2011 Annual Meeting

I went to this year’s annual meeting in Nashville and took care of my normal obligations as well as some new ones. The new ones were pretty cool as I met with the USOC team that was there to help our sport. The team included a nutritionist, fitness coach and sports psychologist. All the listed riders were also required to talk with Mark about our plans for the spring for our horses.

I had a fat pinch test and the fitness test started with planks, then as many squats as possible and then shuttle runs. I don’t know the results for my pinch test yet, but feel as though I’m pretty fit. The nutritionist gave me some helpful hints about how to better structure my diet as I tend to not eat much during the day and then eat a lot at night.

I really got a lot out of meeting with all three USOC folks, but particularly enjoyed speaking with the sports psychologist. Since my accident, I have a different way of seeing and feeling the jumps, and I wanted to talk with him about that. Because my stroke affected my ability to articulate my thoughts but not the thoughts themselves, I can no longer count strides in my head effectively. If you think about it, when we count in our heads, our brain is telling us how to articulate the numbers, even if we don’t say them out loud. My speech process no longer matches the speed of my thought process, so that I’m unable to count fast enough to match my horse’s striding—not because I can’t think it, but because I can’t “say” it fast enough in my head. I think the sports psychologist will be able to help me find ways to compensate for this, and also keep me in the right frame of mind to trust that the jump is going to be there and to feel it in the canter, rather than rely on a mechanical process like counting in my head. I found him to be easy to talk with and he had a good way of approaching the sport; he’s been to Burghley and Kentucky and he gets it. His main point for me was that the more I can let myself feel what I do, trust that feel and develop the ability to call on it, the better I’ll be. The same is true whether you’re a rider, a hockey player or a golfer—the goal is to not have to think about the mechanics of what we do.

I also attended Young Rider meetings; I still co-chair the committee with Tim Murray. It’s going to be really exciting this year because I feel like we have more Area Coordinators that have returned a lot of momentum to the program and who are trying to really get things done to make the program in all the areas and as a whole better.

I was also impressed with the Professional Horseman’s Council meeting this year. John Holling has really done a good job getting things done, like arranging for more cross-country jumps in warm up areas at events. I thought the PRO meeting was good, too, especially because they’re trying to get secondary health insurance for all members, which is huge. It was also interesting to hear featured guest speaker Clayton Fredericks talk about how he got into horses early on and how Team Fredericks operates today. Finally, I was really impressed with and very happy for Sharon White, who won the Becky Broussard grant this year.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. We’re off to Aiken the second of January!

Training Lists!

This time of year is always nice for me because it gives me the chance to work on the details of my riding and the opportunity to teach some clinics, spend time with girls and more importantly, Tom. One of the things I’m most excited this year is that I have Why Not and Syd Kent back in full flat work. J.R. is also starting light flat after his break after Fair Hill, so the whole barn is in work and it’s fun to have the time to really enjoy all my horses.

A bonus is that I got selected for the training list with J.R.! I don’t have to be on a list to know how I feel about my horse and myself, but it always helps to have your thoughts confirmed. I am also incredibly thankful for the opportunities that being selected provides. I think the thing I’m most proud of, though, is that two of my current riders, Meghan O’Donoghue and Kendyl Tracy, as well as Mya Black (who rode with and worked for me a couple years ago and is listed with two horses) made the Developing Riders list. They are all awesome riders and I find it difficult to express how proud of them I am and how much it means to them and to me. I think being selected, and especially making the Developing Riders, does a lot to boost your thought processes, your need to be better, and your education. My text from Kendyl said it all—she’s normally not really emotional, just quiet and does her own thing—and I could tell she was thrilled and so proud to be named: “I don’t know if you’ve seen it or not, they just posted the developing riders list on EN. Both Meghan and I made it!!! Thank you so much for all your help.”

Meghan works for me full-time and Kendyl is in school at George Mason and will travel to training sessions. I’ll be doing the sessions in Aiken; I don’t have schedule yet but we’re required to be at the USEA annual meeting to meet with the USOC and have a fitness test done, which is required before you’re eligible for grant money. We’re also required to call Mark Phillips and tell him our plans for spring. Hopefully I’ll have JR and Syd at Rolex. I plan on going to both Pine Tops, Southern Pines, The Fork and then Kentucky. But as we know, best laid plans… so right after Thanksgiving I’m going to Hawaii with my family and Tom like we do every year and I’m going to enjoy that. I’ll write again after the annual meeting with more news. Happy Thanksgiving!

Fair Hill

I had a great week at Fair Hill. I have to say I feel I went into it as prepared as I could be. Even though I haven’t really competed that much at the upper levels for last two years, I had done three Advanced horse trials before and felt like everything I had been doing to get ready, especially for dressage, had been good and would hopefully pay off. I had a school with Silva on Monday, which was very helpful. J.R. wasn’t as relaxed as he could have been, but we worked mostly on the movements from the test and the overall picture of how he looks. He’s such a good mover but doesn’t always have the best ability to stay in one rhythm, so we worked on that. Sometimes J.R. gets so intense about doing the right thing, instead of looking effortless, he looks tense. We worked on the kind of seamless effortlessness in dressage that I wanted to have at Fair Hill in order to get the best possible score.

I jumped with Phillip on Tuesday and that was good. I would say that by far I was feeling the most rusty in show jumping, which is odd for me because it’s always been my strong suit, so it was good to get some more practice in. Meghan and I went over to the grounds and moved in on Tuesday. I knew I was going to go Friday, so Wednesday I did some long and low and tried to get J.R. loose and relaxed. After two days of lessons his back was a little sore— I think our horses might get pre-competition nerves like us, and maybe that’s why he felt a little tight.

Phillip had agreed to jog J.R. for me. I still have some lingering lack of feeling in my right hand from my accident, and with J.R. so fit and fresh, I felt better with Phillip handling him. On Wednesday I saw the course for first time. I loved it—big and pretty scopey, Derek did a fantastic job. I thought the Chesapeake Water, with the duck jump in the water followed by four strides out up the hill to a brush on top, one long stride to a really severely angled brush with only small window to jump, was by far the hardest with a lot to do. The whole course had great flow, though—first impressions always stick with you and I really liked the flow, and I knew, barring a silly mistake, it would be a great course for my horse. The only thing I didn’t know was how much rain we were going to get, it rained all Wednesday night, all Thursday and part of Friday morning.

