Monday, August 24, 2009

Wayne DuPage Horse Trials 2009

Well it felt as if we had just gotten home from Catalpa as we were heading on the road to another show. We could do the drive to Illinois with our eyes closed. Once again the weather was great and the horses traveled well. We arrived safe and sound to Wayne DuPage Horse Trials.

It was going to be a fun weekend I could tell as soon as we arrived. I had picked up a catch ride for Katy Bloomquist-Holub on her pony, yes literally a pony, Juliette, at her first Training Level event. Hannah had come off an awesome dressage lesson on Weds and we were ready to perform.

Maria had Pete at the show and this would be her last novice before we have her move up to training level at Trott Brook Horse Trials so we really wanted a positive, confident run.

Friday was dressage. Hannah was first to go, I decided to ride her in the double bride as we were riding Intermediate Test B which is held in the large arena, our favorite! She performed a beautiful test while her rider on the other hand was a little out of it. I had one error in our test, we were supposed to walk KBM and I accidentally walked KXM, we had to re-perform our movement but scored a 7 on it, which is great as we don't normally score well on our walks! We were in Arena 1 right next to the road and in one of our 3 loop canter serpentines, a truck decided to use it's air brakes and Hannah did not like that so much, spooked a little but came right back to work. Despite my mistake and the slight spook I felt as if we had really given it our best. Later in the day I found out that our score really reflected the hard work we had been putting in with my trainers Alison Sader Larsen and Ken Larsen. We were sat in first on a 24.6, the best score we have EVER earned. I was thrilled.

I then had a bigger challenge of making sure the pony would perform a decent dressage test. She definitely loves to jump, but does not enjoy the dressage so much. She gets bored. For the most part she was well behaved. Slightly jiggy in the walk and quick in her transitions but we earned a 39.5 which put us in 16th out of a division of 17...oh well, we went to jump around anyway!

Maria had a lovely test as usual on Pete, they scored a 35.8 which I thought was a little harsh but that sat them in 5th place in a Jr Novice division of 13. Again, we mainly wanted the both of them to have a great confident weekend before their big move up to training level.

Friday we walked the cross country courses. I thought the Intermediate course looked great and had some challenging questions on it. The question I was most worried about was the bounce banks down, bending line to a triple step skinny. Well my worries proved to be correct as we did end up having a run out on Saturday due to some inexperience at the Intermediate level. I circled her right around and she popped right on over it on our second attempt. We racked up some time with our run out but we still sat comfortably in 4th.

The Training Level course looked fun, because I had only been riding Prelim for the last four years it was refreshing to see something slightly smaller, especially because I was on a pony that I had only a few rides on and it was her first training. The course was a nice forward course, not too many combinations but some maxed out training fences for sure. The pony was full of piss and vinegar in the warm up but I knew she would settle in once we were out of the start box and heading out on course. I wasn't quite sure of how to run her because she was a pony, so of course generally she would have a smaller stride. I did a lot of preparation and really had to ride up to each fence but in between I let her run as fast as she wanted to, which was probably as fast as she could run. We jumped clean and came in well under the time. Our double clean moved us up into the 12th place position.

It was odd being done before noon on Saturday with two rides, so we enjoyed the company of friends until it was time to coach Maria and Pete. They warmed up well and I told her to get her rear in the tack and kick on to that first fence as he can be sticky out of the start box at times. Of course he was, she gave him one hell of a ride with three good smacks on his backside over the first fence. He was all business from there on out! Didn't even take a peak at the water and they came in double clean. We were all thrilled with our day and looking forward to show jumping on Sunday.

Sunday was great. Hannah warmed up well. Of course having moved up to Intermediate the show jumping courses still seem to look large! We had a great round and Hannah was clearing the jumps with room to spare. We had an unfortunate rail at fence 7 but completed the round within the time and held onto our 4th place position. I was thrilled.

The pony's training level jumps look large as well, especially sitting on her outside the ring. It comforted me that friend Jamie Marlewski had her even smaller pony, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, in my division. The pony, like Hannah, jumped the jumps with room to spare, and put in a double clean round to finish on her dressage score of a 39.5. We moved up from our 12th place position after the cross country to 6th place. It was quite an exciting weekend!

It was then time for Maria to jump Pete. We were aiming for a double clean show jumping round as Pete tends to become lazy with his feet, we really wanted to get in a double clean round before her training move up. We followed our plan, Maria rode very well and they came out of the ring having left all the rails in place! We were ecstatic. She finished in 4th place as well.

