Monday, October 26, 2015

Recent Sales

Congratulations to Sharon Jones on the recent purchase of Some Kind of Wonderful from the Ciccone family!  Gabrielle has had an extremely competitive campaign at the Training level with Bo over the past year, enjoying several top finishes. He is an absolute gem to ride and work with in the barn, and we look forward to seeing him bring the same joy to the Jones family as he has brought to us! He is pictured here helping Sharon take her granddaughter for a trail ride. A perfect gentleman for the job!


Congratulations also to the Meyer Family on the recent purchase of Stonewall Winters! Stonewall has been a part of our program for the past three years, and he's been a great member of the team.  He spent years campaigning at the Novice and Training levels with his owner, Olivia Saber.  We have loved having him on the team, and are so happy that he found a new person to spoil him. Best of luck to Lauren and Stonewall in all future pursuits!


Saturday, October 24, 2015

Dutta Corp Fair Hill International 2015

Last weekend marked the season finale for our upper level horses at Fair Hill. I rode Jeanne and Spike Sylvester’s Mettraise in her first CCI3*, Marnie Kelly’s Campground in his first CCI2*, and Frank and Kate McEntee’s Paddy the Caddy in his second CCI2*.
Missy making short work of a tricky combination on the 3*. Photo credits to Don Truesdell.
I was so proud of Mettraise for putting in her best dressage test at the level so far, in the big atmosphere nonetheless. She skipped around cross country double clear on Saturday, and show jumped clear with just two time faults on Sunday to finish fifteenth. She was also recognized as the highest placed American Thoroughbred mare. Go Big Gurl!

Paddy out of the water and over the angled brush! Photo by Sophie Kager.

Paddy the Caddy was once again a star, and finished on his dressage score for tenth place in the two star. Paddy has grown up a lot this year, and he so enjoyed showing off his ninja moves all weekend!

Gideon on cross country. Thank you to Valerie Durbon for the awesome picture!

Campground put in an amazing performance as well. He had a respectable dressage test, followed by a double clear cross country, and just the final show jump down for twenty-fifth. Most horses cannot hack at the buckle one day and run around a two star double clear a few days later, but Gideon breaks the mold completely.

Julie and Merry Sioux off the massive drop. Photo by Sophie Kager.
Huge congratulations are in order for my student Julie Henk who completed her first CCI2* with her own Merry Sioux. It is a huge feat to even get to Fair Hill, and they just looked better and better as each phase went on.

Overall, it was a phenomenal finish to these four horses’ years. Most of our other horses have at least one event left on the schedule this fall, so we are keeping busy while our Fair Hill horses take a much-deserved break!