Trainor Eventing

Sydney International 3-Day Event

2011-09-08T19:18:00.000+10:00

Today was the first dressage day of the Sydney Int, and I was hoping for good things. Spike is entered in the 1-star, to get a qualifying run fro the Adelaide 2-star later in the year. Even though he has run 3 2-stars so far this season, and 2 CIC 1-stars this year, running the CCI 1-star makes the process easier for getting the scores I need for Adelaide. So I was hoping that we would do well considering he has been doing alright at the 2-star level.
I rode him yesterday before the trot-up and he was very, very quiet. He pulled back at the wash rack while getting a bath tuesday and broke his halter, and proceeded to have a nice run around the property. It turns out he must have made his poll a bit sore from all of this silliness as he didnt want me to bridle him yesterday. And because he was so quiet, I decided that I didnt need to torture him with another bridling session to be able to ride around the competition arena later in the day when it was open. Plus, he has been to this venue more than anywhere else. He knows it like the back of his hoof.....
Today we came out to warm-up and Spike was remarkably calm. He was well behaved and mostly obediant (only one attempted flying change in the warm-up) and I thought we might have a chance of putting in a decent test. We walked to the competition arena and while he was a little looky, he was pretty good. We had one nice trot down one long side of the ring and then the vendors decided to open the tent flaps on the tradestand booths (we were the 6th horse to go in the morning). Well, Spike decided that was not right, and that he did indeed know this arena....it is the ring that we have jump lessons in!!! Needless to say Spike was a bit "on the muscle" for my test. He did however, hold it together and perform an accurate and obedient test, albeit a bit "up". No flying changes though!!!
Well, one judge thought he was OK, giving him nearly a 66%, but the other judge scored him a 57% to finish with a total of 57 penalties. I am a bit disappointed in sitting in 16th place, but at least we didnt have any blow-ups!
The cross country course looks pretty good and is 7 minutes long. It should weed out some people and cause some time faults. I am looking at having a strong, fast round and maybe move up a bit. I also walked around the 2-star and it looked perfectly do-able for Spike. There were some nice questions that I wish I was able to do actually! But for now I will concentrate on having a good go Saturday around the 1-star course.
Tomorrow is dressage for the 3-star and pre-novice, so I will jump Spike lightly and take him for lots of hand grazing! I will try to post after xc on Saturday and keep your fingers crossed for me!

Camden 2-star

2011-09-05T21:38:00.000+10:00

Spike had a very successful run at the Camden event last weekend. While the dressage wasnt perfect (stupid flying change in the counter canter!!), he was much more rideable in the arena and steadier into the contact. He just needs to settle in the dressage like he is at home. Funny enough though, he was better in the ring than in the warm-up, which is a first for him and maybe a sign of things to come. I have to remind myself that he did his first recognized event in march of last year, so he still has time to come good!
Cross country was designed by Stuart Tinney, and it asked quite a few 2-star questions, but it was really nicely done. There were no stiff landings that jarred the horses, or trick questions. I have to give credit to Stuart for improving the course in my opinion.
There were 2 water questions, a coffin questions, narrow brushes, and quite a fwe angled fence combos. There were plenty of skinny to skinny fences too! But some nice gallop jumps to get the horses going and keep them confident. I tried to come out forward and ride that way throughout. This resulted in a few big jumps at oxers as I took them out of stride, and a bit of a stand-off at the second to last fence, a ditch and rail, but Spike just made it into a wider, bigger jump no problem. At least I know the size of the 4-star fences wont be a problem!
We came in with just 2.8 time penalties and I couldnt have been happier. At all the combinations, I rode my distances as Sam and I walked, but I was getting up under the out fences a litte....meaning that Spike was eating up the strides a bit. He is very keen so it may be his greeness just a bit.
Show jumping was very influential, with lots of rails coming down. I went in and had a positive ride, with just one rail down over a square livepool oxer. Spike left great and I was happier with my riding. We ended up in 10th out of 45 starters, so not too bad.
I am headed to the Sydney International CCI* with Spike this week, so wish me luck. It will be a bit easier since he has been running 2-star this season ,but hopefully we come out on top!!!

New partnership

2011-08-22T19:18:00.000+10:00

A few weeks ago I had a call from a good friend Andrea, letting me know that a mutual friend and horse breeder was offering me a lovely filly she had bred. I first saw the filly a few weeks after she was born when I was visiting Australia for the first time. The filly is now 2 and is a flashy chestnut with 4 white legs and a big white face. She is by Belcam Graphic, who is half TB, half Han and out of a mare who is also part TB. She moves like a WB, but is built lighter and her father comes from jumping bloodlines. Hopefully she will turn out to be a super event horse!
So Silver Hills Regency, bred by Bronwyn Doong and now owned by myself and Andrea Webb will be coming to the farm soon! I will post pics when I get them. Thanks to both ladies for the opportunity and partnership!

On the up and up hopefully!

2011-08-22T19:11:00.001+10:00

I have been working really hard since my last post, as well as renting a farm and moving! I had a 2-star run at Sydney with Spike, where he was really good despite my riding, and then some good jumping lessons.
At Sydney Spike was a bit tense in the dressage, but super on the cross country over the World Cup track, finishing with 5.6 time penalties. I was really nervous going into show jumping over a big course, and I rode the course a bit scared, having 2 rails down. I just wasnt relaxed and consistent in the pace or spots, but Spike was good and no sign of stopping.
I had a jumping lesson with Sam this week and Spike felt like his old self. He was a little bit cheeky, but forward and rideable, and jumping really well. I finally felt really good and it felt like everything was back in place. I dont know why Spike was going differently, but maybe he is feeling better as well. We arent perfect, we still need to work on a few things but at least I feel positive toward the fences!
On a home front update, I have rented a farm in Appin, and we moved in about 2 weeks ago. The farm is fabulous and the horses have been really happy, relaxed and going well there. It is nice to have them all under my wing, and able to tailor to their individual needs.
Camden 2-star is this weekend, and I am hoping for a good run there with Spike. It should be a good course and good weather!

The ups and downs...

2011-07-25T19:27:00.000+10:00

The thing about eventing is that with the highs, come the lows. There are many people that choose not to torture themselves and deal with this, and then there are the crazy people that cant seem to shake it, despite the emotional roller coaster!

The move up to 2-star with Spike was a bit tainted with a diagnosis of something funny going on muscularly the week before the event at Berrima. I was intending to only do dressage and stadium as a sort of combined test when I entered, but the xc looked like a nice first run so I was playing it by ear.

Rebecca Booth from Elementals does Spike's body work and is so fabulous that she came to the event with me to make sure Spike was ok. The day before Berrima I thought I would have a light jump school, but Spike stopped at a verticle and an oxer in the jump set and I was really worried. He has not had stopping issues and I was not sure what to do as far as running him or not. I warmed up for dressage and he felt good, so I did the test. Rebecca said that when Spike was warmed up, his muscle issue seemed to go away and so I warmed up for SJ. He felt good, and I had a decent round pulling one rail over a big square oxer.
I agonized over whether to run xc or not. But again I decided to warm-up and see how he felt. Spike was feeling great so out we went. He went around the combinations I was worried about well, but 3/4 of the way around the course was a big roll top 3 strides downhill to a very tall, very skinny but deep brush arrowhead. Spike jumped the oxer well and got to the base of the brush and went left, then bolted off. I came back and approached again. Spike got right to the base, then half jumped, and went left. I should have pulled up then ,but he felt like he was wanting to if he could so I tried again with the same result as the second time. Wow, first time that has happened to me. I wasnt upset, but worried there was something wrong with Spike.

I had him entered in Quirindi 2 weeks later at the 2-star level again. I had Rebecca out and gave Spike a light week. He was doing some of the best work under saddle that he has ever done. It is a really weird feeling because the horse feels great in most work, but there is a nagging feeling that something could be hurting him. And on top of that I had another stop in a schooling SJ round. It was a really deep spot to an oxer and I was holding to the base. At Quirindi he jumped around xc great, but had the second rail down in SJ, which is unlike him and I then held to the next fence which was a triple bar. A stop again and multiple rails and I was still worried about his health, although from watching the video and other top riders watching giving me their feedback, it seemed that I was holding him a bit underpaced to the jump and he just couldnt attempt it from that ride. And the pattern seemed to be that the stops were coming at oxers where I was holding to a deep spot. He did have some muscle issues still in his hind end going on, but they seemed to be mild and resolved quickly with work.

So of course I had Spike fully examined and a full vetting done. And he got the check of approval. He seems to be in great shape, and sound. He is fit and bloodwork is ok. And that just leaves me.....

I had a lesson with Sam today to work on what I am doing. Sam got on Spike and rode him beautifully. He could feel right away that Spike would want to lug down a little instead of carrying himself through the approach to the fence and that was most likely what I was feeling and holding him back. But this was causing him to get to the fence weak and behind my leg. So what I need to do is slow him down and rebalance in the turns and then move him up in front of my leg to the fence. And funny enough I wanted to hold a bit on my young horse as well. The take home lesson is that I need to readdress my riding a bit and fix a few things, but this is harder to do than it is to write!
I am glad to have something to focus on and work on, but I do feel a bit guilty to give my horse a less than perfect ride. Watching Sam ride Spike I realized how lucky I am to have Spike, and that with all of his quirks, he is still a model of my ideal horse. The type that I would seek out, but that is hard to find. The type of horse that only comes along once in your life. I have been lucky enough to have a few horses like that, all different. Teddy was a special horse in my life and I never thought that I would have another in my life with that same connection, but Spike has the same feeling for me that Teddy had. And I want to give him the best ride that I can.

So I have to concentrate on myself this week at the Sydney event. And fingers crossed for a good 2-star run!!

Congrats

2011-07-25T19:26:00.000+10:00

Big congrats to Jade Findlay on the purchase of Will (sale horse listed in earlier post). I cant wait to see what these two will do together. Jade is an amazing rider and I wish them the best of luck!

More Pictures

2011-06-30T08:19:00.001+10:00

Tait doing dressage as Silver Hills. I will try to post more pictures soon!

Move up contemplations

2011-06-19T14:17:00.000+10:00

I dont really have much new to report, but since I have been home sick all week, and the dog and I are about to go crazy from watching too much Meerkat Manor, I thought I would post.
Since being back from vacation, I havent had a chance to do very much because I promptly came down with what the doc thinks might be the rotavirus, and havent been able to ride or do much of anything! But I have been planning and emailing and thinking about the rest of the year and beyond with all the horses.
I have Berrima in 2 weeks time, and Tait is entered at Intro for his 4th event, and I have just entered Spike at the 2-star level. Tait has been working really well at home, both on the flat and over fences, but I still have to sort out his issues at events. It seems that he still thinks he might be on the track and as I am sure you have read in my previous blogs, it has caused him to be not so stellar in the dressage arena. So I will just keep taking him places until he sorts it out. He is fabulous away to lessons, but something about the show atmosphere has gotten to him.
I have decided to enter Spike at Berrima to get him out and get some practise with the 2-star dressage and show jumping, but not to run the xc. I feel like I need to school Spike over some of what he might see at this level before asking him to do it in a competition. Tina, the secretary, has agreed to make an exception and allow me to enter in a CNC (even though they are only offering CIC classes) and scratch the xc while still being able to do the show jumping. This is not a normal practise here, even though it is not uncommon in the US, and I really appreciate them doing it for me! There is something about the atmosphere at a real event that you just cannot get at a schooling day and that is what Spike needs most. Also, Spike does not do very well with breaks, and is better with regular outings. After this run at Berrima, I am planning to do as much xc schooling as possible and then have his 2-star debut at Sydney the end of July. He will then run Camden at the 2-star, then Sydney at either the 1-or 2 star depending on how he has been going. Then we will do Scone, Goulburn and Canberra before heading to Adelaide for the CCI 2 star there in November.
I have been sending video and pictures of my rounds this season to Jimmy and he has been wonderful to be giving me feedback. I know what I need to work on and I have gotten the thumbs up that Spike is ready for the next level, so now to just practise!!!
Back in the US, Bounce and Gracie are doing well. Gracie still hasnt been bred unfortunately, due to contaminated swabs for testing that must be done to bring her over in foal later in the year. The plan is to still breed her, but we are waiting for clean swabs to come back before being able to. Becky Scarlett, my vet, has been perservering through it all and hopefully will be able to breathe a bit easier and not have to work so hard! She has been a huge help through it all!!
Now with all these plans laid out, I just need to get to the barn and ride! Hopefully this virus will pass soon....

Great weekend at Camden!

2011-06-07T17:47:00.000+10:00

Camden was a fabulous event! The atmosphere, the people, the vendors, the food....it was all fabulous. Probably the best event I have been to. On top of that, Spike had a great weekend to finish on his dressage score in the CIC* in 3rd place.
He was totally relaxed in the dressage warm-up, and while he tensed up a bit in the ring, he kept it together and was in 6th after dressage. The next day, Spike jumped a fabulous show-jump round and was really trying. Cross country was easy, despite a hold after fence 6 for about 15 minutes. Spike was looking for the fences and was just brilliant to ride. Not a bad finish for his last 1-star before moving up.
He had 2 weeks off and is now back in work, practising his new tests and jumping a bit bigger!

Pictures of Glen Hill Contiki

2011-05-12T08:51:00.000+10:00

Here are some pictures of Tait from Silver Hills. Thanks again to Bec for the fabulous pictures!!

Pictures from Berrima!

2011-05-12T08:49:00.000+10:00

A huge thanks to Bec for these great pictures from Berrima!

Sydney CIC*

2011-05-12T08:38:00.000+10:00

What a fun weekend! Spike was a very good boy, if you ignore the flying changes in the counter canter in his test......
We had dressage in the indoor arena, and I was a bit worried about how he would behave, but he was very good and mostly relaxed. He scored a 56 and was sitting in the upper 3rd of the pack of 40 or so horses.

The cross country looked great! It was a nice forward gallopy course and I think the designer did a perfect job! I was really looking forward to riding it. Spike and I set out at a forward gallopy pace and kept it the whole way around. He was jumping well and handled the combinations great. There were a few trouble spots on course, such as the 12 a,b,c which was a table bending line to a skinny log on end to another skinny log on end. Spike handled it well. 14,15 was a skinny up a hill 5 stride bending line to a triangle brush skinny. Again, Spike was great. Optimum time was 5:23 and I didnt look at my watch the whole way around. When I crossed the finish line my watch beeped and I was confused as to how I could have come in 45 second slow! But when I looked at my watch it was at 5 minutes not 6!! So we were a bit farst, but Spike came in with a temp of 38.8 (resting is 37-38) and a pulse of 66! So he wasnt stressed at all. I had a student to warm up for show jumping so I had to jump off and hand Spike to Scott in the 10 minute box. I have to give a huge thanks to Scott for taking care of Spike and cooling him out in perfect form. I have learned the Scott does a much better job at that sort of thing than I can do, Spike loves him and mostly behaves for him, and I do best staying out of the way. What a great husband to be able to hand your horse to him in the 10 minute box and walk away!!!

Spike jogged well and felt great for SJ. He jumped a clear round to finish on his dressage score and in 9th place. So now to improve on the dressage (we all know that!) for the CIC* at Camden next week. After that Spike will have a break and then gear up for a first outing at the one-star before moving up to 2-star in August. He will do a CCI* at Sydney in August then shoot for the CCI** at Adelaide in November!

Horse For Sale

2011-04-27T09:04:00.001+10:00

I have put up for sale a lovely 5 year old Irish bred TB gelding. 16 hands, going nicely on the flat and started over fences. I have taken him out and he is great. No issues. Only for sale due to bringing Gracie and baby over later in the year. I have some pics above...sorry about the quality!

Bounce is here!!!!

2011-04-27T08:59:00.001+10:00

Yay!! Glen Hill Bounce was born on the eve of Easter! He is doing well and has the best face marking! We are still trying to decided what color he is going to be. Gracie will be going up to WV next month to be bred to Spike's sire, Ten Star Fleet and then they will ship here to Australia in September if all goes well!!

Berrima Horse Trials

2011-04-27T08:52:00.000+10:00

Berrima was a long weekend, but a lovely event and I just missed the weather on Sunday, thank goodness! We headed up on Friday and stayed at a lovely place called Calgary Park. Even though I was up until way to late braiding the horses and getting them all cleaned up, we got up at 5 am to pick up the horses and head to the event grounds. When I got to the event and pulled the hoods off the horses, I discovered that all of the braids had fallen out over night with the new thread I used! So I had to rush and rubberband in a bunch of crappy looking ones!

Spike warmed up fabulously and was very relaxed! Unfortunately my strategy backfired and after about 40 minutes, Spike was over it and wanted to go back to the float. I had given myself a little over an hour to warm-up! So we had a tense test and I was a bit dissapointed.

I got on Tait next and he was very good. This was his first show and he was relaxed in the warm-up and well behaved. Unfortunately, he wasnt sure what to do in the ring in tall grass on a slope, but he tried very hard. He had bobbles, but the judge got out of her car at the end of the test and told me how nice he was and how great he is going to be. Tait show jumped next, and despite thinking he might be back on the track, due to the loud speakers by the ring and warm-up, he did a good job over the biggest jumps I have jumped him over. The course was much more solid than I thought it might be, and bigger. Despite 2 rails, I was very happy with him.

Next was Spike showjumping, and the 1-star was not schedule to go until late in the day. The course was causing total carnage, and my student Susie had one of few clear rounds! She was one of the first to jump, and as the light got lower, the jumps were becoming hard to judge properly. Spike jumped the first 2 clear, where many were having rails, but then as we approached the 3rd fence, neither ofus could see it well or see a spot. We literally cantered into the fence with no attempt to jump. Poor Spike! After having it reset, Spike jumped out of his skin to have a clear round. The odd thing was that I watched several horses do the exact same thing as Spike at this fence as well as fence 5 and the triple bar.

The next day was xc day and Spike was amazing. He jumped fabulously and clean, with a bit of time because I was being conservative. The water jump was the hardest we have had to do with an angled log into the water and then a bending line to a bank out, 2 strides to a wine barrel on its side. He was great!! Tait was also super on xc, after making out of the warm-up again thinking he might be headed for the races! He had one stop at the ditch, but was very good and got better and better as he went along. He went right in both waters no problem and I had a blast!!

So the weekend ended well, despite the horses being down the score board. I did get my qualifying run on Spike for Sydney and Tait didnt get eliminated at his first event!!!

Dressage, and all that jazz....

2011-03-31T16:56:00.000+11:00

I have to say that I am really feeling lucky that I have been able to get up to Wayne's place for lessons. Everytime he rides Spike, he looks and feels amazing when I get back on, and I feel like I have direction. Wayne really has a feel that transfers through to the horses and does an amazing job with Spike. I guess if it took coming half way around the world to find someone that works for Spike then so be it! We worked on connection again and getting Spike to reach into the contact. That is his cryptonite and the last thing that he needs to really break through. It is better, but still something to work on. Spike's walk was better, and the right lead canter was almost as good as the left. I need to ride forward and use the changes within the gait to get Spike reaching and connected to my hand, and let him carry himself. I had a breakthrough today after Wayne rode in that I need to use more leg and seat to collect Spike. I know that seems like a no-brainer, but it is always difficult to actually do! We worked on a shoulder-in down the center line and Wayne made me really practise keeping Spike's haunches on the centerline and not wavering. I have never had anyone tell me to focus on the placement of the haunches in relation to straighness and goodness it made a difference! So now I get to go home and start working on flying changes....hopefully it doesnt reck the counter canter too much! Wayne has given me the go ahead so I will add that to the workout. I am also going to add more protein to Spike's diet and see if that helps fill in his topline. He looks 3-day fit at the moment, but obviously isnt! So it seems that the focus of the week, both on the flat and over fences is straightness! And connection from leg to hand without a hard or too holding hand. I have lots to practice!!

Jumping lessons

2011-03-30T18:33:00.000+11:00

Spike has been back to his cheeky self the last two weeks...but luckily only on the ground! He is back to being a pain to lead, and not wanting to stand tied...plus trying to destroy his rugs.... But he has continued to be great under saddle. Thank goodness!!! The weather is changing and he is growing a fuzzy coat, but he has dropped topline condition again, despite nothing in his diet changing. I am going to keep him on omoguard (ulcer meds) daily through the rest of the season, but maybe it is the change in weather that has them all a little thinner. I have really been working on myself since my last jump lesson with Sam. I have stopped carrying a bat to try to keep my release more even, and I have been focusing on staying even with my contact over the fence. I hauled Spike and Tait to Sam's place yesterday to make sure I wasnt going backwards. Spike was great and relaxed as he has been. Sam had us go through a sort of grid, with a canter pole, 2 strides to anohter pole, 6 feet to the fence and a pole on the landing 6 feet again. I was to come in a regular forward canter to the first pole, then connect with the contact and wait for the second pole and fence. Spike was good about it and getting the waiting distance really helped with his shape over the fence. Since Spike has pulled rails behind the last two events, Sam really wants to focus on his shape over the fence. Next Sam put a placing pole 3 strides out from the fences and had me canter a course. He again wanted me to come forward through my turns and then connect over the pole and continue to the fence. But the key that really brought it all together was to keep my leg on to keep Spike into the contact but to a deep spot. And leg off the ground. It really helped and Spike was jumping really round from a deeper but forward spot, compared to the deep but holding spots I have been riding him to at events. I struggled on the verticle more than the oxer, but I will keep working on it. Next I pulled out Tait, who hasnt actually really jumped stadium before. Sam started with a pole to an x with a landing pole, then 3 strides to a little ascending oxer. Tait was good but wiggly and we progressed to jumping around a little 70cm course. Again, with ascending oxers and Sam wanted me to focus on keeping Tait coming forward into the contact between and to the fences. This made for some really great jumps and Tait was happily going along. Sam also really stressed straightness to the fence, over the fence and after the fence. Which is something I have trouble with on both horses....Tait because he is green and Spike because I am riding weakly. So everyone should go to the barn and practice both of these...forward into a connected frame and straightness! I would jump a fence and then be sure to canter away in a straight line, not cutting into my corners. I have a dressage lesson tomorrow with Wayne and Spike..a refresher before Berrima next weekend. Will post on that later!

Future contemplations...

2011-03-21T20:40:00.000+11:00

I have dabbled in breeding, which was started with my mare, Morchant, getting hurt in the field and needing time off to let her hock fuse. So I bred her to Coda...and got a lovely filly that is the spitting image of her mom...so I bred her again, to Jumbo. I watched Headley Brittania go at Rolex the year she won and fell in love. And so called the vet who had the only imported frozen on Jumbo in the US. Only to be told that there was no more and there would be no more...Jumbo was too old and he didnt sell well enough in the US for the owner to warrant the fees to send it to the US. I was crushed. But resolved that that was life and moved on. I got a call about a month later that the buyer had backed out and there were 2 doses left....and of course I bought them straight away. The most expensive frozen doses ever! So we bred Gracie (Morchant) back with a single dose of frozen and thank goodness she took the first time, with huge thanks to Mitch Byrd at Aiken Equine. He was diligent and fabulous with Gracie sitting on a 5.5 folicle for 4 days even after a shot to make her drop!! I wont tell you what the vet bill was..but about the same as the doses cost!! LOL
Anyway, the Jumbo baby was named Bounce by my barn manager, Marissa, even before it was conceived. So Gracie is with my vet, Becky Scarlett and big as a house. Baby Bounce is due to drop the 17th of April, but Gracie was 2 week late with her first foal so who knows this time!
As you all know, I somehow moved as far away as possible after this, to Australia and left Gracie and Bounce behind. So now the plan is to ship Bounce over in the fall here to Australia because I am hoping this breeding of the "best to the best" will result in an international quality horse for me. So then I was told that it is only $10,000 more to ship Gracie with a foal by her side over here and my wheels are spinning....
Spike's breeder has offered a free breeding to the stallion, Ten Star Fleet to me. And I was tempted because as the breeder says, "all his babies kindo flip their toes real fancy like your horse". So now I am trying to raise the funds to breed Gracie back to Spike's daddy and ship her in foal with baby Bounce over here in the end of the year.

On another front, I am looking at breeding to a very nice TB stallion here named Another Warrior. I have seen several of his foals out of TB and WB mares and they are all FANCY, and can jump! But no one will sell me a baby, so I will have to breed my own. I have been offered a mare here that seems to cross really well with Another Warrior on paper (thanks to vineyridge from COTH!!!), so I am leaning that way. My only hesitation is I havent ridden the mare and I think that mare is just as important as the stallion in breeding...

So, that is where I am now. Anyone have any ideas on how to raise $10k? I have a devoucoux for sale.... LOL

Christan

Jumping and more jumping!

2011-03-20T20:38:00.001+11:00

I have been thinking a bit about Spike's show jumping since the last two runs resulted in a pulled rail in each round. In the pictures, I have been doing strange things with my elbows and heals. Jimmy has been helping via email and as always he is right, but I needed some eyes on the ground. So I headed out to SIEC for a jumping lesson with Sam Lyle. I got to SIEC early and did a gallop set with Spike on the track. I also took one of the new baby horses, Will (the bay) and left him tied to the float all day! I wanted to see if he would be good, and he was....never moved a foot or called once. He was a very good boy! But back to Spike.
I have had two runs at the one-star level now, and in both runs Spike has been forward and taking the contact, ready to runfor about the first 2 minutes, then he backs off and when I get on the gallop stretches, I have to keep leg on for him to keep galloping hard. He isnt wanting to stop, just happy to fall into a training spped gallop, not pulling. I have been a little concerned, thinking it might mean something is brewing, but his legs are tight and cool and he is working well at home. I then worried about fitness, because at home all I have is a huge mountain to go up! But nowhere flat and long to gallop like I do on xc. So I thought maybe he isnt fit enough...but he is recovering very well and fast after his runs. So this was the first thing I talked about with Sam.
I have to laugh because sometimes we are so careful and concerned with the wellfare of our horses that we make big deals out of nothing. Sam commented that he loves horses like Spike, that dont pull you around the entire course and actually come back when you ask them too! I will still keep an eye out, but Spike galloped fine in his set on the track.
So then we got onto jumping. I told Sam that Spike was pulling a rail behind over oxers, but he was jumping super high over the jumps...he just felt a little tight in his back over the fences at shows. And that I was sure I was the cause and doing something, but I couldnt fix it! Sam watched us go a little bit and then commented that the issue was that I was holding too much at the base of the fence, and not holding even contact in front of the fence on take off or landing. So I was getting crooked and killing Spike at the base of the fences. This was a carry over from Spike pulling down on me around courses previously, and running at the base of the fences. He is now going very soft and quiet and I have not adjusted! Keeping Spike coming forward to the base of the fence and keeping my contact even made a big difference. Spike was jumping so high I bit the inside of my cheek! The problem is that I only have Spike to jump currently and my riding is off due to that. And I am getting jumped out of the tack a bit....yay for only having one horse.....

