We're Baaaaaaack!

The lovely house and barn at Shag Hill.

 February 1 is a day much anticipated at Blue Clover Eventing....it's the day that we officially roll out of Davidsonville MD at some ungodly hour of the morning with a flotilla of trailers to relocate to the eventing mecca that is Aiken! I won't even try to pretend that the days leading up to February 1 are fun or painless; but at the end of the day I think everyone agrees all of the freaking out and running around is completely justified and in fact, we have already signed ourselves back up for Aiken 2014.

Nothing like a truck stop sunrise

But let's not get too ahead of ourselves. We just barely unpacked the 13 horses and 2 dogs that we brought with us to join my dogless twin Holly Payne and forever Aiken accomplice. For whatever reason, Samantha keeps inviting us back to her amazing Shag Hill Farm located in Hatchaway Bridge Farms. Trisha and Kathy, head grooms and lifelines for Holly and I, picked up the routine as though we had never left last April! Horses were turned out frolicking in the sand and sun, well some were frolicking some knew they were being watched like hawks and frolicking would result in a loss of turn out privileges! In all seriousness, however, my horses are soooo happy in Aiken, which makes me very happy! And why would they not be? We have literally hundreds of acres to ride on, including our amazing field of dreams which Winston thoroughly enjoyed jumping on this afternoon. Our barn is over the top in creature comforts, and we have outside stalls so our ponies can have fun in the sun all day every day.

Winston's first jump school in Aiken.

 I've already done my most favorite trot down Fox Pond Road, I survived passing the miniature burros and spotted ponies and enjoyed the company of a fox hunter in town from Millbrook and we spent the entire time talking about my best friends chasing coyote in Arizona - proving the point that it is a small world after all! I've been cross country schooling - twice in fact - and had a whirlwind show for sales (which reminds me to put in a plug for all of our cool sales horses, check them out here). And it's been how many days since we got into town?! Just a few more days until we compete for the first time at Paradise, let the games begin!

 It is a lot of fun having new horses and people with us this year. Stacy has heard all about Aiken and we are really excited to get her new Magic Mike horse out into the real world while down here. And she deserves to have the time of her life, she and Trisha are amazing and had all of Blue Clover Eventing organized and packed for our most seamless mass exodus ever! Trisha will be making her 2013 debut at Sporting Days, then it is full speed ahead to the 1* at Virginia come May stay tuned for that adventure! Winston is already busy training for the 2* at Fair Hill this fall, he promises to turn right by then hahahaa. I have my fleet of beginner novice super stars ready and waiting to clean up at Paradise and Sporting Days, let me just warn the competition now! They are piloted by some ace students of mine, and we had a really positive cross country school at Sporting Days just yesterday. Each and every one of the exceed my expectations, and it is just too much fun when we have days like that! And you gotta have fun when you work as hard as we do. We do our best, you know pizza parties and wine while waiting for shippers at midnight; but at the end of the day we are some pretty lucky people and we know it. Can't wait for all of our other people to get down here and join in on the festivities!

Horse Holiday!

Hunting with The Tedworth

Hello All, and yes, I am still alive, thriving even, after my fantastic trip to England! I know, I know, it is hard to believe that I chose to spend Christmas and New Years on a horse rather than on a beach somewhere. Though I did have a fantastic time at Danny Warrington's house in the Keys in the beginning of December you should ask him about it next time you see him. But, I digress. 

All That Jazz barely visible for our ride!

I got to spend 10 fabulous days in England doing all things horses. I now understand what Linda and the others were talking about with all of the rain leading up to the Olympics. I wore my signature sunglasses twice, for a total of 15 minutes, during my entire stay lol. I am sorry that I didn't get a picture for the girls, I seem to repel dirt in the US (now that I have completely jinxed myself the next time I put on my best white show britches) and I guarantee you that my riding clothes have never seen that kind of mud in their lifetime. I was unrecognizable! That being said, it was much warmer there than in Davidsonville MD, which upon my return reminded me exactly why I pack for Aiken earlier and earlier every year! I stayed with good friends at Biddesden, and while I didn't know exactly what I was in for, I was willing and able! They didn't disappoint, I got to the house at 1130 Sunday morning, in time for a 12 o'clock drinks party, a 1 o'clock luncheon, and then I was on my first horse, a lovely type named All That Jazz, and rode until dark! A girl could really get used to this. In fact, a girl really DID get used to this!

