Eventing in rain. Again.

This past week has gone by in a flash with so many things going on, one minute I'm planning for the up coming shows, the next I'm checking out the photos on the internet!!! Last weekend Harmony, Buddha and Ivy competed in their first eventing competition which was fantastic. Weather.com called for rain and rain it did. From 10 on Friday night until 3 Saturday afternoon, and all of my rides where to be completed before 2. So I got wet. Robin got wet. Ashley got the wet. The tack got wet. Even my phone got wet, and goodness knows I am protective of my phone!!!! So you get the picture, it rained. Anyhow we came home with a couple of ribbons and 3 horses who now know what eventing is and are looking forward to the coming shows as much as I am.

Harmony.

We are settling into Taylormade very well with Robert and Kathy being absolutely awesome by accommodating our horses and team. On Wednesday night we had a great wine and cheese night whereby I introduced my riding and training techniques on Lisa Kurr's horse, Royal. This went very well with a good turnout, I look forward to similar evenings in the future.

Austin Doser braving the cold with one of the cutest ponies in the world, Sunny.

I have some great photos to come up later this week. We have a big weekend coming up with Alex Macleod competing at Fair Hill CIC 1Star and Amy Gaynor, Abby Gibbon, Gibby Booth, Deena Kleinerman, Lisa Kurr, Michelle Corbiegh and Brittany Meyer all doing their best to bring home the blues from Redland Horse Trials. Allison Sirna has a race this weekend as well and, going off previous form, should do well.

Take care and look after your horses!!!

Morven Park/Clinic.

This past week has been a very busy one. Alex MacLeod competed at Morven Park in hideous conditions. It rained all night before the competition and throughout the dressage. The cross country was tough enough for the begining event of the year with a bounce up the bank to a big enough oxer, plus some maximum size fences. Alex did a super job riding very well and showed great horsemanship in looking after Arrow by monitoring his fitness and taking it easy in the bad going. She went clear in the cross country and show jumping, with a minor directional problem ight at the end that cost her a place. Arrow still has a long year ahead of him and she was wise beyond her years to make sure he made it home sound. They ended up sixth which was great and are on track for Virginia Three Day Event in May.

Boyd Martin and I taught a clinic at Loch Moy which went very well despite the poor weather. Everyone had a great time and jumped very well. Each rider had the opportunity to work with both trainers which was great as it allowed everyone to get two sides of advice for their horse. Amy Gaynor did a super job, as always, of organising the whole thing. The next one is at the begining of May.

Not sure what happened to March 'in like a lion, out like a lamb', it didn't seem to warm up at all, but thankfully we're seeing some better weather now.

Sunny South

When it's cold and snowing out it's time to head south. I came to this conclusion after returning from Christmas in Australia with a suntan, to day time temperatures that couldn't reach above freezing! So this year I took the boys Rocco, Royal and Sydney with their girlfriend Harmony to Aiken, SC. Pam Evans generously let me load up her trailer and take it with me. Kadi Eykamp arranged a great barn and accomodation for us at Pine Ridge just out of Aiken. We had an absolute blast and Syd found a new home at Surefire Farm with Jan Byyny's student. This was after he competed in his first A rated jumper show, having jumped clear and making it into the jump off. I think this horse has a great future ahead of him and is one of my favourite horses in a long time.

Lisa Kurr made the trip down and had a great learning experience thru Rocco. She also learnt just how much activity can fit in one day. Yes, that does mean competing at two different shows on one day!! If your cross country times are scheduled for the afternoon then why not take advantage of the morning and go show jumping....

Harmony was great, she has really matured in the last few months. This has a lot to do with the time she spent in Florida with Marilyn and Lyn Little. She has turned a corner and is shaping up to have a good season. Sunny the dog also appreciated the trip south and made the most of the sunshine and sand by rolling in the dirt and sleeping in the sun!!! All in all a great time had by us all.

Mr Sanchez is back.

Cowboy and I spend a lot of our days taking pictures, mostly of ourselves....

Cowboy (aka Mr Sanchez at the Vesuvio restaurant) came back to work this week, thank goodness. The replacement staff just weren't really up to the task..... No more sweeping for me! Seriously, thanks to everyone who chipped in, we truly realised how valuable Cowboy is and just how much he does do. Personally I had thought he spent his whole day talking on the phone to his various girlfriends! That and listening to yet another one of my stories about 'back in Australia'. Like 'back in Australia, the GROUND DOESN'T FREEZE'!! And 'I'm going back to Australia where I don't have to wear six layers of clothing'..

