Open Intermediate - 1st Place
Photos: Xpress Foto - http://www.xpressfoto.com/
Friday, September 2, 2011
Lady Hannah B - OCF Summer Photos
Lady Hannah B & Liz Lund
Open Intermediate - 1st Place
Photos: Xpress Foto - http://www.xpressfoto.com/
Open Intermediate - 1st Place
Photos: Xpress Foto - http://www.xpressfoto.com/
Monday, August 15, 2011
Otter Creek Summer HT 2011
Otter Creek - the best show on Earth! Nothing beats a weekend at Otter Creek. You get great weather, guaranteed rain at some point, good people, great courses, dancing and now singing!
We arrived on Thursday. I brought Hannah & Lucy over with Mia & Gabi Geraci. Maria wasn't too far behind us with Sam & Cody. On the way over I had to stop and fix one of Lucy's shoes, so when we got there we quickly unpacked and I tacked up for a lesson on Hannah with Alison Sader Larson. Hannah was great in her lesson! Afterwards I headed back to the barn to organize for the rest of the weekend. The tack stall was nice and organized, with a new tarp as an addition for the floor, signs were hung with new yellow string, and the horses were all tucked in with hay and water. I hacked Lucy around and helped my students for the weekend. Maura Tierney and Dylan, Kailey Giancola and Nokomis, Emily Shirley & Ty, Mia Geraci and Cody, Gabi Geraci and Sam, and Jen Johnson and Cannon. Janelle Johnson & her new, young horse Corray were also there and had a great dressage lesson on Thursday. Corray didn't blink an eye at anything and handled the new environment very well! The horses got baths and Maria cleaned all of the tack for the weekend. We were ready for Friday!
Friday morning was nice, it was a cool weekend and actually required a light weight jacket in the morning and evening - it felt like fall! Hannah put in a nice test, she was a little strong once we got in the ring but we earned a 38.4 to put us in third place out of a division of 4. We then had a long break so we got all of the course walks in for the day and then Lucy was up next. She was a little stiff but warmed out of it and put in a great test earning a 26.5 to put us in 1st in a large division. Lucy and I were competing in The Chronicle's Novice Adult Team Challenge along with Maura Tierney & Dylan, Jen Johnson & Cannon and Deb Stern & Oliver. We all put in great rides and our team was sitting in 1st at the end of the day. All of my other students had great rides as well! Jen earned a 39.5 and Maura a 41.5 in our Novice division. Deb scored a 31.5 as well helping secure our 1st place team scoring. Kailey earned a 40 in the dressage at Beginner Novice. Emily rode a nice test to score a 36.5 and Mia and Gabi put in solid tests to tie with a 44.5. Great day overall for everyone!
Saturday morning was raining of course! At some point it rains at Otter Creek - it wouldn't be Otter Creek without it. The footing there is so great that it can hold a lot of water and it really wasn't raining hard and was done shortly. I was up early, fed horses and walked my Intermediate course. This show the courses were new so I made a plan and was ready to ride to it. My goal was to gallop faster, set up closer to the fence and ride forward in my combinations and not pick! It all worked and we had the fastest time around the XC only adding 15.6 time faults to our XC score to move us into the first place position. There were a lot of new, good questions this year. Putting my favorite fence, the weldon's wall as fence #4, Hannah flew over that (photos to come). Then we headed to a log on the bank of the water to the Otter and galloped on towards the sunken road. It was a coop, one stride down the bank, two strides across the road and bounced out over a coop, we flew on towards the next question. A log, bending line to a large table on a four stride line to a right handed corner. Not a problem! We zoomed on to our set up fence at the coffin, jumped in one stride over a ditch one stride over a fence out. Then we had two triple brush skinnies on a hill on a forward bending four stride, Hannah flew over those as we galloped towards our second water questions. We had a drop in bending line over a skinny out. OCF put the ski jump back on course and we jumped up the bank, one stride over the log down the large hill on the back side. We bounced down the banks on a three stride bending line to a left handed corner and galloped towards the even bigger hill towards the end of the course. We jumped the roll top at the top of the hill as if you were jumping into nothing, slid down the hill, gathered the canter back up to jump the triple brush skinny at the bottom and raced towards the last fence and through the finish flags! It was one of our best XC rounds, every fence felt great! Those are ALWAYS the best rides - especially heading into our CIC2* to come at Richland Park in just over a week! I was thrilled! I UNHOOKED my vest and hopped off Hannah and walked her back to the barn. She got a long bath, iced her legs and lots of hand walking the rest of the day.
Next up was Ms. Lucy! Her first novice! She was great to everything but the water, as usual I made a plan to present her to the water before actually presenting her to our water question, it took close to a minute to get her into the water but once she did she was fine, galloped through the water up the bank and onwards. She didn't even glance at the new ditch, but made sure to clear it by a mile! Everything else was great, so we still have some more work to do at the water but she keeps improving! Richland will be her next big outing!
Maura had a great run around, she picked up a stop at a bench before the water, as she is getting used to running at a faster speed she tried to take too much control and just pulled Dylan to a stop. Dylan then had a hard look at the ditch picking up one more stop, but overall very fixable mistakes. Jen had a great round on Cannon running around inside the time. Kailey jumped double clear around the XC - over coming her and Nokomis' fear of the hay feeder which they have had problems with in the past! Janelle rode Corray in the XC warmup and jumped the warmup fences. Corray was great and had a blast being out there with all the event horses! She will be ready for a show this fall! Emily, Mia and Gabi all put in double clear XC rounds as well! So proud of all of my students!
Of course we attended the competitor's party on Saturday night for great food from Foster's Catering and this year the Warner's added Kereokee to the night's events! We sang a few songs and then plugged in the iPod for some fun table dancing! Another great party!
Sunday morning I was up early taking care of the horses and walking my course. The course looked good, was meant to be ridden forward and had some nice flowing turns. I tacked Hannah up and we headed towards warmup. She felt great, still full of energy and ready to jump around. We had a great round! I missed coming into our first one stride so we took the first fence rail down as well as the second, but those were our only two rails the whole round. Everyone else had 1 or 2 rails as well. Hannah kept our lead winning the Open Intermediate division! I love riding her so much, she is such a smart, talented horse with a huge heart! She loves her momma and takes care of me!
Our Novice group was next, Lucy had one green rail in the ring but put in a great round. Maura had a "refusal to move forward" penalty adding 4, plus 4 time to her score, but he didn't technically refuse anything, just got sticky when going away from the in gate. Jen picked up one rail and Deb jumped double clear to finish individually in 2nd place, Jen finished in 9th and our team finished in first overall! We get our names engraved on a trophy and got saddle pads as well. We were interviewed after leaving the ring and I am looking forward to receiving my next Chronicle magazine!
Kailey picked up one rail in show jumping and ended up finishing in 5th place in her BN division. Emily finished on her dressage score to earn 5th place, Gabi finished on her dressage score to finish in 10th and Mia added one rail to their score finishing in 15th. Everyone had a great first outing at Starter and they are now hooked! Everyone will be returning at Otter Fall for another go at it.
I am so happy for everyone and very pleased with my mares! Thanks again to all of my sponsors for making this possible, all of my friends, clients, family and more! I am looking forward to Richland as we leave a week from Tuesday! Hannah will be stepping it up to compete in the CIC2* against all the big boys and Lucy will be doing her 2nd Novice - I hope she likes Michigan's water!
Now a busy week of lessons and rides before we head off across the country again! I will try & update more often! Take care and thanks for reading!
Hannah B working it on the Intermediate course! Thanks to Diane Stoffel for the photos! More to come!
