Insert Expletive!

Well, well, well aren't I just the best little blog updater ever!? ....Just kidding! I have been super busy (as always) but excuses, excuses; there is none. There is so much to tell.

Since August 7th. . . . . . . .

Clif and Tess were both going quite well. Sharon left August 9th for her 5 week trip to England for the Blenhiem CCI***. While she was gone we had some great help! Jimmy Wofford was helping us a bit from week to week with our jumping, the great Gerd was helping us on the flat, and on a regular basis we had the help of Kristin Bachmann, who was very helpful as well.

Clif was very much starting to come into his own. I took him XC schooling the week before Loudoun Horse Trials and he was great! He jumped around most of the intermediate course at Surefire Farm, so I was feeling really prepared and happy with where we were. At Loudoun he got a 36 on the flat, which for us a bit on the high side, but that was with the same judge we had in April and we improved our score by almost 3 points. So, there is some good there! He was in 6th out of about 15 after dressage, which was nice because I saw several lovely horses floating around the warm up! He also show jumped quite well, it need a bit of polish on both our parts. However, he was totally up to the challange and jumped really well; we did have one rail due to a big lack half halts and bit of wildness down the hill to a vertical! EKK! He jogged sound Monday, hacked and felt a bit sluggish on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday I had a quick jump school with Kristin and he was the best he has ever been. The vet came out later that day and I told her I thought he felt a bit unlike him even though he was going so well, and she also wanted to get some base flextions so she knew him better going forward.....turns out those flextions were a good idea! He jogged up a bit sore, about a 1/5, bummmmmmmmmmmmer. After I put him on the lunge my first thought was "welllllll that looks like a nice high suspensory!". Sure enough, he has a strain to the origin of his suspensory. It is a strain, no lesions, no holes, nothing terrible, just annoying. He had some treatment to help strengthen his suspensory and is now on stall confinement for 30 days (translation: run for your life)! He is almost done with it though, he is soooooooo very excited everytime I take him out 2 times a day, he's so busy eating grass he doesn't even act so wild anymore! I must say this is a good/bad thing all around. It has made me realize several very important things. First, you know your horse better than anyone, trust that. Second, I adore Clif; I honestly miss riding him every single day, he is my best friend, we just know what the other one is thinking wich works both to our advantage and our disadvantage....something to know going forward to help with our riding communication! Also, when he is on his road to recover he will be getting several things to help build more muscle, especially behind. He cannot stay sound if he cannot support his front end properly. Learning experience 1, processing.

Now on to learning experience number 2!
Tess had been quite the little monster since her return to competition! She was going great on the flat and jumping really well. She is a wondeful jumper. She had a very uncharacteristic elimiation at her first event of the season. I had the vet look at her since she was heading out for a competition the following weekend as well; we decided after her hext event she could an ankle injection. She then headed back out to Seneca, where she jumped her around super and then stopped and refused to jump a smaller jump near the startbox. I was absolutely livid, what a mare to not want to go any where except home! And, I should have known better! I took her XC Schooling and that took some serious riding to get her jumping well. She jogged up sound on Monday, but when the vet came Tuesday it was a whole different ball game. She was about a 2/5 lame and had swelling in her ankle. Turns out, when it rains, it poors. Tess had about a 20% core lesion in her lateral suspensory branch. Tears...lots and lots of tears is about that happened that afternoon! All of this reconfirmed my paranoid nature, now you can't get me to sit on a horse until I have multiple witness's to it's soundness! AH! Bad news for Tess is that the injury is such that she will have a limited chance to every being a true upper level horse, but that said, there is a chance. What's the fun of trying to do something you know you can do?! Tess will need nearly a year to heal before she can come back into work, so we have decided to breed her. Her new hubby is going to be Fleetwater Opposition (father of the stunning Opposition Buzz). Tess is quite unhappy about her change in attention level, but is having a good time eating all day every day!

I now have every so cute Tuc staying with me at LFF! She is super sweet, incredibly brave, and loves to hack alone; 3 year old weirdo! She is learning to jump and loves it. She isn't very amused with faltwork, but the more you ask her to do, the more she seems to enjoy it (with ears pinned mind you). She is most definitely princess #2, but she is not nearly as stuck up as Tess; she's a pretty laid back lady! If you know anyone who wants to get their hands on a LOVELY 3 year old that will make her competive debut in the spring send them my way! She's already quite clever, and I think she is going to be quite the catch!

I promise to be better about updating!
Hillary

Medical School or Working Student....either way it's the same number of hours!

I was thinking the other day that I really am crazy. I work as much as a resident just out of medical school...while they do not make much money, I can promise they make more than me! Should have gone to medical school, if I had not had the other horses through college I might have, I need to be busy all the time apparently.

The horses are all having an interesting time since I last updated you! Tess is a little superstar every day, her flatwork is constantly improving, and if all goes according to plan this fall, I'm confident in her ability to hang out with the big kids. She is such a classy little horse, just don't make her mad because that little bit of bad woods North Carolina redneck will come out with a vengance. She is quite hysterical; she a side stall with 3 windows, she is always watching out of one of them to make sure everyone is doing their job. She would totally be the kid who told on everyone for copying crossword puzzles in elementary school, doing your own work is essential kids! Tess can actually canter a 10 meter circle happily now, and she has officially started doing proper walk/canter, canter/walks; she is so far from happy about this I cannot even describe it to you, but I'm quite thrilled! Her jumping is super. Working for Sharon is great on so many levels, one of them being your jump lessons with her other students. One of my last jump lessons was with a lovely lady who is just moving up to advanced.....needless to say the fences got JACKED UP, I looked like a total spaz trying to jump them, but Tess maintained her total "whatever stupid, this is still for kids who can't jump attitude" even though the jumps were a good 4 feet or higher. Holy moly, the horse can jump!

Clif is also mister fancy. His flatwork is continuously improving and he is always getting stronger, which is such a great great feeling. I guess for some people it's like writing a dissertation, but for me that feeling of completeness is having your horse feel effortless underneath you. He has also been jumping great too, we had a jump lesson with Jimmy Wofford this week, I think he quite likes Clif because all comments were directed at how not to screw up my horse! And seriosly...how could not like clif!? Poor Clif and I also had our first run-in with colic...EK! Poor Clif appears to have had a bit of a virus, and being so sensitive it just threw everything out of wack, his fever spiked at 104 and him hyperventilating...yes apparently horses can do that. He was on the mend quite quickly though, thank god. It is now about 3 days later and he is back to to his usual self and I will start riding him agian tomorrow, just starting back slowly to make sure Mr. Sensitive is going to be able to tough it out!

My exciting news is that I kind of have fall plans! Tess will be heading out to her first event back since her CCI* at preliminary, and then making the big move up to intermediate. This is definiately something I had not really seen coming, but Sharon seems to have faith in us...hopefully she will let me barrow that about the 1st of September! Tess will also hopefully get to do a nice little CIC** this fall to go ahead an have that qualification out of the way for the spring! Clif will also head straight back out at intermediate, he is totally capable and this stopping/running out stuff is just plain rediculous on both our parts, it stops now! He will run a few intermediates and hopefully a CIC** at Plantation or maybe just the CCI** at Fairhill, we will see how it all works out!

Hope everyone is enjoying the winding down of summer!
Hillary

I take back all the bad things I said about you Winter!

