Everyone wants to be friends with a winner

Not gonna lie - still on a bit of a high from the weekend.  Ok, maybe that, and the two Pepsi's I've drank, but either way, I feel pretty pumped.

Friday started like any other event - with me and my three boys headed down good ol' US 1 to Southern Pines.  Pete was jealous that his big brothers got spared my singing by being in the trailer, but he declined the offer to ride in the tack room.

Prophet was up first in the sandbox and put in a pretty decent attempt at a test.  I figured it was ok when the judge complemented us, but, really, I never know when it comes to that horse how the judges will like him.  I guess this one thought he was pretty ok, scoring us at 27.5, and in the lead by at least a few points.

I had plenty of time to soak in our success, as Flash's time wasn't for another 7 hours.... ugh.

Needless to say, Flash came out a bit over the whole situation.  And being surrounded by several advanced/olympic riders didn't make me feel much better, as they went around on their beautiful, big, babies.  Me and my little appy baby felt a bit... well... flat.  And Flash doesn't score well flat - he scores well because he's pretty freaking brilliant, and our brilliance wasn't really with us. He put in a respectable, mistake free test for a 34 - which put us WAY down the leader board in 9th place. After winning the first by such a margin on my non-dressage horse, being that far down on my usually dressage-gifted horse made me feel... flat.

Oh well, JUMPING was coming up!!!

On day two I had some help, which meant I couldn't be too green feeling on the drive down to jump.  For Flash it was SJ day - a day to play with the little jumps, and show everyone how little control I have of where he takes off.  He jumped a spirited round, that only included two missed spots (success!) and zero penalties, to move all the way up to 3rd.  Never did I ever thing there'd be that much movement in a novice class!

Then I had a short turn around to P's XC round, a course that I was excited to run, but a little apprehensive of P's fitness.  If I'd known I was going to be in the lead, I would have done a few more galloping sets! Luckily for me, I barely had to touch P's bit the entire way around the course.  After epic misses at my first two fences, we got our act together and P ate the rest of the course for lunch.  He was pretty much amazing, coming in right at optimum time.

A quick glance at live scores as we drove home showed that we were the only one in the division to go double clear, to  have the lead by 12 points.  Once again, I was elated, and celebrated Saturday night by falling asleep on my couch at an embarrassingly early hour.

Now that my ponies were really in prime positions - I picked up yet another person to help, and so the two horses, one dog and 3 humans headed South on #1 Sunday morning.

Flash was once again first up.  He made easy work of the jumps around the track, with only minor conversations about control/steering (picture me stopping in the middle of the track after fence 3... and fence 5... and fence 7.... when he sort of finally got the point).  If only I could direct ALL his energy in the correct direction, he'd really be unstoppable.  We managed a clear round though, to hold onto our yellow ribbon placing - Very proud of my little fighter!

P was my last ride, and the last show jumping ride of the show. He felt good in warm-up - so good that I did very limited jumps.  Apparently I needed a few more as my eye was a little off to the first two in the ring.  Luckily, P recognized my shortcomings, took the reins (so to speak) and jumped around the track with a monkey on his back.  At that point we had 5 rails in hand (20 points), and we didn't need a single one.  Landslide victory went to the Diddy man! I guess you can tell that I don't win often cause I did the victory gallop the wrong way, but oh well -- Diddy was even confused as to why he had to be the first one to go!

A super HUGE thanks to our new sponsors Draper Equine Therapies, IRH Helmets, and Custom Saddlery (expect a blog post shortly about these companies), and as always, the rest of our supporters - Cur-Ost, Animals to Wear, BonVivant Equine, Hoof Wraps, and Whinny Warmers!

Here are some pics from the weekend.

They compete at everything - even water drinking! 

Pete was not happy about giving up part of his back seat

My little hunter, oh wait, I mean eventing pony. 

Blue looks good on you, diddy.

Energy conservation is the key to Prophet's success

Pete knows where the water jumps are at CHP and pulls me towards them

Handsome boys!!!! 

bionic flash and his friend andrew

World's worst blogger award goes to - ME!

But in an effort to regain my blogging passion, I'm moving past my guilt and on to bigger and better topics! I keep coming across topics that I think, man, I need to blog about that, but alas, I sit down at the end of a day, and fail to open my computer, and instead I fall asleep on the couch watching my favorite obsession, Newsroom.

So today, I'm kicking off a morning of rescheduled lessons by tapping out an entry before noon, thus unleashing my morning creativity burst.
(momentary pause to fuel up on PB&J, cause typing two paragraph's is hard work!)

So, although I have millions of updates to give and opinions to spout about, I"m going to start with a little Flashy-pants update.

