<![CDATA[Surefire Eventing

<![CDATA[Surefire Eventing - BLOG]]>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:45:12 -0700EditMySite<![CDATA[Winter Learning and on to Kentucky]]>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 22:34:19 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/winter-learning-and-on-to-kentuckyIt’s been a long time since I’ve written anything. Mostly, Florida was a great experience because I got to work on a little more finesse in my own riding and on connection to my horses. Change is always hard for anyone, and when you’re trying to move up a level, or get better at the level you’re currently competing, it doesn’t always go smoothly. I think sometimes it requires a lot of patience with ourselves and with our horses. I try to be kind to myself because we all know that having a positive, soft voice helps you train.

My horses were at Corneiia and Jacob Fletcher’s farm in Ocala, and riding around such talent each day makes you better! I stayed with Barton, Susan and Charlotte Merle-Smith at their beautiful Marnick Farm, which is close to the Fletchers.

Coming home to Virginia toward the end of March is always great because we get back on the hills. I ended up running Intermediate with Storm at Morven, so I got to practice all the things I learned over the winter. It was certainly not perfect but was still great. I learned that next year, Morven is going to run an Advanced, which is great.

Tate has had a hard time moving up to Preliminary because he’s so careful and has been suffering from Lyme disease, which has made him quite backward. I didn’t realize how much it was affecting him, but hopefully he’s on the mend. I plan to do some more Modifieds and then move him back up this summer.

I’m on the way to Kentucky so Storm and I can practice all the things we’ve been working on. In some ways, we just survived the 4-star level and now I feel like we can start to improve at the level.]]><![CDATA[Tim Price Clinic]]>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 13:38:02 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/tim-price-clinicI love this time of year because it allows me to work on all the details that sometimes get missed during the season. My motto is: try to get a little better every day. After Morven, I didn’t give Storm the huge break I’d intended because he was causing havoc in the paddock! Some horses don’t care, but Storm is such a people horse he decided he wanted to go back to work.

Endurhing Farm and Meghan and Kelty O’Donoghue and Kendyl Tracey were asked to host Tim Price for a clinic. I decided to sign up for all three days with Tate and the dressage and show jumping with Storm. My first impression is that Tim is quite laid back but really specific. He had some great exercises for Tate to get his body moving through his ribcage. Tim was very specific about the 10-meter circle line and the importance of staying on the line. That was a theme for all three days—if you didn’t focus on that you could be in trouble.
With Storm, Tim had me focus on riding his hind legs, straight when straight, sideways when going sideways. That’s my new goal for winter. In the canter/walk transition, Storm argued and Tim asked if he always does that. My reply was sometimes, and though we moved on, it was clear that he can’t do that. What Tim didn’t say was—that’s not good enough if your horse argues when you ask for something.

The next day in show jumping, we worked again on holding the circle line starting with cavalettis and inside leg to outside rein. The idea is to keep your horse using their body. He had me put a running martingale on Storm. Every time I asked for forward or back within my exercises, every time he argued. Tim said that will cost me a rail or worse, and he’s so right.

Cross-country day Tim kept things super simple. His tips for me, because Tate gets a little race-horsey and I was saying woah the whole time, was to stop that and instead suggested meeting him half way. Let him gallop and bring him back with your body, work with him. Change your body three or five strides out from your jump every time, because even if you don’t have the right pace, the balance will be right. Practice keeping your pace up when you’re cross-country schooling. They have to learn to jump the small jumps well, it’s not about putting them up. Get used to the pace, and use that to make the jumps work out. I didn’t want to because it felt uncomfortable, but every single jump worked out.

I loved all three days of the clinic because it really gave me some specific ideas to play with and add to my book of knowledge, and put some basics back in the forefront of my mind. I will keep you updated on my progress, and how I work within my program to add those details.

]]><![CDATA[Fall Competitions]]>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 13:27:34 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/fall-competitions2514191Both Storm (Beautiful Storm) and Tate (Orientated) have been going quite well, though the scoreboard didn’t necessarily look it for Storm at Tryon though we did great things. In the dressage he had good trot work but needs a better canter. Show jumping I had two down but our round was actually much smoother, so we’re making progress. I didn’t have the best eye on cross-country day, I’m not sure what was going on but that’s on me not Storm. I didn’t have a great ride to the coffin, I still need to do a better job setting him up earlier. When I have to shorten Storm’s stride, I find it hard to keep him quick, so I often go quicker than I should. In my head, I think that faster will be better to make him quick with his feet, but then he’s not in the correct balance. Other than the coffin he actually got better and better out there and some of my best riding was at end of the course. We still have tons of room for improvement but I think we’re going in the right direction.

