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Great Meadow

7/31/2017

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I was so excited to be able to compete at our Nations Cup, especially on JR (Inmidair), a horse I thought would never compete at that level again. I was so truly honored to ride him, and was thrilled with my weekend. That little horse certainly hasn’t forgotten how to put his super suit on! 

I felt prepared going in because I had a plan and I put it into action. JR’s dressage needed to be better so I really worked on that with Sallie. I needed to be able to practice jumping 1.30 meters, so I did that with Katie Prudent’s and Packy McGaughan’s help. I had to get better at cross-country, because as much as JR has a super suit and is really talented, he still needs to be better, more in front of my leg, and I really worked on that. I had had an earlier school with Boyd at his place and I almost fell off about four times, I couldn’t see a distance, I had no rhythm, and I kept taking the reins and slowing my horse. It can be hard to make yourself keep going and get in the mindset you need to compete at the upper levels! But I kept working on all these things, had a good school with Phillip, and felt prepared.

I thought JR was great in the dressage, but our show jumping lacked some polish. I was surprised how spooky he was, I wasn’t even sure he would go over the first jump! It took about three jumps to put him together, and even though I got a bit backwards to a vertical, we finished well with a clear round. JR’s really hard to show jump because he never jumps each jump the same. Sometimes it takes a little bit of me letting go, knowing it might not work out, and sometimes I’m good at it and sometimes not.

I walked the cross-country and was quite comfortable with course but but it was hard to wait to go second to last. I probably walked the arena corner five times, and talked over how it would ride with Lynn and Buck four or five times. But as I walked back to my trailer I told myself, he’s going to go in four, just be ready to think on your feet and react. If you mess up, you learn something, you can’t protect yourself all the time. Then I never looked back. The decision was made, I knew my job, I wasn’t nervous. I really thrive on this sport and I love trying to get better, and my horses make me better all the time. I can’t wait to do it again. The weekend wasn’t perfect but I improved my skills on JR from the last time I rode him at Kentucky. I realized how quickly our sport evolves, and if I’d gone faster I'd have had a chance to win. But I had ten time, and I was a bit upset about that. I’ll just try and be better the next time.
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One Crazy Week!

7/24/2017

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I got home from Germany Monday night, the week of our Surefire Horse Trials. I’m so lucky that Tom, Christy Stauffer, Caitlin Calder, Katie Hasse, Hellen LaFitte, Trav Schick and his wife, Kat, and brother, Graham, and Josh Sylce had a great jump on what needed to be done for the weekend. Our event went off great—we were so lucky to have the weather we had, plus we have the most amazing group of people that come and help us every year. It’s a huge chore and a huge team that makes everything work. Nanky Doubleday, Po Tatham, Mary Coldron, my parents Dick and Jo, Lisa Welch, Lisa’s step-mother Anne, Sarah and Michelle, all help so much it’s really impressive. I don’t know how Tom, myself and my parents got so fortunate to get all the amazing help we have. Everyone knows what they’re doing, everyone steps up. Thanks to Janet Galay for all the great photos!
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I had a pretty crazy week following our horse trials. The Monday after, I got in the car at 4:30 in the morning to take JR up to cross-country school with Phillip at Windurra. I really felt like I needed to get my head around being competitive at Great Meadow, which was coming up quickly. Tuesday morning I headed to Sallie Spinard’s, my amazing dressage coach, for lessons. Wednesday, I caught a 5:00 AM flight to Colorado for a clinic and started teaching that morning. There’s no rest for the wicked and I got back Saturday afternoon just in time to do a little bit of last-minute prep for Great Meadow.
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Luhmuhlen

7/22/2017

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Since I last checked in after Virginia I’ve done a lot. The first thing I did was go to Luhmuhlen in Germany as a USEF Selector—I was so proud to be an American and all our riders were really great! Luhmuhlen is a beautiful event to visit and I would say was inspiring to watch and certainly made me hungry for competition and look forward to competing abroad again at that level.

I was the only U.S. selector there because we have to keep costs down and with six horses and five riders going, it was pretty easy for one person to cover. These days you can see so much online, the other selectors could watch that way, but it’s nice to have at least one person there, to get a good feel of the vibe of the event. I’m pretty new to the job, but when it comes right down to it I think every one of us wants to be competitive and wants the U.S. to win. The bottom line is, if you’re winning you’re going to be picked and if you’re not, you’re not picked. If you have the drive to go and put yourself on the line and end up in the top ten, you’re more likely to be picked. Riders and horses have to be competitive week in and week out. Getting the job done is really, really important. It’s really very simple. As a selector, I want all the riders to do great, I don’t want to not pick someone. I wish we had 20 people who could win every weekend!

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