The Red Baron wins his first ON

It was a red hot day at the Wednesday Sporting Days event in Aiken, SC but my ride and my students ride was well worth the day in the sun! Rudy aka The Red Baron completed his first novice level event, scoring a 29.0 in dressage and jumping lovely clear rounds in show jumping and cross country. This little guy is quite the character and has been a joy to have in the barn. He'll do one more novice while he is here in Aiken and then he will return to Port Deposit in April. At that point we'll do another novice if he needs the experience but at this rate we might see him in the training class at Fair Hill!

John Nunn came over to compete his lovely young horse, Smile Like you Mean It. John, the owner of our favorite tack store, Bit of Britain, is a life long horseman that is just getting "back in the tack" after a bit of a hiatus. Smiley is one of the loveliest off the track TB's that I've seen and John has done a great job giving Smiley the time and education that he needs to learn that eventing is supposed to be a calmer more peaceful sport than racing :) Today Smiley didnt show any tension or nervousness in the dressage and very safely jumped all his jumps. John has a novice at Southern Pines and then will be back in Md. Smiley, John and I had a great time together here in Aiken and I'm excited for our continued efforts back at home.

Pine Top Advanced Horse Trials

"I survived 2009 Advanced Horse Trials at Pine Top!"
That's what the T-shirts say and that's how I feel! Thomson, Georgia had an incredible amount of rain Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Luckily the sand ground held up to these storms remarkably well and the show management made some safe choices about how to proceed with the running of the event.

Advanced did dressage and show jumping on Friday; This was the first ever dressage test for both Charly and I with flying changes, I think both of us were anxious to see how that worked out and both happy to have the first one out of the way! It was truly pouring rain during our show jumping but that didn't stop Charly from sailing through the air over each of the fences, it did have me a bit apprehensive about making the inside turns so we incurred a few time faults but no jump faults.

I rode an Intermediate horse on Saturday, Toast of Manhatten (owned by Liz Patrick of Waters Edge Farm) and he had to deal with even more rain than Charly did. This horse has improved by leaps and bounds and was a bit shorted on Saturday for his dressage efforts but he'll be out again at Southern Pines to show off some of his new skills. Manhatten is the true meaning of a "mudder" he cantered around his show jumping course in the downpour without any studs and didn't miss a beat. Manhatten didn't get to run cross country as the management decided that only Advanced would go on Sunday after a horrible storm throughout Saturday evening.

Charly and I headed out for our first ever Advanced cross country in yet again another downpour. There were some really big fences and a few definite advanced questions, Charly was so smart about all of it, he hasn't forgotten a thing from last season. The courses footing actually held up quite well, there was just standing water on about 70% of the course. I've never been hunting in Ireland but I suppose this is a bit what it's like. My main objective for the weekend was to give both Charly and myself confidence at this level and gives us a good place to start out for the rest of our endeavors. Despite the weather I think we did just that. :)

United States Equestrian Team Developing Rider's Training Session week 1

Being put on the developing riders list for 2009 was exciting in itself but partaking in the experience was really a dream come true. Everyone always asks what my goals are, in reality I've always just wanted to become better than I was the day before, the competition before and train my current horse with more style than the last one. Then there is always that peep of conversation my dad and I had when I was 8 years old.... My dad always said that one day I'd be good enough to ride for the USET, my dad was a very smart man!

Captain Mark Phillips was the coach for the entire week, he trained the "Training List" riders and the "Developing Riders list". Our first session was at Paradise Farm in Aiken, SC. This day was focused to fine tuning your cross country position, aids, and mental strength! This was Charly's first go at some cross country schooling exercises for the year so I was a bit apprehensive as to how he'd behave, I was very pleasantly surprised and had a fantastic school.

The rest of the sessions were held at Three Runs Plantation, a new equestrian housing development in Aiken, SC. Three Runs really treated us well, the footing was phenomenal, everyone was very friendly, and they held a great brunch for the riders and spectators.

Mark worked with Charly and I a total of 4 times. After the cross country schooling we then proceeded to flat sessions; Mark really like Charly's presence and movement but thought that we could work a little on submissiveness! No more being a bully! I thought this was a fabulous idea and was really impressed with how much we got done in the couple of days. Charly and I ended our last session getting to do two show jump rounds. Mark had a course set up that was HUGE. The idea of the jump school was to be very accurate with how the horse was ridden to each jump, and to dare myself and the horse to get quite close to each fence so that he really had to give a good bascule over the top.

Mark will be coming back over to the US in March and Charly and I have been invited back to his next set of training sessions :)

Charly starts off 2009 with style!

Havarah's Charly is back at it! We competed at Pine Top in the Intermediate on Saturday, his first event of the season. Charly is normally pretty difficult to ride in the short court arenas, but this year he was so much better and more rideable. He scored a 28.3 which put him in the lead of a very impressive class. If Charly could smile he would have had a grin from ear to ear as he flew over each of the show jumps, I saw his picture and he was nearly to the top of the standards! Pine Top is a great place and I can't wait to go back at the end of the month and take Charly out on the XC. Charly has only just gotten back to jumping this year and I didn't want to push things taking him XC this weekend. Charly was withdrawn from the competition after SJ so that he will be fresh and ready for our week with the developing riders training sessions.

I had a second ride at Pine Top. A horse named Toast of Manhattan; This horse has come a long way in just the few weeks I've been riding him, I think he has a lot of un-tapped potential and am excited for his cross country run today :)

WEBSITE!!!

Just wanted to let you all know that I now have a website and would love for you all to check it out! I plan to keep it up-dated and would love for you to visit it often :)
Web design credits and thanks to Bryce Kinnamon!

www.mollyrosin.com

Aiken- week 2

Greetings from the south!

Charly and I are on our second week at "Maple Hill South"; this is the farm Charly and the other horses I have in training are staying at while we are in Aiken. Peter Barry and his family have out-done themselves with this facility and with their kindness having us here.

Last Friday Charly had his first jump school of the season, saying that he felt like he was king kong was an understatement. Usually when horses come off of a big three day event they either are a bit intimidated the next time they start up, or very proud of themselves. Charly was definitely confident in his ability! This week has been very exciting; Tuesday was the first day that Charly and I worked on our "changes", Charly thought this was a pretty cool new game and was very good with his hind end. (often horses change late behind, but luckily... so far at least, this doesn't seem to be a problem) We then had our second jump school on Wednesday and Charly and I were back in the game as the saying goes. He felt phenomenal, after not jumping him for awhile you forget the good feeling that he gives you over a fence. Both of these rides were very early in the morning and I felt like we were in some sort of movie as we set off on a trail ride before dawn to get over to our lesson site, interestingly enough Charly seemed to really enjoy his early morning workouts.

Charly has adapted to his routine here very well, he enjoys tormenting his young pasture friend, who luckily allows Charly to boss him around and thankfully doesn't give back any "hoof"! This weekend will be his first outing at a competition. We are going to "Pine Top" which is about an hour and a half from where we stay. Charly will definitely do dressage and then Boyd and I are going to discuss the course and decide what is best for Charly at that point. Next week we have a pretty full plate with the Developing riders training sessions. Cross country schooling with Mark Phillips on Wednesday, then dressage lessons and maybe a show jump lesson.

