I’m so looking forward to a busy and exciting weekend at Kentucky Classique! As always, please let me know via email or in person if you’d like coaching at the event. Here are the times for the coursewalks….
Thursday August 27
6:00 Coursewalk at Kentucky Classique HT for Training
6:45 Coursewalk at Kentucky Classique HT for Novice
7:30 Coursewalk at Kentucky Classique HT for Prelim
Friday August 28
6:30 Coursewalk at Kentucky Classique HT for Beg Novice
What a week! The girls and I traveled to Richland, MI, for seven days to compete in the Richland Park CIC** and HT. Cold weather and rain were the themes for the week, but overall it was a great week!
Nemo was competing in the CIC** this weekend. He was one of the first horses to go in dressage on Thursday, and performed a steady, solid test for a 60.0 (FEI scoring). I was happy with his relaxation and focus, but a bit dissappointed in the lack of wow in the test—we can do better! It was a solid test, a good 15 points below qualifying, which is always encouraging. On cross country, I was thrilled with him! I am very proud to be able to take one of the strongest mouthed horses of my career and now back him off to a plain loose ring snaffle now that he is listening, and it was such a joy…. He galloped around cross country on a soft rein, and I didn’t have to take a single pulley rein. We were very much working together, and on the same page the entire round. He is a little behind Hopper on fitness, so the plan was just to canter him around for a good positive round. He galloped well, though not at top speed as planned, but he was so good and listening so well that we didn’t waste an instant arguing… And he came home with one of the fastest rounds of the day with only 3.2 time penalties in the two star! He was so good everywhere…. What a blast! Even better, the vets in the D-box told me that his breathing and heartrate showed the best recovery and fitness all day!! In show jumping, he was a really good boy, but I was unusually nervous… He jumped well for just one rail, finishing in 10th place in the CIC**.
Hopper was also in the CIC**. He is usually so quiet and dependable in the dressage, but he was unusually tense here, and I had to ride him quietly for a 62.0. He completely redeemed himself on XC. I knew he was fit, confident, and ready to go, and the footing was conducive to good galloping. The plan was to go for a clean round, and see what I could do beyond that. WOW is Hopper amazing!! We started out of the box on a mission, and I let Hopper really gallop… That horse is FAST!! We were galloping so fast between fences 3 and 4… Holy cow! He jumped so well though… He was foot perfect at the big water, and didn’t bat an eye anwhere. He was still full of running all the way around, so I let him continue at the speed he was comfortable with. Two fences from home, I checked my watch and we had 45 seconds to get to the finish…Wow this horse can gallop! He finished ten seconds under optimum time, one of the fastest rounds of the day and one of only a very few horses to make the time. At the finish, he was still full of running and not tired! He came into the box with an outstanding temp, and was almost immediately released back to the barns…. He cooled out so well. What a big step for my little boy to make time in the two star!!!! Hopper was full of energy on Sunday morning, and I had to quickly change from Nemo to Hopper to ride two horses in the two star… There were only 20 horses left, and two of them were mine. Hopper jumped really well around the difficult track, with one cheap rail at fence 3 in shallow cups. I made a mistake at the final fence and had a rail there, but other than that single fence he was amazing everywhere and I was very happy with how careful he has become. He finished 11th in a big division of olympians… I was so proud!!
Maddy and Bernie had a great dressage test in their fourth Prelim at Richland. They ran around the XC with just a single stop around the big, tough prelim course. Unfortunately an old sole bruise came back to haunt him this weekend, but this terrific pair will be back better than ever soon enough… They have had such a tremendously impressive season, I doubt they’ll let a little bruise dampen their spirits!!!
Chelsea and Basil ran their fourth Prelim at Richland Park…. And boy did that Prelim look like an intermediate!! They had a good dressage test, but all of the scores in their division were very, very high, so that was dissappointing. (The same judge that I made that remark about at Pine Top this spring.) The XC was very tough, with a skinny ditch and wall, a log into water–bank out–log drop back in, sunken road, corner, keyhole, you name it. Basil was amazing, and evenwithout starting her watch Chelsea managed to bring him in double clean on the XC, being one of only 3 riders to make the time!! (Although my favorite moment on course was when this fabulously talented horse jumped so big at the keyhole that he touched his EARS on the roof of the brush!!!! Now THAT is scope!!!) They were terrific in SJ, with just one rail around a course where many riders had 3-5 rails. They moved up to finish in 6th place in the prelim against some of the country’s top young riders!!!