The next day I took a group of students xc schooling at Silver Hills. I decided to throw Tait on the float and take him along (the grey). I hadnt actually jumped him before, but I figured he could go over a few logs and through the water. I didnt get to do much while I was schooling everyone, because Tait was a little excited and I needed to concentrate on my students, but I took him back out after we were done. Tait was a star and moved from logs to jumping most of the intro course! And he marched himself right into the water jump and ended trotting and cantering through it with no horses to teach him! He is so light and uphill, he is going to be a great xc horse! He was so good I entered him in the event the end of April and a few dressage classes the middle of April. Maybe by then I will have time to teach him how to jump a bit!

Scone Horse Trials

2011-03-14T08:07:00.001+11:00

We are finally getting better in dressage! This past Friday I packed up the float and headed up to the Scone Horse Trials, about 5 hours north in the Hunter Valley. On the way up I stopped off at Wayne Roycroft's place and had a dressage lesson. Wayne worked Spike a bit, and really focused on getting him reaching through his topline and getting the stretch in the extended walk. Wayne had me "slap" my legs against Spike's sides during the extended walk to get him to keep reaching and marching and it really made a difference. Wayne worked on the right lead canter quite a bit as that is Spike's weak hind leg left over from EPM he had when I got him. Spike was good, getting better with Wayne.
We then headed up to Scone and settled in for the weekend ahead. Saturday morning I got on Spike and hour and a half before my CNC 1* test, and would work Spike for about 20 minutes and then walk or stand for about the same off and on until it was time for my test. In the final warm-up, Spike really settled and put in a very good, obedient test. He scored a 9 on his medium trot, and ended up with an average score of 68%, with one judge giving him a 70% and the other slightly below 67%. And there was lots of room for improvement. Spike never relaxed in the extended walk, none of his halts were square, and both his leg yeilds and canter work could be much better. We were both tired after the lesson Friday and the long warm-up for dressage, but we switched tack and headed to show jumping. The warm-up for sj was about half the size of a dressage arena, and with so many horses in there, we got to jump about 3 fences and go in. I was trying a different bit on Spike, just a dee-ring french link. He was very good in it and didnt pull me down in the corners, but he was feeling a bit tight in the right hind and a little tired. He was jumping very high over the fences, but he was a bit tight in his back over the jumps and tapped the 3rd to last fence and pulled the rail behind. So we moved from 3rd after dressage to 4th. I think the bit may have had a little to do with him not reaching through his back over the fence as well.
It had been raining every night in Scone, and it continued Saturday afternoon and night. Scott and I got caught in a huge storm out walking the xc, and were totally soaked through! The xc looked fairly easy compared to Sydney, but the terrain would be an issue, with plenty of fences at the top of a steep slope or at the bottom. The rain proved to be an issue, and the footing was very heavy going and slick around all the turns. To get the distance on this course, it had to weave its way in a lot of S shaped from one fence to the next, so there were a lot of turns. Spike was great, and jumped really well, but in riding to the conditions, had 17 time penalties, which wasnt that many compared to most of the division. It still moved us down a place and we ended up in 5th overall. I couldnt have been happier with Spike. He was calm and trying to behave this weekend. He was point and shoot on the xc. I need to put a little attention into his fitness, and I will see Sam Lyle thursday for a jump lesson and address the one-rail habit so far at this level. But he is finally settling in dressage and getting decent scores that we all knew he was capable of. I have video footage thanks to my wonderful husband/groom and will get that posted soon!

Como dressage show

2011-03-07T09:27:00.000+11:00

Frodo the pony and Spike at the dressage show.

Spike and I headed off to the Como dressage show yesterday, to practice some ring work. Lori, a student of mine, asked me to ride her adorable pony Frodo for her as well, as she has recently injured her shoulder. So we got to the venue early so I could ride the pony in his tests. Como is a suburb of Sydney, and the show was in the local dog park. Apparently, there have been 2 dressage rings that were built about 20 years ago in the middle of this dog park. The park is tiny though, and the warm-up is on a small grass patch right next to the road that is about the size of a dressage arena.
Frodo was super. He went in the first test and was great, despite the really uneven and deep footing. I was very dissapointed in the scoring, and I thought that for basically an intro test, the judging was a bit off. But he was 5th in that test and put in a super second test (although basically the exact same test) and scored a 63%.
I got on Spike next and he was clearly in a cheeky mood. I always know how he is going to be the minute I get on, and I basically wrote off the first test in my mind. We warmed up for a while and went in the ring. Spike was a total jerk, getting tense and running when headed toward the parking area, and slugging along when headed away. He scored a dismal 58%, and I thought that was generous!
So I rode back to the float and sat on him while I learned my Elementary test (3rd level equivalent). I then took him back to the warm-up and rode for a while, then stood, then rode, then stood for the next 2 hours. When it was time to go back in the ring for my second test, Spike was more setted and a bit more tired! He was well behaved and scored a 64% to win the test. Finally!!! So I now have a strategy with him to try at the events this season!
We are headed to Scone HT this weekend to run at the 1-star level, and we are stopping off at Wayne Roycroft's farm on the way for a dressage lesson. Hopefully we will have a dressage test like the second and not the first!!

Coda

2011-03-07T09:23:00.000+11:00

Coda has been with Mary Bess Sigman since last year, to get in shape and be sold. Mary Bess and Coda got along great and I am happy to tell everyone that John and Mary Carol Harsch have recently purchased him for Mary Bess to ride!
I believe they will be making their competition debut at Poplar Place soon. Mary Bess is also riding Coda's brother Cooper for Mary Carol at the training level. Lots of luck to you all and I look forward to watching this pony follow in his brother's footsteps to stardom!

New horses!!! And saddles

2011-03-04T18:34:00.001+11:00

Two new horses were added to the Trainor Eventing team this week. Tait, the grey and Will, the bay.

Tait is a 6 year old TB that raced in Hong Kong and has been hanging out and in light work for the last year and a half. He is a lovely uphill horse with the most outgoing temperment. He is in your lap whenever he can get there and loves attention. The bay horse is a 5 year old TB who has been hanging around the farm for the last two years, after not making to an actual race. He is a lovely type Irish TB, and is a quiet do-gooder. He doesnt want to put a foot wrong. I am really looking forward to getting these two out this season after a bit of education and fitness.

I also recently got my new Southern Stars jumping saddle in and was able to ride in it at Sydney. I was really impressed. I was able to keep my leg in the right place to be able to steer with all those skinny fences, yet still be up and off Spike's back to gallop and feel secure. The saddles are designed and ridden in by Lucinda and Clayton Fredricks and are wonderful!!

Sydney Events

2011-03-04T17:59:00.000+11:00

We had a very busy week last week! At the beginning of each season here, the Sydney International Equestrian Center holds two events, back to back; one a wednesday/thursday event and the second a saturday/ sunday event. It gives riders an opportunity to get their horses out twice at the same facility, or to run one level during the week event and then move up a level over the weekend. This was exactly my plan.

We ran pre novice during the week event and then moved up to one-star over the weekend. I got on Spike with plenty of time to warm up Wednesday and when I got to warm-up, the stewards informed me that the ring was running about 30 minutes behind!!! So we walked a bunch. Spike was remarkably calm and I made him leave the warm-up and stand near his ring, then back into the warm-up. After his normal hissy fits thinking he was heading back to the trailer, he settled down standing pretty well. He warmed up well and finally we were ready to go in the arena. As we started around the arena I was stopped by another steward and a rider who cut in front of me and went off around the ring. I was told by the steward that they were fitting her in in front of me as there was some mix up in the morning and she needed to do her test, even though she was number 1 and I was number 14. I asked them if they could please fit her in behind me, as my horse did not do well standing and he was ready to go in the ring. The rider was quite short and told me that she was ready to go now, so she was going. Interesting. So we stood some more and then went in the ring. Spike was quite relaxed and did a good test for him, without any cheekiness or naughtiness. There were 2 judges, one gave him a 68% and the other gave him just over 60%!!! What a huge range. There were literally some movements where one judge gave me an 8 and the other gave me a 5.....

Spike ended up in the top half of the division and I was very happy with him.

The next day we came back for the jumping and had a great run around the xc, coming in 13 seconds under the time. Spike jumped a clear show jump round, even though he was a little bored and we finished in 5th place.

After a day of dressage work on Friday, we headed off again Saturday for Spike's one-star debut. He was quite relaxed when I got on and I planned to do the same thing that I did on Wednesday...stand around a lot and hope he settled. Spike was good in the warm-up and I took him to stand near his arena for a bit. But he never settled quite as well as he did in the previous test. He wasnt bad, but he was still keeping an eye out for where his escape was. We put in a decent test, to end up with about a 60% and above the middle of the pack, but it wasnt as relaxed as the last test. But better than the season before. So I headed off to walk the xc.

I must say, I was really glad that I had been practicing skinny fences!! Fence 4a,b was a skinny roll top to a skinny roll top ona 4 stride bending line. Fence 6 a,b was a skinny brush to a skinny brush on an angle with 2 strides between. Then a skiiny brush for fence 8, a skinny hanging log to a skinny arrow brush oxer on a 4 stride bending line. Fence 13 a,b was a big roll top 4 stride bending line to a very skinny T log. Fence 15 was a skinny cannon jump, and the water was a log jump 2-stride to a log into the water over a drop, bending line out over a corner. While I thought that this was a tough course, I was confident that Spike was ready.

Spike came out on the course and was actually a bit spooky between the first 3 fences. This was a bit unusual, but I just pressed him forward. He handled the first skinny combo very well and then we galloped up the first big hill. The next fence was shared with 2-star and was a tall brush roll top and he jumped it right out of stride. I set Spike up early for 6 a,b, the skinny offset brush, and he came back to me quite easily. He jumped that great and then spooked going through another complex heading to fence 8 and 9 a,b. We got to 9a on a little bit of a long spot as it was coming up to the crest of a hill, and so I had to push him forward to the brush oxer arrowhead. He didnt lock on the first stride, but when he realized that was a jump he was game. We were slightly to the left of the center, but clear. We then galloped fast up the hill and jumped the next few fences out of stride. Spike was going forward when I asked, but when I let him cruise he was happy to take it back a notch and I knew he was tired from the previous event. He jumped well over the 13 a roll top and made the turn to the skinny b portion. I would have prefered that he set back a little after the roll top and not pull me through the turn, but he jumped fine. He was spot on at the water and even took a forward spot to the corner out. The last 2 fences we galloped out of stride. We ended up with 3.6 time penalties, but I couldnt have been happier with him. He jumped a good stadium round over a big, square track pulling one rail. Honestly, he was very tired for show jumping and I never even felt him tap the rail he had down. He was trying really hard, but he died a bit through the turns and we had a few time penalties. We ended up in 15th out of 40 starters so I was very happy. I knew he was shattered so he got the next 2 days off!

We got back to flat work and Spike has been fabulous all week. He seems very happy in his nathe straight bar bit for the flat work, and I plan to keep him in that for now. We are headed up for another lesson with Wayne Roycroft (the just retired Team Coach for Australia) this week before we head to Scone on Friday for the weekend. Will post an update after that!

Lessons, lessons, lessons!!!

2011-02-17T08:06:00.000+11:00

Yesterday we loaded up and headed to SIEC for a dressage lesson with Wayne Roycroft. I have said it before, but Australia really has a great program where riders have access to the top coaches in this country on a regular basis. There are monthly lesson with the team coaches and assistant coaches. As many of you know, Wayne has just retired from the Australian Eventing Coaches position. True to aussie culture, Wayne was friendly, and unassuming. He was very approachable and down to earth....very different from my experiences with US coaches in top positions.
We started out with me warming Spike up and I was trying to push him really forward and into the contact. Of course he was a bit tense, as he usually is in new places. Wayne had me slow him down a bit and not rush his paces, which was a good change. We then worked on counter canter serpentine loops. Wayne was very good in correcting Spike's shoulder, and having me make sure that his body position was correct. He has me lower my hands and get him to stretch a bit lower in his topline to get him over his back. After about 30 minutes of work, Wayne asked if he could get on Spike. Of course I said yes!!! Wayne is the first person to ride Spike besides myself and Keith since I bought him. Wayne got on and told me the Spike needs to be sharper off my leg, without needing spurs. He told me to work him a bit without spurs and carry a whip to get him sharp again. He then worked on forward and back within his gaits, getting him to move off the leg and then come back to collected without using much hand. After a short time, Wayne was cantering Spike with one hand on the reins, a big loop in the contact, and asking Spike to do extended canter across the diagonal, then do a ten meter canter circle in the corner and into counter-canter loops. All with one-hand!! Spike was fabulous and Wayne really liked him. He commented several times on how nice he was and how well trained he is.....I told him I wish I could take credit for the training, but Spike just has always done it all so naturally. It was really good to see him go with someone else on him. I will certainly be following up with lesson with Wayne as much as possible!!
After the lesson, I loaded Spike back up and hauled him a short way to Sam's place. I really wanted to be sure that Spike is solid on skinny's and brush before the One-Star next week. Spike was perfect....I am sure the dressage lesson before didnt hurt in that department either! Spike was calm and quiet, and really locking on to the skinny fences. He wasnt pulling down on me upon landing like he often does. We schooled a skinny brush oxer on a 5-stride bending line to a barrel sat up on it's end. Spike was perfect and staying straight and calm to the fences. It was a great schooling and hopefully Spike is ready for next week!!

Camden Jump Club

2011-02-17T07:57:00.000+11:00

The busy season has started!!! Spike went to jump club on Sunday, which is basically where there is a show jump course set up, with increasing heights as the day goes on. You pay and jump a round...no judges, no times, etc. We got there early for Sadie to be able to jump her new horse Icarus in the 60cm and 75cm classes. Icarus was previously owned and ridden by Lindsey Stewart, and recently won at the One-Star level so Sadie has a lovely horse. Lindsey has done a wonderful job with him and Sadie and I are lucky to have him. Icarus was the old pro that he is, and never put a foot wrong. Sadie was perfect and the two of them had 2 lovely rounds.
The Lucinda Green clinic was going on at the same time, so we wandered over to the other ring and watched for the next 4 hours or so until it was time to ride Spike. Lucinda set up grid-like excercises to make the horse think about what it was doing, without the rider having to do all the thinking. The best part was that the grids were all things I can set up and home, and I plan to!!!
When I finally got Spike tacked up, he was a bit cheeky. I think the standing all day in the brisk overcast weather got the better of him. I ended up jumping a round at 1.10 meters first, just to get his kinks out. After that we jumped around the 1.15 meter class twice (3.8ft for the Americans out there!). He is jumping really well, even if it is too easy for him. He was still a bit cheeky, but was super rideable and jumping great, so we called it a day! Should be ready for his first One-Star next week!!!

Starting the Season

2011-02-07T14:52:00.000+11:00

Well it is that time of year again, where everyone starts gearing up after a break and looing forward to the next show season. After the xc school with Paul Tapner, the dressage show was rained out so Spike went on vacation for about a month while I spent time with family over Christmas and New Years. Spike started back into work about the middle of January and after a few days had settled into some good work.
I took him up to Sam Lyles for a jump lesson last week, because he is scheduled to move up to the 1-star level the end of February and I wanted to make sure that he was ready. From my limited observation of the courses here, the 1-star courses involve a lot of skinny fences, especially skinny brush. More on par with what you would expect at the 2-star level in the US. And since I dont have any skinny brush fences yet, I figured I better go school some! Spike was very relaxed in the lesson and Sam had us start out just cantering around in a forward pace and getting me to not set him up 4 strides out like I want to. After a few courses, Sam nailed our issues at the moment which are that Spike likes to land off the fence and goof around, pulling his head down. Sam told me that I need to set him up immediately after the fence within the first few strides. Then I can go forward again and re-establish the pace. We schooled a skinny brush oxer and after a few times, Spike was much straighter and not so worried over the fence. We then schooled a barrel turned up on end. We had wings on it with poles and I will practise this at home so I can jump it without the poles also.
Sam stressed that I have to really school Spike very straight over the skinny fences, and not let him drift in the air as he likes to do with new skinny fences at first.
Yesterday we headed out to Camden for the Hunter Trials day, which consists of running around a xc round and jumping around a show jump course as you choose. I walked around the xc and decided to mix in some 1 and 2 star jumps. Spike was a little cheeky in warm-up, but it is hot here so he settled quickly and was good once out on course. We jumped the first 3 1-star fences and then schooled a 2-star corner. He drifted in the air over the corned so I schooled it again and he was great. We then schooled a bunch of brush fences and I just circled and jumped until I had done most of them. The more I did the less he jumped them greenly. Towards the end of the course was a sunken road where you dropped down, one stride up and one stride over a skinny brush oxer. He jumped up and when I put my leg on he locked onto the skinny brush and was great. So he got better and better as we went along. I then stood for a while at the in-gate to show jumping, which was good for him. We jumped a nice round and he was much better about keeping the relaxed rhythm and pace. He was a bit lazy around the first turn and therefor I had to move him up to a triple bar, but I pulled up and redid it and he was wonderful the second time. I am sure the hot days help too!!
Spike has been really good at home on the flat as well, so I guess we will see how he handles himself this season in the ring. I expect him to still be a bit tense, but hopefully that will get better with time too.
We will be heading back to Sam's for another jump school before Sydney and then the show season is upon us!!!

Paul Tapner clinic

2010-11-25T12:07:00.000+11:00

I took Spike to the lovely Wallaby Hills Farm yesterday to have a xc lesson with recent Badminton winner Paul Tapner. Paul is based in the UK, but is from Australia.
I told Paul that my goal for the day was to teach Spike about skinny fences, because it seems that half the course is made up of skinnies in the country and I havent been able to properly school Spike over any. We started off warming up in a field on a slight hill and all the horses were good. We then jumped a few xc fences just to get going and wake up the horses. We went on to the bank complex and jumped on and off. Spike launched himself off the bank and Paul said like a typical TB, when they get worried they jump flatter and longer as opposed to higher. He was very focused on making the schooling fun for the horses and letting them figure out the questions. The next time he told me to say whoa at the top of the bank and spread my hands low and wide. Spike was much better and stepped off instead of launching. Paul was adamant that we all pat our horses after a good jump and lots of rewarding praise. He finds people dont praise enough and the horses dont know they were good. We jumped a single whisky barrel with rails on it once, then did a combo of barrel, 3 strides up the bank, off the bank over a log and 3 strides over another barrel. The first time Spike was green to the last barrel ,but then figured out what the job was and was great. We went on to school a few corners, including a solid 1-star corner and it was a good learning experience.
We went over a ditch complex and Paul had us just canter quietly over the ditches. He said he wants the horses to know that there is a ditch there and jump because they are not scared, not because the rider is making them. One day it will show up at the wrong time. He is fine if they stop and look and you do it again and again until it is no big deal. If your horse stops at any fence, Paul wants you to walk up and have you horse look at it, then come again. After that you can get after them. It should all be fun and because the horse enjoys it, not because you are making the horse do it.
Spike was jumping well and we were able to school quite a few skinny fences. He was a bit antsy towards the end and wanted to get home, but the jumping was fine. We ended the lesson with the water jump. Paul wanted us all to walk in and trot in quietly but with the same rhythm in the water as out. No jumping in at the edge. All the horses were fine and we ended with jumping over a skinny roll top with brush, drop into the water. It was a solid US 2 star question. Probably on the 1-star course here!! Spike was foot perfect and I was very pleased with Paul's instruction and the school we got.
Spike will be focusing on dressage until his show next weekend! Poor guy. But he has been much better at home with the contact so I guess we will just wait and see!

Goulburn

2010-11-25T11:38:00.000+11:00

I feel terrible for taking so long to post this, but for some reason I thought I had already written it!! I guess better late than never. Goulburn was the last event of the season for Spike, and with the weather man calling for extreme cold we headed down early saturday morning to the event. Apparently this is the event of weather extremes. Last year it was blazing hot and hard as a rock. This year it was snowing sideways and obviously below freezing!
The worst part about working out of yards at an event is that there is no shelter for the horses or for people to get out of the elements. We set up the float so that Scott and I and the dog could hang out in it out of the wind and Spike was happy as a pig in mud with the biting wind and snow hitting him sideways! He just took to eating. Of course he had 300 layers on but he seemed happy!
I got on for dressage and the first few minutes were hit or miss as to whether Spike was going to levetate or behave. I wouldnt have blamed him if he was naughty personally. But he was good and despite the weather, he tried to behave. He was much better in the new straightbar bit about reaching out and we were the first to go after a break, so we had a solid 5 minutes around the ring before it was time to enter. I stopped at the judges car and we decided that since neither of us could hear anything I would just trot to the end and enter...there was no way I was going to hear the whistle. And since the arenas were blowing over, I told the judge I would try to just keep going if it happened to me.
Well, Spike went in the ring and put in his best test to date in Australia. He was well behaved (for Spike), a little on edge still, but didnt do anything wrong. His mediums were fabulous and his canter work was good. I left the ring really pleased with him. My friends there watching also commented that his frame was much better and he had a nice test. Well, I guess the judge didnt agree, and gave me about the same score he has been getting here all season. To be honest, this was the first time I was really disappointed. Basically, the scores were all the same down the page with no real comments. It is interesting to note the bias here for the "well known" riders. It may sound like sour grapes, but in reality I am quite willing to take a score that is deserved when it is bad, but I am frustrated when the test is improved and the judge gives me a 5 for rider because they dont recognize my name.
Anyway, I went on to show jump and Spike was amazing in the warm-up. He was soft and light and relaxed. We entered the ring and after a momentary comfusion where I clearly was speaking american and the ring steward was speaking australian (I asked if there was a judge or if I could just enter and start my round as the weather was so bad, I didnt see a judge who was hiding under cover. The ring steward said yes so I started....until the judge blew the whistle! Luckily she was nice enough to let me continue!!!) Spike jumped a lovely clear round despite me riding like crap. I was a bit cold, a bit shaken up at trying to get myself eliminated, and I need to be jumping more horses!!!
The xc looked great and after tucking Spike in to his yard with every layer of horse clothing I had, I headed to the motel and dinner. That warm room was the best thing ever!
The next day we had a short warm-up for xc since they do not give times, but run in numerical order within a set time here. Which is a bit difficult, but I am adjusting. I borrowed a Southern Stars saddle to use and I was a little nervous about heading out in it. When I entered the start box the steward told me the I had 30 seconds to go and that , oh by the way, the path after the water has been roped off and you have to go a different way...but dont worry you will see the roped off bit! And then 3..2...1..go!
Well, Spike was really good and the new bit was great! The saddle was fabulous and we were having a great run. I got to the roped off bit and sure enough, I had to go way around, through a clump of trees and worm my way back to the next jump. Which took a lot of time and trouble, but Spike was wonderful and just kept getting better. We finished the course with just a little time, but I figured that would be accounted for with the new roped off part. Silly me!!! We are in Australia....
So we finished up with a few time faults, but I was thrilled and couldnt have been happier with Spike. He was great in all 3 phases...dressage can always be better, but his jumping is right on. He was over jumping the show jumps and was brilliant xc. The plan is to do 3 tests on December 5th at a local dressage show. I have him entered in a first level equivalent test in the morning, then two 3rd level equivalent tests in the afternoon. I am riding HC, so hopefully I can make corrections in the ring as need be. I am a little dissapointed and frustrated with the judging here, but I guess I need to suck it up and keep going. I am also on the look out for a fancy young horse to pick up. So next season I will have 2 going. Will let you all know how the dressage show goes!!!

Dressage lesson

2010-10-13T17:40:00.000+11:00

I havent done much since Canberra, but I have been working on my dressage. After getting Spike a new jumping bit, he took to the mullen mouth so well that I got him a mullen mouth eggbutt for dressage. So we have been doing lots of circles!
I have started riding Spike 3 days in a row and then giving him a day off. It seems to be working well and he seems happier in his work that way. He also has been taking the contact a little steadier and I have been only working on him taking the bit a little more, without toom uch worry that he isnt totally collected and even a bit on the forehand. We work for about 20 minutes and quit. Which has led to me feeling very out of shape, but Spike being very quiet when we work.
Today we went back to SIEC for lessons again and had a fabulous lesson with Craig. We rode in the indoor, and Wayne Roycroft (team coach) and Brett Parberry (newly returned from WEG on the dressage team) were also teaching there at the same time. It is really amazing the difference in attitude here in Australia compared to in the US. Everyone is so down to earth and there is really a team spirit. Even the coaches are friendly and approachable. There is no elitist feelings like in the US. I have also noticed how nice all the eventers are here. I have not once heard anyone say anything negative about another person or horse, and when I ask questions about who someone is that I havent met yet the comments are always so nice and positive. It is so refreshing it is almost shocking! And it is pretty sad that it is so different in the US that I am writing about it here in my blog!!
But back to my lesson. My point with that rant was that there were 3 lessons going on in the indoor at the same time and everyone was perfectly happy and comfortable to be in there together. No one was in anyones way and it was great to be riding in that atmosphere.
Craig was very happy with where Spike was today. He was much steadier in the bridle and not curling behind the contact. He felt that his right lead canter was much stronger and better thatn last time. We started with riding at the trot and canter and making transitions within the gaits to a lengthening and then back to working gaits. This helped get Spike forward into the contact and taking the bit. It also got him in front of my leg and working. After that we worked on the bend, as Spike has a tendancy to drop in to the right and not use his right hind as well. We worked on a small circle and pushed the rib cage out, while almost slightly overbending to the inside. We then took that bend down the rail of the arena in a shoulder in. We did this at both the trot and canter. Spike's gaits got much lighter and stronger with his really using himself. After that we worked on a 10 meter canter cirle and doing canter walk transitions. I put Spike into a slight shoulder in at the walk on the circle and kept him there through the up transition, which really helped to keep him engaged and round.
So Spike was much better than last time, and Craig was quite happy with his progress. Now lets hope that he will just settle in the ring at shows. I talked with Craig about my discouragment in Spike's dressage performances at shows, and he said that Spike has such amazing paces and it is so easy for him that I just have to stick it out and keep doing it. He said Spike will settle as he fels supported by me and should start to look to me when he gets nervous. Lets hope this happens sooner rather than later!!
We head back to SIEC tomorrow for a jump lesson with Rod Brown, the Australian Show Jumping Team Coach, who also just returned from WEG. I am so lucky to have access to such top level instruction here! I will be jumping Spike in the new mullen mouth lugging bit I got so I will let you all know how he does! Then we are schooling cross country Friday (to make sure the bit is safe before the event!) and then to Goulburn over the weekend!! I will post more tomorrow!

