2014 Spring Catch Up

It is officially spring! My mom stated it best, it isn't spring until Otter Creek Spring Horse Trials. Well we just completed OCF Spring and spring and show season is officially upon us! You can feel the excitement in the air!

We have a lot of new and exciting changes for the 2014 show season with kids on new horses and moving up the levels. Sammy purchased a new mount, Someday Never Comes aka Stella from Sue Martin late this winter. She did her first horse trials on Stella at Rocking Horse Spring and finished 6th in the Jr Training division. She then competed at Sring Bay Horse Trials finishing in 6th place as well.

I in the meantime purchased a new mare (girl power!) Flash Mob aka Roxy from Kristin Commers. She has been home a short while and has made huge improvements!! She is a 6 year old OTTB mare just my size at 15.3 hands high. All bay with a small white star. It has been exciting to get to know her and build a relationship.

I have been working hard with Marcia O'Hagan's Minnesota Bound aka Milo too. I took Milo & Roxy to Geneva Equestrian in early May to work with Brad Hall and do a mini-event. It was fun to get them both out. Milo finished the Novice in 2nd place and Roxy finished in 4th in the Beginner Novice. With the rain and the EHV outbreak, it was nice to finally get off the property and outside! Some of the kids were able to get out and go cross country schooling at Otter Creek Farm with Jenny Warner as well.

I made the trip down to Lexington, Kentucky to watch ROLEX and had a blast hanging out at the KHP. The excitement of a 4* is something I can't wait to experience from the competition side. We had Lainey in for another fabulous clinic hosted at My Legacy Farm. She had great exercises to get us forward and back into the game. It was a great prep for Otter Creek Spring Horse Trials.

As I said earlier we just returned from OCF Spring HT. It was a great weekend with lots of memories and experiences! Otter Creek is by far my favorite venue. I had three horses competing this weekend, Roxy in the Beginner Novice, Artie in the Beginner Novice and Milo in the Novice. They were all wonderful! Milo led the dressage on a well deserved 30, and Roxy had a great trip in the sandbox scoring a 33 while Artie was working through a little bit of tension he scored a 40. Roxy & Artie both put in great clear show jumping rounds later that day. All three of them stepped up to the plate for cross country as well. Milo ran first and put in a double clear coming in just one second under optimum time. Artie jumped around, less-deer like and more horse-like which is a great improvement for him! Roxy locked on to all of her BN jumps and spooked at all of the other fences and spectators on course, but that will come in time. We picked upped a 20 due to her balking at the Intermediate ditch & brush placed behind one of our fences but once she realized we weren't jumping the ditch & brush sideways she found her fence and jumped it wonderfully. On Sunday Milo had a great show jumping round with one rail down to finish in 3rd. Artie finished in the ribbons taking home 7th and Roxy sat just outside. She will get it!

Emily & her new mount Raptor made their debut at Training. They had some tension in the dressage ring but showed their stuff out on the XC and in the SJ ring putting in one of the few double clear XC rounds and a double clear SJ round finishing in 4th place. Sammy & Stella also had a great run, still have some sorting out to do in the sandbox but had wonderful XC and SJ rounds to finish in 8th place. Lily & Boo went out on XC like they had last fall, nice and forward jumping out of stride. They had one unfortunate rail in SJ but placed 7th nonetheless. Claire & Emma made their debut at Novice with great success. They had a wonderful dressage ride, after Emma was feeling a little fresh in the box Claire took it nice and slow making easy work of the jumps but added some time to their score. She took it nice and steady around the SJ course to complete their first Novice horse trials! Deb & Oliver had a tough weekend but Deb is now the proud grandmother to a beautiful baby boy! They had an unplanned separation on the XC but put in a wonderful SJ curtesy round. They were able to hit the XC after the horse show and cleaned up their mishap and finished the course wonderful and ready for more! Kailey Giancola & her newest mount Peterbuild had a great weekend winning the SR Novice division! It has been so fun to have Kailey back for the summers between her college time! Olivia & Hannah made their team debut at Beginner Novice and had a wonderful weekend finishing 2nd! So proud of Olivia for stepping up to the plate and really showing me what she knows! Mariah & Grady had their first outing at Starter together and unfortunately had a parting of ways in the SJ ring. She had a great lesson on Saturday and was able to school the XC course on Sunday after the show! She is making huge improvements. Maitland & Cinder were with us as non-competes and had some fun lessons in the warm up rings and were also able to go XC schooling on Sunday! Glad to have Maitland back in one piece and ready for more action! Overall it was a GREAT weekend and lots of learning took place!