The boys are now qualified for the fall three days three times over, so I’m so very happy with them! Thanks to Howard, Chelsea, Emily, and Maddy for their great help this weekend!
| CIC Two Star | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rider | Horse | Dress Score |
Dress Place |
XC Jump |
XC Time |
To Date Score |
To Date Place |
Stad Jump |
Stad Time |
Final Score |
Final Place |
| Tamra Smith | Bubbles at Brickey | 47.60 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 47.60 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 47.60 | 1 |
| Leslie Law | Hugo Fast | 42.90 | 1 | 0.00 | 6.80 | 49.70 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 49.70 | 2 |
| Lillian Heard | Share Option | 52.80 | 5 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 52.80 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 52.80 | 3 |
| Jennie Brannigan | Cambalda | 48.90 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 48.90 | 2 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 52.90 | 4 |
| Phillip Dutton | Wild Tiger | 54.30 | 6 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 54.30 | 5 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 54.30 | 5 |
| Lindsay Pearce | Tangle Top | 56.40 | 7-T | 0.00 | 2.80 | 59.20 | 6-T | 0.00 | 0.00 | 59.20 | 6 |
| Leslie Law | Java | 61.30 | 16-T | 0.00 | 0.00 | 61.30 | 8 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 61.30 | 7 |
| Bruce Davidson Sr | Petite Flower | 62.30 | 19-T | 0.00 | 0.00 | 62.30 | 9-T | 0.00 | 0.00 | 62.30 | 8 |
| Phillip Dutton | Che Italica | 59.20 | 12 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 59.20 | 6-T | 4.00 | 0.00 | 63.20 | 9 |
| Megan Lanzarone | Widespread Panic | 60.00 | 14 | 0.00 | 3.20 | 63.20 | 12 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 67.20 | 10 |
| Megan Lanzarone | The Grasshopper | 62.30 | 19-T | 0.00 | 0.00 | 62.30 | 9-T | 8.00 | 0.00 | 70.30 | 11 |
| Kim Severson | Wiley Post | 56.40 | 7-T | 0.00 | 6.40 | 62.80 | 11 | 12.00 | 0.00 | 74.80 | 12 |
| C.C. Castillo | Star Act | 56.90 | 9-T | 0.00 | 10.80 | 67.70 | 13 | 8.00 | 0.00 | 75.70 | 13 |
| Melissa Miller | Detail Specialist | 68.00 | 26 | 0.00 | 6.00 | 74.00 | 16 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 78.00 | 14 |
| Eric Dierks | Text | 63.90 | 23 | 0.00 | 7.20 | 71.10 | 15 | 8.00 | 0.00 | 79.10 | 15 |
| Phillip Dutton | For The Top | 57.90 | 11 | 20.00 | 7.60 | 85.50 | 17 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 85.50 | 16 |
| Kendal Lehari | Daily Edition | 62.10 | 18 | 0.00 | 8.40 | 70.50 | 14 | 16.00 | 0.00 | 86.50 | 17 |
| Carrie Mulks | Casino Royale II | 67.80 | 25 | 20.00 | 7.20 | 95.00 | 20 | 8.00 | 0.00 | 103.00 | 18 |
| Scott Kuhlman | Gallipoli II | 56.90 | 9-T | 20.00 | 9.60 | 86.50 | 18 | 20.00 | 0.00 | 106.50 | 19 |
| Jennifer Simmons | J.B.’s Star | 59.70 | 13 | 20.00 | 28.40 | 108.10 | 21 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 108.10 | 20 |
| Sara Dierks | Manolo Blahnik | 65.20 | 24 | 40.00 | 26.80 | 132.00 | 22 | 999.00 | E | E | E |
| Christa Gandolfo | Governaire | 62.80 | 21-T | 0.00 | 28.00 | 90.80 | 19 | 999.00 | E | E | E |
| Siobhain O’Connor | Mizar | 52.50 | 4 | 60.00 | E | E | E | 0.00 | E | E | E |
| Weslee Wroe | Oliver | 61.30 | 16-T | 60.00 | R | R | R | 0.00 | R | R | R |
| Christa Gandolfo | Shahaadi | E | E | 0.00 | E | E | E | 0.00 | E | E | E |
| Robin Walker | Ringwood Mircrest | 62.80 | 21-T | 0.00 | RF | RF | RF | 0.00 | RF | RF | RF |
| Frankie Simpson | Watson’s Shelbreen | 61.00 | 15 | 0.00 | RF | RF | RF | 0.00 | RF | RF | RF |
Welcome to the new working students! Molly hails from Columbia, South Carolina, and brings her gray TB Grady with her. Marybeth is from California, with her thoroughbred mare Otter. Emily is from Idaho with her wb gelding Dobbin. We are so excited to have all three joining us! Be sure to say hi!