On Thursday I had another lesson with Silva and J.R. was in really great form. We only worked for maybe 25 minutes then hacked around. I felt completely prepared for my test on Friday morning. On Friday I rode J.R. twice, once just a walk, trot and canter for about 20 minutes to take the edge off him and see how fresh he was. I was a bit surprised because he was fresher than he’s been—I think he thought it was cross-country day! When I got on for my test I knew he was in good frame of mind, I felt really ready, and Silva warmed me up for about 20 minutes. I was so pleased with my horse’s test! One half pass he was maybe trailing a little with his haunches, and I missed my first change in the canter and he was maybe a little tight for the second, but he was really fun to ride and I don’t often say that about dressage! It was definitely one of the best tests he’s ever done and I was thrilled with him.

On Saturday morning, I decided to walk around and see how footing was holding. I really concentrated and where footing was best and how to get to it to keep him on good footing as much as possible. I went about half way through the three-star division so I knew that good footing would be hard to find. When I got on J.R. he was a pretty relaxed but really focused, he knew what was coming. I’d say it was the best ride I’ve had with him yet, though they’re all pretty good. Before I went, Phillip was great and talked with me about how these big events don’t some up often, that I needed to think about time, ride one fence at a time, and just go out and do my stuff. I feel like J.R. and I did just that, we went out and did our stuff. The footing was sticky, which didn’t make it easy, but these competitions are hard and you have to fight for everything you get. With that being said, I feel as though I was really efficient about my gallop, except for last two jumps not being out of rhythm. I changed to those because I didn’t want to make a mistake at the end, but everything else just flowed and whole course felt easy for him. Sometimes J.R. tries too hard in the air so I had to keep him going on the back side of the jump. I don’t want him to think it’s too hard, so I just encourage him forward after. You can also leave a lot of time after the jump if you don’t gallop away.

Photos by Josh Walker

J.R. pulled up great and had a nice night thanks to great care from Meghan. Being in the lead after cross-country at a big three-star is so satisfying and even though I nervous on Sunday morning, it was so nice to feel like I did my job and was in a position to win the whole thing—that’s why we do this. Along with enjoying the sport and the horses, we also want to be good enough to win. Even though my butterflies were flying around a little crazy, I was really excited for the show jumping on Sunday morning. I tried not to focus on how close we top three were and just focus on my plan and my warm-up and how I wanted to ride the course, which I really liked when I walked it. And then it was time to warm up. It’s amazing that when you get on your horse you can feel the butterflies fly into formation; that helps you so much with your focus.

Overall my horse warmed up well and Phillip was kind enough to help me. I felt really good about my plan when I went into ring. I had a great first jump, but on the way to second fence I cut the bend and never put J.R.’s eye on the jump, plus even though we arrived on a little bit of a longer distance, I trusted he would jump it. Horses will jump what they can see, but J.R. never put his eye on it so he didn’t think he had to jump. Big, big mistake! And everyone was there to see it. I was actually lucky I didn’t fall off and he didn’t fall down.

From that point on you’re in survival mode and just try to minimize the damage and have the best result you can. I did have one more jump down that I think was a little bit of an unlucky rail behind. Overall the course was not smooth at all. But I still finished in third and looking back on it, I know I’ll be better next time. I feel that not having had a lot practice over big courses since I’ve been back might have been a factor. I went to two jumper shows then did three Advanced horse trials with J.R., which is probably not enough practice to have the kind of results you want to have. This was one point in time for me and I know I’ll be better next time. As we know with horses, it could have gone the other way; I could have jumped from the gap and had a different result.

I’m so thankful for my horse, first of all—he’s a great horse and great jumper—and second, for all the people who have supported me through everything: my parents, my boyfriend Tom, the girls in barn and all my kind friends. It was an added bonus to win the Sportsmanship award. It was so sweet of both Boyd and Becky to say at the press tent that they were both rooting for me to win. I have to say that I’m really looking forward to next year with J.R., Syd Kent and Why Not. I would love to have a good run to the Olympics, which has been a life-long dream and goal of mine.

Back home, J.R. gets a month off, which he’s so excited about because he loves to be in his field. I’m back at work teaching and traveling to do a clinic this weekend. I’ll keep you posted on fall and winter plans!

Fall

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.

J.R.'s stall at Fairhill-Thank you Surefire Eventing sponsors!

Richland and Plantation

I’ve now done two three-stars with Inmidair (J.R.). Richland was really great, and even though our dressage wasn’t perfect we still scored well. I felt like when I got there the course was bigger than I was expecting because even though J.R. is really brave with a big step, I just haven’t ridden him much over bigger courses and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t know how green he would be and what his reactions to the different fences would be. If he was too careful at the water, how he would handle the coffin, that kind of thing. What I found out was, as I went I could trust him more and more, wait longer to set him up, and pretty much as long as he was balanced and in front of my leg, he was really brave about whatever I wanted him to do. Even though I knew it, he reminded me what a great cross-country horse he is. The more I got into the course the faster I could go. I think the only thing I was disappointed in from the weekend was my show jumping. I didn’t have enough energy at the first jump, a triple bar. J.R. was so spooky and careful and tried so hard he had the back rail, and even though he jumped clear the rest of the course, it was not a thing of beauty. He has such an interesting style anyway, not classic at all because he’s weird about his mouth and jumps with his head in the air. He starts to jump even higher and is hard to stay with him in the air.

After Richland, I decided to do a dressage show at Morven, which was really insightful. I realized as I get through the test J.R. almost tries too hard in the canter, which hard for him anyway. I have to keep him really easy-going through the test so that he doesn’t get too hot. I also I think he’s a little bit like me—trying harder doesn’t always mean a better result—sometimes you have to relax and just let it happen.

The dressage show was good practice for me before Plantation. Being able to do another three-star three weeks after Richland was a also good thing because it put me back on the spot as far as being competitive. At Plantation, J.R. was pretty good in his trot work but not easy-going enough in his canter work. The new ring they built is beautiful but a lot of atmosphere, so it’s good to know what he’s going to be like at Fairhill. He scored okay in the dressage and tied for fourth. The most frustrating thing about dressage is you know how good your horse can be but you never really seem to be satisfied with your performance! J.R. was awesome on cross-country. The course was a little inconsistent in the feel of it, but as far as handling it, he never felt inconsistent at all. I felt like he read all the questions well, and Phillip had told me not to go for time so I was slower than I’d like but still in a good rhythm. For the show jumping, I finally had the clear round that my horse is capable of. It gets so frustrating sometimes when you know you have a horse that should jump clean but you don’t because of your riding, not making big mistakes but little ones that cost a rail. I ended up seventh and was really proud of both J.R. and myself.

