Its feels so good to be home! As hard as it is to be an International level event rider from the state of Minnesota-I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's where I grew up, where my family and friends are, as well as my loyal students and clients!
The drive home went by quickly-and moving back in was easier than expected-I suppose you get used to moving when you do it a lot!
I moved out of my apartment at school in Menomonie and into an apartment with friend and local dressage trainer, Sarah Travis. It is great to have a girl as a roommate and new friend!
Work began quickly, lessons started to add up and I am now working on finishing up details to leasing my own farm! I just began working out of North Brook Eventing Center (formerly North Brook Farm) with Jan Fisk and Alison Sader Larson and really look forward to getting a good event training center started.
I hope to bring in a few more training horses and students into my barn, and plan to take things as they come!
A lot more to come, I am coaching Maria Filsinger and her horse Pete in KY this weekend at their first event of the season. I can't wait to watch my students progress throughout this 2010 show season!
Stay tuned, til next time! Kick on!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Ice in your veins...
"You have to have ice in your veins".
Don't always take the first spot that you see.
Be patient.
Rhythm. Balance. Suppleness. Bada bum.
These are just a few things that have been running through my head lately. My favorite quote is the ice in your veins. Translation-there is a strong decision to be made-must be made with a meditated outcome in order to avoid having regret to your reactions in which could make the situation worse.
Stick to your gut-don't let "flight" instincts take over. Riding is a series of decision making. Small corrections and adjustments made to both horse and rider in order to complete the required task.
Coming back to Rocking Horse after my fall at the previous one-required me to have ice in my veins. I had to come back and prove that I had learned from my previous mistakes. My goals were set and I was ready to conquer the weekend.
Like all of the other FL horse shows there was at least one rainy day...as we loaded up Friday AM in the rain, I began to grow more nervous for the show jumping phase which was to be help in the afternoon.
As I warmed up for dressage, taking careful note to the footing, I over heard the announcer say that show jumping has been moved to Sunday. I was completely relieved in which helped me relax for my dressage test. Hannah put in a great performance. We scored a 32.8 which put us in 2nd for the day. I was very happy with Hannah-the judge stated that I had a "good mudder". That is the quarter shire in her pulling through!
I walked my cross country and was really excited, the course looked challenging with lots of good lines and questions. It would be a true test of the work we had done over the winter.
I can definitely say Hannah wasn't backed off at anything, the nice thing last year when I had just moved her up to Intermediate was that she backed herself off from the fences, she didn't seem to this time around! I definitely will need more bit for the future, my half halts were ineffective and I had a hard time getting her back before fences. She jumped everything fabulously and we came in with only 3.2 time faults! The time faults moved us back to 3rd, but I was just happy with the clean round!
After preparing at HITS previously in the week I felt ready for show jumping. Although the ring at Rocking Horse was much smaller than the large jumper rings at Post Time, I felt prepared. We headed into the ring after a short warmup and jumped a nice round with only one rail. After negotiating the tough show jumping course that proved to cause issues for many, we ended a very successful weekend of accomplishing our goal-to complete our first Intermediate horse trial of 2010. Not only did we accomplish our goal but we ended up winning the division. It was a fabulous way to end the Florida season.
Stay tuned for more recent updates! Kick on!
Don't always take the first spot that you see.
Be patient.
Rhythm. Balance. Suppleness. Bada bum.
These are just a few things that have been running through my head lately. My favorite quote is the ice in your veins. Translation-there is a strong decision to be made-must be made with a meditated outcome in order to avoid having regret to your reactions in which could make the situation worse.
Stick to your gut-don't let "flight" instincts take over. Riding is a series of decision making. Small corrections and adjustments made to both horse and rider in order to complete the required task.
Coming back to Rocking Horse after my fall at the previous one-required me to have ice in my veins. I had to come back and prove that I had learned from my previous mistakes. My goals were set and I was ready to conquer the weekend.
Like all of the other FL horse shows there was at least one rainy day...as we loaded up Friday AM in the rain, I began to grow more nervous for the show jumping phase which was to be help in the afternoon.
As I warmed up for dressage, taking careful note to the footing, I over heard the announcer say that show jumping has been moved to Sunday. I was completely relieved in which helped me relax for my dressage test. Hannah put in a great performance. We scored a 32.8 which put us in 2nd for the day. I was very happy with Hannah-the judge stated that I had a "good mudder". That is the quarter shire in her pulling through!