I had my last cross-country school before Morven with Phillip at Windurra. We practiced rideability and the coffins.

The week after Tryon and before Old Tavern I got to ride at Morningside Farm with Tom McEwen. He gave me a lot of awesome information— nothing I haven’t heard from Phillip, Lynn or anyone else but good reminders. We worked on keeping Storm wanting to work, and keeping his right mindset on the flat. For Storm, that means getting the connection without putting too much pressure on him. For show jumping and cross-country, we worked on about making him rideable, on my leg and using his body correctly.

The more I can get the right balance and connection, the easier Storm's job is. Sounds simple but it’s hard to do! We practiced over little longer courses, every jump changed direction so you had to always think about getting the new side of your horse. Everything was bending. Outside of ring, there was a vertical offset from rail, 45 degrees to the jump, then curve in four strides back to the rail to another vertical and curve to a faux ditch and then a curve the other way to another vertical. We have to be precise about our horse's body. Tom said that in England, there are so many great riders that you have to be precise to be competitive. It was a real pleasure to ride with Tom.

Tom McEwen Clinic, photos by Janet Gallay

RF Blue Moon (Molson), photo by Janet Gallay

Then I had three horses at Old Tavern the next weekend—Tate, Prime Time and RF Blue Moon. Tate’s dressage wasn’t the best—unfortunately, they had just started cross-country when we did our test so he was a bit distracted. He had one down behind in show jumping and then his cross-country was awesome. It was the first time that he hasn’t been a racehorse on course. Prime Time did a good job, too, with just one rail down and a much more mature cross-country, especially at the water. Although I thought RF Blue Moon had a beautiful dressage test, the judge didn’t think it was so splendid. He had a really good show jump and cross-country, though, and is certainly one for the future for someone. He just has a great mind and is quite talented.

In preparation for the Morven YEH 5-Year-Old Championships I competed Tate at Loch Moy and I also did a dressage test with Storm to practice the sequence in real time for the 4-long at Morven. I did Molson’s second Novice as well. It was a busy weekend at Loch Moy and everyone was actually quite good. Unfortunately, I had a stop on Molson at the bank because I decided to trot a few steps and I think I surprised him. It was a shame because he was such a good boy otherwise and a beautiful horse to ride. I decided not to show jump Storm in the combined test because I felt like it would be better practice to set him up the way I wanted to in a lesson with Grant Wilson instead.

Storm and I competed in the 4-long at the first-ever U.S. Equestrian Open at the great venue, Morven Park. I also competed Tate in his first-ever 1-star short. Tate has really shown me how much he’s matured and I was super excited for Morven. I arrived on the morning of the jog, and rode Storm there after the jog. He was so good, but unfortunately I did not reproduce that on Thursday! With the temperature change he was wild, more tense and not as good in the contact as he’s been in some tests. I loved all the courses, though—Jeff and Derek do a great job and it’s a privilege to ride at Morven.

Tate at Morven, photos by Janet Gallay

I had a really nice dressage test with Tate Saturday morning in the one-star. It was great to have him at Morven along with Storm because I didn’t have time to be nervous about Storm’s cross-country later that day. I had a little jitters but was so excited to be competing him. Unfortunately, I was too fast and not connected enough at the Leaf Pit and surprised him a bit, where he stopped, stepped back and then jumped off. But, I was so pleased with the way Storm handled the whole course, I’m not sure we’ll ever look smooth but he was so on it from jump one. I didn’t run quickly because of my stop, but was so proud of him! I really feel like he gets his job even if he’s a little unorthodox. After my cross-country I had show jumping with Tate and he was great. He had one down behind but was smooth and super fun to ride.

Beautiful Storm at Morven, photos by Janet Gallay

On Sunday morning I got held at the jog because Storm had a bad grab on his heel, but passed on re-inspection. We put bar shoe on him before I show jumped. Tate’s cross-country was amazing, quick, and he read everything—so mature! That gave me something to do while waiting for Storm’s show jumping in the afternoon. Storm was super, just one down behind at the first jump of the in-and-out because I needed to bend the line out a little more. It’s amazing how much stronger and smooth it was for us. Storm was the Reserve American Bred horse at Morven to Mik’s Master C, who won. They were the only two American breds in the division. It was really fun to have my sister and parents all there at Morven. I can’t wait til next year, and feel like I made progress with all my horses.