The eventer, and well really horseman, in me idolizes everything England. Yards and stables (never managed to get the lingo down my apologies as an ethnocentric American) are quaint and workmanlike, all tucked into the landscape. In fact I rode for hours and hours and never saw the uninterrupted countryside scarred with McMansions! Everyone has a walker and a gallop; but not an indoor which I think speaks volumes. Horses were rugged with 8 blankets and outside being horses. It was a little shocking at first all of the riding on the roads, during my days as a whipper-in I used to hold my breath any time I had to cross asphalt especially that shiny slipper kind. Yet, on Christmas day I took part in the traditional ride into the village. How fun! We decorated horses and rode, some humans in costume, into town and all around - I will be prepared next time and pack accordingly! One of my favorite rides of the trip was on a 3 year old named Sorbet. We weren't five minutes away from the yard, on the road, when all of these loose sheep start leaping down the banks and crossing the road and scurrying up the other side as though they were fabled Irish fox hunters. Finn, head honcho of Biddesden and one of my most favorite people in the whole world, continues riding on his lovely hunter and carrying the conversation. Meanwhile, I'm trying to gather handfuls of breastplate AND neck strap with my left hand, bracing for impact, not sure if I'm going to use my dressage whip on my horse or the sheep. I think Sorbet was too shocked to react hahaha, actually he's just a really nice horse like all of them at Biddesden.

Cruising in style in a lorry.

My hosts did look kindly upon me for my hunting mounts, for which I am grateful. The entire experience was so shockingly different from the US in the best of ways. I freaked out for a week about what attire to pack - and at the end of the day who the hell cared you were muddy and bloody and smiling and that's all that really counts! Just getting to the meet was half the battle. Riding in the lorry was much different than rolling in with the dually and a 6 horse, though I suppose the lorry is much easier to fit in the pub parking lot? 
I was absolutely spoiled the last time I went, sitting on none other than Tamarillo's full sister and an Intermediate horse in her own right. Hunting was really a humbling experience. A rude awakening for me - galloping thru this muck that I wouldn't even WALK an Intermediate horse thru hahahah and I am focusing in this completely Jedi mindset that I will stay upright winging around thru the woods. I'm giving myself a pep talk - like I'm an advanced level eventer and I could be teaching all of these other riders and I'm on this awesome horse, I got this - and my thoughts are completely interrupted by this 10 year old kid on a pony that goes zinging by me thinking 'piss off lady you are going too slow.' Awesome. There was a bit of pressure, I feel, as though I was representing my country or something. Too bad I didn't get that chance in London just a few months earlier; but hey I'll take what I can get. I jumped everything, even complete and utter larking at times, because everyone was watching to see if the American would do it. So thank you lovely chestnut mare for packing my ass around and making me look like I knew what I was doing somehow jumping these massive hedge things out of bottomless muck. 

Our ride to the village Christmas morning.

