Wellington 2023 Wrap up

My second season in Wellington was definitely a bit hectic, but I am so happy and thankful with how everything went. I could not be more proud with how far Knightling has come- he was such a well behaved boy the whole season! Last year I was so excited to show that I entered Global 1, just two weeks after they got off the trailer and it was a disaster- I couldn’t even get Knight down the centerline the first day. This year I promised myself I would wait until February to show, and while it killed me watching everyone compete and post their results and pictures I stuck to my promise and it really paid off. Knight and I did our I-1 Freestyle at Global, and scored a 71% from a panel the first day and a 69% the second! The whole season we ended up averaging a 69% at our freestyle, which I am super happy with.

This season I got to train twice a week with my main squeeze Kathy Connelly, which is such a treat as up North she is so busy I don’t get to lesson with her as regularly. I was also lucky enough to get to clinic with Steffen Peters, and Jeanne McDonald, which was incredible and so helpful! I was also so excited and thankful to get to continue to ride with Jane Hannigan every week, and start riding with Kasey Perry-Glass!! I learned so much which I was down here this season, and I am so grateful to all of my teachers.

One of the most exciting things about this season was the opportunity to get to work with Bethany Pastorial, of Bethany P Photography and the photos came out so amazing I can’t handle it. She was such a delight to work with- I can not recommend her highly enough! Check her out hereL https://bethanypphotography.pixieset.com

Thank you so much to my amazing student Lara Erdogus-Brady, for all of your help this season- I miss you already! Thank you to Brigitte Voelk for grooming for me and taking such amazing photos, and to Amber Peaslee for quitting your job to come fill in mid season!! Words do not express how grateful I am to you! Now onward to the northern season! And maybe a nap…

And to think, it only took 7 years...

I often wish I wasn’t like this, but there is some fundamental part of my essence that wants to take the most difficult path to accomplish things, and that has been my theme song to getting my Gold Medal with Knight. The brief summary of my journey with Knight is that I got him seven years ago for $1 because he was so explosive and dangerous that in his youth he was deported back to the Netherlands. He spent our first year together trying to bronc me off every day, and at competitions his “knightsplosions” were the most violent. Our first two seasons together I wore a cross country vest at shows, and if we were able to make it through 50% of our tests without being eliminated or me having to excuse ourselves it was a miracle. This went on for over four years, and I now walk with a limp uphills as a direct result of my Knightling and his temper tantrums. It took about 5 years to put piaffe on Knight because he kept trying to decapitate our grounds people and eject me in the process, and his general aversion to learning new tricks made getting him to the Grand Prix a very slow journey. So this past weekend earning our last score for my Gold Medal has felt completely surreal. I am so proud of this horse and how far he has come, and I am so thankful to everyone who has helped us on our journey. Kathy Connelly, I can’t thank you enough for your help and guidance over the last 5 years. You always have believed in me and Knight and your patience and knowledge is the reason we are where we are today, words can not express how grateful I am to have you in my life. Also a huge thank you to Jane Hannigan for all of your help over the last few months, it means more than I can say 

Knight is an incredibly high maintenance and special needs horse (kind of like his mom) and perhaps the biggest thank you goes out to North Bridge Equine and Stephanie Shen for keeping him sound, and Tim O’brien for keeping his special foot in fighting shape 

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A first timer's adventures in Wellington

I feel so thankful and lucky to have been the recipient of one of NEDA’s amazing scholarships to work with my trainer, Kathy Connelly, this winter in Wellington.

This was my first ever trip to the promise land, and here are some of my takeaways in case you too are planning on making a first trip down to paradise. 

-Everything in Wellington looks the exact same, it is all a very pretty and well planned cluster of fancy strip malls that they call things like “marketplaces” and they all look identical. For two weeks I had to use my GPS to drive the ten minutes to the barn and back, and the one time in that period I was sure I could do it by myself, I got us hopelessly lost.

