Plantation Fields

Mario enjoying his 'show stabling'! I luckily was able to stable my horses overnight at one of the most beautiful farms in PA. This meant they were able to walk around a grass filled paddock all night rather than stuck in a 10 by 10.

I love many facets of my job and this weekend displayed yet another. I got to spend the entire weekend in Unionville, PA aka Horse Heaven! I challenge you to find a more ideal or beautiful area for our fantastic sport of eventing. I only had three horses from my barn at this event but they all did us proud. Very excitingly for me Mario charged around the cross country full of confidence and knowledge of his job. Just some time faults relegating us to 8th. All that's left now is to teach him to gallop. Cole did super with me being very conservative with him and going really slow. He still ended up 14th. The dressage is still a weakness for him but I feel as tho it's only another 2 shows before it clicks for him. And after a poor performance at Morven Park which included a fall, Alex MacLeod excelled herself by winning the prelim (Australian CNC 1 star). After winning Full Gallop intermediate then falling at Morven Park we made the decision to drop her down a level just to reinforce and strengthen the basics we train week in and week out. Obviously this proved to be the right thing to do and she's next headed to Loudoun in two weeks. Cole, Mario and Lois are all going to Loudoun with me. But next on the schedule is Redlands with a bunch of my students and then Culpepper showjumping with Cole and Mario. Perhaps we can we some real money!

As with all sports, perhaps even more so, eventing is a sport that requires a large team who are visible and not so visible. Even tho it's my name on the website I'm probably the most disposable in the equation! Ever heard the expression 'no foot, no horse'? That's right, without a farrier who knows what he's doing I don't have a sound horse to compete on. Luckily there's Joe Hubschmann. Without a vet to keep them healthy I don't have a horse to compete on. Luckily there's Damascus Equine and Dr Cooper Williams. Without a barn manager to feed the horses and keep things straight I don't have a horse to compete on. Luckily theres's Paula Bollinger, Kathy Taylor and Heather. Without a manager to organise me I wouldn't have the chance to ride the lovely horses I'm lucky enough to ride. Luckily there's Amy Gaynor! Without a working student the horses wouldn't have the attention they get. Luckily I have Kaden Weaver. And obviously, without the owners I have I wouldn't HAVE any horses to ride. Luckily there's Patrick McCuan, The MacLeod family, Rege Dvorsky and Jeanne Leonne, Nancy Dick, Judy Salmon, Amy Taggart and the list goes on. And obviously without my students I would have noone to tell me I'm good! I rather noone to bring me back down to my place! Luckily I have some of the best students in the world. Also the volunteers that make the events run are integral people in the sport. Without them we wouldn't have a sport. We compete most weeks in the year which involves different horses and riders all needing to be prepared to go to different shows in eventing/dressage and show jumping year round. Trailers need to be packed and unpacked. Stalls need to be mucked, horses need to come in and go out, they need to be fed, plaited, washed, groomed, have their manes pulled. Gear needs to be cleaned, aisles need to be swept. The list goes on! And on! Each horse and rider have a show schedule and creating my weekly schedule is a job all of it's own! So please take the time to appreciate all the stuff behind the scenes that goes into watching that one horse go around cross country. Or do a dressage test.

On a different note some of my students attended a couple of shows over the weekend. Amy Gaynor won on her new mare, Cindy. This was a fantastic job as she has only had her a short period of time. Kelsy Schmidbuear won Champion 3' 6" jumper and Meghan Avella was Reserve Champion. Kaden was reserve champion on Amy Taggarts horse Cowboy. Abby Gibbon did well on her mare as well. Glenda Player and her students also had a good weekend. And MOST excitingly of all Lisa Kurr had her first start back on the fabulous Rocco after a series of unfortunate injuries last year. She came 3RD!!!!! This was a huge step back into the ring and I was super psyched for her!

Back to MD

Most of the last ten days involved moving my team from Aiken, SC, back to Damascus, MD. Not an easy task by any means. Mostly it means I sit in my truck dodging drivers on the 95 north and south. This is between using my ipod as entertainment and arguing with Kaden as to what colour the sky is! I still managed to compete at Southern Pines, NC, and Morven Park, MD, with great results. Morven Park is the first event back up in this area and can mean variable weather conditions. Fortunately for Cole and Lois, the horses I was riding, the footing and weather were absolutely perfect! Lo was 3rd in a tightly contested class, Cole 8th after a super cross country round. This horse is a super jumping horse and is aimed at Bromont three day event in June. Alex MacLeod had her young horse in the novice finishing fifth, a good result. In the intermediate she unfortunately lost a bet with me as to who would be the first to inflate the air vest. She took a tumble which resulted in no injury to her or Arrow, just a little bruised pride and a look back at the drawing board. Tricia Tripp had a super weekend winning the Beg Novice in fine style. I actually think she shouldn't have been allowed in that class due to the competitiveness of her and her horse!

Last weekend in Aiken

The last weekend finished with a couple of highs and lows, the highs being Lois Lane finishing on her dressage score which kept her in 3rd. I just love this mare, she just tries so hard and showed a lot of improvement by scoring a 31 this weekend. Her class cross countried before they showjumped which works great for me, I always know she's going to jump clear. Alex MacLeod competed in her first intermediate on Arrow and did her best which turned out to be better than anyone else. 1st in her first intermediate is an awesome effort! Particularly as she has just about the busiest schedule of anyone I've ever met by juggling competitive hockey and her last year of school. Not to mention her young horse that she trains and having to travel down to SC from MD each weekend in order to compete. That takes a lot of focus and dedication. Chaney Taggart completed her first event on Titanium with a great result by finishing on her dressage score which meant she ended up second. She's another who's juggling school and riding and has been very diligent with the limited rides she was able to get on Ty due to the fact he was in Aiken. Brittany Meyer has also been going well ending up 2nd today on her own Parker.