There were some casualties to keep all of you entertained, no worries. So we went on this fabulous hunt Saturday, New Years on Monday. The horses at the beginning are a little amped, as you can imagine, and my dear friend Rebecca rides up after being MIA for a bit. I'm distracted by all of the blood on her stock tie. And then I'm noticing it on her gloves and then I'm freaking out looking at it all over her face courtesy of a busted nose. Once she convinced me she was as okay as one could be at this point, I found myself sitting even more in the backseat and grateful that my horse was equipped with a martingale. Well, fast forward to a little later during the ride when we negotiate what I can best describe as a sunken road exercise with low hanging branches. My feisty lady did not appreciate the traffic jam, and in a way that I can only appreciate decided to take matters into her own hands (yes, we got along fabulously as I knew exactly where she was coming from). Unfortunately I was required to make a split second decision to avoid decapitation that resulted in my face mashing into her poll at an alarming rate of speed. I was certain I was spitting teeth into my gloves, so when that didn't happen I was momentarily relieved. The damage was done, however, and adding insult to injury it is extremely painful and awkward to nip off of a flask with a busted lip! And let me tell you, I was H.O.T. for New Years amongst the fashion elite of London! A heartfelt thank you to everyone who talked to me and talked yourselves out of staring uncontrollably at my lip wondering what kind of disease I had lol.

He's sexy and he knows it!

Being with the cool kids, I got to meet some fabulous people, see some pretty A OK things, though perhaps one of the highlight introductions was when I got to rub elbows with Tamarillo! By far the most famous Biddesden horse and to which all others will be forever compared I'm certain. He is a total mint-monger, as you can see him still begging and licking his lips in the picture above. He is as cool as you would expect him to be, like every other multiple 4* winner who deserves to spend his life eating grass and mints and hazing the newbies. Now 20 or 21 I can't remember, we pulled him out of the field where he's retired at WFPs and he still looks better than horses that I see running around at Prelim! Tam confirmed everything classy about eventing and the amazing horses that we are lucky enough to have in our lives. I could have stared at his eye for an hour, sounds kinda creepy as I reread that; but I know all of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Who woulda thought that I would take a vacation from horses by going and spending time with more horses. Hell, I rode horses without pay for 10 days!!!!! and I'd do it all over again. I didn't come home and ride on the road, I mean let's not be crazy; but I did jump yesterday outside in the rain just on principle :)
 

Midsouth Mishap

Poor little Winston is still wondering what happened at Midsouth lol. Thanks to EN for taking and posting the above picture. I'm happy to report that we were the Best Presented for the CCI* and there is usually a price to pay for all of that fashion and beauty! For Trisha and Winston, it means numerous baths at all times of the day during all different temperatures poor grey pony! And for me, I was limping during my practice jog due to a rock in my cute little blinged-out flats! Luckily I had just enough time to take care of that matter while Winston kept his eye on the line. The ground jury does not appreciate a fashionably late appearance!

This was my first time competing at Midsouth and I was very impressed. The secretary and her crew were very friendly and accommodating, the judging was great, the Kentucky Horse Park was fabulous as always. It has been a long time since I went to an event for the first time, I hope that Winston and I have a lot of those ahead of us like major 3 days across the pond! So good to get used to all of that now! The atmosphere was fun, the show was oversubscribed and you could tell this was the highlight and grand finale of everyone's season.

Friday I had a fairly early dressage although that proved to be lucky because the winds kept picking up and the temperatures kept going down all day! Winston was not totally thrilled with the dressage complex, I hope that he enjoys the Main Arena when he heads back for Rolex ha ha ha but seriously! The walk to get there made you feel very disconnected from the show, stabling, everything. He really liked his workouts in the arenas right next to the barns, and the footing there was fabulous. Unfortunately, however, that's not where dressage was set up. We had to hack a good 10 minutes past the killer Budweiser Clydesdales, or at least Winston was convinced they were carnivorous. He saw two of them in bright red blankets grooming each other and I thought he was going to absolutely lose his mind! What was even worse was trying to walk past their giant semis, also red but with larger than life sized pictures and paintings of the Clydesdales all along the sides. I honestly think he thought they were alive and the poor guy had nervous breakdowns every time he had to go past them! Sadly what Winston didn't realize was, the worse he was the more he had to do it. I had ridden him quite a few times by the time we went down the centerline. He held it together, not only for the best test we have done so far BUT I received a personal best score ever at an FEI competition! I can only imagine what we could have done if he was really relaxed and happy in the dressage area! 