Big shout out to all of my sponsors, clients, parents, students, horses, horse show staff, volunteers, trainers - everyone and anyone who has anything to do with making these wonderful weekends possible! There are a lot of moving parts and we like to run like a well oiled machine and we sure do! Great support from everyone over the weekend! Thanks Emily for all your hard work put into grooming my horses and helping organize packing, set up, unpacking, repacking, schedule making etc! I really appreciate all the hard work. Thanks to ALL of the others for helping as well, everything you do makes it all work, even as little as offering kind words to one another goes a long way! You guys mean the world to me! Can't wait for our next outing! It is so great to pull into my wonderful home base of Elysium Farms! I can't thank Tracy & Peter Kooman enough for letting me run my business from their beautiful farm!

We are busy busy busy! I head off to Kentucky on Weds morning with four horses. Emily and Raptor will be doing the P/T, Claire & Emma and Lily & Boo will be doing Novice at May Daze Horse Trials and I will be bringing Lucy to make our Prix St Georges debut at the KDA Spring Dressage Show! It will be a fun weekend! Zach will be helping drive and some of the parents will fly in to help out as well! I look forward to a fun event and dressage show at the wonderful Kentucky Horse Park.

After that we head to St. Croix Dressage Show on 5/31 and Carriage House Combined Test on 6/1. Competing in the St. Croix Dressage Show will be myself on Lucy, Emily on Raptor, Olivia on Hannah, Claire on Emma, Lily on Boo and Sammy on Stella & Mo. At Carriage House we have: me on Milo - Training me on Roxy - Novice Emily on Raptor - Prelim Sammy on Stella - Prelim Claire on Emma - Training Lily on Boo - Training Olivia on Hannah - Novice Deb on Oliver - Novice Maura on Artie - Beginner Novice Marcia on Milo - Beginner Novice Sammy on Mo - Beginner Novice Mariah on Grady - Starter Maitland on Cinder - Starter It will be a busy weekend!

Then we bring Lainey in for another educational fun weekend at the Schweiss Farm!

Later in June we have a large group heading to Fox River Valley! me on Milo - Training me on Roxy - Novice Emily on Raptor - Prelim Sammy on Stella - Prelim Claire on Emma - Novice Lily on Boo - Novice Deb on Oliver - Novice Maura on Artie - Beginner Novice Olivia on Hannah - Beginner Novice

So until I have more time after a few more exciting events to blog again - keep your heels down and eyes up! Ride on!

vida del amor la vida en directo

Translated - Live Life Love Life. I just returned from a nice week vacation in Mexico and it couldn't have been more rejuvenating. Maybe it was because I was only home for a day and am currently en route to Florida to help Sammy with her new horse and go to Rocking Horse. That could have helped. I have to say taking a week away from everything (mostly) was fabulous. It was a great chance to reflect on my business and look at how I want it to continue to grow. It was a great time spent with some close friends and their family members. Not only do we have quality time together as a group, but I am able to meet so many new, interesting people. I really enjoy conversations with strangers about life and love. I really just enjoy talking to new people. I met a very interesting young women that was on a 15 day vacation on her own. She was very nice and had some great stories. I met another girl and her family from Illinois and they were fun to hang out with as well. The staff at this resort were fabulous and very entertaining, and quite nice to look at. I'll make sure to post a photo in here. Although MN is very cold, I have high hopes that we are nearing the end of the cold and hopping into spring.



I am so excited for this year, I just have a great feeling about it. We return from Florida on Sunday and then its three quick days loaded with lessons, spring shots, farrier work, riding, packing and up and early Thursday morning to drive to the Kentucky Horse Park for Spring Bay Horse Trials with a handful of kids. Emily Shirley will be showing Raptor Force in the training, Sam Kelly & Someday Never Comes in training, Lily Geelan & Boo Ya in the Novice and Claire Henneman and Emma's Wish in the Beginner Novice. Natalie Johnson is also coming down this year to show her horse Brother Louis & will be hauling Beau home for the Kelly's.



April is filling up quite fast. My best friend's birthday is April 13th so we will plan something fun for her, and I am house/dog sitting for a close friend as well. Then I am off to Chicago with my mom & sister to visit my little sister Maggie. Then heading to Kentucky to cheer on my friends that will be kickin it around that 4* course at Rolex. Then we are off to our first dressage show of the year the first weekend in May at Otter Creek.

Check out this link of us working on our extended trot!

I would also like to announce the arrival of Little Lu to the farm!! She is a very good looking red head like her big sister Lucy, but she has four wheels and her breeding goes back to the sire Honda Rancher 420. She is pictured below! I can't wait to get her to her first show this year and see what her future holds.



I will make sure to blog on the way home about how the show this weekend goes. I am hoping to also see some other sale horses to keep in mind as I am hopefully looking for my next eventing prospect. Until then, stay warm and drop your stirrups!

2014 - New Year, New Experience

2014. I love it. I am so excited for this year, I know that we, Liz Lund Eventing, as a team are going to do GREAT things!