The rest of the weekend was great. Kemmerlin did his fourth Preliminary and he did have a rail down but other than that was incredible—and was a really hard track, especially for a green horse! As far as the other Surefire riders go, even though Kailyn Dines had a disappointing dressage, she had two great jumping phases and finished fourth in YR Preliminary. The Tracey girls each did their first Advanced and Anisa also rode Waterfront as practice horse in Preliminary to warm herself up for the Advanced cross-country on Tigger. Anisa hasn’t been out much this year so I thought having a run on another horse would help he and it did. Both girls were awesome. Kendyl did have some rails in the show jumping but I swear that horse will jump clean for her, she just needs to work out the kinks and keep believing it’s possible. I also helped Helen Hayn do her first two-star and she was 12th, and Kristen Bachman also did her first two-star on her young horse, Lucky Little Spy, and she was 7th. Meaghan came and helped all weekend and has been my right arm lately and hopefully she’ll be back out soon with Pirate if she gets into Morven. He got kicked in the field a month ago and we wanted to be conservative with him, just to be sure he didn’t have any damage. I’ve been so thankful to have her along at the competitions and to have Katie Bleyer manning the fort at home.

I’ve decided to not do Pau but instead aim J.R. for Fairhill. Phillip thought going to France wasn’t the best decision financially as my horse and I haven’t had enough time out together. So as long as everything stays on track, Fairhill here I come!

Summer

Things are always a bit crazy in the summer at Surefire, and we’ve been very busy since the last update. The Surefire Horse Trials were great this year, and we were blessed with good weather, better footing, and things ran, I think, the best they ever have. The Chips Chester Challenge was a success and fun for everyone, though I wish we’d had more horses in that division. Sara Kozumplik won on Manolo Blahnik and was also 6th on Tatton Winter. Lucky for us at Surefire, Megan was second on Pirate and came home with a good paycheck! The riders told me they loved the prize money, which made the class really exciting, and they also liked that it all ran on Friday. We were lucky to have both of Chips’s sons, Charlie and John, help out with prize money in their father’s honor.

As always, I’m so lucky to have such great help from the girls in barn who are so essential to preparing for and running our event. Also, I couldn’t do it without the people who help me out every year: Christy, Miguel, Nanky, my parents, Po, Mary, and of course, all the volunteers that sign on and do such a fantastic job.

After the horse trials I was lucky to go to Ireland for the week and have a little fun. I got back on the Friday right before Maryland where I ran both Palmer and Kem in the training, Palmer was 5th and Kem 3rd in their divisions. It was the best Palmer has galloped yet, and Kem has become a machine cross-country.

The following Wednesday, the whole barn went to the horse show at Culpepper. Kendyl and Ashlyn Dorsey were practicing for Young Riders, and Hannah Krueger went, too. I practiced on my three—J.R., Kem and Palmer—and Meghan was there with Pirate. I was lucky enough that I had five clean rounds and one with one rail. It was great practice for everyone and a good way to get ready for the second horse trials at Maryland. I’ve also continued to ride once a week or so with Linda Zang, who’s helped me a lot. It’s always a good idea to have someone keeping an eye on you and the development of your horse on the flat. Linda was great help before the event and J.R. won the dressage with a 25.6. I was really happy, though I think I could have ridden the halt and my simple changes better, but the rest of our test was really good. It feels as though his canter is getting better and better and he’s more relaxed than he has been, though as you know with horses, that comes and goes! J.R. ended up winning his division of Intermediate with just some time cross-country.

Both Meghan was second in OIA and Kendyl third in OIC. Palmer was second in his training division and was just awesome, even better than the weekend before. He’ll have a good gallop in time, it just takes a while to develop when the horses come off the track as he did. As far as the others go, my Colorado Young Riders Kalyn Dines and Ashlyn Dorsey had a good weekend, though Ashlyn turned the wrong way in show jumping and crossed her tracks so got a stop and time.

I moved Kemmerlin up to Preliminary at Maryland and he was greener than I thought he would be cross-country. I didn’t give him the best presentation at the water or the rolltop and so my result was disappointing. But, I know he’ll get it. Meghan also took her young horse, Cedric, for his first Novice and he ended up second. Kendyl had her old Young Rider horse, Mr. Incredible, there also and he won at Novice, and Anisa was fifth on Tigger in OPB.

We had a good week practicing for Young Riders with the some of the Area IX team at the farm and then headed to Kentucky for the championships. As always, Young Riders was filled with ups and downs. There’s so much pressure on the kids, and I think my kids did such a nice job. Unfortunately, we ended up without a one-star team because Ellie Gilbertson’s horse was lame at the first jog. One-star junior rider Madeline Backus joined us from Colorado and had a great competition with a good dressage, great cross-country and a couple rails in show jumping for individual 9th. Our other one-star rider, Ashlyn Dorsey, had good competition with her best dressage test yet and a double-clear cross-country, but unfortunately suffered from show jump nerves in the end and finished 13th.

In the two-star championships, Kendyl had a great dressage and cross-country but with two down on the show jumping she moved from bronze medal position to 8th. In combination with Area V, Kendyl still got silver medal in the team competition. I know that Kendyl was really mad when she came out of the ring, she wanted it badly and wasn’t okay with 8th. But that is the start of how to really get good—you have to want it that badly.

Overall, I thought the course and the whole event was a good competition. I thought the level of riding at the 2-star was better than ever, but thought that generally, the one-star kids were weak. I think a lot of the riders don’t get enough practice in the saddle or enough exposure to other disciplines. Being a jack-of-all-trades in eventing makes it really hard for the kids to get good. I think it would help our young riders to do more cross-discipline riding. It’s so easy to get in the habit of not trying other things like jumper and dressage shows, but going to them is great practice. I also wish more kids could learn on experienced horses and get miles; I saw too many trying to learn and teach a horse at the same time.

We got home from Young Riders, I jumped my horses and then we went up to Millbrook with Palmer, Kem and J.R. plus Anisa and a whole crew from Surefire. Both Po Tatham and Vicky Jessop joined us, shared in the cost of driving, got some help and had a big weekend away. I think overall was a good weekend, though poor Vicky did have a fall in the water and pulled muscles in her neck and separated her shoulder. She and her horse will return for another day. It was so nice to have Anisa and Tigger back for the first time competing since he did his tendon last year at Young Riders.

As far as I go Palmer was a little unsettled cross-country—I think running at 470 and some of the longer distances were a little hard on him. It turns out that when I got home, I found he had hurt his leg. Kem was great, not the best dressage but he will be the dressage winner soon. He was so good cross-country; he’s such a fast horse to ride! We had two down in the show jumping but that’s was just being green. I was really happy with the way he’s coming along. J.R. was great, too, though not best dressage of my life but fantastic cross-country and one rail down at first fence in show jumping because his rider missed badly. Then I started riding and he was his usual spectacular self. I was so happy to be back J.R because he’s such a fun horse to ride.