Robin Doser is back into riding in a great way at the moment. Yesterday she jumped Harmony for the first time since she came back from Florida and was very impressive. Both of them did really well and it makes me happy to see Robin having so much fun. We also look forward this weekend to welcoming Deena Kleinerman to our eventing team. Along with her horse Vaughn, I know they will be a valuable addition to the group. I've known Deena since last January and have seen just how committed she is to the sport. She also bakes the best cookies this side of Germantown. Yes, this is a challenge to see if anyone can bake them better, Cowboy and I will be the judges! Both of us, as always, are open to any other offers of food.... Meatballs Mary Beth?

The barn is set for another busy weekend with everyone coming out to either ride or to see their horses. If this is how busy we are in cold February then I'm super excited to see what Spring and Summer bring!

Another busy week.

Sunny and I working hard

Today I had a lesson on Nikki Wingire's lovely mare, Flirt. This is such a fantastic little mare with a huge amount of talent. Nikki is a very good rider and has been bringing her along patiently and thoughtfully. I LOVE mares and like most Flirt has her own opinions and quirks, which only makes her more likeable to me. It has taken a while to get her to relax and use her back but with a lot of hard work she's now a lot more consistent in that area and today she was on fire!!! For a little horse she sure has a big heart and huge paces! It felt like we were moving on air and barely touching the ground! I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do with her in competition this year. Along with Harmony (Robin Doser), Gwen (Deborah Shuman), Prima (Abby Gibbon) and Classy (MaryBeth Avedesian) we have a team of bay mares going!!! I love it!!

Our team for the coming year is looking very strong at this point with everyone showing a huge amount of enthusiasm and already chomping at the bit for a start! Yesterday we set up a jumping course to put together some of the ideas we've been working on. I have to say I was impressed with the improvement Lisa has made in the last couple of months in the jumping. She really turned a corner at our Boyd Martin clinic and hasn't looked back. And Amy's horse Jake is becoming more reliable with his rhythm which makes me very happy. Sydney is really starting to go super well and is so proud of himself! He's starting to swing over the back and has the most elastic paces, and he's starting to jump awesome too. As you can see below he's a real quality horse, I'm sad to have to sell him. He'll make a great horse for someone.

Alex worked for me on Friday riding some horses. As a natural rider she has a good feel for the horses but she is getting a crash course on improving her seat. I have been putting a lot of pressure (which just means I've been yelling a lot!) and she just gets better and better. She really puts a lot of effort in and is starting to be rewarded for that.

It's heartening and motivating to see the dedication of our riders who are here day in day out (Linda, Deborah, Lisa, Marybeth, Gibby, Liz, Cathy, Alex, Amanda, Amy) preparing for the coming season. The award for the shiniest horses in the barn has to go to Cathy! Personally I get a great feeling from seeing all the growth and progress from our team. The compulsory 'Team Chadderton' uniform shirts are on their way....!

Cross Country Schooling.

Last weekend we took advantage of this lovely weather we've been having by cross country schooling at Frying Pan Park in Virginia. This is a fantastic training course for horses and riders starting out as it has everything you need; water, ditch, bank, scary bogey men lurking behind the bushes.... I was accompanied by Lisa Kurr, Deborah Schuman, Gibby Booth and Alex Macleod. I took Amy Gaynor's horse and two of mine, Boo (Robin Doser) and Sydney. Lisa's pretty new to the whole riding thing and is an absolute champion. She lives her life by the theory 'jump in the deep end then learn how to swim, fast!' She's also new to the challenges that come with driving horses around. As we had 7 horses we had to take two trailers, one being Lisa's. Gwen (Deborah) and Roy (Lisa) were very comfortable and happy with Lisa's driving as was Deborah. They certainly looked to be having a good time chatting away.. The same could not be said for poor Gibby who was stuck in our truck with the two worst singers in the world, Alex and myself. And even worse for her was the fact that both Alex and I know ALL the words to ALL the songs on my Ipod!!! Think she'll be traveling with the horses next time.... For Lisa the only hiccup of getting a bit bogged which she turned into a learning experience, and that learning experience was that Kate, being the country girl I am, sure knows how to get a truck out of mud!!

Thanks to Alex for the great pictures, they were much clearer until I 'improved' them with Photoshop!!

