It’s a boy!!!

It’s a boy!!!

This morning we welcomed a new colt into the world!

He is a full TB by French Buffet, a Grand Prix SJ from Ireland…. And a brother to my first upper level horse that our farm is named after! The stallion was born in 1983 so this was unlikely and is a very exciting moment for us. And out of our amazing mare Coral, dam to Nemo (advanced), Chaos, etc.

We are so excited! Now we just need a name! All the foals by this dam are named “Widespread _____” as the first foal was Widespread Panic and he went advanced, so we figured that was good juju!

Her previous foals:
• Widespread Panic
• Widespread Chaos
• Widespread Mayhem
• Widespread Wisdom

Any ideas?

Young Horse Challenge Week 3!

Week 3 now of the Young Horse Challenge!   The girls are doing a fantastic job!    All the horses are settled in to their routines and learning to be riding horses.   They have all been backed!

 

Fish

Snapple

Biscuit

Biscuit

Squirt

Ali

 

 

Young Horse Challenge Week 2!

We are rocking and rolling into week 2 of the Young Horse Challenge!

The girls have been working hard to give the young horses makeovers! They’ve all had their manes pulled and have learned to stand in the crossties, longe, and have settled into their routines on the farm.   All the girls and horses are doing a fabulous job with the young horses!  They have all been longing in tack now and have all been backed!  Check out these fantastic picture updates!

 

Snapple

JB

Fish

Biscuit

Ali

Ali

Ali

Squirt

 

 

Welcome to the 2014 Young Horse Challenge!

Summer is rocking and rolling, and I’m a bit behind on blogging…   But the 2014 Young Horse Challenge is under way!   We have a fabulous group of nine fantastic young horses and fantastic young ladies!   So let’s introduce you to the 2014 class of horses and riders!

 

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Andrea & Ali:    Ali is a stunning 3yo WB x TB out of a Comet Shine TB mare, a line well sought after for sporthorse bloodlines.   She was bred by Kathy Lunsford.    Her partner will be Andrea, a preliminary level event rider and the reigning champion of the 2013 young horse challenge!

 

 

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Lauren & JB: JB is a gorgeous 17h chestnut Dutch Warmblood 6yo by top hunter sire, ROC USA. Lauren is an experienced young eventer who has evented through the training level.  She completed the challenge last year with our homebred Lexi.

 

 

 

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Gracie & Biscuit: Officially named Iduna Acres Kassandra, “Biscuit” is a 5yo sister to the famed local eventing Fjord “Pancake”.    Owned by Erin Ryder Hsu, Biscuit aspires to be yet another star in the lineup of Erin’s fabulous eventing Fjords!  Biscuit has been paired with Gracie, a young rider who is currently eventing at Training Level with her OTTB, La Bien Vie.

 

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Nicole and Kelly with Squirt:  Kelly and Nicole both participated in the Young Horse Challenge in 2013 with much success. They are combining their talents this year, as their busy lives left limited time to have a horse each, but they had so much fun in the challenge last year!   They drew “Squirt” in this year’s challenge, a 3yo homebred by Team CEO Eventing. Sired by Nightfall (by Windfall, CCI**** eventer, out of our NAYRC mare).   Out of Kate, a good TB mare.   Squirt is a full brother to Nicole’s partner last year, Bling!

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Hayden & Lil Fish: Officially named “Fontlaroy” but affectionately called “Little Fish,” this gorgeous gray 3yo pony is absolutely stunning.   He is owned by Sarah Conyers of Lexington KY.  Little Fish is a super cute pony and will certainly have a huge future in the hunter ring! Hayden is a young rider who is eventing at Training level with her pinto sport pony, That’s Amore.

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Victoria & Bacon:    Iconic, aka “Bacon”, is a 3yo Oldenburg gelding by leading dressage sire Contucci, out of an Alpenstern mare.  We bred Bacon at Team CEO Eventing to be our future upper level dressage horse and we could not be more excited about him!   Victoria has ridden upper level dressage, and is the perfect partner for this talented young star!

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Ashlyn & Snapple: Snapple is a Team CEO homebred, out of Sprite, a TB mare who was a sister to our first advanced horse.  Sired by top eventing sire Riverman.    Ashlyn is a young rider who is currently eventing at Novice level with her OTTB, La Vie En Rose.

