St. Croix Dressage Classic 6/7-8/2008

Owner Ellen Hoffman proud of her 5 year Old Oldenburg gelding- "He sure has been Worth the Wait!"-Ellen Hoffman

Friday evening was on and off rain storms. Owner, Ellen Hoffman and I finally found a break in the weather, waited for traffic and loaded Worthy up into the the trailer and headed to the Washington County show grounds for the St. Croix Dressage Classic.

Ellen braided his mane Friday evening so we would be ready for our classes on Saturday. The weather turned out great, we got Worthy ready and I got on him to warm up for my first class, First Level Test 1. He felt great, he doesn't need much of a warm up so we headed to the ring to perform our test. He felt really good, rhythmic and moving forward. We entered the ring, halted/saluted at X and continued on to put in a great test earning a 64% to win first place! We decided we wanted to keep that trend up so I focused on keeping him calm and made sure to ride him the same in the two tests following on Saturday.

Our next test was Training 3, also earning a 64% and winning first place again. Following Training 3 was Training 4, our Region 4 Championship qualifying test, we earned a 64% again taking first place. What a great first day, nothing but blue and Ellen was thrilled. It is such a great feeling when you can go out there and get rewarded for the work I have done at home.

Sunday we started with First Level test 2 earning a 65% to take the blue again. Next was Training 3 followed by Training 4. Worthy was starting to get a little tired, but nothing could keep him from trucking along. We earned another 65% in the Training 3, winning 1st and received our best score of the weekend a, 67% to win our 6th class. I was very thrilled with him and Ellen was very happy!

We are now preparing for our next dressage show, July 5th-6th, Parkside Dressage at Alpine Farms in Minnesota. Our goal is to qualify for the Region 4 Championships in Mason City, Iowa.

Carriage House Combined Test 2008

Liz & Hannah in the Open-Intermediate division performing their dressage test. Receiving a 36.6 putting them in 2nd place.

Liz & Hannah pleased with their day's performance.

Carriage House is always a great show, close to home and held in one day. I had three horses going in the show. Hannah in the Open Intermediate division, Worth the Wait in Open Novice and Hamel in Open Beginner Novice and Open Novice. The horses were great.

I had to get up extra early on Sunday to feed and turnout the other horses and trailer to Carriage House to be the first ride of the day at 8:00am on Hamel. I arrived, unloaded Hamel, quickly braided him and tacked up. I was very grateful to have my friend Chelsea Leines there helping me groom and take care of the horses.

Hamel's first ride went pretty well. Being an 'off-the-track-thoroughbred' (OTTB) he gets a little excited with all the commotion, but even him being excited really isn't hard to handle. He earned a 38 on his first dressage test and put us in 4th place.

My next ride was on Worth the Wait "Worthy". He is a dressage horse that is experience eventing on the side for a little fun, even though he seems to enjoy the dressage the best, we will see how far he goes as an "event" horse. He earned a 34 in dressage to put him in 3rd place.

Next was Hamel again and he was not so good, this time we rode in the grass ring and he was "hopping" around like a bunny. Like I said above, nothing to hard to put up with, just annoying at times like when you are trying to turn and trot (not hop) down centerline to salute. All in all he was pretty good considering that was only his 3rd show!

My first show jumping round was next beginning with Hamel. He was quite a handful in warm up, just getting excited and once again "hopping". I call it hopping because it really isn't bucking or crowhopping...but he just puts his head down low and hops, it is quite entertaining I am told. He got into the ring and was much better, jumping clean adding only time to his score to finish in 6th place taking home a green ribbon for his mom, Jean Kunz.

I then had my dressage ride on Hannah. I tacked her and warmed up and she felt really good, responding to my aids, doing her laterals smoothly and acing her walk/canter transitions. We entered the ring, performed our test, saluted and thanked the judge. We received a 36.6 putting us in 2nd place.

Next were the two youngsters, starting with Hamel who had seemed to be adjusting better as the day progressed and his hoppiness was slowly getting better. His novice course was great, he jumped everything. He is such a cool horse, and definitely will be a clean show jumper no matter the height of the fences. He finished 7th in the Open Novice division.

Worthy is also a great jumper, he has amazing movement too which makes the dressage come easy to him. He isn't as experienced or comfortable with jumping so he gets a little "ring sour" but only in the show jumping ring. Out on cross country he gallops willingly to and from the crowds, while in the show jump ring he tends to get a little claustrophobic. He had one rail and a few time penalties from doing a little "dance" towards the outgate, overall he was great and as the course continued he progressed quickly.

