Why I Hit the Mother-in-Law Jackpot!
By: Brittany Bevis
Since Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend, we thought it might be fun to highlight a very special duo that is smashing the traditional mother-in-law/daughter-in-law stereotype.
It’s a well-known fact that the figure of a mother-in-law is frequent fodder for jokes, comedian commentary, and colorful depiction in television and film. But this is nothing new. There is evidence dating back to Roman times of the first mother-in-law jokes.
When Kristen Lee met the women who was to become her mother-in-law, Leigh Lee, she knew she’d hit the jackpot! “We both grew up in the saddle and, strangely enough, had similar starts,” Kristin says. “We both had a passion for horses and Jumping at an early age. Both of us would also eventually spend many years out of the saddle, because life happens, but we made a promise to each other that we’d never let that happen again. No matter what! She’s been back to showing horses for close to seven years now, and I’ve been back for five.”
The first time Kristen met Leigh was at a horse show. When she walked into the barn at the Big A in Conyers, GA, she knew she had found her soulmate, and she wasn’t talking about her fiancé, Jordan.
“I remember thinking to myself that I had hit the jackpot in the mother-in-law department,” Kristen says. “We giggled and bonded over horses like we were old friends. I wasn’t riding at the time, and she was just getting back into it. I think, at that moment, she had a plan up her sleeve to get me back in the saddle, one way or another.”
“She put me up on her horse and watched me beam with pride. I never once called her by her actual name. I left calling her ‘Mom’ and that never changed.”
Because Kristen’s husband, Jordan, is a professional bass fisherman and competes in tournaments across the United States throughout the year, he’s rarely able to attend horse shows. However, the Lee ladies take full advantage of the time they get to spend together, even once camping out for two weeks at a horse show in a trailer.
“I will say though that Jordan is the first call I make after I come out of the ring,” Kristen says. “He knows all the horse lingo and even asks how many horses were in a class. We laugh to this day about how he bought me a horse before he bought me an engagement ring.”
Both Kristen and Leigh ride under the guidance of Rick Christy with Kruzen For A Shu Show, Zips RV Radical, and Kiss My Big Assets. The ladies love competing together in their favorite class- Equitation. “The last time we competed against each other, we went in with playful banter that we could be first and second and that would be good enough. But you know we were both thinking, ‘Just know I’m trying for first, and I’m coming for you!'”
“It’s hard to put into words how much fun we truly have sharing this horse crazy dream of ours. I’m not sure that there is another person that I could spend two weeks with in a horse trailer. She’s never missed a class of mine, even if it’s Showmanship at 7:30 am. I find myself looking for her outside of the ring while I’m showing. I tell her not to video me, but I always spot her with her phone up, videoing, and nodding in approval. We take turns holding the grooming bag for each other. She always tells me that you can be as good as you want to be. All it takes is plenty of wet saddle pads. We push each other, and I like to think I keep her young. Sorry, Mom!”
During this time spent in quarantine, the ladies have found plenty of time to practice, because Kristen lives just fifteen minutes from her in-laws’ beautiful, historic, horse farm. “During this quarantine, we have been able to social distance, while putting in plenty of hours of riding. I’m convinced by mother-in-law stays up at night trying to find old Congress patterns just to stump us. Some days, we will switch horse and I will take her Jumping horse around the fences and she will get on my all around horse and plop over Trail poles. She says, ‘We can never know it all, but we can learn something new every single day.'”
If you have a special story to share, email B.Bevis@EquineChronicle.com.