After Millbrook, I took my horses to two dressage shows and a jumper show and I think they’re all getting better and better and more and more together. As I’m writing this I’m in the airport on my way to Richland, wish me good luck!

Competitions, Preparations and a Fundraiser

We have been working hard this week and for the last two weeks getting ready for our event. I think the girls and I feel slightly crazed, and know there are some things we can’t control, like the weather and how it all is going to go. I think the footing is going to be better than ever this year; we’ve really worked on it. The forecast sounds like it’s going to start to cool off on Friday and that will really help. I’m disappointed we only have 34 horses in the $10,000 Intermediate class and I think most would have entered regardless of the money. Maybe it’s a hard time for people to justify a destination event, even with prize money. The timing, only two weeks after Bromont instead of three, may be a factor as well.

I also want to say how badly I feel for Boyd, Phillip, Ryan, Lillian and Caitlin and all the owners of the horses that were lost in the fire. I can’t imagine any of that happening. We’re so lucky we didn’t lose any people. Jacqueline Mars and David and Karen O’Connor are putting on a fundraiser for Boyd’s crew on Saturday nig. It will be $100 at the door to get in and then there’ll be a silent auction and everything raised will go to help them replace what they lost. It can be hard to know what to do and we can feel so helpless, but the whole eventing community is behind them, just as they would support any of us. I have to say that is why I event, because the people in this sport are so kind and will always be there for you when you’re down.

My horses have been going really well. I took my two young ones, Kemmerlin and Palmer, to Waredaca. They were good, even though Palmer hadn’t been out for a while. They both won the dressage, were both green in the show jumping and added just time on cross-country. Unfortunately, the footing was like concrete. I felt bad, especially for Palmer, who had bruised his foot earlier and wasn’t a happy camper. Between the footing, his greenness and not having competed much, I just went slowly.

Meghan rode Charlie, this time not for me but for his new owner. He did his best dressage yet with a 30.5. Unfortunately, they had a rail in show jumping but then a great cross-country. I told Meghan to go whatever pace she was happy with and they had a little time as well.

The next week we went up to Silva’s to get some dressage help. It was really nice to see her ride JR; she always rides your horse before she teaches you. JR’s either lazy or too animated; he gets almost spastic with his front legs. It’s really hard to get him forward without him getting too big, and then he loses his rhythm. Silva had me work on keeping it forward but easy, riding him into the corners, keeping the same pace and riding him from leg to hand, around and around. I made some plans leave JR with her while I’m gone for Young Riders, and to get some dressage shows on my calendar so I can have some practice for the girls and myself.

Then we jumped with Phillip; I hadn’t seen him for almost a month. I like to have the pressure put on me by Phillip to make sure I’m completing the exercises well. He had me jump oxer to oxer in a big four strides, then in five and six. We worked on making sure I could bend out to make the strides work, always improving the canter and always making sure you I could angle jumps as well as ride a line of skinnies. I think a key point of the way both of us teach is that you have to practice all these things every time you jump.

I’ve also been riding with Linda Zang almost every week at Sharon White’s. On Friday, I went through the Intermediate test with JR. It wasn’t the greatest but we worked on the same things as with Silva, keeping him regular and easy. I did lot of coming down the center and quarter lines in a straight line, keeping him with me and on both reins and making sure he was listening to me and staying in the same rhythm.

We went to Seneca after all the practice. JR was good in the dressage; the work paid off and we were second in that phase. He did break in the medium canter when he got spooked, but maybe if I had had him better connected when I started the canter he wouldn’t have broken! Otherwise, the test was really nice. Show jumping and cross-country were awesome. I forgot how nice he is to compete, I just have to make sure I don’t get jumped off. That’s not the worst problem to have, but sometimes it’s really hard to hold on to him!

Both of the young horses were really good. Kemmerlin always shows up for work and was third after dressage, had a kind of unlucky rail in show jumping and was great cross-country. Palmer got a little bit tight in the dressage with cross-country going on, had a green rail as well as an unlucky rail in show jumping—he was really lucky at the second fence, not so much at the seventh. Kem finished fourth and Palmer fifth. I just have to say that I think Seneca did a beautiful job with the footing, the courses and their whole event this year.

My parents arrive today and I can’t wait to see them. They always come and help out at our event. Wish me luck for this week—it’ll be crazy! I’ll let you know how it all goes.

Spring Events

A lot has happened since Morven, a lot of ups and downs. The Fork, at the beginning of April, was great competition for Wyatt and me, the best yet. We went with Meghan and her horse, Pirate. Wyatt’s dressage was okay, nothing special, but he was really great cross-country and I felt the most in sync yet with him. And after having had some rider errors in the show jumping at Southern Pines, it was nice to have a really beautiful round with him in that phase, too. Meghan had a good event as well, with a pretty nice dressage and cross-country, and for the second time this year, she won her division with a beautiful stadium round. Jim and Bernadette Cogdell did a fantastic job with the event and always put on a great show.

I decided to take Wyatt Advanced at Fair Hill, I thought it was a good thing to do before I took him to the two-star at Jersey. I was nervous about going Advanced, not scared, just the nerves anyone would have after so long away from the level. I was just hoping that my timing was still available to me! In keeping with the way this wet spring has been, there was a lot of rain at the event, including on cross-country day. The footing was deep and pretty wet, but I decided to run anyway. Wyatt was unbelievable in all three phases. Even with an error we were sixth after dressage, so I was really happy with him. In spite of the weather on cross-country day I felt really good, and it was such a relief to know that I still have it in me, even if we weren’t the fastest around the course it was fun to do. I was lucky because Tom came up to watch and support me. I think he was more nervous for me that I was, but after seeing Wyatt jump he said, “Jan, he’s the best one yet, a really good horse. I’m not scared for you at all!” With just the time on cross-country, we ended up seventh—not bad for my first Advanced in over a year.

Kendyl also had a good weekend at Fair Hill in the two-star with her mare, Ever So Lucky, and finished ninth with some time cross-country and one rail in stadium. Both Kendyl and Helen are headed in the right direction for Young Riders this summer, and the great thing is now Kendyl’s qualified. Helen had twenty penalties on cross-country only because her mare didn’t see the out from the water, but nevertheless I feel like Helen has made great strides since she’s been with me. Unfortunately, it meant she didn’t qualify to do the CCI at Jersey, so we moved her down to the CIC for that event.

My two young horses, Palm Crescent and Kemmerlin both did the Training, the first at that level for both of them. They were great, but I went slowly on cross-country because of the footing.

