Starter Trials at MDHT

Sunday, October 16 was the MDHT starter trial.  2 days before closing, I decided to enter Fred in the BN division.  LClark and Scotch (PB/PonyBoy) joined us for the fun.

In the week leading up to the event, Fred and I prepared every way we could.  Cindy helped us through show jumping, Wende gave Fred a fabulous massage on Saturday, and Sarah was super patience with us during our dressage lesson.  

Canter departs.  GAH! My brain understands them, my body doesn't.  We tackled my nemesis on Friday with Sarah.  Sarah's fix is easy once I get it. We practiced, and practiced, and practiced!  It's a work in progress.  On a really good note, Sarah says Fred's trot work is improving.

The PB stayed over at HVS Saturday night as we left for MDHT at 5am.  Fred was a smart horse and loaded on to the trailer with no issue.  (Big thanks to Lauren Gress for helping Fred practice loading and unloading.)  

MDHT ran the HT in a reverse order this time, elementary to training.  There were 5 divisions of senior BN and LClark was in the first one.  Her dressage time was at 8:30.  We left the barn at 5am.  The schedule worked well as LClark was completely done before I started and we were done by 12:30.  The weather couldn't have been any better.

The PB is so much to fun watch.  He is cuuuuuuuuuuute!  Lauren and Scotch finished third in a division of twelve.

 Lauren and Scotch.

Fred was excellent the entire day.  The dressage warm up was in between three dressage rings and the elementary/intro stadium course.  The XC start and finish was just on the other side of the fence.  Fred was all focus and lovely in warm up.  He held it together until the first lap around the dressage ring.  Behind the judge's booth was the concession area with lots of people and things moving in the breeze.  Fred wasn't afraid but he would have rather watched those going-ons instead of doing his test.  

 

  Moments like this make me feel very lucky to own this horse.

 What are they doing over there?  Let's go over there!

Ending a great test.

We had  two 8s in the test!  The trot and canter circles to the left were 8s.  The right side needs to be more supple and finesse.  I like the progress we're making.

Stadium started out really well and then I let him get backed off at the fan jump before the two stride combination.  We managed to leave all the rails up.  There was a red fabric bag blowing through the course during our round and Fred never blinked about it.  He's a good boy.

XC was fast!  The course was stunning.  Great fences and room between some to actually go forward.  Fred was focused and with me through the first 8 fences.  By fence 9 Fred the FreightTrain arrived.  Fred cruises pretty easily so it isn't scary but it makes my approach to the fences difficult.  We had a few awkward jumps but nothing to worry about.  The two water crossings went well. 

We also finished third in our division of twelve.  I was thrilled with how well we did.  Besides the small freight train run, I felt Fred and I are finally working together.  

In case you haven't seen enough, here are my photos and GRC's professional photos.

The day before MDHT was the two and three star at Fair Hill.  Here's my link to the photos I took. 


It turns out going to MDHT was a good plan.  We were snowed out at Plantation today.  Yes, snowed out.  As I type I'm trying to figure out if I can enter us in something for next weekend. 

Week recap in photos

 The Herndon, VA IBM office.  White room with bright orange chairs.  Must be a Feng Shui thing.

A souvenir as a result to my Montgomery, Alabama trip a few weeks ago.  Guess I have my SEC team now.  Thanks, Fitz! ;)

Paige helped me work on Teeny Tiny's sensitive nose. 

 Paige shared her anguish with Fwed and he seemed to relate to her.

 Lauren and Paige were very helpful in loading Fred.  He's been in trailer training this week.

The Diesel in a Washington, DC parking garage with 6'6 clearance.  I was terrified.

 Me and Fred, Lauren and Napoleon, and Paige and Bootz.  

Red, white, and crazy!

 Fwed being good.

 Fwed being sassy.

Fwed being good.

Fwed being very sassy!

Fair Hill International CCI **/***

Fair Hill blog

Official Fair Hill website

Tickets are $15 a person for Saturday or Sunday.  Living Social has a deal!

