Aiken

I cant even began to explain how fast time has gone by. I swear just yesterday we were pulling in to our Farm here in Aiken but in reality we have been here for two months now and and the season is well underway!
Settling in was an exhausting feat and for three girls the amount of lifting and unloading we did was enough to put a body builder to shame! Okay maybe thats a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much! We were greeted with the lovely weather that we venture down to Aiken for and all the horses seemed to settle in quite nicely! Once in Aiken it has been all business. We currently have sixteen horses and only two of us to do all the barn chores. Allison is very hands on though and that helps us out along with the help of Jessica Rich. Without her Grace or I would not see a day off, so thank you! With all the horses this has left me to do a lot of the riding and I am averaging about five or six a day and that has been an absolute privilege.
Chloe has been doing great and has really matured since last year which I am incredibly excited about! We have been working a lot on our dressage and I believe it shows. She has done several dressage shows since being here and was quite good at our first show of the season. Speaking of our first show that was two weeks ago at Pine Top in Thomson, Ga. Chloe was very rideable in the dressage, show jumped a clean round and rocked around the course feeling good and confident! I really have a good feeling about 2012!
I leave tomorrow for her first advanced run of the season also at Pine Top. On top of working on her dressage the selectors have all said I need to work on her making time on cross country. Last year she was quite green at the level and I never really pushed her to make the time. This season I have been working to have her be a bit more fit and I am excited to see what I have!
On top of competing Chloe I have had the great opportunity to sit on Allison's horse Burger. Since Virginia I have been sitting on him quite regularly and really enjoying it! He has really helped me ride Chloe better and just getting the chance to sit on such a talented horse on a regular basis has been really great. I competed him at a local show here, Full Gallop and he was really quit super! He is currently for sale and would really excel in the hands of a young rider.
All in all Aiken has been really good to us! We have a great group of horses, the weather has been fantastic and of course we are all excited that show season has started! It is fun to be in a town that is literally filled with equestrians. Our local gas station has a sign saying "welcome eventers" Our local yoga studio has an equestrian class and of course its nice having all my friends so close. Jennie Brannigan and I go back to California days and now to be in Aiken together? The eventing community really is small! We have a new working student coming soon and I know Grace and I are equally excited for some extra help around here! SmartPak is also coming soon, in time for my birthday actually! What better way to celebrate then with that crew?
Now off to pack for Pine Top!
I will be sure to keep you all updated!
Xoxo
Kelly, Chloe and Buckleigh

u
Smartpak swag

It would not be a blog post without buckleigh!

And last but not least I leave you with a baby picture of Chloe and her best friend Radar. Does not get much cuter than this!

Aiken Bound!

I get asked a lot about the biggest differences between eventing on the west coast and the east coast. Up until now I have always come up with random answers like the footing, travel time, one days vs three days and so on. Now the answer is very clear to me though, east coasters have to move during the winter seasons! Now you see I always knew this but I have not experienced it. The past three days have been dedicated to packing up all of our belongings, horse and people stuff and packing, packing, packing! Usually Allison packs up the barn heads to Wellington, Fl for a month then packs up all over again and heads to Aiken, SC for three months. Luckily this time we are only packing for Aiken! We are pretty much packed and ready to head out Saturday morning with three trucks and trailers and two cars filled to the brim! Now everyone back here finds this to be completely normal, Allison even asked if my moms barn in California was packing up and moving for the winter. They don't know any different, but to me..its insane! I guess on the bright side it gives us a chance to really clean everything and I even donated a few boxes of clothes to goodwill! The weather has been equally insane, the other night was a low of 11 and I got stuck in snow for the first time. This month has brought on a whole new side of this crazy sport we call eventing!
Christmas was wonderful for me, I got to go home and spend it with my family and since Chloe is back in work now I trusted her to Helen to ride while I was away. I cant tell you how I excited I am to have her be back in work! I think both of us were going a little crazy! She looks like a true pasture pony, long hair, furry coat, and mud stains all over her. I decided I would let her enjoy it until Aiken. She has been doing light flat work and feels AMAZING! I have a really good feeling about this season!
On the news front I have acquired a new sponsorship with SmartPak. They are a fantastic company who specializes in supplements and on top of that carries any product you could wish for from clothing to tack to gifts to dog products. I am so thrilled to be in partnership with this company!
We leave for Aiken in a few short days and I cant wait to get down to business. Chloe will be attending a lot of dressage shows and Allison will be getting in at least 6 new client horses which means a lot of riding! Chloe will be shooting for Jersey Fresh CCI three star in the spring and then we will go from there! I will be sure to keep you all posted as our season starts.
Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season and once again thank you for reading!!