It is so H-O-T ( And I've been really bad about writing...oooops!). I hope that everyone is surviving this, because I am definitely struggling!!! AH! I almost want winter back, and I'm so exciting about fall I can't even stand it. It's sad when a season is what you are looking forward too, not because you are doing fun events, but because you can actually breathe and not swim in sweat (attractive image don't you think!?).

I do apologize for not writing sooner. It has been very crazy attempting to settle into a work routine, house routine, riding routine, cleaning routine, eating routine, and sleeping routine! But I think I have down now!!!! (To bed by 10, up at 5:30, please who are you kidding you know you wish you had the social life I do, ooooh wait, I don't have one of those, in fact I might even need to catch up on the definition!). Everything is starting to slowly come together here, I'm getting used to the 12-14 hour days at the barn and having no cable or internet at home....ha, I'm currently sitting at the Starbucks 10 minutes from my house drinking something that is so sweet I'm pretty sure I need to make a dentist appointment for tomorrow morning!

I really do love my new job. I learn things everyday, I'm riding tons and tons, usually between 4 and 8 horses everyday, mostly young ones. I love the babies, so it suits me just fine.

My horses, however, are not very happy about this new situation. They are finally coming around and as of yesterday Tess has finally caved, she gave up her strike about living accommodations and is now starting to enjoy herself. She had a quick jump today and jumped me out of the tack several times, she's turning into a little ball of fire to jump; point, shoot, hold on. Her flatwork is coming along well also, she has lovely gaits, we just have to be able to relax to get them (I'm fairly sure Tess should qualify for medicinal marijuana)! I for one am very glad she is happy again because she bit the absolute snot out of me the other day, my bruise was not only black but also purple, yellow and blue.

Clif is loving the atmosphere of everything, he thinks it is great fun to watch and take it all in, I love to watch him watch everything...poor guy, he didn't know he had a stalker. He has been really super on the flat and really quite good jumping, he's just too rideable now! Geeeeeez Clif, get with the program, I can't ride a horse that listens to every single thing my pinkie finger does! In all seriousness though, he is good, very happy and healthy. He has done two events since I have been here. His first was a preliminary run, he was really good on the flat but the judge happened to have the nerve to disagree with me! Can you believe it?! Clif didn't, he assigned himself a score of 27, yes he told me that, I agreed. He skipped around the courses like the little maniac that he is to finish 3rd in the big ol' professional group, good pony! His next event was an intermediate. His dressage was decent, we are capable of more so that's annoying! But, he was tied for 3rd after dressage beyond two 4star horses, and the horse he was tied with was a 4star horse, so I guess you really can't complain when the only horses that beat you are on the short list for the WEG! He had an absolutely lovely show jumping round, clean thank god, I'm sick of making that poor horse have rails! His clean SJ put him into 2nd place. He was good on XC....I had an epic blonde moment /stess moment and missed my 9th jump. However....I actually was focused on the task at hand and didn't notice the people trying to stop me until the 14th jump....woooooooooops :). I was absolutely furious at myself, I mean really I was riding 1 horse in 1 division...not that hard to remember you course! Oh well, my horse was good and that is really all I can ask for ....besides come ADD medication.

Everyone take care, stay cool (both literally and figuratively of course!)
Hillary-

If Eventing were only Twilight...We'd All Be Rich!

Ah, I'm a bad blogger! Updates, Hillary, updates!
Everything here is going well! There is the update. Just kidding.

The past few weeks have been very busy, sprinkled with a week vacation at the beach...no, I did not get to sleep, the 2 year old slept in my room. It was a very fun vacation, the whole family...17 people in all were at the beach....in one house. It is fun, it's a once-a-year tradition...same house, same people, same lack of beach towels for the past 17 or so years.

The horses are also well. Clif is great, he's so much stronger now, he's really fun to ride because he knows all the tricks now (well, we are still working on those changes!). Tess is great; she is going better than ever, jumping like a wild woman, and she also did her first gallop back today....I need a nap. Tuc is also good, she is starting relax and figure out life...she went on her fist solo hack around the farm today and had to stop and eat grass, it was so exausting!!!!!! Irish is happy and good as well, she has started to be really fun to ride, she got shoes and now she can actually move!

Next week is the big move! Clif, Tess, the Sabb and I will head up to VA. Clif will also be doing Loch Moy I horse trials at preliminary and Loch Moy II horse trials the next weekend at Intermediate. He thinks that you should be allowed atleast one mistake for each corner on the course, nice Clif....reallllllll nice. Tess is going to be ANGRY when that trailer leaves for the show on Saturday morning without her...I'm glad I get to go with it!

I will update everyone when the 4 of us are all settled in to our new house! Clif loves the atmosphere of big barns, so I'm fairly sure he'll think it's great that the entire place is there just for him! Tess on the other hand is not going to be happy when people pass by her without cookies, hugs, time to itch and general admoration for her. I think the Sabb will have the easiest transition personally, but hey, that's just me.

Hillary

Show Some of Those Pearly Whites!

Happy faces for Tess! (Tess VA CCI*)

For the life of me I have never been able to figure out why people would pay lots of money for a horse that they could just sit on and have the horse behave perfectly. I know that sounds stupid, but I just have no fun going along for the ride, to me, it is much more fun to help the horse along the way. For me, I love the work on the young horses, I am very proud of the fact that three of the four horses I have competed at preliminary were started by me, from beginner novice on. I have never found it fun to just "sit there" on a horse...I outgrew my rocking horse long before it outgrew me.

Clif wants to know why the Jolly Green Giant's Bed was on the XC course.(Clif VA Intermediate)

All that was until I rode Clif this weekend at Lumber River Horse Trials. He was, as usual at preliminary, quite perfect all weekend. His dressage was not super, but it was fine, it was horribly hot already at 7:40 in the morning and he just lacked a bit of energy to make his scores higher. He got a 33 which put him in 2nd out of 10 or so horses. He did XC next, got to love those classic events...dressage, xc, sj! It was a VERY long course considering the heat, well over 5 and a half minutes, with quite a few questions; that was good for Clif he needed to have some serious preliminary questions so his confidence could get back up to where it needed to be. He was amazing on XC...I kept thinking to myself the whole time he was galloping how lucky I am to have such a fun horse. He genuinely loves what he does, and he and I have a partnership that will probably never be repeated, whether I ride for another year or another 40 years; we know what the other one is thinking, it is a bit creepy really. He galloped around with a loop in the reins like he was just going for a stroll. He was perfect and was the only horse to make the time, which I was surprised by because he really did feel like he was just bopping along. He was also quite perfect in the Show Jumping. He was, once again, the only horse to have a double clear show jumping round. He is a super jumper and is just so rideable that all the striding has become easy for him. He won the entire event, not that it would have mattered what place he got, but he was great, he deserved his very first victory gallop! This was his first victory gallop even though he has won 3 of the 4 prelims he has competed in this year, he has a pretty impressive record at preliminary, being 1st three times and 4th once this spring

Tess almost looks like a dressage pony! (Tess VA CCI*)

Little princess is also doing well. She has gone back to work and is loving it! I was fully expecting protests and anger, but she went into the dressage with ears forward and head down...I am very worried that someone has given me a look-a-like! She is just going back to normal work and will have some time to get more muscle with less competing. She probably will not go out in public until August :)...she will not be very happy! But, I am happy with that plan...she deserves to take some down time to keep everything simple and basic for a while, she tries so hard.

