Busy July!

We have had a very busy July!  After South Farm we took the dressage horses to NODA at Grand Haven, and while there seemed to be a black cloud over us  regarding transportation issues, the horses were amazing!  Tsjesse and I made our debut at the Intermediate I with great results.  We had a 65 and change the first day and placed second both days earning the FEI Reserve Champion. I am so proud and fortunate to have Marian and Michael Shaughnessy giving me the opportunity to show this special horse for them!  I also took York, owned by Angela Hambrick, and showed him in Training Level.  This horse is a hunter who has found a new calling as a dressage horse with my long time sponsor Angela, and he did not disappoint.  York won 2 of his three classes and was second in the third with scores in the high sixties and low seventies, earning him the Open Training Champion.  I am very excited that Angela will be showing him herself for the first time in a few weeks; its been a long time coming,  and I know she will be great! Myra and Mikey made their dressage debut, and did an awesome job at the Training Opportunity classes, scoring in the sixties.  This is a fabulous match, and it is going to be so fun watching them develop.  Huge thanks to Myra for all the hard work she did, and her patience through all our transortation issues. Thanks (and probably a few beers) is also deserved by Debi Smith and her husband "Smitty" who luckily took pity on me, and single handedly dimantled our trailer jack so that we could get it to lower onto the truck.  This guy is a real life Macguyver.  A hundred thank yous for helping us so I could get the horses home.  I also need to send out a big THANK YOU to my Dad and Mom for being our stand in grooms, and especially my Mom for keeping me from completely losing it when it seemed like everything was going wrong with all our vehicles.  She was a trooper and enormous help, loading and unloading the trailer, and running me home after all the work was done! 

This month also took us back to South Farm where we competed at the unrecognized Mini Trial with Myra, Jessica, Tiffany, and you guessed it, Captain making his debut.  Myra and Mikey had their first outing together at Starter, and did an amazing job, cruising around the cross country course in style, and clinching a great showjump round like champions!  Jessica and Tiffany each made a move up to Novice and Training, and showed that they are ready to rock the move up!  Their horses were both great, and they rode like superstars.  Captain and I made our first outing at Novice, with a respectable dressage, and great but green rounds in the cross country and showjumping.  This horse loves to run cross country, and everything is so easy for him!  He has the best temperment, standing on the trailer by himself like a big boy, and being easy to handle all day long! My Dad hung out for a better part of the day, holding, grazing, washing, and buying lunch to keep me from keeling over running back and forth from the warm up areas.  It has been really fun having my parents help out so much at the last few horse shows, and I hope I havent scared them off by putting them to work! 

Our last show this month was at the Cobblestone Horse Trials, where Tiffany and Cisco competed in the Area VIII Novice Championships.  This was the first time attending this event, and I can tell you we will be back!  They did an amazing job on the cross country footing and all the courses were outstanding.  Tiffany put in one of her best dressage tests yet and had an outstanding cross country putting her in third going into showjumping.  She and Cisco were jumping great but had an unlucky rail moving her down to fifth overall, still an outstanding finish at her first championship!  I am really proud of her for powering through, as well as for her excellent horse management skills, as Cisco was a bit foot sore, and she had to work at getting his feet comfortable throughout the weekend.  Great job!  Pictures coming soon!

We have this weekend off, and will be heading to Grand Haven with five dressage horses next weekend, and several of our clients making debuts at new levels.  Good luck to everyone, and stay cool!