Galway Downs Horse Trials (Mar. 2007)

Callalily, owned by Margie Lewis, proved that she just needed to get out into the world. She was tied for third after dressage in Open Novice A with a 32.5, and then just loped around the jumping phases and finished on her dressage score. She was closest to the optimum time on cross country keeping her in third place. Cally was tied with Trake, owned by Cory Walkey. Trake had a great weekend, but was just a few seconds quicker on cross country breaking the tie and dropping him into fourth. Both horses show great promise. Outta Hand had a great weekend. He got a 30.0 on his dressage test and then jumped clean throughout the weekend putting him in seventh. Jenna Ludden rode Dakota around the novice course with great ease. Dakota was a little frisky for dressage, but found a great rhythm during the jumping phases. Judi Stewart and Rainier were seventh after dressage, but an unfortunate 5 faults in show jumping dropped them to tenth. They did have a spectacular go on cross country the next day.

Copper Meadows Horse Trials (Apr. 2007)

With Copper came weather! Carolyn Hoffos did a great job keeping the show going. Once again they were hit with the only big rainstorm of the season. Show jumping was a little wet in the early part of the day, but as the day went on the footing was great, and by Sunday the cross country was beautiful. The crew there did a great job! Rainier was back out trying his hand at being a prelim pony. He was in third after dressage with a 26.7. He, however, was not a fan of the wet weather and had some difficulty with the show jumping. The cross country course had changed considerably this year, proving to much more difficult. He ate up the course, showing how much he loves the cross country, finishing in sixth place. Katie Perkins moved Sure Shot up to training. They had a picture perfect show jumping round. They had a little slip coming out of the water, causing Katie to need to circle before the next fence, but they reorganized and continued on beautifully. The pair wound up in sixth. Trake was the last horse of our group to do dressage on Friday and managed to just hit the beginning of the rain. He was a trooper putting in a solid test and then running for cover to the trailer to get untacked and dried off. He was tied for fifth with a 32.0. He finished the weekend tied for fifth. The horse he was tied with came in at exactly the same time cross country keeping the tie. Trake will be making the move to training at Twin Rivers in May.

Flintridge Horse Trials (Mar. 2007)

Flintridge was the first show of the year, and had us starting the season with some beautiful weather. We had a mixed bag this weekend, some were doing their first show, while others were coming back after some time off, and others were moving up. Rainier, owned by Judi Stewart, made the move to prelim quite successfully. He was placed first after dressage, and then put in a clean show jumping round to hold onto his lead after the first day. Time faults on cross country, however, dropped him into second place overall. Colby, owned by Karen Bristing, started the year at training with a bang. He was first after dressage, and then jumped clean in stadium. He was a bit fresh on cross country, but finished clean and within the time. Sarah Berry rode Bernie Guzenske’s AKA Boulet to a second place finish in the Open Novice A division. Sarah was fourth after dressage, and then moved into second after show jumping . Sarah and Bullet put in a perfect cross country round keeping them in second place. Lizz Antonoff rode her own horse Lucky Boy to a first place finish in the Open Novice B division, leading from start to finish. Penny Pollock rode her horse Check This Out to finish third in ONB. Kim Smith rode Katie Perkin’s horse Dakota to finish fifth. Jennifer Mc Ginley completed her first horse trials on her mare Barn Burner finishing in sixth. Callalily, owned by Margie Lewis, did her first event, showing that she will be a solid event horse in the future, placing seventh. Katie Perkins brought Sure Shot back from a long break, completing his first event in three years. Barbara Wachsman competed her horse Outta Hand. They had a little difficulty in show jumping, but had a lovely cross country round. Beginner Novice included Sheryl North riding her horse Spirit Keeper. This was their first event, and they both perormed beautifully. Gillian Van Muyden’s horse Virtuoso, also completed his first event. Melanie Hoyson unfortunately had to withdraw. It was a busy weekend for everyone. Courtney Leonard was wonderful spending all day in the warm up making sure everyone was ready to go.