Hannah was the last ride of the day and the jumps seemed huge compared the the BN and N fences earlier in the day. I was using my new bit (the 3 ring elevator, with a figure 8 noseband, a kinetin noseband and a running martingale) and she seemed to do really well in it. We entered the ring and jumped a great round having only one rail and taking on 7 time penalties, which I was not at all upset about because that meant my bit was working and now I know I just need to work on pressing her more forward without losing control. We finished in 3rd place.

Overall the Sunday show was a success and a lot of fun. The drive home seemed long after the long and hot day at the show but once we arrived at home the horses were happy to see dinner and I was happy to drive home and go to sleep.


“Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goal” – Jim Lefebvre

"This is the Real OC"

This is the Real OC

By: Liz Lund

(Liz wrote this article for the CSDEA Cross Country magazine)

No, not the OC as in Orange County, but the OC as in Otter Creek. Otter Creek Farm, located in Wheeler, Wisconsin rests on an amazing three hundred acres of rolling hills and woods. Not only is it a great location close to The Twin Cities for all of us in the Central States area, but the farm, clinics and shows are organized and run by dedicated owners, Mark and Lena Warner. The facility and the organizers provided everything needed for a fabulous 2008 Spring Otter Creek CIC*/** Horse Trial.

The ever changing and improving Otter Creek never seems to stop growing. Mark and Lena do almost all of the work on their own, including farm management, design and construction. Recent additions over the last few years are a new water complex, new hunter ring, expanded dressage ring, new fences and most recently a new permanent stabling complex with 80 stalls.

A tremendous amount of time and planning goes into an event like the Otter Creek CIC*/** Horse Trials. Just as each individual rider prepares for a horse show long before the actual show date, the organizers have to prepare far in advance also. Officials, judges, a technical delegate, medical personnel and many volunteers all have to be found long before the show begins. I would like to thank Jenny Warner for her commitment to gather all the volunteers needed at the OCF Events. The organizers are prepared to handle a variety of situations, from severe weather to medical emergencies for horses, riders and spectators, or any kind of technical difficulty. The amazing Otter Creek organization provided an extremely efficient show with a nice flow and minimal stress for the competitors.

Course designer and former Olympic medalist, John Williams designed wonderful cross country and show jumping courses at Otter Creek. John Williams rode on the US Team in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Finishing individually in 28^th place, he helped secure the bronze medal for the U.S. Not only did he create a course with a wonderful flow but he was available and open to comments, suggestions and questions from competitors. With all the safety controversies in Eventing currently, horse show organizers are trying to create safer courses and make things ultimately the best that they can. The goal of creating safe yet challenging questions was achieved at Otter Creek. The rest was rightly left up to the riders and their horses.

Thursday was day one for the CIC* and ** riders to begin. Each FEI level competitor had to speak with FEI Vet, present their horse’s passport and jog for the vet to check for soundness.

Friday was full of spectacular dressage rides, with some riders competing up to as many as six different horses. This year was the first of hopefully many years that Otter Creek Farm incorporated the FEI Levels of the CIC* and **.

Friday morning brought an vast array of horses and riders of all levels warming up, riding tests and walking horses back to the stabling area. The day involved a lot of riders walking the cross country course before, after and in-between dressage rides in order to memorize their course, walk their lines, and measure the length to figure out minute and halfway markers.

I had three horses running in the OCF Spring H.T. I competed my own mount, Lady Hannah B, a 13 year old American Warmblood in the CIC*, Hamel, a 6 year old, off-the-track Thoroughbred, owned by Jean and Walter Kunz doing his first horse trail at Beginner Novice, and Worth the Wait, a 5 year old Oldenburg owned by Ellen Hoffman doing his first horse trial also at Beginner Novice.

Friday morning I started with my CIC* ride. I braided and groomed Hannah till she sparkled. I tacked up and then got myself dressed in white breeches, shadbelly and top hat. I made sure I had everything needed and headed over to the dressage warm up arena. Hannah felt great in warmup, I really had her working from behind and practiced different movements from our test. It was our turn to ride so I walked her over to the dressage ring. We entered the ring and gave it our best. We earned a 54.6 to put us in a tie for second place. Following my CIC* ride came the Beginner Novice horses I am training. Hamel, followed by Worth the Wait, were both very good considering it was their first show.

