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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carriage House Combined Test 2008

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

Liz & Hannah pleased with their day's performance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

"This is the Real OC"

This is the Real OC

By: Liz Lund

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Liz & Hannah clearing the Helsinki.

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

Liz & Hannah galloping on between fences.

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

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

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

Entering the dressage world in style

Yes I am an Eventer and most are known for their hatred of dressage, but I on the other hand happen to love dressage. Yes, I said it, "I Love Dressage!". It is so cool to look at the transformations of rider and horse over a period of time.

My biggest change came this winter from working with Lena and Jenny Warner and Brad Cutshall.

Hannah has always had her flying lead changes, but they weren't great. She could throw herself onto the other lead when needed to in jumping but I hadn't really schooled them, or at that schooled them correctly for the flat. This winter we started working more on her canter half pass and lead changes and keeping her more steady in the bridle and working from behind. As the winter progressed so did we as a team. Not only did she become more agile and began accepting the bridle and using her hindend more, but I developed a better seat, allowing me to actually feel when she was using her back instead of just making it look like she was using her back. I began to understand more and more of what dressage really is.

I entered her in Otter Creek's first dressage show of the year, the Otter Creek May Flower. I put her in Second Level-3 and Third Level-1. On Saturday I received a 61.62% on my Second Level-3 earning 1st Place and a 63.59 on my Third Level-1 also earning 1st Place! What a great first day of my first REAL dressage show with Hannah. Day two I entered the same two classes. Second Level-3 I received a 60% earning 1st place and my Thirs Level-1 I also got a 60% earning 2nd place.

My goal is to get my Bronze Rider Medal this year in dressage and work on moving Hannah up to Fourth Level for next year. Of course my main focus is eventing, but having the dressage shows on the side is a great tune up for the eventing game too.

Hagyard's Midsouth CCI* w/ 2007!

Kentucky! I love being at the KY Horse Park, it feels like "the big time". Being able to ride on the same grounds as the ROLEX horses and riders gallop across in late April is thrilling. When you are at the KY Horse Park you feel like you are in heaven. The KY Blue grasses and absolutely beautiful, there are horses everywhere and you are with the people who share your same passion.

Of course KY is a long drive and I think I have stated many times how much I love road trips! I rode with Edee Lee and her mom Sue Slocum. This was the first year they added the Young Rider Championships at Midsouth. I was riding on a team with Edee Lee and Callie Judy to represent Area IV. (AREA IV Young Riders) We all were ready to do our best and bring home ribbons for Area IV.

I was very certain to make sure my horse was sound and she was clear of cuts on her legs so we wouldn't have to go through the cellulitis disaster like last year. I felt more then ready after a great Preliminary season this summer. I had ridden at the Minnesota Harvest Hunter/Jumper Horse Show the first week in October to give my show jumping an extra tune up. She was great and we successfully competed up to Level 5 (4feet).

On the ride down Edee and I went over plans of what we were going to do when we arrived, we had a lot of setting up to do because we had all of Area IV's gear, banners to hang and of course getting our horses settled in. When we arrived Sue went to get us bedding and we bedded our stalls and put our horses in their stalls, gave them hay and water and let them settle while we unloaded the gear. We had a tack stall so we began lugging gear into there, set up saddle racks, bridle racks and organized all of the other trunks, buckets and other miscellaneous items we had. After we unloaded everything and hung our Area IV banners we took our horses for a walk and checked in with the vets and made sure we had all of our paperwork in order and got our packets and numbers.

Since the adding of the YR Championships was new this year we were coach-less. I knew a great trainer from Michigan, Philippa Richards was there and I asked her if she could help us walk courses and be in the 10-minute box for us. She was great! She helped us the whole weekend, helped us figure out the roads and tracks and the steeplechase. Philippa gave us a great course walk for both cross country and show jumping. Her enthusiasm for us to do well helped propel us through the week. I am looking forward to working with her again!

Jogs were to be done Weds. I rode on Thursday and Callie and Edee rode their horses on Friday. We all went down to our jogs together and I was first to go. I did a few practice jogs with Hannah and kept her walking in the warm-up area. We were called and we jogged down the strip, walked around the flowers and jogged back down the strip. "Liz Lund and Lady Hannah B, ACCEPTED" Phew! So far so good! Edee and Callie both passed their jogs and we were ready for dressage. Later that day we took our horses for a hack through phases A and C of roads and tracks to familiarize ourselves with the marker locations to be sure we go through all the flags.

Thursday rolled around and I began getting ready for dressage. Ali Smallpage, from MN was here with us to help us groom for the weekend. She helped groom Hannah and get her looking gorgeous. She was freshly body clipped so she sparkled in the sun. I went down to warm-up and she felt great. I gave Ali my whip and began my rounds around the outside of the ring waiting for the whistle. When the whistle blew we entered the arena. Hannah felt great, light in my hands but rhythmically moving forward. We had a great lengthen across the diagonal and the rest of the test just seemed to flow together, it felt amazing! I came down centerline, halted and saluted the judges and gave Hannah a huge pat on the neck and let her walk out of the ring on a long rein. I was very happy with our performance and was eagerly awaiting our results. We walked around and watched the next test and then our score was announced a 53.3! I was very happy with our improvement on our dressage score from last year. I walked her back to the barn, un-tacked her and hosed her off, gave her some treats and checked her water.

