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.

Full Gallop Farm.

Lois and Titanium had their first eventing starts of the year mid week at Full Gallop Farm. In fact it was Ty's first eventing start ever and he excelled finishing on his dressage score in 5th place! Lois came 7th and Rocco was 8th in the training. Brittany did great as well coming 3rd in the novice with Jess Jones' Forbidden Colours. Rocco's next start will be Pine Top prelim next weekend. This weekend we're off to Sporting Days with Boo and Mario in the prelim. Brittany is taking her own horse, Parker in the novice.

This is a super busy couple of weeks for us and we're run off our feet!

Eventing off to a great start.

Not sure what it is with me and the rain but almost EVERY competition I've done in the last year has involved rain... This weekend was no disappointment with sub freezing conditions for the dressage and show jumping. I had four horses Collection Pass, McCuan Mario, Rhythm and Blues and Canyonleigh Sirecho. Mario scored a very satisfying 29 in the dressage, Cole 34 and Rocco 35. All four show jumped clear in their own styles and techniques. Sunday was better weather, and by better weather I mean the sun came out.. There was however still ice in the water jump, not very inviting! All cross countried clear with Mario taking it very slow due to the wet conditions and the fact I wanted to school his brakes! Cole ended up 3rd, Mario 8th, Rocco 4th and Boo 10th.

Then it was a quick trip back to the barn to ride Ti and Lois who are competing on Wednesday then a dash (there may have been some speeding laws broken) to the airport so I could get back to Maryland to teach on Monday. A team can only be as effective as the team members. Brittany Meyer's organisational skills and motivational force make the day to day operations run exceptionally smoothly. This Wednesday Ti and Lois are competing at Full Gallop with me and Brittany is riding Forbidden Colours. Please check back for photos and possibly video in a couple of days. Enjoy the cold! Or heat if you're in Australia!

Show season starts with a super weekend!

What a great start to the year! On Friday and Sunday I took advantage of the 'AA' rated show jumping competition held in Aiken to test our horses to see where we stand at the beginning of the year. These show can be invaluable guides for the horses schooling, fitness and also for the rider to get back into the swing of things. I rode Cole, Titanium, Mario and Lois on Friday while Brittany Meyer rode Parker and Keifer. Despite the fact that this is the first show for these horses in a while they all jumped very well, particularly the babies Lois and Titanium. I was very proud of Brittany who had an outstanding performance winning a class on Parker. The mini prix was on Sunday and the weather deteriorated quite badly until we were competing in fairly sloppy conditions, in spite of the best efforts of the organisers to improve. Luckily for me Mario was as happy as a duck in water with the conditions and jumped two fantastic clear rounds! There were few clear rounds so even with a conservative jump off (we need to school those) we ended up third. So like I said, I great start to the year! We know the areas we need to improve and had some very positive rounds. I'm back in Maryland teaching early this week so Brittany is holding the fort and keeping everything running smoothly in SC. Please take the time to check out the video from Mario's Mini Prix.

Sunny South!

For me as soon as the snow starts to fall it's time to leave beautiful Maryland and head to the warmer climate of Aiken, South Carolina. So after Christmas in Australia with my family and a stay with my mum we packed up the horses, dogs and people and hit Interstate 95. After doing the trip twice in one week we are now happily settled with the horses enjoying the sun and sand, the dogs enjoying the change of scenery and the humans enjoying seeing the thermometer find it's way past the teens. Pine Ridge (where we're staying) is a fantastic facility with a big jumping arena, super dressage arena with full length mirrors, sandy trotting track and great hacking. This is also Kadi Eykamps winter base with her team. Mario (Patrick McCuan), Cole(Rege Dvorsky), Boo(Robin Doser) and Lois(Joe and Krista Hubschman) along with Rocco (Lisa Kurr) and Titanium (Chaney Taggart) are all starting their competition season here. Brittany Meyer is with me working for three months and has two horses, her own Parker and Jess Jones' cute paint Keifer.

My first competition is this Friday with the PSJ jumping series held at Highfields followed by a Mini-Prix on Sunday. I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days so keep checking back for more updates.

Showjumping in Raleigh

Rocco

Mario

Collection Pass

The year has finished as it begun, jumping in the rain!! Kaden and I made the 6 hour drive south on 95 to Raleigh for the RMI Benefit Show with Canyonliegh Sirecho, McCuan Maio and Collection Pass. This was my first show on Cole and I was exciteda and anxious to see how he'd perfom. Owned by Rege Dvorsky and Jeanne Leone, he's only been in my barn a couple of weeks. After an intersting warmup that involved tarpulins and crazy horses he jumped a super first round. I'm really impressed with his talent and 'can do' attitude and am excited to see where he's headed in the future. Rocco jumped consistently and was happy to be jumping in front of a crowd, such a show off! Mario was a bit of a star jumping four great rounds with rider error (my toe kicked a standard knocking it over) to be blamed for one less ribbon. The show was a great way to finish the year, I feel as tho I'm riding really well. For the next six weeks before I head to Aiken I'll be working hard to have the horses prepared for next season.