We arrived on Thursday. I brought Hannah & Lucy over with Mia & Gabi Geraci. Maria wasn't too far behind us with Sam & Cody. On the way over I had to stop and fix one of Lucy's shoes, so when we got there we quickly unpacked and I tacked up for a lesson on Hannah with Alison Sader Larson. Hannah was great in her lesson! Afterwards I headed back to the barn to organize for the rest of the weekend. The tack stall was nice and organized, with a new tarp as an addition for the floor, signs were hung with new yellow string, and the horses were all tucked in with hay and water. I hacked Lucy around and helped my students for the weekend. Maura Tierney and Dylan, Kailey Giancola and Nokomis, Emily Shirley & Ty, Mia Geraci and Cody, Gabi Geraci and Sam, and Jen Johnson and Cannon. Janelle Johnson & her new, young horse Corray were also there and had a great dressage lesson on Thursday. Corray didn't blink an eye at anything and handled the new environment very well! The horses got baths and Maria cleaned all of the tack for the weekend. We were ready for Friday!
Friday morning was nice, it was a cool weekend and actually required a light weight jacket in the morning and evening - it felt like fall! Hannah put in a nice test, she was a little strong once we got in the ring but we earned a 38.4 to put us in third place out of a division of 4. We then had a long break so we got all of the course walks in for the day and then Lucy was up next. She was a little stiff but warmed out of it and put in a great test earning a 26.5 to put us in 1st in a large division. Lucy and I were competing in The Chronicle's Novice Adult Team Challenge along with Maura Tierney & Dylan, Jen Johnson & Cannon and Deb Stern & Oliver. We all put in great rides and our team was sitting in 1st at the end of the day. All of my other students had great rides as well! Jen earned a 39.5 and Maura a 41.5 in our Novice division. Deb scored a 31.5 as well helping secure our 1st place team scoring. Kailey earned a 40 in the dressage at Beginner Novice. Emily rode a nice test to score a 36.5 and Mia and Gabi put in solid tests to tie with a 44.5. Great day overall for everyone!
Saturday morning was raining of course! At some point it rains at Otter Creek - it wouldn't be Otter Creek without it. The footing there is so great that it can hold a lot of water and it really wasn't raining hard and was done shortly. I was up early, fed horses and walked my Intermediate course. This show the courses were new so I made a plan and was ready to ride to it. My goal was to gallop faster, set up closer to the fence and ride forward in my combinations and not pick! It all worked and we had the fastest time around the XC only adding 15.6 time faults to our XC score to move us into the first place position. There were a lot of new, good questions this year. Putting my favorite fence, the weldon's wall as fence #4, Hannah flew over that (photos to come). Then we headed to a log on the bank of the water to the Otter and galloped on towards the sunken road. It was a coop, one stride down the bank, two strides across the road and bounced out over a coop, we flew on towards the next question. A log, bending line to a large table on a four stride line to a right handed corner. Not a problem! We zoomed on to our set up fence at the coffin, jumped in one stride over a ditch one stride over a fence out. Then we had two triple brush skinnies on a hill on a forward bending four stride, Hannah flew over those as we galloped towards our second water questions. We had a drop in bending line over a skinny out. OCF put the ski jump back on course and we jumped up the bank, one stride over the log down the large hill on the back side. We bounced down the banks on a three stride bending line to a left handed corner and galloped towards the even bigger hill towards the end of the course. We jumped the roll top at the top of the hill as if you were jumping into nothing, slid down the hill, gathered the canter back up to jump the triple brush skinny at the bottom and raced towards the last fence and through the finish flags! It was one of our best XC rounds, every fence felt great! Those are ALWAYS the best rides - especially heading into our CIC2* to come at Richland Park in just over a week! I was thrilled! I UNHOOKED my vest and hopped off Hannah and walked her back to the barn. She got a long bath, iced her legs and lots of hand walking the rest of the day.
Next up was Ms. Lucy! Her first novice! She was great to everything but the water, as usual I made a plan to present her to the water before actually presenting her to our water question, it took close to a minute to get her into the water but once she did she was fine, galloped through the water up the bank and onwards. She didn't even glance at the new ditch, but made sure to clear it by a mile! Everything else was great, so we still have some more work to do at the water but she keeps improving! Richland will be her next big outing!
Maura had a great run around, she picked up a stop at a bench before the water, as she is getting used to running at a faster speed she tried to take too much control and just pulled Dylan to a stop. Dylan then had a hard look at the ditch picking up one more stop, but overall very fixable mistakes. Jen had a great round on Cannon running around inside the time. Kailey jumped double clear around the XC - over coming her and Nokomis' fear of the hay feeder which they have had problems with in the past! Janelle rode Corray in the XC warmup and jumped the warmup fences. Corray was great and had a blast being out there with all the event horses! She will be ready for a show this fall! Emily, Mia and Gabi all put in double clear XC rounds as well! So proud of all of my students!
Of course we attended the competitor's party on Saturday night for great food from Foster's Catering and this year the Warner's added Kereokee to the night's events! We sang a few songs and then plugged in the iPod for some fun table dancing! Another great party!
Sunday morning I was up early taking care of the horses and walking my course. The course looked good, was meant to be ridden forward and had some nice flowing turns. I tacked Hannah up and we headed towards warmup. She felt great, still full of energy and ready to jump around. We had a great round! I missed coming into our first one stride so we took the first fence rail down as well as the second, but those were our only two rails the whole round. Everyone else had 1 or 2 rails as well. Hannah kept our lead winning the Open Intermediate division! I love riding her so much, she is such a smart, talented horse with a huge heart! She loves her momma and takes care of me!
Our Novice group was next, Lucy had one green rail in the ring but put in a great round. Maura had a "refusal to move forward" penalty adding 4, plus 4 time to her score, but he didn't technically refuse anything, just got sticky when going away from the in gate. Jen picked up one rail and Deb jumped double clear to finish individually in 2nd place, Jen finished in 9th and our team finished in first overall! We get our names engraved on a trophy and got saddle pads as well. We were interviewed after leaving the ring and I am looking forward to receiving my next Chronicle magazine!
Kailey picked up one rail in show jumping and ended up finishing in 5th place in her BN division. Emily finished on her dressage score to earn 5th place, Gabi finished on her dressage score to finish in 10th and Mia added one rail to their score finishing in 15th. Everyone had a great first outing at Starter and they are now hooked! Everyone will be returning at Otter Fall for another go at it.
I am so happy for everyone and very pleased with my mares! Thanks again to all of my sponsors for making this possible, all of my friends, clients, family and more! I am looking forward to Richland as we leave a week from Tuesday! Hannah will be stepping it up to compete in the CIC2* against all the big boys and Lucy will be doing her 2nd Novice - I hope she likes Michigan's water!
Now a busy week of lessons and rides before we head off across the country again! I will try & update more often! Take care and thanks for reading!
Hannah B working it on the Intermediate course! Thanks to Diane Stoffel for the photos! More to come!
North Run/Ralph/Pony Club Ratings
After USPC Championships were done with I came home and went back to work with the horses at the farm. Lots of lessons and training rides as we all knew too well what the end of July meant...next was August and then school starts again and my kids have to hit the books.
I helped Kathy O'Dea and Sky at the North Run Dressage Schooling Show on July 30th. It was their first show in a long time and went very well! They earned a 64% at Training level! Great accomplishment for them both! Sky was very well behaved and Kathy handled her nerves very well! Looking forward to our next outing together!
The first weekend in August was another Ralph Hill clinic! It was held at Jane Braddock's Foucsed Riding Farm in Hager City, WI. The weather was lovely and everyone had great rides! Lucy decided she couldn't stand being away from Hannah on the first day of the clinic and broke away from the trailer and galloped down the road taking a tumble after trying to turn on the pavement. She was alright, just a few scrapes but was able to work in the clinic. Hannah was a super star as usual and Lucy tried her heart out, having a few difficult moments at the water but I am hoping to see an improvement the more and more she gets out. Looking forward to our next clinic to be held in September at the Schweiss Family's farm!