Later on Thursday, Edee, Callie and I went out to walk our course and see what it was all about. The course was long, over 7 minutes! Hannah was really fit though and I wasn't worried at all about the length. There were definitely a lot of tough questions and big fences on course. Some of the course was the same as the year before but there were also new fences. I was ready to gallop across the ROLEX field as if I was riding in it.

Friday morning Callie and Edee rode their dressage tests and did pretty well. Callie received a 52.8 and Edee a 64. Later that day we walked the course with Philippa and she gave us really good advice on what lines to ride and just how our horses might react to certain fences. It was definitely helpful to have her there helping us along through the full format CCI. She also walked the steeplechase loop with us so we could scope out the big brush fences. We were set to go! I walked to course one more time that day by myself just to go over all my plans in my head and not have any distractions.

Dressage Pics: 53.3-4th Place

Walking the XC Course with Callie and Edee and looking at the massive ROLEX jumps that we will someday be riding over!Saturday morning arrives and we all head to the farm and get ready for the days events. I am the first to go our of our team and after the horses are fed and walked I get ready to go out on Phase A. I tack up, put studs in her and get my Area IV gear on. This was the first time I had ventured from my normal blue and yellow cross country garb and am representing Area IV with red, white and blue! I really liked the colors though so I was okay with it! ;) After I was all ready and got a leg up and walked around for a little while and headed towards the start of phase A. There was the count down and we trotted out of the box and I kept my eye out for all the markers and flags. We trotted along at a brisk pace and as we neared the steeplechase I did a little bit of cantering and headed through the A finish flags to the start box for Phase B.

3,2,1 and off we went out onto our first steeplechase course! I let Hannah out of the box and galloped towards the first fence. I just sat up a little and steadied her at our first fence making sure not to take away any of her stride and we flew over the first fence! There was a total of six fences and the steeplechase was two minutes long. We came in 9 seconds early and were just flying! I felt good coming in earlier as I had never done a course before. I came through the finish flags for B and went right into Phase C. I walked the first bit till her breathing came back then did a little bit of trot and headed towards the 10 minute box. Once we got into the 10 minute box, Phillipa was waiting to give orders. I got off of Hannah and my horse was gone. She was being walked and cooled off with water and checked by the vets. They took her TPR (temperature, pulse and respiration) right away and then let her walk and cool down. After we got her cooled down they checked her TPR again to make sure it came down enough to send us out onto cross country. Thanks to our hard work and conditioning schedule her TPR came back quickly. Philippa jogged her for the vets and her girth was tightened and I was thrown ontop. What a weird feeling to be going out on cross country with out having done any warm up fences in the arena. Philippa told me to ride her strong to the first couple fences since this was new to her.

First experience of steeplechase and it was a blast!

We headed to the start box and awaited our countdown. "Have a good ride" was heard and we were off. Philippa was right, I needed to ride her strong to the first three fences and then she figured out that we were on the "real" cross country course this time. We went through all of the questions without having any trouble, the combinations rode perfectly and we galloped over the open fences. We came through the finish with no jump penalties and no time penalties! What a great feeling! I hopped off Hannah and handed her off to Ali who was waiting at the finish to help cool down. We had ice buckets and her tack was removed, studs taken out and she was iced down and cooled off. She was given the "ok" by the vets to head back to the barn. I was all smiles! We had had a perfect Saturday!

Cross Country Photos: Log drop into water to a turtle in the middle of the "Head of the Lake" to a bending line out of the water to a corner.

Oxer in the middle of the field to a coffin fence which was a log one stride to a ditch bending two strides to a skinny.

Sunday morning came around and we were all getting ready for our jogs. I was hoping to her "Accepted" this year instead of "To the Holding Box". I groomed Hannah and got her braided and walked down for our jogs. I jogged her and anxiously awaited for the annoucement. "Liz Lund and Lady Hannah B, ACCEPTED." WHEW, we passed! We all hung around and waited for one another to jog and we all passed. What a great feeling! One phase left to go, show jumping.

Sunday morning Jogs

Waiting for the rest of my team to finish jogging.