I took Prime Time (Tiger) to the YEH five-year-old Championships at Maryland the week after Morven. It was super fun because his owner, Lorna, came to watch as well. The organizers have really turned the 4- and 5-year-olds into really good competitions the way they’re set up and run. I rode Tiger on Wednesday and he was so mature. Last time I had horse in the YEH at Maryland it was Storm and he was out of his head! Tiger thought the show was put on for him and strutted around calm and cool. Unfortunately, Tiger was a little inconsistent in the dressage, maybe because I roped him too hard and he got tired. He was super for the confirmation and the bees knees for jumping. He won the Safe Harbor award, given to the horse most likely to suit an amateur and that would be safe and fun to ride. I’m so proud of him and pleased for Lorna. A year ago July Maryland was Lorna’s goal and I wasn’t sure I could do it, but it shows how much education and time spent with him has changed and molded Tiger into a beautiful character.

Prime Time (Tiger), photo by Janet Gallay

I decided not to compete for the rest of the fall; I’ve done enough this year. But I am going to do a Tim Price clinic with Storm, teach some clinics, and have a little time with my family and Tom’s family.

]]><![CDATA[Summer Changes of Plans]]>Thu, 11 Sep 2025 18:12:33 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/summer-changes-of-plansMy summer’s not gone quite according to plan. I was trying to get ready for the 4-star at Loch Moy and having a cross-country school on Storm. I was nearly done but just thought I’d trot the ditch to an angled brush when he got his feet in a muddle and somehow punctured his hoof wall and lacerated a deep cut in the front of his coffin area. We rushed to pick him up in the cross-country field with the trailer, and went straight to Piedmont Veterinary Hospital for Dr. Bolam to check that he’d not hit the joint. Out of caution, we did an intravenous profusion of antibiotics for his lower limb, and once Dr. Bolam was pretty confident the joint was not involved, she stitched Storm up and I took him home. He was in his stall for two weeks and was a really good patient, and it turned out it may have been too hot to run at the 4-star anyway since the temperature was 105 degrees with the heat index! Sometimes horses work out a way to give themselves a little rest and reset.

After time off, Storm started to do some flatwork, also aqua-treading and little jump school, and a then dressage show at Loch Moy. Meanwhile, Tate (Orientated) had some trouble with his shoes and I had to scratch him from Loch Moy and then Maryland because of an abscess. After his rest we had time to practice more cross-county basics, such as me being able to keep him in a balance that allows me to both jump multiple jumps or gallop a single jump with him keeping his ride-ability and confidence.

I’ve been lucky to have Sara Schulman compete my other sale horse, RF Blue Moon (Molson), as well as Lorna Stokes’s Prime Time, and both have been good and learning a lot. Unfortunately, Molson had to pull up at Hunt Club on cross-country because he grabbed a front shoe and stepped on the clip. Sara was smart enough to hop off, pull the shoe, and let him gimp back to trailer.

Prime Time did the young horse at Waradaca and qualified for the championships and Blue Moon did the Novice while I was away teaching.

All four horses went to Seneca the next weekend. Prime Time was 4th in the Novice, Blue Moon 2nd in BN, and Orientated was 6th in the Modified. Tate had some time because he’s not quite ready to go quickly, although he will be quite quick when he settles into his work. Storm was awesome in dressage, had a beautiful show jump, but never saw the in of the coffin and cantered right into the jump. He went right around and jumped it but it was quite unfortunate because he’d been so amazing otherwise, I don’t think he ever saw the jump because of the shadows.

Storm and Tate at Seneca, photos by Janet Gallay

Next up was a cross-country school for Storm with big Phil as a tune-up for the 4-short at Tryon and everyone else went to Old Tavern.

It’s always good to have a lot of plans—A,B,C, and D—and summer can be a good time to have a break, even if not planned. The breaks allowed me to go to Mexico and celebrate my Mom’s 87 birthday with my whole family, which was pretty special for all of us.

]]><![CDATA[Spring Eventing and Show Jumping]]>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 15:16:07 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/spring-eventing-and-show-jumpingIt’s amazing to me that’s it's July, where does time go? I’ve had a great spring in a lot of ways, a highlight being the 4-short at Kentucky with Storm. It was my first time back in 11 years and I was lucky enough to have to have all my supporters there with me—Mom and Dad, my sister Kris, Tom, Debbie Snyder, Maggie and Savanah Carter, Lisa Ball and of course my groom, Lila Bolstein, who is Storm’s and my right hand. That made me even more excited to be there, to have that kind of support.