I had a bunch of students pass their ratings this year as well! Maria Filsinger just got back from two long weekends earning both her B and her HA - Congrats! Elise Brann earned her D1 and Mia and Gabi Geraci their D3s! Kelsie Longe earned her C3 as well as Marianne Kelley. Becky Longe got her C1 too!
Congrats to all the pony clubbers!!! That is hard work and you stuck through it!
Fun trail ride at Trophy Hill! Closest to furthest: Alex Lundahl riding Blue, Emily Shirley riding Ty, Olivia Shirley riding Pete, Savannah Ruhs riding Grady, Maria Filsinger riding Hannah, Me riding Lucy, and Janelle Johnson riding Corray. Photo thanks to Karen Ruhs.
I helped Kathy O'Dea and Sky at the North Run Dressage Schooling Show on July 30th. It was their first show in a long time and went very well! They earned a 64% at Training level! Great accomplishment for them both! Sky was very well behaved and Kathy handled her nerves very well! Looking forward to our next outing together!
The first weekend in August was another Ralph Hill clinic! It was held at Jane Braddock's Foucsed Riding Farm in Hager City, WI. The weather was lovely and everyone had great rides! Lucy decided she couldn't stand being away from Hannah on the first day of the clinic and broke away from the trailer and galloped down the road taking a tumble after trying to turn on the pavement. She was alright, just a few scrapes but was able to work in the clinic. Hannah was a super star as usual and Lucy tried her heart out, having a few difficult moments at the water but I am hoping to see an improvement the more and more she gets out. Looking forward to our next clinic to be held in September at the Schweiss Family's farm!
I had a bunch of students pass their ratings this year as well! Maria Filsinger just got back from two long weekends earning both her B and her HA - Congrats! Elise Brann earned her D1 and Mia and Gabi Geraci their D3s! Kelsie Longe earned her C3 as well as Marianne Kelley. Becky Longe got her C1 too!
Congrats to all the pony clubbers!!! That is hard work and you stuck through it!
Fun trail ride at Trophy Hill! Closest to furthest: Alex Lundahl riding Blue, Emily Shirley riding Ty, Olivia Shirley riding Pete, Savannah Ruhs riding Grady, Maria Filsinger riding Hannah, Me riding Lucy, and Janelle Johnson riding Corray. Photo thanks to Karen Ruhs.
United States Pony Club Championships
The Kentucky Horse Park. It is such a beautiful place and hosts amazing equestrian events. This time we were down there for the USPC's Championships. I had students competing in Eventing, Dressage, Tetrathalon and Quiz. It was a HOT week in Kentucky with the heat index well over 100 each day. Everyone worked hard on keeping horses cool & happy. Maria Filsinger & Pete took the lead in the Preliminary division with a 28.7 after the dressage, but after an unfortunate miss at the B element coming out of the water she dropped down in placings. She jumped a double clean show jumping round to finish individually in 8th place and her team took 2nd place.
Abby Turnacliff and Anne Bower's Ziggy Who finished the week on their dressage score to take home the 5th place individual ribbon.
Morgan Samuelson & Cindy Piper's Allie Cross Limerick were tied for 4th after dressage on her best dressage score yet, a 29! After a double clean cross country round she moved up a place, but with 2 rails in show jumping she ended up finishing 9th individually. That is the name of the game!
Kelsie Longe and Anita Boyd's Dance By Me (Scooter) had a good personal dressage score, a 39.5 and jumped clean around the XC and as she was thrilled galloping away from the last fence she forgot to go through the finish flags giving them a technical elimination. She was allowed to show jump and had a great round!
Jessie Longe & Milo had a successful week as well. One unfortunate runout on XC and a good look at the crowd in show jumping they added up 12 time faults in the SJ phase. Overall a GREAT learning experience for both Jessie and Milo!
Maddy Kalscheur & Skyla earned a 34.8 on their lovely dressage test, jumped double clear around the XC and only took down one rail in the show jumping to finish in 12th place.
James Day & Tucket were a pick up at the show that I helped coach. A very nice kid with a lovely little pony! They earned a 34.8 as well in the dressage but ran right past a fence on the XC giving them a technical elimination. James had a nice show jumping round to finish a great week!
Katy Turnacliff had a very successful week on my Lucy! Her horse unfortunately was lame so she wasn't going to be able to compete so I let her take Lucy down to the show. She was only able to put a few rides on her before going and competing her at 3rd level, which she was a little rusty at due to practicing her beginner novice and novice level movements for eventing! :) Katy did a great job on her and had a lot of fun! She helped her team to finish in 4th overall!
There were a lot of other kids down there competing as well! Becky & Audrey Longe competed in the Tetrathalon. Mia & Gabi Geraci competed in quiz. Katie Rossi was a stable manager for a Novice team. Everyone had a great learning experience and I was honored to be able to come down and coach a bunch of awesome kids! There were a lot of parents down there helping for the weekend as well - thank you to everyone!
Katy Turnacliff riding Rhine Maiden at USPC Championships 2011 - Photo MFPhotography
Coaching students on XC Day - Photo MFPhotography
What a fun experience - thanks again to everyone & congratulations!!!
Abby Turnacliff and Anne Bower's Ziggy Who finished the week on their dressage score to take home the 5th place individual ribbon.
Morgan Samuelson & Cindy Piper's Allie Cross Limerick were tied for 4th after dressage on her best dressage score yet, a 29! After a double clean cross country round she moved up a place, but with 2 rails in show jumping she ended up finishing 9th individually. That is the name of the game!
Kelsie Longe and Anita Boyd's Dance By Me (Scooter) had a good personal dressage score, a 39.5 and jumped clean around the XC and as she was thrilled galloping away from the last fence she forgot to go through the finish flags giving them a technical elimination. She was allowed to show jump and had a great round!
Jessie Longe & Milo had a successful week as well. One unfortunate runout on XC and a good look at the crowd in show jumping they added up 12 time faults in the SJ phase. Overall a GREAT learning experience for both Jessie and Milo!
Maddy Kalscheur & Skyla earned a 34.8 on their lovely dressage test, jumped double clear around the XC and only took down one rail in the show jumping to finish in 12th place.
James Day & Tucket were a pick up at the show that I helped coach. A very nice kid with a lovely little pony! They earned a 34.8 as well in the dressage but ran right past a fence on the XC giving them a technical elimination. James had a nice show jumping round to finish a great week!
Katy Turnacliff had a very successful week on my Lucy! Her horse unfortunately was lame so she wasn't going to be able to compete so I let her take Lucy down to the show. She was only able to put a few rides on her before going and competing her at 3rd level, which she was a little rusty at due to practicing her beginner novice and novice level movements for eventing! :) Katy did a great job on her and had a lot of fun! She helped her team to finish in 4th overall!
There were a lot of other kids down there competing as well! Becky & Audrey Longe competed in the Tetrathalon. Mia & Gabi Geraci competed in quiz. Katie Rossi was a stable manager for a Novice team. Everyone had a great learning experience and I was honored to be able to come down and coach a bunch of awesome kids! There were a lot of parents down there helping for the weekend as well - thank you to everyone!
Katy Turnacliff riding Rhine Maiden at USPC Championships 2011 - Photo MFPhotography
Coaching students on XC Day - Photo MFPhotography
What a fun experience - thanks again to everyone & congratulations!!!
A Blog is better late then never!
I'm back!! I can't believe it is already August, I'm officially 24 and summer is already over half way done?!
So much to catch up on considering that Otter Creek was the last blog!