Fair Hill CCI 3***
xoxo
Kelly,Chloe and Buckleigh

Fair Hill International

A few weeks ago Chloe and I got made the short trek over to Maryland to compete in one of our countries most prestigious competitions, Fair Hill International. Chloe and I competed in the CCI 3 star division. I cant help but write that sentence with a huge smile and a sense of accomplishment. We got there on Tuesday and the weather was gorgeous. I thought maybe this year we would escape the weather this competition is usually plagued with, cold and rainy. No such luck. By the time my dressage rolled around the rings were flooded and took Chloe a while to not spook at the sound of her own feet hitting the puddles. I wish that was a joke. She warmed up better then ever and I had really high expectations for her in the ring. Unfortunately she was the last in the division and the only horse out there. This left her a bit tense but I was confident I could ride through it. Her trot work was not her best and unfortunately this is where we get a lot of our points. Her canter work was a bit tense and she had one expressive change but I was so pleased on how well she came back and focused after that. Sometimes it is the little accomplishments that so often we overlook we forget that although it may not be a winning test there was improvement and promise for the future. The good thing and sometimes extremely frustrating thing is Chloe has so much movement that I have tapped into that she really could win. Allison calls it her "international trot." Now if only I can get that in the ring! I feel like I am taking baby steps but when breaking it down, at the beginning of the season we did not have an "international trot" at all, we did not have changes, I did not have the position I do now and when broken down like that I am so pleased with our improvements! My parents flew in for the weekend and I was so thrilled to have their support and encouragement all weekend. My mom was confident in saying that Chloe and I are so close to greatness in the dressage ring. Anyone who knows my mom knows she would not say this if she didn't mean it. It was very comforting that even though our score did not reflect our hard work it was visible. I rode dressage on Thursday and this left me with an extra day to focus solely on the cross country. I think I walked it five and a half times. You know how they say the more you walk it the better it looks? This never happened. Some courses are considered tough because its big, some are considered tough because it has a lot of terrain, some because it is technical...this one was big, technical, and had terrain like I had never seen before. Although I thought it looked touch..never for a second did I doubt my horses ability to do it. The CIC three stsr at Plantation was a good prep. and Chloe was game as long as I was. I walked the course with Allison and she assured me that it was my kind of course, I had to be forward and positive and attack within my stride. No biggie right? I walked with Phillip Dutton and he pointed out the course had a lot of drops, ride tough and assertive and you will be fine. He also pointed out that it was a huge fitness test. A lot of hills, four water jumps, and huge fences all the way to the end. He helped out a lot telling me where to push for time, where to cut corners, what jumps to put a bit of an angle on etc. He said to make time at Fair Hill you had to be on your first minute marker. This means you are flying from the moment you leave the box. I walked the course with my mom and it is almost a comfort factor having her there. When I worry about some of the big stuff she brushes it off, reminds me my horse is scopey and repeats for the millionth time...STAY BACK!
Saturday morning my mom went out and watched a few of the combination for me reporting back how it all seemed to ride. There had been quite a few problems all ready and no one had made time. I talked to Phillip who said he had to ride tough and if he feels he has to ride tough then it is tough. Chloe had her normal warm up which is usually a little spastic. It used to get me nervous but now I trust that she settles on course. The rain had subsided but it did leave the course a bit flooded. This meant I had to be smart on where to gallop not only to avoid bad footing but to conserve her energy. I walked to the box and felt quit calm feeling this made me nervous, I like my butterflys in the stomach. This makes me ride better. Once the countdown began my butterfly friends showed up and I had never