Great to Be Home at Planation Field!

The Crew at Plantation
Photo Credit Gayle Hughes

My junior riders seriously impressed this weekend at Plantation Field with many double clear rounds and top placings!  The ground has been hard in the area, but the weather worked in our favor to soften up the ground a bit after a Saturday evening rain. We had six students in the Training and Novice, and two that completed a combined test in the Intermediate and Preliminary.

For our Training riders, Julie Henk had a great performance on her new mare, Merry Sioux.  She added just one rail to a great dressage score to finish the weekend in second place in the JOT.  Annelise Aurillo competed Lisa Kane's Cobbler's Son, having a good dressage and one rail down on Saturday.  Unfortunately, Annelise and her mount parted company at the coffin complex on cross-country, but had a great ride up until that point.  Morris is a new mount for her and I'm confident with a bit of schooling they will be right back on track. 

We had a great weekend in the Novice divisions as well.  Miranda Webb rode Judi Wilson's Expresso to a great second place finish on her dressage score of 32 in the Open Novice, while Kaelen Speck brought home another second place on her own Rosenharly Romello in the JON division.  Jenn Cain rode her young horse In Jest in his first recognized competition of his career, and while finding some details to work on in the dressage and show-jumping, had a great cross-country ride to finish up the weekend.  Lucie Hughes also had her first Novice for her mare Kitty's Topaz and finished on her dressage score in 7th.  With four clear rounds for these girls, I'd say it was a pretty good weekend!

I had my young horses out this weekend as well, and they all proved needing a bit more cross-country schooling before the next event . . . Fortunately, Fair Hill will be opening their course up starting next week.  

Count down is just seven days before Bucky and I head to Kentucky,  so stay tuned for updates!

A Fantastic Fork CIC***!

I have just arrived home from an exciting and successful weekend at The Fork Horse Trials and CIC***.    The weekend started with more than sixty competitors in the CIC*** division; the competition was stiff and the cross-country track was tough.   No Boundaries had his final competition for the lead-up to Kentucky,  and I am pleased to say that the weekend could not have been better!

When we arrived to the Fork on Wednesday, I was able to catch up with Silva Martin for some dressage training.  Life has been incredibly hectic through the move to Farideh Farm, so I was feeling very unprepared for the three-star test.  Luckily, Silva got me right back on track, and we were able to put in a good test on Thursday.  We scored a 51 to round out the dressage phase in the top twenty.  Having my dressage on Thursday gave me plenty of time to focus on the cross-country.  It was one of the toughest tracks I have seen thus far, so I am glad I had the extra time to size it up.  

The Fork is notorious for tough CIC*** tracks, and this year was no exception to the rule.  Mark Phillips designed the three-star course with pre-Rolex type questions for those horses as well as some easier options for the greener rides.  Riders had the opportunity to walk the cross-country course with Mark on Friday afternoon, and this helped us all have a good plan of attack for Saturday.  I continue to train with Boyd Martin, and his insight into this course walk and my lead up to Rolex has been invaluable to me.


Bucky jumped around the course with ease on Saturday morning,  coming in with just a few time faults.  More than half of the CIC*** division experienced trouble on the cross-country, so we cruised into 8th place with our clean ride. He looked great on Saturday evening, and jogged very well for the ground jury on Sunday morning as well. 

Sunday was the highlight of my weekend, as the pressure to produce a clean show-jumping round rolled out in front of me. This was the first time since last year's Jersey Fresh CCI***  that I felt the pressure of sitting in a competitive placing going into show-jumping.  The scores were very tight and not many rails were falling.  My round was not the smoothest I have ridden, but that did not hold Bucky back from jumping a great clear round.  We finished the competition in 8th place, enjoying a victory gallop surrounded by some of the best 3 and 4 star horse and rider combinations in the country!  

Bucky will enjoy a day of rest before heading back to our fitness and training for Kentucky.  We are almost two weeks away from the start of competition and the pressure is on!  I will keep up frequent updates in these crucial next few weeks!

I would like to take a moment to thank each and every follower who watched the Fork online and knew my results through the weekend often before I did!  Its so fun to experience this success and know that all of you are right there following me.  