Aiken is an incredible place to be for anyone wanting to do horse stuff, and more horse stuff. Every week there are shows within 15 minutes to a couple hours away; cross country schoolings, derby's, dressage schooling shows, training sessions and regular events. I've been busy with the other rides in the barn which include a few young horses starting their eventing careers and an Intermediate event horse that is here to tune up his dressage and show jumping skills. The Red Baron is one of the young ones and he helped start off my season on a good note with a win at his first ever event :)

Hope you are all well and staying warm, come visit!

Aiken- week 1

My first four days here in Aiken have been a wonderful whirlwind! I arrived very late Sunday night to a gorgeous facility owned by Peter Barry. The next day I was kept busy from sun up to sun down, un-packing and organizing tack, feed, and equipment for the four horses that came with me and then meeting the 5th horse that arrived late Monday evening. I did, however, manage to meet Katie, my new roomate, the two of us are living in a double wide half a mile down the street from the horses 4 star accomadations! I have my priorities straight! Oh and I also took my first hack in Aiken; Charly and I followed Peter, Coleen and Alexandra over to Phillip Duttons to watch them in their jump lessons and learn the paths.

Tuesday was a bit of a learning curve figuring out which horses to turn out together and when. Everything worked itself out and now everyone has great buddies and neighbors and a schedule that suits them. That day we finished getting all of the 5th horses stuff settled and managed to get everyone ridden!

Wednesday was a nice lovely day with 20 degree weather and a wind chill that made it feel like 14 degree weather. I made it over to Full Gallop farm to watch the horse trials, but after a half hour decided to head back to our barn and ride in hopes of warming up!

Thursday was again a busy day, John Nunn and I unloaded an entire truck load of hay and then went cross country schooling. His young horse, Smiley, and Lynn's young horse, Rudy, both were total champions. I was very impressed with how well John and Smiley are doing in considerations of Smiley's greeness and extremely pleased with how easy going and smart Rudy is.

Today Charly and Manhatten (Liz Patrick's horse that I'll be competing this month) are heading over to have a jump school with Boyd Martin.... Then I believe there'll be some body clipping going on this weekend in preparation for the 70 degree weather that's supposedly soon to come!

Aiken preparation

Charly and the team are down to the last few days of withstanding the cold winter in Maryland before our trip down to Aiken, SC for February and March. Yesterday the accumulation of snow from the preceeding storm had a frozen layer of rain on the top and the entire countryside looked like one big ice skating arena. I spent the day running errands and organizing my rig and felt pretty accomplished...I then took things one step too far and attempted to hook up the trailer...oops! Luckily there were a few very friendly people with big trucks around! Bubba got pulled out, stayed hooked up while getting hooked up to the trailer and THEN pulled up and out the driveway! PHEW. It was nice to have help and get that done, but I really REALLY need to work on getting a 4wd truck.

Charly has a few friends coming on the road trip with us. A lovely mare named ULLA (sale horse), Manhatten (an Intermediate horse I'll be competing in Feb) and Smiley (John Nunn's young horse). Once I'm down and settled in there will be 1-3 more horses arriving; SO if you're looking for a few fun months in Aiken, I'd love a working student :)

Nunn Finer

I am proud to announce that I'll be a Nunn Finer sponsored rider for 2009!

Nunn Finer products are offered through Bit of Britain (www.bitofbritain.com) and many other tack stores throughout the United States; the company produces products that us eventers really need! They have very good quality bridles, breastplates, girths, boots and more.

Nunn Finer riders will be holding free course walks at events throughout the United States with Nunn Finer sponsored riders, I believe I'll be doing some course walks come Fall. Usually each event has a flyer up near the score board, definitely try to take advantage of this great opportunity!

Thank you Nunn Finer!

Waters Edge Farm

Waters Edge Farm in Sykesville, Md

This farm is owned by Liz Patrick and right in the heart of Maryland eventing... did I mention it has a beautiful new barn with bedrooms and a kitchen upstairs? There's a big outdoor, an indoor some cross country jumps, trails, pastures and soon to be lots of clinics with me! The Waters Edge clinics are open for riders to haul in, stay over or just to come watch. I'm excited to meet and help out a new group of riders. I can't wait to see all the things we can do at this lovely facility. www.watersedgefarmllc.com

For information on boarding or my up-coming 2009 clinics please contact
Liz Patrick
watersedge6150@aol.com
410.303.6940

Winter break...

Go Ravens! I just went to my first east coast Football game; the Ravens fans are un-real! I have never seen so many jersey's in one stadium ever before, they say it's one of the loudest stadiums in the country. We had a great wide angle view of the field, and were lucky enough to have good weather.... great night....thanks Bryce!

Charly and I are in our initial stages of winter training trying to beat the cold weather and ride out on good days and hurry to the indoor on colder days. Charly is doing really well in his work, right now everything is about setting a solid foundation, lots of walking and trotting. I think Charly grew another foot lengthwise, he loves his stretching! Charly and I will be staying in Maryland for another few weeks and then off to train in Aiken, SC for the rest of the winter to prepare for the Spring events and take advantage of a few competitions early on out there.

RIP Francis Louise Smith

The following excerpt is shared with us from Kelcey Collins, one of the California Havarah girls. Kelcey's grandmother shared her passion for horses and was a fantastic supporter of Kelcey and all the Havarah riders. We will all miss Louise. Thanks for sharing Kelcey!


My grandma, Francis Louise Smith

passed away Nov,17th 2008. She and Tom Smith her husband of more
than 50 years purchased a horse for me when
I was in 8th grade after growing out of my leased pony. Three
day eventing has always been my passion, and without my
grandparents help, I might have never been able to have my own
horse and do what I love best. My grandma LOVED George ( My
faithful Paint Horse gone "eventer"), and often times loved to
spoil him with carrots she would purchase at the market. As I
continue to ride, I cant help but feel my grandma looking down
upon me
enjoying every moment of the partnership that I share with the
horse SHE bought for me.

" Grandma there is not a day that passes that i dont think of you.
However, each day out at the barn, I cant help but feel you
sneaking carrots over my should to George. Cancer slowed your body,
but it NEVER slowed your spirit.

California Clinics

Just preparing for my final trip out to California for 2008; Wed the 10th & Thursday the 11th will be at Stanford Equestrian Center; Friday the 12th will be in Clovis, Ca, Saturday and Sunday will be at Ram Tap for XC schooling.

New Email Address

molly@mollyrosin.com
My comcast email account has been deleted.

I also have a new snail mail account, it'll be a Baltimore, Md address. If you need it, send me an email request.
Happy Holidays!

Fresno Clinic / November Ram Tap

Some of my fondest memories from growing up are from the November Ram Tap in Fresno, Ca. It always seemed to be a great show, and a whole lot of fun. I may have just really liked the fact that Saturday night I got to go home to a full Thanksgiving meal full of great food and surrounded by friends and family.

This last weeks trip back to Fresno lived up to all my expectations; The weather was phenomenal, food was great at mom's T-day dinner which was well attended to, and my students all impressed me with their progress they've made throughout the year.

