Nicole and Wallenstein complete their first Grand Prix together with stellar success earning over 62%!

The past weekend at the Gold Coast Opener Festival in Wellington, Nicole competed GB Marko in the Intermediare I the first day winning the class on a 64% and was 4^th the second day in the open Intermediare I, the only Adult Amateur in the class, with a 62%. She also competed Walle in the Grand Prix both days earning 62% the first day and 61% the second day in big classes. From 4 classes with Walle, Nicole is already one score off obtaining her gold medal! Both horses were great all weekend, they are both such easy going horses to take to horse shows and both tried their hearts out both days.

Next weekend is Apopka this time with Walle doing the Intermediare II and the Grand Prix Special, Marko debuting his Intermediare I Freestyle and Otto at 4^th level.

Our last two shows of 2009 have come and gone, December 5^th and 6th  we headed to Jacksonville for the “Dressage on the First Coast” show. The year is coming to an end but it was first time out for Marko since the Beaulieu CDI in August. Marko did the Prix St George each day and although he was a little tight and tense it was a good opportunity to get him in the ring and see where he is at for the 2010 season. We also took “Wallenstein” along for the ride to get a feel for him at the shows.It’s been quite some time since ‘Walle’ had been out so needless to say he was somewhat on the fresh side, tough he behaved impeccably all weekend. He was just so happy to be out and about.

The following weekend we headed south to Wellington for the Wellington Classic I. This time we took Marco and Otopia to compete, and Walle for another “look see”! Marco competed on the first day in the Intermediare I, finishing 3^rd with a 61.3% and Otto was  3rd in his 3^rd level test with a 62.3%. The second day Marco won  the Prix St George with a 68.6% and Otto was 4th again at 3^rd level with a 63%. Otto seems, finally,  to have his legs organised and only missed one change all weekend!  Walle was a saint once again and we finally got to meet Lars Peterson who found Walle for us!

Now we have Christmas to get thru then all the fun starts again back to Wellington for the 9^th/10^th of January where Nicole will have her first start at Intermediare II with Walle. Two weeks later we are back to Wellington, this time Grand Prix for Nicole and Walle while Marco will compete in the CDI. Our other FEI horse, GB Classic, has been enjoying a little vacation. He is currently starting back to work and will be fit and ready to compete again soon!

     Marko warming up O-Topia!

 "Wallenstein" in Wellington

"Walle's first day out in Canada"

Former Greenbrier Horse and New Owner Win BIG!

Below is an article from the North Bay Nugget detailing the win of our dear client Sable Giesler and her new horse "Evil Munchkin" (aka Rambo). Sable purchased Rambo from us in 2008 as a very green broke baby and since then they have been virtually undefeated in the sport of Eventing. We are very proud of both of them!

HEADWATERS, Ont. — Sable Giesler of Powassan and her six-year-old Holsteiner gelding, Evil Munchkin, won the Junior Pre-Training Division at the Ontario Horse Trials Association Championships over the weekend.

Posting a dressage score of 41.3, adding only 1.6 time-penalties over the cross-country course and going double clear in the jumping test, Giesler and Evil Munchkin finished with 42.9 penalty points, earning them the provincial grand championship.

In the same division, Giesler on her second mount, Kathryn the Great, her 11-year-old Quarter Horse Paint mare, earned a 10th-place ribbon. Going clear on cross-country and adding eight jumping faults in the jumping test to her dressage score of 47.5, they finished with 55.5 penalties overall.

There were 30 starting riders in the pre-training junior division.

To qualify for championships, riders must have at least a fourth-place finish at a sanctioned Ontario Horse Trial during the regular season.

Giesler, 14, is coached by Bob Holman, owner of Grandview Farms in Orillia. She trains during the fall at Knowlton Ridge Equestrian Centre in Powassan and then moves to Ocala, Fla., to compete and train during the winter.

 Sable and "Evil Munchkin"

CDI *** W- August 6-9, 2009

The Greenbrier boys, GB Classic and GB Marco, were in top form this past week in Quebec at our first CDI. Thursday we warmed up by doing an Equine Canada Prix St George class. Despite being a little rusty from not showing since early June, and Marco being certain the flowers around the ring were going to eat him, we did just fine. GB Classic won the class with GB Marco close behind in 2nd place.

The Thursday afternoon jog was not a big deal for Phat (GB Classic). He acted as though he knew exactly what to do, while Marco took the opportunity to spook almost the entire jog. He showed the vet panel not only that he was sound, but also that he had some very athletic moves!

Friday both boys were in the CDI Prix St Georges class. It wasn't a particularily brilliant day on my part as I messed up a line of changes on each horse. It was a very large class and Phat ended up 14th and Marco 11th. Having said that, there was very few points seperating the top ten.