Saturday came quickly and with some pretty good footing for cross country. We could have used even more rain on Friday afternoon; I say that of course as someone who did her dressage Friday morning lol. The course was I think a true championship CCI test. There were quite a few questions where the direct line and striding was VERY forward like you needed to be on a 2* horse to get the 1* done. Lucky for me, that's the pony that showed up that morning! It was the best start to a course Winston and I have had, galloping straight and more or less taking me to the first few fences. There was an approach to the third that would save time; but risky for a left drifting animal which I have and on the way to it I knew already I could be aggressive and he was game. He was very brave at the first water which was also the first Rolex water this year. It was a big brush in to a bending line skinny. I was nervous about the striding and anxious to watch from warm up. I watched the first rider get a perfect half stride and fall. Awesome. Luckily Winston was right there to listen and we negotiated it handily. I angled the big open oxer at 6 which made us both feel bold and full of running. I paid for that at 7, the second water, where my Irish pony and I had some words over steering. But we came to an agreement in the nick of time for the big log drop in. Because I didn't get the shot in that I wanted, I had to add up on the direct line which was good of Winston to stay straight, then I had to kick like hell to get a nice jump off the bend to the corner on the way out. So proud of him, two months ago he never would have thought there would be a "B" or a "C" after the drop in! Your reward for negotiating the water were these massive hedges, three strides apart and they might have been some of the most significant feeling fences I have ever ridden. I kept telling myself that I was on an Irish fox hunter and surely he's seen something like this before. The pessimist in me said yes well there is probably a reason why he's no longer an Irish fox hunter and I sure hoped it had nothing to do with his inability to jump hedges! Winston jumped thru in his perfect form good boy! Then it was off to the coffin, another obstacle that I walked a trench into on Friday evening. We are new enough in our partnership that I could see so many lines and distances and options. At the end of the day, I went direct and my horse was awesome and he went scorching around that whole field really, felt like he was eating up the ground and galloping with a purpose for the first time since I have owned him. It was a great feeling! By the end, I was riding the direct lines with the forward distances just coming right up and Winston was being such a real cross country horse, honest and looking for his next fence and giving you the feeling that he was going to get the job done. A big thank you to Trisha and Kendall for getting him cooled out so quickly and professionally after this huge effort!

Sunday was a day I think I would almost rather forget :P The highlight was my mom was there to watch me ride for the first time since 2006. It was really fun and special having her there. I had a rail in hand and was pretty confident I would be coming home the USEF 1* National Champion. Winston is a phenomenal show jumper and has had a rail I think total in all of my competitions with him. The track was fairly straight forward. The footing not so great; but I'm on a nimble Irish horse is what I told myself. The rails weren't terribly bright nor the fences decorated; but Winston is such a careful jumper I figured he would still hold himself off pretty well. I had a wild man in warm up, didn't see that coming, he started off fine and then got so fired up watching the novice horses run out on the cross country course! He was jumping well in warm up although a big exuberantly to say the least. I never thought for a moment that he was tired; but hindsight is always 20/20 and on Monday and Tuesday I watched him eat grass while laying down in his paddock! Anyway, it wasn't like things were going terribly; but I know my horse well enough to know that he wasn't firing off the ground and leaving a foot to spare as is his usual style. I was keeping it together enough until the triple, 9ABC and 10, the final fence. I got in weak to 9A and a little tight and rather than be able to wrap around it, Winston had the rail. He jumped out well but again not like I know he can. So I make my approach to the final fence which was a vertical plank. I told myself that I needed to give him a gap, that's how he is more comfortable and that's where he preferred to jump from when we bought him. We've been working so much on that however, and I'm afraid only half finished our work! So when I went to move him up for the gap, he was totally panicked and thinking that he had to get closer and wrap around the jump. So we came to a screeching halt. It was awful, I don't know if the crowd gasped or if I just imagined it although I think it was a little of both. We came back around and I just more or less stuffed him over it and he had the rail. 

