Tuesday, February 12, 2013

2013 show season has arrived!!

The 2013 show season is well underway with two competitions already come and gone. The first of the season was Fresno County Horse Park. I took Spot in the Intermediate division and was really pleased with how he performed. He won the dressage by a solid five points and went on to jump clean. Every day I feel so grateful for the opportunity to ride such a fantastic horse. The rest of Flying Tail Farms performed well and those who did not compete took advantage of the wonderful cross country course their and we all got a good school in. Galway quickly approached and as always they hosted a wonderful event. Once again Spot was fantastic he jumped clean and had a top three dressage finish. I know he can be winning the dressage every time and I am well aware that I am standing in the way of that happening. Dressage has been my weaker phase in the past but I am working hard to change that and every time I compete I feel it is improving greatly. We had a bit of time cross country but seeing as it was his first run of the season and his first time at the intermediate level I did not find it necessary to push him. Flying Tail Farms once again had a very good outing with Zachary Brandt having a strong finish in the intermediate division and Hollie Read showing maybe she is ready to make the move up to prelim soon?!?! A big thank you to my mom who coaches better then anyone I know! Also a shout out to Beth Cannon who made sure we had starbucks EVERY morning. Totally necessary to compete well. :) My dad made the drive out for which I am very grateful for and my wonderful boyfriend wore many hats over the weekend helping me, cheering me on and supporting me all while be awesome and we even managed to do a few crossfit workouts over the weekend. Overall I would call it a success!! As always my wonderful sponsors deserve a shootout; RevitaVet, SmartPak, Buckeye Grain, Voltaire Saddles, APF and MR4 Activet Laser. Flying Tail Farms hosted the USEf West Coast Training sessions a few weeks back and if you are in the area and did not get the chance to audit I highly suggest trying to make it happen this time. USA team coach David O'Connor is a wonderful coach and offered so much information that I am still weeks later running his lessons through my head. It was a great learning experience being able to watch, listen and talk with him. I was able to ride Spot with him and before we jumped he got on and it was awesome watching him ride. He liked Spot a lot and I am excited to work more with him in the future. The west coast riders really showed DOC what they are made of and should be very proud of themselves! As it has already been made public I am sure many of you know about the sale of my wonderful mare Copycat Chloe. Chloe shipped out to the east coast last Thursday to go back to her old/new home. She joined Allison Springer and I wish them nothing but success! That mare holds a very special place in my heart and always will. Saying goodbye to her was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done but I know she is going to a great home and for that I am very happy. I got Chloe as a very green six year old who had never competed and took her to both her and my first CCI Three Star at Fair Hill where we finished first in the Under25 Division. We also won the 2010 NAJYRC Individual Gold and Team silver in the two star division. We were named to many training lists and have had much success together. We put each other on the map and I will forever be grateful for all she has done for me and will miss her greatly but I am definitely enjoying all the updates I am getting :) I can't wait to watch the two of them do big things together! Thank you to everyone who supported Chloe and I and believed in us. Your support helped take us places I never knew was possible and I can't thank you all enough for being apart of that journey. For some more exciting news I head to Ireland in a few short days and could not be more excited! Once again I would like to thank David Garret and the rest of his family for funding this trip and wanting to support an up and coming rider. We need more people like them in this sport! I will be in Ireland for seven days and fingers crossed I can get some hunting in while I am there! CANT WAIT. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and update as soon as I am back. Last but not least I would like to welcome MR4 Activet Laser onto my team of sponsors! This laser is a top of the line laser that can treat anything from soreness, open wounds, pain, tissue repair, reduce swelling to maintenance. Better yet it can be used on humans too. I look forward to giving this a go and am excited to report back on how awesome it is! The weekend after Ireland I head to Twin Rivers with the rest of FTF for hopefully what will be another successful show! I will be sure to keep you all updated and once again, thank you for reading :)

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