Christan

Pictures

2010-09-26T11:29:00.000+10:00

There are pictures from Canberra at http://www.maineventphotography.com.au/ under events, Canberra, and pre-novice xc. I am on the last page (6), the first two pictures ( mep 0207 and mep 0208)!

Canberra!!

2010-09-26T10:31:00.000+10:00

Spike had the week off after Sydney, as we travelled down to Victoria for a little vacation. After getting back from there, I headed to New Zealand for the weekend and had a great time driving around the south island. There had been a recent earthquake there, near Christchurch, but things were running smoothly while we were there and we had no troubles.

After getting back from NZ, Spike went back to work with Squad School lessons on Weds with Craig and Sam. Craig worked on getting Spike settled and taking the contact, even if he was a little low and not moving extravagantly, in light of his preformance at Sydney!! It was a good lesson and Spike was taking the contact much better. We went straight from that lesson to jump with Sam. It was prefect because Spike was a little tired and we was much better than the last time Sam saw him go. It was a little different to work on because he wasnt being silly and rushing the fences, so Sam was having me keep my leg on and press to the fence. It took a bit for me to trust it, because on the landing side, Spike wanted to bear down on my hands and pull. We finally jumped into a line and halted several times, which worked perfectly and Spike was landing and waiting instead of pulling to the next fence. He was jumping really well.
Friday I took Spike by Silver Hills on my way to Canberra to school cross country. There were two reasons behind this. First, to attempt to keep Spike a bit tired for dressage the next day, and to work on him galloping without his head between his knees like at Sydney!! Well, he was jumping great....schooled everything there through the 2-star fences. But when I would let him open up in between the fences he would get his head down and I couldnt get it up in front of the jumps without really slowing him down to a crawl in front of the jump. So after a frantic call to Andrea, I was off to Horselands about 30 minutes away to buy a bit!!! I drove back and schooled Spike again, which was much better. I got a golden wings bit, which is similiar to the dutch gag, but has a fixed spot on the loose ring to attach your reins and cheekpieces, so you have a little bit of leverage. Spike certainly wasnt getting his head down which was great, but he is so light in the bridle anyway, that he tends to get behind the contact and stop using his head and neck over the fences with stronger bits. But I need to be able to gallop at the show so it was going to have to do.
After picking Scott up at the train station with Spike in tow, we headed down to Canberra. We arrived in the dark, and thank goodness Andrea was there and waiting for us! We had to find a spot to park and set up in the dark, and Scott and Andrea set up Spike's yard for the first time. Which of course entailed lots of laughing. The yard panels are a bit lower than most normal panels, so we werent sure if we would find Spike in the yard in the morning or not, but it was way past time to hit the bar so we were off the hotel!
The next morning Spike was happily eating in his yard still, although some other horse had gotten out that night and left prints and manure around the yard and float....and eaten all of the neighbors feed she left out! Whoops....
I got on Spike about 45 minutes before his test and he was much better in the warm-up. Still a little cheeky, but not tense like he was at Sydney. It would have been perfect, except they were running behind...and ended up running about 15 minutes late. At about 50 minutes into the ride, Spike decided he was done and wanted to go back to the float. Uhgg. Of course his ring was on the way back to the float, so when we finally got to go the ring, Spike was certain he was going home and the ride from the warm-up to dressage was interesting. It involved people scattering and us jogging sideways and backwards. We had to stand and wait our turn to go it, which pissed Spike off even more and I would make him halt and walk forward away from the float everytime he tried to go backward toward it. Well, as we were going around the outside of the arena to go in I decided to practise my halt. That was fine but Spike thought I was keeping him from heading home, like outside the ring and refused to go forward out of the halt. He wanted to go sideways instead. I just thought, of goodness, this is going to be a disaster. But as soon as we entered the arena he realized he was to do his test and he was much better. Not perfect, but no mistakes and no blow-ups. He settled and did the moves I asked, he was just a bit behind the verticle the whole test and I got nailed for that. We ended up middle of the pack this time, instead of last, which is better I suppose.
We went out to walk xc after that and it looked quite soft after Sydney. It was a nice course with some open galloping spots, and some combinations, but again, after Sydney it looked almost boring. The footing was a concern to me, as the natural ground was hard clay and cuppy, but they had added deep sand on the take off and landing of some fences and also laid down deep manure and shavings on some galloping lanes. But over all it looked good and I was happy I had the new bit with the open fields to gallop through.
We had a great night with Scott's mom meeting us at the event and we had dinner with Andrea and then stayed up till with Shane, Sam and Seamus, the team selector sharing beer and stories. I must say that I quite enjoy the different atmosphere at events here compared to the US. Everyone has been so accepting and friendly, and are all great drinkers too!! It makes for a much better time I must say.
The next day we re-walked xc, and Scott wheeled off the minute markers for me, which he is much better at than I have ever been! Thank goodness. He is pretty good at reading the terrain also, so it is nice to have some other imput that is helpful on things like that. Stadium seems to be much more straight forward and less decorated here than in the US, and the course rode easily...almost too easily. We have been jumping much bigger in the lessons and Spike is taking things a bit too casually. He jumped a good clear round, but wanted to play a bit and pull down on me between the fences. I guess he needs more of a challenge there.
We went back to the float and put in grass tips and changed tack for xc. Spike warmed up great in the new bit and we headed to the start box a little early. All was well until it was time to leave the start box, when Spike thought I was working on the halt again like in dressage and didnt want to go when the starter said go. We lost a good 10 seconds until he realized it was xc and galloped off!! The course rode well and Spike jumped great. The bit kept his head up and we were able to gallop between the jumps well. The only thing that I didnt like was the turning with that bit. Spike would soften when I would oull to turn and instead curl his head in the direction I wanted to turn and pop his shoulder to the outside. I want him to take the bit forward and through the turn to the fence, but just keep it up. So I will have to work on a solution. I bought a lugging bit, which is a straight bar, but it is elongated down, so it is thin against the tongue but wide. I am going to try that and see if it helps. I just need to be able to pop his head up, but keep him taking the bit forward. Interesting dilemma....
We really galloped, but in several places, the sand footing gave way on the take off of the fence. Spike didnt seem to care though. There was one point towards the end of the course where I was about 10 seconds slow on my time still and we were galloping full out when we hit one of the places where they laid down the manure and shacings. Spike literally went down on his knee and almost went down. Thank goodness he recovered and kept going like nothing he happened, but it scared me pretty good. We were never able to make up the time we lost standing in the start box, and had 6 times penalties. Remember that the speeds here are faster than in the US, and we were running at 500 mpm. Spike had grass and manure on his right knee when we got in after that mishap. I used the Liquid Ice on him and it was really nice because I (well actually Scott) could wrap it all the way up and over the knee. We poulticed all the way around and packed up to head home. Spike was totally fine coming off the course, and not even puffing. He moved up 9 places from dressage to finish somewhere near 10th out of 40. I didnt get to wait until final scores were posted and I havent looked yet for the official scores. But it was better than being in last!!!
I have been concerned with Spikes feet since we got here, and the farrier that did him last uses a different style than what I am used to, with a bit more toe than I like. Spike has always been very tight legged and he has been a little filled in all 4 legs for the last month or so all the time. It has been bothering me. He had also developed a crack all the way from the corronet band to the ground on the inside of his left front. I was really unhappy about that as well. So I loaded him up Tuesday and hauled him to Shane Rose's place to get shod by his farrier. After the poulticing over night Spike's legs looked great Monday and tight. His knee was fine and the only casualty was his right front leg wrap. My past grooms will appreciate knowing Spike is still eating the right front wrap off his leg when he feels like it. At least he didnt dunk it in his water bucket like he usually does!! He also decided to destroy his Horsewares sheet....and I mean destroy. There is no lining in it and the outside it ripped from one end to the other. Spike has no idea how good he has it I dont think.....
The farrier at Shane's was great and pulled the shoes back, balanced them and cut out teh crack. Spike instantly looked better. And his legs havent been filled at all since being reshod! I always say that the farrier and the horses feet are the most inportant thing, and I stand by that.
Thursday Rebecca Booth came out to work on Spike again. He was a bit sore in his right back, but otherwise good. I am excited to tell you all that Rebecca has offered to join the team and her company, Elementals (www.elementals.com.au) will be doing all the work on Spike and myself!! It has made such a difference so far and I am really excited about he being part of it all!
We have a bit of time until the middle of October when we have Squad School lessons and then Goulburn. After that I am going to take Spike to as many dressage shows as I can around here and hopefully get his head on straight! Talk to you all soon,

Christan

And we're home...and tired!

2010-08-29T17:54:00.000+10:00

The last two days were long but good. I ended up going cross country at 4:00 pm, so I had all day to hang out (and stress) and wait for the shadows to add to the difficulty of the cross country course! The course is lovely though, with lots of open galloping spaces and a wonderful feeling off being on top of the world. It had the feel to me of the Burghley xc course in England actually. There is plenty of room to run and make time between the fences.
When I finally did get on and headed to the warm-up, Spike seemed good. He was jumping out of his skin and really going great in the warm-up. I practised getting up some speed and then coming back because I knew I had a good run right at the beginning of the course and would need to make up time wherever I could! Well, Spike wanted to get a bit silly when he got going, but I figured he would be better out on course.
The first fence was in a grass grandstand arena, right next to the vendors and patrons tents. After jumping the first fence you galloped out the end of the ring. Spike was fabulous to the first fence, right in front of all that commotion, and out we went. After leaving the arena, you galloped through the dressage arena area, between 2 rings and out on the course. The second fence was down a hill a little, with uneven terrain. Spike was being a bit silly and pulling on me, and didnt really listen coming back ,but jumped the fence fine. We then made a sharp right hnad turn, up a hill and gallop on to a big brush fence. Spike jumping it well, but again was pulling on me a bit, which caused me to ride him with a bit of hand down to the base of the fence. I prefer to be able to get him up and soft so I can ride forward to the fences, not pulling against him to the base, but i hoped when he got a little gallop out of him, he would be easier to ride. After the 3rd fence, there was a long gallop up a hill, and I let him roll on a little to stay up on my time. I was quite worried about fence 4 a,b and the word from the coaches was that it was really tough and rode a bit hard. It was right around a turn at the top of the hill, and into the sun. I planned to just keep coming at the fence andtake it off the turn. But as I was warming up, I was talking to Sam who said to swing wide into the unmowed area and make sure you get a good straight line. So I ended up doing a bit of both. I tried to swing wide, but Spike had his head between his knees after running up the hill, and was not listening to my half halts. I came around the turn again having to pull on him and as I got a stride away, I had that sinking feeling. The fence was too big to hold to the base of, Spike had never seen anything like it, and he had his head down and not paying any attention to the jumps. And I held right down to a nothing distance where he couldnt jump out of. So we had a right hand glance off, swung around down the hill and got straight with his head up, and he jumped through great!
But then we were off anf running again, with his head between his knees and more focused on running that way than paying any attention to me. he jumped the next two fences fine, but I really wanted him more uphill. The seventh fence was a big log in a small water run through. The approach was coming down a big hill, so I really sat him back at the top of the hill, and rode straight to the fence. He was great! Jumped the fence in the water perfectly. Then on to 8 a,b, a bench to a big table on a bending line. Spike was still pulling on me, and I had to ge him in a bit deep to the b portion, but he jumped well. I later heard that the fence was jumping that way for everyone, getting a close 5 in the line.
Fence 9 was a table, and jumped well despite Spike keeping his head down. Fence 10 a,b was the skinny round to skinny round and while we jumped through it, it wasnt pretty because Spike was again getting his head down and not looking at the fences. Another long run up a hill to a ditch and wall, which jumped great and Spike was finally starting to let me ride him a bit. Then a big gallop and on to an oxer at fence 12. This was the first fence where Spike listened to my half halt and came up in front, and it rode wonderfully. Then to he bank complex, on, off over a log bending line to a roll top. Spike was great here and then jumped the next 2 fences well also. We jumped fence 15 at the top of a hill, then headed down a huge hill to he big water! This was the toughest water Spike had ever seen! A big ascending log jump, 2 strides over a log drop in the water but heading right for the big patron tent, left turn in the water to then turn back to the right and over a crazy skinny brush right next to the tent!!
Spike came over the hill and saw all the sights and luckily backed off to get a good look...which meant that 2 strides out I could push him forward to the fence and he was awesome! Jumping in like an old pro, listened to me in the water, made the turn out wonderfully and saw the skinny brush and went! It couldnt have been better!!!
We galloped on to the last two fences out of stride, with Spike still pulling after the finish. Into the 10 minute box where I go off and we untacked. Spike was perfect in the 10 minute box, more interested in eating than anything! His pulse was 80, and his respiration was almost normal. After the 10 minutes his temp was back to resting, pulse was 60 and respiration was still resting.
We ended up with 45 seconds of time with the stop, and Spike recovered well. I used a product called Liquid Ice back at the barn instead of the normal ice boots, and I was really impressed! You put a bandage in a liquid formula and then wrap the leg like normal. The wrap is instantly cold and continues for 2 hours to stay at ice temp. The best part is the even application of the cold all around the leg and knee, and no risk of ice burn or damage. It was awesome and no more frozen hands scooping out ice!!!

This moring was an early day!! Trot-ups at 6:30 am!!! After getting up at 4 am, we jogged fine and then I tacked up and headed to the show jump warm-up. The course was a bit bland and very easy, and despite Spike being a tired boy, he jumped a nice clear round. He ended up moving up 10 places, but there were a number of eliminations. After finishing I had the chance to sit in a Southern Stars jumping saddle and jump a few fences. Oh my...what a NICE saddle. I have ot figure out a way to get my hands on one! It really feels a lot like a Devoucoux, but Spike seemed to be very happy in it. Check out www.southernstarssaddlery.com . These saddles are designed and ridden in by Lucinda and Clayton Fredricks.
We are finally home and packing again to head down south for a week. Spike gets the week off, then back to wok for Squad School and then to Canberra One Day Event. There are lots of pictures posted on webshots of the courses and facilities, so check them out!

Christan

Naughy Horse day...better known as Dressage day to most people!

2010-08-26T19:16:00.000+10:00

As the title says, I didnt have the best test today. No surprise at the moment, but I am certainly hoping that Spike gets over his barn sourness pretty soon!
Today started out with a bang...literally! I was woken up in the middle of the night and I thought that the dog must have knocked something over. I didnt think too much when nothing seemed amiss this morning in the house. Then I walked out the front door.....
I parked the truck in the driveway, directly in front of the little trailer here to haul equipment. It is currently loaded with my new jump standard. Anyway...directly on top of the trailer (and my standards!!) was a huge tree!!! And to make matters worse, the tongue of the trailer was lifter straight up in the air because the tree was on the back end of the trailer....which caused the hitch to go up like a see-saw..and into the front bumper of the truck! I was literally stuck! I couldnt back away as without taking the trailer and tree with me.
Luckily...my ride time wasnt until noon, and the neighbors were coming out to inspect what had landed on their room last night. With them jumping on the tongue of the trailer on the count of 3 and me reversing the truck on the same count, I was able to extract the trailer from the front bumper of the truck....
And on to the event. Spike was happy when I go there and was actually pretty good in the warm-up. We headed to the ring and I was surprised by his good entry into the arena.....until the horse next door started calling. Well, there went the test. We cantered the trot circle, and did lovely flying changes in the medium canter!
After coming in second to last, with all the judges comments being" lovely horse but a bit tense today", I had to remind myself that I do enjoy riding this horse!!!
I then socialized for a bit, which was unusual because I am usually on a million horses or running off to coach. I finally went out to walk the course at the end of the day. And I have to say, Spike better step up his game Saturday! The first 3 fences were straight forward, besides the approach to the second. But the 4th fence made me gulp. It is 4a,b....two skinny brush fences, with the brush cut on an angle on a 2 stride line, and the approach is off a bend, so you cannot get straight to the first fence. It is also maxed out....
The next few fences were fine...big, but OK. There are so many skinnies....10a, b is like a roller coaster with skinny round fences, but is at least in a straight line. There is a ditch and wall, bank complex, and two waters...and the second water is a beauty. You come down the big hill into the A, B part of the question... a big log oxer, 2 stride to a big log into the water. The C is then a tiny, maxed out skinny brush fence off a 90 degree turn 2 strides out of the water......I think I am going to go the long way, swing hard left after jumping into the water, go out a grass bank and then at least have a few more strides to the skinny. I will take pictures tomorrow when I walk it again and attempt to "shrink" the course a bit. I would say it is on par with a solid prelim course back in the US.
Tomorrow is an off day, but I will watch some dressage, walk the course and report back again!!

The jog...or trot-up....or whatever you call it!

2010-08-25T20:21:00.000+10:00

Today was a busy day at the Sydney event, but a good one! Spike and I got to the event and unloaded for the vet inspection. They people doing it were lovely, and even held Spike while I went to the office for my packet.....I needed it to get into the stable area.
After setting up the stall I braided and got ready for the jog. Lesson number one....dont over indulge in the use of baby oil on the horse's face and ears...and dont apply too early. After Spike was braided and cleaned, I headed off to the rider briefing, only to return to him covered in hay dust and it thoroughly stuck to the baby oil.....
The trot-ups, as they are called here, were interesting. Some of the outfits were great, with people really dressing up and looking sharp. But they were much more lax about order of go and such things, so I sort of went randomly. Of course Spike was fine!
After putting Spike up I went and watched the rest of the jog, and took pics of the WEG horses, as well as some others. I was rally impressed with a good bit of it. The feeling in the barns is interesting. Some people have wraps and all sorts of new fangled gadgets, but the horses are just tied in the aisles for cleaning and braiding. You cant even walk down the aisle as the horses are touching butt and biting at each other....but no one seems to care and the horses are happy and relaxed. I never felt any danger or worry that the horses would do something silly. Even the stallions here are left like regular horses...if they act like stallions they get gelded!
I think that the pictures really speak more than I can write, but it is so nice to be around most of the people here. There is not the air of snottiness that is felt in US showgrounds. I had a great chat with Megan Jones, and Chris Burton today, like we had known each other for years. I bit more welcoming than being stabled next to the OCET for sure.....
Spike was eally good riding him today, but I am not hopeful for tomorrow, as my ring is way away from the warm-up and the otehr rings. That is not something that Spike cares for too much, so we will see. I have ot go learn my test now for tomorrow...it is remarkably hard for a pre-novice test! The equivalent of the FEI 1-star test really.
Pictures are posted on webshots again. I really need to figure out how to link them here.....

Christan

The new trailer...err...I mean ...Float!!

2010-08-24T19:12:00.000+10:00

I really would love for someone to explain to me why the darn things are called floats... I know it is a British term, but really, it makes no sense to me at all. I have been thinking for weeks now trying to come up with some sort or a connection, or reason. But I am coming up blank. I mean, its not like the things would actually float in water, or a overflowing causeway for example. Oh, and speaking of causeways, I was informed this week that I have to be really careful when it rains around here, because vehicles get washed off them all the time! Great, yet another hazard to watch out for. And for those of you (Americans!) that dont know what a causeway is, it is a cement flat road through a creek, instead of a bridge over it......I think I have a picture somewhere I will try to post on webshots.

Ok, back to my original topic, which is the new float!! I finally picked it up today and I am SOOOO happy to have a tack room again to put all my horse stuff in! I didnt mention this in the other post, but I actually forgot my riding boots at the Craig Barrett lesson. I had to borrow a pair of paddock boots and half chaps (called chapettes here...cracks me up!) from Nicki Chapman...and thank you for that again Nicki! I am used to all my stuff living in the tackroom so it is always there!
The float is made by Imperial Floats and it is awesome! When I was looking for floats, I just couldnt find what I was looking for. I just wanted a 2 horse straight load with a seperate tack room. That is just not done here in Australia. I guess people here dont mind horse snot in their bedding and tack, but I an not fond of it! So the guys at Imperial were so easy to work with and they converted another model into what I wanted. It is gorgeous, with a door from the horse area to the tack room, cabinets, saddle and bridle racks, awning, yard panels, water tank...the whole nine yards! And they even managed to match the paint to the truck, which was a feat in itself!! The guys there have been amazing to work with and are really ahead of the game in floats here in Australia, spending a lot of time in the US at trailer shows and plants bringing in all the modern features.
I also had a drool over some of their other floats, including the 4 horse gooseneck with a flat screen TV and huge shower!! Hmmm...maybe one day I will upgrade!!! Spike would love to have the entire 4 horse area gutted and laid out just for him.....

I have pictures up on webshots if anyone wants to see the new float and some of the others they have. www.imperialfloats.com.au for a look at their site.

Tomorrow we are off to SIEC for the 3-day! I hope someone is there to take pictures of me at the "trot-up", since I have been agonizing over it!! Busy week, but I will try to post throughout the event!

Some differences!

2010-08-22T09:50:00.000+10:00

As I am packing and making sure I am not forgetting anything for the 3-day next week, I am reminded of the differences between Australia and the US. If I have posted some of this before in an earlier blog, just bear with me!
Aside from the differences in horse care and management, namely, that the horses all live out and are fed a diet of mainly chopped hay and vitamins, with no grain, there are a number of differences in terms, etc.
The first difference I encountered was when I was attempting to get a "float" (trailer). They dont make them here with tack rooms! Most people have 3 or 4 horse angle load (slant load) bumper pull trailers that they pull with an SUV. There are hardly any straight loads, and none of them have tack rooms in the front! If you are a pro, you go up to a horsebox because a 250 truck here cost $125,000 for an older used one!!!! Seriously!! Fuel is about $5 per gallon here as well, so running those big trucks is a small fortune!
So I ended up custom ordering a 2 horse straight load bumper pull with a tack room in the front. And I wont tell you how much it was because I will start crying.....
Secondly, I went around to the local tack shops to replace most of the thing I didnt bring over. Well, EVERYTHING is at least twice as expensive, if not 3 times!! Again with the crying....
There are many things here that I just cant get....like buckets! People here just put a flexible tub in the corner of their horses "yard" at events (not shows because that is what the hackies do!) and fill it with water. They dont hang buckets. Well, I am sure Spike will either dump or put his feet in a tub, so I have been on the quest to find some sort of bucket. The Australian equivalent of Home Depot didnt have anything, but I did finally find 2 buckets for mopping at the local dollar store. So I am sort of content.
I will say that the Aussies are very good at after care of their horses. There were tons of ice boots and wrapping after xc at the last event, although the materials used for wrapping are quite different from the US..not sure what it is yet.
Andrea has been tirelessly trying to help me convert to Aussie appropriate terms, and we have made up a translation list, so I will post it for you below. Overall, just think of Aussies as more laidback, bastardized British. I mean that is in the nicest way possible...my kind of people!!

Here you go:

Plaiting= braiding
float= trailer
show jumping= stadium
event= show
agistment= boarding (as in boarding your horse somewhere)
rug= blanket
ute= truck
buggie smugglers= mens speedos
ankle biter= small child
brekky= breakfast
esky= cooler (like to put beer in at events)
barbie= barbecue, but NOT a grill...those are different
bikkie= a cookie
bogan= a slack, lazy poor person that wears their house slippers out in public
daggy= dorky or nerdy
chook= a chicken
chuck a sickie= to call in sick to work and take the day off
a shandy= something to do with beer, but I am not sure what!
thongs= flip flops
whinge= to whine

Whew....now you can see why I stand out like a sore thumb and have NO idea what anyone is talking about!!!

Twilight Jumping

2010-08-20T19:20:00.000+10:00

I took Spike back to SIEC again this evening and jumped a couple of rounds at the Twilight Jumping. It is set up similiar to the Schooling Days at the Carolina Horse Park over the winter, but the rounds are for ribbons and prizes. I just jumped Spike over 2 rounds at 3'3" (one meter). He was excellent in the warm-up and alright in the ring. He was better behaved than during the lesson with Sam Lyle, but still a little pully.
It was great to be able to get him out and jump a round in the indoor and over a good course. I realized that I am a bit unfit, and because my core isnt as strong, I am tending to hover instead of sit up after the fences and letting Spike pull me a little forward. So I am taking my leg off and not getting him back balanced and sitting. I need Jimmy!!!!!!
Looking forward to Sydney 3 day next week. I have both my jog outfits picked out and all I need to do now is practice dressage, clean lots of tack and my horse!!!

Dressage lesson with Craig Barrett

2010-08-19T18:06:00.001+10:00

Today Spike and I traveled back to SIEC to have a lesson with Craig Barrett. After Spike's jumping lesson yesterday, he was tired, which proved to be a good thing! We started out with Craig watching Spike go through his paces and a bit of lateral work. Craig then explained his teaching method following the German training scale, with a bit softer approach for the event horses. He honed in right away on Spike being too soft and not taking the contact correctly.
Craig told me to take a stronger contact and then really push Spike up to it and in front of my leg, without letting him drop his poll down. I really pushed him forward, but kept the nice natural rhythm that Spike has. He responded very well most of the time and it really improved Spike's consistancy in the contact. He was a bit tired, so I could push him forward, although I was really feeling out of shape!
Spike's movement really came out and we went through all the lateral work as well as focusing on keeping Spike from curling in the transitions. It was nice to be reminded to really push for more and ride, instead of babying and being a passenger, which is a habit I can get into on my own with Spike. Nicole Uphoff had also reminded me to ride more with my seat and push, not just ride off my lower leg.
Craig and I discussed Spike being herd bound in the ring and he wants me to really ride Spike forward into my hand, so that I have something to ride. He said the worst thing you can have is a horse not in the contact, because then you have nothing to ride!
After the lesson Craig said that Spike was a really nice horse, with exceptional movement and cadence, and obviously everything was easy for him...sometimes too easy! But he thought that overall Spike was at the top of the quality of horses here, and that he is a bit ahead of horses at his level here in Australia.... and agreed that I didnt waste my money bringing him all the way over here...which is a nice thing to hear after agonizing over the decision!!! So now we just have to get the relaxation and quality in the show ring that we can get outside of it. I know it will take time for Spike to settle, but at least I have a plan and things to work on!
These lessons were part of a program in Australia called Squad School, where lessons are available monthly with the Team coaches and assistant coaches. They are incredibly affordable and a wonderful resource to get good instruction as well as help pick and develop horses and riders at a early stage in their careers. The US should really develop a program like this. It is such a hole in the US program to only have instruction when you are on a list or a team. By then it is really just tuning up. Anyway, I am very lucky to have the opportunity and tomorrow we head back one more time to jump a few show jumping rounds at the schooling jumper night in the indoor!

