Lilybridge Students Shine at The Horse Park of New Jersey !

We had another great showing at the Horse Park of New Jersey where Jessica McCabe and Julie Henk bumped their mounts back up to the Intermediate level.  Jess and Ferdinand came 9th after a respectable dressage test and an unfortunate few rails on Saturday evening followed by a super cross country round on Sunday morning. Julie got the job done in dressage on Merry Sioux and then had two great jump rounds, but time faults dropped them to 12th. 

Jess and Ferdinand

Annelise Aurillo and Rasher added just 2 seconds of time faults on their solid dressage score for 11th in a large Open Training division.  Nicole Spiropolous rode Aberjoy to a very nice dressage test and stadium round, but decided to call it a day before cross country.

I am so grateful to Marnie Kelly for her unwavering support of Campground as my competition horse, but it is the icing on the cake that “Gideon” is equally as successful as Marnie’s own ride. This weekend they completed the Training in beautiful form, adding one rail and a handful of time faults for 10th.

Marnie and Campground

Cassidy Heitzenrater rode her own Go Devil Go in the Novice and had her best outing yet! She finished on her dressage score of 29.3 for 5th place. “Prada” has been quite testing as a young horse, and we are so happy to see Cassidy earning the rewards for all of her hard work and patience.

Emma Stradley added just a bit of cross country time onto her dressage score with Coloured Gem to finish 11th in a large Novice division.

Congratulations to all of my students this weekend; you all made me proud!  No downtime for us as we left for Millbrook on Wednesday morning with a mixed group of students and my own horses.

Moving on Up at Maryland Horse Trials II

We were back at Loch Moy for Maryland Horse Trials II this weekend, and everyone who competed produced great results.

On Saturday, I rode Marnie Kelly's Campground in the Intermediate. He tried very hard and showed great improvement on the flat then jumped freakishly well as per usual. With his one rail and some time on cross country he finished just outside of the placings in ninth.

Erin with Marnie Kelly's Campground

Frank McEntee's Paddy the Caddy made his return to competition in the Preliminary.  Our favorite little ninja was very happy to be back from his post-Jersey Fresh vacation.  He won the flat with an unreal 23.6 and show jumped clear, but I took my time on cross country and he ended in seventh.

Zehra Gundogan and Captivate moved back up to Preliminary and made it look easy.  They earned a 28.9 with a great dressage test, had a lovely show jumping round with just one rail, and cruised around the cross country to jump clear and add a bit of time for ninth place.

Kaelen Speck rode extremely well on an amped up Sweet Rebellion to add only time onto her dressage score for an eighth place finish.

In the afternoon Braden Speck rode Rosenharley Romello to finish on his Novice dressage score for eighth place in the Junior division. Tori Kager rode her young horse Sage Advice to a fourth place finish on her dressage score in the Open Novice.

On Sunday we were back for the Training divisions.  Jill Tallman's Bold Tiger completed his first Training level event in great form. Although he is quite green, he rose to the challenge and finished on his dressage score of 33.9 for eighth place.

Sale horse Stonewall Winters had a great day with Tori Kager in the irons.  He had no trouble finishing on his dressage score of 34.6 for fifth place.

The Girls Icing Their Legs Post Comp!

Hannah Daneker and Peace Proposal made the move up to Training level and added only cross country time onto their dressage score.  Parris was very happy to see the fences a bit higher, but she was disappointed that the dressage test did not allow her to show off her walk-to-canters.

Gabbie Ciccone and Some Kind of Wonderful were our big winners of the weekend, leading the Junior division on a 32.3 from start to finish.  Congratulations Gibba and Bo Bo!

Our horses and riders all had an excellent weekend in spite of serious heat and humidity. We will be at Jersey next weekend; fingers crossed for slightly more mild weather!

Maryland Horse Trials I at Loch Moy

We had horses competing on both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend at Maryland Horse Trials I at Loch Moy where all of my students rode extremely well!

On Saturday Julie Henk with Merry Sioux and Jess McCabe with Ferdinand competed in the Preliminary for both of their first outings since their Virginia CIC2* and CCI1* debuts.  Both pairs laid down lovely dressage tests and added only cross country time to their scores for a great start towards their Fall season. 

Owner and Supporter Jill Tallman and Bold Tiger

I rode my young OTTB Bold Tiger in his final Novice start where he was very professional, finishing on his dressage score of 32.8 for seventh place.  I am excited for him to tackle Training level with the same air off confidence next time out!  He's pictured here at the farm with owner/partner/supporter Jill Tallman, who came down for a surprise visit over my birthday.  

After an unfortunate meeting of horse teeth with skull this week, my working student Jenn Catalano was not able to compete this weekend.  I took the ride on her mare Validation in the Novice for a successful completion, and hopefully the stars will soon align for Jenn and Koffee so they can run a whole event together!

Jess McCabe also rode Cassidy Heitzenrater's mare Go Devil Go in the Novice to add just a few time faults to her dressage score.

On Sunday we returned with the Training level horses.  Gabbie Ciccone and her own Some Kind of Wonderful were our first pair to show and finished on their dressage score of 32.5. Zehra Gundogan and Captivate finished on their dressage score of 31.6 with a very speedy cross country round for seventh place……...Go Cappy Appy!  Annelise Aurillo and Rasher (pictured here) started their day off with a consistent dressage test and added only cross country time to their score. 

Annelise and Rasher

All of my students used the event to apply everything we have been working on at home and to keep building their horses' confidence, and I'm very proud of them all. We will be back next weekend for the second Maryland HT where a few pairs will be moving up!