We have:
Carriage House
D-Camp at Trophy Hill
Fox River Valley
Roebke's Run
Ok so lets start from Carriage House. Carriage House was an interesting show this year. Although the show jumping courses looked quite inviting to the eye with some rider questions, the horses surprisingly did not like them. I'm not sure if it was the heat and the horses weren't up to the challenge, the brightly colored fences in which I have had a variety of horses jump and not have a problem with or just a fluke. The day was rough for a lot of the competitors, starting off the beginner novice division with some falls, lots of a refusals and eliminations. Unfortunately I think the biggest problem was the "start" of things, although the BN mistakes could have been rider error, it seemed to put a hinder on everyone's cheery mood and cause some nervous chatter throughout the show grounds. This showed in the ring. Many riders were making mistakes and their mounts could tell they were nervous.
I decided to move Lucy up to Novice there, she earned a 27 in the dressage. Very good considering every one of my half halts was followed by a very "enthusiastic Lucy step". If you have seen her go then you know what I mean - if you haven't then come and watch her sometime! Then it was our turn for show jumping, she was overly exuberant in the warm up, leaping over the warmup fences. We entered the ring and she thought that those brightly colored fences were quite interesting as well as a variety of other things in the arena taking away her concentration from me. Clearing her fences with room to spare was not a problem, but keeping her attention on me was. She was very well behaved, did nothing wrong, just a few greeny mistakes. She stopped shortly at the down bank which they counted as a refusal and then stepped right off the bank. As we came around another corner there was a jump judge sitting in the corner which Lucy thought was quite intriguing. Not spooking at the judge but focusing on the judge quite intently as we came through the corner she didn't see her next fence. Had a brief stop and we turned around and she jumped right in no problem. She was very well behaved! Overall it was a good experience and now I know more of what I need to work on with her before she moves up to Novice.
Carriage House was followed by a fun week! The Jr. Board put together a fun D-Camp held at Trophy Hill. We had 12 kids attend starting Monday night and leaving Thursday afternoon. Monday was move in and the kids got settled and set up their tents. They camped right in the back yard at Trophy Hill with their horses sleeping close by in the stalls. Tuesday we did XC and Weds we did a show jumping lesson. They played a variety of games and did a lot of horse management as well. Everyone had a great time! At the end of the week all 12 kids did a musical ride for the parents - it was amazing!
Next up was a weekend away at the cabin. It was a nice two day break, although the weather was bad, Bryan and I got some good fishing in!
Then we headed off to Fox River Valley in Barrington, IL. I had Hannah going in the CIC1* there and Lucy doing the Beginner Novice. Lucy is still green at jumping, as you can see from her over jumping her fences and is still cautious at cross country, especially at the water. Although she is 8, I am treating her like a youngster because I want her to be really confident as she moves up the levels. Of course with her dressage background she put in a really nice dressage test earning us a 19. Hannah put in a lovely test as well to put us in 3rd with a 51.2. Just over 1 point out of 1st place. The cross country looked nice. My goals was to work on Hannah's rideability. I now have her going in a snaffle and am still getting used to it. She flew over the fences with ease and we came in a little over optimum time adding 14.4 time penalties to our score pushing us into 4th place. She made up for it in the stadium by putting in the only double clear round in the CIC1* allowing us to finish in 2nd place. I was so happy with her! Lucy did great as well - she ran around the XC hardly blinking an eye until we came to the water, she slowed to analyze the situation, but in my opinion maintained forward motion, but the jump judge did not agree and we unfortunately added two stops to our score. She did well in the show jumping, only dropping one rail, surprising for how high she jumps her fences! She is so fun to work with and see progress over the summer!
The students had a great time too. Maria Filsinger finished another preliminary and Abby Turnacliff took home 4th place in the training. Maura Tierney finished in 7th place in her Novice division as well. It was a fun weekend. I traveled with the Kellenberger family, Lisa as well had a successful weekend finishing 5th in her training division. Deb Stern was there as well and won the beginner novice division from a 3 way tie on a 26.5! Minnesota was well represented!
Next up was some vacation time! The fourth of July weekend Bryan & I headed up to some friends cabin for some fun in the sun. We played in the water and went tubing. It was a good break! Came back home for a few days of work and then headed off to Osh Kosh, WI for a volleyball tournament. Although my team and I didn't do so well we still had a blast!
Then I was back at it. My students rode the horses while I was away so they were maintaining a steady work program and taking care of the farm. It is good to have reliable help at home so I can get away once in awhile! Lucy's next show was at Roebke's Run, hosted at the beautiful Schweiss' Farm in Hector, MN. The few days before the show brought us lots of rain so we arrived to a very muddy facility, but none the less the Schweiss were hard at work putting out footing and draining water from the places that were not supposed to have water! We got all settled in and checked in. At check in we discovered that XC had been moved to Sunday in order to allow the footing to dry out more. We rode dressage on Saturday and then had the rest of the day to walk courses and relax. Lucy was tense for her dressage test and the judge marked her down for grinding her teeth, scoring her a 37 on a very lovely, steady test. With a double clean XC and show jumping round though she moved up to finish in 2nd place. The team did great as well. Janelle Johnson took home the blue on Royal Cootitan, Kailey Giancola on Nokomis took home 3rd, Maura Tierney on Dylan took home 4th in their Novice division and Savannah Ruhs & Grady took home 5th in their Novice division. It was a great weekend! Congrats to everyone and THANK YOU to the Schweiss Family & all of the volunteers to make it such a great show - we look forward to coming back in the fall!!! Of course thank you to my groom Maria for always being such a good help and a GREAT photographer!
Another blog to follow shortly recapping the USPC Champs in Lexington, KY & Otter Creek Summer Horse Trials!!!
Until then - take care - kick on and keep riding!!!
So much to catch up on considering that Otter Creek was the last blog!
We have:
Carriage House
D-Camp at Trophy Hill
Fox River Valley
Roebke's Run
Ok so lets start from Carriage House. Carriage House was an interesting show this year. Although the show jumping courses looked quite inviting to the eye with some rider questions, the horses surprisingly did not like them. I'm not sure if it was the heat and the horses weren't up to the challenge, the brightly colored fences in which I have had a variety of horses jump and not have a problem with or just a fluke. The day was rough for a lot of the competitors, starting off the beginner novice division with some falls, lots of a refusals and eliminations. Unfortunately I think the biggest problem was the "start" of things, although the BN mistakes could have been rider error, it seemed to put a hinder on everyone's cheery mood and cause some nervous chatter throughout the show grounds. This showed in the ring. Many riders were making mistakes and their mounts could tell they were nervous.
I decided to move Lucy up to Novice there, she earned a 27 in the dressage. Very good considering every one of my half halts was followed by a very "enthusiastic Lucy step". If you have seen her go then you know what I mean - if you haven't then come and watch her sometime! Then it was our turn for show jumping, she was overly exuberant in the warm up, leaping over the warmup fences. We entered the ring and she thought that those brightly colored fences were quite interesting as well as a variety of other things in the arena taking away her concentration from me. Clearing her fences with room to spare was not a problem, but keeping her attention on me was. She was very well behaved, did nothing wrong, just a few greeny mistakes. She stopped shortly at the down bank which they counted as a refusal and then stepped right off the bank. As we came around another corner there was a jump judge sitting in the corner which Lucy thought was quite intriguing. Not spooking at the judge but focusing on the judge quite intently as we came through the corner she didn't see her next fence. Had a brief stop and we turned around and she jumped right in no problem. She was very well behaved! Overall it was a good experience and now I know more of what I need to work on with her before she moves up to Novice.
Carriage House was followed by a fun week! The Jr. Board put together a fun D-Camp held at Trophy Hill. We had 12 kids attend starting Monday night and leaving Thursday afternoon. Monday was move in and the kids got settled and set up their tents. They camped right in the back yard at Trophy Hill with their horses sleeping close by in the stalls. Tuesday we did XC and Weds we did a show jumping lesson. They played a variety of games and did a lot of horse management as well. Everyone had a great time! At the end of the week all 12 kids did a musical ride for the parents - it was amazing!