And that was that. From winning to right out of the Top Ten in the blink of an eye! I was so sad for everyone, everyone at Greyside who made this horse possible, for Trisha and Stacy who deserved to have a winning horse because they certainly make him look that way all the time! I was sad for myself and my mom. I felt like I let Karen down. The first half of the drive home felt like it lasted an eternity until I could pick myself up and enjoy the scenery (the drive this time of year was absolutely breathtaking with all of the changing of the leaves). I slowly but surely arrived at a philosophic and meaningful perspective. I had to laugh, the Best Presented award looked like a giant championship tri-color and the whole walk back to stabling I was getting stopped and congratulated by everyone who assumed we had won. Made me feel good that we at least looked like the winners lol. Winston tried to do everything he was supposed to do and I can say that I tried my best as well, and at the end of the day that is pretty much all you can do. Our sport is a very humbling one to say the least. I hope that Winston and I got this miscommunication out of the way early on in our career so that we can be destined for great things in our future!

Best.Event.Ever.

Last week Plantation sent out a blast email referring to itself as the Best.Event.Ever. Well, close! I may be slightly biased since I was really happy with the way that Fernhill Whatever performed all weekend. That, combined with the fact that he was the only horse I took, made it feel like a bit of a vacation!

Plantation has come a long way in what seems like such a short time. The arena really does have spectacular footing and dresses up nicely with tents, classy dressage arenas, and beautiful show jumping fences like the wall pictured above! Stabling is very user friendly, and the shuttles up the massive hill are life savers (says the person with a dead minibike wah wah). It would be great if they made one truck lane so we felt like we knew we were allowed to drive up and back instead of stealth dashing here there and everywhere waiting to get busted by Dennis ha. The cross country course flowed so much better this year which is of course the reason we all came!

I'm sorry that Winston's owners didn't get a chance to visit the venue, there was a lot going on for spectators (I mean, mechanical bull riding!), a great vendor village, fair food, all the finer things in life. The weather was incredible. This year I packed a jog outfit appropriate for a freezing cold morning! It still didn't stop me from getting trotted off the jog strip. They do need to give the GJ somewhere to stand other than up against the bushes, as I was not the first nor the last combination to take out the mums and leap off the ledge away from the scary judges! Trisha was the main beneficiary of their absence and ate and drank their fair share up at the Sponsors Tent. But she deserved it! She is an amazing worker, a fun person to spend a weekend with, and makes my grey pony sparkle!

Luckily Winston wasn't very scared of the judges in the dressage, he put in a lovely, relaxed test that was fairly accurate. I was SO thankful to have Karen back in my life lol but seriously just knowing that she is there watching and answering important questions for me like Do I go inside or outside of the tree??? is so reassuring! Even if my way of showing it is by crashing thru the 2' oxer in show jumping warm up but we won't really talk about that. Focusing back on the sandbox, if I had it to do all over again I would have liked to pump up my trot a bit more, and I will be working on that tomorrow in my Linda lesson! Feeling confident in my counter cantering skills on the big guy now at least.

Saturday was a beautiful day for cross country and we got to go first yay! I'm starting to think a little like Winston, building a partnership so I know what is going to be the best approach and option for Winston specifically. After the first minute I felt like my steering really clicked in, and it was by far the most positive and forward cross country ride to date. He was great at both waters, and the first water was certainly spooky with the white rails in. He conquered Plantation's world famous elephant trap so we can check that off the list :) I must admit that everything was really quite pleasant. One more round like that to prove it was skills and not luck and I declare us ready for Intermediate!

Show jumping was a bit the same story. I know him well enough now that I was confident about the distances I wanted to do in the lines, and Karen was very helpful with the technicalities of my turns and what shots I needed into the combinations. For the most part, I was very pleased. Winston jumped very straight and was very game without being obnoxious after a fast and clean show jumping round. I was too aggressive getting the forward 6 done in the first line, ended up pulling the last two strides and an inverted horse equals a rail at a square oxer - these things I know! I promise to do better next time!