Lesson with Sam Lyle

2010-08-18T16:43:00.000+10:00

So this week is Squad School, where riders get to lesson with the team coaches and assistant coaches. I got to have a jumping lesson with Sam Lyle today, and tomorrow I have a flat lesson with Craig Barret. After Silver Hills, Spike had monday off, then dressage work Tuesday, which he was quite good a actually. But I think it was because he was still tired ;).
We hauled out to SIEC (Sydney International Equestrian Center, where the Olympics were held). This is the premier venue for all things equestrian here in Australia. And the people are very proud of that! I would say it is on par with any of our horse parks in the US, but with way less stabling. It is a lovely place, with good footing in the nice big rings, and a lovely indoor. The cross country is nice, and it is also the venue for the Sydney 3 day event that I am doing next week, so riding here this week is great!
We started out warming up and then trotting back and forth over a verticle with placing poles on each side. Sam picked up right away on Spike wanting to get behind the contact and told me to keep more contact until he accepts it instead of floating the rein to him in front of the fence. We cantered a few fences after that, and Spike was a bit of a pill, pulling down and rushing a little heading toward the parking and getting up and curling heading away. Sam had all of the riders go forward into an open canter and then slow down the last few strides so the horse wasnt rushing, but was trying to maintain the same rhythm down to the fence. He wanted us to come forward through the turns and maintain the open stride, so you arent sucking back in the turn and then rushing to the fence. Spike finally got tired enough that he was rideable and got much better. In the end, Sam wanted the same thing that Jimmy wants, as do most good teachers...the horse to stay in a good, balanced rhythm and jump out of that rhythm without changing in between the fences. The horses definitely jumped better when they went forward to the base of the fences. It was a litte bit hard to assess how this will work for Spike compared to other methods (recently Jimmy W really had Spike going well before we shipped him over here), where I am to get a steady connected canter that is in my hand and seat and maintain that without letting the horse jump a fence unless they stay right.
I have a dressage lesson tomorrow with Craig Barrett and then twilight jumping rounds Friday night, before getting to the event next wednesday! Spike is going to be a tired boy, but hopefully will settle and put in a good performance next event. He seems to do well when he has a lot of things right in a row...of course that could just be because he is a little tired!!!
Sam seemed to really like Spike, commenting that he was incredibly athletic and super careful. He was surprised that Spike has only been competing since this February, but Spike is so naturally athletic that he does seem to be better schooled than he really is. When I untacked, Spike's belly piece was covered in heel marks and scuffed up. I guess I shouldnt feel too bad about getting jumped out of the tack several times. I felt really out of shape as far as core strength, but I guess that is to be expected when I havent jumped for a few months. I will report on the dressage lesson tomorrow!

First Outing!

2010-08-17T09:19:00.000+10:00

We got out this weekend for the first time at Silver Hills One Day Event. Now, you are going to have to bear with me because there are actually quite a few differences between eventing in the US and eventing in Australia. The first bing that even though it is called a One Day Event, it is run over 2 days, just like our Horse Trials in the US. This is because when they distinguish between a ODE and a 3DE, the 3DE is run under FEI rules at ALL levels, including the jog (trot-up in Aussie-land) and a 10 minute box!
But back to the event this weekend! I am not allowed to call it a show, because that is what hackies do apparently, and NOT real horses. Of course, I am not entirely sure what a hackie does, but it doesnt sound good, so I will try really hard to call it an event and NOT a show! Well, this was the first time Spike has been out since VAHT in May so I wasnt sure what to expect from him. I had only jumped twice at home, with no xc schooling and no course work. The atmosphere is much more laid back here than in the US. I would say that this event was on par to our nice local schooling events in the US. The dressage arenas were on grass, and only had saides where the letters were in the corners. The rest was totally open. I got on Spike early and rode him, and he was great!!! I was surprised as we walked back to the "float" (that's trailer for all you americans!) without throwing a fit! But it backfired when I got on him for the test as he was tired and cranky. He did his usual tense snarkiness in the ring and ended up just below half way down the pack. But I forgave him.
The living situation for the horses is quite different than in the US as well. They are just tied to the trucks wherever. Some to the bumpers, some to the side of the float, and some are put in metal "yards", similiar to what the endurance people do in the US. Most people make a weekend of it, setting up tents and having a shindig at their camp site, with the horses hanging out in theie yards wherever they are set up. There is no specific place, just where ever you set up. The good news is no mucking and no stall deposits!!!
So Spike learned to stand tied next to the float, which he actually really enjoyed, much to my suprise! He has never been tied to the trailer before, but he just stood there and ate all day! Another difference between the US and Australia is that people here rug (blanket) the h*@l out of their horses! It was up to 60 degrees farenheit during the day and horses still had on cottons with full hoods and a wool cooler or sometimes 2 on top!!! I was in a tee shirt! The "cotton" needs some explaining too. All the horses here wear a cotton sheet, with a neck ot a full hood at all times here. They literally never come off, unless the horse is being ridden. Even in the summer. But they dont seem to care too much....keeps them much cleaner I must say! It is about 55 to 60 degrees here during the day and about 40 at night, and the barn has Spike in his cotton, a medium blanket and a sheet with a full neck on at night!!! And tell me he will freeze if I forget to put that sheet on top ;).
Well, after dressage I went to walk the xc course. It looked fine, and the footing seemed ok in spite of all the rain we had had earlier in the week. It was a good first run back for Spike. I put in the biggest studs I have ever used, at the advise of Andrea. I figured , "when in Rome!". Better safe than sorry. So I headed down to the xc warm-up, only to find out that it consisted of 2 logs ina lane, not bigger than US Novice height! And that was all you got. Now, this event was running through intermediate!!! So I jumped each one once and said, screw it! I headed to the start and waited my turn. After watching the horse in front of me take a spill going around a turn, I decided to really tack it slow! So we had a great run, even without warm-up or any jumping really in months. We were a minute or so slow, but Spike isnt running fit and the footing worried me. He was bold and a blast to ride.
Next was stadium...I mean SHOW JUMPING. It is NOT called stadium here either.....
Well, I had to go in the wind storm! The jumps were literally blowing over and the vendors tent next to the ring lifted up and turned over while I was in the ring! Needless to say we had a few rails (and Spike was tired), but I was thrilled with him. The course was nice, but a little softer than in the US at this level. There are no triples until intermediate here (called 2-star in Australia). They run ALL their events under FEI rules, so they dont distinguish between US prelim and 1-star. They are the same all the way up. So an event run at advanced here is called 3-star and you only know if it is full format if it says 3 day event instead of one day event. Confused me at first, but I am getting the hang of it now!
In addition to the windy weather, Spike also got to experience the full range or being an Aussie horse now. We had a rain storm, that quickly turned into a hail storm! Now, I have had a rain sheet since NAYRC in 1998, but I have never once used it! I have attempted to get rid of it many times, but it has just managed to stick around. Now I know why. The horses here not only stand tied to the side, front, whatever of the floats and horse boxes, they also tolerate the weather! People just throw the rain sheets on the horses and leave them! Spike was not so keen when the rain started, and was throwing a mini fit. I was attempting to get him loaded in the float when the hail started coming down. Spike gave up, turned his butt to the weather and settled in to wait out the storm with Andrea holding the lead and us hiding inside the float! After the storm passed, we tied him back to the side of the float and he went back to eating hay!
Overall, people were very nice and friendly. The scores were a bit slow, with nothing being posted when I left, but that can be anywhere. Even though I didnt experience this this weekend, the best part about eventing here is that you win money!!!! Hopefully, we will get in the money next time!
The next event we are going to is The Sydney 3 day event. It is the last event before the Aussie WEG team is announced, so they are running through a modified 4 star. This is indeed a 3-day event, which means that even at the lowest level, I will have 2 trot- ups (jogs) and a 10 minute box!!! This is going to be fun...NOT! I now have a week to come up with 2 outfits!! And maybe I will be in the running for best-dressed!!!

There are pictures up from the weekend at www.webshots.com under my user name trainoreventing!

Pictures!

2010-08-02T08:57:00.000+10:00

Ok, there are pictures up now! For some reason I cannot paste the links, but they are at Webshots under TrainorEventing! http://community.webshots.com/user/trainoreventing

Sorry if the link doesnt work!!

The first one is Spike's quarantine facility here in AU that he spent time in. Thanks to Kim for taking such good care of him! The next is Spike's new home in Otford.

Settling In

2010-08-01T18:28:00.001+10:00

So I have been here for a few weeks now, and have gotten Spike going. I have also had a chance to scribe (pencil) for some dressage and jump judge for an event here. And it was a great time!
I scribed in dressage for the 2-star division at Sydney, and overall it was really good. There was of course some riding that was better than others, but there were some things that stood out. First, I was really impressed that the focus was always keeping the horse up and out, with the poll at the highest point, no matter the rider. This is not the case in the US as an overall picture, and it was really nice to see. I spoke to the judge about it, and she said that it was key to have the horses nose out slightly and the poll the highest point at all time or the riders would really be nailed for it.
The second thing that struck me, was the lack of solid lateral work in many horses. Actually, only 3 had decent trot shoulder-in and haunches-in. For the shoulder- in the horses were to be on a 4 track according to the judge, and hardly anyone was. For the haunches-in, most horses didnt have enough bend. You could really see some of the riders trying to contort themselves to do the lateral work for the horse! And it was interesting that across the board, the horses canter work was much better than the trot work. Many horses were 4-6 in their trot work ,and 7-8 in the canter work. The simple change was blown the most, and not a single rider showed an extended walk, but instead performed a free walk. I learned a good trick for the canter lengthening too, but I am going to keep that one to myself!!!
I thought that the judge was great, and really knew what she was looking for. I was impressed that she didnt let a bobble, or blow-up, or bad first half of the test set the score for not rewarding the good movements. I did however, think that the scores overall were much higher, as much as 2 scores higher per movement, than the judging in the US. I think that in the US, the judging is much harder on bobbles, etc. There are some rule differences too, that are interesting. First, you must wear an approved helmet with a jacket at all times. This means NO hunt caps....not sure what I am going to do with all of mine now....
Second, you can wear a top hat with tails, BUT, you can only put it on in the "final warm-up" or to go into the show ring. So you have to warm- up in your approved helmet, then change right before you go into the ring. I am quite supportive of safety, but this just seemed silly. I think it should be one way or the other. If you are going to allow top hats at all, you can get just as hurt in the ring as in the warm-up. And it makes for really messy hair! I was actually commenting on the messyness, until I realized the hat change rule. And everyone but one person wore their top hat. The winning rider had a 75%, and the lowest had a 41% (her horse was blowing up in the arena half of the test). And the top horses were very well schooled on the flat.
The next day I came back and jump judged the water complex from the intro division through the 2-star. I am really glad I had the chance to do it. There were quite a few differences. The first thing I noticed is that the jump from pre-novice (our training level) to one-star (our prelim) was not very different. They shared many of the same fences actually. This meant that the pre-novice was much bigger and harder than training level in the US. There were also trakehners and corners on most of the courses, from intro on up......interesting!
When we were getting ready to start, they told us that the horses were running at 1 minute intervals. I radioed in because I thought I heard wrong! How could they possibly run that close together. But they did! The TD told me it was quite slow and boring if they ran further apart, and it would take too long to run 350 horses in a day. I asked what would happen with overtaking and if someone falls off with them coming that close together, but it wasnt a concern I was told. Well......
So at one point I was holding 3 people on course at my fence at the same time! Someone had a run-out, then fell off, and the people just came pilling up. It was stressful for me trying to keep the hold time for 2 people and restart everyone, but you know, it worked out just fine! There was TONS of overtaking, but people just sorted it out and went on.
There were a number of rules though on xc that were different. You dont have to wear your armband on your upper arm. It took me a few riders to figure out what the heck was flapping off their backs. But then I realized it was their medical armbands!
The next rule was questioned by me when a professional rider had a run-out at a jump, circled around and jumped back into the water complex over a novice level fence backwards!! I couldnt believe that it wasnt a dangerous riding penalty. But, after asking the TD again I learned that you can jump ANY jump, flagged or not, from any direction without penalty. And I must say that the rider looked safe, and the jump was meant to be jumped either way in schooling. It looked fine.
But it is good to know you can do that if needed without penalty!
Overall, the riding was forward and it worked out well. There were few half halts until the 1-star level, and the water complex was at the bottom of a steep hill, but the horses handled it great and jumped well. I think the courses here are designed more forward and flowing. There was no jerking, and no combinations I saw that asked for this.
I asked for someone to come look at the footing in front of the log into water, as the pre-novice and one-star both jumped it. It looked a bit chewed up, but the horses all looked great jumping out of it, and it clearly caused no trouble at all. The fences were beautiful and I was quite impressed that we finished 30 minutes early, despite many riders with 2 and 3 horses in the same division running! I guess that is why they run at 1 minute apart! (I think they ran the 2 star at 2 mins apart).
I was impressed with the quality of horses overall, espcially at the higher levels. And I got a great lunch and beautiful monogrammed blanket for volunteering! It was so lovely. I am looking forward to the season, although it is going to be a bit bigger courses here than in the US I think! Spike better get ready! There were a lot more men riding here than in the US. At least a third of the 2-star were male riders, and there were quite a few at the lower levels as well. It was great to see.

Down Under!!!!

2010-07-15T17:11:00.000+10:00

OK, so I am finally here! After months of planning and packing and sorting, the horse, hound and I are all on a continent half way across the world! And boy is it different!
The horse is here to be competed for the next 2.5 months. He is in quarantine until Sunday, when I get to go pick him up. He seems ok via pictures, although there was a bit of a mix up by IRT with Spike's feed. Murphy's law says that if you spend countless hours trying to figure out a feed that is available on both the US and the Australian continent, that has no grain in it, and will suit your crazy horse; you spend months switching him over to said feed to get the amount right and him accustomed to it; someone will inevitably forget to check if the feed store has actually delivered it and therefore said horse will be getting only 2 cups of supplement a day instead of that expensive feed. This is of course only discovered after I see pictures of him and freak out that he has lost about 200 lbs in 12 days! I asked the nice lady feeding Spike if she found it odd that he was only getting a handful of rice bran a day, but she must see all sorts of things there because it didnt phase her. So needless to say, Spike has some weight to gain. But the lady, Kim who is watching him is a love and really seems to care about him. Poor Spike. She does tell me everytime I speak to her that he is a love and cuddles her when she goes in the stall. Those of you that know Spike will have warning signals blinding you.... So when I get there Sunday, Spike will either be the wrong horse sent to AU from California, or he will be near his death bed. I did inform her that he was named Spike for a reason, but it didnt seem to click.
But on to bigger and better things! With the help of my new friend Andrea (poor lady had to drive me home from the airport, sick as can be...but more on that later), I have planned the "spring" season for Spike....weird isnt it? He will go out at Silver Hills Aug 14th and 15th, then do the Sydney International Event (the biggest event on the east coast..runs a CIC 1 star through a CIC3 star plus all the horse trials levels) the end of August. He will then do Canberra and Goulburn. I realize that this means nothing to most of you, and to be honest, it doesn't mean much to me at this point either!! I have no idea where any of these are really, and I am taking a stab in the dark with the levels as well. The height at the AU Pre-Novice are about the same as the Training level in the US, so we are going with that! I'll let you all know how we survive after the first event! Oh wait, they arent called that here....hmmm...cant remember what they are called actually!
So I get to pick up a float tomorrow. Yes, I said float. I am really trying to embrace the language here, as first off, no one knows what the hell a trailer is, and secondly, Imperial is now a sponsor of Trainor Eventing! So I better say it right....
It is a lovely 2 horse straight load, with a dressing room. This had to be ordered 8 weeks ago, as no one here uses these trailers...tack rooms are unheard of! But I am out to change that!!! I am not fond of horse snot in my food. Yes, that means what you think.....camping out of the trailer at shows. I should have some choice blogs to post in the future.
But enough of the horse stuff. I am sure you all want to hear about my experiences here so far! Well, first off, I was seated on the plane here, for my 15 hour flight, surrounded by 100 5th graders......not kidding! I was thrilled! But at least I had my ipod and a bottle of ambien, so I thought I might live. I was pondering whether the police could arrest me if I strangled a kid in the air, since it wouldnt be in any country if I waited till we were over the ocean, but I decided I didnt want to risk it. So instead I waited till dinner was served, ate and popped an ambien. And it was perfect, I slept soundly for about 5 hours. When I woke up wide awake, I used the bathroom and popped one more and fell back asleep. All was well, until I woke up again about an hour before landing and all was terribly wrong. I could barely see straight and I was terribly nauseaus. Oh, it was great! I have never used a sick bag on a plane until now. They are quite handy. I was a bit worried about getting my bags and going through customs as I could still barely see straight, and was stopping at every bathroom I passed to throw up. Now, let me preface this by telling you that Australian customs love me. They manage to either ask me a million questions, or search all my bags, or do a search on me every single time I come into the country. I like to think it is because the hot aussie guys working customs like me, but its more likely that my stuff smells like my dog, who likes to sleep in my suitcases. This sets off the drug dogs everytime, who dont actually tag me or my stuff, but wag frantically around us sniffing and looking quite happy. Once they ask me if I have a dog, they realize what is going on and let me go, but not without all the trouble.
So I am not sure how this time no one asked me a single question, stopped me, or looked at my bags. Maybe it was because I was green and smelled like barf? Poor Andrea had to drive me home, pulling over to let me be sick in Sydney traffic and not getting much conversation after taking off work to come get me at 6:30 am!!! Thank you Andrea!!
Aside from that, Australia has been great! The weather is very mild for winter, compared to in the US. The people here are all strangely friendly and helpful. I keep thinking that they want something from me, especially the government officials! But maybe its just that the standard wage is about 50k a year for even a basic job and people like what they do? The little town I am in is quaint and lovely. I like going to the produce shop as well as the butcher and baker, all right next to each other.
Besides driving on the left side of the road, and the steering wheel being on the right side of the car!!!.... I have taken to driving pretty well. With driving to see the dog an hour away everyday, it hasnt taken too long. The weirdest part of Australia to me is the TV. MASH and Alf went off the air in the US when I was a small child for a reason....why the heck are they on prime time TV here? They still suck 20 years later.....
But the best part of Australia? The men are SO HOT!!!! Now, I have been a few places in my life so far, but none of the men on a whole rate a double take like the Aussie men do. Imagine that Boyd doesnt even rate at the top of the scale compared (sorry Boyd..no offense meant ;)Oh my. I have taken to watching the nightly news just because all the men they show are drool worthy. And the same is true for the guys you run into on a daily basis. Maybe the accent makes one were rose colored glasses? I dont care, I'll take it!!
Well, I better be off. The news is starting and I have to get up early to visit the dog and pick up the horse float tomorrow! Will write more after I have news to tell!

Christan~

Nicole Uphoff lessons

2009-12-14T01:51:00.000+11:00

Guess what we did on Thanksgiving? We drove to Maryland to ride with Nicole Uphoff again! Kelly, Marissa, Spike, Gordo and I all packed up Thanksgiving Day and drove north. We settled for Applebees dinner and then checked into our hotel. Hmmm...that was an adventure in itself.
First, the room was a smoking room. Of course I reserved a non-smoking room. Well, we couldnt switch rooms because housecleaning was off that day and there were no other clean rooms. I thought maybe I could deal and went to take a shower. That didn't last long because the hair and mold in the shower made me feel sick to my stomach! After insisting that we change rooms, the manager went and cleaned one for up and while the new room reeked of bleach, at least it wasnt smokey. After Marissa discovered blood stains on her pillow case and settled on not using a pillow we settled in for bed and slept ok, until the door was opened at 2 am by some man who stepping inside the room, must have realized that we were in there and left...thank goodness! What a nightmare!
After that experience though, the lessons were amazing! Gordo was great and Nicole helped me fix he crookedness that I was struggling with. Spike had two great lessons as well, and I was stoked to get home and work on it all!
I wrote an article for the NCDCTA about what we worked on in the lessons, with video footage to accompany. Once the article is published I will put a link to it here as well. But if you want to see video here you go!

Gordo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSrmqDCxuvA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQInS9z1EoA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHr9Xpqno7Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_whHmIszNs

Spike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz89scEl0EI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTokN9OUJ68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5f05FNtOD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ-QA1tkoJ4

I also want to say THANK YOU to the NCDCTA for helping me ride in these lessons. I really appreciate it and I hope that these videos will be helpful to others! Thank you again,

Christan

Jumping videos of sale horses!

2009-12-14T01:47:00.000+11:00

Here are some recent jumping videos of the sale horses we have in right now. Enjoy!

Spectre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFpz4DX_CBY

Reign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRfDPB6pDTE

Meiyo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxDC_4QEoHo

The Ark Schooling HT

2009-12-14T01:23:00.001+11:00

Considering it was freezing cold and Marissa and I packed up four horses before daylight, we had a much better day than expected!!! We took Meiyo to do his first show, Lantz and Spike to do the Novice HT, and Reign to get off the farm for the first time.
We got there with about 45 minutes fir Marissa to warm-up Meiyo, and they put in a very good test! Meiyo was such a good boy, as this was the first time we had ever ridden him off the farm! He didnt seem to care about the exotic animals everywhere, but the big rocks were kind of scary! Marissa has done such a good job starting him and teaching him correctly that he was excellent. Their stdium round was super. Meiyo was a bit green (first time ever jumping a course away from home!) and looked at a few things going around the ring, but Marissa rode him to softly and forward that he was happy to go around and jump everything....even the big black and white sharks tooth oxer!!! I was surprised it was on the course, but Meiyo was a good boy about it. So they finished on their dressage score and won their whole division!!! Not a bad start for the first time out.
I rode Spike twice before his dressage test. The first time he was really good and felt great in the warm-up, the second time he didnt think he should be doing dressage again! But he was a good boy and was obedient. I used the test once again to school him, and I added a few extra moves, like a halt in the middle of my trot circle. He scored 8's and then a 3 on the circle I halted on, but overall he was much improved! I want him to learn now to be obedient and relaxed and I dont particularly care about the score.
Marissa got on Lantz and put in a super test, the best I have seen him do. He was forward and soft and they looked great together! We went back and changed tack for stadium. We headed back, warmed up and both the horses put in very good stadium rounds to jump clean. Next we headed out to the xc course, where we were going to do our Novice round and then I was going to take Spike around the training xc as a schooling run.
I took Spike out first, and he was a good boy but looked at the 4th fence which was a ditch with water running through it. I let him get a good look, circled around and he was good after that. He was good the rest of the course, but a little bit green in the galloping, meaning he wanted to pop his right shoulder a little, and lean a little that way also. I was very pleased, but came back and told Marissa that I wasnt sure about him moving up to Training at the beginning of the spring as he was still a little green in between the fences. I am purposely going fairly slow on xc with him right now, because I want him to learn to always gallop uphill and on a loose rein without pulling on me. Once he has established that then I will go faster between the fences.
Lantz was fabulous and it was like a walk in the park for him. He jumped around the big Novice like it was nothing and Marissa won her Novice division with him as well!!
I hacked back to the start of xc and decided to do the xc run and if I wanted to I could stop, or skip something. It was a tough xc with many maxed out tables, a ditch and wall, a full coffin with a down hill approach and a skin ditch with water in it, bending line to a table. There was a trakhener, two waters with a big roll top in, bank out bending line to a max table, as well as a faux corner and other good questions. We Spike went out and was light and uphill, and looking for the fences this time! The first 4 fences were great and then I added in the Novice ditch he looked at in the first round, which he didnt even look at in the slightest. He did the bank up one stride to the skinny hanging log perfectly, and we were having the best run ever!! He was light and forward and rideable. It was a great feeling. He jumped up the ditch and bank like he had schooled it a million times. We jumped into the first part of the coffin beautifully and then a jump judge stopped me. They told me I had to stop as I had missed a fence. After explaining to them that I was doing a schooling round, and I was NOT entered in the training level HT....and insisting that I was going to finish my round , I picked up the trot and proceeded down to the ditch bending line to the table that was left of the coffin combo! Spike was great and jumped it well, but was out of his rhythm after being stopped and I was even more impressed with him going to the faux corner next and then the water. He jumped great and was such a blast to ride!!! So I guess he will be ready for training in the spring after all. It seems that the challenge is all he needs.
So we loaded up and headed home, and I couldnt be more proud of Marissa with her two blue ribbons on the 3 year old that she has done the work on and the win on Lantz as well! We should be done with competitions until the start of next year, but we will continue to work at home and be ready for a good spring!