Next up was a weekend away at the cabin. It was a nice two day break, although the weather was bad, Bryan and I got some good fishing in!
Then we headed off to Fox River Valley in Barrington, IL. I had Hannah going in the CIC1* there and Lucy doing the Beginner Novice. Lucy is still green at jumping, as you can see from her over jumping her fences and is still cautious at cross country, especially at the water. Although she is 8, I am treating her like a youngster because I want her to be really confident as she moves up the levels. Of course with her dressage background she put in a really nice dressage test earning us a 19. Hannah put in a lovely test as well to put us in 3rd with a 51.2. Just over 1 point out of 1st place. The cross country looked nice. My goals was to work on Hannah's rideability. I now have her going in a snaffle and am still getting used to it. She flew over the fences with ease and we came in a little over optimum time adding 14.4 time penalties to our score pushing us into 4th place. She made up for it in the stadium by putting in the only double clear round in the CIC1* allowing us to finish in 2nd place. I was so happy with her! Lucy did great as well - she ran around the XC hardly blinking an eye until we came to the water, she slowed to analyze the situation, but in my opinion maintained forward motion, but the jump judge did not agree and we unfortunately added two stops to our score. She did well in the show jumping, only dropping one rail, surprising for how high she jumps her fences! She is so fun to work with and see progress over the summer!
The students had a great time too. Maria Filsinger finished another preliminary and Abby Turnacliff took home 4th place in the training. Maura Tierney finished in 7th place in her Novice division as well. It was a fun weekend. I traveled with the Kellenberger family, Lisa as well had a successful weekend finishing 5th in her training division. Deb Stern was there as well and won the beginner novice division from a 3 way tie on a 26.5! Minnesota was well represented!
Next up was some vacation time! The fourth of July weekend Bryan & I headed up to some friends cabin for some fun in the sun. We played in the water and went tubing. It was a good break! Came back home for a few days of work and then headed off to Osh Kosh, WI for a volleyball tournament. Although my team and I didn't do so well we still had a blast!
Then I was back at it. My students rode the horses while I was away so they were maintaining a steady work program and taking care of the farm. It is good to have reliable help at home so I can get away once in awhile! Lucy's next show was at Roebke's Run, hosted at the beautiful Schweiss' Farm in Hector, MN. The few days before the show brought us lots of rain so we arrived to a very muddy facility, but none the less the Schweiss were hard at work putting out footing and draining water from the places that were not supposed to have water! We got all settled in and checked in. At check in we discovered that XC had been moved to Sunday in order to allow the footing to dry out more. We rode dressage on Saturday and then had the rest of the day to walk courses and relax. Lucy was tense for her dressage test and the judge marked her down for grinding her teeth, scoring her a 37 on a very lovely, steady test. With a double clean XC and show jumping round though she moved up to finish in 2nd place. The team did great as well. Janelle Johnson took home the blue on Royal Cootitan, Kailey Giancola on Nokomis took home 3rd, Maura Tierney on Dylan took home 4th in their Novice division and Savannah Ruhs & Grady took home 5th in their Novice division. It was a great weekend! Congrats to everyone and THANK YOU to the Schweiss Family & all of the volunteers to make it such a great show - we look forward to coming back in the fall!!! Of course thank you to my groom Maria for always being such a good help and a GREAT photographer!
Another blog to follow shortly recapping the USPC Champs in Lexington, KY & Otter Creek Summer Horse Trials!!!
Until then - take care - kick on and keep riding!!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Horse Show, Horse Show, OTTER CREEK!
Recap! Prepare yourselves because this will be a novel! Don't worry though, there are a lot of photos as well!
Thurs AM Maria & I were up early at the farm finishing packing, hooking up the rigs, loading hay and shavings, the wheelbarrow, the dirtbike and finally the horses. We headed off to Otter Creek & the weather was lovely. As we arrived we unloaded everything into the tack stall, hung up the LLE and sponsor banners and settled the horses into their stalls.
Photo: Sarah Bergstrom (my mom!)
I lessoned with Alison Sader Larson at 1230 on Hannah - she felt great. She clearly doesn't have a 10 in her gaits, but when she is steady and supple she can score really well. Then Maria, my hard working groom, assistant trainer and photographer had Sam up in the warm up and walked Hannah back. Sam was great as well. His canter is coming along, still a little unbalanced but getting stronger with work and a variety of exercises. Next up was a lesson on Lucy (Rhine Maiden). She was wonderful, a little stuck and tense in the beginning but we were able to work through that and then she was soft and supple and felt amazing. Maria was there to take Lucy back and brought me my final ride, Cody. He is such a fun boy to ride, quite lazy at times but can step up when you really ask him to.
With all the horses ridden, Maria worked hard back at the barn cleaning all the tack for Friday, making sure horses stalls were always clean and that they always had full water buckets and hay. My students started to arrive and we began lessons. Jen Johnson & Cannon, Kelsie Holbrook & Tess, Ashley Reut & Rory, Morgan Samuelson & Ricky, Abby Turnacliff & Ziggy, & Janelle Johnson & Ty all had great rides - now the test was to see if they can ride and perform as well with the added pressure of the show ring on Friday!
Hannah kicked off the dressage for the day for the LLE Team! With only three riders in the Open Intermediate my goal was to stay in the 30s. I thought Hannah was lovely throughout her test and some of the scores were a little low on her movements, but I was really happy with her performance. I remember as I went to do my extended walk from M-V that there were NO footprints...I second guessed myself but stuck to what I knew was right and walked M-V. The others had walked incorrectly! It was a scary moment though but I am glad I didn't just copy what the others were doing! Hannah earned a 39.2 to put her into 2nd place.
Photo: MFPhotography
Next up was Ashley Reut and Rory. They had a nice warm up, despite a little bit of confusion in their dressage test they still earned a 34.2 to put them into 4th place in Jr. Training Rider. Morgan Samuelson and Allie's Cross Limerick (Ricky) put in a nice test earning a 34 but putting them all the way back in 9th place in the Jr Novice Rider division. Tough class! Abby Turnacliff & Ziggy Who (Ziggy) also had a lovely test and earned a 33 to place her in 8th place in the Jr Novice Rider division. Janelle Johnson & Royal Cootitan (Ty) put in a nice test earning a 35.2 to tie them in 6th place in the Jr. Beg. Novice division. Kelsie Holbrook & Tess were competing in the Open Training division. Tess never relaxed and it showed in her test, Kelsie navigated the test accurately except for one mind blank but other then that her figures were ridden very correct. They scored a 42.3 to tie them for 16th place. Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon (Cannon) also had a tough dressage ride, Cannon was feisty in warmup and never calmed down. They competed in the Open Training division as well and scored a 44.1 to sit them in 19th place.
Photo: MFPhotography
Hannah B Jr (Hannah the Honda) came in useful running from the stable to warm up to make sure everyone got the coaching they needed!
Lucy was up next for the dressage. She (and my 2 other horses) were all competing in the Open Beginner Novice. Maria had her work cut out for her getting horses cleaned, tacked, braided, cooled out, etc. She had a great warmup, she was looser then the day before and felt great. I just had to keep her lid on and make sure that she didn't try to passage down center line or do extended trot across the diagonal. We held it together and she earned a 26.2 to take the lead!
Photo: MFPhotography
Next up was Peppy's Nu Image (Cody) owned by Mia Geraci. He put in a great test, I was able to get him a little more uphill and taking large strides rather then short choppy steps. He earned a 31 to put him in 4th place!
Photo: MFPhotography
Then it was Sam the Mans turn!!! Sammy is owned by Gabi Geraci. He has come a long way as we have been working on his canter and helping him balance and take more even strides. He earned a respectable 37.5 to settle him into 9th place.