Countdown is 14 days . . . 

More Success at Morven!

Lucie Hughes on Kitty's Topaz
Photo credit Sumner Crosby

Team Lily had another successful outing at Morven Park this weekend in Leesburg, Virginia. This was the first outing of the season for many riders who wintered in PA, so I was excited to get them out competing. Kate Hicks has been teaching them for the duration of my stay in Aiken, and their progress showed at Morven with their great performances!

Lucie Hughes (pictured here) brought home the win for the weekend on her mare, Kitty's Topaz.  This was a well deserved result for Lucie, as she has been sidelined for the past nine months by an injury.  She has spent the past few months rehabilitating Kitty, and it was great to see them out in top form at Morven.

We had three other riders in the Beginner Novice this weekend and one riding in the Training.  Eliza Crosby rode her new mount, Woodstock Rawley, in his first event and had a great start to his career to finish 7th.  Miranda Webb rode Expresso to a 6th place finish, adding just a few time faults to a great dressage score.  Kaelen Speck finished just ahead in 4th on Rosenharley Romello.  These girls all rode so well and are looking ready for Novice at Plantation Field in a few weeks time.

We are fully moved in to our new location at Farideh Farm, and I want to express my deep appreciation for all the helping hands in the past week.  It was a huge task to embark upon, so thank you all for your efforts!

Bucky is off to the Fork CIC*** on Wednesday, stay tuned for updates!

What a Weekend at Southern Pines II !!

Photo Thanks to Gayle Hughes!

During a weekend that saw plenty of top riders find challenge and disappointment on a tough XC track, our team of Erin & Bucky showed us that they can rise to the challenge!  With a solid dressage, clear XC and only one rail in stadium, they moved from 11th to 5th to edge out some of the top competitors in this country!  Bucky was great from start to finish & they're off to The Fork next weekend.

Wyn also had a great weekend finishing 10th in a competitive Training division, and Andi had a very impressive weekend finishing 3rd in the JYROP division on a score of 34.8!  Abigail had an educational weekend, popping out of the tack on the corner, but she was no worse for the wear!


Full Event Scores

Erin & crew are in the process of moving, so Lilybridge Eventing is a busy crew right now.
More updates after next weekend!

PINE TOP RECAP AND A VISIT TO PA!

Photo credit Livvy Saber

We wrapped up our last competition in the Aiken area this past weekend at the Pine Top Farm March Horse Trials.  Six horses and five riders competed from our farm in the novice through preliminary levels.  Pine Top is one of the best competition venues on the southern circuit, so it was suiting to finish up our season there with a great weekend!

Andi Lawrence and Armani IV brought home the blue ribbon of the weekend in the JYOP.  Andi lead her division from start to finish, which is quite a feat on her mount as he is not an easy ride in the dressage.  She has been working hard this winter developing a partnership at the preliminary level with George, and her hard work is clearly paying off.  She has now qualified herself for the CCI* at Virginia, and has her eye on NAYRC this coming summer! 


Annelise Aurillo and Julie Henk rode in the Training with their new mounts, the Cobbler's Son and Merry Sioux, and despite a few hiccups in the jumping phases they had a good weekend.  I had another outing on the young ones, Peace Proposal and Paddy the Caddy.  They both impressed the crowd this weekend finishing second place in each of their divisions!  Following the wrap-up of Pine Top cross-country, most of our horses made the trek home Sunday evening to Pennsylvania.

I had a slight change of pace Monday as I had an opportunity to squeeze in a quick cross-country school at home with a few of my students.  Lucie Hughes, Miranda Webb, and Cassidy Heitzenrater rode their horses while I rode Eliza Crosby's new mount, Woodstock Rawley, in his first cross-country school.  The weather and ground were perfect at Judy Jefferis' Laurel Hill Farm, lending us to a great cross-country school.  All the horses were surprisingly well behaved, and it was great to see the progress each rider has made through the winter.  These riders are all looking forward to kicking off their spring season next weekend at Morven Park, and I am excited to get them going!

We are off to Southern Pines on Thursday morning, so stay tuned for updates and results!