Marco shone on Saturday in the EC PSG class, winning 1st place. Phat put in a very solid test in the CDI in the Inter 1, and I was thrilled to make the top 10 and get to take part in the mounted awards ceremony. Phat was a saint until the victory lap, when he decided the ribbon on his bridle was trying to attack him!

Sunday everything came together for our team. Marco started the day winning the EC division of the Inter 1 by a large margin. He also earned overall AA FEI Champion. Phat and I did our freestyle in the CDI and had a blast. He was so relaxed and it flowed very nicely. I had been worried since we have only ever done the freestyle once in May, and I redid the choreography to make it less hurried. Phat and I ended up 4th place in the CDI class and I couldn't have been happier. Not bad for the only adult amatuer in the whole CDI!

As a side note, when we arrived at the show they had prizes and ribbons waiting for me from Blainville in June. I had no idea that we had been named AA FEI Champion and Reserve Champion at that show. It was so nice that they held our prizes for us and I am very grateful to the sponsers that make these prizes possible!

The boys will now enjoy a short well deserved holiday before spending the rest of the summer trying to prepare for Inter 2. They each can piaffe quite well, but need to work on our one time tempis and passage. We will for sure be doing another CDI this winter in Florida, and will look forward to even better placings.

 GB Marco in the CDI Friday

 GB Classic during the awards presentation - 4th place CDI Freestyle

Our first show back in Canada couldn't have gone much better, all 3 horses were as good as we could ask. Otto made his 4th level debut scoring a 60.465% and finishing in 4th place. It has been a little touch and go as to how Otto would handle moving up the levels, due to his legs getting tangled in his changes. We were very happy when he handled all the changes like a trooper! Otto has started tempi's at home so once they become more established he will move up the levels quickly. He already does his half canter pirouettes, and all his lateral work is established, not bad for a horse that up till a year ago was eventing! Otto also placed in all his 3rd level tests scoring between 60 and 65% and won his last class Saturday in the mud on a 64.6%.

The weather turned on Blainville in a big way on Friday with torential rain and lightning, ofcourse it all came through as Nicole was doing her test on Otto. Otto has the worst luck with storms. She did manage to finish her test and get back to the barn before the rain really started coming down, but we scratched the other horses as the rings were very wet. Both the Prix St George horses are doing their first CDI in August so it didn't seem worth it to risk them getting hurt, altough the people who did ride said the footing stood up pretty well. The organiser's did a fantastic job on getting the rings back in shape and other than a few pesky puddles the next day it was hard to believe there had been so much rain. The two FEI horses were great as usual, Phat is catching everyone's attention scoring 65.965% in his first PSG and 62% the second day. Phat has an amazing work ethic, he loves his job and he and Nicole have a great repore with each other - they just keep getting better and better together. Phat also did the Intermediare 1 with a score of 63.026%, coming second to Nicole's other horse Marko who, in their debut at I1 just pushed Phat out with a 63.553%. in the short time we have had Marko he has proved to be a great worker also. He can be a little spooky but never carries it to the ring, thankfully! It's great to have not one, but two wonderful horses, they both have their quirks, so it's never boring!! Marko also did two PSG scoring 61.140% and 63.246%

It was a long week, but well worth it, we now have the fun task of putting together Marko and Phat's freestyle's for the CDI in Ottawa.

 GB Classic at Blainville - Photo Cealy Tetley

June 30-July 22 2008: Sit Means Sit, Las Vegas

For those of you who haven't heard, we are opening a branch of "Sit Means Sit" Dog Training here at the farm. This is a hugely successful company that Alan's daughter and her husband Fred run in Las Vegas. They currently have over 70 locations, across the US, Austrailia and even Dubai. Greenbrier Farm will be their second Canadian location and we are very excited! We will be offering a full range of dog training, including classes for puppies, private and group lessons.

At any rate, I am off to the head office for 3 weeks of training in Vegas and will return July 22. Don't be too jealous; it is literally hotter than hell there right now and I won't be anywhere near the Vegas Strip! Please still feel free to email me or call me on my US cell at 352-598-7598.

For more info on Sit Means Sit, check out www.sitmeanssit.com.

Our location's page is http://www.sitmeanssituxbridge.com/.

Blainville International CDI - June 28, 2008

We are home now safe and sound from our trip to Quebec. The week just kept better and better, with the horses consistantly improving. Thursday Pam held her record of never placing less than 2nd at 2nd level; she won her first class of the day and placed 2nd in her other test. One thing about Pamela - she sure knows her job and nothing distracts her from it! Otto earned another 3rd at 3rd level as well.