-Southern Florida is essentially the tropics, and since everything doesn’t die in the soil in the winter like it does up here in the frozen Arctic, it’s basically filled with things that make your horse’s legs blow up like balloon animals. Five of the nine horses we brought down had something go wrong with their legs, three of which needed the vet to come out. Anti-fungal shampoos are an absolute must, and I really like this product called Wound Wonder that you can get from your vet. You really do have to towel dry your horses legs after every shower, and use that anti fungal shampoo- a lot.

-Hay is as expensive as you have heard rumors about it being, with prices ranging from $15-30 a bale for timothy. If you’re bringing a trailer down I highly recommend hating your life in the short term and packing it to the gills with hay, which of course will result in also hating your life when you arrive and have to unload dozens of heavy bales.

-Palm trees make a tremendous amount of noise in the wind, which half of the horses we brought down hated in the beginning. The palm fronds that fall are also made of snakes and lions and horses REALLY hate those. Proceed with caution.

-If your horse is a perfect baby angel who can go into any venue at any time disregard the following advice. However, if you have any kind of sensitive snowflake like I do, I would strongly recommend against having your first show in Florida at Global, and building on that I would also say that you should really not show two weeks after arriving. Be smart like my friend Bobby Murray and spend the first month or two training, and then go out and show and do great. Don’t be impulsive and short sighted like me and show your $1 special needs horse at Global 1 and get eliminated because they won’t go down the centerline *insert face palm emoji*

-The two venues we competed at were Global in Wellington, and white fences in loxahatchee, and they could not be more different. Global is in Wellington proper, and it has absolutely gorgeous permanent stabling most of the time- except if you are unlucky enough to accidentally choose a weekend that a hunter derby is going on and get booted to the standard temporary stabling. There are three competition rings side by side, and for warm up there is one large ring, and then one 20 x 60 warm up at the entrance to the ring. The latter is not for the faint of heart as it usually has 5-10 FEI riders executing movements in every possible space, and forcing you to ride with the bravado of a gladiator. Getting to compete at Global was one of the most amazing, overwhelming, and humbling experiences I have ever had. Everytime you warm up for a test there are numerous Olympians in the ring with you, and every horse there is truly of exceptional quality- like mind blowing nice movement AND they have a brain. Going into the season I knew the level of competition was going to be much higher, but I am not sure anything could have prepared me for the reality of how amazing every pair is.

  -White fences is much more laid back, and the caliber of riding is still elevated, but not to the point where you want to give up, go home, crawl into your bed and never leave it again. It has primarily temporary stabling, but as someone with very bad anxiety surrounding pulling and parking my trailer it is exceptionally easy to get in and out of and a very enjoyable day show. The smart person move I learned is to do this show first, and then do global. Stay tuned for if it is a lesson I actually apply for next season.

Yes, ribbons are the least important part of Dressage- but they are definitely fun.

The awards for the season have come out, and I am so proud of how each and every one of my students did- it truly was an amazing season (minus the plague). Knight and I have had quite the long road to getting to this point- we battled for four season through his explosive reaction to competitions and life, and survived his second colic surgery. Words can not properly convey how proud I am of this horse and how far he has come. We ended the year with both Regional Championships and NEDA year end awards in 3rd place (with a 69, and 69.7 respectively), and while I am still gunning for a cooler or a jacket I am still thrilled with where we landed.

My students had an equally awesome season- we ended the year with one USDF Bronze medal, junior Champion for USDF, one NEDA year end Champion, and 3 Reserve Champion placings! We are still waiting to hear back on the OTTB awards, but my student Claire on my pony Annika won the Seldom Seen Trophy, which is awarded to the highest placed Connemara ridden by a Junior in USDF competition.

I absolutely love competing, and as a perfectionist with OCD one of the things I love about Dressage is how structured it is and how everything is quantifiable. I truly love getting feedback from judges,, so throughout this season after every show I would spend a significant amount of time pouring over both footage of my tests and my scoresheets to isolate areas I could improve my scores in. It was also a lot more fun that Knight stopped adding his own improv into our tests and we actually could just ride instead of just survive.