I walked my cross country and was really excited, the course looked challenging with lots of good lines and questions. It would be a true test of the work we had done over the winter.
I can definitely say Hannah wasn't backed off at anything, the nice thing last year when I had just moved her up to Intermediate was that she backed herself off from the fences, she didn't seem to this time around! I definitely will need more bit for the future, my half halts were ineffective and I had a hard time getting her back before fences. She jumped everything fabulously and we came in with only 3.2 time faults! The time faults moved us back to 3rd, but I was just happy with the clean round!
After preparing at HITS previously in the week I felt ready for show jumping. Although the ring at Rocking Horse was much smaller than the large jumper rings at Post Time, I felt prepared. We headed into the ring after a short warmup and jumped a nice round with only one rail. After negotiating the tough show jumping course that proved to cause issues for many, we ended a very successful weekend of accomplishing our goal-to complete our first Intermediate horse trial of 2010. Not only did we accomplish our goal but we ended up winning the division. It was a fabulous way to end the Florida season.
Stay tuned for more recent updates! Kick on!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Rocking Horse III 2010
Well no body said this job would be easy! This weekend was not what we had hoped for as far as results go, but this is a sport and definitely a chosen lifestyle that you can either handle or you can't. I had an unfortunate fall in show jumping on Friday but instead of walking away with a negative attitude I look at it as a learning experience and a chance to improve at the next show.
I am lucky to say that I really do feel it was a fluke and that it is very fixable, where it could have easily been something worse. I am thankful for what it was but just disappointed as the cross country looked as if it would have been a great experience for both Hannah and me.
Hannah was jumping really well around the first half of the show jumping course and as we came off of a one stride 6A/B we landed and I took a half halt to set her up for 7, which was on a slight bending left turn set on an off stride, a holding 7 or a moving 6 and no body seemed to have a good ride to it throughout the entire event. As I half halted between 6B and 7 Hannah threw her weight slightly to the right and I straightened her to the fence and she didn't even seem to see it as we were upon it too quickly and when she set her front legs down, in which I thought was in an effort to jump, it was really in her realization that she was at a fence and she stopped and I popped off. I thanked the judge and met the EMTs at the in-gate so they could be sure that I was alright. As soon as I was checked out I jumped a few warm up fences, patted Hannah and walked back to the trailer with a quick ending to a weekend that should have been quite successful.
We will head off to HITS before Rocking Horse Spring and jump around a Level 4 just to make sure it was a fluke. We have plenty of time between now and our next event to make sure that we are well prepared!
This is definitely a sport of ups and downs. I heard a quote that fits it well;
"The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dreams, and how you handle disappointments along the way."
I feel this quote holds true because we are in a sport that unfortunately comes with a lot of disappointment. On a positive not it also comes with a lot of success, and the disappointments make the success that much more enjoyable.
I will keep updates on HITS and how the training is coming along!!
Enjoy what you have because at any given time it could be taken away.
Until next time! I hope to be able to share many of my upcoming experiences with everyone along the way! Keep on ridin'!
I am lucky to say that I really do feel it was a fluke and that it is very fixable, where it could have easily been something worse. I am thankful for what it was but just disappointed as the cross country looked as if it would have been a great experience for both Hannah and me.
Hannah was jumping really well around the first half of the show jumping course and as we came off of a one stride 6A/B we landed and I took a half halt to set her up for 7, which was on a slight bending left turn set on an off stride, a holding 7 or a moving 6 and no body seemed to have a good ride to it throughout the entire event. As I half halted between 6B and 7 Hannah threw her weight slightly to the right and I straightened her to the fence and she didn't even seem to see it as we were upon it too quickly and when she set her front legs down, in which I thought was in an effort to jump, it was really in her realization that she was at a fence and she stopped and I popped off. I thanked the judge and met the EMTs at the in-gate so they could be sure that I was alright. As soon as I was checked out I jumped a few warm up fences, patted Hannah and walked back to the trailer with a quick ending to a weekend that should have been quite successful.
We will head off to HITS before Rocking Horse Spring and jump around a Level 4 just to make sure it was a fluke. We have plenty of time between now and our next event to make sure that we are well prepared!
