Kelly Pugh Eventing: Im Back!

Im back! I am back to blogging and even more exciting back to California! Since my last blog a lot has happened so I will try not to dwell on the little details but more or less cover the big stuff! Last I talked to you all Chloe and I were in Aiken for the winter and well underway with the season! As per usual we ended our Aiken trip at The Fork Horse Trials in Norwood, North Carolina. This is one of my favorite events but not somewhere that I have had particularly good luck at. All of Aiken Chloes (and my) dressage had been improving quit steadily. I was getting some very quality work and was really excited to show the whole world what Chloe was made of. Unfortunately Chloe is a completely different horse at a show. The atmosphere and above all the noises! She is so sensitive to noises and without those "noises" it is hard to replicate what kind of horse I will have trotting around the ring. Both times I have competed at the Fork the speakers have gotten the best of her. I am in the process of trying to figure out how to ride with speakers everyday. Maybe a radio will do? After another disappointing dressage test I was feeling pretty low on myself. Knowing the kind of work I can get from her at home had me feeling like I was letting her down. Maybe if I was better, knew how to ride through it. There had been some ideas tossed around about selling her and this made me equally depressed. Giving up on her didn't seem to be the answer either. I decided at this point all I could do was focus on the rest of the show and dwell on the rest later. YOu cannot go into a three star cross country round doubting your riding. You just can't. So we went out of the start box and I was soon reminded just how special she is. She tackled the (what I found to be a fairly tough track) with ease and we both came off course feeling better and more confident then before. This is a sign of a good course. I managed to mess up my line to corner and she wacked her knee pretty hard. Lots of icing and walking she passed the jog and then I decided to withdrawal her from the competition. Knees can be tricky and I would much rather her be healthy then make her show jump. Show jumping is one of her stronger phases and there will always be another day. Coming from this show with very mixed results and a long drive ahead made me really reflect on everything. I knew I had a nice horse under me, I knew her dressage was tricky but good riders don't get good by only sitting on easy horses. I knew that if in the future I wanted to be able to work through tricky horses it would have to start with Chloe. I know she has it in her and I am so lucky to be sitting on her. Yes her dressage is a challenge and it is also wonderful experience for me to better myself. Chloe and I have come up through the levels together teaching each other, trusting each other and most of all progressing together. After The Fork Allison and I continued on to Virginia where Beverly Equestrian awaited our arrival. This is the new facility that Team Springer runs out of. When I say facility I mean breath taking, unreal state of the arc facility. It really is unreal and to have had the opportunity to ride there was so special. Allisons groom grace had gone ahead and started the transition phase. Moving an operation into a new facility is not an easy task and it took a lot of time and hard work to make sure it went smoothly. It was around this time that Allison took off to Rolex, Kentucky and was the highest placed American coming in second place. This put her right on the Olympic selectors radar and this is when I stared to weigh all my options. Originally I had only planned to be on the east coast for a year to gain experience which I did and then some! Having been there for a year and a half I had to start thinking about where is best for me to be, where I have the most opportunity and where I want to be. Allison has been nothing short of amazing to me. She has been my mentor, my coach, my friend, my fan and my inspiration. With her being gone for two months with the olympics I realized I am still at a spot in my life where I need to be in consistent training. With another young horse at home, a sister pregnant with twins and an amazing support crew out west I decided now might be a good time to come home. So within a few weeks my dad had flown out and a truck and trailer packed to the brim with Chloes stuff, my stuff (a lot more then what I came out with) and Buckleigh we headed back home. It was hard to leave behind the beautiful state, all my wonderful friends who had become my family and the life I had started there. But I knew it was the right thing to do. After dropping my best friend Grace off in Chicago (one of the hardest parts!) My dad and I headed back to California. It was a long, long, long, long, long drive. It is the third time I have made that time and for some reason I always seem to forget just how looonnngggg that drive is. Chloe traveled great and I was greeted with open arms. It was weird being the new kid at the barn but it was home and it felt great to be back. Chloe had a few days off to recover from the trip but before long she was back in work and getting ready for Woodside Horse Trials. I had three horses going there and they all exceeded my expectations! Chloe came in second in the Open Advanced division and this was a great way to start off being back! My mom has a young OTTB named Tito and he ran the novice division and showed he has a ton of potential. The other horse I rode was Spot who after being in the top three after dressage I realized I was in love! He competed in the preliminary challenge and was near perfect. It felt great/feels great to be back and showing on the west coast! Since woodside I have had some bad luck regarding my health. I got wacked in the head by a young horse and got a pretty severe concussion that left me on bed rest and a good amount of time out of the saddle. This was weird for me, probably the most time I have been away from the barn in years. I can't thank Zach Brandt and Theresa Hartcourt and the rest of FTF for keeping my ponies going for me. It turned out to be a good time to be on bed rest because my sister decided to have her twins during this time! I am an auntie!!! a huge congrats to my sister and her husband!! I can't wait to get those boys of some ponies :) I recovered and was able to take a horse and student to an event only to come home and get trampled. Saying trampled sounds pretty awful but luckily I am only walking away with some pretty good bruising. I think I need to wear my helmet at all times. NO joke. YAY for horses!! Now the count down to Rebecca Farms starts! This show is in Montana and it is no doubt my favorite show out there! I have not been able to attend for a few years so I am beyond excited. To add to the excitement I have received the Rebecca Farms travel grant which will help to cover the traveling costs! This is very exciting!! Chloe will run the CIC three star there and Tito ( named after my moms favorite vodka) will run the training there. As most of you know Shannon Lilley, assistant trainer at Flying Tail Farms had emergency back surgery which has left her out of the saddle for a good chunk of time. Her attitude is so inspirational and everyday I am am trying to mirror it. I know that soon enough she will be back in the saddle again and we will be once more rotting her on while she is winning more gold medals! I also want to welcome some new sponsors to my team. Buckeye Grain and Voltaire Saddles. Buckeye Grain is unreal and I promise if you put your horse on it you will notice the difference in no time. Chloe has never looked better, never traveled better and never been happier. If your interested in more details or getting your horse on Buckeye grain please contact me! Voltaire Saddles is the next sponsor and I can't be more thrilled about this. The quality of saddles and the costumer service is unreal. Again, if you have any questions feel free to ask! And onto of them I want to give a shout out to the rest of my wonderful sponors. Smartpak, RevitaVet and APF. Lastly, I want to thank my wonderful support team. My family, everyone at Flying Tail Farms and all my friends who I still talk to in Virginia and my wonderful boyfriend! You are all my rock and I feel so lucky to have you all. My last and final note! The long list for Team USA competes in Barbury Castle this weekend across the pond in Europe. Good luck to everyone and especially Allison and Arthur! We are all cheering for you!! Sorry this is so long! Can you imagine if I included all the little details! It feels great to be back blogging and I promise next time you hear from me it will be in a couple days when we start our journey to Montana! Kelly Here I leave you with some pictures in no particular order!