Amy Woodhead was at Kentucky helping a couple riders on the flat, and because I’d ridden with her in Florida I was able to get a lesson on Thursday and also have her warm me up for the test. I scored a personal best at the level, even though it was raining quite hard. It was so fun and I was so proud of Storm.

I knew from everyone I talked to and from walking it myself that the the course was stiff, and though I was quite nervous for the cross-country I felt completely prepared to tackle the challenge. I was so lucky to have the support of my coach, Lynn Symansky, who’s been helping me the last three years and was there to help me warm up for cross-country and showjumping. Once I got over the oxer to corner at 4AB, I knew I had a horse that was with me. I don’t know that I executed some of the course as Storm and I normally do, but he never wavered in his confidence and he finished the course in style.

With Lynn at the finish

Storm jogged up great on Sunday morning and I had a super warmup with Grant Wilson helping me along with Lynn. Our warmup was great followed by a clean round with a little time, which is easy to work on. My horse tried his heart out! We ended up 10th and won the Thoroughbred award. Interestingly, here’s a recent study about the Thoroughbred’s suitability for eventing: https://paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/study-bias-against-thoroughbreds-in-upper-level-eventing-is-unfounded

I decided in May to run the Intermediate at Fair Hill with Storm for some practice without pounding, Then we did two weeks of jumpers, the first at the iconic Upperville Horse Show where we debuted in the meter-30 with one down. The next week, the same venue hosts the Louden Benefit. The first day we had the last jump rail down, and the second day we had a clean round.

Tate did the Modified at Middleburg and he was quite good in all three phases. I had a rail down in the show jumping—I think I got a little deep at an oxer. Tate was also 3rd in the Take Two Thoroughbred Jumper Classic at Upperville,

Unfortunately, neither horse ran at the Maryland International. Storm tripped during a cross-country school and had to have stitches, and Tate came in without a shoe on the 29th, the day he was supposed to run the Modified. We will get the stitches out and Tate’s feet fixed and make a plan for the fall. Right now, Storm is aimed for the 4-long at Morven, as he’s qualified for the Open.

]]><![CDATA[Florida Training and Competing]]>Sat, 26 Apr 2025 10:34:41 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/florida-training-and-competingIt's amazing that another Florida is done and dusted. I love Ocala for so many reasons, but mostly it’s such a good time to train myself and have a different kind of agenda than I normally have when I’m at home. I get to live with Susan and Bart, which is a huge pleasure. I’ve been lucky the last three years to have my horses at Claudia and Barbara’s beautiful Corner Oaks Farm. I train with Barend Heilbron, Lynn Symansky, Will Coleman, Amy Woodhead, and Grant Wilson. I get to watch a lot other riders and horses, whether it’s David O’Connor teaching EA-21 or observing other people’s lessons. I like to compare it to baseball’s spring training—that’s how Tom, my other half, taught me to think. You give yourself an opportunity to try out different things, expand your mindset, and work on your horse’s fitness and mindset.

I feel like I had some great competitions and some great rides this winter. Tate (Orientated) and Storm had some good rides—though not all according to plan! The more I do horses, the more I concentrate on figuring out what works best for each individual while I’m training them. I want them to be happy and understand what I want. I always come back to my love of the horse, and that motivates me at the upper level I’ve decided to keep riding. I love getting better every day, working on the same basics in a different way, and improving my communication with my horses. I love training them and being with them.

I started the winter competition season at Majestic Oaks and took Tate, who is seven this year. I didn’t compete him a lot last year because I felt he needed time to grown up, understand the basics better, and get a little stronger. I did the Training with him and he was good in all three phases, although my show jump score wasn’t indicative of what he’s capable of. Sometimes we forget how the learning process goes—it’s certainly not linear!

Lila Brown competed Prime Time, a horse in in training for Lorna Stokes, at Majestic, his first recognized horse trials. Although he didn’t bring home a ribbon, he was a delight, and Lila and “Tiger” were amazing, fun to watch, and he learned a lot. Shaena Putnam did her horse in the Training and had a great weekend. We were lucky to have Maggie (Sharp) Carter and her ten-year-old daughter, Savannah, with us this winter and Maggie’s two horses did the Beginner Novice and Novice. Savannah did the Starter with her pony Twilight. All three horses and their riders were in the ribbons and brought home the bacon for Surefire Eventing.

