The greatest horsemen in the world

I arrived in Park City around 8 p.m. tonight, ready to start my A session of the "L" Program (in case you haven't heard me talking about it the last 30 times). Wouldn't you know that I ran into one of the greatest horsemen in the world already. Not at the USDF Program, but... at the sushi bar next to my hotel.

His name is Suki and he is the sushi chef at a little place called The Last Samurai. Suki is Mongolian and when I told him I trained horses, mentioned that he used to ride horses. After spending 5 minutes trying to convince me that I must be a superior rider, because I jump things, I found out that Suki competed in his first horse race at the age of 6. I put two and two together and realized that Suki is one of those famous boy jockeys that you hear about on NPR, National Geographic and pretty much anything else talking about Mongolia.

So tomorrow, when I recover from eating way too much sushi and sit down for my first day of the "L" Program I will remember two things:
1. I can only work hard and hope to be half the horseman that Suki and his fellow riders are in Mongolia.
2. Even though I think it is one of the best sports in the world, it is still just a sport. Just when you think you are Ms. Serious Horsewoman, you will run into a Mongolian horse racer in a sushi bar in Utah. Not only will he be able to ride circles around you, but he will also be able to make better sushi than you.

The view from outside the restaurant!