Photo: MFPhotography
It turned out to be a very successful day for the LLE Team! As the day ended we finished up all the course walks. I walked the Intermediate, Training, Novice & Beginner Novice (well, Janelle & I dirtbiked the BN course) by the end of the night while Maria took care of everything back at the barns. The night brought rain and the cold I seemed to have began to catch up with me. I was congested and had a very sore throat and some trouble sleeping.
The weather held out and was quite nice Saturday morning. The day did not quite start off how we wanted. 2 of my 3 training riders had falls in the morning. Unfortunately the rider before Kelsie Holbrook had a fall and she had to be held on the course while they picked her up in the ambulance to make sure she was fine, thank goodness she was. There was some confusion about what Kelsie could do on course and she became a little frustrated. Tess did not like having to stand still and as Kelsie started going again she ran out at the ditch 5a and Kelsie stepped off the side of her, resulting in elimination. Thank goodness they were both okay and be back at it again soon! Ashley Reut was having a great round, with a small bobble coming out of the water that Ashley tipped her shoulders a little bit at Rory and he stuck of the ground, she stuck in the tack and galloped on. Unfortunately coming down the hill to their table, the 2nd to last fence Rory stuck off the ground and hung his hind legs up on the table. The momentum shot Ashley up his neck. She almost pulled through it but the momentum of going down the hill caused her to tumble off the right side. Again thankfully they were both alright! Jen Johnson & Cannon however had a lovely ride around the cross country only adding a few time penalties to their score. Not bad for their first time back at Training level after over a year! I do have to say between coaching my training level riders I witnessed a rider (who will remain nameless) unfortunately fall into the water. After the rain the night before the footing was a little slick and her horse lost his balance tossing her right into the water. She lay there laughing for a second and I ran across the water to catch her horse who just stood there. Both were ok & thanks to Maria's photography skills we have this photo.
Photo: MFPhotography
Next up were the Novice level competitors. Maura Tierney & Dylan, Morgan & Ricky, Abby & Ziggy and Deb Stern & Oliver all had great rounds jumping clean! They had a blast out there on course!
I hurried back to the farm to make sure Hannah was ready to go. I always get a bit nervous/excited to go out on the cross country so I took some time to go over the course in my head and how I was going to ride everything. Warm up was great! Hannah was jumping out of her skin! Of course at about the time I got on her the rain began to pour down. None the less we pushed on! The footing at OCF is absolutely amazing and can take a lot of rain, so the footing was not slippery with the right size stud! We headed down to the startbox and of course Hannah began to get excited as we entered the start box at the 15 second mark to prepare to gallop away. Out of the start box we exploded and as we galloped to fence one I saw the long spot...thankfully so did Hannah I sat up slipped the reins as she thrusted off the ground. We galloped on and I was determined not to "get in her face" too much. Unfortunately I didn't bring her back enough for 3, which was immediately followed up by a left hand 90 degree turn to 4a which was a large triple brush skinny on the top of a hill, landing to a left hand down hill 4 strides to another skinnier triple brush skinny. As I struggled to turn to 4a I messed up the striding and she had to jump me out of a bad distance to 4a, instead of punishing her for saving my butt and turning to 4b, I circled and picked up 20 penalty points between 4a and 4b. Lesson learned! The rest of the course went on well. We had a chip to a large table before the sunken road and then I finally was able to put my head back on and actually ride a little better. The sunken road was great and we galloped on to some large tables. The second water was a large log drop in bending 6 strides to a large corner out - she was foot perfect! Then of course, my favorite (not!) the weldon's wall...if you know me at all you know why I do not like ditch and walls! Feel free to ask sometime. Anyway, I set her up around the turn, saw the perfect spot and rode her 3, 2, 1 right up to it and she flew over it! We galloped on to the table in the woods, down the bounce banks bending right hand 3 strides to a corner and to a few more fences to the giant hill. Jumped the fence at the top of the hill going into space and shuffled down to another triple brush skinny. Galloped on to another table and set up for the coffin. A coop, bending one stride to the ditch, bending two strides out over an angled vertical brush fence. We cruised across our final few fences and through the finish flags. I was ecstatic, a little frustrated with my pilot error at 4a/b but none the less more then happy with my ride, which was my first Intermediate run in the the eggbutt snaffle! How cool! As I was going over my ride to Maria I jumped off and POP! All of a sudden I felt my Point Two airvest squeezing tightly around me because I forgot to un-clip - which I have been told is very common! As soon as Maria helped me out of my vest she un-tacked and cooled out Hannah as I went down to get on my next horse.
Photos: MFPhotography
Next up was Sam the Man!!! I was ready to head out and navigate that BN course on Sammy! He was great. He warmed up well, while we were waiting our turn he began to get a little nervous at the other horses galloping around but he settled in as we headed down to the start box. He ran around the course in style! He was a lot of fun to ride and I look forward to seeing him and Gabi and shows together!
Photos: MFPhotography
Next up was Cody! He was awesome and went out there like a pro. I look forward to Mia and him at shows this summer! Unfortunately Maria was busy getting my final ride ready and was unable to take any photos of Cody on the XC!
Finally Lucy was up! It was her turn to prove herself. She has only been out 1 time cross country schooling so this was her 2nd time out on the XC! She was more then ready and ate up the course. She didn't look at any of the fences except getting a little wiggly through the water. She went out there like a pro and jumped everything and came in inside the time to maintain her 1st place position! I was absolutely thrilled with her!
Photos: MFPhotography
Last but not least, Janelle headed out on the cross country and put in a beautiful round!
After everyone finished up the day, Maria worked hard icing and wrapping the horses, cleaning tack and organizing the tack room. Then it was time to relax, eat and hit up the dance table! If any of you have stuck around for the competitor party at OCF you know it is the best there is. Great people, great food and of course great music! We danced to a variety of kid music (rap & hip hop) as well as "adult" music, 80s, the electric slide, cha cha slide & some Michael Jackson!
Photo: William Warner
We headed back to the barn after the fun and dancing to do night check and go get some sleep. Lucy was very tired after her first cross country run and was very cuddly!
Photo: Abby Turnacliff
Sunday morning turned out nice. The rain had cleared and I was getting ready for show jumping. The course was large and twisty. Hannah was off walking as I was going over the course in my head. She came back, we cleaned her up, tacked up and I hopped on and headed to warmup. She warmed up great, felt fresh and ready to go. We headed to the ring to be the first to go as we were in 2nd by .6 behind Erika Treis Peterson. We entered the ring, picked up a nice forward canter and headed to our first fence. We took the inside turn to fence 2, and the course went smoothly. We had a vertical to vertical one stride for fence 4a/b and another triple combination with a vertical one stride to an oxer, two strides to a vertical. The final line was a vertical, forward five strides to a large swedish oxer, four strides to a straight up and down vertical plank. We cleared the finish line leaving all the poles in the cups and came in right at the optimum time. I was thrilled! Hannah felt great and was looking for more jumps at the end of the course. I trotted out of the ring and gave her a huge hug! Erika jumped a clean round but added a few time penalties to her final score pushing us into first place! I was thrilled with our win at the Intermediate level at Otter Creek Horse Trials!!
Photos: MFPhotography
What a great start to the final day!
Jen's horse Cannon was a little stiff and although she put in a good first half of a show jumping round she decided to retire him before the end of the course. I respect her decision 100%! You have to do what you think is best for your horse at all times!
Maura jumped a clean round to finish in 9th place in Novice. Deb Stern unfortunately had a refusal at fence 5, at the representation to the fence he refused again and she tumbled off landing on her feet. She handled the situation very well and is ready to do some more show jumping preparation so she is more then ready at her next horse trial! Morgan had a few rails but still finished within the ribbons in 7th place while Abby jumped a clean round on Ziggy and finished on her dressage score in 3rd place! Janelle & Ty put in a good round, Ty bobbled at two fences but they completed the event! Props to Kristine Johnson, Janelle's mom for competing in the starter division on her horse Cleto and taking home a 5th place ribbon! Congrats to everyone!
