Happy Holidays from all of us at Sunset Hill!

 A huge thank you to our sponsors Stubben, Purina, Goode Rider, Gumbits, Bowman’s Feed and  AR Integrated Technologies. We appreciate your support to help us and our horses preform and look our best!                        

 

As we begin to prepare for our winter travels, we also want to thank all of the owners that give us the opportunities to work with once in a lifetime horses. We also thank the students at Kate Chadderton Eventing who grow in their abilities and show increasing dedication to their sport every day. 

Ryley, Bucky and Kate at VAHT

Sophia and Jerry

Jane and Rocco schooling at Morven Park

Caitlin and Silver schooling at Morven Park

Rege and Cole at the Waredaca 3-Day

Sherri Holdridge Photography

Can’t wait to see what great things 2017 will bring for us and of course our horses!

 

 

Pine Top 2015

It's been a successful beginning couple of weeks here in Aiken culminating in the first two events of the 2015 competition season for the upper level horses. Rege Dvorsky's Collection Pass, The Civil Liberty syndicate's VS Civil Liberty, Beth Sokohl's Buckharo, and Beth Sokohl's Try This all competed at both Pine Top Intermediate Horse Trials, and the Pine Top Advanced Horse Trials and put in solid performances at both.

Bucky tackling the ditch wall in fine form

Collection Pass put in an obedient test in both the intermediate and advanced test thanks to the added submission from his Gumbits followed by two solid show jumping rounds and a clear cross country. Cole is feeling prime for the 2015 season and looking in great condition thanks to his Purina Feed.

Cole making easy work of the hammock before the water

Collection Pass putting in an obedient test at the advanced level
 

Civil Liberty also put in a solid test, with the exception of a few greener moments as he is very new at the level. He is starting to feel much more comfortable with the level as he proved his scope with an impressive clear round in the show jumping at the advanced horse trials. I owe this to his Gumbits which have been helping his submission when he gets nervous in the ring. He also had two incredible clear cross country rounds and is feeling fit to tackle Bromont 2015. He looks especially sharp in his Pierre Renard saddle pads when he's out on course.

Liberty bravely jumping into the water

Buckharo put in two solid performances in the dressage, and the show jumping. Followed by two cross country rounds that barely tired him out. Bucky is the master at using his body smart and conserves as much energy as possible. His Stubben Custom saddle allows his to use his back over the fences and gallop without the weight of a heavy jump saddle.

Bucky blazing through the cross country

Try This, an intermediate level sales horse, has put in two solid performances at both the preliminary and intermediate level. Fairly new to our program he is quickly proving that he is going to be something very special. He put in two clear rounds in both the show jumping and the cross country. T is looking in great condition thanks to his twice daily ration of Purina Feed and is looking in good shape to run a two star in the near future.

Additionally, Jane Gilbert's Contessa won the novice division at Pine Top Intermediate Horse Trials and is looking in fine form to continue competing with Kate and Jane.

The spring season is just around the corner as the horses gear up for The Fork Horse Trials and Carolina International in a few weeks.

Aiken Week One

It's safe to say that eventers are comparable to birds. When the weather starts to get too chilly we all pick up and migrate south in flocks. One of the biggest factions of eventers congregate in the small of Aiken, South Carolina for the first three months of the competition season. Today marks the end of the first week of Aiken, filled with schools, baths, and of course sand. The horses have been enjoying their new southern home "Hidden View Farm" and especially it's wonderful turn out as they get fit and ready for the competition season.

Ally's horse Bella enjoying an Aiken sunset

Since arriving, all of the competition horses have had a cross country school at Gibbes Farm and a jump school at home (It's safe to say they really enjoyed it!) in preparation for the Pine Tops beginning next week. They are all feeling fit and ready for their first event of the year.

Beth Sokohl's Buckharo schooling the corner at Gibbes Farm 

We're looking forward to a great season!
Kate and Team

Big Changes!

If you haven't been around the farm lately you might not notice- but big changes have been afoot! Our wonderful barn manager Kaleigh, had to recently make the transition off of farm life so that she can spend more time with her two young children. Kaleigh will be greatly missed as a part of the team, and luckily with the winter coming Rhiannon will be taking over the job. Rhiannon- who is incredibly meticulous has already made the smooth transition into becoming the barn manager, and has already set out to improving the barn in even the littlest of ways.

More dressage?

Kate's horses have been coming off of vacation and working mainly on their flat work in lessons. Their improvement is incredible and Kate is hungry for the chance to improve it even more before she heads south.

Beth Sokohl's Buckharo at Fair Hill, his last show of the season. Equeiry photo 

With the snow coming this week and the holidays approaching soon we hope everyone stays safe (and warm if that's at all possible!). Your horses will be bundled up and be inside when it is appropriate. Check emails or the facebook page for the conditions at the barn!

First Post Vacation Ride on Bucky 

Have a batty Halloween!

