No rest for the wicked!

The competitions are winding up in this part of the country due to the cold, the snow, the wind and the cold! Maybe I'm getting soft but when I am wearing 5 layers under my jacket and thermal's under my breeches, I think it's COLD!!! The lack of shows creates the perfect opportunity for riders to tackle more difficult work with the view of moving their horses up to the next level in the spring. With this in mind I have had my students pushing their boundaries (some may say it's just an excuse for me to be yelling louder and more frequently at them!) by trying movements we've stayed away whislt the shows have been running. So this means Deborah has started teaching her horse shoulder in, Crooner's no longer allowed to spook at the mounting block and Linda's schooling Chevy's counter canter. As this is my first holiday season in the US I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of how active riders stay. I am so impressed by everyones dedication and enthusiasm.

This past weekend we held a very successful Boyd Martin Clinic. Amy Gaynor excelled with her organisation and preparation skills. With a 12 rider limit we had a waiting list which was great. In total we had about forty people helping and auditing. I performed a demonstration of a couple of my favourite jumping exercises on Merlot at the lunch break which went well. Merlot is such a clever jumper and real pleasure to ride, plus I think he loves having a crowd of people to look at him! Boyd was great with every rider and auditor leaving with more knowledge than they arrived. Boyd left with a bit of snow in his car (thru the open windows) and some food, so noone walked away empty handed!!

With only a couple of weeks of training and teaching left before I head home for Christmas, I'll be busy making the most of the rest of 2008.

Wonderful news,Kate ! Congratulations to all concerned!

November 22/23 Shows. Success!!!! Again!!!

Photo by Amber Heintzberger

Team Chadderton had another exceptionally good weekend at VADA/NOVA's 25th Anniversary weekend at Morven Park! I thought we were in for a bad show when I walked outside on Saturday and it was 24 degrees. And windy!! For an Australian who has only just learnt the term 'thermal underwear', that is COLD! Anyhow, I didn't turn around and go back inside to bed, mostly because I thought Liz (Crooners owner) would kill me, and I found myself at Morven Park. Now Crooner is an 'I wish' horse. As in 'I wish' he were five years younger, 'I wish' he were an eventer and 'I wish' he were mine! Liz has been very successful on him winning a lot in the Pas De Deux's with Sam Smith. This was my first show on him and he did very well by winning one test on a 71% and coming second in the other. Linda Lewis also had a great show along with her horse Chevy. Her husband is a meteorologist so I would have expected him tell her to not go, or at persuade her she'd be more comfortable at her home by the fire. But No,! He turned up with her, with just as much enthusiasm. Both smiling away and saying they were having fun. So I was very excited when Linda won her BLM qualifying test. Linda works very hard and has been out of the show ring for a few years.

Saturday was the first time I've had the opportunity to see Liz's Pas De Deux and I was very very excited by it. Anytime you have Disney music, enthusiastic people and grey horses in one arena I'm excited! They did a great job and I still can't get 'Fortuosity' out of my head... I grew up with all the Disney movies, which hopefully is why I know all the words to their music!'

On Sunday I had two good rides in Deborah Shuman's Gwendolyn, and Tewksbury's Merlot. Deborah has done a great good with Gwen, already winning at a PVDA show on her. This was her first recognised show and I was hoping to qualify her for next years BLM's. She not only qualified but she won both tests quite convincingly! She's a fun horse to ride so I was happy. Merlot also did very well by winning as well and qualifying for the BLM's.

While we were at Morven Park competing Amy Gaynor was showing in a Combined Test. Amy's horse Jake can be very enthusiastic in the jumping phase so we've been working on that area. She scored a 29 (eventing penalties, not %) in the dressage and then jumped their first ever clear round! I'm very proud of them as they have been working really hard and have had their ups and downs.

So overall Team Chadderton had a super weekend. Everyone won a blue ribbon and all the horses tried their absolute hardest. Everyone showed off their best work and I'm so proud to be associated with each of them. More soon, thanks for taking an interest in our work here. Kate.

Cyber Horse

Kate writes a regular feature for The Virtual Equestrian on the Australian website Cyber Horse. Be sure to keep up with all her news from the USA on this blog and by reading her regular articles. Here's a link to the July installment.

CBLM Dressage Championships

Kate had a great weekend at the Colonel Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championships, October 23-26 in Lexington, Virginia.

Kate and Late Night, (pictured above with owner Cathy Butler) placed 4th (64.3%) in the First Level test 1 warm-up class. On Saturday they were 8th out of 24 entries in the First Level finals (65.571%.

Under Construction

I am creating this blog for Kate and will have it up and running soon!

-Amber Heintzberger