Keep the Ribbons Coming!

Driving Success
Congratulations to Wendy Kilgore and her partner Will who won at Louisville’s Hermitage Classic Combined Driving event last weekend! Champion Training Dressage and Second in Combined Test. Her first CDE!

Can’t believe what a great weekend all the riders from Stone Place Stables had September 15-16. We took eight horses to Flying Cross Horse Trials and two more horses went to other shows. Denise Hellmann went to Indiana and got her final score to get her bronze medal. LeAnn Ross went to Horse Aid at Masterson Station and brought home two second place ribbons.
And the results from Flying Cross…

• Sarah Busche 3rd BN
• Emily Smith 3rd BN
• Lauren Carlisle 5th BN
• Emily Hagan 1st N
• Whitney Drury 5th N
• Amy Seiler 6th N
• Rene Robertson 6th T
• Maxfli 3rd P

It doesn’t get much better than that. Way to go girls!

Summer Show Recap

The summer show season is coming to a close. I know it’s been busy but want to step back and give a show recap to highlight all the hard work everyone has put in. We’ll kick things off with Penny Oaks. We had a lovely showing from the barn, Lauren Carlisle finished on her dressage score of a 45.5 to earn the 7^th spot in the BNR division. Also in the BNR division was Emily Smith on Higgins making her USEA Sanctioned horse trial debut. She conquered the water on cross country, had a lovely dressage test earning a 38 and ended up finishing 11^th out of 16 riders.

Next up was Richland Park H.T. a must attend event! I competed at the Preliminary level on Maxfli and Rene Robertson competed at Training on Top Secret. This venue is perfect for getting your horse acclimated to a higher energy surrounding and to prep them for a move up to a higher division. The courses are tough and the competition is fierce. We both completed and gained valuable experience. Can’t wait until next year!

Kentucky Classique was next on the calendar and fortunately they added a Starter division to broaden the competition a little. Amy Seiler rode Manchester going Novice and a few rails held them to 10^th place but a double clear cross country round and a great dressage test definitely demonstrated their progress. A few more shows and they should have all their ducks in a row. Sarah Busche tested out her new horse Angle of Attack at the Starter level and ended up in 2^nd place.  They will be moving up to Beginner Novice at Flying Cross.

The fall show season is already here, and I look forward to seeing everyone wrap up this competition year with great success. Just remember to kick on!

What You Can Learn from the Olympics

The 2012 Olympics are in full swing, there have been ultimate highs and the lowest of lows. In watching the games it is easy to pick up on one thing, to be successful you must RIDE…Sounds easy enough but taking your eye off the prize for one split second can spell disaster. Just watch the video of falls from the Olympics.

If Mark Todd had stopped riding his mount Campino do you really think he would have made it around? He was quoted as saying, ““I felt for the last few minutes that I’d got off the horse and had to carry him…I don’t think I’ve had to work that hard for a long time. I was absolutely puffed.” If you didn’t catch his ride, watch it and you’ll see what he means.

While the jumps and combinations weren’t necessarily difficult the terrain brought forth a unique set of questions. The entire course had to be ridden, every jump, every turn. Some riders made it look effortless and easy while others had to dig in their heels and fight for every meter on that course.

So how can you relate to these Olympic riders? One answer – RIDE. Sure the jumps on your course many only be 2’7 but working hard from the very beginning will be the only way to achieve that blue ribbon. Don’t believe me here is a comical article published four years ago written by Denny Emerson that still rings very true.

Aiken or Bust

Watch out Aiken here we come! A group of ladies from Stone Place and myself will be in Aiken until the beginning of March with plans on doing a few local shows and taking some lessons with the likes of Boyd Martin, Lynn Coates Holmes, Stephen Bradley and Jan Byyny to name a few. However I haven’t forgotten about those of you staying in the cold weather in Kentucky. This is a great time to work on some of the basics before show season starts. Try riding without stirrups a few times to work on posture, strength and form. Also this is a great time for some pole work. One great exercise is to place four poles on the ground equally spaced on a 20 meter circle. Start off by cantering and maybe try to hit every other pole, then all four. If your horse is behaving and staying in a round frame then try shortening and lengthening their stride. This is a challenging exercise so make sure you give your horse a break or two. There is also a Lynn Coates Holmes clinic at Spring Run Farm February 24-25. Also don’t forget about the Covered Bridge Combined Test at Stone Place! March 11 will be here before you know it. So you may also want to start brushing up on your dressage tests.