Inside the Maclay Finals

I woke up at 1:40 this morning (that would be a.m.!) because they have assigned schooling times for the Maclay schooling ours was from 2 to 2:30 a.m. I didn't need an alarm clock. Addie Phillips (who also rides with Andre Dignelli and Heritage) was staying with me and she got me up.

I was pretty exhausted, so my warm-up round on Chagall probably wasn't as good as it could have been; going to the last line I kind of chipped. I was looking for a little more of a confidence-boosting ride. But I still feel okay because I've had a really good finals so far and I think my horse was perfect. He didn't do anything wrong.

But I think I need to go to bed really early tonight and get my rest. I don't feel that nervous. I go 56th in the Maclay tomorrow morning, so I have a good spot. I'm the kind of person who needs to watch other riders.

They had a big deal involving the draw for order of go in the Maclay, where we all sat together, had a sandwich and heard a series of speakers after we found out our starting order.

The draw thing was a little intimidating, because they did it right there in the Oncenter, near the warm-up ring. For the Medal, they pre-draw it and just read it off. This morning, there was suspense waiting between the names as they announced them, and sitting through that was a little intense. George Morris, who is judging the Maclay with Susie Humes, gave us a little talk and told us what they're looking for. The judges emphasize being very traditional and that's a good thing to know when you're going to the ring.

This is my last class as a junior and I'm pretty sad about that. Whenever anyone mentions it to me, I definitely get a little teary-eyed. I love my horses so much and for me, it's hard to part with them.

Posted by Natalie Johnson

Photo caption: Natalie Johnson crosses the street from the arena to the warm-up area with junior jumper Jeremy. Copyright 2005 Nancy Jaffer