felt so eager to attack a course. We were on our first minute and the one thing that really stood out to me was how Chloe was not over jumping. This was good, this meant she was feeling confident and this would also conserve her some energy. The next thing I noticed where the huge crowds. People were surrounding every jump and cheering loudly. Whistles blew as I came up to each jump. It felt like I was at Rolex! This made me want to ride that much better, it made me want to show these people what Chloe was made of! She attacked everything with such a sense of experience. We went straight everywhere and she was handling the crowds well. I missed at the corner complex and added an extra stride and she jumped out of a spot that only she could do, I was no longer sitting on a green horse. She looked for all the jumps and really was not fazed by the footing. We came through adding twenty time.As I was coming to the last fence I saw my dad running to the finish flags as he has done since I was going novice, I wanted to cry I was so happy. Chloe had lost a shoe on course and I was thankful to have my vet, Stephanie Davis in the box with me. She recovered well and went back to the barn to devour a few bags of carrots. It was all so surreal. Some of the best riders in the country were having problems on this course and Chloe had made it seem like child play. Derek Di Grazia did an unbelievable job designing the course. She passed the jog the next morning with flying colors. We warmed up for show jumping only jumping a few jumps. She felt good and I did not want to make her tired. She went in and show jumped a beautiful clear round. I had done it, I had completed my first CCI 3 star. Not only had I completed it, I had done it on a horse that I had started all on my own. The emotions were running wild and anyone who knows me knows I am a crier. I was getting praises left and right and the only thing I could think was how I hope my horse knows how amazing she is. She is one of those "once in a lifetime" horses and she deserves the praise, I hope bags of carrots will suffice.
We won the Markham Young Trophy for being the highest placed young rider in the division. It was such an honor being in the same awards ceramony with the likes of Boyd, Phillip, Allison, Karen O'Connor. It was something I could have dreamed up.
Chloe is home now in her huge grass paddock enjoying a very, very well deserved vacation. She is getting hairy, fat and a bit bossy.She deserves nothing less!
The show could not have been possible with out my wonderful parents. Having them there was so fantastic, being able to share that weekend with them was a such a treat. My dad is still to this day the best groom I know, my mom is the best trainer I know but most important they are the best parents I know. Allison is amazing and I cant thank her enough. She cares just as much as I do about my riding and I cant really ask for more in a coach. My boyfriend drove up for all three days and not only was an awesome fan he helped in the barn and supported me more then I could ask for, not to mention he dealt with all my pre Fair Hill emotions and nerves like a champ. I think I would have slept in Chloes stall with her if I could have not to mention she would be wrapped in bubble wrap. He reminded me she is a horse and if she trots around in her paddock ITS OKAY. Allion's groom and my best friend Grace, I cant thank you enough either. You keep me sane when this sport makes me feel crazy. Colin, your help was very appreciated! My wonderful vets, Dr Chad and Stephanie Davis. You guys are seriously awesome. You answer my million texts and care about Chloe almost as much as me. My sister is one of my biggest fans and I wish she could have been there. Also my west coast family, your support is unreal. Your texts, messages and phone calls remind me how awesome and supportive this sport is. Revita vet and APF thank you for your amazing products! Also, thanks to Fair Hill and all your volunteers who made the event so wonderful! I could not do it with out all of you!!
For now Chloe is enjoying some down time. We are hoping to be named to the developing riders list and making plans for our spring season. A three star in the spring is as far as my planning has gone. I will keep you all posted. For now thanks for reading and experiencing this season with me! I will be back soon with an overview of our first season on the east coast!
On a side note Buckleigh was featured in the Chronicle of the horse. I will try and find a picture to post!