Aiken March Update

Abigail on Fernhill Flag, Photo Credit Mark Lehner, Hoofclix

It has been some time since I last posted and what an exciting few weeks it has been!  We have had successful weekends at the Pine Top Advanced Horse Trials, Sporting Days Horse Trials,  as well as Full Gallop Farm Horse Trials.

Beginning with the most recent competition, Full Gallop Farm held their March Two-Day event this past weekend.  I rode the two youngsters Peace Proposal and Paddy the Caddy in the Training and Novice, and despite a one bank complex that was out to get me, they were both great.  

The highlight of my weekend was coaching Abigail Wilson and her mount Fernhill Flag through their second Intermediate with two clean jumping rounds!  The ground was very hard, so Abigail chose to take the course quite slowly which added some time faults.  Otherwise, both her show-jump and cross-country rides looked foot-perfect as both of them cruised around confidently over the large Intermediate track.  

Abigail is a full-time student at UD, so she is only able to come down on the weekends to ride.  It is quite an attribute to her ability that with just two to three rides per week, she is able to ride her horse so confidently and precisely in competition.  With her great ride this weekend, she has laid the groundwork and created confidence in her horse for the tougher tracks she will be seeing as the season progresses.  Good work, Abigail!

One week prior we had Sporting Days Farm March Horse Trials, with just three horses entered on that weekend.  I rode Stonewall Winters in the Training for Dennis Glaccum, who had a great weekend to finish fourth in a competitive Open Training division.  Once again the highlight of my weekend was my students' performances, as Julie Henk and Mica Kane rode their respective mounts Merry Sioux and The Cobbler's Son in the Novice.  Merry is a new mount for Julie, as we have had her for just a few weeks.  Julie has only had a handful of rides on her, so it was very impressive to see her finish second on her dressage score of 31 in an open division.  With a fifteen point improvement in the dressage from Paradise just two weeks ago, I am excited to see what they will be able to do in a few months!  

Mica Kane also impressed me greatly, as she finished 6th on her dressage score with a 36.  With the exception of a few short rides over Christmas, Mica has not been in the saddle since mid-August of 2011.  She had a cross-country school and a dressage lesson in the two days before Sporting Days, and then cruised around the novice like she owned it!  These two girls made me so proud over the weekend, and I am excited to see what they have in store for this competition season!

Continuing on with my reverse chronology of the recent weekends, Pine Top Advanced is the last (but certainly not the least) of the events to recap. Andi Lawrence had her third start at the Preliminary level on Armani IV, Abigail Wilson had her first start in the Intermediate on Fernhill Flag, and our most recent edition, Wyn Maling, rode Stellar's Run in the Training.  Despite very inclement weather in the beginning of the weekend, all three girls had a good wrap-up to the competition.  Andi rode two clean jump rounds to third place in the JYOP, and Wyn had a third place finish as well in her Training division.  Abigail experienced a few bumps in the road on her first Intermediate track, but nonetheless finished her first intermediate competition with new goals and improvements to achieve.

My big star, No Boundaries, had his first Advanced start of the season at Pine Top as well, and it wrapped up as a great weekend for him.  We have been working with Bettina Hoy in the dressage and the results are showing as he is more confident in the arena.  He sat in the top six in his division after the dressage on a score of 40, just a few points off the lead.  He put in a great show jumping effort, completing his first double clear show jump round of his Advanced career!  We have been frequenting the PSJ Jumper Shows at Highfields in Aiken this winter, and that effort has been paying off!  He cruised around the cross-country with ease and moved into a fourth-place finish in the Advanced C division.  I am cautiously moving forward towards the " Event we don't speak of " coming at the end of April. . . so far, so good!  Bucky's next start will be the Advanced at Southern Pines, so stay tuned for updates!

Spring Schedule!!

Our spring HT schedule is going up on the website. Take note of the April 25th - 29th date!!


March 23-25 Southern Pines

March 31 - April 1 Morven Park

April 5-8  The Fork CIC***

April 14-15 Plantation Field

April 20 - 22 Fair Hill International CIC

April 25 - 29 Rolex Kentucky CCI****

May 12 - 13 Plantation Field 

May 24 - 27 Virginia Horse Trials and CCI