The bummer is that when I got home the Tuesday after Fair Hill, it was obvious Wyatt had damaged a tendon. It was an acute injury, not something that had been brewing for a while, and he’s out for the time being.

On the Wednesday after Fair Hill I flew to Kentucky to help Jessica Hampf and Kristen Bachman at Rolex. Kentucky was also plagued with all the rain we’ve had this spring and I’ve never seen the Horse Park that wet, with running water through the infield and the sunken road. It was a great weekend for Jess; she had a good dressage and even though she had 20 cross-country, it was the best I’ve seen her ride yet. In show jumping, she had just too little pace and didn’t realize it when she went in, but I’m still so proud of her and all the improvements she’s made. Kristen decided withdraw before cross-country as it was her horse’s first time back at that level. She felt running him on the footing wasn’t in his best interest, which is not an easy decision to make when you’ve put in so much work and time into getting to Kentucky. But, there’s always another day.

One of the best things about Kentucky was that I got to watch a lot of dressage and cross-country—you have to learn something when you watch that many great riders and horses. I think what I learned the most is that Mary King is amazing—she has the best attitude and always has a smile on her face; you can tell she just loves what she does. She’s such a class act and puts a positive spin on everything that happens. I love her expression when things go wrong, “better luck next time”, and her attitude toward competing, “ I’m going to enjoy the moment.” I think that’s one of the things that make her such a great competitor; as she says, “I don’t do pressure, I don’t like it.”

After Rolex, I had to get Inmidair (JR) ready for his first competition after time off. I took him Preliminary at MCTA and had so much fun. He was great in the dressage and show jumping, and slow on cross-country, but it was so exciting to be back on him again. I also rode Kemmerlin in the Training and he ended up fifth, and Meghan took BT Ten Mile (Charly) Training, too. I couldn’t take Palmer because he’d pulled his shoe the day before and was really lame from it.

Both Helen and Meghan left the following Tuesday to go to Jersey Fresh. I was grumpy because I didn’t have a horse there so I told the girls I was feeling sorry for myself but that I would get over it. I was really excited for both of them, though. Meghan had a great warm-up for her test and then got in the ring and pushed Pirate a little bit past his rhythm. I was proud of her, though, because the work she did in the warm up is what we’ve been aiming toward all spring. The fact that she could take everything we’ve talked about and get it in the warm-up is progress. There’s such a fine line between doing enough and doing too much! Meghan’s cross-country was awesome, she had about five time-faults because I think she was worried about how Pirate would handle the nine-minute course as she could see a lot of horses were finishing tired. I knew we had the horse fit enough and he finished really strong, I think he was one of the fittest there and they were fun to watch. She had a beautiful show jumping and finished 13th. It was nice to finally have the two-star on her resume—she’s tried for the last one-and-a-half years to get it done!

Helen, on the other hand, barely got a qualifying score in dressage—it’s definitely a work in progress. Her mare, KC, looked awesome cross-country, the best I’ve seen her go and Helen ride, until three jumps from home when Helen’s stirrup leather broke and KC stopped at the next jump. They just weren’t on the same page with the broken stirrup. I think because Helen had never had a stop with KC in that way, she thought it better to pull up and play another day. It’s a good reminder for everyone to always check your tack.

Kendyl and I decided to drive down to Virginia to compete JR and Ever So Lucky (Megan). It was nice for just the two of us to go and help each other out. Dressage with JR was okay, but after all the work I’ve been doing I was expecting it to be better than it was—I guess that’s horses. My show jumping was clean though not the smoothest round I’ve ever had, I think mostly because I didn’t have quite enough pace and underestimated how much the indoor ring would hold him. I think you always need a little more pace and jump in the canter when riding indoors and my guess is that’s why there were so few clean rounds. Cross-country was great, he’s such a pleasure to ride. JR’s funny horse, he definitely has his own way of going with his head and neck, and the way he jumps is quite unique in that you don’t feel like you ever get the same jump twice. But he jumped great and was pretty fast with only two time faults, so we moved form 15th to third.

Kendyl had good weekend as well, with a better dressage test than mine, but she can still get more points out of it. Show jumping has been her nemesis but was actually pretty good, though she did have two down and four time and I feel both rails were because of her lack of release. I had told her to run for time cross-country just to practice for Young Riders and she was easily inside. She was amazed how much easier her mare goes and how much easier she was to ride when she has to kick. She ended up 11th, but only because of her show jumping. I think she’ll wait and run Megan at Surefire and then Maryland just before Young Riders, which is in Kentucky at the end July.

Life has been bustling at the farm. We’re busy getting ready for our event, plus we have all Melinda and Larry’s Hanovarian babies back in which is really fun. We have six of them, five of which we broke last fall: three, three-year-olds, two, two-year-olds and a yearling. If you want a nice horse, I’m telling you these are some of the best young horses I’ve never worked with in my life and I’ve done a lot of babies.

The babies out for hack.

I vow to do updates more often, so stay tuned for the next segment!

Southern Pines II and Morven

We’re home! We came back on Thursday to really cold weather in Virginia but at the same time it’s so nice to be home. I’m thankful to Kendyl for driving one rig home and to Meghan for making the trip twice so that I could stay in Aiken and ride with Katie Prudent for two days.

I felt like I needed to work with Katie as my show jumping at Southern Pines was not the best. I usually feel really comfortable with that phase, but instead I had one rail and one whole jump down. I didn’t hold my position over the liverpool— I looked down and lost count of where I was in the line. Poor Wyatt, he was trying to listen to me but I think I just confused him! Katie is a real stickler for flat work so the beginning of my lessons were filled with exercises to make sure I was able to shorten and lengthen Wyatt’s stride and move him off my leg. In both lessons we had to do trot leg yield to canter, then leg yield in the canter for the flying change. In the second lesson, we held the counter canter and did a simple change through the trot so that our horses were always waiting for us to tell them what to do. On the first day’s jumping, we did a simple four-stride line followed by a wide five and a wide six or a more direct four or five. The object was to have the ability to do both easily, whether in the beginning of course or at the end. The second day we were plagued by bad weather, but were lucky to get permission to use Peter Barry’s covered ring. We worked on trot gymnastics; a placement rail to a vertical, 18 feet to an oxer, 21 feet to another oxer, and then the reverse, so that so that the distance went from long to short. This exercise was especially good for Wyatt, confirming his ability to trot in slow and still be in front of my leg, jump out over the oxer and then come back still in front of leg as the distances were decreased. Riding with Katie was a great review for me and was incredibly helpful. Plus, it was really nice to see her and have some time to meet with her in the evening.

