April 2010

Ok so turns out not so "big fun".  Esa  had a stumble in our warm up at Burbank about 10 minutes before we were scheduled to head down centerline. At first it felt like any other stumble but it was soon apparent that she was not right. The FEI vet was called and, unfortunately for us, that was the end of THAT show.  (What we won't do to get out of going first!)

The injury is such that she will require a few weeks of quiet walking before we resume training. There is not enough time between shows to recover and work ourselves in so both Esa and I will be returning home next week. I appreciate all the sincere sympathy that people have expressed. More hugs from strangers! 

Very disappointing end to our trip but at the end of the day as long as Esa is  back to full health it is all good. Thank you to all who continue to support us!

March 2010

Esa and I arrived at Yarra Yarra in Pleasanton Califonia safe and sound. Esa was pretty stressed coming off the transport  but quickly settled into the routine here. Yarra Yarra is a beautiful facility owned by Carolyn and Pat Adams. It boasts a huge indoor arena with a great sound system, two outdoor arenas,  a round pen, a hot walker, turn outs and stalls with windows open to the outside. Added bonus - one of the boarders is a registered Equine Massage Therapist so we have really fallen into it!

The work is hard but Esa and I are definitely up for the challenge.  We were off to our first show within two weeks of our arrival so had only a few working sessions with Head trainer Dirk Glitz before heading down Centerline at Burbank. We placed 4th in the Grand Prix with 64.298% and then won the Grand Prix Special  with a 64.042%. I have never been hugged by so many strangers in all my life!

Our second show was in Del Mar which meant an eight 1/2 hour trailer ride for the horses. Esa doesn't always travel well but she did ok and seems to get the whole " I am a show pony" thing. Scores were  63 - 64 % Both tests had mistakes, Grrr. Need to work on the clean AND expressive test. Still we had some lovely moments and even with those nasty mistakes placed a respectable 9th in the Grand Prix and 6th in the Special. 

Robert Dover, the new Technical Advisor, was there to lend a hand and he and Dirk Glitz worked well to get us prepared for the show ring. I have to admit it was a bit disconcerting to have two trainers yipping at us -  often from either end of the warm up ring at the same time. There was no where to hide!

We have an entire week of straight training and then we will be heading off to two back to back shows. One at the LA Equestrian Center in  Burbank the other at Rancho Murieta. We will have the opportunity to ride our Freestyle at both of those shows so that will be big fun!!!

January 2010

2010 is shaping up to be an exciting year!  Esa and I are Long Listed and we have declared for WEG. We will be travelling to California in Feb and plan to compete in several CDI`s. We will be based in Pleasanton at a beautiful facility called Yarra Yarra Ranch. www.yarrayarraranch.com  Another adventure!

August 2009

Both Esa and I returned to  Franklands Farm in Brockville Ontario to once again train with three time Olympian and Bronze medalist Gina Smith. Franklands Farm is owned by Faith and Bill Berghuis and sits amidst a stunning park like setting.

Esa is much stronger in all the work but there is still so much to learn and perfect. It continues to amaze me as to just how strong the horses have to be to be competent at this level. Training was intense and as always Gina challenged us both to do better.

We once again went to the Beaulieu Dressage Show in St Justine de Newton, Quebec. We scored 65% in our Grand Prix and 69 % in the Freestyle. 

Sept was a busy month as we attended the Saugerties show in New York and Dressage at Devon in Pennsylvania.  Both are CDI competitions. It was great to have the opportunity to attend bigger and more challenging shows.

Saugerties proved to be very wet but the footing in the CDI rings held up well.  We scored an average of 63.064 % from the panel of 5 FEI judges in the Grand Prix and ended up in the middle of the class. We scored 66.950% average in the Freestyle for a 7th place finish. It was great to have a friend there as Christine Found came to lend a hand and cheer us on. I can highly recommend her as a groom!

Gina continued to campaign Rhythmix at the Advanced Level and rode a great Freestyle.

Devon began with some very warm weather but within a couple of days both rings and horses were  cold and wet. Although we had a great warm up we had some mistakes in the Grand Prix and scored an average 61.7%. Still good enough for 6th place finish out of a class of 14.

Esa had come out of the ring with a little bit of heat in one hind and although she wasn`t lame it was definitely a concern. As we had a day to rest between classes we decided to poultice it and see what evolved. Fingers crossed we hoped that it was something small and would resolve itself quickly.

Esa resolved it alright. She kicked the boards out of her stall trying to get rid of the poultice. Now she was off. ( Not in the leg that originally had the heat. Gotta love horses. ) One Vet certificate later we were sitting on the sidelines on the day of the Grand Prix Special. Not quite how I had envisioned that going!  Big hugs to Gina and good friend Liz Pace, who had come to support, for boohooing in the stall with me. :) 

On returning to Brockville we had an ultrasound done and found nothing serious. Esa was,  thankfully, already sound and within a few days she was on the IHT Transport back home.

There is no way that I would be able to do any of this without the much needed support of my extraordinarily patient husband and partner Colin, daughter Rachel as well as my parents Bill and Kit. Also big thanks go to Esa`s other `Mom` Donna Stott. Thank you for all your support and believing in us!