So many exciting changes have come about, new horses, new goals, new students, etc. and while changes are new and exciting, I am so happy to have the "old" in my life too, longtime, loyal students, friends and family, and a fabulous facility we have been able to operate out of.

Lucy has been redirected into becoming a straight dressage horse for 2014. My goal is to move up to PSG and I1, qualify for Regionals and then qualify for Nationals and then finish her training by adding her one tempis, passage and piaffe. So, since I am new to the sport of "straight" dressage, well not new, but actually pursuing some serious goals, I am learning a lot about the sport. What is a good show, what is a good goal, what is too soon, how do you do this and that, who to talk to etc. This is all stuff I know in Eventing, so I am more then excited to become more knowledgable and skilled in the upper level dressage. We have been working hard on our changes, fours, threes, twos and started ones...well now we are back to just schooling the change, when I ask for it, not when Miss Lucy thinks they should be done. Reschooling, retraining, taking steps backwards in order to take leaps forwards. I'm not gunna lie, it's a blast!

So although "Liz Lund" is focusing her horse on Dressage in 2014, we are still, in fact, Liz Lund EVENTING. Yes, our main focus is Eventing. Financially I need to put purchasing my next mount on hold, so I am aiming my sites on working with what I have, which is what we all have to do at times.

My LLE students have all been making huge progress over this awful, cold, snowy winter. They are very committed to the program and taking the steps to further their knowledge and experience. We have some riders surfacing this season on new horses and some on the same horses but with their aim to move up a level. We have a couple students working hard to try and qualify for a CCI1* by the end of the year so they can work at making the USEA Area IV Young Rider's 2015 team. I have a few working towards attending the USPC Pony Club Championships and Festival, some working on getting out to their first event, almost all the kid's are working towards their next rating whether it is the D! or C3. Most importantly everyone is working on their own personalized goals in which they want to accomplish. I am working on becoming a well rounded equestrian by now trying to conquer the highest level of the DQ world I can. Who knows, maybe my next horse will be a jumper so I can hit up all the phases of Eventing and come back with a vengeance! All in due time.

I have learned a lot about myself, my business and other's through my experiences and I couldn't be more thankful for everything I have. It can be easy to look at so and so on the other side of the fence and say I want that, how come they have that, what am I doing wrong, but you can't always judge a book by its cover. You don't know how they got there, you don't know what they gave up and you don't know that you really want to be them. Live everyday to the fullest and appreciate what you have. If you want something more, set a realistic goal and make a plan on how to reach it.

I have become more involved in my side business as a consultant for Rodan + Fields Dermatologists. Again, what a great opportunity and experience. If anyone knows me...like really I don't think I had washed my face in a sink, or well I guess besides when in the shower, since, um ever. Now, quite religiously, I wash my face two times a day AND I use sunscreen. As you know, I love to be tan, and I can quite easily get tan, BUT what is weird, I swear after you turn 25, you start to notice things you swore were never going to happen to you. That extra 10 lbs, that wrinkle, those dark spots, wait what? I can't just eat whenever I want, drink whatever I want, and not just stay skinny? And young? Weird. We are all aging all the time, so I found these amazing products that help! I desperately needed something to help reverse that sun damage to my face, those freckles were getting out of control and I had an odd pigment darkening on my upper lip, no not hair, my skin. So, my friend Michelle was selling the products, and I jumped right in and started selling as well. I received all of my products and began using the Reverse Regimen right away. Within two weeks I saw results. Never. Looked. Back.

Now I am not really a sales person, although I could probably buy and sell horses all day long, I have gotten quite good. It really is quite easy when you stand behind your products 100%. It really is like any business. My horses for example, I stand completely behind my LLE business, I am a horse trainer, instructor, coach, rider, etc. I am good, I know my strengths and weaknesses. I continue to better myself. I continue to accept help and ask for help when needed. I strive to learn from past mistakes and I can count on good results. I do well, my student's do well. I would have to say maybe I know something or maybe something I am doing is working. Well there ya go. When you test something out and you get good results, stick with it. A skin care regimen is like a riding program. If it works, and you're doing well, keep doing it.

Anyway onto fun stuff! I have had a few great trips this year. I feel I have been all over horse shopping for clients. Chicago, Virginia, Flordia...it has been quite fun! Congrats to Emily Shirley and her new horse Raptor Force purchased from Lainey Ashker. They have been doing wonderful together since he arrived on January 1st. I also went to Nashville for Rodan + Fields and Seatlle, WA to visit my older sister, Kiki, with my little sister Maggie.

I am really looking forward to an awesome year! Again, setting a goal to keep blogging as much as possible. Set your goals just out of reach and reach for the stars!

Can't wait for the snow to melt!