 

 

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Lauren & Navi: Navi is a lovely 4yo TB by Bluegrass Cat, out of Memories of Silver. Owned by Johanna Dufort Hunt.  Lauren completed the challenge last year with Lexi, and this year has taken on two horses in the challenge!

 

 

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Andrea & Diva: Diva is a 3yo gray British Sport Horse mare by Catherston Dazzler, one  of the top event sires in the world, out of our TB mare Cameo, bred by Team CEO Eventing.   Andrea has evented through the Preliminary level and is the reigning 2013 YHC champion!

 

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Good luck to all competitors!  We are so excited to get these young horses going!

The young horses debut at Flying Cross!

Few things are more beautiful than Kentucky in the spring, and we took full advantage of that this weekend by taking many of the young horses out for their first horse trial at Flying Cross.  I’m afraid the clouds rolled in and a storm brewed on the horizon before we could see how a few of them ended in the places, but we couldn’t be happier with their performances!

Nightlight, aka Bling, is one of our 4yo homebred warmblood x TB crosses by Nightfall out of Kate, a great TB broodmare.   He debuted in his first event, scoring a 35 in dressage, double clean XC, and 1 rail in show jumping.  Even better, he was such a perfect gentleman all weekend!  He truly behaved like a seasoned professional!

Bond James Bond is a fantastic 5yo OTTB gelding owned by our barn manager Andrea Johnson.   He was fantastic in his debut event, scoring 30.5 in dressage, jumping very carefully for a double clean SJ, and easily clean XC.

Levitate, aka Tate, is a 5yo OTTB gelding owned by Team CEO.  He tied in dressage with his barnmate Bond, scoring a 30.5.   Tate had just one rail in SJ, and jumped around clean on the XC.

Andrea also rode Megan’s young horse Quick Silver, aka Puck, in his first event.   They did a fantastic job, and he led the division start to finish, finishing on his fantastic dressage score of 23.0!

We are so excited about these fantastic young horses!   We have a fabulous selection of young event horses for sale at the moment, and they are all ready to rock and roll this season!  HUGE thanks to Andrea and Emma for being brilliant pilots, and thanks to Gracie, Ashlyn, and Hayden for being the most fabulous working students!  Great job girls!

 

Spring Bay HT starts off 2014 in style!

What a great weekend to start off the 2014 show season in Kentucky!  We took 23 horses and clients this weekend to event from Starter through Preliminary, making for a very, very busy weekend.  I am so proud of everyone… Even after a crazy winter, everyone had a fantastic weekend!   22 of 23 horses jumped clean xc, with four wins and two seconds and more ribbons than I could count!

Master Mind (Guinness) and I had our first training level event this weekend, and all I can say is that I am elated with him!   Most importantly, he was excellent in all three phases, and made it all seem easy and left me wanting bigger fences!   The icing on the cake was that he won his division, leading start to finish on 25.7, FODS.   (Thanks to Nancy Kowalski for this photo).

Master Mind and Megan Moore, 1st in Open Training. PC Nancy Kowalski.

I had the pleasure of catch riding a lovely RPSI gelding for a client, and he too was excellent, leading the Open Novice from start to finish with a 27 dressage score.  This fantastic guy is coming up for sale so watch out for that one!

Megan Moore and Promisemethemoon. PC Howard Moore.

Promisemethemoon made his comeback event a great one, after having some time off last year for a bone bruise.   He ran the Preliminary this weekend, scoring 38 in dressage and having a fantastic show jumping round.   We took it slow and safe on XC, adding 17 time penalties to take care of him a bit in his first outing back, but man it is good to have my favorite little redhead out and about again!!

As for our fabulous students, Nikki Kowalski and Ballinagore Knight had yet another fantastic win in the Training Rider division, leading start to finish to finish on their dressage score of 28.   We were very excited to see them be so bored at Training this weekend, and a moveup is definitely in their future!  She was also 5th on her young horse CR Dynasty in BN this weekend!  (Thanks to Kristen Janicki for this photo).

Nikki Kowalski and Ballinagore Knight, 1st in TR. PC Kristen Janicki.