Our clinic was held over 4 days all out at Silver Rose Ranch (thank you Carol!!!). I once over heard one of the riders refer to it as boot camp. It was great having most of the riders be able to participate in each of the days, the progress I saw through each of them was remarkable. In fact, the beginner novice group was riding through a pretty hard coffin simulated exercise on Sunday... just ask them, it was quite impressive!

In the competition at Ram Tap, Havarah had three riders; Aubrey is our latest addition to the group and she completed her first event with only one rail added onto her dressage, Jestine rode her very cute "Pink Pony" and is definitely in contention for most improved of the year (they looked totally professional on the jump rounds and will be a dominating force in the dressage within a few more shows), and last but not least Kelcey had a very impressive weekend as she rode to give her grandmother the best last weekend she could've asked for! Kelcey's grandmother was extremely supportive of Kelcey and our entire Havarah group, she will be terribly missed.

Stanford Equestrian Center

On November 11th and 12th I had the pleasure of giving my first clinic at the lovely Stanford Equestrian Center in Palo Alto, Ca. Meg Finn has is the resident event trainer at this site and she did a great job organizing this clinic. Her students all did a terrific job and I think we are already planning our next clinic for the second week of December!

A Rising Star!!!

"Willing and Able" aka Thatch had his first big day in history, he finished #1 out of a big class in one of the Novice Horse divisions at the Plantation horse trials in Pennsylvania.

This horse full-fills his name, he is the most willing young horse I have had the pleasure to work with. This weekend he broke the 30's and received a 29.5 in his dressage and never took a mis-step after that. Thatch will soon be taking a long trailer ride back to California to unite with his now owner, Alyssa Hatai, and I'm sure we'll have many more exciting posts about this great little young horse.

California Clinics

November
11th and 12th at Stanford University
13th location TBA in the Fresno Valley area
14th-15th coaching at Ram Tap HT and lessons in the Fresno Valley area

December
3rd Stanford University
4th Fresno Valley area or Twin Rivers
5th XC schooling at Twin Rivers
6th coaching at the Twin Rivers Hunter/Jumper & Dressage show

contact Molly @ mollyrosin@comcast.net to reserve your spot

Waredaca Horse Trials and Three Day Event

Alyssa Hatai's lovely young horse "Willing and Able" executing a perfect halt at while I competed him at his second Novice event this last weekend at Waredaca.


Lauren Billys took Ballingowan Ginger to her first three day event, finishing 7th at the Waredaca Half Star in Laytonsville, Md. Lauren had a full summer of training; riding daily with myself and working for Breakaway Farm and Roddy Strang.

On my left is Charly's vet, Dr. Charles Arensburg. "Chuck" has been a huge part of Charly's success this year. Charly has been lucky to have a vet that is so interested in his success!

On my right is Bryce Kinnamon, one of Charly's shareholders and my fantastic boyfriend. Bryce has been a huge help before, during and after each of my competitions this year.... I am a lucky lucky girl! :)

Sunday at the Fair Hill International

I will remember this day forever. Charly and I have now completed our first CCI ** together; we did it at one of the best and toughest events in the world. This event is truly spectacular, I had a moment this morning (in between my 5 times of walking the show jumping course) to stop and look around at the beauty of this grand event.

Charly was light on his feet and very handsome for his final jog and the excitement kept rising for our ride to come. The course was one of the toughest tracks I have seen, big, long, and very well presented. Charly was at the very end of the two star, Boyd and I went over the "game plan" and then had some time to watch the earlier riders. Boyd's coach, Phillip Dutton, was also kind enough to discuss with me the way the course was riding and go over some course strategies. I felt very well prepared and knew that Charly was up for the challenge.

When Charly and I entered the arena the entire crowd was silent, the announcer started saying a bunch of stuff but I didn't hear any of it, I think I was seriously in my own world.... slightly focused! The rest is history, and I'm trying hard to leave it at that. Charly jumped great and we had one slightly off fence, a light rub of a pole and our CCI ** win vanished. It was really very heartbreaking. I think the world of this horse and was so excited to help get him this win. Charly still got to go in and accept a few ribbons, so I think he still feels like a winner; people might think I'm crazy, but I know that Charly understands he has done well when he gets to do the victory gallop. Charly received a blue for the best conditioned horse, a blue for the best dressage score and a white (4th) for the over-all placing in the CCI **.

I'd like to thank all of you that have been following us through this exciting weekend; Also a huge thanks to Silva, Boyd and Phillip for all of their great advice and endless support; and last but not least my support crew ..... you guys are the best!!!!

FH Pic's

Thursday at the Dansko Fair Hill International

I'm speechless! Today was everything I could've hoped for, well except for the microphone/loudspeaker problem that happened as I started my first shoulder in, but besides that... perfect! Charly and I scored a 46.2(roughly a 70%) which after the first day of dressage is good enough for first place. Fair Hill has done a lovely job creating this big time festival, the horses even have 24 hour security. At the end of the day I was involved in a "press release", so stay tuned to the USEA webite :)

Wednesday at the Dansko Fair Hill International

Charly and I got set-up today at the Fair Hill International Three Day Event; Charly had "In-Barn" inspections first thing this morning, then a light ride to get used to the atmosphere around his dressage court, and last but not least had his "Trot-Up".

This is by far the most impressive "scene" that Charly and I have ever been part of, everything is top-notch. We are competing amongst 80+ of the best horses and riders at this level in the entire country. After the trot-ups I had some time to walk around the cross country course for the first time, it was absolutely magnificent. The course has been built by Derek DiGrazia, who has presented us with a fair yet very challenging course. 9 minutes of galloping and jumping. Needless to say when Charly sprung to life today in his trot ups, I was very happy and not the least bit up-set! Thursday at 2:21 is our dressage test.

Willing and Able

Thatch aka "Willing and Able" completed his first Novice horse trial this weekend finishing in 2nd place! Thatch was in the Novice horse division at the Radnor Hunt Horse Trials; It was a beautiful weekend and Thatch did a great job over the big course he was presented with. I'm a proud trainer/rider :)

Excited, anxious and a little bit nervous....

It's Wednesday night, exactly one week away from the trot up's at Fair Hill. Charly has an exact schedule lined up to "hopefully" have the two of us at our peak for the Fair Hill CCI **. There are so many of you that I wish could be here to share in next week's big event with us. Charly will have my mom, Bryce and myself at his beck and call (ok and maybe a few other east coast groupies Charly has attracted) but I know that he wishes he could get treats from each one of you! No matter what happens next week, this has been a thrilling four years of riding and training with the Minyan Syndicates fantastic horse, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Charly wins Plantation Fields CIC**

What can I say about the weekend... it has taken me 24 hours to begin to absorb all of the excitement and take my first brief look back... Working backwards, we'll start with the results... Havarah's Charly Won the first Plantation Fields CIC** ever!!! To all of those who have helped out, what wonderful joyous news to share with you. The down and dirty backwards in time... double clear show jumping round to take first place, perfect through Sunday's jog-up, a wonderful competitor's party at the Walker's (the competition's landowner), 2.4 time faults on Saturday's beautiful course designed by organizer Dennis Glaccum, a brilliant dressage test, and great coaching by Boyd Martin!

BIG weekend ahead...