The really good news is that on our last day of showing Otto did a crazy good test at 2nd level, to earn almost 68% winning by 11% in his class. Then poor Phat got introduced to my new rowels! I really went at him hard in the warm-up, jazzing him up to the point he was definitely off my leg! I said to Trudi before I went into the ring, "I don't know if this is going to go well!" But go well it did - we earned a 64.92% in front of 3 judges 4th level test 2, winning the class. I was proud to say I counted my tempi changes correctly (finally!). At any rate, I learned some valuable lessons including sometimes it pays off to take a chance. There will always be another test, so why not? I am also slowly coming to realize just how different warmbloods are than the thoroughbreds....everyone knows they are much calmer but what I am finding is unlike TB's, some of them just keep getting better with more warm-up before a test. I battle with my ex-event horses to find the perfect warm-up, not too long and not too short.

At any rate, I am absolutely stoked with the past week and can't wait until our next big show in August. Phat and I will have our FEI debut at Prix St Georges. Yikes!

I will post some photos when I can.

Blainville CDI International – June 25, 2008

We have been here in Quebec showing the past two days. The weather has co-operated beautifully thus far but there are some SERIOUS bugs here. Lots of little tiny gnats during the day and some huge mosquitoes at night. This is the first time (ever) I have had to show with fly bonnets on, otherwise the horses go insane from the gnats.

The facilities here are really quite nice; plenty of warm-up areas, good footing in the rings and places to hand graze the ponies. Plus there is a shopping row to help fill in the time between classes!

So far the horses have been fairly good. Phat has earned 2 third places and a 1^st at 4^th level. He doesn’t know it yet but I have bought a new pair of spurs for Fridays class…lol. My only complaint about Phat is that he becomes quite dead to my leg during the tests. Otto is doing a decent job, placing 4^th in an extra large class yesterday at 3^rd level. Today he actually got his changes correct and earned a 3^rd place. My normally comatose Pamela was rather full of herself today and put in the speediest test on record. Somehow she placed 2^nd but I really felt I was being run away with in the ring!

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be rainy, but this is the beautiful thing about competing ex-event horses: they love the puddles!!! Between tomorrow and Friday we have 5 more tests, so we have time to improve our scores….fingers crossed!

May 20, 2008

Greenbrier Welcomes New Team Addition

"Falco" is a 6 year old Westphalian by Furst Heinrich, who arrived this past weekend from Germany. He is a stunning 17 hands, and moves like NOTHING I have ever seen before. I am absolutely thrilled to have him as one of my own competition horses, and I look forward to getting to know him this summer. I think we can really expect great things from him as he is as kind and gentle as he is a thrill to watch move.

 Enjoying his first day out in Canada.

WEF- Dressage in Wellington March 20-23,2008

Greenbrier ventured to Wellington for the first time ever this past weekend to participate in the dressage show. What a place! I had no idea how busy it was....the sheer volume of horses in such a small area was a little overwhelming. Not to mention the showjumping going on all around the dressage rings! Thankfully my horses were well-behaved but we saw more than one get excused from the ring.

Pamela was quite a good girl at 2nd level, earning a 1st, 2nd and a 5th for her tests. Otto outdid himself, finally catching on to the whole "flying change thing", and placed 1st, 2nd and 4th at 3rd level. I took my new horse "Phat" that I have had about a month and did my very first 4th level tests. (Wow - those are some long tests to remember!). He placed 6th and 7th but only because of the comments "more forward". This I know.... but until I can sit to his HUGE trot we have to make do. He was awesome - very attentive in the ring and all business.

I was pleased with the horses and how they did among some very good competition. That being said, I was still happy to come home to the green spaces of Ocala!

 "Otto" hams it up prior to one of his tests.

"Akita" In Fine Form at USDF Dressage Show

March 1, 2008 - "Akita" just keeps getting better and better. This weekend she competed in her first dressage show at Training level. Since it was such a warm day I only warmed her up for a few minutes prior to her first test and she was very good. She earned a 65% which was good enough for 2nd place in a large class. It would have been an even higher mark, but yours truly had an error! Akita was perfect; I was not.

January 19-20, 2008: Florida Horse Park National Dressage Show

Who knew that the dressage judges would love our Pamela? Despite being the grumpy-est horse in the warm-up, Pamela changed her attitude once in the ring and claimed all 4 of her second level tests. She does love her simple changes, particularily the downward transitions! Otto competed at 3rd level for the second time and forgot a few times how to do flying changes. Despite that, he put in very solid tests to win 3 of his 4, and placing 2nd in the other.

January 5, 2008 - Rocking Horse Schooling Horse Trial

"Akita" Places 6th at Her First Show!