This is definitely a sport of ups and downs. I heard a quote that fits it well;
"The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dreams, and how you handle disappointments along the way."
I feel this quote holds true because we are in a sport that unfortunately comes with a lot of disappointment. On a positive not it also comes with a lot of success, and the disappointments make the success that much more enjoyable.
I will keep updates on HITS and how the training is coming along!!
Enjoy what you have because at any given time it could be taken away.
Until next time! I hope to be able to share many of my upcoming experiences with everyone along the way! Keep on ridin'!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Florida 2010 Update #2!
Finally the sun is beginning to warm us up down here...It was 25 degrees this morning, I didn't come here for cold weather...oh well, at least we have sunshine and good horse life down here! I am so grateful for being down here and having the chance to be able to compete during the winter season and get a head start on the 2010 competitions.
Things have been great down here. Autumn's horse, Alpek had a successful surgery to remove the tumor in his nostril, he is healing up well and the tumor was benign and he will come back to work as soon as his face heals. She recently purchased a new horse, The Real Deal, who is an Irish boy and is a ton of fun! She has successfully competed him at two training level events now, taking 3rd place at Rocking Horse II this week. She is doing her first preliminary on him this weekend at Rocking Horse III. Lark is moving her horse Pelaar up to Novice at the weekend and Philly will be riding Rockstar (Rich N' Famous), Proximo and Oliver (Prince Charming). Another busy weekend ahead of us, the work never seems to end but we are all having a great time!
I have met some nice people at the tack store, Winning Edge, owned by Ed McNamara and really enjoy working there a few times a week. Our days of full of work, showing, chores, riding and cleaning!
I am taking Hannah to Rocking Horse III this weekend and we are competing in the Intermediate Rider division. She has been really good on the flat this week, I have been working her in her double and she is really coming into the contact well and not throwing her head and front legs in the air....so I am hoping for a quality test tomorrow. I had a jump school on her last night with Philly and we worked on jumping down the hill with bending lines to skinnies and making sure that on the landing stride she is on the half halt and waiting for ME to tell her where to go rather then just landing and galloping on like she thinks she knows what is next...we had some issues with that last fall at Wayne DuPage. Now that I have her listening a lot better I hope to jump clean at our first Intermediate of the season.
Mr. Max has been doing well and enjoying the Florida weather. He did his first jumper show at HITS week I and did great! I have a few interested people in him so I am hoping to get him sold before I head back north, in less than a month now!
I will keep updates through the weekend!
Things have been great down here. Autumn's horse, Alpek had a successful surgery to remove the tumor in his nostril, he is healing up well and the tumor was benign and he will come back to work as soon as his face heals. She recently purchased a new horse, The Real Deal, who is an Irish boy and is a ton of fun! She has successfully competed him at two training level events now, taking 3rd place at Rocking Horse II this week. She is doing her first preliminary on him this weekend at Rocking Horse III. Lark is moving her horse Pelaar up to Novice at the weekend and Philly will be riding Rockstar (Rich N' Famous), Proximo and Oliver (Prince Charming). Another busy weekend ahead of us, the work never seems to end but we are all having a great time!
I have met some nice people at the tack store, Winning Edge, owned by Ed McNamara and really enjoy working there a few times a week. Our days of full of work, showing, chores, riding and cleaning!
I am taking Hannah to Rocking Horse III this weekend and we are competing in the Intermediate Rider division. She has been really good on the flat this week, I have been working her in her double and she is really coming into the contact well and not throwing her head and front legs in the air....so I am hoping for a quality test tomorrow. I had a jump school on her last night with Philly and we worked on jumping down the hill with bending lines to skinnies and making sure that on the landing stride she is on the half halt and waiting for ME to tell her where to go rather then just landing and galloping on like she thinks she knows what is next...we had some issues with that last fall at Wayne DuPage. Now that I have her listening a lot better I hope to jump clean at our first Intermediate of the season.
Mr. Max has been doing well and enjoying the Florida weather. He did his first jumper show at HITS week I and did great! I have a few interested people in him so I am hoping to get him sold before I head back north, in less than a month now!
I will keep updates through the weekend!
Monday, February 8, 2010
2010-Florida!