Tess decided that the bank was too small, so she made it bigger! (Tess VA CCI*)

Little Irish is going along quite well too! She has now gone on her first hack, and after figuring out that mud is not actually quicksand, she was super! She is not intimidated by much..the fields have just been mowed and the hay baled...most horses freak at the big round bales the first time they see them, not her, she went right up, grabbed a bite, then went back to walking. She can now walk, trot, canter on a long rein very happily; she can also pick up both canter leads on the first try! Just do not get caught in a rain storm with her! She HATESSSSSSSSS being rained on...what a strange little horse.

Little Tuc...that is how I actually refer to her 24/7 ...is turning out to be quite the little monster, in a good way. She is already bored just walk/trot/cantering around. She walks over the poles on the ground and that thinks that is good fun...but I can already tell in about week, trotting over them will be fun and walking will only create more boredom. Talented and knowing it at 3 is a bit rough...I'd prefer she think she was a bit overwhelmed..because she sure does not right now..but I do!

On a personal note, I have some exciting news! It looks like I will be moving mid-July to Summit Point, WV....what??? WV...yes WV! I will be working for Sharon White for probably at least a year. I am very excited! I know it will be very hard, I am not new to the working student thing, but this will be all new; new people, new horses, new places, ekkk! I am hoping to be able to take both horses, still working out the logistics of that, but hopefully all of it will come together. July is coming quickly....I need to start packing!!!

Tess missed the notice that most horses are tired after their first three day! (Tess VA CCI*)

Everyone take care, drink lots of water :)

Hillary

The Whirlwind Continues

I hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather and much needed rain we have been having!

The last week has been filled with cleaning, hanging on for dear life and even a quick vacation!!The clean up after VA HT every year is crazy...the red clay does a number on just about everything from the chairs, to the trunks, to the horses pretty white socks....much cleaning was necessary.

Tess had a much deserved break for the last week,but she is already bored, so she started walking yesterday! She is sooooo very happy about this. It is so funny how much doing the CCI* changed her (or else she changed due to the unknown causes..whatever); she hangs out by herself in the field, she does whatever she wants whenever she wants, it does matter if the horses think it is fun or not (this most certainly did not happen in the past! She was such a groupie!). She also is incredibly cute (big surprise I know!) about everything these days, she lovessssss her cookies and comes when I call her..and if I get Clif out before her, she trots as fast as she can to get to the gate and waits for me in something that resembles patience for being so stupid for not grabbing her first! I am so proud of her for the other week, I think everyone is sick of hearing about it.

Clif also had a few days off last week and walked for the rest of the week. He has now gone back to work as of yesterday! He is so full of it, you would think he had just done the Olympics and I am forcing him back to the low life of a preliminary and intermediate horse-- HA, maybe he should start jumping around those intermediates first! I am not entirely sure what his plan his, he will run a preliminary or two this summer and then we head back out to the big kid play pin in the fall. He just needs to get even more muscle over the summer so he can support this ridiculous spur of the moment spaz attacks.

Last week was also BABY WEEK! I started riding our two babies, Irish and Tuc, who are both unraced TB's and are 3.

Irish is sooooo ridiculously people friendly I want a shock collar to make her go away...just kidding, it is nice to be wanted! She is very sweet and brave; she is still adjusting to why in the world being ridden daily is necessary, but she is LOVING the cookies that follow the riding! Great, I've addicted another one!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuc, I am 100% in love with (just don't tell Clif or Tess, Tess already HATES her), she is Tess's sister and you know it. She has these great floppy ears, I have taken to calling her the next Northern Spy...he he, no high expectations for her or anything :). She is very very smart and has yet to actually get in trouble for bad manners, which with me is seriously impressive, I hate it when my horses are rude.

Lucky for me I also got to go on a 3 day vacation to the lake! It was sooo needed and welcomed. I'm sure the horses appreciated me being gone for once and I appreciated not being stepped on and smelly for 2 days. I have also found the downside of having plants...that stupid miracle grow feeder things...IT WILL NOT WORK RIGHT...I have given up, I'd rather hand water them with diluted fertilizer. I will keep everybody updated on our plans...for now though, my main plan is to not get bucked off the babies!

Take care!

Hillary

Smell The Honeysuckle!

The last week and a half has been quite stressful and interesting! Having just graduated there are about a hundred thousand different things going on and going through my head. Add to that the stress of your horse doing her first CCI* and reattempting intermediate with Clif and you have a brain of mush and a stomach of knots!

I went up to Sharon White's on Saturday. I was able to get a dressage lesson with Tess on Sunday and Tuesday, we worked on making her very forward, obediant and relaxed. Clif and Tess both went for a hop around XC on Monday and a last little gallop..they were wild! Tess was fabulous, she has this totally new attitude, she is finding the jumps whether you are or not....soooo you had better hold on tight! Clif was great, I learned a bit more how to ride him, he needs such a different ride than Tess it can be very hard for me to switch between the two with all three of us being so green. He was really quite good and seemed to gain some confidence throughout his school, which he most definitely needed. Clif had a flat lesson on Tuesday and was really lovely; he's a little dressage horse these days. Both horses had a lighter jump school on Wednesday working on shortening their strides and angling fences. Clif was really great, he lovessssssssssss to add strides (he hates to leave them out!). Tess was super, she was jumping me way out of the tack. Thursday morning we left for Virginia Horse Center.

Tess playing around during her less with Sharon!
Thursday was a good day for the horses. They arrived at the park early, had light flat schools and Tess did her in-barn check for the CCI* (Note to self: send passport in 3 months in advance!). I also walked the courses Thursday night, and holyyyyyyyyyy moly was I needed some direction! But on a happy...ish side note, while walking the course all you can smell is the honeysuckle that is everywhere. It smells so good!

(Clif jumping with the big kids!)

Friday was dressage for Tess and dressage and show jumping for Clif. Clif did his dressage first and poor guy only had about a 20 minute warm-up. He seemed to enjoy that though, he was absolutely super in the ring; there is still lots to improve, mostly his roundness through the transitions, but he was great and got a 28, putting him in first out about 13! Good Clif! Tess then did her dressage, she was as good as she could possibly be for this stage of her life, she just lacks the strengh and muscle to really come round and through. However, I was really really pleased with her, she got a 55 (which is basically mid 30's in horse trial scores). It was probably one of her best tests to date, she was quite pleased with herself...but she usually is, your opinion does not count with Tess. Clif also show jumped in the afternoon. The show jumping looked quite good, but was riding absolutely horrifically for some people, rails were flying! I know Clif does just about everything in his power to jump clean so you really have to try to just let him do his best and stay the heck out of the way. He tried so so soooooooo hard and was absolutely perfect until I ran him into a vertical...brilliant of me, I know. He was very good, he just had the one rail, but since everyone else was having serious rails he stayed in 1st :)...lucky guy!

(Tess looking happy after her dressage test!)