Plantation Field Horse Trials is this weekend; Ginger is doing a Preliminary HT and Charly is in the CIC **. The course at Plantation is known to be quite BIG but said to ride very nicely. Both horses jumped early this morning and are ready to go. Ginger is seeming very willing and interested in all the new exciting questions that are coming with her jumps and Charly just can't get enough...

Thatch, Alyssa Hatai's young horse is sitting this show out (as they only start at Preliminary) yet was a total super star at his cross country school on Tuesday at Fair Hill. Willing and Able is the perfect name for him!

A trailer full of champions!

The weekend of September 6th and 7th will never be forgotten for many people on the east coast and I have to say that I am happy that I am part of that crowd.

Hurricane Hanna made her way over Washington DC just as Charly, Ginger and Thatch were to enjoy a weekend of competing at Seneca Valley. Luckily the organizers did a great job at moving times around to avoid the worst of the storm and MOST luckily I had great ground support from Bryce over the weekend to be able to get the three horses safely and successfully through despite the very offsetting weather.

Charly was the first of the three horses to compete and he did all three phases back to back on Saturday morning in the very beginning of the storm. Charly hands down did a great job considering the trying conditions. He slipped a few times in the dressage court and cost him his normal spectacular test, but he more than came through for the show jumping and cross country. Jumping clean in both phases he only incurred time penalties which were due to me wanting to have a sound and brave horse for Plantations CIC ** and Fair Hill's CCI ** both coming up very soon :)

Ginger was next in the line up and being slightly young and much less traveled she was rightfully concerned with the horrendous weather that she was put in for her dressage test. After having a few moments of "un-happiness" in the dressage test we got through, loaded into the trailer as quickly as possible and headed to safety to their covered stabling. I then proceeded to fill up water buckets with the amount of water that came out of my boots! The horses all seemed to really enjoy their early day (in stalls by noon!) The rest of their Saturday was filled with eating, drinking and I'm sure some good stories told by each.

The weather made a huge turn Saturday evening and Sunday was an absolutely stellar day. Ginger had her first Preliminary completion jumping clean in both phases and finishing second! GOOOOO GInger! This is a great horse and I'm sure we will see her for years to come in the winners circle. Lots of jealous people on the east coast all said that she is happily owned by a young rider in California.

Last but not least was Thatch aka "Willing and Able", Alyssa Hatai's new young horse. I took Thatch in his first BN on Sunday and he was a total gentleman through the entire event. Dressage warm up made him slightly nervous, and the slippery conditions in the dressage court had him a bit confused as to how he was supposed to canter on such small circles but he was willing to do whatever I asked of him. Thatch jumped clean in Show Jumping and absolutely loved the cross country. This horse was so ambitious jumping into the water I nearly fell off...Alyssa I advise holding on ! :) This is going to be a cross country machine.

Thank you and congratulations!

There are two of my students that I would like to give a bit of a spotlight to. These girls recognized the need for a more intense learning period and went way out of their way to receive this. I hope that each of them realizes how much this has affected their lives and realize how much they can now give back.

The first is Jestine Burch-Butts. Jestine trekked to the east coast in the summer of 2007. That summer she worked day in and day out for a great horseman and very tough boss! :) Jestine learned how to meticulously care for a barn of horses and how to help horses acheive a second career after the race track. I know that there is a lot more to her summer than the above, but I, as a very far away coach, am very excited about her having this intense training program. Since the summer of 2007 Jestine has returned to Sanger, Ca where she has been taking on training projects and sale horse. I am very proud of you girl, keep up the good work!

The second is Lauren Billys. Lauren has just returned to California after a very full-filling summer of work on the east coast. She had some great opportunities presented to her and has already expressed how excited she is to share this with others back in California. While she was back east she learned how horses are correctly kept in shape for the upper levels of eventing and also how to deal with many different types of "problem" horses. I think more than anything Lauren is excited to work with her students back in California on how to prevent problems both under saddle and on the ground. Good luck in your endeavors Lo!

Thank you Jestine for taking what you have learned and applying it to all of your new mounts and Lauren I can't wait to see how sharp you'll get our crew at home!

New Havarah horse!

Congratulations Alyssa Hatai on her new horse Thackery!!!!!

PICS from Stuart

Stuart CIC **

Last week we made the trek to the Stuart Horse Trials which is near Rochester, NY. Charly and Ginger were trailer mates while Alyssa Hatai, Lauren Billys, Bryce and myself accompanied Quigley up in the truck. The trip to the horse show was absolutely gorgeous as it followed the Susquehanna river for a large portion of the trip. Luckily it was un-eventful and a mear six hours later we reached our destination and were met up by Alyssa Billys and Betsy McCarley. It was almost feeling like a Havarah horse trials back in California!

This event is known for it's terrain and very difficult (yet well built) cross country courses. As soon as we got a walk around we realized that "challenging" was definitely the adjective of the weekend!

Charly put in a lovely dressage test finishing 3rd out of a large group of highly experienced horses and riders. It was his (our) first time doing a dressage test in front of a large crowd and I think he handled it quite well. In fact, if I had to guess, I think that Charly was plenty happy to show off his fancy tail to all his new "friends". It seems like Charly feels like these horse shows are like parties and he pretty much acts like he is the birthday boy and everyone is there to hang out with him. In fact, Charly even learned how to drink out of a gatorade bottle, just like a person! (ok pretty close to it!!)

Our cross country ride wasn't until late afternoon and Charly's anticipation was growing minute by minute. At one point I just shut his stall door just to try to get him to take a moment and relax a little bit. Our cross country course was full of extreme accuracy questions as well as ride-ability exercises on top of the demand for scope and fitness. Charly was VERY honest at all of the accuracy questions and proved to be fit enough for the challenge at hand. His scope was never in question and in fact that our largest piece of homework... I now have to learn how to contain his scope. We had two "20 penalties" on course that were just due to the fact that Charly jumps so impressively that it makes some turns after fences a bit difficult. Being very focused on my year with Charly we have already begun our work on this area by changing some of my riding tactics and practicing a few more turning questions at home!

Stuart's show jumping course is on a grass ring with a few more hills to negotiate. The course was beautiful and very well designed. Charly came out Sunday morning fresh and ready to go, in fact I think I might have appreciated a more tired horse in warm up! However, once in the show jumping ring Charly was all business and put in a fabulous round. It was such a pleasure to be sitting aboard this amazing jumper, I felt very fortunate. I really feel like Charly and I have formed a great bond. I truly love the big guy! :)

CIC **

Stuart Horse Trials is this weekend! Charly will be competing in the CIC ** class and Lauren and Ginger will be competing Preliminary.

Charly and I have been focusing towards this event for a LONG time and I'm super excited! We have one more jump school on Tuesday and then Wednesday morning we are off to New York.

We have a fantastic fan club coming; The Billys/McCarthy family is being represented with Alyssa and her mother Betsy, we also have Alyssa Hatai representing the California Havarah group and last but not least Bryce will be crutching along to give his best gimpy support from the sidelines!

Intermediate XC

Better late than never....
Waredaca Intermediate XC June 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4kORMMiTik

The Perfect Saturday!