We all go ready to ride, my division was to go before the JR division. I got all ready and Ali carried my hunt cap down to the arena for awards. I mounted and walked Hannah to warm-up. The warm-up was a little crazy and Hannah got a little frazzled and I did my best to keep her from shortening her stride, which she tends to do when she gets nervous. It was our turn to ride and we were currently in 3rd place after XC. I entered the ring, saluted the judge and picked up a forward canter. We rode through the course only having one rail so I was happy, she had felt a little tired in warm-up. We left the arena and hopped off her of and loosened her girth waiting for the other riders to finish. Once the other riders were done I put on my hunt cap for pictures and got back on Hannah. We were presented with a third place ribbon for our division! It was so cool! We took some pictures and did our victory gallop. Since this was a Championship show there were also awards for other divisions. I was also awarded 5th Place in the National CCI* division, Reserve Champion in the Adult Amateur Division, and Reserve Champion in the Young Rider (19-21) Division. We got to take home two lovely blankets! Callie and Edee finished their show jumping rounds and Callie received 8th place and Edee received 4th place in the CCI*-JR division. What a great weekend! Our Area IV Young Rider Team took home 3rd place! We all had a great weekend and lots of fun! I hope to run a full format CCI again someday but this may be the last with the disappearance of the full format throughout the country.

Area IV Young Rider CCI* Team: (L to R) Callie Judy, Edith Lee, Liz Lund

Presenting the awards for the Young Rider National Division 19-21, Reserve Champion

Victory gallop for the CCI* division: 3rd Place.

Otter Creek Fall HT 2007

So, I am trying not to be too repetitive in my entries, but there is only so much you can explain sometimes (especially since most of these entries are coming from just memory and records) I will try and keep it new and fresh for my readers!

Another awesome Otter Creek weekend! I love being at Otter Creek, especially in the fall, the colors are amazing. This year Otter Creek was moved back two weekends because AECs moved to Area IV and were on the original Otter Creek Fall HT weekend so the show was pushed back two weekends, making the weather unpredictable.

The weekend started out great. We had a lovely weather on Friday for dressage. We worked hard and put in a great dressage test receiving a 31.7 securing us into 2nd place by .4 penalty points! I was excited to try and do my best at the show and possibly take home another blue ribbon. Next we had to focus on XC, which looked very tough this year and proved to be very challenging due to the number of eliminations and faults riders acquired on course. The Preliminary and Intermediate XC was delayed for two hours due to rain.

Meaghan Marinovich & I waiting for the rain to clear so we can run XC!

My little sister, Maggie Lund playing with Hannah while we wait to run XC.

We finally got out and were able to warm up. The course looked really tough this year and people were having refusals left and right. Otter Creek added a new water this year. The preliminary second water was a jump at the edge of the water two strides to a jump in the water. The first part of the course was running great for us, we negotiated through the technical questions and flew over our straight forward fences. We had just come down the Preliminary bank question and were heading towards the new water, Hannah chipped at the first question so I decided to circle her since the two fences in the water were not related (they were numbered separately instead of A and B). I circled her around and presented her to the second fence in the water, I pressed her on for a faster gallop between the last few fences to make up time. Even with the circle we only had 3.6 time penalties giving us a total score of 35.3 holding our 2nd place standing with only a .3 difference between first place.

Sunday morning was beautiful, with rain forecast for the afternoon, I was thankful to be riding earlier in the day and miss out on the rain. I warmed up and Hannah felt good. I went into the ring hoping not to have a rail. We jumped a double clean round and I knew I had at least secured 2nd place unless the 1st place rider had a rail.

I know every rider has that feeling when they are able to move up a place easily with a rail that they secretly hope that the rider in front of them will have a rail. As terrible as it sounds I think every rider has felt that at one time or another. When that rail drops, there are mixed feelings. In my case this is exactly what happened. Since there was a .3 difference in our scores, a rail would make a difference. The rider in first had been jumping a very nice round and had a rail on one of the last fences. At the same time you are happy because you moved up to first place you also feel bad for the other rider. If you haven't been in that spot where the pressure is on and you make a mistake and drop in placing, you will and you will also realize that it is ok. Everybody makes mistakes and it will happen at one point or another.

With the first place rider having a rail, we moved up to finish in first place. It was a great weekend despite the weather and I was glad to have had a great year and felt more then ready for another shot at Hagyard's Midsouth CCI* in a few weeks.


After our double clean Show Jump round.

Trott Brook Farm Horse Trials 2007

Trott Brook! I love this show because it is so close to home and Kim and Kevin Voller (owners) are great people! I arrived to the show on Friday and unloaded Hannah and got her settled into her stall and unpacked all of my gear. I walked the course and tacked up Hannah for a dressage school. She was very good in the school and we were ready for the next day.

After staying up till about midnight and braiding horses I went back to the trailer I was sleeping in and curled up under the blankets. I woke up early the next morning to braid a few more horses and get ready for my dressage ride. We had a great ride and I settled into third place with a 34.1. We were ready for XC. Last year I had a runout at the corner on the top of the hill so I was determined to ride it and get over it the first try. We ran around the XC course and it felt great, a lot better than last year and we had great spots to most of our jumps. We came in double clean for XC.



The next day was show jumping. I was in first after cross country and the second place person was a rail behind me. The rider ahead of me put in a double clean round and I was determined to do the same. Our round was going great and we came to a triple line up a head that was a long one to a long one. We got a terrible spot to the first jump and I really had to ride to get through the line and luckily we left all of our rails up and jumped double clean and received first place! It was an awesome weekend!