Kentucky Wrap up

Sunday dawned sunny and hot with the temp at 85 degrees at 8am.  Tsjesse was first on the docket at 8:15 (thankfully due to how hot it would be later)and was a bit tired after putting everything he had into the test on Sat, but did a good test finishing 3rd out of 15 in the final PSG of the weekend.  This horse needs lots of carrots!!!! He was such a good boy and I was so proud and grateful to ride him for Marian and Michael Shaughnessy!

Tiffany was up next and put in a super confident, powerful stadium round on Cisco coming in within the time and leaving the rails in the cups.  She did a great job training her horse this weekend, and while she may not have finished where she wanted, she learned alot about him, herself as a confident rider, and became a better horsewoman and rider than she already was. Great job!  I then shot over to XC warmup with Jessica and Zophie, where Zophie told us she was super excited to finally run cross country!  Jessica piloted her around the BN course with ease finishing in 3rd place!  Congratulations!

Lastly, York and I had the Training Level Qualifier at 2pm.  It was SO HOT!  I think the heat got to him a bit and he put in a respectable test and got his qualifying score.  The judges all seemed to really love this horse with only one of 6 scores being a 68.9 and the rest being in the 70's.  I am very excited to see Angela ride this horse in competition and hopefully qualify for Regionals.  I also need to give her a HUGE THANK YOU as the unsung hero this weekend, toughing it out with me in the blistering heat doing chores, bathing, grooming & tacking horses, and being such an immense pillar of support.  It was so fun to have her there!  She is one of my biggest supporters, and I can't thank her enough for everything she does behind the scenes!

As a side note on the whole 26 thing...

After I finished recounting the events of the PSG Saturday and recurring  "26" in everything I have been doing lately to a friend of mine named Kristi, she said, "Well of course you won on Saturday, it was MAY 26th!" 

Enough said.  Lotto anyone?

26 strikes again!

When i arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park on Wednesday with two horses instead of the three I was slated to bring, I couldn't help but feel a little sad that my buddy Goodman had to stay home due to a slight injury.  I should have known as soon as I saw my stall number...oh yes you guessed it stall #226 that God had something special in store for me this weekend. 

Thursday we began showing, and I had Tsjesse in the PSG and York, Angela Hambrick's newly re-vocationed dressage horse at his first time in the Training Level.  The competition was very steep and York was in the 70's, specifically 72 and 73, but still came in 4th and 5th.  Tsjesse did a good test with some mistakes that put us in fourth with a 63.  When checking ride times for Friday, I noticed I was in ring "R".  Huh, what is ring "R" I asked the Secretary.  She smiled and said "Its the Rolex Arena", and handed me a schooling sheet for when I could get in the ring to let him check out the atmosphere.  I have always dreamed of riding in that arena, but never imagined it would be on a dressage horse! 

Tsjesse was a star in the arena, and settled right in, hardly affected by any of the pomp and circumstance.  I have to say I was a bit nervous and had a fairly good test until the changes, when I simply over rode, and tried to hard, causing us to have some major miscommunication and mistakes in both the fours and the threes.  We got a 63 again.  I was so mad at myself! Charlotte Bayley Schindelholz was watching my test and gave me a few tips as I exited that I stored away for my next ride.  Luckily, I had the opportunity to ride in the arena again on Saturday, so I was determined to redeem myself.

Saturday was crazy!  Jessica and Tiffany had come in on Friday for the event (that's a whole story of how they broke down on the road outside Cinci that I wont go into here) and I had to juggle trying to do my rides but also help coach them.  We started the day with Jess in dressage and she did a good test.  Then it was off to showjumping for her, where Zophie thought the cattle trailer was going to eat her for lunch.  Jess did a great job riding through it, and had a double clear round.  Thank goodness we had a golf cart, because I high tailed it back to the barn and started getting Tsjesse ready with the help of my friend Mary McKeon.  Off we went for the long walk to the Rolex Arena.