I pretty much do a daily check on accuweather in hopes of seeing thunderstorms and showers so that the ground will stay good and the grass will stay green...all last week the weather forecasters were wrong and daily got my hopes up only to be let down. FINALLY on Friday night we had a lovely storm. Saturday morning I took Charly over to the Fair Hill "park" and had a fantastic gallop. He feels so much stronger and way more mature than when he was doing this same gallop last year. Bryce and I have been watching the Stuart Horse Trials on U Tube and realizing just how fit the horses need to be to get around that course. My class list is also posted now on the Stuart cite and Charly and I have some VERY difficult company!

Charly's gallop was just the start of my perfect Saturday because I then was invited out to the North East River with Luke and Sara Allen a few of their good friends, my roomate (Jane) and my boyfriend (Bryce). It was a perfect crowd, a lovely boat and we got to play on some very cool toys. I now can wake board decently on a straight line, turning right and some times can even stay on for a turn to the left... I'm glad that I can be happy with small progress! Luke and Sara are both excellent at the water sports and provided us great entertainment with all their athletic endeavors.

Go team!

Since my last post many exciting horsey adventures have occured. Charly competed in his first Intermediate of 2008 and was a total champ, it was wonderful to feel how much more connected we have become since our Intermediate runs last year. Services Rendered has now completed his first two horse trials and is showing much talent as an event horse. HIghest Offer just finished second in a training level event at the Seneca Horse Trials, becoming one of my all time favorite cross country mounts. AND last but not least our summer addition to the east coast, Lauren Billys, finished second and third at her first two east coast events. Lauren is working towards moving up to Preliminary in a few weeks at the Maryland Horse Trials.

Charly's next event is the CIC ** at Stuart which is known as a great event but really requires a fit horse. So in addition to his normal fitness regime Charly has added on swim practice into his schedule. :) It's pretty cool, I'll try to get some pictures of him treading away posted.

Fair Hill Horse Trials

May 18th was a fantastic day in Elkton, Md. Charly and I competed for the first time in 2008 and were lucky enough to have a fan club including, my mother (Judy), my boyfriend (Bryce), Charly's vet and my good friend (Dr. Charles Arensburg), as well as some very good friends.... Sara, Luke, Traci and Caroline. I believe this group brought us great luck as Charly received a 24.5 on his dressage test and had fantastic jumping rounds that helped us secure the win at this horse trials.

Maryland Hunt Cup

112 Years of horses racing over timber as high as 5 feet.

April in California

The April clinic in the central valley was a huge success. We had three gorgeous days with lessons at El Encanto and at Sport Equine; Sue Rice and the Davis's have been big supporters of our Havarah group and I can't thank them enough. Both have spent endless hours creating fantastic sport horse facilities, highly appreciated...thank you!!! As a whole the riders worked on learning the feel of having an appropriately balanced horse for the task on hand. Just ask Jenn Whiting how tiresome that can be, she actually had to take off work the following day because her body was so sore!

I don't have all of the final placings from the April Ram Tap horse trials; so I'm not even going to try to list them out, hopefully one day we'll get Bill to put results up on his websites! I do know that we had a first, a fourth (or maybe a few fourths) and many other placings very near by. I also know that I heard from many of my little spys that my group was organized, friendly, safe and well prepared... I think those are some of the best words a trainer could hear :)

Below are some the competition photos from Ram Tap.


Jestine is pictured here with one of my favorite young horses, "Houston". Houston represents the ideal young TB, quiet, smart and a lovely jumper... BTW he's for sale and I think he needs a home in Havarah... anyone looking ????

John Marshall put tears in all of our eyes as he finished the weekend on a very respectable dressage score with no penalties added from XC or SJ... great work John, you've come a long way!

Maddy and Tigger (one of the cutest ponies to ever live!) are a brand new partnership and Val Burch (Maddy's trainer) has done a fantastic job preparing them for their first event.

Waterford Farm

Getting Dressed :)


Some of the XC jumps

SPRING :)

It's here...finally! I got home from work and it was still light out, I actually wanted to take my dog for a walk and had energy to put together my California clinic.. life is good :)

Charly was moved on Tuesday to his new home; on Wednesday he got his first turn out of the year and since his injury. He also got to meet the barn mascot (a pot belly pig) he apparently was much braver than most about the introduction. For his first ride out there I went with the barn owner and took him on a leisurely hour long walk around their cross country schooling fields and out around the neighboring farms. Charly was very mature and completely relaxed, I think he's happy with his new accommodations.

Last week Charly had a very good doctor visit with his Ultrasound Vet and was given the go ahead to begin preparing for a spring competition. I'm planning on preparing for the May Fair Hill Preliminary Horse Trials. Charly and I have been working on our own throughout the winter and have seemed to developed a strong relationship I can't wait for our first cross country school!

Last weekend I went to watch a hunt meet on Sunday, it was on site of the Plantation Horse Trials which is across the street from Bruce Davidson's farm. It's so inspiring to watch the timber racing, makes me very anxious for my first competition! It was also a really neat feeling to know many of the jockeys now, versus last year when I didn't know any of the jockeys or trainers... I feel like now I go and have a real reason to cheer the horses and riders on.

A very funny side note to the horse stories... I've had to say good bye to my little small two seater couch that my good friend/old roommate Jennie Steres was kind enough to pass down to me. I feel like that couch has given many good years to young adults and it was now time for me to pass her down to help out the next girl in it's life. The couch is in very good hands and once again it is extremely well loved! This brings good news for all of you, I now have a traditional sized couch that is quite comfy and even a nice little chair to go along! The couch is open and available for visits, it's ready for some good breaking in :) Lots of hunt meets and horse trials in the area in the next few months ....

In California all my students are in full spring mode, being very dedicated about their riding. I have a clinic scheduled for the 7th, 8th, and 9th of April which will help prepare the Havarah Equestrian group for the April Ram Tap. Christine Scarlett has graciously accepted taking on the group and giving them her great coaching skills at the horse trials. We then have a big group planning on traveling to the May Galway Downs where I plan to fly in and coach. I'm so proud of all of my students accomplishments and hope to be around for as much of their learning as possible.

A well filled month!

The month of February started off with a fantastic trip to California. Almost the entire time I was home I was blessed with sunshine, (each morning was a reminder of what pea soup looks like) just in time as I was beginning to turn purple and blue here in Maryland! The Havarah group has remained so strong in the Fresno and surrounding areas that I was kept busy teaching all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I am so impressed with the dedication everyone has kept without having an on-site trainer; I realize that at many times this is problematic and frustrating for many BUT looking in from afar, my students are riding every bit as well as riders in full time training programs.