Saturday was the big XC day! I walked my courses and knew what I had to do....LOTS!!!! Tess was first out. She was awesome, perfect, super, great..you pick any or all of those words. Her ears never went anywhere besides forward and her legs never stopped moving. She had never made time at a horse trial, so I had some serious doubts about her ability to make the time, especially on a nearly 8 minute course with massive mountains to gallop around on! I told her to go a bit early on, and boy did she go. I really just let her bounce around the whole time, I was more or less just along for the ride, she never blinked around the course I don't think. She was on a mission, that's for sure! She flew around the course perfectly nearly 25 seconds under the time! She was super and recovered really well which was exciting. Clif went out around lunch, he was foot perfect around the first few fences. The 6th fence was a big brush fence to a corner, sharp turn to a triple brush skinny; he ducked out at the corner, which was very naughty of him!, but jumped the corner great on the 2nd try....little brat, we then went to the skinny, where Clif was just still so rattled from his runout that he ran right into the skinny, not understanding what was going on.. BLAH!!!! He came right back around and jumped it fine. The rest of the course went really well, he was very on and enjoyed himself, I think. We did have ANOTHER run out (AH!) at two very steep angled canoes, but I asked for one stride and should have known he would do two strides, he slammed right into the 2nd canoe....dumb rider! He actually is on one of the Eventing Nation Videos (http://www.eventingnation.com) --just find the VA HT intermediate XC video, we are near the end doing about 5 fences, including the very scary water!

(Tess enjoyed her attention time!!!)

Tess was the only one to do anything on Sunday. She had her jog at 8 a.m.. She was wild for her jog, and super sound and fresh. She then jumped at about noon. She was great! She tried soooo hard to leave the rails up; she was kicking up so high behind I nearly pulled out her braids trying to hang on! She had a double clear round, I think everyone was very proud of her! She was in 15th place after dressage, after her double clear XC she moved into 9th place, and after her double clean show jumping round she moved into 6th place!!! And, most importantly, I finally got a neck ribbon! HA! She was soooo good, if had told me she would do this last week, I would have laughed at you. I know she is a super horse, but you never know how great they are until they start rising to the occasion, and she did more than just rise to it. She is now getting some well deserved down time (which will probably lead to me being bucked off!).

Everyone take care and hang on! (I will be riding the babies this week, hang on is my motto!)

Hillary

Yippe, Skipppppppe!

How time flies!


I have officially graduated from college (although they don't give you your diploma for two weeks!)! Not sure quite how I got here, but it has been an interesting trip. I started out at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is a great school as everyone already knows. I decided that it was most definitely not the place for me, and being so far from the horses killed me....literally, I was not such a happy individual. I then took a year "off" (I'm not sure working between 65 and 75 hours a week while taking 13 hours is a year off but whatever floats your boat).

(The family at Graduation!)


I went to the community college in Southern Pines and started out working for David and Lauren O'Brien; I took my first lesson with David when I was 8 years old on my 13.1 hand pony Mima (THE COOLEST PONY EVER!), and first started working for them when I was 13 (not sure I helped so much then!) and had just gotten my first real horse Kilkeel (who was a bit nutty, but a great learning experience none the less). I decided it was a logical decision to work for them since I had been seriously riding with both Lauren and David since I was 13; it was a great experience, I learned a lot, but in the end decided I needed to branch out. It was an incredibly hard decision for more reasons than I can count, I owe a lot to them; David taught me so much about young horses and Lauren is the lameness queen (seriously, if you ever see her advanced horse Guinn, his legs look like he is 3, not a blemish to be found!).
(Kilkeel won the Sandhills Series in 2003 @ Training level)


(Fannie, holds the record for sweetest horse and worst canter in the history of world)

I then started working for Charlie Plumb in the winter of 07/08, who is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, and riding with Jim Kofford and Bobby Costello. Charlie was always very supportive of anything I did while working for him; I had a nasty fall off Clif in February and was very seriously considering selling him asap (Good thing I didn't huh!?) and just playing around with Tess at novice/training, and Charlie was always there for me to talk to about my thoughts, no matter how ridiculous. Jim was the most fabulously positive person you could ever hope to do dressage with; he was always so encouraging and helpful with Clif (who was still a bolting, bucking disaster at this point!) which was great because as we all know, my self-confidence is not exactly solid or high. I owe quite a bit to Bobby, he never had a doubt about Clif's abilities....even on the day when I had to jump about 2 feet because anything higher led to Clif bolting off and pitching a holy fit. Bobby also seriously addressed my position and my training of the horses; I will never forget what he told me, you can ride them all day long, but it doesn't you a darn bit of good unless you train them!".

(Miss Jemima Puddle Duck..yes that was her real name and yes she had a fan club!)

After taking my year "off" I started attending App State in beautiful Boone, NC. It was a really great change and experience. I loved the atmosphere, so laid back and friendly. The professors were GREAT, always willing to help and very knowledgeable. I would go here again in a second. It was while here that I found a bit about who I am and the person I want to be. I think all of this has been quite obvious in how happy I have become and how happy my horses are, I dare say you will not find much more happy horses anywhere (I am a firm believer that your horses reflect you a lot of the time). Riding wise, I started riding with Sharon White, who absolutely one of the greatest people you will ever hope to meet, much less ride with! She is a great influence on me and I feel like she is the type of person the sport needs, someone who works incredibly hard and seriously cares about their horses, their friends, and their family. I also think her help has been quite evident...my horses are going the best they ever have, and I am riding the best I ever have.

(Clif after his CCI* Test, looking very please with himself..big surprise there!)

Andddddddddddddd all of this had led me to right here. I am Happy with where I am..but a bit nervous! I am currently figuring out my fall/life plans at the moment, scary! I am hoping to let Clif do the Fairhill ** in fall if he wants to go that direction and letting the little monster princess do her first intermediate in the fall, exciting! I have to say, I am so glad I was never bought a "made" horse ( not that it was an option :) ), because I know my horses would not be where they are or even the horses that they are if I had. They both have taken some seriously scenic routes to get where they are, but they are two of the most fabulous horses..that is totally unbiased of course.

(Tess getting a Jimmy Wofford lesson....he was the first one to call her the Princess!)

Clif and Tess have both been great this last week. Tess has continued to jump like a freak. Clif has been jumping quite straight and accurate, hoping that holds out for his intermediate at Virginia HT in 2 weeks! Tess is also WILD, she is super fit, but most definitely does not look it, she still looks fat and happy (which I am grateful for!). Everyone galloped today and had a blast going up the mountain (literally I galloped them up a freaking mountain!)..Clif tried to run away..HA, he found out that wasn't working going up the ski slope!

Last and certainly not least the new babies are here! Irish (who I HAVE to rename!) and Tuc (Tess's sister) have settled in quite well and are enjoying life! They are such sweet horses, I think we lucked out! Irish has a personality rebound rate of about 3.5 seconds, which is fine except she is constantly wanting to stand on top of you to say hi. Tuc is very shy, but very sweet and cute when she isn't being bitten out of the way by Irish. They are both quite clever, Tuc was watching me in the house (their field is about 10 feet away from the house) this morning, little busy body (wonder where she gets that from!?!?..TESS!). Tuc is now living with Clif, Tess and Sam; Clif and Sam think she's the best thing since Ms. Pastures, and Tess wishes she had never been born! Irish had also made new friends living with two other boarded horses, the three of them are becoming good friends as well.

Also, in exciting news is the #1 Preliminary Am. Rider ranking on the USEA leaderboard. Check it out here: http://useventing.com/competitions.php?section=leaderboard&lb=preliminary . Also equally as exciting, I (or we!) are now Kerrits Ambassadors! We have a fun little profile complete with pictures and all :) on the Kerrits website. Check it out here: http://67.199.81.95/Equestrian-Apparel/pc/Hillary-Irwin-d194.htm .

Next week I am heading for lessons at Sharon's farm and then will head straight to the VA HT, where Tess will run her first CCI* and Clif is headed to the intermediate! We will update from there!

Enjoy this nice cool weather and remember where you came from got you where you are :)

Hillary

What's A Road Without Some Pot Holes?

