J.R.'s stall at Fairhill-Thank you Surefire Eventing sponsors!
I’m happy to be here at Fairhill! But first, a little recap of the past few weeks. Between Plantation and now, we went to Middleburg, Morven and Maryland Horse Trials. At Middleburg, I rode Victory Shetan (Toddy) to get some miles on him for his owner, Chase Shipka. He was really good in dressage, brave show jumping, great cross-country and ended fifth in Open Training. Chase did her first event on the east coast and she won the Junior Novice Division with Loreal.
Then we went on to Morven, where I planned to do a combined test with J.R. and run the whole event with Kem and Toddy. With all the rain, it was a pitiful weekend! J.R. had a very good dressage, the rider had a couple of mental errors, but he still scored well. We had one down in show jumping and overall I was very pleased. Usually, J.R.’s very spooky at liverpools but he wasn’t at Morven, so he didn’t jump up like he normally does and had the rail down. Kem was good in the dressage, fairly good in show jumping—with the same fence down, another rider error. One error was long and one was deep, so at least it wasn’t the same mistake twice! I think the footing was so wet and it was raining and blowing so hard, that Kem was having a hard time seeing, too. The weather was so erratic during show jumping, and cross-country was even wetter and windier, I just tried to support him. Kem was great at all the jumps but it wasn’t much fun. Toddy was great on the flat, won the dressage, and even though it was windy and rainy he jumped beautifully in the ring. After cross-country on Kem, though, I decided not to run Toddy cross-country because he’s so careful—there’s always another day.
The highlight of the weekend for me was that Meghan did her first Advanced on Pirate. They had a decent dressage, a beautiful show jump, and she and her horse made cross-country look easy even though the going was so bad. They finished sixth. Meghan also rode Globetrotter for Darcie Shipka in the Novice and was sixth in that division, too. Chase had Loreal in the Junior Novice and was second. We were all glad to have the weekend over! It was still raining on Monday but the rest of the week was beautiful and sunny and everything is green.
The following weekend we went to Maryland and I did Kem and Toddy. Kem was his best yet in dressage and tied for fourth on a 28.6. We had one down in show jumping and a just a little time cross-country to finish third. I was actually really pleased with him and think he’s ready to move up. If I don’t sell him, I think he’ll do the 2-star at Jersey in the spring. Toddy was not great in dressage but it wasn’t his fault. The event was running so far behind, almost 25 minutes late, that I think he was overdone by the time we went. He was awesome for show jumping and cross-country, though, and finished fourth. It was really fun because Katie Bleyer rode my old partner, Waterfront, in the same division and finished right in front of me. She’s leasing him and works for me. Then Chase did her first Training with Loreal. She did have stop in show jumping but everything else was awesome, especially her cross-country. Meghan rode both Globetrotter and her horse, No Nonsense. It was Globetrotter’s first Novice and No Nonsense’s second and they finished first and second. Katie did Gamble a Bit—his jumping phases were great but his dressage ring was running late, too, and I think he suffered from too much warm up as well.
This weekend we’re at Fair Hill. I had a good jump with Phillip on the way up and am really excited about the weekend and looking forward to seeing my parents and riding my horse. It will be really fun to do a CCI 3-star again! After this, the season winds down and we’re all ready for the fall and some down time and working with the young horses.
Then we went on to Morven, where I planned to do a combined test with J.R. and run the whole event with Kem and Toddy. With all the rain, it was a pitiful weekend! J.R. had a very good dressage, the rider had a couple of mental errors, but he still scored well. We had one down in show jumping and overall I was very pleased. Usually, J.R.’s very spooky at liverpools but he wasn’t at Morven, so he didn’t jump up like he normally does and had the rail down. Kem was good in the dressage, fairly good in show jumping—with the same fence down, another rider error. One error was long and one was deep, so at least it wasn’t the same mistake twice! I think the footing was so wet and it was raining and blowing so hard, that Kem was having a hard time seeing, too. The weather was so erratic during show jumping, and cross-country was even wetter and windier, I just tried to support him. Kem was great at all the jumps but it wasn’t much fun. Toddy was great on the flat, won the dressage, and even though it was windy and rainy he jumped beautifully in the ring. After cross-country on Kem, though, I decided not to run Toddy cross-country because he’s so careful—there’s always another day.
The highlight of the weekend for me was that Meghan did her first Advanced on Pirate. They had a decent dressage, a beautiful show jump, and she and her horse made cross-country look easy even though the going was so bad. They finished sixth. Meghan also rode Globetrotter for Darcie Shipka in the Novice and was sixth in that division, too. Chase had Loreal in the Junior Novice and was second. We were all glad to have the weekend over! It was still raining on Monday but the rest of the week was beautiful and sunny and everything is green.
The following weekend we went to Maryland and I did Kem and Toddy. Kem was his best yet in dressage and tied for fourth on a 28.6. We had one down in show jumping and a just a little time cross-country to finish third. I was actually really pleased with him and think he’s ready to move up. If I don’t sell him, I think he’ll do the 2-star at Jersey in the spring. Toddy was not great in dressage but it wasn’t his fault. The event was running so far behind, almost 25 minutes late, that I think he was overdone by the time we went. He was awesome for show jumping and cross-country, though, and finished fourth. It was really fun because Katie Bleyer rode my old partner, Waterfront, in the same division and finished right in front of me. She’s leasing him and works for me. Then Chase did her first Training with Loreal. She did have stop in show jumping but everything else was awesome, especially her cross-country. Meghan rode both Globetrotter and her horse, No Nonsense. It was Globetrotter’s first Novice and No Nonsense’s second and they finished first and second. Katie did Gamble a Bit—his jumping phases were great but his dressage ring was running late, too, and I think he suffered from too much warm up as well.
This weekend we’re at Fair Hill. I had a good jump with Phillip on the way up and am really excited about the weekend and looking forward to seeing my parents and riding my horse. It will be really fun to do a CCI 3-star again! After this, the season winds down and we’re all ready for the fall and some down time and working with the young horses.
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