I plan on traveling back to California for clinics as often and as long as my riders are willing to have me; the east coast may have hills, trees and grass but I don't think I'll ever find another "Havarah"! As I say this, I do have to admit that the rising cost of travel is making my short trips a bit difficult to put together! I have always been lucky to get decent priced flights directly into Fresno but on the February travel I purchased a ticket into San Jose for half the cost of the ticket into Fresno... so note to all... always check the surrounding airports :) This actually worked out perfectly as my long lost brother conveniently just moved into a home that is about 15 minutes away from SJC. My brother, Aaron, is someone that many of you will never meet but I would still love you to know about. I've always referred to him as "the brains of the family". Aaron is a Cal Tech graduate, he studied Micro Biology and after putting in a substantial amount of time searching for a specific gene that creates cancer, he has now switched over to his true talent in life...computers. Aaron has lived in the bay area for many years now, and travels to Fresno only when he is completely forced into it, thus is why I mention that you may never meet him. None the less, I own him much gratitude for my insane horsey passion. We both began riding together at "Horseworld" and my goal was never to get great, but just to be better than my older brother :) This really only came to fruition when I gained a week of riding on him when he went to boyscout camp. Then his love of riding faded and he was left to be my taxi driver! My mom constantly reminds me that my favorite phrase as a youngster was "I can do anything you can do and I can do it better!" No wonder my brother said he liked me a lot better before I could talk!

California was great, every time I go I have to re-convince myself that what I'm doing on the east coast is really the right thing for me at this point in my life.

For those of you following this blog for some "Charly" up-dates, keep reading! For weeks upon weeks Charly and I were going on long walks, sometimes very peaceful and sometimes way too eventful! Charly was in a very slow rehab program and on January first he was put back under tack. All of January and February Charly was worked in the indoor having his work gradually increased each week, all walk and trot. These two months seemed to just fly by for me. Charly is one of those horses that just make your life better. I miss competing, I miss jumping, but I still look forward to any time I can spend with Charly. He was re-scanned at the end of February and was given full go ahead, it's time to canter!!!! :) Last week Charly had his first days of canter work in the indoor and then yesterday I took him out on his first "hack". Charly went up hills, through woods, across a road, by a dumpster, and even over some small little twigs :> The woods that I hack in have lots of jumps, mostly very natural logs, and it's taking all my will power to NOT jump them! Ahhh one more month!

I did take a non-horsey non-work weekend and traveled with Bryce to what I've always thought of as a very famous east coast destination...the Poconos. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I've always thought of the Poconos as a resort type of get away. In reality it's just the place where most of Pennsylvania goes for skiing/boarding (locally) if they really want good terrain they go to Vermont; OR if they want good snow they go west! Anyhow, it was a lovely quick get away and I'm finally catching on to the sport of snowboarding. Bryce even tricked me into getting down some black diamonds!

The end of Feb beginning of March brought along one more change...up until now I've been sharing a cottage with Asia, one of the girls that moved out east with me. She recently purchased a very nice house in PA. Quigley and I decided that we didn't need a move at the moment and luckily found ourselves a great new roommate named Jane. Jane is a vet student, excercise rider and a dog owner. Jane is as close to California as I could find! Quigley doesn't know it yet but Jane will be bringing over Lola, she's a female version of the Quig mister so I'm hoping they'll get to be good friends.

That's all for now... keep in touch!

Busy busy busy

It seems like not a minute has past since 2008 began that wasn't fully utilized! I am excited to announce that Havarah's Charly is back in work; he's in a progressively increasing trot program, received a lovely set of shoes and he feels like a millions bucks :) I'm trying really hard to not get too ambitious about our up-coming show season (yet) we'll do a re-check scan in the first week of February. This scan is going to determine a lot, if his tendon is still showing improvement then his work load gets to keep increasing, otherwise the program has to get altered in accordance to better suit his healing needs.

I'm still galloping horses in the morning at the Fair Hill Training Center, I think the best part of this job is being so close to so many good riders and trainers. I still feel in awe to be working daily amongst many of the equestrian communities "celebrities". I've been taking a short break after my morning rides to come in, warm up, and catch up with some of my west coast duties. I then head off to the afternoon rides. Riding at Inspo and for Babsi Clark has been a remarkable experience. I feel like I'm learning the language of horses more and more each day, I also have to say that I'm absolutely falling for the Sir Sinclair line. I love them, lovely movers, very willing attitudes and a pretty face to go along.

I did play hooky for a few days from the on-going list of horses to ride and went to Massachusetts to ride a snow board instead! A good friend of mine and I met up with a group at a resort named Jiminy Peak. We stayed in a condo that was with-in walking distance of the slopes and had a fantastic time, a perfect way to spend a birthday weekend! However I came away with some good bruises from falling multiple times on some seriously hard packed snow...why I passed up learning how to snowboard on all those college Tahoe trips I'll never figure out!

Back home on the west coast I've received news that one Havarah girl has started out the 2008 season for us with a nice win at the Training level combined test at Twin Rivers...congratulations Miss Lauren and good luck with the rest of your season! Speaking of students in California; I couldn't be more proud of how all of my girls, it seems like each one of the "Rockstar" group has found their own little niche in life becoming very responsible and meaningful to the world...you go girls!

Last but not least, if you haven't heard the first clinic of 2008 is scheduled. Please contact me ASAP if you'd like a slot, it is filling up fast. February 8th, 9th, and 10th.

Back in action!!!

In complete contrast to my last blog up-date... the weather here is oddly delightful!
I'm still riding in the mornings at the Fair Hill training center and I've survived my first two fall. More importantly, I feel like I've acquired some excellent skills that I'll put to work in my event riding and teaching. I feel like there's aspects in everyone's riding career that can't be taught, they just need to be instilled from time doing. One thing I know I'm doing is spending time "doing". In California I was blessed to have multiple horses to ride and great students to teach; recently, here on the east coast, I've been blessed with an abundance of horses to ride, strong ones, naughty ones, talented ones, green ones, and trained AS WELL as the undulating ground to gallop across and trails to navigate.
Charly has had two weeks back under tack, and I truly couldn't be happier! Charly and Rosella's horse, Lance, moved to a new home where we have a great indoor arena to use during the bad weather and LOTS of trails to access when the weather is good. It was a good move for all of us involved, the facility is called "Inspo", if you get a chance you should look it up...they have some cute creatures there!
December was full of family and friends and a rest time for the ponies, it's now 2008 and it's time for all of us to get back into the sport!

Breezing in the snow!

Today is December 5th and is the first day we've gotten a full white layer of snow...it's cold, and a good day to be inside catching up on relaxation! The end of November marked my last days working for Breakaway Farm and the yearling breaking, since it's a farm operation they basically close down for the winter and don't work any horses. So then the question was laid out, do I try to find riding jobs (in the snow : / ) or should I get my first non-horse job and just call it a winter experience? If I was smart (and maybe I'll get smarter in the next few weeks!) I would have chosen the second option.

Monday was my first day riding at the Fair Hill Training Center, a beautiful high end race horse training facility. I got a job to ride for a trainer named Edwin Merryman, who has so far seemed like a super nice guy. At the moment I'm just riding 2-3 horses a morning for him...which honestly has left me each day totally exhausted! Today was my first day breezing at the track, I've breezed before but it was on a farm and on young horses that weren't really all that fast yet.

I think that if I wasn't worried about my frozen hands the whole time, I would've realized how totally cool it was that I was riding a horse that was preparing for a race and we were flying. However, instead, I was praying that I could keep him from pushing the other horse over the rail and that I could finish the breeze without letting go of my reins. Both things got accomplished, but I assure you, I was terrified that one or the other was going to take place. All in all, the trainer was happy, so I guess a job well done for the first time. I still think a warm office job is sounding really nice!