I started warming Tsjesse up in the walk, doing lots of traver, renver, shoulder-in, and walk pirouettes, really driving home the consistency of bend poll to tail, and keeping the hind legs connected.  As I progressed to trot, we continued on the same path, adding 10 and 15 meter circles again, addressing the balance, and bending.  All of a sudden, I started getting more horse.  I noticed that several riders were dismounting so I thought I would check to see what was going on .  Apparently, the wrong ride times had been posted, and I had to wait 20 minutes!  This is not good for a big, black Friesian in 94 degree heat!  I dismounted as well, and stood under a tree until 20 minutes before my test.  I finished my warm-up with lots of 10 meter canter circles to half pass, keeping him bent and balanced, and popped those changes each once.  As I headed into the arena, I could tell he was a little tense.  I just gave him a pat, picked up a trot and focused on moving his body so he could refocus.  I had developed alot more cadence and carrying power in my warm-up, and he was right there throughout the test.  We rode one of the cleanest tests we have ever done, and kept a good rhythm through most of the movements.  I was thrilled.  As I exited, the judge commented on what a great horse he was, and I said, "He is just so fun to ride!"  and looked up at the score board.  It was showing a 70.5%!  I couldn't believe it!  Then the announcer made the official score call and I was the new leader in the Prix St. George!  I was stunned!  Everyone started clapping, and Tsjesse was so proud of himself!  We held our lead and won the class of approximately 10 or 11 on our personal best score of 70.526%.  I can't say enough how grateful I am to Marian Shaughnessy for having me ride this spectacular horse, and I am enjoying every minute of learning!

Tiffany was dealt the short end of the stick in the coaching department as since my ride on Tsjesse was so late, I could only watch her for about 10 minutes before I had to get on York.  She did a great test and was in the Top Ten in a class of 22!  Meanwhile, York scored a 73 and was fifth again...  Tiff went cross country as the last ride of the day and really shone as a rider, getting a hot tired horse through the finish flags.  She really dug deep to get Cisco around as he was definitely affected by the heat, and I am so proud of her for getting it done safely!

Tomorrow Jess has XC, Tiff has stadium, and I have the boys in one class each.  Hopefully we can pull off another great test, but in the meantime, check out this video of us executing our winning ride.  Go Tsjesse!  You are amazing my friend, truly amazing.

And as far as you 26's go, well, keep 'em coming! This is getting fun!

Happy Mother's Day at Stonegate Farm

Happy Mother's Day  to all our friends and Mom's out there!  We had a fabulous weekend at the Winona Horse Trials.  Tiffany and Cisco put in a solid dressage test sitting them tied for fifth in an Open Novice division that contained a few notable pros from the area!  They followed it up with a great stadium round, and tackled the cross country on Sunday with panache.  This pair has really come a long way since last year, and they jumped around the XC with style, poise, and an excellent rhythm throughout, landing them in fourth!

Jessica and Zophie made their comback in an Open Beginner Novice division with style! Zophie and Jessica had been on a hiatus due to an injury that required surgery and left Zophie sidelined since August of last year.  Jessica put in her time and it paid off this weekend with a lovely dressage test, and nearly foot perfect stadium round.  You would have never known they had not been on a cross country course since July as they rocked around the BN course with ease, and practically flawless tempo that brought her in 3 seconds under Optimum Time, clinching 3rd place! 

We have this weekend off, and are looking forward to Silva Martin joining us for the day on May 22nd for a dressage clinic.  We then head out to the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park for the KDA Dressage show and MayDaze Horse Trial.  Until then, have a great ride!

Keeping the faith

Prospect 1

Well, looking for a new event horse has certainly proven to be more of a task than I could have possibly imagined.  Some would say I am too picky, and others might say not picky enough.  I took a chance and flew to Florida this past Monday and Tuesday to look at two possible prospects (yes only two), one of which I was super excited to see. 
Despite a bumpy flight due to the high winds, I made it into Orlando earlier than expected, and settled in to my lovely accomodations thanks to my friend Catana!  She has a beautiful farm near Ocala, and I was very lucky to get to stay there!  My friend Alex Robertson kindly offered to take me around and show me horses-he sold us Sarotti and Tsjesse- and we had lots of fun; especially cross country schooling one of the horses that he owned and has alot of potential.  Our next stop was to see a horse at Samantha and Pierre St. Jacques, that I think will be a really beautiful horse for an AA. It was nice to meet them and their beautiful new baby, and chat with Samantha about horses.   Our final prospect was a horse I had been stalking since the fall, that has competed at an unrecognized HT and YEH class in 2012.  Maybe I built the horse up too much in my brain, but he was not exactly as I remembered. I enjoyed having the opportunity to meet Peter Gray, and tried to not be too nervous riding his horse!  So, slightly deflated and mind spinning a mile a minute, I flew home to think.  After much consideration I decided to go forward with the horse in a previous blog, Blockbuster (whom I loved right from the start), only to find out that he was sold the day before.  Talk about luck.  I keep telling myself that it just wasn't meant to be, but its still hard! 
 Finding that really special one with great gaits for dressage, a good mind, and spectacular jump is so tough! I know there is one out there and I keep telling myself to just keep the faith, let everything fall into place, and I will know when its the right one.