The Fair Hill fall event is one of the biggest events on the east coast each fall.  Tyler and I were outriders twice and had an amazing time.  This year I plan on going to watch XC as a spectator.  If you'd like to join me and a my friends, let me know!  On Saturday, the two star begins between 8 and 9am and the three star runs right after lunch and goes until about 4.  It is an outrageously cool event.

There will be family fun activities, shopping, dog events, pony club activities, and of course amazing eventing.  Check out the links above for all the info. 

It all changes from day to day.

Some days you need comfort food.  I'm battling a cold and went driving in Herndon, VA to find some food.  I'm having a great scrambled egg and ham sandwich as I think about what to blog.  There's a lot to catch up on.

Bad news first.  Almost six months to the day, Tyler had another neuro episode.  One second he was fine, the next he wasn't.  There was no obvious trigger.  Tyler lost control of his back end first and then his front end.  He was able to balance himself until he had control again.  It lasted about 30 minutes.  Probably 20 minutes into the episode, he tried to move towards the stall door and lost his balance.  He fell, but was up immediately and uninjured.  There isn't much I can do but monitor Tyler's quality of life.  I know what's coming but we aren't at that place yet.

Now onto the lighter notes.  


My parents and I ventured to Happy Valley on Sept 24 for the game versus Eastern Michigan.  I was able to visit with Jackie before the game.  We were prepared for rain and left with sunburn!  PSU came out with the win (it wasn't impressive but it was a win.)  Our seats were 11 rows from the field and we had two touchdown plays in our endzone corner.  

 Jackie and me. :)

 Mom and Dad.

THE LION!

The day after the game, I taught a few lessons and asked Gale to stick around the barn so I could jump Fred.  I measured the fences after I jumped them.  Many were about 3' and two were a little higher than 3'.  It was good for Fred and I to go jump something bigger without the reassurance from Cindy or Sally.  When I compete, they aren't there holding my hand through the course.  Their lessons have paid off!  We had a good ride.

In fact, the ride was so good I entered the Burgundy Hollow HT at the last minute.  BH offers a neat option to mix and match levels.  I did the novice dressage test, beginner novice XC, and novice stadium course.  But we'll get to that in a minute.

I returned from working in Herndon, VA on Friday (9/30) in time to jump with Lauren and Napoleon.  It's a little too much fun jumping our crazy red heads.  Cindy helped us feel ready for Sunday.

Saturday was a crazy day.  I rode Fred, taught lessons, and then picked up Aileen, Stephanie, and LClark (Lauren) for our adventure to Devon.  Connie, (I may get this wrong and I apologize), my mom's cousin had tickets for Dressage at Devon.  She has offered to take me for years and I usually had to decline for other plans.  I finally took her offer this year.  WOW!  It was spectacular.  Our seats were perfect and the rain held off while we went shopping and for the first half of the freestyle rides.  How about a stock pin for Christmas?  The shopping was great and we only saw half of it.  Stephanie had onion dip and chicken salad.  Aileen brought champagne, cheese and crackers, and fruit.  Lauren brought cupcakes in honor of Aileen's birthday.  :)  I brought my mom's really cute and handy picnic basket.  We enjoyed a great night of wine, food, and dressage.  

 LClark and I bundled up.  It was a chilly evening.

 Aileen, the birthday girl, and Stephanie.  Life is good.

 

I was home by Saturday night at midnight and up at 5 to get ready for BH on Sunday.  Fred, since his trailer ejection, has not been the easiest to load.  He had a rough time on Sunday.  Not a big surprise seeing as his owner doesn't practice loading and unloading.  Fred finally loaded and we were off.


Our dressage warmup was very nice.  The test went really well until I saw one of Fred's shoes laying along the chains at C.  The canter departs were explosive and nervous, thanks to a mental block with the rider.  At the end of the test the judge handed me the shoe and wished me luck.  G


I went asking for opinions.  The footing was very soft, but it was a front shoe.  Fred is a bit delicate, unlike Tyler, so I was concerned.  A very nice woman came by to tell me that she had enjoyed watching Fred and I during dressage.  That was a very generous compliment.  The best thing she did was point me towards a man who was spectating and also happened to be a Cornell farrier.  He was so very wonderful to tack Fred's shoe back on.  Fred hadn't done too much damage so we returned to action.