http://shannonbrinkman.zenfolio.com/p637769326 ---- A link to our pictures. You can see where I added a stride to a narrow corner and she just jumps bigger

http://www.fairhillinternational.com/3coursemap.html ---A link to view the course map. You can view each jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghBIvmDrlmU ---youtube link where you can watch some of the CCI 3star cross country, there is a clip of chloe and I as well.
xoxo
Kelly, Chloe and Buckleigh

Fall Season!

I feel like it has been ages since I have written, it has been ridiculously busy here and to be honest I am not sure where the months have gone!
I am not sure where to begin Chloe and I have competed at a few advanced events since I have last posted, done a mini grand prix and completed our first three star. Her dressage has consistently improved and I can confidently say I have an advanced horse.
Dating back to the mini prix, it was a spur of the moment decision for us. It was a night competition and it was the biggest course that Chloe or I have ever jumped. Warm up proved to be the hardest for us. Chloe over jumped everything because jumping in the dark obviously means scary things hide under the jumps. Also jumper warm ups is very different from eventing warm ups. You have to have a trainer in the ring and you have to "claim" a jump. On numerous times I jumped a "claimed" jump and this led to a lot of tension. Whoops. I went into the ring after nearly being kicked out of warm up and to say I was nervous was an understatement. Chloe jumped phenomenally and I was pleased just to say we completed it. I had an enormous amount of support from all my friends here in Va and the overall experience was fantastic. Will I ever do it again? I think I might stick to eventing!
Chloe and I also competed at the Millbrook horse trials in the advanced division. Her dressage was in the thirties and a whole ten points better then our last advanced test. She rocked around the cross country and only added some time penalties to her dressage score. She felt confident and really eager to do her job. I did take some long routes on cross country to insure her getting qualified for the three star.
Next we traveled to Michigan to compete at the wonderful Richland Horse Park. It was a long trek there, 12 hours and I was greeted with thunder storms. It was worth it though! I got to see my mom who was there training Shannon Lilley who was there competing in the Pan Am division . It was so awesome to be back at a show with the both of them, I forgot just how much I missed it! Chloe was super there scoring in the thirties again in the dressage! The cross country was one of my favorites so far this year. Ian Stark designed it and it was my kind of course. Big and gallopy and the technical stuff all asked you to be on a forward step. Chloe tackled the course like a pro and really did not look twice at anything. It asked a lot of questions and she answered them all. I walked away from that feeling so proud of her. This time we took all the straight roots and nothing proved to be too much for her. Show jumping was next and we had an unfortunate rail that obviously I take all the blame for. I remember after a training session with the Captain he said to me that if this horse ever has a rail we know who's fault it will be. It is true. She trys so incredibly hard and I just got her in a bit wrong. Regardless it was a tough show jumping and I was pleased to say that we walked away finishing in the top ten in a tough division with some of the US's best riders. Once again Chloe proved she could play with the big boys!
Our most recent event has proven to be the most exciting for me. Chloe and I went to Plantation Field Horse Trials where we ran our first CCI three star. Allison sadly could not make this event nor could my mom..so it was all me! Unfortunately this last weekend has been the coldest yet and her dressage test was affected by it. Her score unfortunately did not reflect how good she has been, regardless it was qualifying and although I was bummed I knew it would not be a dressage competition.
I walked the course with Phillip Dutton and he really gets me into a forward thinking mind set and thats just what I needed for this course. It asked a lot of questions all the way to the end. It also was the most terrain we have run on and one of the bigger courses. There had been a lot of falls through out the day and unfortunately I had witnessed half of them. For some reason the morning group was not having a good go of it. I had a good friend of mine Jennie Brannigan come to my warm up to give me that "go and get them" speech and thats just what we did. Chloe did not think twice about anything and really made people take a notice. She was bold, jumped well until the end, and went straight everywhere. Words cant describe how high on life I was. She jogged well the next morning and show jumped double clean to prove that she is the real deal. I walked back from show jumping near tears I was so proud of her. This horse that I started as a green six year old is tackling three stars. It was definitely worth all the hard work and it just makes me that much more eager to work harder to get her to the four star level, because I can only imagine how that would feel. We are now qualified for Fair Hill CCI three star and I am so excited for it especially because my dad will be making the trek out here for it!
Overall it has been a successful few months and Chloe has improved by leaps and bounds!
On a non competition note, I am adjusting to having seasons. Fall has arrived and rain is common. Buckleigh hates his rain coat and I am scared to clip my horse because I think she will buck me off. These past few months reminded me how much I love to compete. Of course when we compete we are competitive and want to do well but I know for me its for the horse, improving the horse, the sense of accomplishment and reaching goals that months ago seemed impossible. Its such an awesome feeling.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who supports Chloe and I. The amount of texts and facebook messages I get is really pretty awesome and it just goes to show how fantastic the horse show family is. After I thanked Jennie this weekend for her moral support she replied with "Anytime, we are west coast family." It is so true.

Also, Save the best for last....(drum roll...)
A HUGE congrats to Shannon Lilley and her/my coach Dayna Lynd Pugh for making the Pan AM team. She will be going to Mexico to represent the US in a team competition. A huge accomplishment! Congrats we are all rooting for you!!


Mini Grand Prix (4'6)


Richland Park. Clearly, I thought there was another stride...oops.


Richland Park

Buckleigh hating his rain coat!

millbrook

Millbrook

And of course more buckleigh!

