when she’s working on putting the next issue of The Sentinel together. During those weeks marked off in red we can count on eating lots of frozen pizza and Taco Bell for dinner, and having to pitch in with extra chores.

While we make every effort to schedule around deadline time, sometimes it just can’t be avoided. Like this year, the Illinois State Fair 4-H Junior Horse Show and our county fair fell smack in the middle of peak production time. We also added a new “can’t miss” event to the calendar, the POA International. Mom said we would make every effort to go to these –after all they are horse-related activities– but I would have to really help her when crunch time hit once we returned. Along with my regular task of gathering the material for Olympic Dreams, my additional assignment was to write the Lead Lines column so I thought I’d give you a “kid’s eye view” of my horse activities over the summer so far.

Throughout the school year, I am involved in many different activities including cross country, basketball, track, NHS, church praise team, band, choir, and of course 4-H. As my basketball coach puts it, I have a “full plate.” A lot of kids my age see summer as a “break,” a time to lie at home, sleep in, and sit and watch TV all day. Others see summer as an opportunity to make money working until school starts up again. For me, summer means time for my fourth season sport, horses. I started this summer by working with my 5-year-old mare Hope. Hope has been here since she was 2 and I had only ridden her a handful of times in 3 years. It was time for her to start earning her feed. I got a good start on her but she’s still a long way from the show pen. As we got into July, Hope was given about a month off because the 4-H State Fair Jr. Horse Show and the POA Internationals were quickly creeping up. The rest of June and early July I focused on conditioning my pony Rusty and our quarter horse gelding Max for the big shows!

When we figured out that I could go to the POA Internationals, I was so excited. It would be my first time there. However, I didn’t want to miss the State Fair show and it was the same week as POA. So, being the “do it all” people we are and ignoring the friends who called us crazy, my mom and I decided that we would drive to St. Louis, MO for the POA show, and then haul back up 3 hours to Springfield, IL for the State Fair.

It seemed like a good plan. Of course it couldn’t be as easy as it sounded. The Saturday that we had to leave for Missouri, my little brother and I had a 4-H dog show in the morning, and then our family went to a wedding. We left the house around 9 p.m. Do you know what time we finally arrived in Missouri? Four o’clock in the MORNING! This was the day I was going to show. I was so tired and it was very hot that day, registering 101 degrees on our truck thermometer! We only spent one day at the show but in the end the trip was worth the experience. Rusty and I were awarded eighth place overall in Western Riding! Next year I am definitely planning on going again! On Monday morning we headed back up to Springfield. The 4-H State Fair Jr. Horse Show turned out to be another great year of camping fun, shaving cream fights, and a long night of the Versatility class! Anyone that receives 1st or 2nd in any kind of horsemanship or equitation classes, and barrel racing can qualify for versatility. We then compete against each other in one night starting with English Equitation, then Pattern Riding, Western Horsemanship, and finally Barrel Racing. Last year Rusty and I won it, and this year we got Reserve Champs! It was tons of fun!

As if that long week wasn’t enough for my pony, when we got back home we had a couple of days off and then our county fair started. I took him to the 4-H show and then to two open shows. The open shows were payback and it was fun to hang out with my friends and make some money by doing what I love, riding horses! I’ve been told that if you love your job, you never work a day in your life. I found a couple jobs this summer that I love, including working at a ranch in Wisconsin with my brother, helping the owner put up fences and hay, and I also started riding people’s horses for them, just keeping them conditioned.

I often get so busy that some people swear that I don’t have a social life, but I do. I mean, come on! I’m a teenager! What would I do without my friends? Somehow I manage to find time to hang out with friends and luckily, a lot of them are involved in horse stuff, including my boyfriend!

Anyway, I hope my mom finishes soon because we have a lot more things planned before school starts up. I have a Horse Science poster to bring to the Illinois State Fair next week and if mom isn’t done, she doesn’t get to go along. So I don’t mind helping her out, I guess. After all, I need her to be available to pin my number on and hold my pony and wipe off his slimy, green mouth at shows! I can spare a little bit of my time because she takes up her time to help me do everything!