Florida...where I plan on spending every winter for a very very long time! Things have been great down here. I first drove down with my dressage trainer, Alison Sader Larson, to Palm Beach Gardens and stayed with her for a little while, helped her get settled and the horses settled. I returned home for the Holidays and headed out on the road again to Palm Beach Gardens to spend a week with Alison until the horses arrived. I headed north to Ocala on Saturday the 16th to meet my horses and my event trainer from Michigan, Philippa Humphreys as well as another family from Minnesota, the Schweiss'. Autumn & Lark Schweiss are living down in FL with Philippa and me, then the family, dad-Mike, mom-Julie, and sister-Brook come down on weekends for horse shows.
The first week we made sure to have the horses all settled in and did a lot of road work and hacking. Then we got to work. I have Hannah down here, as well as a sale horse, Maximum Eclipse, aka Max. I have met some cool people down here. I began immediately looking for work right away and found a job at the tack store, The Winning Edge. I work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the shop. Each day I get up around 7am, feed the horses, clean stalls and begin the day!
I am currently enrolled in 3 classes through UW-Stout that are offered online, so I have to stay on top of my schoolwork. The days here are long and filled so by night we are all ready for bed nice and early!
Max is a really great horse. He would be perfect for a young teenager looking to get some show experience. He would do amazing as a jumper or a lower level event horse. Perfect horse for a pony clubber looking to move through the ratings. In the summer of 2009 he was the horse Annie Jones rode to achieve her B USPC rating.
I have completed my first show of the season, Rocking Horse I. We competed in the I/P division. Hannah was great, her dressage was nice and steady, I thought she deserved a better score than a 39, but in comparison to the rest of the class we were placed right in the middle at 6th place. Following dressage we had show jumping, the track was proving to be difficult for a lot of the horses. Even the 4 star horses who were just coming back to for the 2010 show season were having rails and time faults. We had one rail and added on a few time faults but even with that it moved us up two places to 4th place. The cross country track was really friendly for a first show. Lots of galloping fences and not too technical. I felt very comfortable going out. Hannah felt as if she was right back in the middle of show season and knew exactly what her job was. We jumped clean and came home inside the time moving us up to finish in 3rd place.
It was a great first show! The next show is going to be Rocking Horse III the third weekend in February and we will be doing Intermediate in preparation for the CIC2* at Otter Creek in May. I look forward to seeing everyone at the horse shows! Stay tuned!
The first week we made sure to have the horses all settled in and did a lot of road work and hacking. Then we got to work. I have Hannah down here, as well as a sale horse, Maximum Eclipse, aka Max. I have met some cool people down here. I began immediately looking for work right away and found a job at the tack store, The Winning Edge. I work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the shop. Each day I get up around 7am, feed the horses, clean stalls and begin the day!
I am currently enrolled in 3 classes through UW-Stout that are offered online, so I have to stay on top of my schoolwork. The days here are long and filled so by night we are all ready for bed nice and early!
Max is a really great horse. He would be perfect for a young teenager looking to get some show experience. He would do amazing as a jumper or a lower level event horse. Perfect horse for a pony clubber looking to move through the ratings. In the summer of 2009 he was the horse Annie Jones rode to achieve her B USPC rating.
I have completed my first show of the season, Rocking Horse I. We competed in the I/P division. Hannah was great, her dressage was nice and steady, I thought she deserved a better score than a 39, but in comparison to the rest of the class we were placed right in the middle at 6th place. Following dressage we had show jumping, the track was proving to be difficult for a lot of the horses. Even the 4 star horses who were just coming back to for the 2010 show season were having rails and time faults. We had one rail and added on a few time faults but even with that it moved us up two places to 4th place. The cross country track was really friendly for a first show. Lots of galloping fences and not too technical. I felt very comfortable going out. Hannah felt as if she was right back in the middle of show season and knew exactly what her job was. We jumped clean and came home inside the time moving us up to finish in 3rd place.
It was a great first show! The next show is going to be Rocking Horse III the third weekend in February and we will be doing Intermediate in preparation for the CIC2* at Otter Creek in May. I look forward to seeing everyone at the horse shows! Stay tuned!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Winter '09-'10
Well...I suppose it isn't quite winter here yet...but the leaves have changed colors and fallen from the trees leaving our land looking desolate and barren. We have already had some snow but are quite lucky to have some very nice weather right now. The sun is shining and it is a steamy 45 degrees out!