My BN horses were great! I started on Cody and he put in a good round, got a little lazy with his hind legs at fence two and had a rail but still put in a solid round.
Photos: MFPhotography
Sam was up next. He was great! He put in a nice round jumping double clear to finish on his dressage score of 37.5.
Photos: MFPhotography
Next was Lucy! The last ride of the day. The pressure was on as I didn't have a rail to spare. Lucy was great and ate up the fences! She jumped double clean to finish on her dressage score of 26.2, winning the Open BN division, followed by Cody in 4th and Sam in 5th! Lucy also won me the USEA Area IV Low Point Adult Rider award for the show!
Overall I was very happy with the weekend! Students had good learning experiences and it was fun for all who attended! I look forward to our next outing!
I would like to thank all of my sponsors making these competitions possible! Larsen Sader Dressage, Stone Ridge Equestrian, Sleipner Stables, FLAIR Equine Nasal Strips, Jennifer Johnson DVM, Kaesen Farms, County Saddlery, MJ's Entertainment and Sarah & John Bergstrom! Without you I wouldn't be here!
Thank you to my tireless groom Maria Filsinger and team photographer! She worked harder then anyone this weekend taking care of my horses. Also thanks to everyone else who was recruited to help out with the horses as well!
Thank you to Mark, Lena, Jenny & William Warner for hosting such a wonderful show and of course everyone that goes along with getting ready for the show, set up, volunteers, judges, the TD, everyone!
And of course thank you to my boyfriend, Bryan, for putting up with everything that comes along with a horsey girlfriend!
This weekend I will be in Hector, MN coaching the Northern Lakes Region Pony Club's qualifying rally.
The following weekend, June 5th we will be off to Carriage House Combined Test in Hugo, MN. Lucy will be moving up to the Novice level and I will have many first time students out there as well! Stay tuned for more updates as the summer gets busier and busier!
Thanks again to all and kick on!
Thurs AM Maria & I were up early at the farm finishing packing, hooking up the rigs, loading hay and shavings, the wheelbarrow, the dirtbike and finally the horses. We headed off to Otter Creek & the weather was lovely. As we arrived we unloaded everything into the tack stall, hung up the LLE and sponsor banners and settled the horses into their stalls.
I lessoned with Alison Sader Larson at 1230 on Hannah - she felt great. She clearly doesn't have a 10 in her gaits, but when she is steady and supple she can score really well. Then Maria, my hard working groom, assistant trainer and photographer had Sam up in the warm up and walked Hannah back. Sam was great as well. His canter is coming along, still a little unbalanced but getting stronger with work and a variety of exercises. Next up was a lesson on Lucy (Rhine Maiden). She was wonderful, a little stuck and tense in the beginning but we were able to work through that and then she was soft and supple and felt amazing. Maria was there to take Lucy back and brought me my final ride, Cody. He is such a fun boy to ride, quite lazy at times but can step up when you really ask him to.
With all the horses ridden, Maria worked hard back at the barn cleaning all the tack for Friday, making sure horses stalls were always clean and that they always had full water buckets and hay. My students started to arrive and we began lessons. Jen Johnson & Cannon, Kelsie Holbrook & Tess, Ashley Reut & Rory, Morgan Samuelson & Ricky, Abby Turnacliff & Ziggy, & Janelle Johnson & Ty all had great rides - now the test was to see if they can ride and perform as well with the added pressure of the show ring on Friday!
Hannah kicked off the dressage for the day for the LLE Team! With only three riders in the Open Intermediate my goal was to stay in the 30s. I thought Hannah was lovely throughout her test and some of the scores were a little low on her movements, but I was really happy with her performance. I remember as I went to do my extended walk from M-V that there were NO footprints...I second guessed myself but stuck to what I knew was right and walked M-V. The others had walked incorrectly! It was a scary moment though but I am glad I didn't just copy what the others were doing! Hannah earned a 39.2 to put her into 2nd place.
Next up was Ashley Reut and Rory. They had a nice warm up, despite a little bit of confusion in their dressage test they still earned a 34.2 to put them into 4th place in Jr. Training Rider. Morgan Samuelson and Allie's Cross Limerick (Ricky) put in a nice test earning a 34 but putting them all the way back in 9th place in the Jr Novice Rider division. Tough class! Abby Turnacliff & Ziggy Who (Ziggy) also had a lovely test and earned a 33 to place her in 8th place in the Jr Novice Rider division. Janelle Johnson & Royal Cootitan (Ty) put in a nice test earning a 35.2 to tie them in 6th place in the Jr. Beg. Novice division. Kelsie Holbrook & Tess were competing in the Open Training division. Tess never relaxed and it showed in her test, Kelsie navigated the test accurately except for one mind blank but other then that her figures were ridden very correct. They scored a 42.3 to tie them for 16th place. Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon (Cannon) also had a tough dressage ride, Cannon was feisty in warmup and never calmed down. They competed in the Open Training division as well and scored a 44.1 to sit them in 19th place.
Hannah B Jr (Hannah the Honda) came in useful running from the stable to warm up to make sure everyone got the coaching they needed!
Lucy was up next for the dressage. She (and my 2 other horses) were all competing in the Open Beginner Novice. Maria had her work cut out for her getting horses cleaned, tacked, braided, cooled out, etc. She had a great warmup, she was looser then the day before and felt great. I just had to keep her lid on and make sure that she didn't try to passage down center line or do extended trot across the diagonal. We held it together and she earned a 26.2 to take the lead!
Next up was Peppy's Nu Image (Cody) owned by Mia Geraci. He put in a great test, I was able to get him a little more uphill and taking large strides rather then short choppy steps. He earned a 31 to put him in 4th place!
Then it was Sam the Mans turn!!! Sammy is owned by Gabi Geraci. He has come a long way as we have been working on his canter and helping him balance and take more even strides. He earned a respectable 37.5 to settle him into 9th place.
It turned out to be a very successful day for the LLE Team! As the day ended we finished up all the course walks. I walked the Intermediate, Training, Novice & Beginner Novice (well, Janelle & I dirtbiked the BN course) by the end of the night while Maria took care of everything back at the barns. The night brought rain and the cold I seemed to have began to catch up with me. I was congested and had a very sore throat and some trouble sleeping.
The weather held out and was quite nice Saturday morning. The day did not quite start off how we wanted. 2 of my 3 training riders had falls in the morning. Unfortunately the rider before Kelsie Holbrook had a fall and she had to be held on the course while they picked her up in the ambulance to make sure she was fine, thank goodness she was. There was some confusion about what Kelsie could do on course and she became a little frustrated. Tess did not like having to stand still and as Kelsie started going again she ran out at the ditch 5a and Kelsie stepped off the side of her, resulting in elimination. Thank goodness they were both okay and be back at it again soon! Ashley Reut was having a great round, with a small bobble coming out of the water that Ashley tipped her shoulders a little bit at Rory and he stuck of the ground, she stuck in the tack and galloped on. Unfortunately coming down the hill to their table, the 2nd to last fence Rory stuck off the ground and hung his hind legs up on the table. The momentum shot Ashley up his neck. She almost pulled through it but the momentum of going down the hill caused her to tumble off the right side. Again thankfully they were both alright! Jen Johnson & Cannon however had a lovely ride around the cross country only adding a few time penalties to their score. Not bad for their first time back at Training level after over a year! I do have to say between coaching my training level riders I witnessed a rider (who will remain nameless) unfortunately fall into the water. After the rain the night before the footing was a little slick and her horse lost his balance tossing her right into the water. She lay there laughing for a second and I ran across the water to catch her horse who just stood there. Both were ok & thanks to Maria's photography skills we have this photo.