CHP Starter Trial

2009-12-01T13:53:00.000+11:00

Once again, we packed up the trailer and headed to CHP for their first ever starter horse trials! It was a super busy day and I had the first ride at 8 am!!! Spike was a bit more on edge here, and I think he knows the show grounds here when we pull in. He is just way to smart. He was a brat in the warm-up and a brat in the dressage test. I was hoping he would redeem himself in the jumping phases! Gordo was good and put in a (mostly) solid test, with only a few exuberant additions to his test. He scored a 27.5 to tie him for 3rd place. Belle was again a super good girl and was placed in 3rd after dressage.
Spike was first to jump stadium, and he was a bit more settled by then. His warm-up was as good as I could expect given the morning ride. He jumped well in the ring to have a clear round. Gordo was next, and while he jumped clear, he was full of himself! I was a bit worried that he was unhappy or something, as he is never that silly between the fences. I didn't want a repeat of 5-Points, where he had a meltdown after the 2nd fence on xc. I was worried he remembered this place too, like Spike! Belle jumped well in stadium to have a clear round.
Off we went to xc, and Spike was very well behaved at the start box this time. He was brilliant on xc, not looking at anything and jumping around the fairly tough Novice like he had done it a million times! He hacked back to where I had to get on Gordo as well as he could ;). I switched tack to Gordo and got on and headed to the start box for xc. I was a little unsure of what to expect, but when we got there Gordo knew what was coming and started to bounce up and down! He was ready to go! We cam out of the start box like it was the best thing on earth. Gordo took me around that whole course as keen as could be. He jumped everything perfectly, including both waters and the trakhener. The bank combination was a walk in the park! He jigged the whole way back to the trailer!!! In retrospect, I think he was a bit cheeky in stadium because he was excited for xc.
Belle went out last with me and jumped around the very hard beginner novice course easily. She finished on her dressage score in 3rd place. Gordo also finished in 3rd,as we lost the tie for second because we were so fast on xc. I didnt even realize when we were out there because we were having such a blast! Spike finished on his dressage score, but because he was so naughty there we were out of the ribbons.
I had several students here as well, and everyone did a super job!!! Amie Collins rode both her girls, and had a blast on Dessa, as well as doing a super job on Lainey for her first time out together! Michelle did super on Charlie, despite me being too busy to help her at all. Sheila rode the best I have ever seen her, finishing on her dressage score and doing a super job riding on xc. Caroline was at her first event with her fancy mare Cheina, and after winning the dressage with a 27.5! She had a great stadium and xc run. She was given a stop xc that wasn't deserved, but by hte time we noticed it and wanted to protest it was too late and we had gone our separate ways. Live and learn I guess, but I know who really won that division :).
I was very please and super proud of everyone who rode. The event was very well done and very accomodating for my multiple rides. And I have to say a HUGE thank you to Kimberly who kept evenything running smoothly back at the trailer. There is no way we could get all those horses shown without her and Kelly's help!!! We have another round of lessons with Nicole Uphoff next weekend and then the Ark Frostbite and we might just be done until February!!
Jake also went to a new home with Ann Moxley in VA. We will miss him, but what a great match those two make and I cant wait to see them out in the future!

TTC Horse Trials

2009-12-01T13:39:00.000+11:00

It was a very early morning at Trainor Eventing. We were loaded up and pulling out at 5:30 am to get to the event in time to ride 5 horses between Marissa and myself in the one-day event. It was Spike's first event back after his time off and I really didn't know what to expect! It was frosty that early in the morning and we walked the xc courses in a cold hurry.
Gordo was first to go in dressage and was good in the warm-up, but when we got to the ring he got a bit behind my leg and put in a decent test, but not up to his standard performance. Spike was next and he managed to keep all four feet on the ground in warm-up, despite the cold and chaos. He was first in the novice division after dressage, with Gordo not too far behind. I rode Belle next and she put in a good test after a very short warm-up to tie for second place.
Cross country was next and I didnt know quite what to expect out of Gordo. He was walking quietly around the start box, but a little behind my leg so I couldnt really read his mood. He came out of the start box fine and never looked back. We had an absolute blast!!! He went right down to every fence like he was having the time of his life. He was very rideable though, and I was able to get quiet jumps and not just go forward to everything. He jumped right off the big bank and didnt even look at the water!!! I was so pleased with him.
Spike took a little longer in the warm-up, because he was pretty sure it was time to play a bit. But after jumping for a bit he settled and I was able to hack down to the start box and stand until we were told to go. He was a dream on xc, being soft and rideable, but not looking at anything on course. I did surprise him with my turn to the ditch however, and he stopped, looked at it and jumped right over! He was great to the bank and water as well, and even took a bit of a long spot over the huge stone jump in the fence line. It was all so easy for him though.
Belle was a perfect angel, and jumped around the course like the star that she is. She went right down to every fence and didnt have a single bad step. She was so easy to ride and I couldnt be happier with her progress.
Stadium was next and Gordo jumped very well to have an easy clear round. Spike was good as well, jumping clean, as did Belle. I took my time on xc with Spike since this was his first event back and so incurred some time penalties. This moved him out of first place, but Gordo stepped up and finished in 2nd overall! Belle ended up winning her division on her dressage score, after winning the tie with her collective marks in dressage. She is a fancy little girl!
Marissa rode Jake and Lantz as a last minute substitution for Spectre at beginner novice. She put in two solid dressage tests and jumped around really well on both horses.
We left before the sun came up and got home after dark, but it was a great day! It was great to have Spike back in action and Gordo felt so wonderful on xc. There is nothing more rewarding than a good day at a horse show!

Fenridge HT

2009-10-21T23:37:00.000+11:00

I am not sure what happened to fall, but it felt like winter on Sunday when we headed to the Fenridge HT with 4 horses. Gordo was in the Novice/Training division, Jake was in Maiden and Spectre and Belle were making their Beginner Novice debut.
It was 40 degrees and spitting rain all day, and not a single horse acted up! I couldnt believe how well behaved they were. Gordo was a good boy, finishing on his dressage score to win his division. He was a blast xc and was really taking me to the fences, even the water!! I was sooo proud of him. So we are going to do one more event with him and call it quits for the fall and let him have a well deserved rest from eventing.
Belle was as laid back as ever, and put in a good test to score a 20!! She jumped around stadium easily and was telling me she needs bigger fences. Here is a link to her round: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dqzSGEAwrc
There seemed to be some confusion about the xc time, as they must have wheeled it a bit off. The Novice and the Beginner Novice had almost the exact same optimum time, which wasnt quite right. So Belle fininshed without jumping penalties and in the confusion took home a red ribbon. In hindsight she should ahve had no time penalties having her win her division.
Spectre was a star! He was better in dressage, in spite of the fact that it was in a grass arena that wasnt totally flat. He jumped like a million bucks and won his division too! Here is a link to his xc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-oifSEIUJY
He is really going to be a super event horse. I am a bit sad that he is here to sell, as I feel like he could really go somewhere. But I am enjoying riding him.
Jake was a very good boy too, and scored a 25 in dressage in his maiden division. He was jumping more like he knew what he was doing as well, and had a rail in stadium but was clean otherwise in both jumping phases. We took home the blue ribbon for him, but I am not sure if that was correct as the scores seems to not be totally added up, so I am not sure where he really belonged! But in my eyes he was great! He is really going to be a fancy event horse, and I see him doing big things as well.
Kim took Oliver and put in a great dressage test to score a 27!!! All that hard work is paying off. They jumped around easily both in stadium and xc to win their division also!!! Not to shabby for the Trainor Eventing team!!!

We are heading to TTC in November next with the babies, and I will be watching Galway in CA in between now and then. Should be a good next few weeks!

The Ark!!!

2009-10-21T23:30:00.000+11:00

Well, we loaded up the trailer with 6 horses and lots of hay and feed, plus all the tack and equipment for said horses and headed to The Ark HT. The poor truck was definitly feeling it on this one, but made it there well. I had to give it a good pat though for trying so hard ;).
We took mostly babies doing their first event, although Gordo and Danny were there to tell the youngsters things were alright. I was very impressed with how good everyone was, and how happy they were in their stalls. The owners have again but more work into the facility and had purchased an agrivator for the xc footing and boy did it help! They continue to make improvements.
We had a busy day on Saturday with the HT, but baby Belle ended up winning her Maiden divisions, with Spectre is 5th and Jake in 6th in that division as well. Gordo won his division, but he was the only horse in it!! But he jumped around the stadium like it was nothing and got around the xc. Danny put in a great test to be in 2nd and jumped well.
Sunday we did the YEH and the FEH. Belle was great again and won the 4 year old class as well as the overall high score of the event with an 80.1. Meiyo, the 3 year old behaved himself as well as he could for never having been anywhere before!! I was proud of them both! So now we are about halfway through the season with the horses and will have more to post soon!

Antares Dressage Show

2009-09-20T09:08:00.000+10:00

Today was a busy day for the greenies and babies here at Trainor Eventing as we packed up the trailer and headed to Antares! We took Jake and Belle for their first show ever, and Spike for his first show since coming back into work (and his 3rd show ever). Kimberly took Danny, as he is for sale and we wanted to get him out some, and a few of my students went as well.
I rode Spike first and he was great. He is not totally back in shape, but put in a good test at Novice A to place second with a 32. He is such a fancy boy and has so much potential. I hope he is on the way to a good fall season. His second test was a bit better and he won the class with a 30.
Marissa went next on Jake, and had two good test, to win her intro class with a 68% and place third with a 66% in the second test. He is going to really be a big time horse! I am excited for his fall season as he is so fancy and tries so hard.
I rode Belle in intro and a beginner novice test. Belle is a super good mover and very light and uphill. But she is also a 4 year old mare and thinks she knows better than I do sometimes! In the first test we had to have a talk about halting, and didn't score well there, but continued with a good test to end up with a 64%. She needs to get out a bunch and figure out that I might just know a little something, but I am really happy about having her here as she has a bright future ahead of her. It is almost too easy for her!
Kimberly put in a solid test to score 64% and place second in her class and Danny was good as ever! Camilla rode Wellington and scored a 66% and they looked great together! He has come such a long way, and Camilla's riding has improved so much. I can't wait to see where they go!
Amie brought both her girls and Dessa was up and forward today and they looked great. It was good to have her out after a almost a year off of showing for having a baby!
Calleen brought Lantz out to practice her first level tests before the recognized show next weekend. She has him up for sale due to her being away in the military soon and so his 67% and first place wasn't too shabby :). Lantz is a fabulous horse and he is going to be great as an event horse or a straight dressage horse!

We are looking forward to the Pinehurst Dressage show next weekend, where I am attempting to earn my USDF Bronze Medal all in one go! I have Pudge going first level and Gordo and Minnie going second and third level. Strangely enough, I somehow managed to have the most rides of the show with 12! I thought for sure some dressage trainer would have more than a lowly event rider!!! It should be a busy weekend, but hopefully we will come home with a Bronze Medal and maybe a little prize money ;).

5- Points HT

2009-09-20T08:50:00.000+10:00

I returned from England and got right to work, riding the horses that were competing the next weekend at 5-Points HT. They were all great and ready to show! We decided to haul over to the showgrounds Thursday and ride some of the babies around with the commotion. It is really nice to live so close!
Jake and Belle were great and it was a good experience for them to go ride around the rings and the barns. The next morning the girls got up early and bathed and braided Gordo, Chance and Pudge. We took Spike along as well to ride around and see how he would be.
Gordo went first and put in a solid test to score a 28.5. Not his best test, but still good and good enough for first place! Chance was the best he has ever been and was close behind Gordo with a 31.1. Marissa hurried home from class to ride Pudge and put him her best test ever to score a 29 and sit in first place! Michelle and Charlee had a good test, but an odd time with the judge, but ended up with the 33 and in a solid place. I missed Jennifer's dressage test, but we were all looking forward to stadium the next day.
The stadium course was turney and big, but looked great as ever. It rode very well. Gordo was a bit exuberant, and was good but pulled a rail behind at fence six to drop down to second place. Chance was a super star and jumped really well to have one of the few clean rounds and move into first place!!! Marissa had a great round to jump clean and keep her lead,; Michelle and Jennifer both jumped clean and were awesome! Both of them were riding the best I had seen!
Cross country was tough, with the first 3 fences circling the warm-up and the fourth fence being a drop fence in the shade away from the warm-up ring. Many horses were having problems there, but Jennifer went first of our group and set the pace well with a clean round!!! She was one of a few to get around at all, much less cleanly and I was soooo proud!! The course was quite different than it has been before and her and Sockie were great. And faster this time!
Gordo went next and he just wasn't himself at all. He jumped the first three fences akwardly and I pulled up at the fourth fence and retired. We are putting him on a course of ulcer treatment again, since he has issues with them and seems to have been suffering from that a bit. I am sure he will be back on pace next show!
Chance was my second ride and I had a blast!! He is green and this was his first recognized event, but he really took the bit and loved going around the course. Even the scary trakhener he got over and he wanted to keep going after the finish!! He came in right on time to win the division and place second overall in the NCDCTA Novice division!
Michelle went next and had a nearly picture perfect run, looking fabulous! She ended up in second and Charlee is looking as good as ever! Marissa was the last to go, and although I was nervous for her, because everyone was having trouble at the third fence, she and Pudge made it look easy to win her division and place first in the NCDCTA Beginner Novice Division!

We made it home without any trouble and were back to work the next day. I had a busy week, and Chance was vetted out on Thursday and went to his new owner Liza Bunce and trainer Ben Tursam of Summit Hill Farm (www.summithillfarm.com) . I am so thrilled for them, but we are all missing sweet Chance here around the farm!!

We had two wonderful Irish horses come to the farm. Spectre is a 6 year old imported grey gelding and he is here to show and sell. I am excited about him as he is a good mover, a good jumoer and easy and sweet around the barn. His 3 year old "little brother" came as well ofr 90 days of training and so we should have a great fall season!!

Show Jumping, sickness and last minute shopping

2009-09-07T05:10:00.000+10:00

We really weren't doing very well this morning, having tried to get up to watch the job but failing miserably. I don't know how we got home and into the correct room and correct beds, but we did! The walk from the car to the stadium was the longest walk ever. There was a pony event going on though, and I was so impressed. Every single pony there was much higher quality than most of our top horses in the US. Every single horse here has a great tail too. I don't know how they do it, but they are all perfect, even the two appaloosa ponies had a lovely thick tails. And no, they weren't fake.
We watched the first half of the class jump with Missy putting in a good effort and Jennifer having a nice ride around the course. I was quite surprised when after an hour, show jumping stopped and I was told it would begin again at 2:30!!! WTF? I have never been to an event that did this, but I can only guess that they were hoping we would shop more. I trudged back to the car where Kelly was sleeping and I too took a nap until show jumping started again. This time Kelly only made it through one ride when she had to go back to the car again, but I stuck it out and watched some really great riding. Karin Donkers is still my favorite rider of the weekend, putting in a beautiful round. Buck and Reggie looked great as did Amy. Phillip had a very careful ride to leave all the cups up but was s bit too slow and got 4 time penalties. The top 8 or so rides were great and very nerve wracking. Everyone in the stands was totally into it and it was so much fun. Oliver put in a great ride with his Carousel Quest to win first place. Sadly, Sam Griffiths horse has a big miss at the second to last fence and took the whole thing out, moving him down a bit in the placings. Lenamore jumped out of it's skin today as did Leprince Des Bois and Polly Stockon's mare.
I wandered around one last time after SJ, really not wanting to leave the great shopping and telling myself that I really can't fit anymore in my suitcases to go home. I was having sad feelings as I walked back to the car thinking about all the wonderful things I was leaving behind. I am really going to miss the wonderful shops here. I am getting ready to start packing now, as we have to leave at 5:00 am to get to the airport tomorrow. I haven't figured out yet how to get my two new tophats home safely, but I will find a way! I will post the pictures when I get home.
We have 5-Points this coming weekend, so I have a few days to get the horses geared up and off we go again! New horses coming in Tuesday, Kimberly Ross is at the farm as a working student as well and I can't wait to get back and get going again!!!

Christan

Cross Country Day

2009-09-07T04:26:00.000+10:00

I have to apologize for not posting this Saturday night, but I was a bit toasted. More on that later ;).
The day turned out to be much warmer with a slight breeze. It was sunny (or at least as sunny as i imagine England gets!). The traffic was almost non-existant and we got out on course as the first horse was going. I have to say that the British people are so polite. No one was pushing or shoving and everyone made room for others to see. After they had been there for a horse or two, everyone would move on and let others take their spot on the ropes.
We started out at fence 4, the Leaf Pit. It actually seemed to ride very well, and the only bobbles were the horses looking down the drop to assess things before taking the plunge down! We made our way around past fence 5, which was a big trakhener and then to the Discovery Valley fence 6. And the carnage began! The jump consisted of a roll top-type chest down a slope to a bank/ditch up angle to a skinny brush to another chest jump. Well all I can say is crap! Many horses missed coming up the bank with a hind leg and glanced off the skinny brush. Even the few horses that went the straight way were akward over the skinny brush. William Fox-Pitts horse Macchiatto missed coming up the bank and had a run-out at the brush, and he quickly retired after that. I am not sure why, as it was a simple run-out but I am sure he had good reasons. Becky Holder also had a glance off at the same brush. She circled and jumped it the second time. She later retired on course sadly.
Matt Ryan retired at fence 6 as well after a runout at the brush. When Buck came through, he jumped the far left side of the bank up giving himself a little more room to the brush. Later a few more US riders took this same route and it seemed to get the job done. Not pretty, but got through it.
The water proved to be difficult as well, and only a few people made it look easy. Kai Ruder on Leprince Des Bois was awesome through there, taking the straight route easily. I want to say there were only two other people to do that route. Allison Springer had a really hard ride into the water and was chippy over the first bit of the course. Allison managed to stay on and did a good job recovering. Saldy, Arthur was really cheeky at the water table and that was their 3rd stop on course.
We got to see some great rides at other fences on the way around the course, and got to fence 16 just in time to watch Karen come through. She looked to have a prefect ride to the first corner, but Mandiba didn't jump and looked like he tried to put his front feet back down half-way up. Karen was already committed and came right off over the corner and Mandiba's left shoulder. She seemed to be having a fast good do leading up to that point, and I was starting to wonder if I was jinxing the US riders! Every fence I was at watching they had problems.
Sam Griffiths had a great ride through the corners at 16, as did Phillip Dutton. He looked as good as anyone coming through there but the way it was you had to pull and kick to make it to the second corner on the mound.
As we were leaving fence 16 I heard a voice I recongized! It was Allie (Fairweather on COTH) and with her the famous Robby Johnson. It was great to get to meet him, even though it was brief and we marched on to the next fence. We got to the big bridge jump in time to see Missy Ransenhousen come through, but after I got there I had a bit of a run-in with a little old Scottish man. Luckily, Kelly had moved down the fence a bit and couldn't see what was going on, or I might have been bailing her out of jail that afternoon. The stinky little man decided to call me a dumb american and go on to tell me America is the worst country in the world and that I had a lot of lip for a women. And all because I was in front of him at the fence. I did get a picture of the back of his head to blow up and throw darts at when I get home!!
Kyle Carter looked awesome with Madison Park, but sadly had a fall at fence 20, a MASSIVE white oxer made to look like a train crossing. Some notable rides were Karin Donkers...gave me goosebumps. She really is an amazing rider and a joy to watch. Amy Tryon looked great with Leyland at fence 23-24 in the infield. Buck was a bit scary through this combination though. His horse looked heavy and tired, and he didn't look like he was trying to half halt at all, just ran flat at both. He got through, but not very pretty. Jennifer Wooten scared the crap out of me at this combo, not half halting and taking a bad line to fence 23. That mare is so catty she just managed to get her feet out of the way. Diana Burnett didn't look like she was having the best ride. Manny wasn't jumping very well, and her ride through 23-24 was smart with her taking the long way. The lovely grey Lenamore took my breath away, and was still jumping like a super star at fence 23-24. My very favorite horse of the day to watch though, was Barry's Best ridden by Rosie Thomas. That horse was having a blast and made the course look like it was a walk in the park. They moved up from 50th place to 10th! And had a great stadium ride to finish there!!

After the end of cross country, I went shopping once again and bought some tall boots, which I am really excited about. They are Brogini's, which are made in Italy, but were such a great deal! We wandered back to our car and decided to hit the pub and restaurant in Barnard that we had eaten at the day before on the way home. We decided it was as close to the English Pub that we were looking for so we had a round of beers and then headed back to the hotel. After changing and attempting to find a good place to eat here in Peterborough, we gave up and got back in the car to head to the pub again. If only I knew then what was to come.......
We got another round of our favorite beers there and I ordered the bangers and mash and Kelly had the fish and chips. We were playing it as English as we could. Well it was a Saturday night in a small village, so the locals wandered in about 30 minutes later and of course we made friends. The waitress had heard our story about the evil Scottish man when we had been in earlier, so she told all the locals to steer clear of us if they had any Scottish blood in them. We were having a great time, and all was well. I was on my second beer and fine until Kelly thought it would be a great idea to get shots. I was just toasty enough to use poor judgement and take one, and the rest is history! Two shots later of nasty Sambuca and my third beer and I ended up with the bar tab for everyone there and I was jumping off car hoods in the parking lot. I don't actually remember anything else from there, but this mornings headache sucked!!
Kelly got us home, but I couldn't find my camera and I lost the room key. I did manage to get another room key, and somehow into bed, but I still couldn't find my camera in the morning and was starting to really worry about having lost all those pictures I had taken. We barely got out of bed and to Burghley before Show Jumping started, having missed the jog and Kelly being sick on the drive there. Poor thing tried to sit it out, but ended up bad at the car feeling awful and missing the jumping. I was a bit better, with just a terrible headache to contend with. But I guess that is a story for the next blog!!!

Christan

Dressage day two: Much Improved!

2009-09-05T06:35:00.000+10:00

This morning somehow went off without a hitch. We got up at 4 am and got on the road to the airport and somehow managed to meet Jennie at the arrival area without a hitch. We have never met before so I told her I would be wearing my Dubarry's and meet her when she came out of customs. That really could have been a disaster, but luckily it all worked out and we had a great ride back to Burghley, chatting about horses and eventing and their people :).
We got to the show just in time for dressage and after helping Jennie find her people we sat down to watch. I was much happier with the dressage all the way around today. Even from the first ride the horses were moving better and connected more correctly.
I was quite impressed with Matt Ryan and his little horse Bonza Puzzle. It was a lovely uphill accurate ride and was lovely to watch. Tim Price and Vortex were also really nice, but had some bobbles that lowered their score. You could tell that today the horses were going better.
Amy Tryon had a very steady and accurate test with her young Leyland. Compared to the other horses however, Leyland looked a bit flat in both the trot and canter work. His extended gaits were lovely, but there wasn't much spring in his working gaits. Zara Phillips looked like she was going to have a good test, but had quite a few bobbles and the horse was having a hard time keeping a really steady connection. Buck put in an awesome ride on Reggie, but unfortunately again a few bobbles put him out of the front. The horse was wonderfully uphill and connected so I was a bit disappointed that there were some small mistakes because I really enjoyed watching the horse go.
Jennifer Wooten had an average test, with no major mistakes but the horse looked a bit outshined at the moment in regards to her gaits and uphill push. There was nothing brilliant about it and there were a few mistakes as well. Diana Burnett had a good test with the really nice horse Manny, and I think that horse has a lot of talent in dressage. Lovely mover and obedient.
After watching all those riders we set out to get some lunch and go shopping, which I probably shouldn't have done..... I found the most wonderful top hats as well as a really nice booth that sells Brognini tall boots. Of course I walked out with a top hat in navy and black as well as a card with the size boots I need to order. But I figure you are only here once and I can't get this stuff in the US. Nice rationalization huh?
We then met with the US riders and Mark Phillips to walk the xc course, and it was good to see some of my friends again here, but after tagging along for a little bit we couldn't hear Mark at all so we headed off to shop some more!! But then I got distracted by the 4 year old Young Event Horse Championship going on. Wow is all I can say. We are really lacking here in the US. The quality of all the horses was outclassed most of what I see here in the US and the breeding was carefully explained as well as the breeder/owner/rider. It was great to see and there were some really impressive horses.
I have to give Burghley props for the great shopping and the great bathrooms!!! You have never seen anything like the bathrooms here. There are rows of trailers with probably 6-7 stalls in each trailer and they are clean and there is never a line! But, after giving props to how nice and polite the British are, I have to make a small exception. Up until we got here to the show, everyone was not pushy, they would apologize for bumping you and they would wait for you to move out of the way....even at the packed carnival in London. But here at the show most people are pushy and don't mind running right into you. Is it just horse people???
Kelly and I were beat so we headed back to the hotel for a little rest. We planned to call Robert Kellerhouse to meet up for drinks and to try to get up with Jennie and the rest of the US contingent here tonight. But we were so tired from the windburn and the cold air (it was a high of 60 degrees today with 20 mile an hour winds) that we decided to just eat at the hotel. WHAT a mistake!!! We should have known when we were unable to be seated because we needed some piece of paper that we didn't seem to know we even had! I have never sent food back before but the soup we ordered was inedible and my drink came in a regular sized glass, but it was only filled a third of the way! We thought it was amusing until the dinner came. I have never seen Kelly come so close to crying before!!! Her pate was rancid and she did all she could to not spit it on the table. Mine wasn't much better and we had to speak to the hotel manager. It was pretty sad actually, but it was really the only bad meal we have had since we have been here (if you don't count the Shoney's like pub), so that isn't such bad odds!

Well I know everyone wants to hear about the cross country, and it looks lovely! The first 3 fences are nice gallopy and inviting jumps to really get the horses going and in a rhythm. The first combination is fence number 4 and it is a HUGE drop into a leafpit with a skinny house option at the bottom. Then you have a few more galloping fences until fence 6 or 7 and then a skinny chest down a drop/ditch thing tight bending line over a skinny car made out of a hedge type fence. I have pictures of each fence to post when i get home, so sorry for the terrible jump descriptions!! The next question is the water, and I think that the straight route A going in will see some stops. It is a brush fence at the edge of the water, but the bottom is open so you can see the bank falling away and the water underneath it. Then you jump up the bank out hard right turn to a skinny brush corner. The basic moral of this course is brushy skinny fences, but no surprise since we have been seeing this and narrow corners as a trend now for a few seasons.
The next fence of note is 12 which isnt anything really, but a BIG log oxer with a drop on landing. Then there is a corner to corner question on the top of a bank, with the corners set right on the edge up and the edge down. The road crossings are big, with the slopes down to the road being well over the top of a car and a half about. The prettiest fence on course is the Bridge jump with Greek relief on the sides that is beautiful. It is big but a nice gallop fence set on a flat lane. There is a skinny arrow head to a ditch to another skinny arrow head that looks max height, and the fences are so skinny that you look like you will touch a boot on each flag. Beyond that there are a few more big fences, but nothing too difficult. I look forward to seeing it ride tomorrow and reporting better details!
I hope that tomorrow's food report is a notch up from today, and that the wind cuts down a bit. Since tomorrow is our last real night here, and after xc I bet we will have some good stories to tell from the night out!!! Maybe I will have some good gossip I can share too. I will say that Buck and Andrea Leatherman were awfully cute walking the xc and holding hands together ;).

More later!!!

Christan

One word to describe dressage today: disappointing!