Just like in years past, this past weekend we made the trek to the Virginia Horse Trials for one of the last events of the season. On the trailer were Cole (Collection Pass),  Libby (Civil Liberty) as well as Banker (Molinaro Bankline) and Batman (The Dark Knight). Excitement mounted over Cole and Libby's return to competition at one of our favorite venues.

In true Halloween nature, Batman was surprisingly the star of the weekend! Finishing on his dressage score of a 33, to come in second place in a very large novice division. Things are really coming together for this little horse, and he had a blast on the cross country.
Cole finished in third place, finishing on his dressage score of a 35 in the open preliminary. He felt like he never had any time off!

Finishing in fifth, right behind Cole in the open preliminary, Libby also put down a really solid weekend only adding a few time faults onto his respectable dressage score.
Banker had a respectable dressage and a phenomenal show jumping in the scary Coliseum. What a good young guy!

I have to say, we had a batty halloween!

The Fall Season Is Upon Us!

Hey Everyone!

Emily or Little One here for a little update on things at Kate Chadderton Eventing. Fall is here: The leaves are changing, sheets and blankets are being dusted off, and the days are getting shorter. Kate , and her students had a successful summer, and the fall is starting to look the same!

Kate moved Beth Sokohl's horse up to Advanced and posted amazing rounds at Five Points and Millbrook, as well as a great result in Richland at the 2* level. This weekend he is campaigning Plantation Field International Horse Trials in the 2*, currently sitting on a competitive dressage score! 

Kate's little horse Banker also successfully moved up to the training level and posted awesome rounds at Millbrook, MDHT, and Five Points! He always keeps up his impeccable form and sweet personality over all the fences!

Cole and Libby are on their way to a speedy recovery! Both are in work, and Libby (Civil Liberty) has even began jumping! Both horses are excited to get back out and jump some big cross country fences!

Beth Sokohl's sale horse Try This had a successful first outing with Kate at Five Points with a double clear round at the preliminary level! 

Students; Caitlin Martin and May Gaynor had successful seasons at the novice level, and Amy is on her way to the AECs! Dressage riders Chelsea Perez and Veralyn Morris had successful debuts after a hiatus  from competition. Chelsea is now qualified for the BLMs at training and first level!

We look forward to a successful fall season!

Emily 

Well it's been an unusual summer thus far! My competition schedule has unfortunately been a little on the lighter side due to my truck's involvement in an accident. No I wasn't driving! However it has taken 2 months (and counting) to fix it. With the generosity of Adrienne Wisenberg and her truck, I have at least made it to Loch Moy I and II plus HITS Culpepper. And with Curran Simpson I made my annual trek to one of my favourite events, Millbrook NY! This year was a special one with Beth Sokohl's Buckharo having his first crack at the advanced level. Yet another OTTB (who would be shocked if I rode anything else?! EVERYONE!), Bucky has been quietly making his way up the ladder without much ado. A 2nd place here, a 4th place there he has managed to go under the radar by and large. With my intended summer in Europe non exsistent due to Libby's fractured stifle, I found myself twiddling my thumbs with what to do. And my thumbs came up with the brilliant idea that Bucky ought to debut at the advanced level at Millbrook! Fantastic!

That is until you're sitting on his back in the warmup for the cross country where he firmly believes 2 ' 9" is his absolute max and lands like a sack of spuds after every fence. Come ON Bucky! You HAVE to! We entered and drove all the way here (with Banksy keeping you company at his first away show) for YOU to do this, have a go mate! So we set out on course, clearly his inability to jump was isolated to the warmup and by fence 1 he's good as gold. We set out in a great rhythm taking the planned option at number 5. Number 5 is a left hand corner over an angled ditch. If Bucky has a kryptonite it's a left corner. And an angled ditch. Knowing this our fearless leader, Dr Phillip Dutton, advises that perhaps the longer route, even given it's time delay, may be our best bet here. Great advice captain! On our way from there my long serving whip disintegrates into thin air leaving me with nothing but hands and heels to go the rest of the way around. Which is fine if you're a jockey in the Melbourne Cup, not so much if you're jumping Bukcy... Now, I'm not sure how many of you have met Bucky, but one of our best aids in getting him to reach and find his distances is the aforesaid, dear friend, the whip. So approaching 7 C I knew we were in trouble from the get go. Sure enough a quick glance to the side, a polo pony spin back and handy jump and we're on our way again. Effortlessly this horse that shouldn't have made it past prelim continued on around his first advanced making mince meat of every oxer and combination. INCLUDING the GIANT left hand corner on top of the hill before the water. Not to mention the angled ditch brush later in the course. If I said I wasn't whacking him with my reins Pony Club style, I'd be lying.... Before we know it we're thru the finish flags and I've clocked up my 6th advanced horse of my career. 5 of which have been OTTB's. Proud to fly the flag. Go OTTB's!!

O, and Banker was great in his 2nd ever training, which incidentally was more like an intermediate... Either that or I'm getting older and my height/width perception is all out of whack! This is a super 5 yo who I'm taking my time with. Initially he was for sale but now I think I'll just hang out for a while. And see where he goes.

Until next time, thanks for reading! And get excited for my new website!

Kate.