We then competed at Rocking Horse, which was super fun and allowed Beautiful Storm to stretch his legs in the Intermediate one-day, which was a long time since Blenheim the fall before. I could tell how much stronger he’d gotten. He won the dressage, had a beautiful show jump, and a really nice cross-country, though I did mess up a line that ended up giving me a 20 because I circled for the B element. As we all know, the hardest thing to do is be consistent and keep the connection in whatever you do, and Storm and I need to do that every single day. I just love him though. Tate ran as well and that was fun. We had a great dressage, much better show jump, and just some extra circles cross-country to make sure he was thinking while galloping rather than just being a racehorse two-minute licking! Maggie and Savannah were out and they had great competitions as well. It’s so fun to be out and about competing and learning in Ocala. There are so many things to do and participate in that time of year, which allows me to get more educated.

One of my biggest accomplishments while in Florida was moving Tate up to Modified at Rocking Horse Winter II. He had his best show jumping yet, and though the wheels fell off a little cross-country, he also learned a lot. He came back next competition at Rocking Horse Winter III and had the nicest dressage test I’ve on any horse (except JR). Tate got home to Virginia and did Morven in the Training and continued to improve—he is such a good athlete and has been fun to ride and train.

Storm at Morven Park, pictures courtesy of Janet Gallay

Storm had some really good lessons and competitions, and continued improvement in my suppleness and connection on the flat helped him in the jumping. We had some great practice showjumping—some clear, some not—but he doesn’t want to have rails. Unfortunately, I had to pull up in the CCI4-S at Bouckaert Equestrian Horse Trials when he got his tongue over the bit. Storm’s been a racehorse and had his tongue tied, and when you can’t tie them and they have a long tongue or funny tongue confirmation, they tend to draw their tongue up until they get comfortable in their body. Storm warmed up really well, but as soon as I went to the third fence, my contact was not normal. I tried to turn to the table at five but had a heck of a time. He jumped the next two and then basically he pulled himself up with his tongue over the bit and I couldn’t change it.

Once I get Storm warmed up, I have to keep him in the contact to stay connected. No matter what noseband or bit, he has to be accepting of the contact. So I've been working on that idea, and when he comes up in the head, I bring my hands up to make him go to the bit. I’ve been really concentrating on that and timing the warm up so I don’t have to disconnect before go I go to dressage, cross-country or show jumping.

I'll have a Kentucky update shortly!

]]><![CDATA[U.S.Center for Coaching Excellence and EA-21 Clinic]]>Mon, 17 Feb 2025 18:37:01 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/uscenter-for-coaching-excellence-and-ea-21-clinicHappy New Year! I had a really nice December—Tom and I drove my horses down to Florida so Lila Brown, who is helping me this winter, could have a Florida Christmas and enjoy the horses in the warmth rather than freezing cold Virginia. I got the horses settled, rode them, jumped with Lynn Symansky and then traveled back to Virginia to do some clinics. Then I flew to Colorado for Christmas with my parents and my brother and his family. We enjoyed some great skiing, great snow and beautiful weather in the mountains before coming back home to fly down to Florida to start the season.

Right before Christmas I was lucky enough to participate in a U.S. Center for Coaching Excellence Workshop. From their website: “The USCCE is a national non-profit organization dedicated to elevating and enhancing the professions of sport coaching, coach education and coach development.” (https://uscoachexcellence.org/) Part of their process is shifting a coach's mindset from coach to coach developer. One of the goals is to teach coaches how to encourage students to do the thinking, to enhance their learning. It’s a highly interactive workshop covering how coaches and students learn, and strategies and facilitation skills using questioning, listening, review and feedback.

The training was one of the most intense three days that I’ve had in a long time, especially for a person that stopped school when I was 17! The USEF and David O’Connor have integrated the program for coach development into our discipline, to help from the top down and grow our equestrian sports. In our workshop, we were lucky enough to have not only dressage and eventing coaches but also hockey, golf, swimming, and track and field experts, and coaches that are trying to implement the same coach development tactics into their sports. If you are at all interested in being a better coach and looking for new ways to think about teaching, I highly recommend reaching out to the USEF or David O’Connor. I think it’s pretty exciting for our equestrian sports to be part of this. Having exposure to other coaches at the top of their field is amazing, and you realize that their thought process and how they support their athletes and coaches is the same across the board, and a huge part of promoting success and confidence.