Team CEO’s barn manager and head groom extraordinaire Andrea Johnson was wildly busy this weekend, grooming for all of Megan’s rides as well as riding two herself.   She rode Wapentake in the prelim for yet another fantastic weekend for them… 30’s in dressage, just 1 rail in show jumping at the first fence, and double clean XC.   They have become quite the preliminary machine!     Andrea also rode our homebred Widespread Chaos in this 5yo mare’s first training.   I just loved having another trainer come up to me and compliment Andrea’s SJ round—that meant so much to us!  They were fantastic, making the training look easy, and placing 4th.  This young mare is a serious upper level contender… We are so excited about her!!!

Andrea Johnson and Wapentake, 9th in Open Preliminary. PC Emily Roepke and Howard Moore.

Also incredibly excited for Kelly Rover’s win in the Novice Rider division this weekend!  Kelly recently moved to Lexington KY to train with us, after training long-distance from Missouri for a couple of years.   Her hard work paid off with a WIN this weekend!   Even better than a ribbon, she put together her best show jumping round and best xc round of her career (I’m afraid I didn’t see the dressage test to comment on that, but I heard it was great too!).

Kelly Rover and Wilder Than Syn, 1st in Novice Rider

Emma Tilghman and Widespread Panic had a great weekend, with an absolutely gorgeous show jumping round and finishing in 3rd place to FODS of 31.  Lots of smiles this weekend with a great outing!   Emma also catch rode Rachel Sowinski’s darling young horse in his first event and finished 7th…. What a great start to his eventing career!

Emma Tilghman and Widespread Panic, 3rd in TR. PC Nancy Kowalski

Other exciting top placings include:  Lindsey Long and General Countdown, 2nd in BNR-A.   Nicole Wozniak and Curiosity, 2nd in BNR-B.   Those two definitely earned upgrades to Novice in their next outings!  Elissa Martin and Gracelyn Kephart were 6th and 4th respectively in their first USEA Beginner Novice HT’s with their new horses… Very excited for them!

I can’t thank the organizers, volunteers, and officials of this event enough for this weekend.   We had lots of rides so I think we got to see just about every inch of this event!   The quality and selection of the officials was fantastic, the organization was second to none, and the scheduling was so brilliant that every phase ran on time or early.   We are so lucky to have this exceptional team of organizers in Area 8!

Also thank you to Andrea Johnson, Howard Moore, Gracie and Tara Elliott, Emily Roepke, and Kelly Rover for helping tack, groom, and switch horses so I could make it to all of the clients’ rides!

So proud of everyone! These are just a couple results off the top of my head… The USEA scores aren’t posted yet for me to be able to find the entire list!  But I am so proud of everyone. And big thanks to Howard Moore, Elissa Martin, Kristen Janicki, Katie Knowles, Le Tilghman, Liz Moyer, and Lesley Ward, and Nancy Kowalski for taking photos of the Team CEO Eventing riders this weekend!  How incredibly sweet of you!!!!

 

Jan Reynolds and Sunny in their first Novice. PC Lesley Ward

Kathryn Krische and Welliengton at Training. PC Nancy Kowalski

 

 

Looking ahead to 2014!

Greetings all!

Where to begin?? 2013 was a great year for us.   I wanted to update everyone as we look ahead to 2014, as I am absolutely stoked for the future for the Team CEO Eventing horses!

After losing my beloved Grasshopper in 2012 and selling my advanced horse Widespread Panic to help fund our indoor project, it was time to recreate a new, young string of horses for the future.  To be completely honest, Grasshopper’s heart issue was a result of his lifestyle before I had him and his hardship at the track and as a rescue, so I stayed away from OTTB’s as much as I could because my own heart simply couldn’t handle it.  So when I filled my string with new young prospects, I stuck 100% to warmbloods to stay as far away from that situation as possible.

You know they say life is a learning curve, and a steep one at that. I was so lucky to find some very nice young horses, but in the end nothing that really made my heart happy, other than my one OTTB, Promisemethemoon.   The warmbloods were all STUNNING, but at the end of the day they just aren’t my kind of ride. I’ve always preferred a hot, sensitive horse who needed my reassurance.   Live and learn… Each warmblood purchased in 2012 was sold this year to a wonderful new owner for each, where they will be absolutely thrilled and be a horse of a lifetime for someone.  But you have to know what works for YOU.  I’ve always said every horse is an individual and needs a different thing from its rider, but this year I learned that ever rider needs something different from their horse.   Life lesson learned.