RIP Texas Ranger

We've recently lost a great member of the Havarah program; Texas Ranger passed away in October and his owner Lauren Billys wrote a loving story for us all to remember him by.

"I guess I didn’t really know what I was getting into when my parents bought me my first horse at the age of twelve. I was scared and unsure of what my responsibilities would be, but, more importantly, I thought, I was excited to show off my new horse. Little did I know the impact that Ranger would have on my life for the next seven years. Our first and last events were the most memorable to me. Our first was at Woodside; my dressage was carefree. Because of our carefree attitude, our score was a 49, but I really could have cared less; all I knew was that I was having the time of my life. Ranger packed me over the course and trotted in places when I was losing my balance. So much has changed since then. Over the past seven years, I have picked 4,480 Ranger hooves and brushed his hair numerous times. It was a constant in my life, probably the greatest constant. Ranger was constant in every angle: he always wanted a bite of what everyone else was eating, he always had one bad day a week, he appreciated great care, and he would always jump the fence as long as you pointed him between the standards. Through all of this, he taught me responsibility, how to push through hard times, true hard work, and joy in doing all these things. He was there with me through the thick and thin. He really pushed me to become a better rider and to tough it out when things were hard. Through some fabulous people, I was able to see the potential this horse had and the way I could improve my riding to reach this potential. At our last event, we met this potential by winning the training three-day. It was amazing to know that all the work put into Ranger and our team work was returned with a blue ribbon and a great feeling of accomplishment. Ranger went through every phase with ease beating the competition. The greatest compliment I have received was when Chirs Scarlett, the cross country course designer, said that we rode the course the best of that day and the exact way she intended for it to be ridden. It was an unforgettable ride.
When I knew I had to sell Ranger, it never felt right, but I knew that it had to be done. But on October 20th, everything came by an unfortunate surprise. After getting a phone call that Ranger was not feeling well, I knew that this day was going to be difficult. His actions were the same calm way, but oddly different. While I sat with him, he laid his head in my lap when we waited for the vet. It was an important moment for me because our relationship had grown so strong that we had a mutual understanding, respect, and trust for one another. Before Ranger’s health went really south, he wineyed at all the horses as if saying goodbye. And then, nearly twelve hours after my initial phone call, I had to put Ranger down. When asked if I wanted to walk Ranger out and hold him, while he received his injections, I said yes. I felt an extreme responsibility that I had learned because of Ranger. I felt like I needed to return all the times that he had taken care of me by doing it for him, one last time. So my mom, Amy Fox, and I were there for the end. At that moment, I knew the changes from when I was twelve to know being with Ranger seven years later were a vital part of becoming the person I am today. I have grown to become who I am because of this great horse and some amazing people who helped me along the way." Lauren Billys

About time!

I apologize to all my regular blog readers, I know I've been very slow in up-dating you with all the haps on the east coast. So much has happened I don't really know where to begin!

Normally I try to begin and end with positive and exciting news, this is a strategy I've learned through doing Pony Club testings, it's called "sandwiching" and is apparently one of the best ways to present information to people. I think in this situation I'm going to start off with the two largest pieces of information I have; both of them happened awhile ago, neither one are good, but they both have brought change into mine and others lives.

The fist big news occurred at the Millbrook Horse Trials in New York. Many of you know my roomate, Asia Vedder, a fellow upper level rider who came out east with me to immerse herself in the life of east coast eventing and racing. Asia was riding at the Intermediate level and had a very un-fortunate fall on her mare Gem Lion. Asia was transported off to a nearby hospital, and luckily only suffered lots of pain and broken bones but no internal injuries. Asia ended up staying in New York for over two weeks, recieving a few surgeries to fix her arm and her hip. She then spend another week in a rehabilitation hospital to learn how to do normal everyday things; like putting on shoes, stepping up a curb, etc. I'll always remember going to pick Asia up and seeing her bright happy face and just being amazed at how well she handled all that she went through. Asia's accident happened about a month ago and she is now home, watching lots of videos and doing her best to keep from going completely stir crazy.

The next big news is about our beloved Charly. More than anything this has probably kept me from being able to up-date this blog, I really don't like having to pass along this information, perhaps it makes it too real. So many people have joined in with me to help get this fabulous horse to the east coast to compete in some very prestigious events and bring him up the levels in the best manner we could. Unfortunately in this sport no matter how prepared you are and how great your horse is, things still happen. Charly has visited two fabulous doctors and both agree on one thing, he needs some time off and with that time he'll be as good as ever and ready for full use at high levels of competition again. One vet believes that he doesn't yet have a lesion on his tendon but if he was kept in work her would get one. The other vet feels like there is a lesion, it is just small. EIther way, Charly is being treated as if he does have a bowed tendon. This means he gets iced twice a day, poulticed at night and hand walked twice a day. For the first week he was such a good patient, I was absolutely amazed! Every time he even thought about coming out of his zen nature I just told him that all of this rest time was for his benefit and he couldn't bounce around because that would make him hurt his leg and then he'd have to be in complete stall rest.... I've never thought any animal (besides Quigley) could understand english, but I really believe that Charly understood this. However he now is trying lots of different techniques to get in a little play time; his current favorite is to walk really calmly and then all of a sudden snort and leap all four feet off the ground. Bad bad boy!

I'm anxiously awaiting Charly's return to work but in the meantime I figure that this is a good time for me to get some experience out riding other horses and meet more of the Cecil county horse trainers/riders. Currently I'm still riding the race horse babies at Breakaway Farm, then I do Charly's morning routine, then ride 4 to 5 dressage/jumpers for a warmblood breeder/importer and then finish off the day with Charly's evening routine. This set-up is just for two weeks then I go back to California for our next Havarah clinic. I think after riding the 10 horses a day, I'll be ready to walk around doing some teaching!

Speaking of the Havarah group, I do have to say that my last trip out to California was one of the most successful clinics I've given. I get so excited to see how much progress my students get after 3 back to back lessons, everyone tries so hard... you guys are great!!!

On a much more exciting note our life long horse search for Amy Fox is officially over! Amy is now the proud owner of Socrates, a very handsome and athletic gelding that is a new residence at El Encanto. Amy's first show with Socrates is Woodside in October...best of luck to you Amy!

Also my "Rockstar" group of Havarah students (that was the initial group of teenage girls I started with) are all leaping into adult life in a big way. Christina Aguet seems to be doing extremely well going into her second year at UC Davis, and Lauren Billys has transferred back into California from Texas to atted FSU along with Kelcey Collins and Amy Fox... I have to say it's a neat feeling to have "my girls" all off in college and so many of them off to be Bulldogs...go dogs!

This was a super long entry...thanks for reading :)

Bittersweet

Yesterday Charly and I arrived home from the long journey to the lovely Lamplight Equestrian center in Wayne, Illinois. This is the site of the 2007 AEC's, and for anyone thinking of going, spectator or rider, I highly suggest it. Fabulous footing, excellent show management and beautiful fences on both the cross country and show jump courses.

This show was Charly's second Intermediate run and it was held under international guidelines (therefore called a CIC **); here are some of the differences...