The great weather encouraged a lot of people to Frying Pan on Saturday and we were lucky (or not!) to share our cross country course with a harness horse, coloured horses, crazy horses and hunters. The going was very slippery but we made the most of it and the horses all jumped well.

Australia is probably best described as a temperate climate so I'm still learning about all this ice and snow. I learnt two lessons on Saturday; 1, when the ice melts it makes the ground slippery, no rain necessary, and 2, get the person standing on the ground to test the thickness of ice in the water jump, not quarter horse having his first experience cross country!! Evidently even in 60 degree weather the ice can still be a few inches thick, lesson learnt!!! Lisa and Roy were the stars of the day and they had a blast. I LOVE helping people learn the ropes of this awesome sport, especially we they show as much enthusiasm as my students always do.

Rocco and Harmony came back from showjumping in Florida this week which is fantastic. They look awesome with their suntans and 'too cool for school' attitudes. Both of them feel great and have busy schedules planned. This week is pretty busy as Cowboy had a car accident and I have taken the bulk of his job. Hopefully he'll have recovered soon and be back on deck.

And also congratulations to Lara Dombrovskis (and her partner Alex of course, Australia) on the birth of their first child.

Winter, wonderful winter.

Every now and then I am reminded of just how great a climate Australia has and this week has surely been one such example. We've had a serious ice problem. My recent meteorological learning's (thanks Norm!) have taught me that this occurs when the snow melts and then refreezes as ice. Everything is covered with a deadly coating that is akin to walking down a water slide blindfolded and with your hands tied behind your back! Needless to say Cherie had to make the very wise decision to keep the horses in for a few days in order to avoid any accidents.

I was really fortunate tho to be able to go cross country schooling at Loch Moy right before the bad weather. For both Buddha and Royal this was their first ever schooling session and they both excelled themselves by jumping beautifully. Roy in particular was a champion. Boo is really starting to feel like a grown up and he is such an exciting horse to me. He did however have a rather unfortunate misinterpritation of directional control resulting in Robyn (co owner) meeting the wall of the arena at Walnut Pond with her shoulder. Robyn's one tough cookie but even she was agreeing she needed a few days off riding, at least until the swelling in her shoulder reduced so it looked like a shoulder.. Come back soon Robyn, we miss you!!!! Back to Loch Moy and Gibby Booth with her fantastic little Connemara horse, Delaney, also had a successful schooling session. All indications are that she'll have a great year ahead. Rocco is still in Florida showjumping and enjoying the much warmer weather.

This week my dressage trainer also arrived to teach a clinic at Tewksbury. I train on Tony with him and as always he helps us find even more gears. Today was an especially good day with Tony really showing us his unlimited talents. I've never had a horse that could passage as easily and with so much fun as this horse. Lets just say, if he were an eventer he would be a four star horse!!! Several of my students also train with him, in particular Linda Lewis and Anna Uchmann. Anna has really improved in leaps and bounds with her horse Roccoco. It's so great to see her hard work paying off, and I know Wout was VERY impressed with her improvement. Particularly that now Cocco can pass an open door without spooking at the monsters lurking outside!

Our barn is very busy at the moment with Cathy arriving early in the morning and the last riders (usually Mary Beth) finishing at around 9pm. Tonight Alex was still riding at 10.30pm, not bad after a whole day at school, then hockey and then two horses to ride! If she keeps up this dedication she'll do very well this season. Both Liz and Amy started the barn off to a great competition year with a win (81%) for Liz (and Sam Smith) in the Pas De Deux and with Amy picking up a couple of placings at a local hunter show.

I had very unhappy news this week with Confetti (Australia) breaking her pelvis. Unfortunately it was severe enough for her to have to be euthanised. This is distressing for both mum and I as she was a charm to own and a valuable horse. Mum is such a star in these situations by taking care of everything and keeping things in perspective. Adding to this sadness was the news that Becky Gordon (from Australia) lost her awesome little horse Prince. While Becky and Prince were training with me I developed a huge respect and affection for this horse. Both he and Becky were able to progress through the ranks winning against the 'big guys' at prelim.

On a better note we welcome Pam Evans and her cute Morgan Tuck to the barn. We have such a great bunch of people and horses in the barn at the moment, we are truly blessed!!! I also have to take this opportunity to sing the praises of the Nutrena feeds. We have 37 horses, all in different amounts of work, with different personalities and needs. Nutrena has a feed solution to suit each horse perfectly and for that I wholeheartedly thank them!!!