I worked and slaved and met some amazing folks in 2013, and through it all managed to sell dozens and dozens of horses for myself and other people.   I sold every single horse in my string except Promisemethemoon, and decided one more time to reinvent the wheel and recreate my string.   But this time I would listen to what works for me… After all, 80% of my upper level horses thus far in my career have been thoroughbreds.   It was time to go back to basics and infuse some blood into my program again.  So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to the string of Team CEO’s event horses for 2014!

Promisemethemoon:   6yo 16h  OTTB by Malibu Moon, bred by Judy Miller of KY and purchased through the Makers Mark Secretariat Center.   Thanks to the help of the incredible ladies at the Secretariat Center, Moon fell into my lap shortly after losing Grasshopper.   Moon is a very similar horse to Hopper, and I absolutely fell in love.  He is intelligent, brave, quirky, hot as hell, and doesn’t take instruction well.   He is the least favorite horse for the girls who work for me, as he never ceases to cause trouble or pick on them.  But he is my favorite! I just love this little feisty red powerhouse…  Every person I have ever had a lesson on him with has been completely unimpressed by him–I’ll admit it, as a young horse he was so hot he bordered on crazy sometimes.   But I always  believed in him and we have a phenomenal partnership.   In his year since his purchase, he progressed from BN to Preliminary, jumping around a couple of very big Prelim tracks this summer.   I finished the course at Cobblestone with tears in my eyes, for I finally had a horse again. He was absolutely magical out there–jumped around a HUGE track and just got better with every fence. The harder it got, the better he got.    He is truly a special horse for the future.   He came off the track with some maintenance issues, and those issues have us on a little vacation this fall… But I’m confident we can do everything to make him ready to go again, and I can’t wait for the next time I get to leave the startbox on my little red Ferrari again.  Okay, maybe more like a Ferrari without power steering or brakes?  😉

Loguestown Lass:  5yo 16h black ISH, by Loguestown Blues Man, bred by Erin Hurd-Schafer in Michigan.   More than a decade ago, I rode a crazy black mare to a ribbon at NAYRC… She was my first upper level horse, she was incredible, but she was an absolute lunatic.  I’ve shied away from mares ever since.   So when I met Lola at Katie Ruppel’s farm in Florida last winter, I’m not sure if the subconscious similarities clicked or not?  Maybe Lola will be my only mare for the next ten years, haha. Regardless, she is half thoroughbred but rides like she is 200% thoroughbred.   Lola is as hot as a horse can physically be, with endless jump and gallop and more talent in her left ear than some horses have in their whole bodies.  I love her though.  *IF* I can ever get across to her, she is going to be a big time horse.  IF.    She evented novice a bit this season, but the problem is that novice is an absolute joke to her, but I will not let her go training until she lets me drive the ship.    That may take years, who knows?  So this incredible talented but looney youngster spent the fall and winter going back to basics and installing some control.   I’m not sure when she will make it back to the competition scene… Maybe in the spring, maybe it will take years.  Regardless, I love my crazy little black mare.  We will take our time until she settles a bit (or a lot!). Once she does, she will be spectacular.   The theme for Lola is definitely PATIENCE.

Master Mind:  5yo 17.1h bay ISH G by Kings Master (Master Imp).     Are you noticing a theme here—I like difficult horses?  Well if you are, here is difficult pony #3.   I’ve always heard the Master Imps are tough but insanely talented horses, and hilariously enough every stereotype rings completely true in Guinness.   When I saw Guinness in Ireland, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He is a horse that has a presence about him…  I only rode him for about 10 minutes because I just knew he was special, and my kind of ride.  He is 3/4 TB and hot and sensitive and delicate minded.   My favorite!  (By this point you have to think I’m insane, but that’s okay.)  His trainer in Ireland was kind enough to give me a heads up–“He’s a big baby, he can be a fool, but mind him and he will be special.”    Guinness proceeded to spend his first few days in America setting both Andrea and I in the sand, and then jumping out of his paddock.  But we are starting to develop a bond now.  This will be a horse that I HAVE to create a relationship with, because like Hopper, I think if he likes you he will do anything for you, but if he doesn’t like you, you had better run for cover!!   Thank goodness he is a HUGE fan of american horse cookies as well as his 4yo buddy Puck, two strategies we intend to use to help tame the huge, wild Irish princess!  (And yes, he is a gelding.)