Akita was a good girl at her very first outing. Considering she had never been in a dressage ring, she put in a great effort to score a 33.5 (including three 8's). Not bad for her first time! Her transitions need some work but I was very pleased with her "workman-like" attitude. She showjumped very well; but to be fair it was as though the fences were not big enough for her to really show enthusiasm. Nonetheless, she showjumped clean. Cross country had me feeling a little apprehensive, as I had not taken her schooling.... she had never been into water or over any fences other than the few logs we have at home. I should not have been worried; she did not look at a thing and even went happily into the water first time.

Akita placed 6th overall (beginner novice) and I was very pleased with her. She was a treat to have at the show; very well-behaved and mature. I am really looking forward to her next outing!

Click here to see Akita's dressage test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh1g5kT83JY

Click here to see Akita's showjump round: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVcGN7Cs6Y0

November 2007 - Florida Horse Park HT

A very successful weekend for the Greenbrier Team! Due to unforeseen circumstances all of the Prelim divisions had to run as a combined test, and Otto and Pamela were superstars. Pamela put in a personal best dressage score of 28 and Otto scored 25, beaten only by Karen O'Connor. Both Pam and Otto had clear showjumping rounds (and there weren't many!) and ended up finishing 1st (Otto) and 2nd (Pamela) in a large OP division.

"O-Topia" claims 1st place OP at Florida Horse Park

"Pamela" jumping out of her skin to place 2nd. 

"Fab" in our 2nd show together was also absolutely perfect! He finished 3rd in the Open Novice division and again was such a blast cross country!

On a much more serious note, our hearts go out to Ellie Brennan's family and friends in this time of need. We are very sorry for their loss and are deeply affected by this tragedy.

"O-Topia" Crowned 3rd Level Champion

November 2007- Florida Horse Park Dressage Show

Yep. I am a sucker for punishment. Two full days of dressage, with four horses. I hate going, but I am always glad I went (after the fact!). It was a fantastic weekend, all of my horses exceeded my expectations, and Dag made his horse show debut. He was fantastic, hanging around all day like an old pro!

The results of the weekend were as follows:

Dag- Training Level: 3rd, 4th

Fab- Training Level: 2nd

Junior - First Level: 1st, 2nd

O-Topia - 2nd Level: 2nd, 3rd Level: 1st

                Weekend Grand Champion of 3rd Level, and Reserve Champion 2nd Level

Let's just say two years ago Otto had a hard time cantering, let alone flying changes! He was a real star, getting a 9 for his extended trot and blowing away all of my worries about our flying changes. What a good pony!

"Fab" - Cutest pony in the world!

Road Trip to Florida

I left on October 12th and headed down to do a couple horse trials in the US with 3 of my horses (seeing as I missed most of the year not being able to compete). I was also picking up a new 5 year old horse that I bought off of Leslie and Lesley, "Fab". After several days of lessons with Lesley Law on all of my horses, we shipped out to do the Maryland Horse Trials. It would mark my return to the prelim level, and the first time I would attempt to ride 4 horses at an event. Go little ankle, go!

All in all it went really well. My horse Pamela actually beat O-Topia in dressage, which NEVER happens. She ended up placing 4th and Otto was 7th. Inmidair was a machine at the training level and I was thrilled with him, and I had a blast riding Fab around Open Novice. I had only ridden him about 4 times so the dressage was nothing to write home about, but we smoked the cross-country! I haven't been Novice in a while so we had to trot the last part of the course but it a heap of fun!

"Fab" and I attacking the Novice course at MD Horse Trials!

"Junior" at MD

From Maryland we made the long drive down to the Kentucky Horse Park to participate in the Team Challenge Horse Trials. Inmidair (Junior) was really the star of the weekend, proving that he just keeps getting better and better. Due to a delay on course, we ended up going very late cross-country. In the withering light I rode like an old lady, incurring time penalities, but I kept having flashbacks of breaking my ankle due to poor lighting at Rocking Horse last February. Junior was foot perfect, finishing 9th out of a large division. The prelim track was pretty darn challenging, with 3 water complexes and some pretty big fences! Pam pulled through, albeit rather slowly, to end up 9th overall. Otto outdid himself in the dressage, scoring our personal best of 22.1. Wow. But xc once again proved our undoing - he made it all the way round to the final water complex and just got unfocused by the small crowd of people. He was so busy looking everywhere else by the time we got to the in of the water, it seemed to shock him and he stopped. Poor Otto..... so focused in dressage but a little dazed and confused elsewhere!

"O-Topia" at KY

First Event Completed in Almost 8 Months

It's been a long road back with this ankle, but the past weekend I managed to compete 2 horses. Other than being extremely "rusty", it was a good time - how I have missed being out on my horses! There was some heat and swelling but overall the ankle held up pretty well and I look forward to my next event (next weekend).

I have grown impatient and I keep reminding myself it will take a few runs to get back into the "swing of things". I have some great horses and some really fabulous young ones coming along so I can not wait to be back out there in full form. In the meantime, it was so nice to see all the familiar faces this past weekend!