After a fun weekend, we had to load everything up in the pouring rain. Everything was drenched, we were tired and just wanted to get home. Nate took the wheel while I slept for a few hours and then we switched. We arrived home again with happy, healthy and sound horses.

Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trials 2009

The LLEventing team headed south to Iowa City, Iowa to attend Catalpa Corner. I had never been before, but had heard great things about the show. My friend and groom, Nate and I left late on Thursday night and drove through the night to arrive at the show bright and early on Friday. We were put in one of the permanent barns, which was great. It had large stalls and a great breeze coming through. The weather was fabulous.

Later in the day Maria Filsinger and her horse Pete arrived as well as Jen Johnson and her horse Loose Cannon. We had everyone settled in, hacked and ready for dressage on Saturday. We walked the courses in the evening and had our plans of attack.

I had an early ride with Hannah, she warmed up fabulously but when we went into the ring she became a little distracted. We were sat in 2nd with a 35. We ran XC later that day, the course was great, well built and the land it was on was beautiful. We jumped a clean round and racked up a few time faults, but kept our 2nd place.

Maria also had a lovely warm up on Pete, as well as Jen and Cannon, but as with Hannah they did not like the rings and became spooky and distracted. Maria scored a 35.8 to settle her into 3rd place after dressage and Jen scored a 32.6 to put her into 6th place, tough division!

Maria had a lovely ride around the cross, she really had to get after Pete who came with quite a water issue that we are slowly but surely working through. She moved up to 1st place after the cross country, but the pressure was on going into show jumping as she didn't have a rail to spare.

Jen had an unfortunate tumble at the double down banks where Cannon lost his footing and tripped head first down the second step. Both were okay and ready to get on to the next show as soon as possible.

Show jumping was early on Sunday. Hannah was jumping fabulously and we had a clear, steady round but added 2 time penalties to our final score and that moved us into 3rd place. I was happy with her confidence throughout the weekend and knew we were definitely ready for another intermediate run!

Maria show jumped well, she did have one rail and also finished in 3rd, but overall it was a very successful weekend. We are excited for Wayne DuPage coming up in a couple weeks.

Overall we had a successful and fun weekend, always a learning experience no matter what happens!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Maui Jim Horse Trials

Well we made it successfully back from Maui Jim Horse Trials and completed our first Intermediate Horse Trials! I had a blast and Hannah felt great, especially around the cross country and show jumping!

Hannah is more fit then she has ever been so little by little she is getting a little more hard to control on the flat and in the dressage ring. It took us two long dressage schools to get the spins, rears and extra edge out of her before we headed into the ring. I wanted to keep things a little more conservative as to be sure we would not have any explosions. We put in a nice quiet ride and scored a 36.9 to put us in 23rd out of 36 competitors, tough competition as the leader led on a score of 30.3. I was happy because it was a good score and she was well behaved, knowing that we can score better if I were to ask for more. Next was the cross country which seemed rather large only varying a little from the CIC2* and sharing a lot of fences with Advanced!

Our first fence was a massive roll top shared with advanced, to a hanging brushed log, next were some logs in the woods (also shared with Advanced!) then number four was a large corner. #5 was a skinny cabin, #6 a large table, #7 another hanging log shared with advanced. #8 was our first water, we ran up what they call a ski jump, then jumped over a brushed coop that landed down the ski ramp into the water, bending line to element B-a skinny brushed step chevron. The CIC2* had two brush skinnies at this first water question which eliminated 1/2 the division! #9 was a large trakehner, #10 another large table, #11AB were bounce banks up. #12 was a large bench shared with Advanced. #13 was a fence they called a ‘Yurt’ which was like a roll top type fence to #14 which was called ‘the big yurt’ which was the same type of fence but also shared with Advanced! #15A was a skinny log, 3 strides to 15B which was another large corner. Then #16 was our next water element, we had a roll top one stride into a large drop into the water. #17 was another large hanging log shared with advanced, #18 was a “Cornish Table” which was like a large table with gravel on the top, really wide! #19 was a skinny table with gravel on the top, and #20 was a roll top. Hannah skipped around the course without any problems and we only occurred 3.6 time faults! I was so proud of her! It was so much fun and the weather was great, a little hot and the footing was sloppy in some sections but overall it gave a great flowing ride & Hannah was jumping out of her skin! After cross country we moved up to 13th place!

