It'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.
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!
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!
RSS Feed