Happy and safe riding to all! - Nicole (Sept. 17/07)

A Win for Greenbrier...

Poplar Place Horse Trials - January 20 - 21, 2007

Okay, Georgia was a tad bit on the cold side, especially in the mornings! Thankfully the rain held off but it made for some fresh ponies (namely mine). The first day we got there I was very sure I was going to get bucked off but I managed to stay on and escape injury until Inmidair spooked while I was walking him and crushed my foot. That however, I am thrilled to say was the only bad part of the weekend.

The Grey Pony, who had not been out since last fall, was a real blast running prelim this weekend. His trot work in the test was very good, but he lost a bit of the plot during the canter. He finished mid-pack after the dressage, showjumped clean and ran around cross country very well. I went quite slow with him as he hasn't been in the best form lately but he finished well. It was fun to ride him again and I had almost forgotten how bossy he is!

Inmidair redeemed himself jumping on my foot by behaving himself very well. A good dressage, clean showjumping and cross country left him in 8th place in Open Training. I was very impressed with his no nonsense approach to the cross country, he was awesome.

Shrunk 'N' Da Wash was such a good boy, giving us a win at Training level. He was 2nd after dressage and added nothing to his dressage score. He is getting quite a bit more assertive cross country, I think its his ego kicking in. He pulled me around the course and gave me a fantastic ride. I had thought at some point I would sell him, as I brought 3 young horses over and felt sure I would sell at least one of the three. I am having trouble picking which one to sell to be honest :) It's hard to want to sell any of them when they give you weekends like this one.

Thanks to Donna and Gary Stegman for such a wonderful weekend. The courses were great and cross country day ran 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and that almost never happens...

The Florida Eventing Season officially began this weekend at the Florida Horse Park. We were blessed with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid to high seventies for all three days of the event. (sorry if that makes any of you jealous) It was a busy weekend for the Greenbrier Team, with 5 horses entered, and to be honest, I'd forgotten just how much work these events are! I rightfully got my trainer Kyle Carter to take one of my rides on a young horse as I was obviously feeling way to energetic when I did my entries. Four horses was just enough for me!

My three prelim horses were a bit of a mixed bag - there was good, bad and frankly a bit ugly! Yours truly, for the 1st time ever, forgot a fence on cross country on my first prelim ride and got eliminated. I must say I had a rather quick ride and finished well under the time though! The highlight of the prelim horses had to be Rose Tremiere, who despite not having been out in quite a long time, preformed like a star. Finishing 6th after dressage, a planned clean but slow cross country and a very nice stadium round left her in 10th place overall. She was foot perfect all weekend and was really great fun to ride.

My one training ride, Shrunk N Da Wash, was a veritable superstar. He too finished 6th after dressage, then charged around double clean cross country. Though his green-ness sometimes makes him spooky in the showjumping, he was still on fire from the cross country and dragged me around the showjumping course. Though not a perfect round, he still ended up in 6th place overall. My Inmidair horse finished up very well with Kyle, placing 4th. Go the Kiwi horses!

It was very clearly the 1st show of the season, as there were lots of problems in both showjumping and cross country. You could tell a lot of horses and riders were a bit on the rusty side (including moi). It was a good outing for our team, and highlighted a few issues which definitely need to be addressed over the coming season. Just when you think you have got it a little figured out, you go to a show and any holes quickly become apparent. As exhausting as this weekend was for my groom, Trudi, and I, we can't wait to get up to Georgia for next weekends show. Hopefully there will be a bit more good, no bad, and a bit less of the ugly .

"Inmidair" at December's Rocking Horse Schooling Show

For once I felt like I had a shot getting a great dressage test out of "The Grey Pony", but I never got a chance to prove it. My favourite little fellow strained a "butt" muscle the week prior and was still quite sore when we arrived at Radnor. We got held at the first jog, but made it through, and while warming up for my test Kyle (trusted coach of mine) simply stated he did not look sound enough to carry on. I shed a few quick little tears, more out of frusteration than anything, and began to concentrate on Pamela, who was there to run around the OP track. She did a great job and we ended our season on a positive note.

What is becoming more clear to me, the more of these short format CCI's I see, is that they have not quite figured it out yet. By that I mean they took away the steeplechase and they haven't figured out how to design a proper, fair CCI short format track. Radnor was much more difficult than it was in 2004, when it was long format, asking technical after technical questions. And these questions were not understood by quite a lot of either horses or riders. Correct me if I am wrong, but at the 2 star level aren't we supposed to be beginning to prepare horses for bigger and better things, but still leaving them confident when we cross the finish flags??? A large portion of the field was either eliminated or retired (about 25) and out of the 35 that finished only 13 were double clean. Some very good horses and riders did not get round that day. The other interesting (and punishing) thing is that with the onslaught of additional technical questions, the time becomes harder to acheive. While the speed hasn't changed, the courses now require more setting up than before, so on the galloping sections horses actually have to go much faster to make up the time. It doesn't make sense to take away the steeplechase and still have horses going full out on the cross country, and encouraging horses and riders to not set up properly for the technical questions, all to try and acheive the allusive optimum time. It's my hope that this all gets sorted in the horse's favour before too long, otherwise I fear there's going to be a lot of nice horses not reaching their potential.