One of the most crucial parts to Knight and my success this season was the guidance and help of my coach Kathy Connelly. Kathy is not only a vast wealth of knowledge, her kind and positive approach to teaching is so refreshing and inspiring, and it also helps that Knight adores her. I am so thankful for her guidance and help over the years, and so excited to get to keep working with her remotely while she is in Florida for the season! I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Holiday season and that we can all be vaccinated and together next year.

Competing in the times of the Apocalypse

We have been so fortunate that during this dumpster-fire of a year, that we were allowed to compete from July to September, and we took full advantage of it. The competitions themselves were not that radically different, except the whole wearing a mask in oppressive heat for the 12 hours every day that you’re at the show part. The one improvement that this pandemic has brought, is that all of your dressage tests are scanned and emailed to you which I really enjoy and makes it easier to keep them all in one place to reference. I could not have been more impressed with Centerline Events, their dedication to our region and our sport is the sole reason we had any competitions at all this season, and I am immensely grateful.

The farm in general had a truly spectacular season, and here is a brief run down of how Regional Championships went.

Knight and I have had a pretty great season so far, and placed 3rd in our I1 Regional Championship’s class with a 69%, which allowed us to wildcard in for Dressage Finals! Also it would figure that the first time Knight and I ever get to be in an award ceremony you have to wear a mask and their is no victory lap, but we were still excited to be there :)

Michelle’s first Dressage test was on a spectacular cold and windy spring day, and in the middle of her first test with Cory the wind lifted the ring up, and blew the whole long side into Michelle and Cory. Cory managed to jump the moving 60 meter wall coming at him, and miraculously Michelle wasn’t even unseated, but this insane event left a truly terrifying experience that Michelle, Cory and I have been working through for the past four years. Michelle has done more work on herself and her own fear than anyone I have ever known, and her dedication and persistence has been slowly paying off. She is now our resident nerves guru, and I have consulted her many a time when I personally start feeling anxious in any riding setting. In a truly full circle moment, on the coldest and windiest day of Regional’s Michelle earned her last score for her Bronze Medal with Cory and I could not be more proud and excited!

Andrew and Wristow had a truly spectacular first full season together at Training level. They hit the 70% mark twice, and they did so consistently well that their median for USDF year end is a 68.3% and they are in the top 20 in the country for AA! They placed 6th with a 67.8% in their Training Level Regional Championship class (Andrew’s first ever time at Regionals) and I am so impressed with these two!

Claire and Annika crushed it in their two-show season after Claire wasn't able to come out and ride for three months from the shut down! They were 6th in their First level Regionals class, and consistently scored within a point or two of 70%!

Lara showed not only her own mare Dior but the Farm’s OTTB Dragon and did such a fabulous job at Training level! They averaged around 67/68% in most of their tests, and I am SO pleased with what a great job Lara did showcasing our young lesson horse!

Lara and Dior destroyed at 4th level consistently hitting 70%, and are not only first in the country for JRs they are 9th in the country right now for horse of the year! They capped off the season with winning their Fourth level Regional Championships class with a 69%, woot woot!

I have accepted my fate of not being great at updating these in a timely manner...

My apologies to the 3 people that read this blog, I will try and do better at updating but no promises.

This year’s show season was a whirlwind, since we decided to wait for the nice weather in June before really starting to compete, which I now realize means that your show season is a sprint that lasts 2-3 months. I’m not sure why I chose to have our first show of the season be a day show with 4 horses, but I did, so we all schlepped to Longfellow Dressage for the day, and emerged like we do from all day shows- sunburnt and parched. It was Amber’s first ever Dressage show so she took our most seasoned show veteran horse- Falkor, and ended up winning her first ever Dressage test! They went on to score in the 70’s at Training Level!!

Our next stop was Centerline June, where Andrew and Wristow were making their Dressage Debut together and knocked it out of the park! They won their first Training level test with a 68.6%, and scored in the high 60s for the rest of the show! For some reason I forgot to take pictures of the cutest pairing Dressage has ever seen, so here is a crummy screen shot of their test and a picture of Nola, Andrew’s adorable muppet/Goldendoodle.

June Centerline was a huge break through for me and Knight, as it marked the first competition that Knight was a totally normal and rideable horse. Knight and I have been working for four years to process his feelings during shows, and it was easily the highlight of my career so far to have him finally be so comfortable in the show ring. We even won our I-1 class on Sunday with a 66.4%!