I have moved all of the jumps into the indoor arena for the winter as to begin our grid work and gymnastic schooling in order to prepare for the 2010 season. The horses have grown full winter coats and are nice and warm in the biting cold air outside. Poor Hannah had all of her coat shaved off for the winter but is bundled up warmly in her blankets. Most of my students are in school during the day so lessons don't begin until the sun as set around 430pm and the kids are scurrying out of school in order to have the barn air comfort their stresses from school.
I myself have gone back full time at the University of Wisconsin-Stout only to once again have a very nice schedule of only having classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays allowing me a lot of time to spend at the farm with the horses.
I am done with school in the near future...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Right now the plan is to head to Florida for two months, January 15-March 15 with my eventing trainer, Philippa Humphreys. She is renting a farm in Ocala really close to the HITS show grounds and I will be staying and training with her. So far the plan is just to train, if finances allow I will hopefully do a show or two, but we will see when that time comes. I will be continuing my education by taking online classes, so I will need to find a nice internet cafe with a nice comfy couch to confide myself to on a daily basis.
My students will be taking a lot of lessons prior to me leaving for Florida in order to prepare them for two months away from a regular program. Upon my return we will continue lessons and I hope to start to build more upon Liz Lund Eventing. As I near the end of my school life...which seems like my life, I have done nothing but go to school for just about my entire life, I am looking to expand my business and bring in new clients, students and horses. Stay tuned for more updates on my business.
I now have my logo secured and will be making my Liz Lund Eventing gear soon. If you are interested in any gear from hats, jackets, t-shirts and more please contact me at eventrider@lizlund.com or (952)210-9448.
Thanks all for now, stay tuned for training tips and more updates. Keep kickin'!
I have moved all of the jumps into the indoor arena for the winter as to begin our grid work and gymnastic schooling in order to prepare for the 2010 season. The horses have grown full winter coats and are nice and warm in the biting cold air outside. Poor Hannah had all of her coat shaved off for the winter but is bundled up warmly in her blankets. Most of my students are in school during the day so lessons don't begin until the sun as set around 430pm and the kids are scurrying out of school in order to have the barn air comfort their stresses from school.
I myself have gone back full time at the University of Wisconsin-Stout only to once again have a very nice schedule of only having classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays allowing me a lot of time to spend at the farm with the horses.
I am done with school in the near future...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Right now the plan is to head to Florida for two months, January 15-March 15 with my eventing trainer, Philippa Humphreys. She is renting a farm in Ocala really close to the HITS show grounds and I will be staying and training with her. So far the plan is just to train, if finances allow I will hopefully do a show or two, but we will see when that time comes. I will be continuing my education by taking online classes, so I will need to find a nice internet cafe with a nice comfy couch to confide myself to on a daily basis.
My students will be taking a lot of lessons prior to me leaving for Florida in order to prepare them for two months away from a regular program. Upon my return we will continue lessons and I hope to start to build more upon Liz Lund Eventing. As I near the end of my school life...which seems like my life, I have done nothing but go to school for just about my entire life, I am looking to expand my business and bring in new clients, students and horses. Stay tuned for more updates on my business.
I now have my logo secured and will be making my Liz Lund Eventing gear soon. If you are interested in any gear from hats, jackets, t-shirts and more please contact me at eventrider@lizlund.com or (952)210-9448.
Thanks all for now, stay tuned for training tips and more updates. Keep kickin'!
Otter Creek Fall HT 2009
Hi Everyone!
So, now that the shows have ended and we are heading into the dreaded cold season here in MN, it is time for me to get back to my blogging!
Otter Creek. One of my favorite shows with my favorite midwesterners! I love living in MN, I truely do, despite the cold weather and a short show season, it is my home.
I was lucky to have picked up a Training Level ride on Juliette, the pony that I moved up to Training level at Wayne DuPage and a new horse, Centauri, owned by Jean Kunz to debut his eventing career with me, at the Beginner Novice level, and of course Hannah I was taking Intermediate.
