Happy New Year a couple months late! It seems like its been the longest year ever and I'm not sure we stopped 2020 before we moved on to 2021...
In the horse world we’re actually super lucky because we’re outside and still have the ability to ride and train horses and teach people every day. I've come down to Ocala again this winter because I really enjoy the area and the fact that there’s so much to do with every type of horse, and the weather is great. Last year, I decided not to compete while in Florida, I just wanted to train. This year I decided to do a bit of both. I was lucky enough to go to Wellington for two weeks in January to help Abigail McArdle flat some of her jumpers. Abby rides for Henri and Katie Prudent and Plain Bay Farm, and they allowed me to bring some of my horses so I could show on Wednesday and Thursday both weeks. It’s always great to be able to go to Wellington to just practice the finer points of show jumping. It was super fun, and I was so proud of Abby and Boogie Woogie for winning the Grand Prix on Friday in Venice Beach—I felt like I might have played a small part.
I came back to Mike Huber’s farm Ocala, where I keep my horses, and he was kind enough to help me school cross-country and show jumping, and put a little pressure on me for my upcoming horse trials. The first horse trials I went to I was asked to catch ride Double Entendre (Pun) for Marylin Payne. Marilyn had decided to keep her two horses with me this year, to do something other than going to Aiken. The horses arrived on January 20th and I was able to help her cross-country school her horse twice and watch her on the flat, and also get some help with my horses before she left to go home. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it back to Ocala for her events, so I got the ride on Pun at Three Lakes in the Training, which was quite fun. I had a video taken of me practicing my dressage test before the competition and sent it to Marylin for input. She gave me five things to do to improve, and I succeeded in improving all five things during my test at the competition, hence why I got such a good score. I’ve never practiced my dressage test and then sent it to a judge—it was super helpful and I highly recommend it! I had one down behind in the show jumping on Pun but the horse was super fun and we finished second.
Our second event was the Ocala Horse Trials and I just have to say that with all the rain we got, I thought they did a great job managing the riders, ground and competition for everyone. I don’t think it was easy! Luckily we’re in Florida and the cross-country course held all the water and the footing was great. (Though maybe not the dressage ring, which was under water!) All my horses were good and although I didn’t win anything, they all got better and it was nice to see how much stronger both Beautiful Storm (Storm) and Unbridled Numbers (Steely) have gotten. My two Novice horses were babies but they certainly grew up around the course. It’s nice when your baby horses finish better than they started.
In the horse world we’re actually super lucky because we’re outside and still have the ability to ride and train horses and teach people every day. I've come down to Ocala again this winter because I really enjoy the area and the fact that there’s so much to do with every type of horse, and the weather is great. Last year, I decided not to compete while in Florida, I just wanted to train. This year I decided to do a bit of both. I was lucky enough to go to Wellington for two weeks in January to help Abigail McArdle flat some of her jumpers. Abby rides for Henri and Katie Prudent and Plain Bay Farm, and they allowed me to bring some of my horses so I could show on Wednesday and Thursday both weeks. It’s always great to be able to go to Wellington to just practice the finer points of show jumping. It was super fun, and I was so proud of Abby and Boogie Woogie for winning the Grand Prix on Friday in Venice Beach—I felt like I might have played a small part.
I came back to Mike Huber’s farm Ocala, where I keep my horses, and he was kind enough to help me school cross-country and show jumping, and put a little pressure on me for my upcoming horse trials. The first horse trials I went to I was asked to catch ride Double Entendre (Pun) for Marylin Payne. Marilyn had decided to keep her two horses with me this year, to do something other than going to Aiken. The horses arrived on January 20th and I was able to help her cross-country school her horse twice and watch her on the flat, and also get some help with my horses before she left to go home. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it back to Ocala for her events, so I got the ride on Pun at Three Lakes in the Training, which was quite fun. I had a video taken of me practicing my dressage test before the competition and sent it to Marylin for input. She gave me five things to do to improve, and I succeeded in improving all five things during my test at the competition, hence why I got such a good score. I’ve never practiced my dressage test and then sent it to a judge—it was super helpful and I highly recommend it! I had one down behind in the show jumping on Pun but the horse was super fun and we finished second.
Our second event was the Ocala Horse Trials and I just have to say that with all the rain we got, I thought they did a great job managing the riders, ground and competition for everyone. I don’t think it was easy! Luckily we’re in Florida and the cross-country course held all the water and the footing was great. (Though maybe not the dressage ring, which was under water!) All my horses were good and although I didn’t win anything, they all got better and it was nice to see how much stronger both Beautiful Storm (Storm) and Unbridled Numbers (Steely) have gotten. My two Novice horses were babies but they certainly grew up around the course. It’s nice when your baby horses finish better than they started.
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