Quick Silver:  4yo 16h gray ISH G by Fast Silver.     From the moment I saw Puck in Ireland, I loved him.   Something about those black eyes behind those white eyelashes just spoke to me.  The moment I saw him, I whispered to Andrea: “He is coming home with us!”  I’ve never been a sucker for grays (so much cleaning!) so it wasn’t that… But there was something about the arrogance and mischievousness about this horse that I loved.   Oh, and the fact that his canter is simply Heaven.   Thanks to a wonderful seller, I happened to end up seeing him three times in Ireland–twice to ride him and once at his vetting, far more than any other horse. I just loved how he carried himself.  I sent videos home to my father and Dr Newton, both who replied “I like the bay horse!  The gray, he’s okay.”   And Andrea agreed.  But me?  I LOVED the little white pony of a horse.   And he has not disappointed.   I have ridden him a few times stateside and he is a white version of Moon.  Though the mischievousness came true, and we’ve spent some great bonding time icing/wrapping/medicating when he decided to wear his hay net as a bracelet. Note to self—this one gets into EVERYTHING.   He promptly earned several stall toy presents from Santa.    Oh, and stall rest is NOT his thing apparently.

Elevate:  3yo 16.1h bay OTTB G.  And after it all, it’s time to go back to the OTTB roots.   I was NOT looking for another horse when an old friend said, “I found something special.”    Well crap.    We immediately hooked up the trailer and off we went, secretly hoping my well respected, highly knowledgeable friend was wrong.  (Oh yeah?)    Well, she wasn’t.  Arrow was spectacular… Straight off the track, big and stunning looking, and exactly my type.   I brought him home for the vetting and the vet said, “This is one of the best looking OTTB’s I’ve seen in years.  Wanna sell him to me?”   Haha, no thanks.  So Arrow has been enjoying the fall and winter out in a big grass field with a couple of buddies, chilling and waiting for the spring when we get to see what he is made of!

 

Levitate:    4yo 16.1h bay TB G from Second Stride OTTB adoptions, by Hard Spun.   So this will sound like a broken record, but….  We were out shopping for horses for clients (and buying several) when I met this guy and fell in love…   I was NOT shopping for myself, but my very knowledgeable dad always tells me you can never find a good track horse when you are looking for one, but always find them when you are not looking.   So you shouldn’t pass them by when the opportunity comes up.  I mean, I was going back with the trailer anyway, so what did it hurt? 😉     This guy has since been gelded and turned out with Elevate so they can chill and be horses this winter… I think it is SO important for their minds and bodies as babies after racing.  I’ll bring him in this spring and see what he is made of, but so far he seems to be a carbon copy of Elevate, hence their matching names.   Maybe we’ll have a matched set this spring!

So there is our roster of 4, 5, and 6 year olds.  Needless to say, it’s going to be a very green year!  This year will be all about investing time in the most talented group of youngsters I’ve ever had, not pushing for ribbons but finding great mileage and education for each.  It’s time to build a foundation for the future.  I’m so excited to spend the winter at home developing a partnership with each of these exceptional kiddos.    So bring on 2014…. Beginner Novice here I come!!

Check out Eventing Nation’s coverage of the Hagyard Midsouth P3D

Check out Eventing Nation’s fantastic coverage of the Hagyard Midsouth Preliminary Three Day!

http://eventingnation.com/home/hagyard-midsouth-preliminary-and-training-three-day-cross-country.html

Sales horse of the week: Armani

Sales Horse of the Week…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Armani is a phenomenal OTTB, 16.1h.  He is currently eventing at the novice level and is a novice level packer.   He is preparring to move up to the training level soon, and has the potential for Prelim easily.   This guy is a really special mix… He is brave like the classic TB type with all the classic TB heart, and just super careful over SJ fences. He can take a joke from his rider and is more than happy to jump you out of a bad distance without complaint.  He gives 110% to his work every day, and his disposition is pure sunshine.   He is super cute on the flat and over fences, and is ideal for a kid or adult who aspires to move up the levels.  He is very sane, kind, and easy to ride, and has never even attempted to buck.  What a special guy!  $12k.

Updates on the Young Event Horse Challenge