XC went well.  It was probably only the seventh or eighth time we've gone XC.  The first little log had Fred a bit confused, but we got our act together at the second fence.  We had three fences that we weren't quite together but we made it.  We had a moment of odd spooking between a pasture with horses and the 4wheeler.  After we got past that it was smooth sailing to the end.


The novice show jumping round that followed was not as smooth.  The first fence was ok and then it when down from there.  Fred and I haven't been out in mud before and we learned a lot.  He lost his confidence and I didn't rebuild it.  He fell behind my leg and we crawled through the course.  We had two rails and a technical refusal because I circled on a bending line.  I'll take the 4 points to save me and the horse.  However... it's been a year since I did a novice SJ course and I've had Fred for 8 months so I'm not too upset.  We have accomplished more this year than I expected.

I dropped an entry for BN at the MDHT starter trial on 10/16 in the mail today.  Let's hope Fred keeps himself in one piece until then. Obviously my plan to only do Plantation this fall has changed.  I'm back to traveling for work again and finally have some extra funds in the pipeline.  If I can go to MDHT again on Nov 12, I will.  Yay for fall eventing!  


Last, but certainly not least, please search for TACK Culture on FB and like the page.  My fried, Annemarie, has an amazing website for equestrians (Tack, Apparel, Culture, Knowledge.)  Annemarie is a fellow eventer and fabulous business woman.

These boots were made for walking.

After I write this blog, I hope I can post it on FB.  I do not like the new updates!  The folks at FB are making it difficult to use and are about to cause themselves problems.

The flooding was bad but now under control.  The area seems back to normal.  

Last week was my first trip to Montgomery, Alabama.  I wasn't kidding when I said I hoped to survive the week!  Work presented me with new challenges and people.  I won't lie, the worst challenge was finding out at the last minute that I was the presenter all week.  I hadn't pack the right shoes for hours and days of standing! My feet still hurt.  Being in Montgomery let me visit with a few people from the VA project I hadn't seen in months.  It was great to catch up with them.

Friday night on my way home, Cindy asked if I wanted to ride Graham at the Beaufort Hunter Trials the next day.  Sure, why not!? Graham is a five year old TB gelding and such a very nice horse.  I hadn't been on a horse in a week and Graham was worked once in the last week.  We went out, in bad mud, and had a great day!  We brought home two blues and a reserve champ ribbon! 

 Fred had some down time while I was away.  We did flat work the last three days and jumped last night.  He was a bit full of himself and it was the first time I was able to really feel capable of standing up to him.  We'll go round 2 on Thursday with Lauren and Napoleon.  My schedule is a little crazy right now with work and I plan on running at Plantation in October at BN.  After that, we'll prep for a strong start next year. 

 

Hello there, Mother Nature.

Fred and I survived our first serious travel event since the trailer incident in July.  It took help from Cindy to get him on the trailer, but once on Fred stayed put.  It was just me and him at Carousel Park while we got ready.  He was quite cooperative despite his increased height! We had a great schooling with Sally and the group.  Sally kept us at BN so we would have a confidence building ride. 

We had to jump up the bank a few times.  Fred doesn't jump in a way that will propel me out of the tack.  The more I think about it, that's probably a good thing.  When we do certain jumps, I have to be strong enough to get myself out of the tack, hold it, and stay out of his way.  We worked on having the correct canter to fences.  It's forward, not up and down.  As usual, I have to ignore Fred's celebrations and ride.  We had one run out because I didn't ride him straight to a fence.  Sally really got after me! It was appropriate butt kicking.  After that Fred and I had several good fences, which made the last few weeks of frustration worth it.

On Monday, Paige and I started practicing for our pairs debut on Sept 25 at Twin Brooks.  Watching us try to stay together must be hilarious.  