Chances are...

Chances Are was the name of my first "real" event horse.  He was (you guessed it) a chestnut Thoroughbred that I competed to Novice. While I mostly did unrated horse trials with Chance, he  was a great horse, and I sold him before going to college to a sweet girl who wanted to do dressage.  I was a DQ even then.  I loved his name because I felt like it was full of hope and promise of the future; one that would take me to competing in equestrian sports at a high level.

Somethings can be left to Chance.  There is a chance that you can achieve things that you have only dreamt of. Chance meetings, lucky chances, chances of a lifetime.  Sometimes, you have to take a "chance" and wait to see what will happen.  Life is full of "Chances", if we could just recognize when they are happening .  Sometimes they are small everyday occurances that we take for granted, or the interaction with an aqaintance, friend or client.  Everyday, we are given chances, and its up to us to make the most of them. 

I am so blessed to have been given so very many chances, opportunities, and straight out gifts, that I am in awe of  God, the Universe, and people around me.  As I embark on what is sure to be the beginning of a great adventure and chance of a lifetime tomorrow, I feel like a kid in the candy store. I can only pray that God will continue to guide my path and lead me to the right series of events.  Thank you to everyone who is being so supportive and keeps making amazing things happen in my life.

"Ask and it shall be given you."
"Knock and it shall be opened unto you."

"SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND."

My faith is in You!

Lets go Eventing!

Moi, Jim Wofford, & Sarah Greer

After a month of fun and successful Dressage shows and clinics, I was ready to hit the cross-country track and play with some stadium rails!  The first week of April we headed out to Jackie Smith's Stonegate Farm in Hanoverton for a fun day of schooling with Tiffany, Myra, Marie's horse Princess, and Zigzag.  We had a gorgeous day with sunny blue sky, a gentle breeze, and practically perfect ground.  Tiffany & Cisco schooled the Novice and a bit of Training like pros, showing that they are ready to hit the first horse trial of the year with confidence, and Myra & Mikey had their first successful outing together!  Myra is building a great partnership with this cute horse, and it was fun to see her get really brave as the school went on, doing the water, bank and putting several fences together.  Zigzag schooled with his regular poise and vigor after shaking off some rust, and eagerly hopped around the Prelim water, bank and shelter.  Princess is a new horse to us and this was my first time with her cross-country.  She is a bold, fearless mare, and we had a great run around the Novice and Training working on rideability and the transition from galloping to preparing for a fence.  She was lots of fun, and its always great to have the opportunity to ride a client's horse in order to get a birds eye view of what's going on.  Thanks Marie!

April 14th and 15th we attended the Jim Wofford Clinic at South Farm put on by Sarah Greer and Chris Gable.  First of all, a huge thank you to Sarah and Chris for bringing one of Eventing's Legends to our area.  Its not easy to put these clinics on, and to bring someone of this caliber to our backyard is really special.  I rode two horses in the clinic, one a catch ride of Kathy Henry and Sarah's named Klue, and the second my faithful companion Z.  I was excited and humbled that Kathy and Sarah would ask me to ride Klue for them as I had not ridden him since the summer, and really enjoyed being teamed up with one of my old pals.  He was a really good boy, and though a little past having to stand around, jumped great, and gave me some good points to think about in my daily riding.  Klue is a fancy horse that will make a SUPER dressage horse...I have no doubt that we will see him in the FEI dressage ring at some point.