I'll start with Centauri. It had been awhile since I had shown a greeny. Centauri is a nice horse, 8 year old Hannoverian from Missouri. Jean had just purchased him no more then 2 weeks before the horse show. We decided to give it a shot, take him out for the experience and the atmosphere, giving him a confidence boost in his show exposure. He is a very nice mover, has a big jump and really uses his neck effectively. To view some videos of Centauri at Otter Creek please follow the following link- http://www.youtube.com/user/RiderL9.
He put in a nice dressage round scoring a 39.5. Not bad for his first time out! We were ready for cross country on Saturday. I really wanted to take it slow and build his confidence so we headed out of the start box in a nice steady trot...which Steve Kath, local announcer and friend for years, since I had started my eventing career, enjoyed pointing out to the crowd how slowly we were going! Centauri looked at the crowds and the different fences but stayed focuses, he jumped clean and we had some time of course...but he was able to canter certain fences and areas of the course as long as he stayed focused on his job ahead of him. He seemed to definitely enjoy it out there! Show jumping was a blast. Centauri has an amazing canter, he just feels like a rocking horse underneath the saddle. He jumped a clear round and finished his first show with no jumping faults! Overall Centauri had a great experience not only out being ridden, but he really seemed relaxed the entire weekend and enjoyed the show atmosphere. He never whinnied when one of his friends left he just quietly munched on his hay and would lay down everyday in his stall.
The pony, Juliette, is always a joy to ride. She put in one of her best dressage tests yet, only to sit us in dead last on a 43, a score I thought to be a little unfair. She is a pony, so of course she moves shorter then most but she is obedient and does her job. We are constantly working on more stride and length with her and she is coming along well, we can only hope to see a difference in the scores next season! Well cross country is definitely this little rockets thing! I guided her flawlessly around the large training level course and came in under the optimum time to move us up to 6th place out of the original 14 starters. The show jumping course proved to be challenging for everyone throughout the day. There was only 30 some rounds that were jumped clean out of over 175 competitors. She felt great underneath me and was jumping well but we had an unfortunate 2 rails, but having the show jumping proving to be challenging to everyone we finished in 5th place. Another great outing for the pony-another great step towards the Preliminary level!
And on to my favorite-Hannah! The connection that Hannah and I have is irreplaceable and I will never probably have the same bond with another horse as I do with Hannah. We know each other in and out. We put in a lovely dressage test to sit in 3rd on a 38.6. We rode Intermediate test A-my least favorite of the 3 test as we have to ride in the small arena. It is really hard to do all of the movements asked in an Intermediate test well in a small ring. Excuses excuses, but I felt we had a great ride regardless. I was excited for the cross country. It was my goal coming into the show to jump a clean cross country round, even if that meant adding a few more then desired time faults to our score. Not only did we jump a clean round but it was amazing! If anyone knows me they know my fear of weldon's walls, having had a bad fall at a clinic the spring of 2007 into one, I just haven't gotten that out of my head. So of course, Otter Creek built a new, rather large, Weldon's wall in the middle of their field for the Intermediate course. The course presented a lot of challenging questions, from triple brush skinnies, two water complexes, bounce banks, corners on a bending line, large tables, a sunken road consisting of a bench, bounce down a bank, two strides across the road up the next bank and a bounce out over another bench and of course me ever so dreaded weldon's wall. The course couldn't have ridden better. We rode in perfect harmony over everything racking up a few time penalties but moved up to 2nd place. I couldn't have been happier, what a great way to run my final cross country course of the season. Show jumping also went well, as I said previously the rails came down like rain. I watched a competitor before me pull out of the ring, another had over 8 rails, not so comforting as you head into the ring! All in all, Hannah jumped well having only 2 rails and I was pleased! We finished in 2nd out of a mere 5 competitors, but none the less it wasn't about the placing it was about the performance and I couldn't have asked for anything more!
It was a great weekend, I met a lot of new people and it was an amazing closer to the 2009 show season. I am looking forward to winter training and coming out even stronger then ever for the 2010 season!
So, now that the shows have ended and we are heading into the dreaded cold season here in MN, it is time for me to get back to my blogging!
Otter Creek. One of my favorite shows with my favorite midwesterners! I love living in MN, I truely do, despite the cold weather and a short show season, it is my home.