xoxo Kelly, Chloe and Buckleigh

Summer Season

Once again I'm starting my blog off apologizing for the delay. Summer time has proven to be really busy here in Middleburg, Va. Last time I wrote it was after the eventing community received word regarding the tragedy that Boyd Martins barn suffered through. The eventing community has pulled together and raised a lot of money for him and those affected personally by it. It is nice to see that our community is so strong.
I had mentioned before that my parents had flown out from CA to attend Chattahoochee Horse Trials with me. Chloe rocked around that advanced like it was a beginner novice course and honestly did not look at anything twice. They had some tough questions and she responded like an experienced advanced horse. Unfortunately, we had a Technical elimination for missing a jump. This was obviously know one elses fault but mine and I sent the fourteen hour drive home and the majority of the following weeks beating myself up for it. I promise you that mistake wont be made again. It was a costly mistake seeing as how I needed that to run a three star. After beating myself up profusely I took a step back and realized maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I am not in any rush to push this horse to the top. I know she has it in her and I know we will get there but what is the harm in running a few more advances and waiting until Fall to run a three day. So for now that is the plan! I still walked away from that show so proud of my horse and how solid she has become.
After that show we had some down time Chloe had a few days to relax and I flew home to CA to surprise my parents for their 30th wedding anniversary. Shannon Lilley so kindly made that possible for me to do and I must say it was so awesome to be back home. I not only saw all my family but I got to sit on my moms new horse who seems to be quite nice! When I returned home Chloe and I were back to business. I decided to run her around Surefire intermediate since she had not been out in a while and I heard it was a very challenging track! It was a one day which can prove to be somewhat stressful unless you are ridiculously organized. It is funny to wake up in the morning and think that you will be done with a whole competition at 2:00 pm that day. I am still used to the west coast! Chloe and I did dressage at nine thirty and it was a packed division. 34 starters and that included the likes of Kim Severson, Allison Springer, and Will Coleman. Dressage has proven to be our biggest challenge. Although Chloe has all the movement it is sometimes hard to keep her relaxed. I feel like day by day I am slowly mastering it and it showed at Surefire. We walked out of the ring in fourth on a 32. Chloe was so relaxed and really came to play. I love that feeling. Next was show jumping and although I felt I did not have enough studs in her shoes she jumped a beautiful clean go despite some slipping. This moved us up to second. From show jumping we went directly to cross country. This leaves you with enough time to maybe get a gallop warm up fence, then your off. The course asked all the right questions. It was technical and terrain played a big part in it. Chloe left the box feeling fresh but was a bit spookier then normal. She is usually best after about the third fence when I can really get her going in a steady pace. With all the terrain I struggled a bit to find that good pace and this unfortunately led to some costly time penalties. I was pleased with how she responded to all the questions though and with any situation you have to walk away finding the positive. We came in fourth place and in a huge division like that I was pleased. With out the time we would have won and seeing as how prize money was involved that would have been nice. But as my mom said "clearly we are not in this sport for the money, we are in it because we love it and the horses." And I do. Everyday I ride I get more and more excited for Chloes and my future and every time I enter a horse show the count down to it begins. Chloe is back in dressage boot camp and we will run around Millbrook Horse Trials in the advanced division at the beginning of next month. This gives me plenty of time to perfect those lead changes!!
Aside from the horses I find myself grooming for polo games frequently. I have met a lot of awesome people that way and walk away with some cash too, not bad!
Allison takes off to Montana with Arthur at the end of the month and although it will be hard not having her instruction I look forward to riding all the horses in the barn!!
I hope everyone had an awesome and safe Fourth of July and all of you going to Montana, good luck!!

I currently don't have a strong enough internet connection to post pictures so those will come tomorrow!! But for now you can copy and paste this link to see Chloe at
Surefire :)

http://www.redhorseimages.com/2011HorseShows/2011-Surefire-Horse-Trials/pugh-kelly/17786695_twnV8g#1358971115_L4Xgsz7

Once again, thanks for reading guys!