At the end of our ride Monday, the rain started.  It hasn't stopped since then! Wednesday was the worst.  There was horrible flooding in the Susquehanna Valley!  I went out and saw cars submerged, scared parents who couldn't get to their children, and rushing rivers in places that are no where near water.  My dad started pumping water out of their basement Wednesday around 2pm and is still pumping water out of the basement.  At best, they were able to keep the water level at around a foot.  

Wednesday afternoon and evening I went out and took photos and video of my area.  A mile radius around our house in Hershey saw major damage.  The area had not seen flooding like this since Hurricane Agnes in 1972.  

The weather has changed some upcoming plans.  Lauren and I had hoped to get our redheads back to eventing at Olney on Sept 18 but yesterday they cancelled the event.  We're bummed but also relieved that all of us are safe and in one piece. 

After hours of work on the ring yesterday, Cindy has made it possible for to ride in the outdoor again with Sally today. 

Saturday afternoon I will be home to cheer my #23 Penn State Nittany Lions on against #3 Alabama.  I hope everyone going to the game is careful and plans accordingly.  The main road from Harrisburg to PSU is out due to the flooding.

Sunday will be an early start.  The Fair Hill horse trial moved from Saturday to Sunday.  I will be there to help Sally with her rides.  Her first ride is 8:04 am.  I will be able to stay and see Cindy and Graham.  After that, I must rush home in time to shower and head to the airport.  I'm flying to Atlanta Sunday evening and then driving to Montgomery, Alabama for the week.  

Prepping for Olney and stalking Burghley.

The new project is going well.  It's a challenge, no doubt about it.  I'm working with software that IBM recently bought and as usual, I have no training on it.  The project sent me to Atlanta last week as a hall monitor.  The client was at the IBM facility for an intro to the software.  It gave me a chance to meet the people I'm working with and see the software.

I was able to sneak out to Chattahoochee Hills farm Wednesday night.  It is about 20 miles south of Atlanta.  The American Eventing Championships are held there from 2010-2012.  The site is astonishing.  There is a long lane that finally ends up at the top of a hill crest where you can see the beautiful stabling and rings to your left and the cross country course to your right.  The weather was very nice for August in Georgia.  I found a groundskeeper who gave me permission to walk the course.  The XC was still undergoing work.  Jumps were being set, the water complex had been drained and re-leveled, and there were sprinklers and aerators at work.  Photos from my adventure are posted on Flickr.  After being at the site, I'm hoping to win the lottery and qualify for next year's AECs.  The guest stabling is nicer that my house!

Back at home, things are quiet.  Quiet is always good.  Tyler is happy.  The latest report is that he mostly keeps to himself and grazes.  He has been taking advantage of gates left open and apparently looks coordinated and healthy as he comes running back to the barn when he hears the rattle of grain.

Fred and I are trying to prepare for Olney on Sept 18.  We've had a few unexpected bumps which are out of our control, but I think we're ok now.  My plan is to take him to Carousel on Sunday for XC with Sally and to Fair Hill Tuesday if needed.  The biggest hurdle, besides keeping the little bugger in one piece, is a work trip to Montgomery, Alabama right before the event.  I'll be counting on Cindy and Lauren to help me keep him going that week.  It's impossible to event without a team to help you.  

Rumor has it that Fred and I may compete against our good friends, Lauren and Napoleon at Olney.  The red heads should have a lot of fun there. 

Lauren and a very happy Fred out in the field at HVS.

Lauren and Napoleon over the training corner at Plantation.

Currently the biggest, baddest, and most intimidating three day event in the world is taking place.  The Burghley Horse Trial is amazing.  Take a walk around Saturday's cross country course with the designer, Captain Mark Phillips.  (Yep, same guy I will ignore if Sally's giving me directions.)  Nico Morgan's photos make me want to go out and spend a lot of money on a nice camera.  Eventing Nation has many links from the event.  Check out the US's best chance, Sinead Halpin, as she walks the first five fences.  Sinead finished 3rd this year at Rolex, she was the highest placed American.  The leaf pit just leaves me speechless.  And if the site is holding up to the demand, watch the replays of all the beautiful and crazy pairs compete.