Having just done with the coach's workshop, it was fascinating to then help coach the EA-21 riders in Ocala and witness how much David, who has participated in USCCE coach development, incorporates the skills that I had just learned into his instruction.

I had applied for the second time to be an EA-21 coach, a position I missed out on three years ago. I normally wouldn’t have applied again, but I really believe in the program and want to give back to the sport and help shape our younger generation. The camp started on December 31st and every morning we had a lecture put on by David. The last morning Rebecca Brown, Emily Mastervich and I planned the lecture, and talked about how there are a lot of different ways to structure an equestrian business, attract sponsorship, and form syndicates. It was so fun to hear David every morning because I would say that he, along with Phillip Dutton, have influenced my career the most. Having heard David's lectures and thought process 25 years ago, and then hearing him teach today with an evolved program, was so special for me, and so special for our younger generation to be able to get educated by one of the greats of our sport.

The whole purpose of the EA-21 is not only to help the kids ride better, but to give them the tools to be better trainers, so they can start to have a thought process to solve their own problems. I was completely inspired by the kids, David, and the other coaches and I’m so excited to be part of a program that I think is extremely important for our younger generation. I feel honored to be included. As part of the program, I will be coaching at Aspen Farm’s West #2 clinic, August 12-13.

The EA-21 Clinic was certainly a super inspiring way to start Florida this year. I’m so lucky and honored to live in FLorida with my good friends, Susan and Barton Merle-Smith, during the winter and appreciate having them as my support family. My horses are back at Corner Oaks Farm owned by Claudia Sarnoff and Barbara Crowley Riddleberger. In the first week of the year I was fortunate to sell two horses, one that I'd trained and one that I'd owned and trained. I’m excited for the new owners and look forward to following their success. I still have two more thoroughbreds, but if you know me, everything is for sale, even Beautiful Storm. Sometimes it’s hard to balance making a living and your addiction to buying thoroughbreds, but there are worse problems to have!

For more on the EA-21 Program, click on the links below:
https://useventing.com/membership/emerging-athletes-u21/ea21-national-camp
https://useventing.com/news-media/news/fast-facts-2024-2025-ea21-national-camp]]><![CDATA[Mars Maryland 5-Star and Fall Wrap-Up]]>Mon, 25 Nov 2024 14:05:42 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/mars-maryland-5-star-and-fall-wrap-upI’m trying to get better about updates! I had my last competition with my little young horse, Orientated (Tate), a six-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred, at Morven in the Training. He’s such a good jumper and just a beautiful package, but he is an internal horse so I’ve had to give him time. He’s not hot but would tell someone he is! He did great in all three phases, with just a rail behind in show jumping out of the combination. He’s really stepped up, doing only four competitions this year. He has a good shape, makes time easily, and is balanced. I think he’s going to be a fun one to produce for the future.

I felt badly that Morven didn’t get more entries. It’s such a beautiful venue for the new eventing championships, which I hope will bring more people in the future. I decided to go to England, those tracks will seriously produce an FEI horse. When I got home, I went to Maryland to help my student, Lisa Apted, on her five-year-old homebred, Leviosa Z, and Sara Schulman and her Cooley Chromatic in the 3-star. I thought the designers did a good job on the courses and that they get better every year. Both these student's horses have been, in their own way, fun to help continue through the sport.

Lisa had a really nice dressage test with the mare making just a few mistakes. Her conformation score was great and show jumping scores were really high. On the cross-country, they almost got a little lost on course, which broke their rhythm. Lisa should be so pleased with the job she’s done producing the mare for sport!

Sara was second after dressage. She keeps her horse at Katie Lichten’s and Kelli Temple and has been helping her for the last four months or so. Kelli made the trip up to Maryland to help her, and you could really see Sara and Caden put things together, which was exciting. He handled cross-country like a champ. We had taken him to Bromont in June to get some fitness under his belt and you could tell how much Caden had grown up from then to October. I think he’s one of best horses in the country. They went clear with only 1.2 time and stayed in second place.