Back to Pine Top

So after a snowy Pine Top we were happy to go back there and find the sun shining and NO snow! Pine Top Advanced Horse Trials is widely considered to be a very tough and prestigious event with only only classes offered being preliminary (CNC 1 star, Australia), intermediate (CNC 2 star, Australia) and advanced (CNC3 star, Australia). The entry list reads like a who's who of Olympic and World Championship riders and horses who are using this as the beginning of their World Equestrian Games preparation. Accordingly the courses are built to height and quite complicated. I had three horses competing, Mario (Patrick McCuan), Collection Pass (Rege Dvorsky and Jeanne Leonne) and Canyonleigh Sirecho (Lisa Kurr). In the past six months I've been working very hard on my showjumping and it shows, three clear rounds. Indeed this year I've had just 3 rails in about 20 or more rounds. Alex MacLeod, student, also jumped clear. Onto to the reason we event, the cross country!

Walking the course kind of made me a little sick, not just because I had to walk so far and I'm not good at physical exercise, because each jump was BIG and WIDE! This doesn't bother me normally but my three horses where green (Cole) or competing at that level for the first time in a long time, Rocco (1 year) and Mario (6 months), I get a bit scared! After the big jumps then it got quite technical with a bounce up a bank to an apex, one stride into the water followed by a one stride out of the water. As I was walking the course with Alex we made the worrying observation that at least half of the course was in the intermediate course from two weeks earlier. Luckily for me my horses are great jumpers therefore I had three clear rounds that were practically perfect and left me feeling on top of the world! This was topped only by Alex's ride which was also clear, a great feeling for her as that was her last prelim before going intermediate next weekend. I can honestly say I love the four horses we had at Pine Top, each one of them has a huge heart and tried their absolute best.

Unfortunately our experiences were not shared by everyone with 16 falls, a few of them being very bad. We wish Jan Byyny and Rebecca Howard the best in their road to recovery. I also want to thank Jan for some extremely useful advice on the best riding technique for Mario in the week before Pine Top. Jan imported Mario from Ireland and fortunately sold him to his current owners and has some tactics pretty specific to him that make him even more of a dream ride than normal.

Today I rode Mario and Lois at a AA rated show with Mario jumping super finishing 3rd and 4th. We had the fastest round in the biggest class but had a couple of rails that relegated us to fourth. This makes a difference from us having the clear jump off with the third fastest time. I enjoy show jumping competitions a lot and a grateful to be riding a horse that makes me competitive in that field. Alex rode Alex and did amazing in the biggest class to end up third. Lois (Carla MacLeod)jumped in the 1.05m class with just one rail, she showed a tonne of heart and I had a huge smile on my face when we finished, I just love her!

Photos will come up soon. Take care of yourselves and your horses.

I have to stop talking about the weather I think because I seem to jinx each competition I go to! I've ridden in all types of conditions from extreme heat and humidity in Australia, drought, torrential downpours, thunderstorms, cold, winds and since I've been in America I've even ridden dressage on ice. About the only thing left was snow and now, at Pine Top GA, it seems I've checked that one off the list! After a hectic morning competing at Highfields Showjumping (were Lois won) I headed off to Pine Top with Alex MacLeod (young rider) to walk the cross country course for the weekend. It started snowing on the drive over and didn't let up until we'd had about 6 inches. The competition was delayed for a few hours and the organisers did an amazing job to keep the event running. By Sunday (for the cross country) most of the snow had melted but there was still some to gallop through and snow on the jumps. So despite the challenging conditions we still did very well with all three of my horses winning ribbons, Cole 2nd in the Prelim/Training and Mario 3rd. Mario's placing was contriversial given that he was first after the dressage and cross country and show jumped clear. There was an error on behalf on the jumping judge which rendered him third. I'm still proud of his efforts however, despite the fact he didn't bring home the blue ribbon.

Chaney Taggart made the trip down for the weekend worthwhile by doing a couple of good rounds and the PSJ show and by winning the Progressive Jumper class.

Sporting Days One Day Event was on Sunday, our third in five events within two weeks, and it was a successful one. Brittany, one of my working pupils, was second in the novice and Boo jumped clear around his first prelim (Australian CNC 1 star). When I say he jumped clear I mean he jumped AMAZING! I love him as a cross country horse, I doubt there are any better than him! Dressage is his area for improvement... Mario did great in the dressage again scoring a 28, a new high for him. I didn't run him cross country as he is going again this weekend and I don't need him to be injured. Onto Full Gallop II and Lois was second in the novice, Ty sixth as well. Both horses improved greatly ont their scores from last week, respectively scoring 32 and 33 in the dressage phases. Both then finished on those scores. Brittany went above and beyond duty by winning! Such a super job in the dressage and show jumping followed by an almost perfect round cross country.

To say this event was cold is a GROSS understatement! I was wearing two jumpers, a long sleeve shirt and a big jacket and was STILL cold! Somehow Aiken hasn't turned on it's best for us.....

I want to give a huge thank you to my owners and students who stay dedicated throughout the year and give me a tremendous amount of joy! Basically what I' saying is, thanks for letting me hang out down south. Enjoy the MD snow!

Whatever the weather, where ever you are in this big wide world, enjoy yourself and your horses! Kate.