Unfortunately, Knight ended up needing his second colic surgery two weeks after this competition (which he is recovering from spectacularly) and he had to sit the rest of the show season out. He is going better than ever though now and I can’t wait for us to get back to it next year. The picture below is the best matching game of our life though, I am just as proud of this outfit as I am of Knight.

Knight also came with me to NEDA so I could babysit him, since leaving him unattended for a week would have given me ulcers, so we used it as an opportunity for fashion.

My student Claire competed my adorable Connemara x Hanoverian pony DryBrook’s Annika’s Angel, or Annika, at Training and First Level and killed it! They scored up to 70% at Training Level, and averaged a 68.6% and earned 3rd place for NEDA year end! Here they are as Champion of everything after Bearspot…

NEDA Fall was both Annika and Claire’s first ever Regional Championships, and they ended up at 7th place for Training level, and 13th out of 33 for First Level!

Lara and her new horse Dior made their competition debut as well this season. Dior is a newly imported 7 year old KWPN mare Jazz x Houston, which if you don’t speak bloodlines essentially means she is made of fire. Lara did a fabulous job navigating her many feelings and demands, and after a few shows Dior really settled in and we got to see a lot more of how incredible this team is going to be even by next year!

Lara and Dior were 6th place at Third level at NEDA for Regionals, and were Champion for Third Level for year end with an average of 70.1%!! I am super impressed with how both of these ladies are doing, and our aim is for the YR tests next year.

Michelle and Cory definitely had the most eventful year. Michelle’s first ever Dressage test was at NEDA spring at the Marshfield fairgrounds, and I am not exaggerating when I say that it was so windy that the ENTIRE 60 meter long side blew up and into them, forcing Cory to jump the rails as they flew towards him. Michelle stayed on, but rightly so had some pretty serious show anxiety as a result. This year was a momentous one, because after a whole season of coming to shows and scratching in tears her and Cory made it down the centerline!!

I am so proud of Michelle for not only pushing through her show nerves, and forcing herself into uncomfortable situations, but also for being so open with the process. So many people struggle with anxiety, and nothing will make it feel more insurmountable than the isolation and shame that comes with it. Talking about it is the only way to remove the stigma and move through the feeling, and see that it’s something we all struggle with, and I could not be more proud of Michelle! She also did a wonderful job, and scored up to 65% at Second Level with her handsome steed :)

Oops, I did it again...

So clearly I am not excelling at the art of keeping an updated blog about my life, and I must admit most of these posts seem like I am musing into the void, but here goes an attempt to summarize what has been a pretty hectic 2019. I have some students and friends who are also having a traumatic year, and I’m not sure if the planets are aligned to wreck havoc, or some other universal constant is out to disrupt all the people out there who don’t like change, but this has been a bit of a rough go of things. In the beginning of February my dog Luna’s spleen burst, we rushed her to surgery and she made it through, but we found out she had hemangiosarcoma. We did a round of chemo but she was unresponsive, and passed 5 weeks after surgery. For those Phillip Pullman fans, Luna was my dæmon. Our other dog Banjo was her bonded pair, and ever since we got him at 2 we were worried about what would happen if Luna died first. He had a rough back story, and had been displaying varying degrees of dog aggression ever since the first week we had him to everyone but Luna, who he worshipped. We worked with several dog trainers over the years, but Luna mainly kept him in line. When she died Banjo completely deteriorated, he was a shell of his former self and was completely unmoored from reality, and we knew the best thing for him and everyone around him was to put him down so he could be with Luna again. It was the hardest decision we ever have had to make. 

This show season was really hard because it was my first one without Luna, who wasn’t just my companion dog- she was also my service dog. But one thing that was very exciting is that all of the hard work I had put in with Knight had finally started paying off, and our last show at June HITS he was so well behaved it was like riding a real horse! I rode pretty conservative tests because I was waiting for the Knight-splosion to happen, but they never came and we ended up winning our I1 lest on Sunday with a 66.4%.