2009-09-04T06:56:00.000+10:00

We got up early today to se toff for Burghley. But after the alarm went off we slept for a bit longer and were a little late getting to the horse trials. On the way there we were on some winding back roads through a small village and we passed a sign for a pub that claimed they were a real pub with real beer, so we were determined to stop on the way back!!!
We made it for the first dressage test though, despite the distraction of the hopefully good pub, and after a few attempts made it to our seats. The test were terribly disappointing compared to Rolex and what I have been seeing at home. The horses were all on the forehand, and none of the first few rides were moving very well. Jeanette Brakewell had the best test of the first group but it was still sub-par in my book. Now that being said, it was a cold windy morning with the threat of rain lingering at any moment, so that could have been part of it. But I was still terribly unimpressed with the movement of all of these horses.
During the break Kelly and I ventured out, mostly because I was so cold my teeth were chattering and I was shaking. I hurried to the first booth that had hats and gloves and bought a pair of each, and a scarf. We also had a stop at the Dubarry booth before making our way back to our seats to watch the next group of riders go. Mary King and William Fox- Pit were less than impressive, having tense horses and mistakes. In regards to all the rides today, I was surprised by the inaccuracy of the tests and the flat hurried paces of most of them.
Emily Gilruth on Ashdale Cruise Master put in a faulted test, but this big grey Irish horse was quite nice with a bit of suspension in his gaits and will really be nice when he settles and gets a bit more experience. She rode right before Becky Holder on Comet, who looked spot on , but Becky couldn't remember her test going from the walk to that halt and instead of turning left off the rail and halting across the center line, she cantered at V and the judge blew the whistle. She then walked and circled back to the rail only to pick up the canter again, in the same place!! After a minute of confusion, she realized her test and continued on to finish in lovely form. Such a shame, but seems like the pressure of big competition (Rolex last year, Olympics, and now this) seem to leave her in a bit of confusion. I know the feeling!!!!
Georgia Bale on her horse Beggars Belief also had some bobbles, but this horse is also going to be quite a star in the future with lovely gaits and a big uphill thrust. At the second break we went shopping again and I went to the Lansdown booth to look at thermatex like rugs for the horses and we looked at a few other shops. The shopping is sooo much better than at Rolex, because they don't have rows and rows of tack shops, but rather lots of clothing stores and other things you can't find anywhere else! We made it back to watch Kai Ruder put in a nice test with his horse Leprince Des Bois and also see Clayton Fredericks put in a decent test as well. During the second group I was quite impressed with John-Paul Sheffields horse Crown Farm Consort and Sam Griffiths horse Happy Times. Both are also going to be super nice horses i nthe future with some experience and time, especially Happy Times. They are both very nice uphill movers that just had mistakes throughout the tests. I watched Emily Anker from Australia and that horse could be super nice with a bit better connection and more push from behind, and a change of bridle, which was hideous! It had big silver buckles and a terrible browband. I bet the horse was ducking away from the sight of it. Now, I am just kidding, but I dont really understand that style at all!
I watched Karen O'Connor ride on Mandiba and the test was adequate, but nothing as good as the middle of the pack at Rolex, and Sally O'Connor (her mother) couldn't stop the praise and inside info on Karen, which was a bit distracting! I did take lots of bad dressage pictures all at the wrong time that I will post on webshots or Facebook when I get home.
We headed out for the last break to do some more shopping, with the intention of getting back to see Phillip ride his test after the last break. Of course we wandering into a stand of Australian wine that was offering free tastings and ended up walking out with a bottle and a picture! Then it was clothes and horsey shopping and once again a stop at the Dubarry booth. I must say that when I got here EVERYONE was wearing that green tweed color or wool coats that is so British. I thought it was hideous. But you know how you get desinsitized to things afer seeing a sea of the same thing and you begin to accept it, and then ever think you might like it? And that quickly turns to the obsession of having to find one to call your own? Thanks god though that every coat is like $500 pounds which translates to something like $800 US Dollars and the realization that you really dont need or even really want one!! I told Kelly there is no way that anyone could pull off the look in the US. You see British have a way of pulling of the stuffy pretensious look and making it desirable in a way that would never work in the US. I don't know how, but it is really a good look here and after the cold, rainy day I can finally understand where the fashion (and the miserable put out) look comes from. That said, I have commented many times while being here at how nice and polite all the people are here. Even in London people were so polite and courteous you woulnd't believe it!
After that I looked at my watch and realized that it was almost time for the last ride, but didn't feel like fighting my way back to watch one ride, knowing there was no one that it would be the winning ride with tomorrow still to come, so we headed to the x-c course.
On the way to find it, we walked past the Pony Club show jumping competition going on. I couldn't beleive it! The course was a solid prelim course set on a sloping grassy arena and the kids were all on the most beautiful large ponies you have ever seen. And those things can JUMP!! The kids were mostly tactless, running at the fences with no half halt and flinging themselves into the fences, but the ponies just went (mostly) and the fearless little kids stuck like glue, taking their legs off the ponies sides to give several pony club kicks to the ribs of the ponies before each fence. I was in awe!! No wonder these kids can ride xc so well when they grow up! I wandered down to the warm-up and had to pick my jaw off the ground at the quality of every single pony in the ring there. They were amazing and turned out to a tee. I am going to try to kidnap one of these english kids to come back to the farm with me and do only turnout on my horses! Even yesterday when we were driving around to tiny little villages, all the horses had perfectly banged and pulled tails. They might have looked like a starvation case, but their tails were PERFECT! Amazing.....
After finding the xc course and walking the entire thing (I took pictures of each and every jump for you all!) we returned to our rental car in search of that pub we saw the sign for on the way in. After several u-turns we found it and while it wasn't dark or dirty, it served the purpose of a good meal and a few good local beers. We left satisifed (though still on the search!) and got back here to the hotel. I decided to count this time and we went through 10 round-abouts in the 15 minutes it took to get from the hotel to the showgrounds!!! We have figured we have driven through at least 100 round-abouts since being here so far! We have to get up at 4:30 am to get Jennie Brannigan from the airport tomorrow so I will post about the xc course tomorrow, but it looks good. Lots of big gallopy oxers or skinny sharp turns with a bit of terrain in the mix. Only one water jump.
Off to bed now with more tomorrow!!

Christan

Cambridge adventure

2009-09-03T09:18:00.000+10:00

We set out tonight in search of our dirty little pub. The guy at the front desk of the hotel looked like he might know of a skeezy place, so we asked him where the dirties darkest place was in town. Now, remember that we are staying in Peterborough, which is the equivalent of Fayetteville North Carolina here in England, minus the strip clubs on every corner. It is not a nice cute little place at all. So we set out after the warning that these two place he was recommending were nasty, that we wouldn't like them at all, and he was not to blame for any of it. When we got to the first one, we were sure we were in the wrong place because it was bright and sunny looking, with a family atmosphere emanating from it. We were sure we were in the wrong place so we pressed on to the next place via the directions. So we find that second place, the Geneva Bar and from across the block it looks more promising, with the word BAR in big letters at the front. Well, upon closer inspection I swear that that there were rays of sunshine and people singing love songs inside. It was again bright and cheerful with only a few people sitting inside looking very happy. We didn't even bother to cross the street. We did however pass a sign for a bar called Pussy Galore on the way back to the hotel, which only confirmed the similarity of this town to Fayetteville.
Upon returning to the hotel, we made our way to the car and pulled out the now trusty GPS. We looked at the food and bars in Cambridge and picked one called Hole In The Wall, hoping that it would fit it's description. After an hour on the freeway, we pulled into a quaint little town that started with a Gil-something and there was the Hole In the Wall! And......it was adorable. It was small and quaint and a little dimly lit and ........it was closed! Well, at least for food. They were open for about 30 more minutes but were totally done serving....
So we got back in the car and headed to Cambridge, with fingers crossed that something would be open at 10pm on a Wednesday. I was about to gnaw my arm off at this point. We got into the outskirts of Cambridge and found a place that was open on a side strip and there we were. So after looking at the menu we realized that we were at a Turkish restaurant and had some wonderful dinner. There was a table of middle eastern looking men and women, and a balkan looking man at the table next to us. We spent the entire dinner trying to figure out the language they were speaking, since I know a bit of French, Spanish and Greek, and Kelly can speak Egyptian and a few Middle Eastern languages. We finally gave up and asked the waitress and were told they were speaking Swedish with Turkish mixed in! Wow, what a mix!!!
We just made it back to our hotel and are hitting the sheets since we are going to watch dressage tomorrow!!!! It is supposed to rain tomorrow but I think we have covered seats. I will post tomorrow night after watching and let you know how it looks! Here is the schedule:
http://www.bdwp.co.uk/bur/09/. I have also been informed that I am Porky (although I can't imagine they mean overweight huh?) by Equibrit on COTH and they even provided links to the suggested pubs! So I think we will try them out, although Kelly and I decided that part of the criteria for the kind of Pubs we are looking for is that they do not allow kids and they do not have a website, because that would just be too sophisticated. But are always up for an adventure so hopefully we will have good news to report on the bar quest tomorrow!
We have to get up at 4 am Friday to get to the airport to pick up Jennie Brannigan, since she doesn't have a ride to Burghley, so there won't be too much drinking tomorrow night, but we can at least scope them out! So I guess as the British say, Cheers! And I will post again tomorrow. Oh, and we have been taking pictures of all the things I am posting about, so they will be up when I get home, since I left my camera cord back home :)...

Christan

Edited to add: The first link I opened that Equibrit sent me advertises a FREE Gin and Tonic with any meal after 7pm, so those of you that know me know where I WILL be tomorrow!
http://www.bdwp.co.uk/bur/09/. Upon closer inspection, it seems like all the links she gave me advertise free G and T, so I am now a little worried. There is nothing worse than crappy (or Porky I guess!) gin......

Day in Stamford

2009-09-03T04:30:00.000+10:00

After our disappointing night trying to find a small pub last night, we decided to venture out to Stamford, where the horse trial is held. Luckily, our trusty GPS was cooperating and I am getting really good and yelling it into submission, so we didn't make any wrong turns again! Stamford is a really nice town. It is smaller than Peterborough but still a bit large and very old and picturesque. It is set on a big hill, with a small river running through it that looks like a Monet painting.
We had a mini adventure trying to park the car, or rather find a place to park the car, but we decided that the one-hour parking limit didn't really apply to us, since we couldn't really be held in the country for an un-paid parking ticket right? I mean, are they going to argue with the US Army that Kelly can't go back because we exceeded the hour limit? Hey, maybe that is a good idea to get her deployment shorter!!! Either way, we win.
After we parked, I took the car keys (see Kittie, I learned quickly!! They went in with the money, the room key, and anything else that can be misplaced!), and we hiked down the street to the Joules shop, because Kelly needed a pair of Wellies to wear at the horse trials. I was quite surprised by the store because it was basically a childrens store with very little adult clothes on display. We found a cute pair of Wellies in the catalogue and after a long time in the back room of the store, the lovely pink cheeked sales lady produced the Wellies. I of course took the free time to play with all the childrens stuff, including putting on the paper blackberry mask that all the little kids in the store were wearing. I thought I was quite charming, but everyone else was giving me funny looks. So I was forced to continue wearing it for a picture op.
After Kelly got her first pair of Wellies we set out again on the quest for a dark, dirty little pub where we could get a pint of local beer. It evaded us once again, and we ended up at a pub, but it was very much like a local American sports bar. They all feel like American sports bars. And, it seems like The Ricki Lake Show is playing on every third TV channel here. Didn't that show get cancelled in the US like 10 years ago? Today's episode was titles "You are a Bad Mother", and no one on stage was over 17 years old. No wonder the rest of the world thinks we are nuts!!! I wonder too sometimes!
After a quick lunch, where we did get a pint of something to drink which was good, but not the ambiance we were looking for, we went shopping!!!!! We wandered around in the quest of a belt for Kelly which we finally found at a leather shop. I also picked up a Barbour waxed hat for the upcoming weather, which we hear is going to be rainy tomorrow. Glad we got those Wellies today!!
After walking around a bit we were spent and we made it back to the car to head back to Peterborough. We were doing quite well on the way home when a Burghley sign distracted me and we ended up veering off the road and toward a little town with the hope that there had to be a dark dirty pub somewhere off the beaten road. After driving through several small quaint little towns, we headed back toward the highway. As we approached the highway we saw a sign touting the Golden Pheasant and we thought we had finally found our dirty little pub!! So we made a u-turn and pulled off toward yet another small village. Well, we decided that people do not drink or eat in the small towns in England, and the pub we are looking for must only exist in cheesy American movies. We have not given up though, and we are getting ready to set out now for Cambridge, in the sole quest to find this pub. I think I will stop asking the locals for a good pub, but instead for their darkest, dirtiest place to eat.I am thinking that the word Pub might be the wrong thing to use. Anyone have any other ideas? Maybe the taxi drivers will be more helpful tonight on this one, they are batting 2 for 3 so far!

Burghley Bound!!!

2009-09-02T20:14:00.000+10:00

I made it here in one piece! Though I am not sure how with the lack of sleep I have been running on, that I didn't get on a plane bound for South America or Antarctica or something. The trip was fine, and I did try to get a little sleep, but that didn't happen too much. I watched a few episodes of Trueblood on the plane and I am up in the air about whether I like it or not (to all you Facebook people that seem crazy over it!). The lovely girl that sat next to me never said a single word in our entire 7 hour flight, but she did grunt a bit but I didn't try to interpret.

I got off the plane in Gatwick and Kelly met me right out of customs. Thank god that worked out because neither of us have a phone or any way to contact each other. She thought she was late because she went to the wrong terminal, but I must have been delayed picking up my bags so it worked out. We went back to her hotel for a moment and I took a little nap before we headed to the car rental place. Well, first the car we rented was apparently lost and the company had no more cars, plus informed us it was a holiday and so they were closed! So we didn't panic but went to the airport car rental place instead and the man led us out to a cute tiny little silver car with two doors. After Kelly and I wrestled our bags somehow into the car (through the back window!) we climbed in and realized that there were no locks on the doors, no AC, the navigation system wouldn't plug into the socket, and the car was a manual. Kelly was all game but I said it seemed like a really bad idea to drive on the wrong side of the road with the steering wheel on the wrong side in a manual to boot! So we went and changed cars to an automatic with 4 doors, AC and a working nav system...and THANK GOD.

If you have never driven in London I can tell you that you should avoid it at all costs!! I don't know how many wrong turns we took, but the place makes no sense, I can't tell which is a one-way street and which is not, and the hotel was impossible to find (though not as hard as our second hotel proved to be!). We did finally get there and were quite happy to park the bugger of a car and set out on foot. We were both excited to ride the London Eye, and see the sights. Until we actually saw the London Eye, and realized that it was really slow, really high and we are both scared of heights. So we were quite happy to look at it out of our hotel window from across the river!
We found a great Mozzeralla restaurant and settled in for a long late lunch. It was fabulous and we ate till we were stuffed. After heading back to the hotel, we decided to venture out on the Tube and see the World Famous London Carnival.
Well the Tube wasn't so bad, but it took us about an hour of wandering to actually find this Carnival. It was a mess of packed drunken people pissing on themselves and every building they could find with no shame, lots of loud Jamaican music playing on CD's from HUGE speakers on the corner of each street and the strong smell of marijuana wafting about everywhere. We managed to get beer spilled on us and see some really fat women in barely any clothes in a mini parade. As we finally made our way out of the Carnival, we ran into some mounted police and got to pet the horses. The police were quite nice and we talked about the horses a bit. I even took pictures of their tails, because they were all banged and pulled perfectly (just for you Marissa).
Then we made it back to change for our dinner at Gordon Ramsey's, one of a handful of 3-star restaurants in the whole world. Kelly had booked the last reservations available months before and what a great night! We got home at about 12:30 that night and I have never eaten such an amazing meal!!! I got to break in my new knee high boots and we were so full that we had to take the chocolates home. As I think about it, they are probably melted at the bottom of my bag as we speak....
The next day we got up, and went to the spa!!! That was incredible as well, and after being late due to getting "lost" in the shopping district, where the spa was located, we got in and several hours later stumbled out and right across the street to the closest restaurant to eat a late lunch. That was amazing as well, and I realized that I never had a meal in London that wasn't incredible! After stocking up on spa products we headed to the Tube and went to the Art Museum for a bit to see Stubbs, Van Gogh, and Seurat. Amazing!!! We then got the car out of the garage, almost had a heart attack paying the parking ticket!!!!, and got our bags from the hotel. We packed up the car, got out the GPS and figured out the new hotel address. We started the car and headed out of the city towards Peterborough, where our real adventures began. Well, we actually only got to the end of the block before the GPS lost signal and we had to sit there for about 10 minutes waiting for it to reboot! I don't know how we did it, but we managed to get out of the city with no wrong turns, even with the GPS having spotty signal, having to make a U-turn, and it taking us through the heart of the city which is the busiest part!! And more round-abouts than you can fathom.
We stopped at the gas station after finally getting out of the city only to discover that one of our Credit Cards was missing and then spent a good time searching the car top to bottom before giving up! We carried on and finally got to Peterborough at about 7:30 pm, only to be unable to find our hotel. Three cheers for Taxi drivers, because we finally stopped and asked one where the hotel was. We had also stopped a taxi driver the day before when we couldn't find the Spa, so it seemed like a good idea! We had literally driven in circles for a good 30 minutes around and around the hotel before the taxi driver got us there. I think it was on a street I thought was one-way so we never turned down it, but it wasn't!
We found the hotel, dragged our bags upstairs since there is NO elevator and we are on the top floor, and set out for the elusive quaint little pub we were so looking forward to! Well, that must be the stuff of movies because the first place we were told to go to served Thai food! And the trusty taxi drivers then told us of another place, that turned out to be akin to Shoney's. It is the best in town apparently! So sad.....
We are heading out now to drive to Stamford in the hopes of finding a real pub with real beer and some fish and chips. Wish us luck!!!!

Nicole Clinic

2009-09-02T20:00:00.000+10:00

Well we made it! And we had a fabulous time. We left the farm with two horses in tow Friday at about 12:30. The first hour or so was uneventful and pretty easy.....then it rained. And I mean rained; you couldn't see 20 feet in front of you. I had been complaining the first part of our trip that I didn't drive the 6 horse trailer, because it pulls so much better than the 2 horse, but boy was I glad in that rain that I had the 2 horse!!! After a nailbiting few hours and lots of praying for the rain to stop, it did, and so did we. Traffic came to an alomst standstill just above Richmond and we crawled the rest of the way to Maryland. I don't have any idea if it was D.C. traffic or what, but if it was....good god!!!
We finally pulled in about 8:00, but not after a few small other adventures! The exit we got off on had construction going on, so the right lane was closed. We sat there and contemplated making a right turn on red since no one was coming and clearly there was only one lane to go it, so oncoming traffic MUST be diverted to a different road. Just as we were about to pull out, a line of trucks came toward us on the very road we were sure no oncoming traffic could possibly be on! So we learned that the no turn on red signs are there for a good reason. The countryside there was so beautiful!
It was a small spread out area on Sugarloaf Mountain and we saw mansions and sheep in blankets and a great Inn that turned out to be a restaurant. The little train stop was adorable and had all of 5 parking spots. We also scoped out the Sugarloaf Vinery and decided we had to visit it on our way back the next day. After unloading the ponies we took them for a hand walk and then headed to our hotel. It was going to be an early morning! We decided to eat at a Mexican restaurant because that had to be at least a safe bet right? Uh, our waiter was almost an exact replica of Nacho Libre, and kept asking us if our dinner was deeeelllliccccious? I was trying not to laugh the whole time. Food was uck and then we had a great time parking the truck at the hotel. We attempted to get it in a spot between two compact cars because I was determined not to have to walk across the main street. After doing an 80 point parking job I realized that the entire back half of my truck was sticking into the road, where no one could drive past. So I had to move across the street anyway.
The lessons the next day started at 8:00 and I had the first ride. It was amazing. I will post more in detail about what we did in another blog post, but I learned a ton, Nicole was so nice and really helped me a lot. I rode Gordo and Pudge and I can't wait to go pack and ride with her again in November!
We then got in the truck and drove to the Vinery, that was closed until noon. We sat in the parking lot until they felt so sorry for us they let us in anyway, and we bought a few bottles of wine! Then we headed back, hitched up and were on our way. The drive home was much less eventful and we pulled in about 7:00 or so. The ponies were happy to go out in their field and we were happy to be home!
I had to get up the next morning and pack, then catch a plane for England! All was well, although I was exhausted! This should be an adventure in itself!!!

Dressage stars!!!

2009-08-23T09:10:00.000+10:00

We took a trailer full of ponies to the dressage show today and had a blast! I rode Classy in two tests, Chance in two tests, and Minnie in two tests. Marissa rode Pudge to practice her dressage before 5-Points and we also threw Jake and Belle in the trailer to ride around the show grounds.

Classy was great as always, and put in two solid tests. She was a bit tired by the time she got in the ring and therefore was a bit lower in the contact than I would like, but scored a 33 and a 34. She is such a doll that she just stood there afterwards wanting to be petted.

Chance was so much better already, and put in two solid tests to score a 30 and a 31! I am so happy with his progress. He is getting stronger and able to carry himself more and more.

Marissa put in a really good test to score a 32 on Pudge and was quite happy with the way they have been schooling.

All of the rides were lumped into one division and so we ended up 1st and 2nd with Chance, 3rd with Pudge, and 4th and 5th with Classy!!! If only we had one more ride we could have had a clean sweep of the whole division!!!! Not to shabby....

I rode Minnie in the afternoon in 2nd level 2 and 3rd level 2. He was great and scored a 67% and a 62% (with an error because I forgot a circle!!). His changes are getting better, but still green, but he is such a blast to ride!!

After that Marissa got on Jake and she rode him for the first time off the property (he has been here 2 weeks and this was his 6th ride!). He only jumped in the air one time when someone cantered straight at him, and the walked trotted and cantered around the warm-up. He walked around on a loose rein and then stood quietly on the trailer!!! I can't believe how awesome this guy is!

Belle came out and worked really well! She is getting so solid in her work and walked, trotted and cantered around beautifully! She hacked around and stood and watched Minnie's tests. She is ready to go places and do big stuff! I am so glad to have her back to start her eventing career.

It was a great day and all the horses were perfect. Can't ask for much more than that!

We have a big week ahead of getting horse vetted, riding, teaching and packing for the Nicole Uphoff clinic. We leave on Friday to head up to Maryland, have two lessons Saturday with Nicole and come home that afternoon. Then I leave the next day for England to go watch Burghley. I will be back the next week and school the 4 four horses we are taking to 5-Points, before the event that weekend. Whew!

Then we have the Pinehurst Dressage show to get ready for, with 3 horses going from first level through 3rd level and trying to get my Bronze Medal. Busy, busy, but all fun!!

Cross Country at CHP today

2009-08-17T07:30:00.000+10:00

What a great day! We got there early with 5 horses in the trailer, and Sheila, Calleen, Michelle, Jennifer and her daughter Megan there to school with us. Everyone was fabulous! We started out with myself on Chance and Marissa on Pudge. It was Chance's first time actually schooling xc and he was very good. He did all the Novice and behaved himself with the other horses and craziness going on there!

Marissa was great as always. She and Pudge did all the Novice and schooled the BN since she is taking Pudge BN at 5 Points for his owner. Here is a small clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRafooL0VxI

Calleen's horse sprung a shoe, but was fabulous as always and jumped around the Novice course like a walk in the park. I am really looking forward to riding him at 5 Points myself, as he is a blast!

Sheila schooled the BN course with so much improvement! They didn't have any trouble after getting Zoey going and Sheila's riding has improved so much. I am impressed by her hard work. Zoey is jumping well too!

Michelle and Charlee are looking the best I have ever seen them. They skipped around the Novice course and even some of the training course, like the sunken road. They have got it all together and now is just time to build strength and muscle. I think they are going to be really happy with their fall season!

Jennifer continues to ride the best I have ever seen her. She has gotten Sockie packaged and together and uphill to the fences. He is waiting and jumping really well. They make training look easy now, and I am so happy! Now just comes the forward after the up half-halt and they will be golden! Megan and Jasper looked great too! He has come so far in a short time and Megan does a great job with him! She is getting stronger and the goal now is getting him out and getting more experience. They look super together!

Amie also came out with Sarah for the first time since her baby was born this spring. It was so good to see them out and looking great. I am happy to have them out and doing things again!

After riding the first group of horses, Marissa got on Conner, the baby 4 year old and I got on Gordo. Conner hasn't schooled in a big setting like this before and the warm-up was a zoo. He came out totally calm and looked like a million bucks. Marissa had him looking so good and he just went along like he had been doing it forever. He went out and schooled all the BN and some of the Novice! He is ready to do his first event at BN soon. He is for sale and someone is going to get a super nice event horse.

Gordo was better than I could have asked for. We started over some training and prelim tables and jumps which he made feel easy. He was a super star at the waterss, doing the training and prelim. This is the horse that wouldn't go near water this spring!!! Here is a short clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u2DdhXfZZk

He jumped around the training banks and sunken road like a pro. He is going to have a very good show season this year and I am looking forward to it!!

I also got on Welly and took him around the BN course at the end. He is such a good jumper that it was all easy for him. He got over his silliness towards the other horses and was easy and quiet!! YAY.

We are headed to school at The Ark this week before the course closes with the horses that will be going there this fall, as well as taking baby Conner out again! Will post again soon!!!

Videos!

2009-08-17T07:28:00.000+10:00

Here are the links to the first rides on Jake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HCQ80qfH0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b0I86ggPXo

Not too shabby for right off the track. Imagine him with some weight and muscle. Plus a little time to settle.

Dressage, xc and a great CT!

2009-08-16T08:40:00.000+10:00

I feel like a lot has happened since I last posted, but since I am so bad about keeping this updated, I will have to try to remember it all!

The horses have been really good at home. Conner has made huge improvements, and is jumping around a solid 2'9 course with 3'0 fences spread in. He is schooling xc very well including all the hard stuff like ditches, banks and water. His dressage is really looking good too; he is better able to carry himself and push from behind into a steady contact.

Belle came back to us a few weeks ago. We are so excited to have her back and start her career! She has been great and after some initial refreshers, she has been working walk trot and canter in the ring, as well as hacking quite well. Today she went on a hack in the Foundation and got to cross several waters too.

Reign is really going to be something super. He is big and handsome and we have started sitting on him a litte. In another months time he will be doing all the things that Belle and Scottie are doing too!