I was lucky to have picked up a Training Level ride on Juliette, the pony that I moved up to Training level at Wayne DuPage and a new horse, Centauri, owned by Jean Kunz to debut his eventing career with me, at the Beginner Novice level, and of course Hannah I was taking Intermediate.
I'll start with Centauri. It had been awhile since I had shown a greeny. Centauri is a nice horse, 8 year old Hannoverian from Missouri. Jean had just purchased him no more then 2 weeks before the horse show. We decided to give it a shot, take him out for the experience and the atmosphere, giving him a confidence boost in his show exposure. He is a very nice mover, has a big jump and really uses his neck effectively. To view some videos of Centauri at Otter Creek please follow the following link- http://www.youtube.com/user/RiderL9.
He put in a nice dressage round scoring a 39.5. Not bad for his first time out! We were ready for cross country on Saturday. I really wanted to take it slow and build his confidence so we headed out of the start box in a nice steady trot...which Steve Kath, local announcer and friend for years, since I had started my eventing career, enjoyed pointing out to the crowd how slowly we were going! Centauri looked at the crowds and the different fences but stayed focuses, he jumped clean and we had some time of course...but he was able to canter certain fences and areas of the course as long as he stayed focused on his job ahead of him. He seemed to definitely enjoy it out there! Show jumping was a blast. Centauri has an amazing canter, he just feels like a rocking horse underneath the saddle. He jumped a clear round and finished his first show with no jumping faults! Overall Centauri had a great experience not only out being ridden, but he really seemed relaxed the entire weekend and enjoyed the show atmosphere. He never whinnied when one of his friends left he just quietly munched on his hay and would lay down everyday in his stall.
The pony, Juliette, is always a joy to ride. She put in one of her best dressage tests yet, only to sit us in dead last on a 43, a score I thought to be a little unfair. She is a pony, so of course she moves shorter then most but she is obedient and does her job. We are constantly working on more stride and length with her and she is coming along well, we can only hope to see a difference in the scores next season! Well cross country is definitely this little rockets thing! I guided her flawlessly around the large training level course and came in under the optimum time to move us up to 6th place out of the original 14 starters. The show jumping course proved to be challenging for everyone throughout the day. There was only 30 some rounds that were jumped clean out of over 175 competitors. She felt great underneath me and was jumping well but we had an unfortunate 2 rails, but having the show jumping proving to be challenging to everyone we finished in 5th place. Another great outing for the pony-another great step towards the Preliminary level!
And on to my favorite-Hannah! The connection that Hannah and I have is irreplaceable and I will never probably have the same bond with another horse as I do with Hannah. We know each other in and out. We put in a lovely dressage test to sit in 3rd on a 38.6. We rode Intermediate test A-my least favorite of the 3 test as we have to ride in the small arena. It is really hard to do all of the movements asked in an Intermediate test well in a small ring. Excuses excuses, but I felt we had a great ride regardless. I was excited for the cross country. It was my goal coming into the show to jump a clean cross country round, even if that meant adding a few more then desired time faults to our score. Not only did we jump a clean round but it was amazing! If anyone knows me they know my fear of weldon's walls, having had a bad fall at a clinic the spring of 2007 into one, I just haven't gotten that out of my head. So of course, Otter Creek built a new, rather large, Weldon's wall in the middle of their field for the Intermediate course. The course presented a lot of challenging questions, from triple brush skinnies, two water complexes, bounce banks, corners on a bending line, large tables, a sunken road consisting of a bench, bounce down a bank, two strides across the road up the next bank and a bounce out over another bench and of course me ever so dreaded weldon's wall. The course couldn't have ridden better. We rode in perfect harmony over everything racking up a few time penalties but moved up to 2nd place. I couldn't have been happier, what a great way to run my final cross country course of the season. Show jumping also went well, as I said previously the rails came down like rain. I watched a competitor before me pull out of the ring, another had over 8 rails, not so comforting as you head into the ring! All in all, Hannah jumped well having only 2 rails and I was pleased! We finished in 2nd out of a mere 5 competitors, but none the less it wasn't about the placing it was about the performance and I couldn't have asked for anything more!
It was a great weekend, I met a lot of new people and it was an amazing closer to the 2009 show season. I am looking forward to winter training and coming out even stronger then ever for the 2010 season!
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