Not really sure why I chose that title, but hey just in case you were wondering, a road without pot holes is SMOOOOOTH! (Boone could really take a lesson in smooth roads). You will have to excuse my slightly flu like sick, over-tired sense of humor this time!


(Tess @ Chatt Hills 3 weeks ago!)



I learned some fun facts about my horses this week. Clif will nearly kill himself and you if a frog jumps out of a lake (even if it is the size of a half dollar and nearly terrified of you). Tess thinks everything about her is fun, how could I possibly narrow it down to one thing!? Clif enjoyed his time off. I have been riding him on the flat with a dressage whip this week...eeeek! He is almost unwilling to forgive me, even with cookies, this is a true sign of disaster people! Clif would totally be an underwear model if he were a person..weird comment, but just hang in there for a moment while I explain. I have never seen a horse that will adjust the amount of food they eat on the amount of work they are doing; if he is in normal work he eats his mountain of food in 10 minutes max, but this week while not working, he didn't finish his entire dinner once, and it took him over an hour to manage that! What a strange little horse. Tess is good as well, she is a wild woman these days...at Loudon when she finished XC and I pulled up, she promptly reared and spun back towards the XC..yes I know what your thinking, someone has replaced my horses personality, my thoughts exactly :)! She is jumping like a f-r-e-a-k these days, I need a seatbelt! She is truly the happiest she has been in years, it has taken a long time to undo some seroius anger that girl has bottled up inside!
(Clif doing his first intermediate SJ!)



On a bit of a fun note I will be getting 2 babies this summer! One will hopefully be sold quickly and the other will be my mom's horse...since I maybe, kind of, may have sorta taken Tess from her..opps, although really not thattttttt sorry about it :)! One is just an unraced TB, her name is Irish (which I am not a huge fan of, but it is bad luck to change names!) that my grandparents bred, but does not look as though it will be too quick in the dirt ;). She is super cute and seems to be quite sweet..we shall hope she stays that way! The second baby I am most excited to sit on! Her name is Tuc, she also is a product of Snooty Fox Farm..it is the Princess's half sister, they have the same mama....god help us all. She is very cute though, looks quite a bit like Tess, has that cute face and a bit of a long back (both my horses have long backs, I'm a fan them, they have worked out well for me!). Both of these two have been at a cowboy's for the last month, learning to be ridden and going on trail rides, such is the best thing in the world for babies! I'm excited to get them and will post pic's as soon as I am able to get them from Florida!



This is my LAST week of UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, I am so excited! I will finish up my last exam on Tuesday, yayyyy! I graduate the following Sunday..super exciting. Tess and Clif would rather I stay in school, they feel as though they see enough of me as it is.

Oh...quick side note! The ponies have been so good this season, I am on the Preliminary Am. Leaderboard as the #1 Preliminary Adult Am. Rider! Pretty Sweet! Clif has actually won 3 out of 5 of his events this year.

Until next time...everyone be smart and wear a helmet (that brain costs a lot of money!)

Hillary

Please just stay between the flags!

So this weekend was a good one for us! Clif, Tess, Mom and I headed to Leeburg, VA for Loudoun HT held at Morvan Park. I had never been to this event, I did go a few years back to watch the Derby Cross event which was good fun. But, honestly I had no idea what to expect ...except that it would probably be big.

(The barn all pretty for spring time!)
We left early Friday so that everyone could be ridden and braided Friday night to make Saturday as least hectic as possible. Tess went for a little ride and was pretty good..a bit annoyed at times, but mostly good! Clif was his normal good self and enjoyed the low key time as not many horses were stabled there. I set off to walk my courses and wheel my course...for anyone who knows me..yes I wheeled a course. I also failed at wheeling the course as I was about 80 meters off what it was officially wheeled....smoooooooooooth Hillary..real smooth. The course looked lovely, the fences were absolutely beautiful and the whole flow was quite good. It was a serious preliminary, with a few good questions. There was a vertical down hill to a big corner on a quiet 7 strides on a bit of an angle, so I was a bit nervous how the little corner demon (clif) would handle that. There was just a bit to look at at several fences and for Tess that can interrupt her Princess thought process and serious confidence effects. So there was definitely enough to do.

(My really classy horse..this is what he does when he is pleased with himself)

Saturday was dressage, sj then xc. Clif actually completed the event before Tess even started....it was a bit of an odd schedule but worked none the less. Clif was quite good in dressage, he was really accurate, relaxed and quiet. His test did not score as I would have thought but tied him for 1st none the less. He jumped SJ really really well, he was super round in his topline, which is such a good feeling on him as he can tend to be a bit strong and flat when he gets nervous. I think he was just excited the jumps shrank from his last outing and was thanking me by cooperating! He jumped a clean round (I think the only clean SJ in his division actually). We then went immediately to XC...he was a maniac in warm-up...back to his monster self, which was a relief! He was really solid throughout the whole course, he was a bit of a jerk for the first 3 fences which is a bit his style. He settled down for a narrow cabin at 4 and continued to jump really well from there. I couldn't see a spot to save my life, poor guy. He stuck out, galloped quick and jumped big; he was great the corner, I couldn't have asked him for a better spot or to be more straight. He ended with a few XC time penalties (I know, I know, I need to go faster!) to finish 1st and win a very beautiful hand made brush box!

(Princesses do not roll)

Tess then got to start her day with a happy rider! She got a quick 20 minute warm up for dressage, which she seemed to enjoy as she put in her best test of the season. While it was not stellar by any means, it was very very very much improved. There only a few moments of objection and anger :). I was really happy with some of her trot work where I was able to slow her down and show off her movement a bit...she's so fancy when she wants to be! Poor princess then went straight (and i do mean no break at all) to SJ. She was SUPER! She jumped like a little baby, I actually laughed a her on course. She was jumping big over everything, she felt really fresh and rideable...yay! She also had one of the only clear rounds in her division! We then went to straight to XC. She was good...I have no big complaints..we just never found that super rhythm we had at Chatt Hills. She was very backed off the first fence so we had a discussion there to start the course off a bit more positive. We just lacked a bit of accuracy to a couple questions, she never intended on not jumping them, she just had no intention of staying in the middle of the jump! I also found out we need to work on her not backing off, she had great strides to two different tables and backed herself off so much she ended up off the distance which was fine in the end, but would have been less for her had she listened. It was amazing to feel how much she has matured; there was no major issues, she was really good, now it is the fine tuning we need to work on! Tess finished with a few XC time penalties to finish 6th in the open division out like 16 or more horses...she was a good princess!

(Clif won a pretty brush box, blue ribbon and Tess won a pretty green ribbon)


This week is insane with school...wrapping up class and starting finals. Insanity! Tess will continue with life as usual, galloping, trotting, blah blah blah..she seems to be enjoying the work though. Clif will get a few days off..he just feels a bit dead in his flat work which is not like him. He quite a monster most of the time, I know that this tiredness is coming from how hard he is trying and all the new muscles that he is using, so I just feel he needs a few days off with some hacking. He will then go straight back into his normal work around Thursday. All of us need some R&R sometimes.....but some of us do not get it.....

Pat the ponies! Hope everyone is well!

Hillary

Can Your Brain Explode?

Tess says, "Oh, yes it totally can; that's why I think so slow, I saw a brain explode once and it interrupted her eating habits greatly", Clif says "It can explode if you have one dummy!", and I say "Brain? What Brain!?!?".

(Tess being adorable as usual!)