Tis that time of year! Our terrific young ladies are heading off to college, and new ones are arriving…. We will miss the girls soooo much! Katie and Charlie will be heading home to New York this week…. We’ve loved the time they’ve spent here, and will miss them very much!
Today we bid a sad farewell to working student Jane Papke! Jane completed her second consecutive summer with us…. WOW did it fly by!!!! Jane is always a joy to have around, and we enjoyed every minute of the journey. She spent her summer with Visa and Boscoe and Owen and all will miss her very much!
Gemwood HT Wrapup
With the way late July and early August can roll into this part of the country, I opted to enter just one horse in the Gemwood HT this year, and take two of our working students, Maddy and Chelsea, to each run their horses at the preliminary level. We also took Jane to run one of our youngsters at Novice, and Nikki rode Oliver at Novice.
Of course, I was completely wrong in anticipating the weather, and it wasn’t unbearably hot in late July like it can be. It was terrific fun to just ride one horse at a horse trial and have only four students there…. Like a vacation! I didn’t know what to do with myself!!
Jane did a terrific job with Visa… They had a really terrific dressage test. The show jumping was wet and slick and a little spooky, and they had a bit of a green show jumping round like many other riders in their division. But the pair were spot on during cross country, taking the course in stride and galloping beautifully.
Maddy and Chelsea were each doing their third prelims. Bernie was a bit tense in dressage but Maddy did well to ride him through it. Basil looked amazing in dressage, but Chelsea got distracted by the fact he was being so good and missed two movements–and the judge gave her 2’s rather than blowing the whistle. ERGH! In show jumping, they were both STARS, Maddy with a gorgeous double clean round and Chelsea with a beautiful 4-fault round, both terrific accomplishments at the prelim level. They both jumped beautifully, and I was so proud to show them off!!! For cross country, I was so happy with their confidence level… They each walked the course and asked, albeit humbly, “Um, do you think the course looks really, um, friendly???” I loved it! They both set off like tigers on cross country. They jumped beautifully, galloping and jumping everything out of stride. I could not have been more proud. Maddy had a quick, clear round. Chelsea managed to earn one of only three double clean rounds of the division (filled with pros)! Chelsea placed 8th and Maddy placed 9th. CONGRATS!
Nikki and Oliver had a beautiful dressage test to earn a 35 at Open Novice against the pros. I was so proud of Nikki’s tenacity on cross country, as she rode like a woman on a mission and had a terrific XC round. Unfortunately, one slip in the mud between an A and B element shared with Training meant she needed to circle for his safety, picking up a technical refusal and 20 penalties, but using good judgement and bringing her horse home more confident and experienced than they set off. That is always the job!
I have spent this year devoting all my time to dressage studies, working hard to transform myself from
a cross country rider to a dressage queen. (Especially riding my large collection of off track thoroughbreds!) Strong storms and cold rains moved in during dressage, and the organizers had to put a hold on dressage due to strong storms and lightning, so we waited patiently for my dressage ride. Then the hold suddenly ended and they decided my ring would run on time after all—eeek! We scrambled to throw me on Nightfall, my 5yo homebred stallion, and we went galloping off towards the dressage arena, the 2nd horse to go after the break. Fortunately, he is terrific about not needing much warmup, and he instantly felt terrific and ready to go! Then the judges decided to take a break, and I had to get back off and wait an undisclosed amount of time….. No one’s fault because of the weather, but still nervewrecking when you are about to go in the ring! 