And I'm very excited that the next time will be the Preliminary Championships at Morven Park, and then it is off to the MidSouth CCI*. Never been there for that and am really looking forward to it, should feel like a proper test. Many thanks again to Greyside for giving me the opportunity to campaign such a lovely animal. I am really looking forward to a strong finish to our first season together, and for all of the fun things to come in 2013!

Fun at Five Points

Photo credit High Time Photography

Fernhill Whatever was really looking forward to whatever came next on his cross country course! And I am looking forward to a big future with "Winston" to say the least! We had a great time at Five Points last weekend, it was a big Blue Clover Eventing trip since there doesn't appear to be a Fair Hill in our fall wah wah; but I'd say a good time was had by all. Lucky for all of us, Stacy's parents own a condo in Southern Pines and we were living the life of luxury let me tell you. Most excited was the lercher, of course, having an actual floor to sleep on and not reside in the truck for the evening - we all know he prefers the couch but let's not get crazy :)

Horses traveled well and we went straight to dressage-ing on Friday afternoon. I wish I was a bit more prepared, the past few years I've gotten there via Aiken and so I didn't have my food and diesel stops mapped out along the way ha we arrived hungry and without Diet Coke egads! I have only been to the Carolina Horse Park for Southern Pines II and the dressage pad looked so big, only having to hold 3 arenas instead of the crazy 7 or 8 that I'm used to seeing. The atmosphere however was still apparent and all but Tanner had to get ridden down a bit. Good old Tanner, that's precisely why he was Alex's Beginner Novice Rider super star:

There really wasn't much time to dwell on our dressage on Saturday, which is too bad because we were all great! Bailey and Trisha put in the best performance they have had yet, from the moment she stepped in warm up you knew it was going to be good and it was, had them second by the smallest of margins. I was also pleased with Brew, he had a bit of a nervous breakdown at the dressage pad at Richland. And now, after one away show, he is obviously the seasoned competitor because he put it a very relaxed and steady test. Unfortunately it was a bit like the AECs, if you don't get in the teens at Training you aren't in the top ten poor guy! I don't suppose that Brew much cares, however, and he was the first to go of our crew around the cross country course. Half way around I was telling myself that he really needs to move up to Prelim because this was too easy for him. Then I realized what I was saying and I started to focus on what the bleep I was doing before I buried us at a table or something ha. Really though, he cruised thru the water which I think was by far the hardest part of the training, felt like SP II and he cruised in and out and grabbed the bit and took off for the infield. Good pony! Also grabbing the bit was Winston, not always in a great way lol but I did need to be speedy because we were tied for 3rd after dressage. He is such a lovely horse; but I was afraid to do too much with him as he is still lacking fitness after his trip over here and he ran cross country barely an hour after his dressage. I was a little disappointed in the Prelim cross country, I thought the course had some punishing, random turns to it and it lacked the flow that I'm used to feeling there. At least we had our straightness down, he was locked on to the middle of every combination which was my goal. I'm sorry that I didn't meet more of my fences in a positive way and so at Prelim we will stay and do the 1* at Plantation. Trisha and Bailey did an excellent job of  being positive their entire way around, this was a  big course for The B and we didn't know what to expect out of him having to gallop thru and jump out of the barn! He was great and they were the fastest of the Prelim Riders and gave themselves a rail in hand going into the jumping, always a great feeling. We ended Saturday on a super note, Alex and Tanner put in a lovely, boring BN run and managed to get us all finished and on our way to dinner before a massive storm rolled in!

Sunday was a bit hit or miss I'm not gonna lie. Good news was, Stacy and Trisha were packing genius' and we were outta there like a well oiled machine. Good news was my round on Winston, which I declare our best to date by far, it was a lovely double clear well inside the time and every time I looked for a fence there it was. Second weekend in a row he's been 3rd, means he's been saving his win for the CIC* at Plantation! Good news was Alex's double clear on Tanner let her secure a second place! Good news was I managed to stay on Brew when I fell asleep at the wheel at the combination and ran his poor little grey legs right thru it. Good news was Trisha managed to fall next to and not in to the cactus when Bailey jumped her out of the tack at fence 8. 

