MILLBROOK RECAP

Kaelen Speck Winning Blue on Rosenharley Romello!

Team Lily has just finished up a long weekend at the Millbrook Advanced Horse Trials in Millbrook, New York.  Though the weekend had a few bumps in the road that were not part of the plan, I was very pleased with everyone's performance and we all traveled home happy!  

Competitors for the weekend were Kaelen Speck on Rosenharley Romello, Mica Kane on The Cobbler's Son,  Wyn Maling on Stellar's Run, Andi Lawrence on Armani IV, and myself on No Boundaries and Paddy the Caddy. 

The weekend started off with the Novice and Training horses competing first, with the dressage on Thursday succeeded by the cross-country Friday and show-jumping on Saturday.  Kaelen Speck proudly brought home our blue ribbon for the weekend in the Novice on Rosenharley Romello,  moving from fifth place after the dressage to win her division on her dressage score of 25.  Her division was very competitive and the courses were tough, so I could not be more proud of she and Weasel's performance. 

Mica Kane rode The Cobbler's Son in the Open Training, having her first double clear competition weekend of the year to finish in 9th place.   Paddy the Caddy put in a solid performance to finish on his dressage score in 4th place in the Open Training. 

Andi Lawrence and Wyn Maling were our preliminary competitors for the weekend, both riding in the JYOP division.  Andi added just a few time faults to her jump rides to finish 3rd, and Wyn had a good performance for the weekend to finish 10th.  Both riders are aiming at the CIC* at Plantation Field in September, and judging by their performance on the weekend, they are looking ready to go!

My weekend with No Boundaries did not go quite to plan, but we ironed out a few issues and finished the weekend well.  He put in a great performance in the dressage with a score of 32 to sit in 7th place.  The cross-country track looked great and the footing was some of the best conditions we have had this year, so I was very excited to have a strong ride on the course.  I very unfortunately had a misunderstanding of striding at an early coffin combination on the course, which resulted in an unplanned dismount from Bucky.  This was very disappointing for me, as I did not even have a chance to ride around the course with this problem early on.  I was fortunate enough to be given permission to show-jump on Sunday, and Bucky jumped very well with a double clear round.

I am obviously coming away from the weekend a bit disappointed that I did not have the ability to ride the whole course on Saturday.  After consultation and some assistance with my cross-country riding from Phillip, I am pleased to say that we are still on track and on our plan for Burghley!  I plan to have a few more cross-country lessons in the coming weeks before my departure, and with that we should be well prepared. 

Stay tuned for updates and a recap of Fair Hill this coming weekend!