They had a beautiful show jump round and I couldn’t be more proud of Sara and Caden! It’s been exciting to help guide them through the levels. Sara’s done a great job producing him—I’m so happy for her and it was a pretty special moment for me to watch her come in second! Eventing Nation did a great write-up on Sara and Caden here: https://eventingnation.com/sara-schulmans-cinderella-moment-at-mars-maryland-5-star//

Now it's the down time of the year. I’ve just started back jumping Storm, so that’s exciting. I’ve also bought another Thoroughbred, and hopefully will buy one more. I’m back to basics with my riding, and, trying to always improve my teaching, just participated in the United States Center for Coaching Excellence’s (USCCE) coach training, learning how to be a coach developer. It was a little challenging because I haven’t been in school to be a teacher, but gaining more tools for myself, and better ways to communicate to all students, is always enlightening.

Currently, I’m getting ready to have some family time, teach some clinics, and organizing to head to Florida in a month.

]]><![CDATA[Summer 2024—Olympics, AECs and Blenheim!]]>Sat, 26 Oct 2024 13:52:42 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/summer-2024-olympics-aecs-and-blenheim

The Paris Olympics with my parents, my siblings and their families, and Tom— trip of a lifetime!

It’s been a long time once again and I though it would be good to catch you up on everything I’ve been doing. I had a great time at the Olympics in Paris with my family, the trip of a lifetime. One of the highlights was our family bike ride around city that my brother organized. A lot of roads were closed so there wasn’t a lot of traffic, which made it ideal to tour around on bikes. Another highlight was Versailles and the eventing competition. The setting was so iconic and beautiful. The organizers did an amazing job—the arena, the cross-country—all the details were second to none. The whole experience was pretty special, so much history there, and I’m pretty sure we’ll never have another Olympics for the horse sports at such a special place. The other highlight for me would be that Tom, my sister-in-law Jen and I got to see the first round of the #1 tennis player Novak Djokovic, from the third row, thanks to Colby Connell. Of course it was really great to see other sports, swimming, soccer, etc., any sport at the highest level is amazing.

Paris is a great city to walk, so the more you like to get out the more you’d like it. One day Tom and I racked up 15 miles!.

Tom and I left France early because I had big plans for Storm and I wanted to prepare for my fall season. Five days later I was at Fair Hill. I was pretty proud of Storm, who did a good job in all three phases, though I could tell he hadn’t been out in a while, especially in the dressage. I used Fair Hill as my prep for the AECs. I’d not been to AECs since 2016 and it was so nice to have it at the Kentucky Horse Park because it’s such a beautiful venue. I was last to go in the dressage (and the cross-country) and Storm did a nice test, I was really proud of him, and as he gets stronger and grows up he’s going to have a great test in him.

It’s hard to wait all day for cross-country but I managed to keep my nerves in check and was so proud of my horse because he was the bomb! It was a great prep for England, just what I needed. Show jumping under the lights was quite hard on Storm, especially because the Horse Park isn’t really set up for nighttime competition. We also had a lot of delays so we went much later than planned. I walked up main road in the dark, and the first warmup was in the dark. We weren’t allowed into the main warmup til we were eight out. I think this blew his mind, maybe because he raced under the lights? On top of this, I couldn’t ride him in the hackamore, so we had a quick bridle change to a snaffle I’d never jumped in. I could feel Storm’s heartbeat going down ramp to the arena; I wasn’t sure I could actually jump he was so shaken. I ended up having two rails, a little my fault as I couldn’t ride forward into the contact. Storm did get better and better as he went on. When we finished my good friend, Debbie Snyder, took him from the Horse Park to her farm in Kentucky, and took care of him with Sarah til he shipped to England.

I flew home to Virginia, and packed up all my stuff so I could meet Storm in England. I went to Rebecca Howard’s yard; Lynn Symansky had helped with with that decision. It turned out to be a great choice for me. Rebecca helped me with Storm and was there as a friend for all things pertaining to him. It was a great experience to be there. I was able to ride with Grant Wilson from Holland, I’d ridden with him in the states as well. Rebecca helped me on the flat, and with a little cross-country and show jumping as final prep before we went to Blenheim.

At Blenheim with my parents, Tom, and my wonderful groom and friend,
Laila Bolstein

I competed at Blenheim 21 years ago and I thought going again would be a great step for Storm. Parkland courses are really great to build a bottom on a horse—Morven, Fair Hill, Maryland, Kentucky —they really help to develop your horse. I decided to try Blenheim over Morven because I thought the atmosphere would be a great prep for my horse for the future. My dressage test was adequate and I say that because my noseband came undone seven times, til we taped it, so we didn’t have a lot of warm up, maybe three minutes. Storm handled the atmosphere well, he’s trying to grow up! Cross-country was great, the only thing is you need to stay on your line, then you have options. If you cut in or out at all, it doesnt allow you to have the connection. When I went to 7AB in the arena, I knew I needed to be going to first jump, but he was wide-eyed, so I should have pushed him out after but I went for the first thing I saw, on the wrong line for the second. I never presented because I ended up about 10 feet from the jump. Storm handled the rest so well and he is going to be the horse that wants to make the time. He finished cross-country like he’d done nothing.