Xoxo
Kelly, Chloe and Buckleigh

Eventing

First and foremost I want to extend my deepest sympathy for Boyd Martin and his Team. This morning his barn burnt to the ground in what they think was an electrical fire. He had 12 horses there and six of the 12 passed away. Three are in intensive care and the rest are all being treated for smoke inhalation. It is every horse owners nightmare to have to endure something so tragic. Some very nice horses were lost today. I hope True Prospect Farm knows they have the whole eventing community supporting them.
I am finding it hard to write after reading about Boyds hardship. I have not had an easy go of it this season, but after today I am just thankful to see my horse standing in her pasture happy and healthy. I want to fill you all in on my recent event but find I just cant. Instead I want to write about all I am grateful for. My parents recently flew all the way out from California to help me make the drive to Georgia for Chattahoochee Hills. I have gotten the opportunity to ride with many fantastic coaches while I have been back here but I still stand by my statement that my mother is the best coach I have ever worked with. I hope all of you who are lucky enough to ride with her on a daily basis realize that. My father is the best groom I have ever had and probably one of the only people I trust to take care of my horse correctly. Not to mention one of the only people I will let be around me on those nerve racking cross country mornings. My horse, she is something else. I find myself getting teary eyed writing about her right now. Knowing that accidents like what happened to Boyd can happen to any of us and our beloved horses. Chloe is really quite special to me and I can honestly say she has helped make the person I am today. She has brought me some of the greatest joy I have ever experienced and she politely lets me cry in the corner of her stall when I have been down. So yes I may not have qualified for certain events or placed as well at certain shows but that is eventing for you. It is unpredictable, it is some of the best and worse times but at the end of the day you go through all of that with your horse and your team. I am so lucky to have the support crew I have and the horse I have.
Going onto Facebook this morning seeing how the eventing community has come together for Boyd and his farm is unreal. We really are a family. It does not matter if you compete at advanced or beginner novice, if you are a spectator, volunteer or family member. If you are involved in this crazy sport we call eventing, you are family. For that I am grateful for. So go thank your groom for all they do, your parents for their support, your team members for their advice, your coach for their help and most importantly your horse because I am sure they have given you a reason to smile at least once a day if not more. May the horses that were lost today Rest in Piece and I wish a speedy recovery for the rest.
I will be writing again soon and post pictures that my mom took on her visit here, but for now this is all I can seem to focus on. Thanks for reading
xoxo Kelly, Chloe and Buckleigh

Go to www.eventingnation.com for more on this morning tragedy.

Killer llamas, Fair Hill, and oh yes Rolex too

We have been here in Virgina for a few weeks now and I have to say it is absolutely gorgeous here. The barn is beautiful, the town is cute and there are horses everywhere. Chloe seems to be settling really nicely too!
Last week Chloe and I headed to a local hill to do some hill work before Fair Hill. That was where we ran into the Killer llamas. Poor Chloe was really not having any of it and in the process of trying to load her, protect her from the llamas and doing this all by myself she managed to slice open her bum on the trailer window. So now I have a white horse, blood everywhere, llamas still threatening her life (not really) and a trailer I could not load her in all on the side of the road. Thank goodness for the nice gardener who came and helped. Otherwise I might still be there! 14 stitches and staples later she was good as new and will definitely have a nice scar to remind her of those killer llamas. I have not returned for hill work yet but I am contemplating finding a new one. Silly horses.
Fair Hill was last weekend and Chloe was fantastic! Dressage was good, definitely not our best test but it scored well. The judge really liked her trot work. The canter was a bit tense but I felt I was able to keep it together. The weather was pretty awful and unfortunately cross country day got the worst of it. The course was nice and the Fair Hill crew did a fantastic job of keeping the footing as good as possible. I ran Chloe really slow because of the footing and she felt great. She answered all the questions with confidence and walked off the course feeling like a champ. I was really pleased! Show jumping brought better weather and the course was riding really nicely. There were a few rails here and there but overall it looked like fun. Chloe went in and jumped a super double clear round and once again I felt like she had grown up.
Allison had four competing and brought Burger and Arthur along for the ride. Her two in the Two star were fantastic. Zeizos and Murray both ended on their dressage scores and Murray placed second. Congrats to the owner Sarah Hughes!
We got home late Sunday night and continued out packing for Rolex. Allison and Grace left Monday morning and I so wish I was with them! I have a full barn here but I cant complain too much because I do have a lot of nice horses to ride in Allisons absence. Allison has so far had a good Rolex trip. She won a pair of Duberrys for being the best dressed, she also won a rider drawing for a Rolex Watch and now she is currently sitting in first after dressage. I'm going to go ahead and say that she is in fist because on Sunday I rode Arthur on a walk hack. Clearly that was it.
Today I got done at 6 and to be honest I cant remember the last time I have been done that early. I almost felt guilty leaving the barn at that time. I took advantage of it and did some much needed laundry and made it to the store for grocery's. That was exciting!!
Chloe does not have a show until the end of the month where we will go to Georgia for Chattahoochee Hills. Until then we will continue our dressage boot camp and hopefully have no more run ins with llamas. Until then good luck to all you Rolex riders!!

xoxo
Kelly, Chloe and Buckleigh


It was nice for Nick to have a friend this weekend

I fail as a mom and definitely got creative with Buckleighs makeshift blanket. A rag and tail wrap.

Who knew that huge turtles were common here or anywhere for that matter??

This is Chloe and her pasture buddy (babysitter) poppy.


Can you spot Buckleigh? He loves going on our walk hacks.

Walk hack with Chloe