When you dont have something nice to say......

Lucky Clover Jumping Show

... sorry for the late posts. Between going on vaca with dad to Canada on a motorcycle trip and then returning to do hay, I have been busy outside of the horse world.

BUT not to fret... we did go to a show at Lucky Clover Farm in Sanford. Sue Austin owns the facility and most of the kids at the show where from the stable. That alone made it a laid back environment for the girls. They were able to learn alot that day.

Picking n choosing their own classes and asking questions about those classes for one. Making Haley go and sign up for her own classes with her own money for two. Then the getting ready and warming up for three. It was alot for them to digest I am sure. BUT HEY... if they want to show this is what they will expect. GETTING THERE EARLY ~ because ring warm up time is before show time and ring closes ... which is what Kaitlyn found out. She did not get any jump time in before classes started because she arrived too late.

Haley found out she needs not be concerned about others in the ring and do her own thing and CALL the jumps before you go over them. She also learned just because you jump 2' jumps in your own arena doesnt mean you are ready to go to a show at that level.

RULE OF THUMB ~ always show one level under what you work on at home. So you know you are ready when you get to a show.... a show always brings out all the things you have to work on or didnt know you had to work on! RIGHT GIRLS! ?????

I couldnt take a horse because I was the photographer for the show. I promised and I had missed the first show photo ops. I wanted to take Baby to school her but there will be plenty more options later this year :)

I got some great pics!!!!!!

Before classes started... aparently forgot she should put her jacket on....

Breeze looking good... nice extension....

need to get those thumbs up and headset rounder right?

NICE TUCK OVER THE FENCE MISTY!

the judges thoughts and gave some good feedback to the girls...

edifying the good is great!

Girls at basecamp....

wasting time chatting with shared BF instead of learning by watching others in the ring....

that wont happen again right?????

ROLEX ... what an amazing time!

IF you couldnt tell.... that's ME...

I finally made it to THE ROLEX!


OH you want pics? I GOT PICS! I had to go thru hell first.... being that my new Canon 50D didnt come in time before I got on the plane to head to KY - but my darling husband made sure to pick it up at the York UPS connection and ship in OVERNIGHT FEDX to my hotel! It made it... YEAH! I had quite the time figuring things out on the fly... and unfortunately some of the best shots didnt focus center out... :( big huge sad face... as I couldnt get into the menu to figure that out... and they all looked so crisp and sharp on the 3" review screen ... why would I question it? 2731 pictures later... YES... two thousand seven hundred thirty ONE pictures later and my battery finally died... but I had a spare... but we were headed out of the park at 4:30 on Sunday and the last 4 pics are of Joyce and I at the water log jump. Still had memory left though... blah blah blah ... enuf about my new sexy Canon ok... onto pics! 15.1 megapixel pics baby!

We couldnt wait for the dressage to start so we sat at warm up arena and took shots!

OK... so arrived on WED to scope the place out. Took pics with my trusty Sony Cybershot before my camera arrived... Ya... but no... WALMART screwed that up... memory disk full after that day so we went to download 1hr onto CD so that I could delete all on camera and start fresh in a.m. Didnt find out until arriving at home on MON night - NO pics on Walmart provided CD! I cried and cried... luckily there werent anything we couldnt possibly get again in the future.... but still may never replace them again???? SAD but true... lesson learned - NOTE TO SELF... always have extra memory cards and do not OUTSOURCE!

DRESSAGE started Thursday after NOON inspections, then continued all day on FRI.

RINGWOOD COCKATOO riden by Bettina Hoy of Germany

she took second at the end of the weekend & seemed quite pleased!

Hildago De L'ile riden by Nicolas Touzaint of France didnt do so well ...

although looks nice here...

... as he had overzealous changes....

.... the chap pictured below... also had trouble with his trusty stead throwing his head!

HEY ... we all have those days dont we? For some reason it does my heart good to see the PRO's having the same issues I do ... especially at this level! HEY ... there IS hope for me!

WOOOT WOOT!

CROSS COUNTRY JUMPING

was next on SAT. Boy that drew the crowds!

There were awesome jumps that riders made and I caught....

& then there were not so nice pictures caught on my camera .... woah!

& then some great shots.... with perfect landings....

& then again...

not so perfect landings which cost riders an elimination!!!!! OUCH

third and final day was

STADIUM JUMPING!

& I shall not bore you with those pictures as I am sure you have seen enough...

so the winner is....

Lucinda Fredericks from Australia

riding Headley Britannia

& boy was she happy~ crying tears of happiness with an $80,000 check and a ROLEX watch (which is probably at a retail cost of $15,000 or $20,000 !!!!

ALL IN ALL

a fabulous time with tons to see and do and money to be spent! I did find some great deals... as I got a $250 dressage bridle for $79, a stock tie for $6, dressage gloves for $13, working dressage pads $10 each, and a set of brown eventing boots for Baby $15 for hinds & $19 for fronts! I KNOW ... crazy deals! Wish I had more to spend -

... NEXT TIME!

ITS ROLEX TIME!!!!

That's RIGHT ... ROLEX time! I cant wait! I am going! I got my flights, my hotel, my car, admission tixx and stadium seats and headset! I AM THERE! What a great opportunity to learn, soak up the knowledge, atmosphere, smells of sweet Kentucky air and decide... which direction shall I go today :) WOOOOOOOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

Awesome day it shall be, my first big step into the new world of intense competition! What am I in for? Flights werent bad, accommodations still surprisingly plentiful, and stadium seating during the dressage and jumping test hopefully will be confirmed soon. April 22 - 27.

On another note the Lindenwood Farm clinic with Tom Davis will be rescheduled for March 14th and that will be another good start to Spring. Angel will be a perfect darling as we are working diligently on, transitions, headset, rythm and cadence. Once I feel that he is more consistant we will start working dressage patterns and master them before Spring. I hope he surprises me with his willingness to perfect! I know he can jump over 3' without trying, so now I am going to just put the nose to the grindstone and be consistant in groundwork groundwork groundwork. He also needs to build some muscle so that we can realize that LEFT LEAD my boy! Momentum and forward motion is another small issue, as when we collect we loose both. In time... in time. If interested in more information on the clinic go to: http://www.lindenwoodsfarm.com/ for the schedule. I am also keeping a list of other events close at hand at http://www.flatlands-equestrian.com/events/index.html which is where Tom trains out of. He is a good clinician/trainer as he breaks it all down to horse and rider and then builds them up. He edifies the good in both horse and rider, encourages rewarding your horse and never talks above you or the audience. I saw great changes in both horse and rider during the clinic and hope that will be me during his next clinic!

Once the dust settles and I feel like it would be worth the money to make the decision & sign up for a week of eventing in VT at http://www.tamarackhill.com/AdultCamp/adult-camp.htm

AND that my friends would be the icing on the cake for us in JUNE.

I have to be fully vested in order to make great strides forward and develope the knack needed for these summer events.... this would give us the perfect opportunity to "KNOW" where we stand. After a week camp you would definately know to BE or NOT to BE eventing! right? RIGHT! So... I am 90% sure I am going.

I am posting this video showing small progress at the trot with headset. I can almost maintain good headset at the walk but the trot he seems to bob. I think the reason being he needs it to maintain rythm? As he isnt muscled up? He is very giving so its not that he is trying to take it away, I think he would offer more if he could. I hope to post an edited version so that you can see in continuation of progress he has made in another couple of weeks.