Missy and I hanging at the "Jersey Shore" (Photo courtesy of J Blair's IPhone
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Reflections on Rolex : The Silver Lining to a Cloudy Weekend
Bucky considering how the weekend went amiss
Friday, April 19, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Fork Recap
Bucky and I clearing a big table on our way home! (Photo by J Blair)
There comes a moment when even the most enthralled eventer questions their dedication. That moment occurred while warming Missy up for dressage in the pouring rain. Bad weather and deep mud aside, I was very happy with the weekend. Before dropping into a recap, I would like to take a moment to thank Jenn for slogging through the literal and proverbial mud all weekend, allowing me to make all my ride times! Jenn also had a successful weekend running Wylie at his first prelim this season. Wylie performed well in the terrible weather during dressage, and he jumped well around both the cross-country and show jumping. Good job Jenn and Wiley! I would also like to thank Tori, who stayed home and made sure the barn was still standing when I came back! Team Lilybridge runs smoothly thanks to both of your hard work.
They say bad things come in three, apparently that applies to weather. It was cold, rainy, and windy during Missy's dressage on Thursday. Once I persuaded her to leave the stall, she was obedient and put in a very consistent test. I was very proud of her place in seventh after dressage. Thankfully, it stopped raining by Bucky's test on Friday.
Fortunately a much more obedient Bucky trotted into the arena. I am grateful to David O'Connor for working with us before we went into our test. David has been challenging both of us on the flat; we are constantly improving with his support. I was happy with my test and the development it showed. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the score and my position after dressage. I spent the rest of the day Friday walking the intermediate and three star courses. Both courses were highly technical and required unbroken focus from horse and rider.
Saturday brought the sunshine and sunburns. In a break from protocol that Bucky did not endorse, I show jumped him and rode cross-country on Missy. Fortunately, Bucky channeled his high spirits into the show jumping arena. He easily cleared most of the fences, and I was surprised by the rail we pulled. In hindsight, It may have been fortunate to end our streak of clear rounds before Rolex. Earlier that morning, Missy handled the cross-country course well. She was not responding to my half halts as much as usual, so she came into the water too fast and stumbled up the bank. I did not attempt to jump the cabin after the bank, but she managed the combination on the second attempt. Missy got valuable experience during her second intermediate run, and she will feel more confident and able at the next competition.
Sunday was the most important day of the competition, with Bucky's cross-country. I felt confident in Bucky; he loves his job, and he is a very skillful jumper. Bucky jumped great throughout the course. I rode more conservatively in the water than normal, because I was determined not to have another mishap there! I wasn't as competitive with Bucky as I had aimed to be, but we had three mishap free rides. We go into our next competition feeling well prepared. Missy show jumped better than at Southern Pines, dropping two rails. We are still figuring it out, but she has a great attitude and plenty of talent!
Thank you for checking up on our progress. Check Lilybridge's Facebook page for video and pictures of the weekend. Stop by next week for a recap of Plantation Spring Horse Trials. Paris will be running her first intermediate. I am very excited to see how she handles the challenge!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Morven Update
Tori Kager and Avi clear a show jump on the way to completing their first clear prelim. Thanks to Chris Kager for the photo.
Many of you probably celebrated Easter by sharing a large meal with close family and friends. We here at Lilybridge have a slightly different take on the holiday, nothing says Easter like competing your best friend in the rain. The girls were all troopers handling the inclement weather, and the easter bunny rewarded them with sugar free ribbons!
Tori Kager finished fifth on her wonderful mount Avi. The pair were tied for seventh after dressage with a 39.6. They had one rail down in show jumping, and they went clear cross country. Congrats Tori on your first clear preliminary! Meanwhile in the open preliminary Julie Henk and Merry Sioux had great runs in the show jumping and cross country, and they moved up to finish in sixth place. Well done Julie!
Eliza Crosby and Woodstock Rawley finished in fifth on their dressage score. They had a lovely dressage, scoring a 33 which put them into seventh place. They made easy work of the show jumping and cross country, adding no points to their score and moving up two places. Olivia Sabers and Stonewall Winters had an equally strong show jumping and cross country finishing in seventh. Good work Eliza and Olivia!
I have been busy getting Bucky ready for The Fork and settling back into the barn. I enjoyed the weather in Aiken and I am hoping it will eventually arrive at Lilybridge. Come on Spring!! Check in next week for a recap of The Fork. Hopefully Bucky will be on his best behavior on the flat!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Southern Pines and Home
Bucky and I jumping into the water at Southern Pines (Photo Courtesy of J Blair's iPhone)
It was a busy weekend for me at Southern Pines! Thankfully, the rain mostly held off on Friday and Saturday. I was impressed with the cross-country courses for all divisions; they were challenging and the footing was in great shape. It would not have been possible for me to compete all four horses without the hard work and dedication of Tori Kager and Jenn Cain. Thank you for all of your hard work and good job this weekend! Southern Pines was a great last hurrah before heading home to be greeted by a snow storm!