Next up were the Novice level competitors. Maura Tierney & Dylan, Morgan & Ricky, Abby & Ziggy and Deb Stern & Oliver all had great rounds jumping clean! They had a blast out there on course!
I hurried back to the farm to make sure Hannah was ready to go. I always get a bit nervous/excited to go out on the cross country so I took some time to go over the course in my head and how I was going to ride everything. Warm up was great! Hannah was jumping out of her skin! Of course at about the time I got on her the rain began to pour down. None the less we pushed on! The footing at OCF is absolutely amazing and can take a lot of rain, so the footing was not slippery with the right size stud! We headed down to the startbox and of course Hannah began to get excited as we entered the start box at the 15 second mark to prepare to gallop away. Out of the start box we exploded and as we galloped to fence one I saw the long spot...thankfully so did Hannah I sat up slipped the reins as she thrusted off the ground. We galloped on and I was determined not to "get in her face" too much. Unfortunately I didn't bring her back enough for 3, which was immediately followed up by a left hand 90 degree turn to 4a which was a large triple brush skinny on the top of a hill, landing to a left hand down hill 4 strides to another skinnier triple brush skinny. As I struggled to turn to 4a I messed up the striding and she had to jump me out of a bad distance to 4a, instead of punishing her for saving my butt and turning to 4b, I circled and picked up 20 penalty points between 4a and 4b. Lesson learned! The rest of the course went on well. We had a chip to a large table before the sunken road and then I finally was able to put my head back on and actually ride a little better. The sunken road was great and we galloped on to some large tables. The second water was a large log drop in bending 6 strides to a large corner out - she was foot perfect! Then of course, my favorite (not!) the weldon's wall...if you know me at all you know why I do not like ditch and walls! Feel free to ask sometime. Anyway, I set her up around the turn, saw the perfect spot and rode her 3, 2, 1 right up to it and she flew over it! We galloped on to the table in the woods, down the bounce banks bending right hand 3 strides to a corner and to a few more fences to the giant hill. Jumped the fence at the top of the hill going into space and shuffled down to another triple brush skinny. Galloped on to another table and set up for the coffin. A coop, bending one stride to the ditch, bending two strides out over an angled vertical brush fence. We cruised across our final few fences and through the finish flags. I was ecstatic, a little frustrated with my pilot error at 4a/b but none the less more then happy with my ride, which was my first Intermediate run in the the eggbutt snaffle! How cool! As I was going over my ride to Maria I jumped off and POP! All of a sudden I felt my Point Two airvest squeezing tightly around me because I forgot to un-clip - which I have been told is very common! As soon as Maria helped me out of my vest she un-tacked and cooled out Hannah as I went down to get on my next horse.
Next up was Sam the Man!!! I was ready to head out and navigate that BN course on Sammy! He was great. He warmed up well, while we were waiting our turn he began to get a little nervous at the other horses galloping around but he settled in as we headed down to the start box. He ran around the course in style! He was a lot of fun to ride and I look forward to seeing him and Gabi and shows together!
Next up was Cody! He was awesome and went out there like a pro. I look forward to Mia and him at shows this summer! Unfortunately Maria was busy getting my final ride ready and was unable to take any photos of Cody on the XC!
Finally Lucy was up! It was her turn to prove herself. She has only been out 1 time cross country schooling so this was her 2nd time out on the XC! She was more then ready and ate up the course. She didn't look at any of the fences except getting a little wiggly through the water. She went out there like a pro and jumped everything and came in inside the time to maintain her 1st place position! I was absolutely thrilled with her!
Last but not least, Janelle headed out on the cross country and put in a beautiful round!
After everyone finished up the day, Maria worked hard icing and wrapping the horses, cleaning tack and organizing the tack room. Then it was time to relax, eat and hit up the dance table! If any of you have stuck around for the competitor party at OCF you know it is the best there is. Great people, great food and of course great music! We danced to a variety of kid music (rap & hip hop) as well as "adult" music, 80s, the electric slide, cha cha slide & some Michael Jackson!
We headed back to the barn after the fun and dancing to do night check and go get some sleep. Lucy was very tired after her first cross country run and was very cuddly!
Sunday morning turned out nice. The rain had cleared and I was getting ready for show jumping. The course was large and twisty. Hannah was off walking as I was going over the course in my head. She came back, we cleaned her up, tacked up and I hopped on and headed to warmup. She warmed up great, felt fresh and ready to go. We headed to the ring to be the first to go as we were in 2nd by .6 behind Erika Treis Peterson. We entered the ring, picked up a nice forward canter and headed to our first fence. We took the inside turn to fence 2, and the course went smoothly. We had a vertical to vertical one stride for fence 4a/b and another triple combination with a vertical one stride to an oxer, two strides to a vertical. The final line was a vertical, forward five strides to a large swedish oxer, four strides to a straight up and down vertical plank. We cleared the finish line leaving all the poles in the cups and came in right at the optimum time. I was thrilled! Hannah felt great and was looking for more jumps at the end of the course. I trotted out of the ring and gave her a huge hug! Erika jumped a clean round but added a few time penalties to her final score pushing us into first place! I was thrilled with our win at the Intermediate level at Otter Creek Horse Trials!!
What a great start to the final day!
Jen's horse Cannon was a little stiff and although she put in a good first half of a show jumping round she decided to retire him before the end of the course. I respect her decision 100%! You have to do what you think is best for your horse at all times!
Maura jumped a clean round to finish in 9th place in Novice. Deb Stern unfortunately had a refusal at fence 5, at the representation to the fence he refused again and she tumbled off landing on her feet. She handled the situation very well and is ready to do some more show jumping preparation so she is more then ready at her next horse trial! Morgan had a few rails but still finished within the ribbons in 7th place while Abby jumped a clean round on Ziggy and finished on her dressage score in 3rd place! Janelle & Ty put in a good round, Ty bobbled at two fences but they completed the event! Props to Kristine Johnson, Janelle's mom for competing in the starter division on her horse Cleto and taking home a 5th place ribbon! Congrats to everyone!
My BN horses were great! I started on Cody and he put in a good round, got a little lazy with his hind legs at fence two and had a rail but still put in a solid round.
Sam was up next. He was great! He put in a nice round jumping double clear to finish on his dressage score of 37.5.
Next was Lucy! The last ride of the day. The pressure was on as I didn't have a rail to spare. Lucy was great and ate up the fences! She jumped double clean to finish on her dressage score of 26.2, winning the Open BN division, followed by Cody in 4th and Sam in 5th! Lucy also won me the USEA Area IV Low Point Adult Rider award for the show!
I would like to thank all of my sponsors making these competitions possible! Larsen Sader Dressage, Stone Ridge Equestrian, Sleipner Stables, FLAIR Equine Nasal Strips, Jennifer Johnson DVM, Kaesen Farms, County Saddlery, MJ's Entertainment and Sarah & John Bergstrom! Without you I wouldn't be here!
Thank you to my tireless groom Maria Filsinger and team photographer! She worked harder then anyone this weekend taking care of my horses. Also thanks to everyone else who was recruited to help out with the horses as well!
Thank you to Mark, Lena, Jenny & William Warner for hosting such a wonderful show and of course everyone that goes along with getting ready for the show, set up, volunteers, judges, the TD, everyone!
And of course thank you to my boyfriend, Bryan, for putting up with everything that comes along with a horsey girlfriend!
This weekend I will be in Hector, MN coaching the Northern Lakes Region Pony Club's qualifying rally.
The following weekend, June 5th we will be off to Carriage House Combined Test in Hugo, MN. Lucy will be moving up to the Novice level and I will have many first time students out there as well! Stay tuned for more updates as the summer gets busier and busier!
Thanks again to all and kick on!
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