I did go over to see the Nation’s Cup at Great Meadow last month, to watch a little dressage and walk the cross-country course. I watched show jumping on the computer. I think it’s going to be lovely event, though I feel they’ll need to manage the footing, because even where the course went on the race track, it could be improved. Overall, though, it was a great competition for the area, and a great thing to have in this country.
As far as my horses go, I took the young horses, Elvis (Electrik), Nora (Dashwood), and Volcan (Volcan de Caverie), and my mare, Rem, to Maryland and everyone was pretty good for the most part. It was nice to do the dressage and show jumping on Rem in the 2*, but I decided not to run cross-country—the footing was harder than I would have liked and I decided she didn’t need it, having run Bromont the month before. The babies still behaved like babies, but two weeks later I took them to Hunt Club, and they were all much better after working hard on their flatwork and show jumping. Other than rider error on Elvis, getting him into 8a in the wrong balance and having a run-by, all three were really, really great.
Outside of horses, I was inspired by my brother this month, who went to Whistler, BC to compete in the Iron Man. He was 5th in his age group of 45-49, one of the most competitive, and 52nd overall. And, he got a spot for Kona, the championships in October. He ran a great race and it made everything I do all day seem easy! Iron Man competitions include a two mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a full marathon. It’s nice to be inspired by one’s sibling!
We’ve had a week of mowing for our Fall Horse Trials, and of schooling the horses to keep up with preparation for Fair Hill, where the three Training horses will run, along with Rem in Intermediate. I’m hoping to do AECs with Rem, then the CIC 2* at the great event at Plantation. (If you haven’t given to the event, they need our financial support to keep going, and it’s a great one for this country.) Then I plan on Morven Park and finally the 2* at Fair Hill.
Happy riding and channel your inner Michael Jung, Phillip Dutton or Boyd Martin!