They returned about 15 minutes later, and I jumped back on, without time to re-warmup, and had to go in the ring. Thank goodness that Nightfall is VERY rideable!! I swallowed a big lump in my throat and rode around the arena waiting for the whistle, knowing that I’d had the most odd dressage warmup of my 18 year eventing career. I made the most of the 30 seconds going around the dressage arena, and went in the ring and decided to ride my heart out. He felt so consistent and through and steady and obedient… I loved it. I was VERY happy with the test, and Howard was too. That’s what matters!!! I guess the judges were too, because when we looked at the scores Ryan earned a 23.0…. The lowest score for the entire horse trial, the lowest score of the division, and the lowest score of my career! (Poor Sheldon… It beat out his 24.5’s in his last two outings!) Now the pressure was on…. Showjumping was eating horses left and right, and was very slick because Mother Nature kept pounding us with rain. Ryan is such a cat—he cantered around the course, easily show jumping double clean and not looking at a thing (not that he ever does). Still in first—gulp. The next day, I head out on the XC, which had received still more rain. I was on a mission to ride Ryan double clean…. But little did I know, my five year old had other plans…. He was on a mission to pack me around double clean! He went out of the box and locked onto the first Prelim fence, lol! I love honest horses. He cantered around the entire course, packing me around like a small child, galloping brilliantly and jumping everything out of stride, not needing any help from me. He rode like a 20 year old packer, not like a 5 year old. He was so confident and on-target…. It was a blast! Ryan finished on his dressage score of 23.0, winning the event!!! I couldn’t help that tears came to my eyes…. He is our first homebred, and like a son to me…. How exciting!!!
Tomorrow we bid a sad farewell to working student Blake and her horse Demi. Blake has now completed our summer Working Student position, and will be returning to her hometown tomorrow to return to school. We have so enjoyed Blake’s enthusiasm, sunny personality, and team spirit. She capitalized her short stay with us by finishing 7th at Summer School with 2 Shay, 9th at Summer School with Ravioli, and 1st at the Team CEO Horse Trials with 2 Shay.
We’ll miss you!!
Welcome to Nightly News!!!! Cameo had her 2009 trakehner/tb bay filly with no socks and a small star in the wee hours of Sunday morning, August 2nd. Nightly News is absolutely gorgeous, with a darling personality, a verocious appetite, and a beatiful tb head. We are so excited to have all 5 of our foals successfully on the ground this year!!!!
With three foals on the ground out of three very, very different mares, we are already seeing that our freshman sire Nightfall stamps all of his foals with his dark bay coloring, his fabulously typey trakehner head (even out of mares who are very plain headed), an incredibly strong foal at birth with a great suck reflex, beautiful archy well set necks. He is stamping his foals with a strong back and tremendous hip and great legs. The Habicht line of TB’s is known for stamping their get, and we are SOOOOO excited to find out that Nightfall is carrying on in Windfall’s footsteps. Regardless of the type of mare or flaws in the mare, so far Nightfall has proven to be a terrific improvement sire, with gorgeous heads, athletic bodies, and terrific in-your-pocket personalities. We are so excited!!! Photos soon!
Before I fall asleep, a wrapup of the day at summer school…
2nd Nikki and Oliver in Training Level CT with a clear showjump round, just 1.5 off the win, FODS
2nd Jane and Boscoe in Beginner Novice HT, against several local professionals, FODS of 35
2nd Ashlea and Gus in Starter HT, finishing in a tie for first!!!! FODS
3rd Joe and Pongo in Starter HT, FODS
3rd Gemma and Buddy in Starter CT, double clean sj and just one rail in a beautiful round
4th Ex and Megan in Starter HT, in Ex’s first off the farm horse trial, FODS
5th Katie and Charlie in Beg Novice HT, in Charlie’s first off the farm horse trial, FODS
7th Blake and Demi in Beg Novice HT… Almost finished 2nd, except for a few time faults for a scenic route, but clear xc
8th Hannah and Spud in Beg Novice HT, as Hannah catch rides spud in his first BN off the farm!
9th Blake and Ravioli in Beg Novice HT in Ravioli’s first horse trial with clean cross country!
EVERYONE WAS BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!
(FODS means finished on their dressage score, without a single penalty.)
