Maya and I went up to Plantation for Duke of Diamond’s (Dyson's) first 1-star and for the 3-star for Maya and Doesn’t Play Fair’s (Cody's) final run before the Fair Hill CCI***. It was a great weekend. Dyson was pretty good in the dressage, had the last rail in show jumping with two time, and was super on cross-country. I missed the time by two seconds, thought I got it but just off. I was so proud of him. Dyson’s so sweet because whatever I point him at, he’ll jump.
I’d like to give a huge shout-out to Jacquie Brooks for all her help with our dressage. I need more training on the flat to be able to ride Dyson but he’s so much better than he was. As we know, out sport is a bit about being jack of all trades and sometimes master of none! But I love the educational aspect to our sport, and learning how different horses react to different things whether on the flat, over jumps in ring or on cross-country.
Maya had a great weekend at Plantation to say the least! She won the 3-star and I’m so proud. She wasn’t as happy with her dressage test as she usually is because Cody was a bit spicy in the ring, but it’s always good to know what you need to work on before Fair Hill. In their case, it’s how to make the horse calmer before tests when he’s very fit and there’s a lot of atmosphere. So we learned something about Maya and Cody and gained insight into what we need to work on and add to their program.
Maya had a beautiful show jump and cross-country was easy and fluid, which was particularly nice after her fall at Richland. As we all do, Maya is working on perfecting her technique on Cody. She’s a tall girl, and sometimes uses the strength of her rein and her body to get Cody off the floor, and has to be reminded to use her leg and the canter for balance so horse is a bit more and her leg and not on the rein—the perennial lesson for all of us. Once again, it’s about keeping it simple and always going back to the basics. The best thing about Maya in competition is that she knows what she knows and doesn’t deviate from that. I think she’s more than ready for the challenge of Fair Hill and we’re just going to work on a bit more fitness.
We had a great weekend for our first Fall Surefire Horse Trials. The weather gods blessed us, even dropping some rain during the week, which made the the whole farm pop. The green was amazing and so beautiful with the fall colors. We held the first Landmark Future Event Horse and fYoung Event Horse casses on Friday, which were a big success. Thank you so much Mrs. Mars and the Landmark Young Event Horse team for your sponsorship!
The rest of the weekend was a great. James Atkinson’s courses rode very well, and we were lucky to have the four Ts: Tremaine, Tom, Trav and Tyson oversee the course design, footing and building for the event. Plus, we have such a great group people that help out with everything else: Mary Coldren, Christy Stauffer, Lisa Welch, my parents Dick and Jo, Nanky Doubleday, Po Tatham, Kendal Church, Brian O’Connor— the list goes on and on. Huge thanks also to the Surefire girls: Maya, Caitlin, Liz, Lauren, Meg and Katie—we cannot do it without you and all out volunteers. The crew that helps here at Surefire gets better every year and I’m so thankful because it makes for such a nice atmosphere. We’re all really excited for our 2015 dates, June 19-21 and September 25-27.
I’d like to give a huge shout-out to Jacquie Brooks for all her help with our dressage. I need more training on the flat to be able to ride Dyson but he’s so much better than he was. As we know, out sport is a bit about being jack of all trades and sometimes master of none! But I love the educational aspect to our sport, and learning how different horses react to different things whether on the flat, over jumps in ring or on cross-country.
Maya had a great weekend at Plantation to say the least! She won the 3-star and I’m so proud. She wasn’t as happy with her dressage test as she usually is because Cody was a bit spicy in the ring, but it’s always good to know what you need to work on before Fair Hill. In their case, it’s how to make the horse calmer before tests when he’s very fit and there’s a lot of atmosphere. So we learned something about Maya and Cody and gained insight into what we need to work on and add to their program.
Maya had a beautiful show jump and cross-country was easy and fluid, which was particularly nice after her fall at Richland. As we all do, Maya is working on perfecting her technique on Cody. She’s a tall girl, and sometimes uses the strength of her rein and her body to get Cody off the floor, and has to be reminded to use her leg and the canter for balance so horse is a bit more and her leg and not on the rein—the perennial lesson for all of us. Once again, it’s about keeping it simple and always going back to the basics. The best thing about Maya in competition is that she knows what she knows and doesn’t deviate from that. I think she’s more than ready for the challenge of Fair Hill and we’re just going to work on a bit more fitness.
We had a great weekend for our first Fall Surefire Horse Trials. The weather gods blessed us, even dropping some rain during the week, which made the the whole farm pop. The green was amazing and so beautiful with the fall colors. We held the first Landmark Future Event Horse and fYoung Event Horse casses on Friday, which were a big success. Thank you so much Mrs. Mars and the Landmark Young Event Horse team for your sponsorship!
The rest of the weekend was a great. James Atkinson’s courses rode very well, and we were lucky to have the four Ts: Tremaine, Tom, Trav and Tyson oversee the course design, footing and building for the event. Plus, we have such a great group people that help out with everything else: Mary Coldren, Christy Stauffer, Lisa Welch, my parents Dick and Jo, Nanky Doubleday, Po Tatham, Kendal Church, Brian O’Connor— the list goes on and on. Huge thanks also to the Surefire girls: Maya, Caitlin, Liz, Lauren, Meg and Katie—we cannot do it without you and all out volunteers. The crew that helps here at Surefire gets better every year and I’m so thankful because it makes for such a nice atmosphere. We’re all really excited for our 2015 dates, June 19-21 and September 25-27.
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