Liz & Hannah working on their lengthen in the dressage warmup.

Liz happy with her warmup waves to her friend Jen Johnson and heads over to the dressage ring.

Liz's practice in warmup on her lengthen paid off her in dressage test.

A lovely halt and salute to finish up a lovely dressage ride.

Saturday morning rolled around and the first riders went out on course, starting with the Training level. Horses galloped around, jumped fences and stormed through the finish lines while others warmed up for their turn. The weather was gorgeous and the day was running smoothly. Following Training level was Novice, then the CIC**, Intermediate, CIC*, Preliminary and, last but not least, Beginner Novice.

My first ride was on Hannah around two o’clock. I had walked the course a few times and felt comfortable with everything; I had planned out all my lines and minute markers. I tacked her up, put in the necessary studs after analyzing the footing, and geared myself up. I walked out to warm-up and she was feeling fresh being it the first show of the year. I had been playing around with bits this winter and was trying to figure out the best bit for her. I decided to run her in her usual Mikmar Combination Bit because that is what she has been in for the last two years. The other reason I chose this particular bit combination was that we had had terrible spring weather which seemed like no spring at all. Like many others, I had not been able to get out and school much prior to the show.

We headed to the start box and she pranced around as usual. When we heard, “3, 2, 1…” we galloped out of the start box towards our first fence. The first eight jumps were nice forward jumps that established a nice flow and rhythm for the course. As we rounded the turn towards the infamous sunken road I really had to work to bring her back. All of the jumps rode well but I had to bring her back far in advance of each fence in order to get the pace I wanted her to jump from. We jumped clean but wound up with 26 time penalties. I wasn’t too concerned about the faults, after all you have to make mistakes in order to learn and now I know what my homework is before my next show! My beginner novice mounts were great. On Hamel, we trotted the entire course and he boldly jumped everything but came in with plenty of time penalties. Worth the Wait was also very brave and jumped everything with confidence.

Liz & Hannah clear the first jump on the CIC* course.

Liz Lund & Lady Hannah B clearing the B element of the second water complex in the CIC*.

Liz & Hannah clearing the Helsinki.

Liz & Hannah jumping down the A element into the infamous sunken road complex.

Liz & Hannah galloping on between fences.

Saturday night is a highlight at Otter Creek. Full of fun, delicious food, beer tasting, dancing, bonfires and intermittent lightning bolts, we eventers know how to have a good time, rain or shine. It gives riders and spectators a chance to relax and reflect on the day’s events, chat with friends and get to know others with the common equestrian bond. There is something uniquely different about the comradery that is part of the real OC experience.

Sunday was an early morning with the FEI Jogs starting promptly at 7:30am. It was a chilly morning and Hannah seemed to be her fresh self. She passed her jog and we went back to the barn to tack up for show jumping. Going into show jumping on Sunday I was in fifth place on Hannah. The CIC* course, measured at 3’9’’, looked big for a first outing but I had confidence going into the ring. Philippa Richards, an Advanced level rider located in Grand Rapids, Michigan from Great Britain has helped me out at previous shows and coached Hannah and I in the warm up. She really had me using my upper body and seat to bring her back. I decided to jump Hannah in the new configuration that I had used all winter, a loose ring snaffle and a Kinetin nose band. She felt great and we trotted down to the ring. I saluted the judge, picked up a canter to establish my rhythm, heard the whistle and headed to the first jump. The course rode great, Hannah was jumping awesome but our pace kept getting gradually faster and faster. I realized that we needed a little more control. We only had one rail tacking on another 4 penalty points to finish the CIC* and our first outing of the year in 5^th place. I was really happy with both her performance and my own. Both of the Beginner Novice mounts that I rode jumped around great. I took it nice and slow with both of them so they could get acclimated to the crowds standing around the ring. With a few more times out and consistent training they both will be solid event horses.

As a competitor that has participated in every Otter Creek Horse Trial since the beginning in 1999, I have personally witnessed the development of an amazing horse facility and show ground. I have been lucky enough to have ridden close to a dozen different horses over the years in OCF shows at almost every offered level of competition. At Otter Creek I have experienced the ups and downs of eventing in every way, literally. From forgetting the Coggins, needing an ambulance escort, winning and losing my divisions, it all adds up to the real OC. In addition to the competition and the learning, it is the fun and friendships that will always be remembered.