The show jumping seemed really large, but rode great in the huge Grand Prix Show jumping ring that they have at the Lamplight Equestrian Center. We had two triple combinations one was a 2 stride to a 1 stride and the other was a 2 stride to a 4 stride. We had one rail on the first combination at the first element, which seemed to get well over half the division. Many people had rails but I was so proud of her, she was not tired whatsoever on show jumping day & jumped really well! We finished in 12th out of 36 starters so I was MORE than happy!

My student Maria Filsinger & Pete also had a great run, she started off with a 33 in dressage which set her 3rd in the Junior Novice division. She ran clean cross country which moved her up to 1st place, she had only 1 rail in show jumping but kept her first place and won the division! Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon unfortunately had to scratch because the morning after we got to Lamplight, Cannon developed cellulitis and his leg was swelled up like a balloon!

We are all headed off to Catalpa next. I will run Hannah at Prelim for a confidence run just in case she got shaken up at all on the cross country, which I doubt is the case but it will be good for both of us! Maria will be running Novice, & Jen Training. It should be a fun outing!

After that I am off to do another Intermediate at Wayne DuPage followed by Richland Park in Michigan, followed by a Preliminary at the American Eventing Championships, an Intermediate at Otter Creek! A lot of fun to look forward to!

Otter Creek Spring HT/Carriage House Combined Test

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do! Hope everyone has had a good show season thus far!

After Spring Bay HT we headed off to one of our more local shows, Otter Creek Horse Trials held at Otter Creek Farm in Wheeler, WI. We had been putting in a lot of time with my dressage trainers Ken Larson and Alison Sader Larson of Larson Sader Dressage and it had been paying off. Hannah continued to get more fit as the snow melted away and the footing become more workable.

Friday was the dressage. We warmed up, Hannah felt great, she was moving forward into the bit, lengthening her stride rather then taking her normal quick hurried steps, smooth transitions and just felt smooth. I couldn't have asked for a better horse that day, especially because as she gets more fit she gets a little more difficult to deal with in the dressage, especially in the small ring! We put in a nice ride to settle us into 1st place with a lead of over 5 points with a 54.1. I couldn't have been happier.

I was so looking forward to the XC as we have run around the preliminary course for the last few years, I felt like we just had to make time and we could possibly win a one star! Well of course, nothing ever goes to plan.

We had our formal jogs at 5pm Friday after the dressage. Nate Dressel, friend & groom made sure that Hannah was sparkling as I got myself ready with friend Jordynn Sahagian and Kendal Torrel. We walked around and did a few practice jogs before presenting to the FEI judges. As we jogged down the hard road I could sense something was wrong and as we jogged back I could tell from the look on the FEI judges faces that something was not right. Hannah was slightly off. I was devastated but decided to withdraw from the rest of the competition.

I immediately brought Hannah in for xrays, as she has had shoeing issues in the past and that is what I was hoping for rather than something more serious like a tendon injury. Her angles were off on her right front which was causing the lameness. All it took was a little bit of special tender love and care from my farrier, Terry Dokken with Dokken Farrier Services to get her back to normal. We later discovered that she had a false sole, and once we took off more sole she went back to regular shoes and has been sounds since...knock on wood!

I was proud of my friends and students at Otter Creek also. Kendel Torrel took 2nd in her first ever CIC* on her mare Badland's Echo. Jordynn Sahagian and Nestor won the CIC2*. Students Jen Johnson & her horse Loose Cannon took 8th in the Training division and Maria Filsinger & her horse Pete took 3rd in the Jr. Novice division. Overall we had a fun and successful weekend!

Since Hannah was better immediately after Otter Creek we continued on to Hugo, MN the following Sunday for Carriage House Combined Test in which I was entered at the Preliminary and Intermediate levels.

I was one of the first rides in the small Preliminary division of 4 riders and we scored a 31.1 on our dressage to put us into 1st place. Considering the competition was really tough in the Intermediate I was happy with a 34.8 to take 1st against a total class division of 1...myself!

Show jumping was next, I have been playing around with different bits to see what will work for Hannah. Our first round I wanted to make sure I had the control I needed, we jumped a nice slow round having only one rail down to finish in 2nd place.

Next I waited for the jumps to be put up to Intermediate height and we entered the show ring. I pushed her a little more forward to the bigger jumps and we jumped double clean and took home the blue ribbon! I was very proud with her performance that day.

Next we were headed off to Maui Jim Horse Trials for our big move on up to Intermediate!