Good news is, we are off to Plantation and then Morven and then who knows where the rest of the season is going to take us!

Richland Recap

How can you not love Richland Park?? One of my favorite events of the year, totally worth the 11 hour drive thru the nite with a very stinky lercher in the truck. Not sure that everyone else in the truck agreed since it was, after all, my lercher lol. Nonetheless, I do declare a good time was had by all! A huge thanks to Richard who had the yick shift of driving from 11 - 3, and Trisha had such mad packing and unpacking skills (or was it the numerous lattes??) that we were in and out of there in record time. I am one lucky girl! And a big thanks to everyone involved with that horse trials. I learned that they had been watering the grounds for 8 weeks prior to our arrival - unreal. And the corn was once again a highlight of the competitor's party :)

We spent some of that 11 hour drive coming up with a barn name for Fernhill Whatever, now officially referred to unofficially as Winston. I guess it was the moment he was waiting for, having a name and all, as it was his best competition to date here in the US, finishing a strong 3rd in a very big, very tough OP division. For a moment I thought disaster was upon us as soon as the counter canter practice began in warm up. Starting to learn his changes, he really does not appreciate the loops in Prelim Test B! He managed to put in a lovely, relaxed test and was rewarded by the judge. So nice when that happens! Cross country the pressure was on to go clean and fast, which means we had to steer! I had a lesson - FINALLY -  with Karen lol and it was just the kick in the you know what that I needed to start making him my horse. I got to jump a few oxers with David once there to make sure I didn't leave any skills back in MD. Luckily, not the case! He was super and finished well under the time looking for more. I was especially pleased with the water, as a run out at the corner had plagued me the weekend before at Waredaca. This time, we were picture perfect! I do hope, speaking of which, that the photographers were at the Key Hole - Winston ducked his head and pinned his ears back to make sure he was going to fit. So cute! Show jumping was challenging as always out on the rolling hills. I had a rail, I repeat I had a rail, placings didn't change luckily and we finished the weekend feeling very excited about the future. I will be ready for a clean round this weekend at Five Points and hopefully a blue as well!

Brew would like to take this moment to remind everyone that he did finish 4th in a very tough Training Horse division! He absolutely fought his way up from an undeserved dressage score, it is what we love about that little guy. Quite the spirit that one has! Unfortunately it did get him a little rattled in the dressage; but this was a huge trip in the world of Brew. It is a great feeling in show jumping to know that you are going to leave up all of the rails, I don't know how he does it; but you can get the Brewster to a vertical upside down and backwards and he still jumps it with room to spare. (Knock wood prior to my jumping round this weekend at Five Points, please, that I haven't gotten him upside down and backwards too many times.) Cross country was a pretty similar feeling. I thought the training level was big but fair and inviting, and Brew flew around, certainly rising to the occasion of being in company of 3* horses! Let's hope he has an even better finish this weekend at Southern Pines!

Millbrook 2012

All in all I'd have to declare Millbrook 2012 to be a big success even if we didn't come home with any blue ribbons. Millbrook is one of my favorite events of the year, and obviously I was just a little excited to get to ship up there with the new Fernhill Whatever entered in the Open Prelim. Felix Brew Trisha and Gunsmoke were all along for the ride as well. And I cannot forget to mention the Birthday Boy - Richard - who got to ? celebrate ? on Sunday by packing us up in a flash before the skies opened up! Not sure what we would have done without him, Trisha got her arm yanked out of the socket quite literally on Friday and even thru her stubborn denials it was clear that she was in pain. Luckily we had guest working student Catherine helping us out all weekend as well, although her main job was to try to keep Trisha under control and not working too hard! She did a great job, I am so lucky to be surrounded by such great people. And ponies. So more on that!