Oh, and while I am on the soapbox..... what is the deal with incorporating a ditch and wall into a technical question??? Such was the case at the KY Classic CIC**, and was in fact where Debbie Atkinson fell. A max ditch and wall, 3 bending strides to a max table, 3 more bending strides to another max table. Isn't a ditch and wall supposed to be a galloping fence??? A confidence builder for horse and rider maybe after a tough technical question?? A ditch and wall is not something you want to choke down to, knowing there's another fence immediately following. I have had this conversation with Ralph Hill and he is going to be attending the USEA meetings this year and will be bringing this issue to the table. As well as the over-use of skinnies on the courses and multiple cross country combinations in a row.

Back to Radnor.... congrats to Karl Slezak, riding Janette Leask's stallion "Rather Well" who jumped around the cross country double clean and finished 12th overall (top placed Canadian). Also, well done to Diana Burnett riding the youngest horse around (age 6). Her young horse is home bred and Di has produced him to this level. They had one stop cross country but otherwise looked fabulous and it looks like this young horse has an exciting future!!

"The Grey Pony" is of course sound now and was not all to pleased to have to sit in his stall all week at Radnor. He is 15 now and has his share of problems that come with old age, but he never loses heart. Hopefully next year we'll be back with better luck!!

Raeford, North Carolina -

It was quite a loooong drive to the American Eventing Championships in Raeford, North Carolina. We were, however, rewarded with the most amazing weather during our 6 day stay. The event was as grand as I expected, with a spectacular venue very spectator friendly, huge trade fair and fantastic competition and warm-up areas. The divisions were huge, from Preliminary downwards. There were 75 people in one training division and many more in the novice divisions. I was disappointed though that it turned out to be a bit of a dressage show, in that the preliminary and training level cross country courses did not seem to be of a championship quality. I felt like the training cross country course could have made a nice upgrade course, and other than one influential water complex on the prelim course, the same could be said for that level. The advanced and intermediate courses did cause quite a lot of problems and the leader board there fluctuated quite a bit.

Maybe I sound a bit like sour grapes, griping about the lack of difficulty of the cross country courses, especially since The Grey Pony just about came unglued in his dressage test putting us last in our prelim division. He redeemed himself by jumping around double clean, but even still we only moved up to finish a respectable 15^th. Rose Tremiere did a great job in her dressage test, especially with the electric atmosphere of a big show, but was in the bottom third of her training division after dressage. She too ran around double clean and finished 21^st of 35 competitors. There were very few changes of placing thanks to many experienced competitors in this division! Internet did a great dressage test, and wound up 24^th out of 71 entries, a mere 7 points out of the lead. This division was so tightly packed after the dressage, but I was still disappointed that we hadn’t been awarded a better score. It turned out I needn’t have worried since he decided to pay more attention to the crowds on the cross country than the jumps!!! We had a hiccup into the first water and after battling around a few more jumps I decided to call it a day. Just when it seems like I am on the right track, something changes and there’s yet another obstacle to overcome with him. You’d think by now he would be used to crowds but perhaps because he is a stallion he lets his ego get to him.

Bottom line: I am glad I went and got the T-shirt to prove it, but am unsure if I would make the long 19 hour drive again. Next year it’s moving to Wayne, only ten hours away so if I am lucky enough to get more horses qualified next year then perhaps I’ll go. But next time, I’ll only take the ones who can easily be in the top ten after the dressage!

I have to say that the Kentucky Horse Park is my favourite venue for eventing. Everything about it is wonderful, from the facility itself to the courses. The footing there always seems to be good, no matter the weather and the courses always seem to ride well. The Grey Pony was back to himself, bouncing around a very tough OI course. The CIC** was identical with the exception of about 4 different options, and it was far tougher than I remember in years past. When we walked it everyone talked about the level of difficulty but I was amazed how well it rode for most people. It was one of those courses you ride and wish you could do it all over again.

Pamela did well, jumping clean around a tough CIC* course. There was one combination through the water to a log, up a knoll to a ditch, one stride to a skinny brush which caused more than it's fair share of problems. It was only after several people asking the rider rep that an option was placed for the triple brush as it was near impossible to get back to if you had a run out.