In show jumping Storm tried his heart out. We were deep to jump to #4, and on a half stride to the next, so he put two in the one and had a back rail at A going in and top rail at the B vertical.

It was so fun to have my parents and Tom at Blenheim with me. It’s pretty special when you can enjoy a sport with your family.

My horse grew up a ton for the whole experience and shipped home well. I’m so happy with him and I can’t wait to do it again. It certainly made me want to do more European trips and really get competitive. I was really lucky that Tom, Marlene, and Anne Ferrio kept my horses going while I was gone. Anne did the barn and Marlene rode and lunged the horses. Tom kept the barn, farm and dogs all in one piece.

I’ve just started to hack this week, and this winter I’ll work on dressage and show jumping. My plan is to do the four-short at Kentucky and then ship back to England and do Bramhan in June. As far as my other horses go, Ransom (Time To) is back in full work, which is exciting. Tate did Morven Park and although he had rail behind in show jumping, he had a really nice weekend including jumping the biggest trakehner I’ve ever seen on a training course, and finished 7th.

Finally, I’m proud to say that Maggie Carter (Sharp), a long-time friend and student, bought Invito and I can’t wait to watch them!

]]><![CDATA[Fair Hill, Tryon and Bromont]]>Wed, 19 Jun 2024 22:33:15 GMThttp://www.surefireeventing.com/blog/morven-and-bromontI’ve done a lot since Morven—my favorite thing for me in April was going to Fair Hill with Storm. I walked the course and thought it was massive, but really well designed with great flow. I knew if I had a great run there, I’d be ready for Bromont because it was as big as the 4-star had looked at Bromont last year. Storm did not disappoint! Dressage is still work in progress and I had one down in the show jumping, but I had the best cross-country I’ve done with him yet. I was super excited because it made me feel like I was on the right track for my goal that I had set out to do last year—the 4-long at Bromont in 2024.

First, I had to go to Tryon in order to do the 4-short because I wasn’t qualified for Bromont. Our dressage test was fine, about the same as I have been doing, and I know it will be better than it is right now. I had 2 rails in the show jumping, #4 was mine because I got there too deep. The last one was unlucky, Storm barely rubbed it behind. We had a great cross-country, with a much better rhythm to start than I’ve had. We finished in the top ten, which was a nice bonus, and I’d finally got my qualifications for the Bromont 4-long.

Shaena Putnam and Jan, photo by Kelty O'Donoghue

Bromont has beautiful galloping tracks and country, and feels like a destination event because most people speak French. If you’re trying to make up a horse for the long run, it is the place to go in the spring. It will teach your horse how to deal with terrain, and the courses are designed by one of the best in world, Derek Di Grazia. I scored about same as I have been at this level in dressage. Storm’s balance was the right idea, but he needs to be more supple within that. He was amazing cross-country, he felt like he read everything we did. He lost a shoe when I landed from fence #4 and cut his heel, then lost the other front shoe landing from the skinny in the arena when he slipped on the second stride. The footing was great so he didn’t mind being barefoot but it wasn’t ideal.

Photo by Sally Spickard

Video courtesy of RNS Video

I was super disappointed in myself in show jumping. I needed a better rhythm to start and had #2 and #3 down behind. Then, I hit the gas to #6 and pulled to a perfect 6 1/2 and went through it. After that, my round was amazing. I’m pretty proud to have a 4-long horse, and if you know me at all, you’ll believe I will be better in all three phases next time, because I always strive to be best I can be. I love my horse!

It was so nice to have Sara Schulman in the 3-long with her horse, Cooley Chromatic. She set the goal last year of competing again at Bromont when she won the 2-long in 2023. Sara ended up 4th in her first time at the level.

I can’t thank Shaena Putnam enough for helping me and making Storm look beautiful. It was amazing to have Mom, Dad and my sister, Kris, make the trip again to support me. It was even better having Nancy Winter’s horse win the 4-long with my friend Allison Springer, and great to have Annika and Susan come and cheer me on.

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