Millbrook continues to run a fantastic event, I was excited to see the new water complex and I will be more excited to see what they have in store for us next year now that they have the basic layout. The fence and rocks around the water in my area of tent stabling was fantastic, and we refrained from harming those few jerks who still tried to hose off their horses in the blatantly marked "BUCKET BATHING ONLY" area. I was impressed by the fact that the food tent carried a wide variety of tea - I live so constantly discriminated against as a non-coffee drinker ha ha ha - however my big complaint of the weekend is their thought that food and caffeine are not necessary before 730 at a competition!!! aaahhhh!!!!!

If this is my biggest complaint of the weekend, however, I'd say they are doing everything right. And they pretty much are. We had an interesting beginning to the competition, Felix put in a fantastic test and the judge was just a little stingy in the marks department for the entire division. It was still good enough to be his sales footage, so anyone in the market for a nice upper level prospect currently competing at training level, go ahead and check out the For Sale page on my website! Brew let his nerves get the better of him crossing the road to the big main arena. He was accurate and obedient; but obviously not super relaxed. We are still trying to name poor Fernhill Whatever, so you will just have to bear with me, Whatever was lovely in the dressage although unfortunately the judge did not reward him for his flying changes in the preliminary counter canter movements. Poor guy thought he was doing everything right and kept trying to change. His walk and trot were beautiful, not an ounce of tension, so we have some work to do there! I declare, however, the biggest victory of the weekend to be the fact that I walked all horses back unharmed without having to use the alternate route to stabling lol.

We don't think they had these little fellas back in Ireland for Fernhill Whatever!


Cross country was also a bit hit or miss, fact finding shall we say. Felix had an absolutely brilliant start, his personal best by far, and the tracks really flowed I believe on all levels. He got a little rattled by the loop around the new water complex; I slowed down a touch and we ended strong. I then went out on a mission on Brew knowing time was hard to make and ran my little Ferrari like an Intermediate horse. Poor Brew Brew. He had a fly by at 16, I honestly don't even think he knew he was presented to the fence even though I was trying to get him there off of a very tight turn trying to shave off seconds on the last part of the course. Completely idiot mistake and I hope he forgives me. Whatever and I also had a few mistakes. His fitness is so much better, finally getting over his trip and starting to adjust to the heat and humidity and so I went buzzing off out of the start box. He's such a light and sensitive horse in so many ways, that I could hardly believe my lack of detailed steering went I got to the combination at 5. I felt like a bit of a pony clubber pulling on a rein to make a turn and there he went straight ahead just staring at the ditch and flying over it without giving any consideration to the angles rails one stride later. Hmm. We will have a little schooling session involving me, Whatever, and my bit bucket early next week!

I was very proud of how all my boys handled the hustle and bustle of Millbrook show jumping. Felix was excellent, put in the quietest, most focused round yet. We had a cheap rail in the triple, he was trying to make sure he had enough room in the one stride that he came down just a touch too early. I will never fault him for trying to be too careful and jumping too big! Brew was back to his normal go go bunny self and it was a good thing. They were running behind and we grossly over-calculated my adjusted time. I got into warm up on deck! I picked up a canter and jumped the oxer a few times and Brew acted like this was completely normal, went in and jumped a beautiful clear round. Way to go Brew Brew! Whatever also had a beautiful round. Time was quite tight and you really had to go for it and I was slightly nervous that I was going to have a loss of steering; but I went with the same bit that I used on cross country and bigger spurs and had no issues. So that's good and bad :) I will get the pedals figured out soon enough in the jumping department, he has this giant stride this is so casual all at the same time, and he is so careful. I am a lucky girl to have the ride on such a lovely horse, so I've put quite a bit of pressure on myself to figure out this ride quickly. 

We are gearing up for a big end to the month, Waredaca and then Richland. Yay! Hope to see everyone there! Everyone knows that Kalamazoo is the place to be at the end of August.