On a very sad note, American rider Debbie Atkinson had a serious fall on the Intermediate course and had to be hospitalized. Word is that she has broken her back but is stable, and I don't know anymore at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with her.

Congrats to Jen McGuire, a long time member of our Greenbrier Team for completing her first ever CIC** in fine form!

  (Pamela in the CIC* water)

 O-Topia on his way to 2nd place at Hunter's Run.

August 2006 - It's funny how eventing can make you feel so good about your horses, and just as quickly, make you feel terrible. During back to back weekends in the US, I got to experience a little of everything....

Hunter's Run, held in Metamora Michigan, on August 12th and 13th, was fantastic. All the courses got a new look, including a mammoth new water complex. Dave and Sue Emmons, who run the event also had on grounds stabling for everyone for the first time ever and it was really great being right on site. These two really put their heart and soul into their event and it shows. The cross country courses were a bit tougher than in years past, but thanks to perfect weather and aeration, they rode beautifully. It is a hilly venue, with lots of twists and turns, but all the fences are such that you can keep riding up to them. They are all inviting and confidence building.

I am pleased to say my horses were all stars this weekend, good solid dressage by all (including the Grey Pony - who knew he had it in him??) and great rounds of both cross country and showjumping. Even O-topia got over himself and his desire to return to the other horses (I personally think he got lost in the twists and turns and forgot where "home" was). The grey Pony finished in 2nd place in the OP division, with Pamela a mere .1 behind him in 3rd. In this same division Internet took 8th place. In the OT division O-topia finshed double clean to be 2nd. If only every weekend could be like this, I suppose we each dream of the same thing!

Sadly, this very past weekend at Erie Hunt Club in Edinboro, PA I did not repeat my spectacular performance. T'was not for lack of trying however! Saturday dressage was a very wet, soggy day - all day rain. Surprisingly all four horses did fantastic dressage again, The Grey Pony nearly gave me a heart attack by being 8th after dressage in the OI, and Pam was 4th. In the OP dressage, Internet was very good in the slop to be sitting 3rd and O-topia won it in fine form....

The courses looked fabulous for Sunday, completely revamped and many new fences for the OI. Still I was very excited as they looked to suit my horses well and there was nothing in particular I was concerned about. The first water for OI and OP were shared and would require serious riding. It was a large mound with a fence on top which dropped into the water. The horses wouldn't see the water until the very last moment.

Now those of you that know me, know I am very particular about the footing I ride in. Some may call me a "fair weather" rider, but that's not the whole story. I guess I am choosey because I have to be - with older horses with previous injuries nothing is worth the risk to me. Maybe at a 3 day it would be, but not for horse trials. And I am pleased this year to say (touch wood) I have been able to keep everyone sound and happy, I like to think in part because I am particular about footing and thanks to the watchful eyes of my head girl, Trudi.

I mention this as I did elect to run cross country this time, despite very wet conditions, as a few of the horses are headed to CIC's in two weeks time. So out a went, on a careful and catty Grey Pony. Now he runs well in the mud as his little legs move so fast I think he stays on top of it. The first 3rd of the course was awesome, and then into the woods we went, around a corner and I felt his legs slide out from under him. He didn't go down but it gave both of us a fright. The next fence was a large table he jumped rather cautiously, then we bounded up the mound to the water and BOOM! he stopped. Now, this horse NEVER stops at anything. I represented and he jumped it though rather strangely and once in the water I pulled up. I just felt like he had scared himself a bit with the slickness of the footing and rather than carry on, I wanted to save him for another day. He is fine by the way and probably mad I didn't let him finish.

I didn't even bother starting Pamela as she is so cautious even in great footing I knew it would be alot of work getting her around. Now, she would have jumped around I am sure but would have been so hard on herself, clearing everything by 3 feet I didn't want to risk scaring her on our first OI run in ages. I have worked hard to make the mare jump out of rhythm and didn't want to step back in our training.

The stallion is a good little mud runner and we went terrifically until a silly brush fence at number 14. He went to take off and slipped I suppose, and we ended up sliding pretty much right into it. I represented and he jumped it but clearly wasn't happy. The next fence was a tricky combination involving a large corner where I needed him focused, and clearly he was not. Rather than lose the war, I chose to lose the battle and walked home. He too is fine and seemingly holds no grudges.

At this point I am sensing a pattern and wondering if I should not have just said "Forget it" at the start of the day. But by now I was frusterated and bound and determined to get at least one of them all the way home. O-Topia, not known for his consistency, did me in again by napping at the 6th fence. In his usual form he elected to try to frighten me by rearing as high as he could and spinning around in circles. My frusteration had turned to anger and however long it took, we got past the 6th fence and into the water. Rather than get the big "E", I settled for an "R" and walked home. Head down in shame.