The past week has been insane and it is only getting worse! School is coming to whirlwind of an end with huge papers, presentations, tests and finals....what is left of my brain is constantly throbbing. The horses are also busy, Clif is working on corners and skinnies like there is no tomorrow and Tess is happily going along with my new found method of riding her. On a happy note Clif is jumping better than he ever has and is jumping hard skinnies and corners with no problem (which is actually some what annoying after last weekend!). Tess jumped like a little superstar this weekend and was awesome on the flat today (so exciting!), her trot is awesome when you can slow it down, have her moving over her back; she's my very own little Ringwood Cockatoo (HA!, if you have never seen this horse's dressage you should most definitely google it a.s.a.p).


(Clif jumping in the mud!)


This week is full of school Monday to Thursday at 5pm, then it's race home to ride the horses on the flat before it gets dark! Friday we will head to Loudon HT just outside of D.C. in Virginia. I have never been there so it should be a good time for everybody. Clif is going hop around the Preliminary, hopefully we will have our normal good go and his confidence will be back to normal as well. Tess will also have her last (knock on wood) Preliminary run before the CCI* at Virginia in May, I will try to go a bit faster this weekend, but I will do whatever the little princess requires to jump the jumps on the first try! Although, I'm thinking that should be easier this time, she is really having a good time and liking her job.




(Clif having fun)

Oh yeah, how could I forget!? The ponies got some famous time this week on the USEA website. They both got their pictures in the Chatt Hills Recap, pretty school to have both horses in it when there was about 160 other horses to choose from. Here is the link: http://useventing.com/blog/?p=8767 .



(Tess galloping along)


Enjoy the weather and I will hopefully be writing good news next week!
Hillary

Excuse me, I cannot fit through a 2 foot wide area with flags on either side!

Well, well, well don't I have lots to talk about!?!



(Clif as a 4 year old at his 2nd novice, he was jumping the middle fence, the outside is the preliminary....)




This weekend was Chatt Hills just outside of Atlanta, GA (actually it's where I grew up until I was 6, something like going home I suppose). Chatt Hills has to be one of the most gorgeous pieces of land in the country; there are rolling hills, big trees, rivers, brand new barns and brand new arenas... creating happy horses and happy people!


Friday was a nice quiet arrival day. Tess and Clif both were really happy in their stalls. I rode Tess first, she was really quite good....she had people telling her how much they liked her, making her even more happy! She did not even neigh until she was back at the barn, not sure the point of that, but whatever you don't ask questions you do not want the answer too. I got on Clif for a few minutes, he was really good. I must admit watching the other intermediate and advanced horses I was a bit nervous our flatwork was not going to be up to snuff. But just when you start doubting yourself....Buck Davidson told me he was a really lovely horse and wanted to know a bit about him...how about that for a pick me up!?!? Maybe that's what I should do...start tape recording positive things that are said about my horses and play them while I ride..except I really cannot get the hang of that whole Ipod while riding thing..but then again maybe that is because if a trutle moves Clif will bolt off. I will give Clif that credit as well, I now know my hearing is in prime condition, at least while hacking :).


Saturday was quite busy! The little princess was actually semi-normal for her dressage! She was by no means ridable or great, but she was cooperative. Cooperative is something I will take! From cooperative you can go to good, from good you can go to ridable, from ridable you can go to great. One step at a time I suppose, poor Tess she hates those STUPID DETAILS..who cares about bending and lateral work..I mean really!?!?!? Clif was really relaxed and supple for his warm-up..even I was impressed with him, not that that is too unusual though I guess. He had a minor explosion in the warm up when a horse came directly at him (even though he was 40 ft away!) and had yet another explosion when the judge rang the bell behind him as I trotted by...love those off the track horses (actually I do, they are fun!). Clif was really good about calming down, which I was very proud of him for. His test was really quite solid considering how green we both are, not bad for the first one! The test just lacked the accuracy and brilliance that we are both capable of giving, which is unfortunate, but hey we will figure it out! Our judge was Brian Ross (who is a fairly tough judge), he seemed to really like Clif, yay! We got a 38 which put in 8th out of about 16 or so...Clif even got a few 8's..one was on his canter to walk transition!



Cross country was also on Saturday. I was lucky enough to walk the courses with Buck Davidson, as Sharon White was not there this weekend and let's face it, I need guidance! Sharon recommended Buck..he was really great to walk with. He and Sharon are very much alike so it was good to keep giving me confidence about what I was doing. The courses looked good. The prelimb was nice with a few serious questions....my eyes about came out of my head at one thing we had to do! (If I ever figure out technology I will be sure to post the XC Video of tess!). The intermediate was good as well..sharing quite a few tables with the advanced, having some great gallopy fences and a few technical questions. Tess was first out on XC; she was a superstar! I am so proud of her..and actually quite proud of me, I tried riding her a new way that is a bad foreign to me, but she loved it (and since this is somewhat like a marriage when she's happy, I'm happy :)!). She answered every question like she was going beginner novice; it's so nice to sit on a horse who is capable of so much and is finally figuring out life. She was a bit slow, but that was intentional due to her two weeks off from various Princess Mishaps. Clif went out next. He warmed up well, a bit quiet and relaxed, which at the time I welcomed! He started the course great. He jumped the first technical questions awesome, it was a big vertical log downhill on an angle to a skinny, he was perfect. The next questions did not go to well, I took my eye of the skinny or put my shoulders forward (or probably both!) and we missed, came back around and just jumped it alone and well. He continued on to jump the max tables really well, and quiet. We then came to a little table to a pretty skinny corner. He ran out again at the corner and then took off; so I stopped took a breath, came around again only to have him run out again. After that I retired..weird feeling walking off the course with Clif! He is not a course to run out...ever, I actually have never had a run out with him on XC, I've had a few stops at prelimb (like 2, and one bad go this fall that was completely my fault). In hindsight, I'm not sure he was feeling well, he never got his "HA, I'm going to ran away now!" attitude he gets, he just quietly galloped around, which at the time I was grateful for. Hindsight is 20/20. After talking to Sharon and watching the video, Clif will be headed to the vet in the morning just make sure there is nothing going on even though is sound.


Sunday was the ever so exciting show jumping. Seriously, if you ever want to see the carnage of eventing it comes on the Sunday after cross country. I don't know why this happens, but it makes me appreciate the horses I have even more. Brian Ross was also the TD and was nice enough to allow me to show jump, what a nice guy! The show jumping was quite big, it was a really nice course, just big! Clif jumped sooo well, he tried so hard. I did not give him the best ride unfortunately for him. We had two rails...I just missed my striding to an oxer, it was apparently a nice 4...i got there in a short 4..duh Hillary go somewhere! The next was at a skinny vertical, I completely picked that whole way up to it...fairly sure that is the #1 rule of show jumping, DO NOT PICK TO A VERTICAL, especially one that is like 3'7'' or bigger! Overall, he got several cookies and big pats for his effort..he saved me over the hardest fence on the course. Good Clif..almost makes up for yesterday......but yet, it doesn't! ha! Tess was sitting in 5th going into SJ (good pony!). She jumped well, she finally was backed off when the jumps were very scary and 3' 7''...she actually jumps so much better when the jumps gets big because she pays attention! We had 1 rail...it was a bit too bad, but it was a pretty mutual thing, I should have really told her no when she ran through my half halt and she should have attempted to listen!