On the show side of things, we just went to MacNair's Dressage and CT last Sunday. We had a blast! Everyone improved and did really well. Kim had the most improved score, getting a 27 in the dressage!!!! I really wish I could have seen her test, as she has been working so hard and finally she was rewarded for her hard work! Unfortunately, I had 4 horses to ride so I was pretty busy! But I am so proud of them both and I can't wait to see the next one! Oliver jumped around great, after a wonderful warm-up. Kim is really getting the feeling of keeping the right connection and riding the half-halt up and out. I think they are going to have a great fall season!

Michelle took Charlee and did the Novice CT, which they won! Good dressage in spite of a baby moment in the covered arena, when the concession stand started up their generator!!! But a clean jump round (that was beautiful!) left them in first place! Charlee is looking stronger everytime I see him, and Michelle is doing a wonderful job of teaching him to get to the base of the fences in a quiet rhythm!

Sheila went with Zoey, and after a 3 week boot camp here at the farm, Zoey was much better! Sheila had a great stadium round over the big and bright fences to finish in 2nd place!!! I am so thrilled with their progress. Sheila works really hard and it is paying off.

Marissa rode Pudge and did well despite one silly rail in stadium. They are on their way to 5-Points HT next, and I think they have a lot to look forward too. Marissa also catch rode a student of mine's horse, Danny. I was so proud of her riding, because she got on him and got him going up and forward and put in a very good test to score a 64.8%! Not to bad on a new catch ride!

I took Chance in the Novice CT and was quite proud of him. His dressage was much better than at the last show and he put in only one of two clear rounds in him division (Michelle was the only other clear round!) to finish in 3rd place. Not bad for his second show! He is such a great horse, so easy to ride and tries his heart out. He didn't even look at a single fence on a very big and bright course. He will be doing Novice at 5-Points HT also.

Gordo went and did the Training level CT. I thought I might try a little harder test and a bit bigger stadium, even though he will be doing Novice at 5-Points. He was very good and even though he put in a flying change across the diagonal!!! for which he scored a 3! he still won the class with a 27. Not to shabby!! He jumped great to get another blue ribbon. I don't want to jinx him by saying that he has won everything he has gone to, but I bet I just did!!! I am super excited for this season with him, and feel lucky to be able to ride him.

I schooled Red around the stadium and he just continues to get better each time. He didn't even think about being naughty, and I was confident sending him back to his owners the next day.

Minnie went and showed a second and third level test as well. He was so much better in the warm-up, especially with his changes. It was miserably hot at this point and Minnie had to show in the covered, which was interesting. There were a bunch of people sitting on the rail watching the outside ring and they were clapping after each ride. Minnie was sure they were going to get him and since they were behind the mirrors, he didn't want to go anywhere near that long side. He kept it together, but he can show better. He was such a super boy in spite of all the distractions!

We are headed to CHP tomorrow to school xc with a big group. I have a bunch of students going as well as a trailer full of horses. We are taking the new horse, Jake out to hack around as well. Jake is a new acquisition through Lisa Reid, of course! He is 4 and just off the track and again came sight unseen. He is for sale and is really going to be special. He has barely been off the track and we turned him out for about a week. Wednesday we tacked him up and took him down to the big jump ring where Marissa proceeded to walk trot and canter on a loose rein. Man can he move!!! I hadn't paid too much attention to him in the paddock as he is quite thin and gangly, but once he was under saddle he was very impressive. Lisa really has a great eye! So we rode him again Friday in the ring and today took him for a hack on the Foundation. He led the whole way, even over the water crossings! He was totally calm and on a loose rein the whole time. He crossed the bridge and walked and trotted through the water jump without even hesitating!! I am really looking forward seeing what he can do!

We have another dressage show next weekend and a jumper show also. Then we go to the Nicole Uphoff clinic, then to Burghley (to spectate), 5-Points and the Pinehurst Dressage show, where I hope to get my USDF Bronze Medal!

Spike is back into work, which I am really pleased about. After stomach issues, lost shoes, and a pulled groin muscle I am glad to be about to start him back up again. Fingers crossed that we are on the up and up from here!

I will post video links from the CT as well as Jake's first ride soon. Look for the next blog about the xc schooling tomorrow!

Christan

Lots of News

2009-07-16T11:34:00.001+10:00

I know, I know.....I suck at keeping this updated. Sorry about that. I really will try to be better about it! June 20th we went back to Foxtrack. I rode Gordo and he got the blue ribbon again. Won the dressage and was good jumping, although a little casual. I think he may need a bit more of a challenge. Marissa took Pudge and they came in third, finishing on their dressage score. I thought they put in a fabulous test, which should have scored much better than a 33, but who knows! I also rode Oliver, and he was being a little cheeky in the dressage ring. He jumped really well though and finished in 5th. At least I have a better idea of what his homework needs to be on the flat ;).

We haven't shown again since then, but Minnie is making his third level debut in dressage this coming Saturday at Antares. He is owned by Stephanie Diaz and is 18, but you would never know it. He acts like a 3 year old half the time! I am also taking Classy to do the beginner Novice tests. Then we are heading over to Foxtrack with a trailer full of babies to do the hunter jumper classes there.

Speaking of babies....we have Conner back!!! He is the 4 year old that I traded to Lisa Reid in part for Spike last fall. It was really hard to make the decision to let her have him last year, but Spike was so spectacular that I had to. We are so thrilled to have him back, although he is for sale. He is going to make a super prospect for someone, or even make up to be a really fancy hunter. He has the best brain and temperment.

Chance came today to be sold as well. He is just awesome and he is going to make someone a super YR/ CCI horse. He is big and fancy and a great jumper. I can't wait to get him jumping again, as he has been focusing on dressage for the last little bit. But I was schooling him prelim height over fences prior to that and he was great!

I also have Winfield's little brother coming next week to train and sell. If he is anything like Winfield he will be a gem. Little Belle is coming back also next wekk, although she is not for sale. Her owner, Lorrie, calls me her godmother, as I helped pick her dad out, and was the first person to ride her. She has been in Boston with Lorrie, but it is time to come back for some training and showing. I can't wait to see her again!

I also started riding Spike again. I am thrilled to be back on him, even though we are taking it slow and getting him fit again. It is so nice to sit on him. He just floats across the ground. Even 5 minutes on his back leaves me with a big smile. I am still looking for a companion for him to be turned out with, since Sam turned out to be the devil pony. Let me know if you hear of anything.

We took the horses cross country schooling today at the Secrists. I have a WS this week, Kerrigan Gudger, and I wanted to get her and the rest of the guys off the farm. I took Welly, owned by Camilla Vance and Gordo. Both were really good. Welly has just started jumping in the last 2 weeks, so this was only his second time on xc. He was great through the water, and after settling down he jumped a bunch of novice stuff.

Gordo gets the Golder Pony award though, because he was a rock star at the water. He didn't even hesitate going in, and after a minute he was jumping down all the banks into the water complex from a nice canter/gallop. There was no stopping him and he was having fun. This is so great considering where he was a few months ago!

Pudge and Marissa was good and have really clicked. The two of them are doing awesome and schooled most of the questions out there. Kerrigan was great with Clover and schooled some training level questions also.

The best riding though came from Kim on Oliver. They were right on today and were jumping the best I have ever seen them. They schooled most of the novice and both looked just terrific!

I think that is all the news for now. I will post more after this weekend!

Dressage Show and Barn news

2009-06-15T10:07:00.000+10:00

So we went to a dressage show. Marissa took Pudge, I took Gordo, Kim took Oliver and Elyse brought Red out as well. Antares is a great little schooling show, with a nice atmosphere and really well run. They did a great job scheduling us all together as well.
Marissa is planning to run Pudge at 5-Points, so she wanted to get him out and practice her tests. Gordo went first in Novice A and was very calm and relaxed....almost too relaxed! If you remember, before this summer every time I took him in a dressage ring he would ball up, grind his teeth and spook at all the letters. He associated the ring with pressure and so I have been trying to just make it no big deal. So the first test I just wanted him to be quiet and happy, which he was. He scored a 30 and was in first place. Marissa went next with Pudge and had a great ride. She was accurate and steady. She scored a 33 putting her in 3rd place. Not bad for only riding him for 2 weeks!
In the second test I decided to see if I could start to ride Gordo a bit, as before I couldn't put any pressure on him or he would get balled up and behind the bit. It is really tough to ride a horse forward and up into a connection when they are tense and avoiding the contact. I have just started to get a good connection at home, so I went in the ring and decided to really ask him to come forward and into the contact. He was fabulous!!! We rode an accurate and forward test, with just a few places for improvement (right lead down transition to the trot and halts). Gordo scored a 25 in that test, for the lowest score of the entire day. That is including all the straight dressage scores as well, not just the eventing test!!!! I was so proud of him and I am really excited for hims future. He is an amazing jumper, getting very bold on xc and has a great owner to boot!
Marissa took Pudge in for her second test and had much better canter work and a better transition from free walk to working walk. Pudge was a bit over the whole thing though, and made Marissa really ride. He scored a 33 again to place 3rd. She has improved so much in her riding, and not only is her position better, but her connection and uphill feel is really there. It is nice to watch her ride a good test on a nice horse.
Elyse did great with Red, who was calm and quiet for his first time at a dressage show! We took him schooling last summer, but he hasn't been out since then and never in a dressage ring. She scored 3rd and 4th in her two test and both scores were in the mid 30's. I was riding while Kim was going with Oliver, but he looked steady from what I saw, despite wanting to canter during his second test. Apparently he was being a bit lazy in the 95 degree heat and after Kim got after him to move he decided that meant he should canter at every letter!!!! Silly boy. Kim is riding better as well, with a solid correct leg position and her contact being up and out as well. I think she is going to be surprised at how well she scores with her new horse Bella, who is a fancier mover. Both are ridden very correctly and trained well, but it seems like the judges see a horse with a less extravagant trot as tight and tense. I went through the same issues with Gracie when she was going, before her hock injury was diagnosed. She went from scores in the 20's to 40's and all my comments were tight in the back. She didn't feel tight, and we correct, but the limiting hock movement was punished as me riding her tight in front and that she was tense, instead of seeing that she was limited by her injury. That is life I guess!

Anyway, since we are on the topic of Gracie, she has been confirmed pregnant!!! Yay. Tom used an old farmers method of determining the sex of the baby with a nail on a string. He says its a boy. We are hoping for a filly, but Tom says the test is about 85% accurate, so I guess we will see next March!

Lumber River, Cross Country Schooling

2009-06-15T09:47:00.000+10:00

We had a good showing at Lumber River. I didn't ride, but I had several students go and everyone had a great time. Jennifer was showing Sockie for the first time this year, and going training level for the first time as well. She rode exceptionally well and finished in 4th with clean jumping and xc!!!! Can't ask for much more than that!
Becca took her pony JJ out at Novice, the first time since Lumber River last year and finished in 4th on her dressage score of 30. Not too bad for a year off!

The next day we had a schooling day at the Horse Park and we took Gordo, Becca took JJ and Marissa took Pudge in the first group. As I said in my previous post, Gordo had some serious water issues that we have just started to work through, so I wanted to get him out as much as possible. I planned on taking him to 5-Points this fall but have been worried about over facing him with the two waters, or getting eliminated. So imagine how thrilled I was when he marched right down to the first water and went right in! After that he was a star. He jumped all the novice, some of the training and even a few prelim fences! Here is a link to his video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsXCKg-b6Jg

Sorry the video is a bit shakey, but we were doing it from horseback.....
JJ and Becca were great and Pudge seemed really happy to be out there showing off.

In the second group we had Marissa on the pony Goody, Michelle on Charlee, Diana on her mare Roxanne, and Liana on Ben. Goody looked like he was having a blast, as did Marissa :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vl8dpO-wBk .

Everyone did really well; Charlee is ready for Novice, Roxanne really settled beautifully and Ben looked like he was an old pro. We had a blast and I have decided to take Gordo out at Novice at 5-Points.

Show Today!

2009-05-24T06:55:00.000+10:00

It was a great day and a very successful show. Gordo went out to his first event since I have had him. He has had some issues in his previous life and I have been really slowly trying to break through some worries he has. So when he went today and won his Novice division on a score of 25 we were all thrilled! He was happy and confident and that is all I could ask for!
Classy went to her first event today and came in 3rd with a score of 30! Not bad for her first time in the ring, or first xc round, or first stadium round! She was calm and having a good time and of course very obedient. She is so easy to work with and I am quite please with her.
Also going to his first show was Winfield, the 5 year old grey TB I have for sale. He scored a 27!!! His first time in a dressage ring as well. It was a great day for the greenies. Winfield is really going to go far!
Kim took Oliver and she put in the best dressage test I have ever seen them do, both at home or away. It was hugely improved from the Ark, which was the last place I watched them do dressage. Oliver was steady, forward and obedient. Kim rode a very accurate test, and I had several people comment on how good they both looked while she was in the ring. She made x-c look like a hunter round and jumped around stadium clean!! I am so excited for their progress. Kim has really done a good job.
Sheila took her mare Zoey, who is coming back from an injury, and she finished on her dressage score, finishing in first!!! YEAH Sheila. She rode very well and the mare looked happy.
MaryBeth rode Kelly Regis' Capetown in the Novice division and they had a blast. MaryBeth is leaving us tomorrow, so it was nice to see her score a 31.5 in dressage and have fun around the jumping phases. We will miss her tons!
So overall it was a great day and I couldn't be more pleased with the horses or the students. We are going next to xc school at the Horse Park and Lumber River, so I will post more updates then.

Busy Weekend! And rain...

2009-05-18T23:40:00.001+10:00

Nancy was here this weekend to pick up Eric for the summer and fall, and work on some horses while she was here. Poor thing drove down from Long Island with her trailer, which took almost 12 hours to get here. We had a great time catching up Friday and then Saturday was a crazy busy day with me teaching and her working on all my horses as well as a bunch of haul-ins. We had some great lessons though, and Margaret and Fisher looked the best I have seen them jumping around the sj course in perfect stride and getting right to the base softly. Calleen's mare Dixie has improved a bunch since the last time I saw her as well. We watched the Preakness and the filly won!! It was great. Then Nancy had to get up at 5 am to drive back to Long Island with Eric, and it turned into the trip from her for her. She sat in traffic and it ended up taking 14.5 hours to get home!!! She swears she will never do it again!!
On another note, I have to say a big congrats to Kim on the purchase of her new mare, Bella! Kim and Bella were suited for each other right from the beginning and look fabulous together. She is a big dark bay mare by Donatelli, and is going to be something really special. She is just 4 but has the best brain and already moves quite well. I am really excited for them both and can't wait for their successes in the future.
I have one very talented horse for sale, a 5 yr old never raced TB named Winfield. He is a lovely dark dappled grey and is quite uphill and an incredible jumper. His knees are always up between his ears. He will be going to his first event next weekend, and I am sure he will excell at eventing and take someone really far. I just posted a video of him on my YouTube site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY0e8vx_FC8

We are also taking Classy to her first event as well as Gordo. It should be a fun day and I am really excited about it! Will post more after the weekend.

Video link

2009-05-15T02:46:00.000+10:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5sFMTWz8Fs

Here is the link to Spike and Sam in the field together. We have decided to nickname him DP for Devil Pony, he is sooooo naughty. He bit me in the butt yesterday and broke skin. After that incident, DP got to wear his new muzzle and has been much more subdued. Lucky Spike....

Spikey's New Addition

2009-05-13T12:24:00.000+10:00

We have been struggling with Spike over the last few months with some issues, and I finally decided yesterday that he needed a buddy. He has been turned out by himself since I got him, because he was a bit rough with his pasture mates in the past and would pester them until they were totally fed up and kicked him. Even though he has been turned out with someone next to him, he has not been in the same field with another horse. So I decided to get him a buddy. One that couldn't hurt him if he pestered it to death. I got on Craig's List and I found a mini. Yesterday we drove to Robbins, NC and picked up Sam, a 10.1 hand pony.
Sam seemed pretty happy to come with us, and jumped into my horse trailer when we went to load him. He hauled fine and today he got to meet Spike, his new charge to babysit. They ran and ran, and I think we actually found an equine who is cheekier that Spike! That little pony can be nasty when he wants to be. He pestered Spike to no end today, and there are bite marks all over his throat latch area! We turned them out this morning for about 30 mins and then put them in seperate paddocks till after dinner. We turned them back out together tonight and the two ran and played and went at it again for about 10 minutes before finally settling down to graze. I recorded the second encounter, because Lisa wanted to see it. It is loading to YouTube now and I will post a link when it is done. It looks like Spike is chasing Sam in the begining, but really Sam runs the show between those two. And Spike seems to be in heaven. I guess we will see how they both look tomorrow, but right now Sam doesn't have a mark on him and Spike is covered in pony saliva and tiny bite marks! We never thought we would find anything to put Spike in his place.

Breeding News

2009-05-13T11:48:00.000+10:00

I received a great phone call today. See, at Rolex I was finally able to decide that I wanted to breed Gracie to Jumbo next year. He is the father of Headley Brittania, and I fell in love with that little mare watching her go. She is out of a TB mare and by Jumbo, and I think that the cross with Gracie will be phenominal. Well, I called Christine at EMCO who handles all of Jumbo's breeding in the US and she told me that the last dose of his frozen had just sold!! And there would be no more in the US because he was not freezing well enough anymore to get a mare pregnant. So no more Jumbo in the US! I was seriously bummed. After talking with Christine more I was considering Catherston Liberator as a possibility, but not set on it.
I got a phone call today from a number I didn't recognize and I answered. It was Christine from EMCO. She was calling t otell me that someone had backed out of the purchase and there were two doses of Jumbo available!!!! I am thrilled, and now soon to be the owner of the last two doses on Jumbo baby batter in the US! Looks like next years breeding will be to Jumbo after all. I am beyond thrilled! For more info on Jumbo you can google him, or go to www.emcostallionservices.com . I hope it will all go well next year!

Rolex

2009-05-09T12:49:00.000+10:00

I hope I can remember everything that I saw while at Rolex this year. Stephanie and I went together and had a blast! We decided to fly instead of drive, and we sure were glad. It is the only way to travel there and back! Steph got a great hotel room and the weather was lovely. The only downfall was the terrible allergies we both had! We decided we are allergic to the entire state of Kentucky, and a bit of Ohio as well. After buying the local Walgreens entirely out of every kind of allergy medicine that is made, we survived...but barely. The multitude of gin and tonics were the only thing that got us through those first few days. But I digress....
Dressage was lovely, although I don't like the new four-star test. The trot work is fine, if not a bit easy, but I hate the canter tour. What is the deal? Just lots of serpentines....if you can do serpentimes till you are dizzy and throw in some changes here and there, you are golden. I saw some amazing test though, and I am gald I got a chance to see both Ringwood Cockatoo and Headley Brittania in person. The sport has changed, the horse quality has risen, and the riding quality has risen. The horses today are fabulous movers, and very obedient. The riding was the best I have seen in years. Stephen Bradley had a lovely ride, and many riders did an exceptional job with very nice horses that were a bit on edge. Alison Springer did a great job. The Dutch horse Concrex Concarlos can come spend time with me anytime he wants!
I walked the xc course the next day, and I have to say it looked a bit soft for a 4-star, but I also didn't have to gallop down to any of those fences so I guess I don't really have a place to stand on that one. I started at the head of the lake saturday, and we watched the first group of riders come through. Bruce had some quick reactions and quick thinking on Jam, and it would have been a very tough call as a jump judge as to whether he crossed his tracks. I was standing right behind him as he serpentined, and the water marks were awfully close! Phillip made it look easy, as did a number of other great riders.
We moved on around the course after that and I was so impressed by the riding in general. Ashley Adams looked great as always, and it was great to chear her on. I have known her since she was a little kid, and coached her up through preliminary on her previous two horses before she went to work for Kim, so it was so exciting to see her do so well. There really wasn't to many horsess that made me hold my breath, and that was great. I would love to have Che Mr. Wiseguy, and I hear that the rider has actually just cloned him, and the foal is due next year.
It was great to see Lucinda go around, and Buck has two amazing horses under him right now. Overall, most people made it look easy. We watched Jennifer hit the ground, but it wasn't bad and her and her horse looked fine. I do want to know who makes Bettina Hoy's cross country outfit though; she looked as if she was preparing to make a trip into outerspace, pom-pom on the top of her helmet and all!
I didn't get up for the final jog, but was sad to hear Bonner didn't present Jazz, as they were fabulous the day before. Ralph's horse didn't pass either and that was a bit sad for him. I was amazed at the number of clean show jump rounds overall. Ashley Adams did a very good job, and even though she has some rails, I thought it was the best round I have seen her and Vaughn do. Looks like Bonnie has really clicked with Ashley and I am sure it will only improve over time. Buck did an amazing job pulling out a clean round on a seemingly tired My Boy Bobby. Again, some very good riding and some disappointing rails at the end of the triple. It seems the last rail was just blowing out of the cups. It was amazingly emotional to watch Lucinda, and what a great win. We were all rooting for her.
After watching Brit go all weekend I finally decided who to breed Gracie to next year and I was super excited. I called EMCO about using Jumbo, only to find out that the last dose had just been sold and he is too old to freeze anymore to ship here......BUMMER!!! What a great trip though, and I can't wait to do it again.

Riding stuff

2009-05-09T12:20:00.000+10:00

The horses have all been going well since we moved back to Tamarack Hill Farm. I think they all like it here ;). Today we had a great day! First, I took Classy out for her first time on cross country, MaryBeth took Pudge out, and Marissa went out with Goody. Class was a super star!!! She has never been over cross country fences, but she never looked at a thing. We jumped a good bit of the beginner novice course and then went up and down the bank, over the ditch, and through the water. She was wonderful and I am looking forward to her first show May 23rd.
MaryBeth had a great time on Pudge. He is such a good boy and they have been working hard lately. MaryBeth has really improved her riding and is riding wonderfully. She is going to show Pudge at Novice May 23rd before she leaves us to go home for the summer. MaryBeth starts college at NC State in the fall and we are really going to miss her....
Goody just had his shoes pulled Thursday, and is still a bit tender, so Marissa hacked around and gave us support. After that I got on Gordo and MaryBeth rode Eric. Eric did some flat work on the xc course and popped over a few little fences. He also has never been out on xc so we had a easy, good time. He popped up and down the bank, and jumped over the ditch higher than I have ever seen any horse get up in the air! He loves the water so he trotted and cantered through it several times.
Gordo has had some issues with cross country, especially water, and I have been trying t ojust keep things simple and teach him that this is fun. It really all came together today and I am just trilled. We jumped the novice course boldy and happily, and I was able to move him up to the bigger fences without him getting frantic. He felt like a big-time horse out there. He also did the ditch and bank easily, but the water was the test. He has always been very nervous about his feet in the water, but hasn't been through the water here since last fall. He trotted and cantered on a loose rein, happily and confidently back and forth through the water several times! And it was all his idea. I can't describe how great it is. He picked up the canter as we approached on him own and went through on a floppy rein!!!! As long as he is having fun we are going to show him this year and try to teach him that it is fun after all!
At the end of the day Megan Harris and her mother stopped by on their way to WV. Megan owned Taylor and it was so nice to see them both, and be able to chat and catch up, and just visit. What a great day! Can't wait to do it again tomorrow.

Coda video link

2009-05-06T12:41:00.000+10:00

Here is the link from Longleaf Pines HT, cross country. It was Coda's first recognized event. We had some time penalties for trotting down the hills, but I was thrilled with him. Hope you all enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JAmY8P8shk

Baby Alert

2009-05-06T11:28:00.000+10:00

I have great news!!! We ultrasounded Gracie Friday, and thought that she wasn't in foal. I took her to the vets, and they re-ultrasounded her Monday only to discover that she IS in foal! Yeah. So the Coda-Gracie baby is cooking in the oven. We are so excited and have been out shopping so we can shroud her in light pink. We really want a filly next spring!
I have a new horse on the farm. I have a young mare by Donatelli, out of a TB mare. She is a beautiful dark bay and sweet as can be. I have been very impressed with her and will be getting her some show experience this summer and putting her on the market to make someone a fabulous partner.
Winfield has been wonderful. He is owned by Sarah Batzing and he has really surprised us all in his amazing jump plus, he is very fancy on the flat. He naturally carries himself uphill and light, with a big stride. He is quiet but fearless to the fences, and gets in a natural rhythm that he keeps around the course. Plus he is a beautiful dark dappled grey, which I am a sucker for!
Cool Eric will be going home soon to his owner Nancy Buonpane on Long Island. We are already missing him and he doesn't leave for another two weeks! He has really become a part of the family, as has his owner Nancy. He will be back in November for the winter, but Nancy better send lots of updates till then!!!
Classy is doing great in her work, and is ready for her first show in a few weeks. I love riding this mare because she is so easy and learns her job quickly. Her owner, Martha Holcomb, says she is the kind of horse you want to ride at the end of the day becasue she is so easy and fun. May 23rd will be the first event for both her and Winfield, plus Kim is taking Ollie to their first event and Marissa is taking Goody out so we will have LOTS of updates!

Students Update

2009-05-06T11:16:00.000+10:00

Where to start?
Well, we sold Margaret horse Echo, to a lovely young rider from Arizona. They were a great match and are doing well together. Margaret has continued to progress well with Fisher, and will be moving him up to Novice at the next event. I hadn't ridden him in a while and got on him this past weekend. He has gotten so much stronger and better broke on the flat. Someone has been doing their homework ;). Liana had a great ride at the Fork HT on her gelding, Ardennes. She really put it together on xc and stadium and had brilliant rides! Kim took Oliver to a dressage show and did really well. They were 3rd in both classes, out of a large group of experienced horses. I know Kim wanted to do better, but I think she was fabulous and am so proud of how far they have come together. I remember last fall when they came here and Oliver couldn't even go over poles without snorting, and now they are showing and doing great!!! Yeah Kim and Ollie!
We sold Kim's other horse, Sam this spring and he is also doing great with his new owner in Georgia. She is happy and is doing well at the events. Michelle has made huge leaps with her young horse, and we should look for them to move up to Novice soon. You wouldn't know he was the same horse she purchased not that long ago!
I have had a fun spring riding and competing Osoka for Jennifer Shattuck. We went to the Fork and Longleaf after SP, and had a blast. Sockie should have ended up in second at Longleaf, if not for a timing error that wasn't corrected in stadium, but that is life. He doesn't know what color ribbon he takes home. Jennifer has taken back over and will be showing him at Lumber River. They have come so far, and Jennifer is riding better than I have ever seen. They are ready to tackle anything!
Can't wait to have more updated for you all.