*In barn inspection on Wed or Thursday to check the horses passports and make sure that we brought the correct horse
*Internationally designed dressage test, mandatorily held in a large dressage court and top hat and tails required. (Double bridle still optional)
*Longer cross country course and generally more difficult questions asked than a regular horse trials Intermediate
*Veterinary inspection after cross country to check TPR (temperature, pulse and respiration)
*Trot ups in front of a ground jury on Sunday morning to check for soundness

Charly's two star division consisted of 26 competitors; competing against the master himself Mr. Bruce Davidson (on two horses), Sara Dierks (a top US competitor), Heather Morris, Allison Springer and many other "big" names.

Just as I was about to get on Charly for his dressage warm-up I heard that there was a long hold in my dressage arena. Word got to me that a horse from my good friends barn (Gold Chip Stables) had an aneurism in the court (apparently reared up backed over the railing and died instantly upon landing). This may be the most horrific news, the only good part of the story is that the girl riding (even though pinned under the horse) was able to walk away physically un-hurt. Although I'm sure mentally devastated. The delay ended up not being all that long and Charly's warm-up went really well. However things were a bit confusing for the gate steward and I got sent over a whole horse ahead of my time, therefore having to walk Charly back and forth in between hundreds of spectators for a whole 7 minutes! Charly doesn't get nervous like you would see of that of a TB BUT he really likes to compete and he gets all puffed up like a stallion and very light on his toes, I definitely could not get him to stand for the seven minutes but he was a decently good boy walking back and forth! Then I entered the white fenced arena with the big grandstand on one side and flowers laid out everywhere and he (on his own) threw out the biggest extended trot I have ever sat on, I luckily got him back before the corner where he proceeded to spook at the flowers (becoming his signature mark before going into the dressage ring); after that he was all business. Charly performed very well; this test called for shoulders in, travers in, medium trot, collected canter, counter canter, simple change of lead (through walk), rein-back, extended walk, and a canter halt. For his level of training, he was great; I made the mistake of practicing the counter canter to a simple change in the warm-up and he anticipated them in the ring on both sides (coming down to the walk a few letters early on both leads); this was obviously given a very low mark by both judges. It was still a test that had me smiling the whole time and we walked out to a loud section of cheering...Charly and I were both very proud. The test put us in seventh place 3 points away from second.

The cross country course was fabulous. It gave you four big good gallop fences to start with before asking any questions (this is a plus for Charly as he has lately been leaving the box on a mission of going somewhere in a big hurry!) The path was often marked with white ropes as there were so many spectators that they needed to be kept off of the galloping lanes. Charly was absolutely phenomenal, the bigger fences and all the spectators didn't cause him any stress, it was a truely exciting ride. Him and I have one problem area, turning questions that start with a big table. He jumps so big over the table and lands ready for a gallop...this was our jump 4AB, a maximum sized square table 4 turning strides to a corner. Let's just say I had to represent to the corner of which he jumped great, and that we'll be doing some practice with this at home! After this Charly and I were completely together as a team; the water jump was a highlight of the course, it had a log max drop into the water to an up bank with a bounce to a jump out...it jumped so perfectly it felt like a gymnastic grid. We also had two bounce up-banks that jumped great which was a huge relief to me as up-banks were our other nemesis. Luckily that one seems to be behind us now :) Just before the last water complex Charly and I were flagged to a stop, I have never been held on course before but I was assuming that this must be what was happening as all my jumps seemed to have been going great...So thus the bittersweet story of Charly's weekend . After the bounce banks we turned to the left and jumped a hedge immediately followed by a "blind" turn to a corner, there was also the Intermediate hedge (which was the exact same fence but just placed to the left of ours; I landed from the up banks saw my line to the hedge and corner and never thought twice, the line jumped perfectly... problem is I looked too soon and saw the first hedge, the Intermediate hedge NOT the two star hedge so therefore I had jumped the wrong fence.

The next day was especially hard when I walked to 2 star show jumping course to see what we would have been doing. Words can't describe how amazing that arena was; it gave you the feeling of walking into a big grand prix ring each fence was completely decorated with it's own theme and I KNOW that Charly would have just done a great job in there! Errrrrr.

Looking ahead I know what we need to improve upon in each of the phases and I have 3 weeks to work on all of that before our next competition. Charly jogged up sound and happy on Sunday morning and shipped home safely. Next destination... Millbrook, New York August 9-12th...

Groton House II

Going into this last competition I realized I was going to have some extremely good horses and riders in my class because the Advanced/Intermediate division had been cancelled and all those horses were moved into the Open Intermediate class. In all honesty this aspect really didn't phase me very much, BUT the fact that it's been 6 years since I've ridden an Intermediate track and that Charly has NEVER run an Intermediate of any kind (let a lone one of the magnitude of that of Groton House) this all had me a little on edge!

Charly performed like never before in the dressage ring, going across the long diagonal in the "big" court, on turf, in his medium trot was quite possibly the most enchanting feeling I've ever had. I exited with the announcer commenting on what a lovely test Charly had, and the crowd (which was very large) all commenting on how great we looked, it was a great feeling. The judge gave us some very good homework and although fair was VERY tough. At the end of the day Charly was in 10th place out of the 29 in his class.

The cross country course was very well designed and very difficult. As you can see in the results it retired or eliminated about a third of the division. Lots of forest with steep gullies with BIG drops and banks, just by walking the course you could tell that time would be almost impossible to make. One of the best lessons I've learned from being out on the east coast is that each competition truly has it's own importance, and that often means chosing to get a certain goal attained other than taking home a blue ribbon. I knew that if I was one of the fastest times I was sure to be in the top of the division; however I also knew that I needed a very confident run to qualify for the CIC ** that Charly and I would be running just two weeks after this show. I knew that Danny Warrington, my coach and former international steeplechase rider, would be running for time on his big fast TB who is well seasoned at Advanced; I also knew that "Dobbin" is an Advanced horse that has blown the socks off of his competition for the last few years. I also know that running fast and jumping down multiple BIG drops is really tough on their feet...all things considered I decided that this event was there for me and Charly to become confident at the Intermediate level. Charly completely impressed me with his braveness, never questioning a single fence; he also thought he was impressive by thinking he was cute and jumping me out of the tack in one of the big narrows at the top of a steep downhill...after that I learned to sit a bit tighter coming into the next drop! This was lucky as the water was tough; a big hedge at the top of a hill brought you down to a ramp into the first level of water, two strides across to another ramp (drop) into another level of water 3 or 4 strides across that to an up-bank out left handed turn to a huge table with a large drop on landing...then one fence to the finish.
At the end of XC I knew I had gone slow, and totally did not care as just jumped better and better as the course went. That day moved us up one placing to 9th.

As if the cross country didn't involve enough terrain that show jumping brought more! It was held on a large grass field, all jumps set going either up or down hill and most off of a small turn. Charly walked in very professionally and as soon as I saluted he was off and on a mission :) That horse can jump, I really think that is the best way to describe it! Before we went, rails were coming down left and right and I never once worried about him taking a rail, he just flew. I love going into show jumping with him, because you really feel like he understands how important it is to keep up the rails and he tries his heart out every course. After our round the rails kept coming down and allowed us to move into 5th place. I honestly couldn't be happier with our horse, one of the girls in the barn kindly named him the "Eventing King".