All in all though it was a fabulous weekend for Tess. I am very very proud of the princess. I am actually really happy with Clif's dressage and show jumping, while the XC was disappointing we will figure it out and try again later. We are heading to Loudon HT where both horses will run the Preliminary, it was a planned Prelimb run for Clif, but turns out he needs it! This will also be Miss Tess's last real run before her debut at the CCI* level at VA Horse Trials in May! Go Tess!

Everyone take care and appreciate your horse even when it does not go as planned :)-





Hillary

The high's and the low's are giving me motion sickness!

I hope everyone is enjoying this GREAT weather! I am. Clif and the Princess have informed me that they would like their fans already (really guys, come on!). They already have busted out the fly masks and fly sheets (well I busted them out, they "gently" encouraged me to). Clif made his need to have his mask and sheet obvious when he went flying around the field bucking because there was at least 3 flies in a 5 ft radius. How dare them touch his perfectly manicured skin, don't flies know better! Tess just makes pitiful faces until she gets what she wants, then she goes to back to eating. I suppose she is like having a 4 year old child who has figured out that all they have to do to get something is make a face and you will move at lightening speed to turn that frown upside down!


The high's of eventing are great, Clif is currently on one, how fabulous for me! He's really quite fun to ride now, and you always smile at some point with him. He finally understands most everything. He lengthenings are becoming extended trots, his leg yields are easily made into half passes and his walk-canter transitions are getting more and more solid, as are his flying changes (except I do not dare do those in a dressage saddle yet!). It's really cool to have made a horse from literally the first time somebody who weighed more than 110 pounds rode him (I mean come on, compared to those jockey's who isn't fat!?). I remember when I first got him, he wouldn't move, no really like literally wouldn't move. Mom had to lead me around for a few days, finally we figured out that not going in a left handed circle was acceptable. After the non-moving stage he proceeded into the not stopping stage (which he still continues today as he demonstrated brilliantly in his gallops this week, stupid rubber snaffle!). It's also been so fun to prove so many people wrong about him (even me at some points). He was a bit of a freak to put it mildly when he was younger..and by younger I mean 6 months ago. He definitely did not have a following...we'll put it that way =). I have to give the credit for turning my attitude about him around to Bobby Costello, Bobby never gave him (or me!) an excuse, "just keep going" were his remarks no matter what was going on...and I have to say no excuses changes attitudes! There are a lot of stories about Clif...(his 5 mile Saturday morning stroll through downtown Southern Pines and a cemetery without a rider can be used a small example). He's turning out to be an amazing horse.


As a result of Clif and the Princess's hard work, I am currently ranked 3rd on the USEA Preliminary Amateur Leaderboard for the country..pretty cool...THANKS PONIES!!!


The princess has always been a fun horse. She should have been a lab, she loves the attention (as long as your not putting on a saddle!). She has always been a big challenge for me to ride. I do not think she is a very easy horse to ride either..but that's just me! She is a difficult ride on the flat, she just does not understand why she doesn't get a 10 for not putting her head down! She is great to show jump usually, all you have to do is get her near the fences and she will do whatever she can to leave them up, she doesn't really like hitting rails, but at the same time, you interfere...oh dear! She's really a blast to jump when you can get it all together, she has springs (and she sometimes jumps like a deer..no really...like a deer). Cross country has been a struggle for me with her, she does not pay attention AT ALL, the jump judges are far more interesting and for that matter, so is that bird in the tree. I have a really hard time keeping her confident without pushing her or feeling like she understands something when she doesn't (which is what happened at Southern Pines HT). She is a bit complicated to say the least...but then again she's a woman (I fully maintain that I am an uncomplicated woman). Another factor is that she has never actually tried at anything in her life (and when she does, SHE BUCKS...BIG), she doesn't had to try jumping....basically ever--except in grid work when the strides are short and the oxers wide. It's hard to ride that type of horse, her brain is slow, her feet are slow, her talent can get her out of anything...so it should be easy to ride her, come on Hillary! I just need to figure it out even more! I have started riding with Sharon White a few months ago and she has helped me incredibly with both horses. She is is the princess's personal "Tess whisperer"; she is amazing at being able to really know and understand each horse and their needs and how to ride them. She is the reason that Clif is going the way that he does now and she is the reason I'm starting to be able to ride Tess :). I think everyone eventually finds that trainer that they really fit with and can easily relate, understand and communicate with, and Sharon is that for me. She is so down to earth about everything and very realistic but always incredibly positive, a great influence on me!


The lows of the sport are the falls, the expenses and the soundness of your horses. The soundness is my low right now...enter Tess. Miss Tess had a hard time dealing her spring shots. After recovering from that she stepped on her heel..ding bat! And while still recovering from that she has something else appearing. She has an appointment with the vet on Monday, so unless she is sound tomorrow and is able to be ridden this weekend and still looks good for the vet Monday, it is doubtful that she will be heading to Chatt Hills (major bummer, as it would have been the perfect course for her.) Anyone who knows me knows I am a bit OCD with my horses, I feel they deserve the best, they do manage not to kill me and I try to return the favor. Soundness is something I'm good at, and I'm not good at much with these dang horses! I notice the small things in my horses and try make sure they feel better than the day before everyday they are ridden, that being said the issue with the princess is probably not a huge deal, but I would rather find a strain somewhere now then run her and find a hole in a suspensory in two weeks. So soundness first is our motto!


On a human note, I was able to do some fun 22 year old things on my weekend off from showing! I went to one of my best friend's bridal showers, it was a lot of fun to see people and not smell like a horse I must say. This weekend I am also going to The Fork CIC*** to watch, yay! Should be a good motivator..not that Clif wants me to push him anymore, he would like me unmotivated since he is my sole horse to work on at the moment!


Next weekend is Chatt Hills. Clif will be doing his first intermediate. AHHHH. I'm trying not to think about it, it is working only because I am giving myself an ulcer worrying about Tess. He is going great on the flat, his XC has been great all year, and his show jumping quite good. He will do two more jump schools and another gallop this week to make sure we are ready! I've decided to bribe him with Ms Pastures for a good dressage test, to be sound sunday, and leave the rails up....and maybe to also jump all jumps on the first attempt! Ha!

Enjoy the spring and green grass!

Game Face For Southern Pines!

(Tess goes into the water!)

Here is my sidenote! Southern Pines HT's is an event I have not been to in about 2 years, which in the eventing world is a long time! I decided that the past courses were just not the type my horses neeeded; this year was so different (due to an awesome new course designer). The courses were amazing; big and gallopy, so friendly and yet asked all the questions. Such a nice course to be able to ride!

My mom and I headed down to the Carolina Horse Park on Thursday. I had two quick flat lessons with Sharon White Thursday afternoon. Clif was great (that's becoming a theme!) and Tess was also great (She gets many people to watch and compliment her when she is good, this makes her very happy). So we went into Friday on a positive note.

(Clif and I studying Friday Night--he typed!

Photo by Marisa Notarnicola)

Friday was a nice, relaxed day. Clif did not go until 10:30. He warmed up really well, relaxed, happy and lovely. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a melt down before going into the ring (Clif wanted to know why there was an XC advanced skinny near the ring?!?!?). His test was still fairly solid, but just lacked the relaxation he has had in his previous two tests of the year. So while not the end of the world, it was a bit of a bummer, but his test of 33 did put him in the top 5 out of 20 or so horses. Tess was quite good in her warm-up, unforunately we lost it about 3 minutes before going into the ring. Instead of just trying to negotiate with her throughout the test, I decided to ride her and make her do atelast something productive. This should serve as an example of how obnoxious she is; in her test which was about a 45, she received three 8's (I mean really Tess!). Talented and naughty is a not such a fun combination some times! Oh well, we will conintue to work through this phase she is going through, especially since I feel that it is mostly due to the fact that she is actually close to be submissive (hence the current state of anger for not being able to do whatever she wants!)