Two weeks after that show though, I was racing Knight to Tufts to have his second colic surgery. I am so incredibly lucky and thankful for my amazing vets at North Bridge Equine, and that I was able to get him to the incredible team at Tufts in time, and he made it through surgery successfully.

While all of these things kept happening it felt like I was drowning in a sea of darkness, and it was hard to see any light on the horizon. Knight’s recovery was not straight forward- despite his corset he still got two small hernias, he had a terrible suture reaction and my amazing vet had to come out at least once a week for what seemed like months. It seems like finally though we are through the worst of it, and Knight is back at work and going better than he ever has. Also the hours I had to spend every day on his care has made Knight bond to me in a new dimension, and for the first time ever he actually comes over to me everyday in the paddock (I know that is sad that that is exciting). He also spends his mornings stalking me from his grass paddock, and our forced return to basics I really think is going to make us so much stronger when we can get back out there. For now though I am just so thrilled to have him back, and be able to ride my heart horse again. I even was able to bring him to NEDA so I could babysit him and do his rehab rides!

Both my husband and I miss Banjo and Luna everyday, but we did end up adopting two new puppies- Gizmo and Buttercup, and they are both pretty great. While this was probably one of the hardest years of my life, it also really forced me to look at the world in a new way, and grow as a person in aspects I don’t think I ever could have accomplished without dealing with so much loss.

Better late than never?

Well it may have taken me over three months but here is the wrap up on 2017 Year End Awards and NEDA Fall!

I am so proud of how my baby girl Rubilee did at the breed show at NEDA- she scored 81% and was able to secure her title of NEDA Breeder’s Futurity for a second year in a row, in addition to being Reserve Champion in the USDF Breeder Championship Filly Final! 

Lara and Duke did a spectacular job and was Regional Reserve Champion at Fourth Level with a 67.4% AND at PSG with a 63.7%!

Knight was his perfect squirrel self, and we had to excuse ourselves from our I1 Championship ride because of his Knight-splosions, but it comes with the territory and I love him more than ever.

The NEDA year end awards banquet was so much fun! Lara did spectacular, winning Champion for year end awards not only at Fourth Level with a 67.4%, but also at PSG with a 63.7%! Meredith Long was unable to make it, but we are all so proud of this new Silver Medalist, and for winning awards at four different levels! Rubilee also came in third place for 3 year old Fillies with a 78.4%.

We are all so proud of both Meredith Long and Lara Erdogus-Brady for earning their  USDF Silver Medals this season!

The other exciting news is that Rubilee made the cover of the NEDA's Tip of the Hat! So proud of this amazing young girl, and so happy with how she is progressing under saddle.

2017 Show Season

Well that was a busy four and half months! Since April we have competed in 8 shows, and we only have one left before NEDA Fall. 

The qualifying period for 2017 is almost at a close- and it has been quite a whirlwind of a season. We were so excited to welcome back Meredith Long with her horse Max Sinclaire, and her new mare Damariscotta (or Donna) for the summer! Meredith only purchased Donna this past January, but was able to earn 3 out of the 4 scores she needed for her Silver Medal. While Meredith has to return to school in Kentucky, we are elated that Max is going to stay behind at Lythrum.

Lara and Duke had a very busy season- not only did they make the Region 8 team for the North American Junior Young Rider Competition (NAJYRC) they ranked 16th in the country for JR’s! The weekend after Lara and Duke returned from competing at NAJYRC also, they both made their debut at Prix St. Georges with a 66.1%, and went two for two- earning the last two scores this 15 year old rider needed for her Silver!

Rubilee SPF has been pretty busy too. She competed at Maplewood Warmbloods breed show, and won both of her 3 year old filly classes with a 78.2% and 78.4%, and is qualified for Regional Championships.

Knight and I have had quite the season, while he definitely still has a long way to go, he has been slowly getting a little more used to show life. We made his debut at PSG this spring, and he has been averaging around 65% in his tests. We also decided to go for broke and made his debut at I1 the end of this July, and were able to qualify for that level as well for Regional Championships! I am so proud of this boy :)

Onward to NEDA!