On Friday, I was happy with Paris's, Paddy's, and Missy's dressage tests; they put in good efforts and were well placed in competitive divisions.I was looking forward to Bucky's test. We have made a lot of progress during the high performance training sessions with David O'Connor, and I was excited to show off our hard work. Sadly Bucky decided to turn his test into a how-not-to tutorial, misbehaving throughout the test. I was disappointed with the test and my placing after dressage. On top of helping me all day, Jenn managed to control a spirited Wylie to score a 33 in the training rider division, and Tori rode well on Avi in the junior open training division and earned a 43.
Saturday was a crazy day for me with four cross-countries, three show jumpings, two tired grooms, and one exhausted rider! Bucky must have sensed my disappointment with his dressage; he made a strong campaign to get back in my good graces the rest of the weekend. I was really pleased with the way he attacked the cross-country course. It was our most challenging course this season, and the way he jumped makes me feel ready for The Forks. Paris, Paddy, and Missy all handled the challenging preliminary cross-country well. I was very pleased with their clear rounds. Unfortunately, the show jumping proved more challenging. Paddy studded himself, In his excitement, on cross-country. He was in pain during show-jumping, but he was a trooper only knocking down one rail. Paris show jumped well, only adding two time. I was surprised by the difficulty that Missy had in show jumping, taking down five rails was unexpected. I had hoped to finish on the ribbons on these promising horses, but I was satisfied overall with their performances. The little hiccups throughout the weekend are easy to fix. Jenn and Tori both had strong cross-country and show jumping rides. I was very pleased with their rides! I want thank Jenn and Tori for their enormous effort, getting all my horses ready in time. It was a long but rewarding day for everyone!
On Sunday, in torrential downpours, I had Bucky's show jumping left; it was a highlight of the weekend. I tried to really focus on my position throughout the course, and Bucky was clearly very focused on not knocking down any rails. He jumped really big and managed to turn in one of a handful of clear rounds. This was a big accomplishment for him given the weather and the size of the course. I have to hand it to Bucky, he usually knows when he has messed up and needs to make up for it with some impressive jumping! I was very pleasantly surprised by my Eighth place finish, and Bucky was very pleased with himself.
Check in, in a few weeks for a recap of The Fork. After this weekend, my entry for Rolex is in the mail! Bucky has asked for a throng of adoring fans to cheer him on at Rolex, so hopefully I will see many of you out there!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Final Aiken Update
Eliza Crosby and Woodstock Rawley riding their way to a second place finish in the Junior Novice. Well done Eliza and Thornie!!
Greetings from Aiken! We are winding down our Aiken season and have just wrapped up a very busy weekend at Pine Top Horse Trials. We had seven horses competing, novice through preliminary. We were blessed with great weather, and we enjoyed every minute of it!
I had a very busy weekend, riding five horses! Peace Proposal and Paddy the Caddy had a prep run, in the preliminary division, for the upcoming Southern Pines. I had two rides in the training division, one on Marnie Kelly's Campground and another on Melissa Carson's Bo Brown. Melissa has unfortunately been sidelined for a few weeks due to a broken wrist. The Speck's mare Mimi also rode in the novice. I was somewhat surprised by how wild the horses were given the warm weather. We had a very hectic week leading up to the competition, and I did not focus on dressage as much as I normally would have. Despite a less than perfect dressage, I was ecstatic by how well they all jumped. Their performances were particularly impressive given the challenging tracks at all levels. Each horse was well behaved and focused, it was highly encouraging to see the progress they have made in Aiken.
Eliza Crosby and Olivia Saber made another journey south to compete in the novice. Their horses have been camping out in Aiken with me for the past two weeks. It was great to have the girls around for another school and competition. Eliza and Woodstock Rawley pulled in the LBE leading result of the weekend, adding yet another second place finish in the junior novice (We're counting on a win at your next outing Thornie). Olivia and Stonewall had a great dressage and show jumping, and an unlucky parting of company at a spooky fence on cross-country. We will be sure to iron the kinks out before Morven!
I was sad to pull out of Pine Top Farm yesterday afternoon, as it felt like a farewell to the Aiken season. Pine Top is one of my favorite event venues. I find the courses there are always tactfully designed and get the horses running well. The cross-country always seems to look difficult as you walk it, but all levels have open courses that always give horses confidence building runs that educate them.
We had some slight hiccups in the program through last week and the weekend. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped out immensely and made the event happen. I owe a huge thank you to Olivia and Eliza for working long days and late nights, leading up to Pine Top, on the farm. You girls were troopers! I would like to also thank Wyn Maling and Tori Kager for grooming at the event, and keeping the days running smoothly. As always, we are thankful to Sumner Crosby for keeping us well fed and hydrated, but also for being our in-house photographer.
Team Lily is wishing Melissa Carson a speedy recovery from her wrist fracture. Bobo the clown is very excited to get you out on the training cross-country. He is even more excited to sass you in the dressage ring!
We have the last segment of the USEF High Performance Training Sessions this week with David O'Connor. Please check out the USEF High Performance Eventing Facebook Page for more info.
Thanks for following us, and stay tuned for this coming weekends excitement at Southern Pines!
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