(Clif into the water!)

Saturday was XC day! Tess went out first and was really quite perfect. She had a very very very unfortunate stop in the sunken road which was A,B,C. She went at 9 AM and the sun was right in both our faces, she never quite saw the C element until she was about to take off for the B element! I saw C, so I assumed she did as well...not so smart there Hillary! She jumped all the tables (which were nice and big) very well, she jumped the water super (which was again quite big for prelimb)and she was great and very straight for the skinny and corner. Clif went at about 10 AM when it was a bit warmer. He was a bit more relaxed in warm-up than he has been. I let the fences help me with his wildness, especially for the first few fences, this seemed to make a big difference and helped me a good bit. The course was made for a horse like Clif--it was big and gallopy, he was right at home. He was quick and solid jumping through and over everything, I couldn't not have asked him for much more. Saturday was a good day!

Sunday everyone got to show jump. Tess jumped first once again. Her show jumping was not exactly stellar. I did not ride her forward enough to the first two fences, which were taking you directly into the crowd and patron tent (this event was part of the Professional Riders Organizations series of sponsored events, hence the tents and people!). She did not quite know what to make of the crowd and I was not quite sure what to do with her (Let this be yet another lesson that two "I don't know's" does not lead to a know), let her be quiet and take it in, or keep her forward and not quite have her attention, I choose the quiet...not so bright as it turns out! We had the first two fences down, which is totally unacceptable for a horse that can jump as well as she can. After about the third fence we settled back into a good forward rythm and she jumped well, so we at least ended on a good note. Clif jumped next, and he was in 6th place heading into SJ. He was quite good, as usual these days, and jumped one of his most responsive and accurate rounds ever. He ended up 4th out of about 20 horses, finishing with only a few time penalties from XC added to his dressage score of 33 (Clif says "if she had let me run off like usual, we would not have had those dumb time faults and I would have been 2nd!").

(Tess over the jump on a lump!

Photo by Marisa Notarnicola)

Clif is funny, when he gets to a show these days he puts on his game face. He went into to show jumping with a new attitude and he was not messing around, I think he quite likes being the center of attention and getting ribbons (too bad he removed it during his victory gallop and proceeded to step on his new white ribbon, getting dirt all over it!). Tess was also improved, although her score does not reflect it, she was much more confident on XC than she ever has been and her SJ was good after our yucky start.

(Clif over one of the many tables)

Our next outing will be Chatt Hills outside of Atlanta, GA. Tess will continue on her road to the Virginia Horse Trials CCI* with another preliminary run. Clif will make the big jump up to intermediate! He feels great and very ready to be an intermediate horse, hopefully the feeling will be the action!

I will give everyone an update before we head towards the great unknown in April!!

Hillary

Good Times!

Hello!

I hope everyone has been dong well! I have been, it was my much needed spring break!

This week we headed down to Full Gallop Horse Trials in Aiken, SC. Thursday was yucky weather with nasty storms starting around 12 and lasting until about 3...when my lessons were. I was glad for the weather to break a bit, even if it was for just about 3 hours. I had quick jump lessons with Sharon White on Thursday. Tess jumped 3 feet over everything and was being great, so not much needed to be done with her, just me! Clif was also a good, a bit of a wild man, but good. He jumped great as well and got an easy last jump school before the weekend. Friday the weather continued to be nasty, love the spring storms! (NOT!). Clif and Tess had flat lessons on Friday. Clif was a bit wild in the beginning (big surprise there) and ended up beautiful! He had brilliant canter work and discovered a new trot with a bit of suspension...pretty cool!!!!! Tess then had her lesson...and oh, what a lesson it was. She was an absolute monster; she has been so good at home...oh well! She was just flat out unwilling to cooperate. Sharon helped me work it out with her a bit, we took off her flash and let her see if she liked that..she did not love it, but she liked it much better. She ended on a positive note and almost having removed my arms from my body.

Saturday was an early day, starting at 5 am. Tess did dressage first at 7:40....I'm going to blame the dressage on the fact that the princess was not impressed by being harassed at 5:30 in morning for something as horrible as dressage. Her test was actually impressive...impressively bad. She is such a lovely horse, it is very frustrating to have her be so naughty when she is fully capable of being the top or one of top horses in dressage. Better luck next time I suppose! Clif was next and was a bit tense to begin with. He relaxed a bit and started going well. We then went to warm up around the ring..someone had a trot through a puddle and Clif thought that was the end of the world. We did a nice spin and bolt with me hanging on the side of him. Man am I glad he stopped! Poor Clif, if a lady bug moves behind him, he is out of there! He settled back down and went around the ring in pretty circles. I need to be more confident in what I am asking him, he knows the tricks now and is relaxed, he is capable of getting straight 8's on his canter work, and he would have had I not backed off his canter lengthenings, oops. He got a 31 on his test which quite good, especially for him!

Saturday was also the day of show jumping. Clif got to show jump first. He was good for the warm-up area being so awful. But, I got him to a nasty distance with no leg and he said "No way dummy!". So after a nice little stop and some rattled Clif nerves we got it all back together. He jumped around well...he had the first fence down, which was a bit too bad, but not at all a big deal. I just didn't quite have it together enough for him to jump well over it. He is a funny horse, he seems quite the know-it-all, but is actually a bit timid and does a lot of over compensating for it with wildness. Something we need to work on! Tess jumped around lovely, she jumped about 4 feet over the first fence, it was very scary!!! She continued to jump well, we had one fence that was not as perfect as planned when she came above the bit and against me. That is what we are working on and will continue to work on, but 1 fence out of 10 isn't so bad..it is progress!!

Sunday was not quite as early, yay! Clif was the first out again. He was a maniac, but then again, he was in a rubber snaffle. I think we will upgrade to a regular snaffle from now on...such big bits he has! He definitely needed confidence around the whole course and did get better as it went on. He galloped around really quick and jumped pretty well...no thanks to my shoulders that needed to be around 6 inches further back! He was 5 seconds over the time which was good considering we had several discussions about our speed around the course. Tess went out next and she was AWESOME! I kept waiting for her to get her attitude out...but it never came. She went out of the box happy and focused..what!?!?! Yes that's right, happy and focused! She was great through the first few fences..I kept feeling like I was doing something weird..then I noticed I was smiling! I'm usually so serious with her (and I have to be) that I never really notice anything. She was super about everything, I could not have asked for anything better from her! I'm so so so proud of her. She doesn't have a picture of her on here because the camera went dead! But I will be sure to put some up from Southern Pines of her..she would be so angry she did not have her princess photos up!

Overall the weekend was great for the everyone. Clif ended up winning! He's won two in a row now, and this was his first full prelimb win (Pinetop was only a P/T division)! What a good horse! Tess ended up 8th which was not too shabby considering our dressage :). I think there were about 20 in their division, so big divisions! Well, I am off to continue scrubbing buckets, boots, and soaking Clif's smelly haynet (Got to love the horses that dunk hay in water EVERY SINGLE time!) Everyone take care, find time to ride and more here after Southern Pines II Horse Trials!!
Hillary