So back to Southern Pines and my Intermediate move-up. In spite of the show jumping, Wyatt was great in the dressage and felt I did the best yet on cross-country since my accident. It felt so good to jump around Intermediate again! I was really proud of both Meghan and Kendyl, too. Meghan ended up winning and Kendyl was second in a really tough Intermediate division. Both girls should be so proud of themselves—they can really ride, have great horses and they’ve worked really hard.

We drove back to Virginia on Thursday so we could get ready for Helen to do the Intermediate at Morven. I planned to do a combined test with Wyatt plus take my young horses, Palm Crescent and Kemmerlin. I got them in thanks to the great secretary at Morven, Shannon Pedlar. The nice thing about Morven is that Helen qualified to do a two-star so she’s still on track to try and get to Young Riders this summer. Fingers crossed! She had the best event yet at the Intermediate level and I’m really proud of all the changes she’s been able to make with her riding—Fairhill two-star, here she comes!

My horse were all good at Morven. Wyatt was fine in the dressage though I’m ready for it to be better. I feel like I keep getting the same score, but he feels so good, I think he should score higher. I’m not saying the judges should score me better, but that I need to figure out how to get more sevens, eights and nines and not so many sixes. The show jumping was much improved and that was my whole purpose for going. It was nice to get in the ring and have a fluid round.

Kemmerlin, poor thing, was plagued by bad weather at Morven like so many horses were that weekend. I think I was on and off him about six times, and he went down the center line with rain pelting him in the face. With that being said, he was pretty nice to ride in all three phases, apart from a little mis-communication at the third fence on cross-country when I wanted to wait and he wanted to go. He waited with one leg and then went ahead and hurled himself over the jump, landing on his knees with the reins over his head and caught by just one ear. We did bolt across the field in the wrong direction for about 200 yards, but luckily I got my reins back, pulled up and turned back onto the course. After that, he was so much smarter and more pleasant to ride, though I think I used another of my nine lives!

Palm Crescent was a pleasure to ride, and we had nicer weather on Sunday, though he was pretty spooky in the indoor for dressage. I don’t know that he had ever been in one. After that he was perfect in show jumping and on cross-country.

I had the day off on Monday but ended up teaching some lessons, going over stuff for our horse trials, getting unpacked from the winter in Aiken, and planning a new course to be built in the ring… plus got everything packed and ready to go down to the Fork. Both Meghan and I are going and Kendyl is staying home to concentrate on school and ride the horses here. Anisa is coming up from school because both JR and Anisa’s horse, Tigger, are back in flat work—how exciting is that? Wish us luck and I’ll tell you all about the event when we get home.

Pine Top Advanced, Sporting Days and Southern Pines I

Everything always happens quickly at this point in Aiken! I decided to do an Intermediate combined test at Pinetop Advanced since the girls were running the whole event and I wasn’t ready to do the Intermediate cross-country yet. I felt it would be better, since I got hurt at Pinetop a year ago, to not put too much stress on myself. Sometimes your emotions get the best of you and I didn’t want to be in that place. I wanted to get a couple more Prelims under my belt to get my eye back at the gallop. Wyatt was great in the dressage, though I didn’t really have enough time to warm up. It was cold but I wasn’t expecting him to be that fresh! Still, he was his typical rhythmical self and the Intermediate test gave him a little more to do. He was fourth after dressage and great in the show jumping.

Meghan and Pirate had a good test for them, another personal best, and their dressage is improving by leaps and bounds. They were good in the show jumping and cross-country, too. Kendyl and Megan (Ever So Lucky) had an okay dressage, she suffered from a fresh horse as well, but went on to better show jumping and cross-country. Helen and KC’s dressage is definitely a work in progress, so is show jumping, but they were double clear cross-country, which was great. The rest is going to just take time.

After Pine Top, I asked Mark Phillips if I could have a lesson on the flat before I went to Sporting Days because I felt I needed to re-confirm my half-halt. It felt like I haven’t really had enough time to get to Sylva’s and Mark was kind enough to teach me. He watched Wyatt go for a bit and then got on him. Mark just told me to really keep Wyatt over his neck, and to remember there’s only one answer when I put my leg on: he has to move his hind legs to the bit. It’s amazing how well Mark rides and how much feeling he has. You could see as he went that Wyatt got better and better and happier and happier. When I got back on him we did a little re-confirming of the half-halt, then shoulder-in, counter-canter, half-pass and lead changes and all of them were great. It was really fun to have Mark’s help again.

So on to Sporting Days. Wyatt was really good until we got to the water on cross-country and had a stop. I was so mad—even though I may not have ridden the best, I still felt he should have gone. I know I need to do my homework now because that water had been a problem before. Bebe was good all day with just one rail in show jumping. Allie won the dressage on a 20.4 and also had one rail down in show jumping. Both young horses were really good cross-country. I’m excited for Ashley Worrell, who has bought both Allie and Bebe. She wanted me to do Sporting Days and Southern Pines with them before sending them on to her in Colorado.

Charlie (BT Ten Mile) moved up to Training at Sporting Days with Meghan and had a better dressage test, though it’s hard to relate because the test is harder than Novice, and his cross-country and show jumping were good. Mark my words, Charlie’s going to be the dressage winner in the next few months. He’s a really nice horse, such a good mover and a great brain. Courtney Carson and Sunny had some trouble in both the cross-country and show jumping, but it was better than their last event at Paradise. Ashlyn Dorsey ran Culcairn 14 in JOT for his first event and was second, and JYOP with Cosmic Girl, finishing ninth.

After Sporting Days I took Wyatt to have a jump school with Phillip. I also wanted to have him watch me into the water. Wyatt was great for the school, but when we went practice the water, I got him in the first time but it took everything I had to make it happen. He was really naughty! Phillip said he was so glad we did this, hopped on Wyatt and told him, very politely, to never stop with me again!

I decided to take my horses to Southern Pines I because I really love that facility and the cross-country—the whole event is so well done. Also wanted another run in Preliminary with Wyatt, and a more difficult water. I also took Allie and Bebe for new owner, Ashley, plus I brought a horse I’d just bought from Patricia Vos and Jen Simmons. His name is Palm Crescent and they’d bought him through the Canter program. Jen had him entered at Southern Pines anyway, and even though I only had about five days with him, I decided to take him along and see what parts of the event I’d do. We also decided to take Kendyl’s mare in the Preliminary for more practice and to really work on galloping cross-country and the show jumping. Sometimes it’s a good idea to go down a level to practice some of the finer points before you go back up to the level you’ve been competing. Since Kendyl’s aiming Megan for the two-star at Young Riders this summer, we thought it would be a good time to work on technique.

