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

Where to begin....!?

Once again I will start this off by apologizing for my delay in posting. Let me tell you it has been a crazy past couple weeks! We had Katie Prudent Training sessions, pack up to move, CMP training sessions, The Fork Horse Trials, and then finally our move to Middleburg Va.
Lets start with the Katie prudent training sessions. First off it was a huge honor to be invited to work with her. I was the only developing rider who was there and I made sure to thank my lucky stars every night for it! If you are unfamiliar with Katie she is a show jumping genius! My first lesson I rode with Allison and Jan and I was nervous! I think it showed a bit in my riding because I was making mistakes I would normally not make. The lesson itself was fantastic though. She did a ton of flat work first making sure we have the canter we needed, she worked a lot on counter canter, flying changes and collection. It was all so beneficial for me and my horse. She likes to see if you make a mistake you fix it quickly and then you don't make that mistake anymore. The second day my nerves were more settled and I rode a lot better! We worked a lot on pole work and making sure you can consistently get the correct striding. It was such an amazing opportunity getting to work with her!
Next we had to pack not only for The Fork but to move to Middleburg. Now let me tell you packing everything you own and still managing to be organized for three advanced horses, two intermediate horses and two prelim horses is really quit difficult. Yet we managed. We got the The Fork on Tuesday and Allison and I both had training sessions with Captain Mark Phillips (CMP). Chloe was good we worked a lot on keeping her frame up and her in a good balance. The second day we wokred a lot on movements in our test and by the third day when I came out after about 10 or so minutes he came out and told me to put her away. He said she looked great so I should stop and save it for tomorrow. I was so pleased! she is always best when she can settle for a few days!
Dressage was the next day and of coarse we were treated with thunderstorms. This had Chloe a bit more tense then the 90 degree weather the day before had. I had both Mark and Allison in warm up and sometimes this can be a little much but it worked out. Her first half of the test was fantastic! Her trot work was some of them best I have gotten from her, unfortunately her canter work was tense. The four changes really got her going and that led to a lower score then I would have liked. Mark seemed pleased though and was very impressed with how quickly the trot work has come.
Next was cross country! I had walked the course with both Mark and Allison and felt fairl confident about it. It asked a lot seeing how this was the final outing for the badminton/rolex horses. Mark is known for making technical courses with a lot of huge tables to narrows. This course stayed pretty true to that. It was really nice getting to walk the coarse with the designer. So many times your left wondering how to ride a certain question, but having Mark there helped us out a lot! Chloe answered all the hard questions with such ease, I was really proud of her. We had a few mistakes but ultimately, at this point in both her and my career I feel like the most important thing is to walk off the course feeling more confident then before. I feel like this course that happened. It asked a lot out of her and she showed she can do it.
Next we had show jumping. They did not change the advanced coarse from the three star coarse so it was big! Usually I am not very nervous for show jumping but in my last jump lesson with CMP he had said that if we ever have a rail he will know it was my fault. So with him standing ring side watching I knew I had to put in a clean round. The pressure! Warm up was a little hectic and I had Jennie talk me through a few jumps. The coarse was pretty twisty turny to steady distances so you had to ride forward in between to make sure you did not get stuck in the turn but then steady up in the lines. It really called for you to think about every step. Chloe was amazing. She jumped so well and both Mark and Allison were really pleased. She was one of only seven cleans in a 40 something division. All I know is I walked home thinking how lucky I was to be sitting on this horse!
We packed up and pulled out of NC at about 6 45 and drove to Virginia. I think I pulled in at around 2 AM threw Chloe in a beautiful green pasture slept until 7 then started 12 hours of unpacking. Times like these I wonder why I do this? Then I'm reminded by my horse. The farm here is beautiful and Chloe seems really happy as well, Middleburg is a cool little town! Im excited!
Next week we go to Fair Hill and then Allison is off with her two to Rolex! I will be sure to keep you all updated on that!

On a side note I would like to the thank The Fork Crew for such an outstanding weekend! The footing was fantastic, the hospitality was even better and the show was a success! Thank you so much!
I would also like to congratulate Jennie and Ping for another outstanding weekend!
Until next time!

xoxo Kelly, Chloe and Buckleigh



Of coarse the one Californian managed to get stuck in the mud and have to be pulled out by a tractor. This definitely caused a lot of laughing...at my expense.



Reppin' the Flying Tail Farms!



We dont really know what the definition of "brushing" is







On Saturday night Buckleigh got run over by a golf cart. Boyd was driving and the story has a few different versions but the important part is he is okay! Until he got a wheel barrel dumped on him....