Minnie the Champion!!!

2009-05-06T11:09:00.000+10:00

April 7th was the second Tamarack Hill schooling HT. I took Stephanie Diaz's Minnie to his first event in several years. Since he is 18 this year (don't tell him though!), we decided to keep it easy and fun and entered him at Maiden....and Minnie LOVED it! He was a good boy in dressage, tying for first. Minnie really woke up after that and jumped around clean stadium, but was a wild man, spooking at all the fences and acting like a 3 year old. Cross country was a blast, and I was smiling the whole way. Minnie was dissapointed that he couldn't go around a second time, and came home with the blue ribbon.
I also rode Alice's Brass Ring, a 13.1 hand welsh cross mare owned by Leslie here in Southern Pines. It was a blast. I adore that pony and she ended up fourth at her first show. She performed her first dressage test, jumped her first stadium round, and went x-c for the first time all that day!
Minnie is now gearing for dressage this summer and will be showing at second and hopefully third level. He loves going places and we love taking him. Allie will be doing some local events and shows to get more experience.

Lots of catching up....

2009-05-06T11:08:00.000+10:00

Since I haven't had internet at the house for several months, I haven't been very good about keeping the blog entries up tp date. There have been lots of fun things that have happened over the last few months, and I will try to fill eveyone in. So if the blogs seem to jump back a few months please understand why! Thanks.

Back at Tamarack!

2009-05-02T09:45:00.001+10:00

Whew, we just finished moving back to the farm and the horses are doing great! Everyone has settled in well and are happy. We are all exhausted though. Gracie was ultrasounded today and she is not in foal. Uhg, so back to the vets tomorrow to try again. I am sure Coda will be thrilled to go get collected once more (hopefully only once more!).
I just got back from my trip to Rolex and after watching Headley Brittania go around I was set on a Jumbo/Gracie foal for next year! Unfortunately, there is no more Jumbo semen available in the US....just my luck. So now I am looking at Catherston's Liberator.
I have a few new horses in the barn. Marissa's pony that she sold a few years ago has come back for the summer, and they are having a blast. She will hopefully be taking him to some events this summer. We have a new mare also, who will be for sale soon. She is a big lovely mare and I plan to get her out and get some show miles this summer. We are trying to pick a name for her.
We will be at a bunch of local shows over the next month, including Fox Track and Fenridge with the young horses. Hopefully Spike will be going to Lumber River in June. I have no real plans for Coda, but if he feels like doing something I will take him out. Scottie is looking great and will start hacking through the Foundation this summer also. I will try to post again within the near future, pending internet hook up at the house! Thanks for bearing with me.

Very Sad News

2009-05-02T09:38:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately, I have devastating news to report. We were planning to breed Coda this year to a lovely mare by Grange Finn Sparrow, named Swift Level Sparrow. She suffered an injury in her pasture and had to be put down. We are all devastated. Our sincere condolenses to her owner, Megan Harris. Thank you for all your support and understanding.

Longleaf Pines Horse Trial

2009-05-02T09:26:00.000+10:00

Well, Coda was great! I was a bit worried because we had been collecting Coda right before the event and I wasn't sure how he would handle it. He was behaved in the dressage test, and obedient. In the future I will ask for more engagement and impulsion, but he is only 4 and it was his first recognized event so I played it safe and easy. We had stadium next that day, and Coda jumped a clean round. The fences were a bit boring for him, but he was behaved (mostly). He scored a 36 in dressage and was in 9th place or there about. We did cross country the next day and I couldn't have been happier. He was playing around a bit in the warm-up, but after the first fence he was totally focused and paying attention. He was quiet but bold, and never looked at a thing. I was not sure what he would do at the water, so I tried to trot, but when he saw it he cantered and jumped in! I trotted down some of the hills so we had some time penalties and I don't know what place we ended up in, but I was told he would have been 5th without the time. He has been hanging out in his field since the event, but seems bored and will start back hacking this week. We are all excited about celebrating his birthday May 9th!! I do have video that I will get uploaded at some point. We don't have internet at the house yet.....

Coda's big week!

2009-04-04T08:57:00.000+11:00

This post is all about Coda. The rest of the horses are doing well, but with nothign new to speak of. So I will let you all know what the perfect pony is doing! We took him Tuesday to be collected because Gracie and Taylor have been at the vets for the past week, and were ready to be bred. After a day of running around, we had a VERY tired Coda. He really likes his life as a riding pony better than a breeding pony. He was a very good boy, and got the job done, but really didn't see what all the fuss was about. They collected him in his halter and lead, with no chain, etc because he was so quiet. The next day we loaded him up for a lesson with Denny. We pulled him out of the trailer tacked up and hacked to the ring where he shared his lesson with a very pretty 4 yr old mare of Denny's. Coda never even looked sideways at her, and the day after breeding! This was only the second time Denny had seen Coda for a lesson, and he has come pretty far in a short time. He had us warm-up over a few small verticles and then start cantering courses. The second fence we jumped was a corner, set up with stadium rails. It was narrow and about 2'6. He didn't bat an eye. After that Denny told us to do a roll back to the skinny, set again at about 2'6, but a true skinny. Coda came around, kinda sized it up and popped right over. After that we did a course or two including the corner, and skinny raised a bit, and some angle fences with turns to an oxer and a brick wall. Coda is so agile and balanced that he did it all with ease. Then he went on a hack with the mare around the x-c course and back to the trailer, all on the buckle! He was a tired boy today, and was sunbathing in his field last I checked! He is headed for the schooling HT at Tamarack on Tuesday, so I will let you know how it goes. He is entered at Novice there on concensus with Denny that he is bored at BN, and it is what he should be doing. I will post again after the show!

Christan

Horsey Updates!

2009-03-28T05:22:00.000+11:00

It is raining here. It seems like it has been a tough winter for weather. We can't seem to get more than a few days in a row to ride. We are getting ready here for the second schooling event at Tamarack Hill and then the Longleaf Pines HT the end of April.
I had Tom Daniels out to look over all the horses this week. I am a bit gunshy after Gracie, so I wanted everyone to get the A-OK from the vet! Everyone is happy! Coda is going very well. My biggest dilemma is how to do enough with him to make him pay attention without pushing him. Right now, everything is so effortless that can't begin to challenge him. I even tried to do some difficult grids, but they were too easy for him! I guess that is a good problem to have.
We went to SP II last weekend to watch, and I was really impressed. I watched the advanced x-c and saw some really great riding. The quality of horses seems to go up each year, and there were some truely spectacular horses there.....the majority of them were actually! Sunday night was Antigua's retirement party, and it was a blast. Will was a wonderful host and put on a great evening. His new farm is beautiful and it was great to see old friends again.
I will post more after Denny's event April 7th and I hope we all get some good weather soon!Thanks,

Christan

Tamarack Hill HT

2009-03-10T14:20:00.000+11:00

We went to the Horse Trials at Tamarack Hill Farm this past Sunday, after moving barns Thursday, and dealing with rain and cold weather all week! It was both Coda and Spike's first event. Spike was not feeling like himself, but finished the event and was great on cross-country. We are going to treat him for ulcers to help with his tummy issues.
Coda was terrific! He jumped around clean stadium and cross country, only incuring a time fault. We were tied for first place, but we lost the tie to finish in second because the other rider was closer to the optimum time. Oh well, second isn't too bad for Coda's first event ever! Both him and Spike are entered at Longleaf, at Beginner Novice and Novice. Margaret won her division on Fisher, continuing his blue ribbon streak at every event he has entered. Allie Billings also had a great showing on Lucy, and has come a really long way with the mare!
The weather has been great, and the horses are happy at the new farm. I couldn't be happier with Coda. He stood like a champ all day at the event and today I got on him bareback and rode him around a bit! I will post the picture soon. Take care,

Christan

Leslie Law Clinic pictures

2009-03-02T01:36:00.001+11:00

http://pets.webshots.com/album/570334914jxdrjH

Here is the link to the album. Hope you all enjoy!!

A Busy Week!

2009-03-02T01:36:00.000+11:00

I have to pull out my calendar to write about all that we have done this past week since I last posted, it has been so busy! I think the Pipe Opener on February 22 is where we start!
I took Coda in BN, Spike and Andy in Novice and Sockie in training. It had to be the coldest, windiest day ever! Coda went first and was as good as could be expected under the conditions. He scored a 34 and jumped clean to finish in 3rd place. He jumped all the fences well, but was playing between them, kicking out a hind leg, or swapping leads. Andy was so much better. He hasn't gotten in the dressage ring in a while, and tends to get quite nervous so we had big improvements. The judge didn't seem to see what we did, but I was thrilled with his change. He jumped fabulously, very relaxed and over jumping everything. By the time I got on Spike and Sockie, the rings were literally blowing over with horses in them! I got on Spike and got in the ring, we scored a 30-something, but I was happy we didn't leap through the air. I chose NOT to show jump him due to the wind. Sockie was quite full of himself as well, and the dressage didn't go as planned! But we jumped around stadium without dying as the flower boxes were blowing over under the fences!
The next day was the Leslie Law clinic at the horse park, and I decided to ride Spike in it. We were a little concerned about the weather again, because it was still cold and windy, but Spike was very well behaved, and we longed him for a bit then I got on and warmed up for the clinic. Then I found out that I had not received the email updating the times, and I was in the Intermediate group!!! Well, I certainly wasn't going to get off and come back hours later, so I figured I would just do as much as I could and then quit. We started with a bit of flat work, doing leg yields, shoulder-ins and collected/extended trot work. Leslie had us drop our stirrups. We did some canter work with leg yields and counter canter and simple changes. I was so happy with Spike because he handled it all great and only had trouble with the right lead counter canter, where he knew it would just be easier to do a flying change! We started jumping over an x and Leslie had us start counting 8 strides out. Most of us missed the first time, but then were able to count from 8 strides out. Good practice for all of us, because it makes us start seeing the distance from 8 strides out.
After that we did a line in 6 strides, a few bending lines, a bending line to a one-stride combo and a triple to a 4 stride verticle. Spike was amazing, handling it all very well. He was so rideable and was able to go forward to the fences without rushing or getting tense!
The next day we decided to drop down a level to school x-c!!! Thought that might be smart for his first real time schooling.....
I was a bit worried about Spike warming up in the open field with the rest of the horses galloping around, but he was totally fine! We even stood and behaved waiting our turn. Leslie had us start over a big training level house, and Spike jumped it like it was going to eat his legs the first few times. After that, we went down the hill to the big brush fence. It is down in a dark hollow, and was oversized with the brush on top. Spike came down to the fence not sure what was going on, and I was quite hesitant because I was thinking to myself this was a bit much for him at this point. He stopped the first time and Leslie told me to hit him. I told Leslie that it was his first time schooling xc again, and he said, oh I see! After that we went to some little inviting fences and Spike was great. I was able to let him go a little more forward and he gained confidence and really turned around. By the end, he was schooling some of the training, and had done the trakhener, the boat into the water, the bank into and out of the water, AND was sleeping quietly between goes. I couldn't ask for anything better. Here are the links to the x-c schooling :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4gC7qwHkcw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5b7aQoBgRU

Stephanie came and took lots of pictures, which were fabulous. I will try to get them in an album and paste a link here too!
The next day we packed up the trailer once again (for the 4th day in a row!) and took a few horses to the Winter Wednesday at the CHP. Coda went to work on stadium, Eric went to jump around a bit and MaryBeth took Seiko to practice some stadium. She did a great job and really improved. Coda was a bit frisky when I first got on and we did a good bit of warm-up. We ended up jumping 3 rounds, starting with the beginner novice and going up a level each time. The jumping is so easy for him, that finally when the jumps were bigger, did Coda start to pay attention and stop goofing off! It is a fine line because he is so young that I don't want to work him too hard, but he is so talented that the fences need to be a challenge before he pays attention! Eric was a bit wiggly starting out, but made huge improvements after going around a few times and learning that he just had to go straight down the lines. Overall it was a great day!
I left Friday for the Ark HT to ride Osaka and coach a few students. The weather was miserable! It rained so hard that they had to cancel x-c, which is such a shame because the courses looked great. They have made alot of changes, and I was looking forward to Sockie doing his first training there. Dressage was wet, but better than the previous weekend, and Sockie jumped stadium fabulously! All the girls did really well despite the weather, finishing on their dressage scores! Thanks to the Ark for all their work and better luck next time for good weather!
We are headed to Tamarack Hill next Sunday for a HT, where Spike and Coda will be doing their first full HT! I will keep everyone updated! Stay dry,

Christan

More results

2009-02-16T07:19:00.000+11:00

Last week finally felt like spring here. 70 degrees with no humidity. We were loving it! We took the horses to CHP last saturday for some jumping rounds. Eric, the 4 yr old jumped around his first course at a show and was great. He is going to be a super horse for his owner Nancy. Marybeth took her horse Seiko and it was good practise for her to take her lessons away from the farm and see what still needs to be worked on. I rode Spike and again, we had improvement. We actually stood by the ingate and didn't leap through the air! I asked him to just stand quietly, which he managed to hold it together to do. I also took Stephanie's horse Andy Dufresne and he was great! He hasn't been out in a while so we took it easy, but he jumped around clean and was enjoying himself.
The next day we took a group out to Denny's to school x-c. Margaret took her young horse Fisher, who has learned that this xc thing is really fun! Kim took Oliver and he was terrific. Kim has really made improvements over the last few weeks and it shows! Now to get them out to some recognized shows. Marissa and Brady went and were fabulous. Marissa has been working hard on herself and it is beginning to show. I took Spike and taught off of him. My goal was to stand and walk from fence to fence, which we accomplished! He is figuring out this isn't that bad of a life.
Saturday we took a couple of groups out to the CHP to school the cross country course. Marissa and Brady were on, and all her hard work has really paid off. They clicked and were foot perfect the whole day. Margaret schooled Fisher again and he was bold as ever, jumping everything with ease. I got to school as clients mare Tidbit and had a blast. Kathy, who is here from Wisconsin for a few weeks came as well, pneumonia and all! Her horse Oreo and her were fabulous as well, and are ready for their novice show season. MaryBeth took out Seiko and they were perfect. MaryBeth is riding the best I have seen her and Seiko is going great. They jumped around everything in perfect form. Again, the hard work is showing.
Today we had the dressage schooling show at the Pinehurst Harness Track. I took Spike and entered him in his first dressage test. He came off the trailer much calmer and warmed up with all four feet on the ground! He went into the ring and pulled out a %67 and %66!!! Not bad for his first dressage tests. There is video up on Youtube under username trainoreventing of the xc schooling and dressage tests! I rode Echo for Margaret as she had her young horse going, and I scored a %67 and a %70. Fisher scored a %67 and a %71 under Margaret! What a great day for all. My new horse, Scottie, who was recently found by Lisa Reid to replace Gracie in the show string, went along for a trailer ride both Saturday and Sunday. He came out today and walked around the show grounds like an old pro. I am really excited about the nice horses I have in my barn now.
My two new training horses came over the last few weeks, owned by Martha and Gerald Holcomb. Classy and her father Cool are great. I can't wait to get them out doing stuff. We had the pleasure of Martha and Gerald spending the weekend with us too. We hope they come back soon.
Gracie is turned out with the new mare by Grange Finn Sparrow, and both will be bred to Coda this spring. Taylor, the Grange mare, is lovely, and I get to ride and maybe compete her a little while she is here!
So that is all the news....new horses, lots of shows, and great results. I hope this trend continues. I have also signed on with a new sponsor, Devoucoux, and will look forward to working with the company over the next few years. My new saddle should be here in a few months!!!
We have the Pipe Opener at CHP next Sunday, and I have four horses entered; Sockie at training, Spike at Novice, Andy at Novice, and Coda at Beg Novice, so I will have more to post soon.

Christan

All sorts of new things

2009-02-05T10:09:00.000+11:00

Whew, it has been busy the last few weeks. I have good news and bad news, and some in between. First, Coda has been a super pony. He went to his first dressage show Sunday and was like an old pro. He came off the trailer yawning, and put in a steady test for a score of %65 and second place! The video is up on youtube and on his blogsite. Spike went along too and managed to keep all four feet on the ground! Marybeth and Marissa took their horses and both were very good. It was a fun day!
The weekend before we spent at the Pipe Opener at the Horse Park. I rode Jennifer Shattucks horse Osaka, who I will be competing this spring. He was great. Jumped around the training course clean and in style. Margaret took her young horse who is for sale and won his Beginner Novice CT on his dressage score. We also took the 3 yr old Eric, owned by Nancy Buonpane, to walk around the show ground and see things. He was so quiet we ended up popping him over some fences in the warm-up!
We went schooling the next day at the Horse Park as well. I rode Sockie again and schooled all the training and some of the prelim. He is really jumping well and I am excited to be showing him. Marissa took the new pony, Summer, for her first time out. She has been here about 3 weeks and just started jumping. She was a star and we are going to hopefully be breeding her to Coda this spring. She is going to make a super little event mare.
So now for the disappointing news. Gracie has been having a slight issue with her right hind over the last month or so, and we finally have a prognosis. It looks like she sustained a direct blow to her right hock, and one of the joints is severely damaged. She has somehow been jumping around prelim like this, even though the x-rays are pretty scary. We have tried injecting and shockwave, but our back up plan is to breed her to Coda this spring and let her carry a foal. Then we will see how she feels next year. It is a real shame because she is so talented, but at least she can make fabulous babies! Taylor, the Grange Finn Sparrow mare, arrives this Friday, so Coda will have 3 dates soon and I can't wait to see what he produces with these three lovely mares!
So now with an open spot in my string of show horses, I of course called Lisa Reid. I am getting a horse vetted Friday! The one thing about Lisa is that she moves FAST...she has the best eye for a horse I have ever seen. If the horse passes the vet Friday, I will have yet another horse from Lisa that I won't have seen until he gets to my farm.
We have a few new horses in training, and a new sale horse coming in next week. Can't wait to update again soon. I am planning on taking Coda to the YEH class at The Ark at the end of February, so I will let you all know about that soon. And lastly, I have a new sponsor Devoucoux! I look forward to the saddle and equipment arriving and working with this company!

Christan

Snow Day!!!

2009-01-22T04:35:00.000+11:00

I certainly didn't expect to have snow in Southern Pines, but that is what we woke up to Tuesday morning! We left the horses in Monday night to prepare for the snow that was called for. It was a beautiful white wonderland Tuesday and we turned the horses back out to play. We got some video footage, and lots of pictures of the dogs, horses and us playing in the snow! Hope you enjoy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkuTKA4SrfI

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569728825EWWiwY

Gearing up for the season

2009-01-18T01:51:00.000+11:00

We have started the schooling shows here this winter and have been having a great time! A few weeks ago we started by cross country schooling at Denny's with Coda and Spike. Coda was a star as always and Spike was good after he settled a bit. It was the first time he had been off the farm to really do anything and I was very pleased with him. Last week, we went to the CHP and took Coda and Spike again. It was a very cold and windy day and I was a bit hesitant because it had been raining all week and the horses had three days off prior to the show. We were moving slow, but Coda was out first and he went right out to the warm-up area and was quiet and relaxed. We went into the jumper ring first, and the course was set to 2'6". He had never jumped that high, or done a square oxer, or a done a one-stride combination. So I figured we would go in and jump just a few of the verticles and leave, but as we went he was so calm that we just kept going and did the whole course! It was great.
I took Spike out next and he was a nervous wreck! This was his first show ever and the first time he has been anywhere with lots of horses since the race track! We longed him for a while and then I got on and walked. It took a good bit for him to settle, but he did eventually and we were able to get in the hunter ring. It was quite little and he was very good so we went over to the jumper ring. They were setting the course to 3'6"! But we went in and Spike was great as well. He was a bit tight and pulled a rail or two, but settled and was so good. I have not jumped him that height before, and it was his first show so I cannot complain. He is really going to be a star!
We are headed to the next Winter Wednesday at the CHP and schooling next weekend. Now lets hope for some warmer weather!

Cross Country Schooling

2009-01-05T01:09:00.000+11:00

This has been a busy and tiring week! The new website it up and it looks terrific! I am so happy with what a great job Kim did on it, and know if took her a lot of time. Thanks to her though, we have an updated site with great information!
I had the acupuncturist out to work on Gracie and found that she is a bit funny on her right hind. So the vet is coming out next week to look at her and see what is going on. I took Spike and Coda cross country schooling yesterday. Coda went first and was amazing! He was like an old pro and was cantering around like he has been doing it for year. There is a video link posted on his blog http://www.americanridingpony.com/ under Teddy's quest for the Olympics. (Or you can access it through my website).
Spike is incredible. I don't know what else to say about him. He is absolutely the most athletic horse I have ridden. We schooling much of the novice course, but it felt like we were jumping around at least prelim, and he was jumping me out of the tack over all the fences. He was trying so hard that he grunts in the air, and Kim pointed out that is sounds like we are in a gym full of weightlifters! He has a bit of a sassy attitude, and showed it a little at the end of the school, when we were headed back to the trailers. But he contained himself and all was well.
Kim had a great school on Sam, who is for sale. I know it is a hard decision to make because he is so good and easy to ride, but we decided to put the focus on one horse, and thought that selling Sam would be easier. Kim really got the connection at the end and Sam was jumping really well. Margaret on Echo were working on keeping the connection to the base of the fence and that helped a lot. They are going to be a pair to watch for at the upper levels. Margaret has also decided to sell her second horse, for the same reason, so Fisher will be on the market too. He was fabulous schooling. Fish just cantered along jumping everything and then standing quietly like a pro. Someone is going to get a very nice upper level horse with that one!
The barn is great and Marybeth comes next Saturday. Marissa will breath a sigh of relief I am sure! With twelve horses to ride, having another hand will be nice. We will be going to the Winter Wednesday at the CHP this week, and schooling at Fenridge on Saturday. So I should have great news to share next week!

We are up and swinging

2008-12-30T01:28:00.000+11:00

Things are buzzing here at the farm. The horses are all back in work and gearing up for the spring season. My ankle is almost back to normal. The farm is running smoothly! Gracie is looking to a CCI* at Virginia, so she has started with mostly flat work over the last few weeks, which is her weakest phase. She is very well schooled, practising everything from the Intermediate tests, and much of the advanced test (minus the flying changes), but at a show she usually gets docked for tension. Spike is doing fabulously well. In just a few short rides he has settled and is really starting to use his back, be relaxed, and happy. Greg worked on him last week and said he had an enormous amount of scar tissue down his whole right side. After the session, Spike has been much much better! Coda is doing fabulous as well. He went to his first xc school, he is cantering small courses with ease, and looking toward getting off the farm at some local schooling shows this winter/spring. The training horses are also doing great. Andy is getting really solid in his flat work without getting tense and his jumping is great as always. Phoebe is still here for sale, which is a big surprise because she is so wonderful I would have bet she would have been sold by now. Maybe the economy is catching up with us.
Marissa and Brady are doing great, and I am loving having her around more with her winter break from school. Kim and Marissa took their green horses to the second Frostbite and did great! Both completed the event with ease and Kim ended up in second and Marissa in fourth. The new working student Marybeth will be here Jan 11th, and I can't wait for that! Between Marissa, Keith, Marybeth and Sarah the barn should really be kicking! Please look at the show schedule and let me know if anyone has any questions. Thanks!

Christan

Farm Update

2008-12-03T02:29:00.000+11:00

We are moved in to the new farm (well mostly), and it is beautiful! The new jumps are out in the field, and they look fabulous, thanks to Kelly. She spent an entire two weekends painting them for me. All the horses settled in wonderfully as well.
I drove to Middleburg a couple of weeks ago and picked up the new horse Sight Unseen, or Spike as he is affectionately refered to in the barn! This one came from Lisa Reid as well, and he is really something special. Thanks to her terrific eye for a horse, Lisa has once again found a horse of upper level quality. I am super excited about the spring season. Gracie is heading for the CIC* at Virginia, Spike will make his eventing debut, and Coda will come out to play around a little. I don't think I have had this nice a string of horses in my barn before....now I just have to figure out how to pay for the show expenses ;).
There will also be one or two additions to the string just for the spring season. Jennifer Shatuck has offered me the ride on her fabulous horse Osaka for the spring, which I am very excited about. I will let you all know about the second addition as we firm things up!
The new website should be launched in the next month or so, and with that the spring show schedule. Please don't hesitate to email with questions about it. All of my clients are doing super as well, and gearing up for the spring. Kim took Sam out for the first time since the end of the spring and won her CT with a score of 31. Margaret has also had a fabulous fall, winning her last two events with the low score of the entire competition. Can't wait to see how the spring fares!
Lastly, Coda got his picture in the Chronicle of the Horse this week, in a great article about Wynn Norman's breeding program. It is exciting to see him in print as well as see Wynn get the recognition she deserves. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I will update later!

Christan

New Blog!!

2008-11-01T10:09:00.000+11:00

Well it seemed that this would be an easy way to keep up with the Trainor Eventing blog, without having to worry my poor website adminstrator every time I wanted to post. So lets hope it works well!

We are starting to pack this week at Tamarack Hill. Denny and his crew are arriving early this year, and I am planning to move all my horses to the winter farm right now the road this coming Wednesday. So Marissa, Kayla and I are busy labeling and putting everything in boxes.
The horses are all great! We have started the clipping process, and we are covered in horse hair, while they now are not! Gracie ran her last recognized event of the season at Prelim at the Ark last weekend. Due to all the rain, they decided to run it as a CT, so no cross country. She is getting better in dressage. She scored a 35 in very wet and sloppy conditions, so I was quite pleased. She is jumping better than ever, and put in a clean show jumping round in again, standing water!
News on the young horses is great too. I just posted a new blog on the American Riding Pony's website on Coda's progress, which is going really well. I am taking him to the schooling show at the Ark this coming weekend, just to ride around the property and behave.
I have several new horses at the farm both for sale and for me to ride. Andy Dufresne is a 9 yr old bay TB gelding owner by Stephanie Diaz, and he is a dream! I love riding him. We are sort of planning to do jumpers with him, as he so good and careful.
I should have a very talented and fancy young horse that I am getting in the next two weeks! Spike is a 6 yr old bay TB gelding that is coming again from Lisa Reid in Middleburg. I am super excited to add him to the event team!

I will post again after the move....hope you all are having fun and staying warm!