Wyatt was second after dressage on a 23.5 and finished the event on that score for second place. I was the most confident I’ve felt cross-country as far as having my eye back into the gallop. Plus, the course was a great course for Wyatt in terms of being a good fitness run and having some great exercises on it—they had skinny house then two strides to a down bank with a left turn to another skinny, up a bank then a bounce over a roll-top. As always, Southern Pines had great water complexes and Wyatt didn’t bat an eye, though he did jump in huge!

Bebe was the first horse in the ring at 8:00 in a big Novice division, won the dressage on a 21.5, was great on cross-country and in show jumping, and won her division. Allie was tied for 7th after the dressage and was the best she’s ever felt in the jumping, finishing ninth in a 3-way tie. I’m so excited for Ashley because she’s getting two of the nicest horses in Allie and Bebe, and I’m also really excited for Melinda Walton and Larry Smith, who bred Bebe and have more horses coming along.

My new horse, Palmer was in the other Novice and ended up fifth after the dressage, was amazing in show jumping and cross-country and finished fourth overall. Let me tell you, the Novice course felt like the novice Olympics, we even had to jump a trakehner! It was only Palmer’s second event, and his first was Beginner Novice, and I had no idea what to expect. I was so sad to sell both Allie and Bebe because I think so much of them and was really hoping to keep Bebe for myself. But that’s not the way things work out, so I spoiled myself and bought a horse!

The new addition to Surefire-Palm Crescent

Kendyl and Megan (Ever So Lucky) were fifth after the dressage and great in the jumping to finish fourth in the Preliminary and our plan for Southern Pines to be a remedial outing was a success. Ashlyn Dorsey was good on both of her horses in Preliminary Rider; she’s getting ready for the one-star at the NAYRC. Cosmic Girl is a new ride for her, and she’s proving to be an education. I’m sure Ashlyn will figure her out. Her other horse, Culchairn 14, which she bought from me, was back after nine months out with an injury, and even though Ashlyn went a little slow she had a great ride. It will be nice for her to hopefully have two horses qualified for this summer. She’s here in Aiken for now and is planning to go to the one-star at Poplar.

Meanwhile, we had Helen and Courtney both run Full Gallop as well as my friend Vicky Jessop, who I’ve been helping on the flat with her horse, Desert Mystery. Vickey’s a great professional, and is helped by Stephen Bradley over fences. It was really fun to have her with us for two weeks, culminating with a win in OTB on a 25 in the dressage. Vickey rides beautifully on the flat and has done a great job with her thoroughbred, and it’s fun to be with her and see her do so well. Both Helen and Courtney had weekends where in some ways things were better, but the two ended with stops cross-country and I know they were disappointed. As we all know, that happens in eventing—we have to just keep working on what needs improving.

The great news is we got home from Southern Pines to learn that Vicky Jessop’s client, Sue Southard, had tried Tazzmania and on Monday she decided to buy him, so we have another one sold. I think Meghan, Kendyl and I are all looking forward to Southern Pines II, and Helen is looking forward to other events, and then will be happy to head home to Surefire north. It is amazing how quickly time flies when you’re in Aiken!

Pine Top Winter II and Paradise Horse Trials

I had a good weekend at Pine Top. Why Not had a great dressage test and won with a 21. I had one rail down in the show jumping, which is rare for him, but he was a little bit excited to be back competing again! Cross-country started out slightly rusty, though I finally felt like I was getting into a rhythm after the fifth fence. Unfortunately, I was held at the sixth because someone in front of me had fallen. I ended with 17.2 time penalties, though I’m not sure with the hold if that was right, but I finished! After my rein mishap at Sporting Days and now the hold at Pine Top, I’m looking forward to being able to ride around a complete cross-country course with no problems! I can’t tell you how hard it was emotionally to be back at the same place I got hurt almost a year ago, and it felt good to come out of the weekend so well.

Kendyl Tracy didn’t have the most ideal weekend in the Intermediate Rider as her horse, Ever So Lucky, was really wild in dressage. She did show jump great and was really good cross-country until two from home, when Kendyl pulled one too many times, the horse hit her knee on the jump and Kendyl popped off. I’m sure she was thinking, “damn-it,” though they’ll both be fine to compete another day. Meghan O’Donoghue and Pirate finished 7th in OI2 with a personal best dressage score, which was nice as Meghan’s been working really hard on that. It was great for she and her horse to get out and get rid of some cobwebs, especially since they didn’t get to finish at Sporting Days.

Its seems like the weeks go flying by when you’re here in Aiken, and as soon as Pine Top was done we were right back at it getting ready for Paradise, which started on Friday so we had a short week to prepare. Bebe was really good in a big, hard division, and got all 7s and 8s except for one 5 and one 6 in the dressage. Her dressage ring was a bit hard for her as it was a little downhill and so is she because she’s still not mature. But she jumped great and ended up 15th in a very competitive division on a 29.6. Wyatt was awesome, and won the dressage on a 25.9, even though it wasn’t as good as the weekend before. Phillip and I had worked earlier in the week on making sure I could kick Wyatt right out of the box and let the first couple jumps back him off. That’s hard to do when you haven’t done much competing in a while! But I stuck to the plan we had worked out for my whole course at Paradise and it paid off because it was really easy to ride him around this time. We get worried about our horses being strong when we start cross-country and sometimes forget to kick. Kicking helps! And of course Wyatt was great in the show jumping and jumped clean. I had accomplished step one of my comeback plan, and that was to first get back my confidence and be competitive at Preliminary. Even though I’m entered in Intermediate at Pine Top Advanced this weekend, I’m only going to do a combined test, then run two more Preliminaries before moving up. Wyatt is still green even though he did a 2-star last fall, so I’m taking my time.

The rest of the Surefire crew had mixed results at Paradise. Gennifer Giustina, who is visiting from Colorado with her horse, Aragon II, unfortunately lost her way going to the first fence in the Training and was eliminated. My new working student, Courtney Carson and her horse Sunny Rosarian, were going well in the PT until show jumping. The horse was a little spooky and maybe not in front of Courtney’s leg so she had rails and time, but she did manage to finish. Ashlyn Dorsey, also visiting from Colorado and competing in the PT on her horse Cosmic Girl, had a good event too, and is pointing her to Young Riders this summer. She’ll probably be in Aiken for the month, then go home after the Poplar CIC. Meghan rode my horse BT Ten Mile in ONA and they finished on their dressage score. They haven’t gotten a ribbon yet, but the horse is so kind and really fun for Meghan to ride, so hopefully someone will want him. In OPA, Helen Morris and Awesome KC had a tough start in dressage, but then ended cross-country and show jumping on a better note.