I suppose the moral of my story is that despite the best of intentions, things can go belly up quite quickly. It's not as if any of the horses had suffered a set back from the one weekend to the next. I think all of us were bouyed from the confidence earned at Hunter's Run. I have gone over and over it and I can't think of anything I could have done differently, that's the maddening part I guess. I suppose its part of some cosmic plan to ensure I don't get over-confident, but I have news for the cosmos - it would take alot more than 2 good shows back to back to do that!! I know all of you who have evented have had similar experiences, and I suppose all we can do is continue to ride and train as best and smart as we can. I think I need to get my head checked though as I am already looking forward to my next event :)

June 28, 2006 - Six year old recent New Zealand import Shrunk N Da Wash was foot perfect at this Wit's End competition. He put in a very "business-like" dressage test and really showed his wonderful nature and jumping technique in the jumping tests. Though "Shrunk" has only been here for 2 short weeks he has acclimatized very well and seems to be enjoying his new home. Nothing seems to ruffle his feathers, even though he has only been eventing for 6 short weeks.

Thanks to Jo and Bill for running the very first Young Event Horse Qualifier, and to Jim Elder, John Rumble and Walter Paidy for judging the jumping and conformation portion of the night. In case you didn't realize, Jim, John and Walter happen to be the 1954 Bronze Olympic Medalists in Show Jumping!

Wit's End is hosting another Qualifier Wednesday August 9th, and Equus 3-D is also hosting one (date to be announced). It's a great outing for young horses and I highly recommend attending, either as a participant or spectator.

I am pleased to say that Glen Oro's event was very well done this past weekend. All of the courses looked really great, and things for the most part went very smoothly. There was, however, a real "bogey" fence on the training course! It caused problems for about 30 of the 40 horses that ran in the 2 training divisions. It appeared to be a large trakhener, though I didn't realize it actually housed a horse-eating monster. One of my new young horses from New Zealand was quick to realize it however! I attributed it to him having evented for only 6 weeks in total, but apparently I was wrong. There really was a horse-eating monster in that trakehner - just ask any of the other horses that had a quit there!

One of my other recent imports, 6 year old "Inmidair" claimed a win in the Open Pre-Training division. He is a fabulous, albeit spooky horse and the show jumping proved to be a bit of work! He wants to jump everything - he just wants to be able to have a little "look" before he does so. Interestingly enough, cross country was much easier, although he was deathly afraid of the jump judges. The fences themselves were fine according to him but he wondered why there were people sitting in the long grass awaiting to attack him.

I am proud to say that Rose Tremiere did her first prelim run in a very long time. For those of you that know her and of her injuries, will understand how happy I am that she's able to do prelim at least again. Even at the start of this year I did wonder if she could physically handle it, and she did in fine form. She's been a fantasic horse to ride and is teaching me quite a lot. I also can tell that she is absolutely thrilled to be out and about again!

So..... I am over in England at the end of May, looking at horses and checking out a local Horse Trial, when I am introduced to a woman by the name of Sue. Sue just happens to own a mare that has just had an Internet baby one week ago. The first foal in fact to be born in the UK, and doesn't she happen to live right around the corner. She most kindly invites me to her farm to see the foal, known as "Nettie". "Nettie" is in fact owned by Carole Mortimer, who writes for the Horse and Hound magazine. Carole is at the farm when I arrive and she introduces me to the most stunning little creature I have ever seen. Maybe I am prejudiced as I happen to own the father, but as you can see from the photos she really is a lovely filly.

"Nettie" was full of curiousity and possessed a marvelous sense of balance even at seven days old. I was able to video some of her trot and it already looks amazing. I have been keeping in touch with Carole since I have been home and so I will get regular updates on how Nettie is maturing. She is already crossing streams in her paddock so this looks promising for a future career in eventing!

December 6, 2004 San Francisco - "The Grey Pony", or BoBo as he is known around the barn, won the 2004 USEA Intermediate award in the Adult Amateur division. Thanks to his near faultless jumping all year, he enjoyed many placings and when we finally improved our dressage (or rather BoBo's brain in the dressage) he began to show a hint of what he could really do. Those of you who have been lucky enough to witness the mental meltdowns in the warm-ups know what I am talking about!

Bo is a special little horse with a ton of personality. He would be a lap dog except for his size. When it comes to cross-country he is all business and constantly amazes me with his efforts. After being the top placed Canadians at the Radnor CCI**, there really was no talking to him. He knew he had been a star and the first couple of jump schools after the event and his holiday, apparently I no longer had any say. We are back sorted out now and I can't wait to run him advanced this winter in Florida. Those of you out at the events this winter, if you see a little grey flash on the cross country course, it's BoBo....

My thanks to "The Grey Pony".