 "Z" was stellar the first day for all the grid work and I enjoyed working on letting him figure things out without so much help from me.  I have to admit riding to a grid with no leg and long reins is a bit unnerving, but it was a great exercise in training the fifth leg of the horse!  The second day was course work and riding related distances, which for us can sometimes be a challenge as "Z" likes to head on down the line (read: charge down the line to the next jump)! Jim gave me some great tips like staring at the pole of the fence I was jumping to help keep him focused and not override to the next fence, as well as making the half halt quickly at the landing to let him move evenly up to the next jump. 
This was my second time riding with Jim, and I enjoyed his "playful" banter and thoughtful comments that got to the point.  He gave great examples and multiple analogies to help drive home ideas and training principles, and it was fabulous to have the opportunity to pick his brain about my "next steps."  I was seriously pinching myself during our discussion!

A huge thank you to the person who sponsored me for this clinic~what a gift! 

Prix de Ville 2012!

From left: Sanae Tanebe, Leah Fredericks, Therese Evans,
Mandy Williams, Tiffany George-Kete

 What a weekend!  I am so very proud of all our riders this past weekend at the Prix de Ville at Lake Erie College!  We had such a great group of ladies making up our team, and lots of supporters coming out to cheer them on. The camraderie was so amazing!   Everyone worked really hard to get their horses ready and it showed, with a fifth place finish out of fifteen teams!  Thrilled doesn't begin to describe how excited I was that they were able to do this together!

Tiffany and Cisco

Tiffany and Cisco made their USDF debut at First Level with an impressive set of scores in the mid sixties!  This horse and rider pair are eventers turned DQ for the weekend, and they really brought the team home with great rides each day.  Its always tough being the last team rider of the day, but Tiffany is a seasoned competitor and handled the stress with class and poise, laying down solid, competitive tests each day (highlight score of 65%).  I am so proud of how hard Tiffany has worked and how far she and Cisco have come in the last year.  Its going to be exciting watching them event this summer now that the dressage is going to feel "easy" at Novice!

Leah and Earl

Leah and Earl were our lead off pair every day, and did a fabulous job starting us off with all their scores in the high sixties. (Read 69, 68, 67%) Leah is also an eventer, and Earl is actually her Mom Pat's horse, and I have only been working with them for a couple of months.  They also have worked hard, and Pat even rode Earl every day while Leah was on vacation to help get him ready.  They were a great cheering section for all the other riders throughout the day, and considering that Earl was just figuring out his balance in the canter a month ago, they turned in an outstanding performance.

Mandy and Saint

Mandy & Saint probably had their best rides to date, and were pushed up to 1st Level at this show so that we could have a team of four riders.  Mandy has been working hard to prepare Saint without burning him out, and has improved him by leaps and bounds in a few short weeks.  I am so happy that we finally got to take her with us to a horse show!  She was amazing, showing up at the crack of dawn every morning, and helping me and Mary M get everyone ready all day long.  While Saint was a bit tired the second day, Mandy rode two good tests on Friday and Sunday, and has just begun to scratch the surface of what this horse has to offer.  I am so proud of her!



Sanae Training Level
Reserve Champion

Sanae and Leggs

Sanae and Leggs were our secret weapon, pulling out some fantastic scores(71%, 68%!) and finishing the weekend as the Training Level Reserve Champions!  Sanae purchased Leggs a little over a year ago and has been diligently developing her partnership with this sweet little horse.  She had a turning point in Aiken this year, and boy did it show this weekend!  It was exciting to see the joy on her face when she found out she got a 71% on Saturday!  If this weekend is any indication, they are going to have a great show season this year!

I can't say enough times how proud I am at the successes of each of these riders and how wonderful it was (and how lucky I am) to coach such a fun team!  I greatly enjoyed the atmosphere, and thanks to all our friends who came out to support our group!  You really made it special.

On a side note, Tsjesse and Goodman also competed as individuals, and Goodman got a qualifying score for championships and Devon on Sunday!  I was very happy to finally get this talented guy back in the mid to high sixties.  I also had the opportunity to work with a Friesian trainer from Holland who greatly helped me with the ride on Tsjesse, and I can't wait to continue developing some of the tips he gave me!

Thanks also goes out to our groom extraordinaire, Mary McKeon, for keeping us all organized, clean, and the horses gleaming from start to finish.  It is so awesome to have someone who can run the show and let me just do my job riding and coaching! THANK YOU!

Until next time~