Monday I had a much-needed day off (after I spent the whole morning in the barn). Tom was down for Sunday and Monday and it was nice to spend some time with him. We had a Surefire Farm dinner Monday night with all of the people who are in town and had a great time. I’ll check back after my weekend at Pine Top. By the way, did I mention that the whole week here it was in the 70s?

First Report From Aiken

We arrived in Aiken January 4th, which seems like years ago now. The first week the weather was great, but that soon turned to snow and ice and it was colder than Virginia—I guess that’s what you call welcome to Aiken! At the end of the month, Kendyl and I took five horses to Wellington, which turned out to be a great decision. My Mom came with us, too, to help with the horses, and Helen and Meghan were kind enough to stay in Aiken and ride the horses we didn’t take along.

When we arrived in Wellington we wondered why you’d want to be anywhere else that time of year because the weather is so nice! We decided to ride with Katie Prudent for jumping and Linda Zang on the flat We started out on Tuesday morning with two lessons with Linda and then had three lessons with Katie in the afternoon. I feel that, even if you’re not starting back from a long period of no competing as I am, immersing yourself in focused lessons is a great thing to do. It really gets your mind and your horse’s head around your jobs right away.

The first week in Florida we alternated lessons with Katie and Linda. The second week Linda was gone the first four days, which was perfect because we were able to get all the horses ready for a jumper show on the weekend. Kendyl and I rode in about 15 classes and the horses were all great, especially that little Bebe La Rue. She’s a fantastic jumper and has a great mind. The only class that wasn’t really great was when I took Wyatt in the High Schooling. He only had one rail, but he was so hard to ride and so spooky that day, I decided to put him back in the Medium Jumpers. I think he was a little bit off his game and didn’t really have his mind on his job. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how well you’re riding, you still have to have your partner participating!

Kendyl’s original plan was to be in Wellington for just a week, but she decided to skip the first week of school and show instead, which turned out fine—because of all the snow in D.C., her classes were cancelled anyway. She had a great round on her mare, Ever So Lucky (Megan), every time out that week and finished up on a good note. On Friday, Kendyl and I took Megan and Wyatt for flat lessons with Linda and then went to a dressage show on Saturday. We both showed Second Level and Bebe did Training. Wyatt won with a 74 percent, Bebe won her test with a 69.14, and Kendyl was respectful with a 65. I think Kendyl was suffering a bit from trying to take her horse to the next level. She has a really good First Level frame but it’s time for a little more collection and little higher carriage. Sometimes she gets it and sometimes she doesn’t, but that’s riding.

Mo, Kendyl and I all drove to Aiken on Sunday and the girls were happy to see us and ready for lessons of their own. We had one week to get all the horses and us ready to do our first event. We took everyone cross-country schooling on Tuesday. When you’ve had the winter off and are feeling rusty, that’s hard enough, but when you’ve had a whole year off it’s even worse! If you haven’t done something for a while it takes a bit to get rid of the cobwebs, no matter how good you might have been before. We went to Silva Martin for a dressage lesson on Wednesday and she was so pleased at Wyatt and Kendyl’s horse’s progress and couldn’t believe the difference since she’d last seen them.

Phillip was gone and didn’t come back until Thursday. He wanted me to school with him so I did that on Wyatt. We worked on me lengthening my reins when I needed to (my right hand is still not 100%), so that I didn’t get pulled on landing. We jumped a lot of Preliminary and Intermediate questions so I felt like I was really prepared to do Training at Sporting Days.

For the most part everyone had great first event. Meghan on Pirate and Helen on Casey had personal bests in dressage. Kendyl won her division and Bebe did her first event ever and amazed me with how smart she is. She and Allie ended up second in their divisions. I should have been second with all my horses, but I had a bit of an equipment malfunction on cross-country with Wyatt. Phillip was nice enough to come to the event and warm me up. We had a great show jumping and I headed out to cross-country. Wyatt’s last event was the two-star at Fairhill and I could tell Phillip had been competing him by the way he came out of the start box ready to run! About three-quarters of way around we had to jump off a bank and turn to the water. Right before the bank, I suddenly had no right rein, it wasn’t even attached to the bit! We jumped off the bank and then I turned hard to the left, pulling Wyatt in smaller and smaller circles to slow him. Anyone who knows Wyatt knows that he’s a little quirky, and you have to be careful what you do with him or he thinks you’re going to kill him or something! So I finally got him pulled up and then carefully got off, forgetting to unhook my vest, which luckily didn’t go off because Wyatt is short enough that the cord didn’t get stretched too tight. I’ve never seen Phillip run so fast—he thought something had happened to Wyatt or me. I showed him what had happened, that my rein had come unbuckled, and believe me, that’s the last time I don’t tape my reins for cross-country! Anyway, I had to fix my pinney and get back on and start with the water, which isn’t exactly Wyatt’s favorite jump, but he was good and he finished the course fine. So if you were wondering why I had 28.8 time penalties, it was because it took a while to get all that sorted out.

All in all we came out with a good weekend, except for Meghan’s horse, Pirate. She had to wait a long time to go cross-country, and then when Megan picked him back up he seemed lame, so she scratched. I think maybe a stud was pushing on his foot and made him uncomfortable, but in any case he’s fine now.

We took Charlie, Bebe and Allie to Full Gallop on Wednesday. They’ve made some nice changes, such as moving show jumping to a better ring and dressage to a better field. The changes were necessary and make for a nicer event. Charlie was quite good for Meghan all the way around, he’s going to be really fancy on the flat. Allie was good on the flat but I decided that the show jumping course was just a bit too much for her as she’s still green, so it was better to wait for another day, keep working at home and maybe move her back to Novice for her next event. I’ll probably do some horse shows with her, too. She’ll get it all together at some point, but it’s in her best interest to take it slow. Bebe did her first Novice at Full Gallop and she was third after dressage, and beautiful in show jumping and on cross-country. Unfortunately, I didn’t wear a watch so had time penalties. Meghan had told me that the time was hard to make on Novice and I think I didn’t really clue into just how hard it was. I felt I was pretty efficient in galloping and my turns and thought I would be fine. It’s not everyday you ride a Novice course that’s wheeled tight. I think the terrain at this event is not really gallop-y, so of course making the time is harder.

It’s Saturday morning and I’m on my way to Pinetop. It seems as though the week has gone flying by. I’m a bit nervous about being back at this event because less than a year ago, that’s where I got hurt. I’m prepared for the weekend, but I’m apprehensive about how I’m going to feel about being there. It’s been a really long recovery process and there have been so many changes in my life since my accident, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the support I’ve had from my good friends and family and that’s pretty amazing.