Flash started the season a little bit late due to a heal injury that he, of course, healed wickedly fast like the little bionic horse that he is. :)  He was 5th (I think) at LongLeaf in the Novice, won a couple of MacNair's CTs, scored a freaking 16.5 (and finished on it!) at the starter HT, and ran around the tough novice in Maryland with just a little look at the ditch for an otherwise amazing event.

Somewhere in that schedule, Flash came in with a bit of a swollen leg.  A few days of ice and hacking and it was as good as new.

The vet had a suspicion that he's actually broken his splint bone and it might be time for a trip to the vet school.  I just knew that he was going to be a terror up there - equivalent of a bull in a China shop, only this china shop involves millions of dollars of tech equipment and fragile vet students.

Just getting to the vet school involved a bit of an exercise in patience and creative driving as my truck (Big Booty Judy) got stuck in the driveway at the barn.  Flashy then got to travel in style as the only horse in the 5 horse slant load.

From the get-go Flash had everyone bombuselled into thinking he was sweet and innocent.  He didn't even run over the vet student during his lameness exam jogs! And not one high kick to show them his hidden talents.  We are very lucky to have the NC State Vet School so close and the wonderful doctors there.  Even if Redding did give me a hard time about riding a little horse. Kind of was hoping Flash would give him a good strike at that point. :)

As you would expect with a bionic horse, he was a star in recovery - as if someone said, "hey Flash, if you get up really nicely and poop, you get a yummy mash and dinner on time", and so he did just that.  I was lucky to have a lot of students and friends who were around him all day and I'd get a bunch of updates throughout of how awesome he was doing - only when I showed up, he'd act like his world was coming to an end and he didn't know if he was going to live through the next hour.  I guess he might be a little bit of a momma's boy.  Pretty soon he perked up and embraced the spoiled lifestyle that he was getting though - and took to posing for pictures.

Once he got back to Wynnscott, his good behavior continued, and recovery went by the books - two weeks of stall rest with only hand grazing.  Two weeks of hand walks, and then eased back into undersaddle work and full turnout. He spent his days perfecting the art of destroying stall toys and convincing everyone at the barn that he was having a severe treat deficiency, cured only by a handful of the good stuff located in a bucket right outside his stall.

During Flash's stall rest time, we started to notice a particular toad who toiled away the hours sitting in front of Flash's stall watching him (and eating the flies on the stall grate).  We, naturally, named the frog Andrew and start chronicling his adventures.

Andrew watching Flash

I think Flash enjoyed having Andrew around too. 

Once Flash was able to go back out, I think Andrew misses him... 

And has to spend his time pretending to read.

Since then, Flash is coming back great.  He is in full flat work, and will hopefully start jumping this week! Wee! 

Flash's first ride back!  Airvest, neckstrap, and maybe some drugs. :) 

knocking off some dust... 7 years of dust.

Just before Thanksgiving I had a great idea to bring my old man, Rockie, out to the East Coast for a student to cruise around on for a few years.

Rockie was a homebred horse, out of a TB mare that was originally my grandmother's - given to my mom when my grandma passed away. He's by a Morgan Stallion who my aunt (dad's sister) owned, so he was literally a product of both sides of my family. When he was younger, I thought he was a little ugly - all neck and shoulders with very little caboose.

Until the day I got on him to canter through the field.  He was four years old.  My mom had competed him BN, and I was getting ready to move on from my pony I'd had for 8 years. He floated across the field and I promptly stole him from my mother.  From that day on, we began our climb up the levels, running the Training Level Three-Day at Mayfest HT in Lexington, Kentucky, and eventually moving up to Prelim.  Neither one of us had the education to run that level, but I was just dumb enough to try, and he was smart enough to keep us safe. We weren't the most successful, but it really didn't matter.

Right at the beginning of my senior year of college, Rockie had his first life altering health issue.  The night before we were going to leaving for an event (luckily my mom had come out with her mare that day), he started showing colic signs.  A little bit of Banimine and he seemed good to go -- until the next morning when he was in full blown shock.  He was in so much pain that he ran over 3 men to get out of a stall.  For the next 4 days, we took turns (my mom doing the most of it), walking around the indoor with an IV pole, giving him unlimited fluids.  He finally started to come out of it, and eventually returned to health.  He came back to compete in a Novice level event about 8 months later, but I was leaving with P for the East Coast, so Rockie went back to Illinois for a little more rest and recuperation.

For the next couple of years, he was leased by two people who competed him at the lower levels, but his respiration never did seem to recup enough after his illness.  He could get fit enough to run Novice and below, and he loved to be out on the XC course, no matter what the level.

And then his second life altering event occurred.  In a muddy part of the year, he came down with some seedy toe fungus, which was awful in itself.  Then, somewhere among the huge field that my parent's horses live in, he managed to find a 2" piece of metal and jam it into the hollow part of his toe.  You know the saying "No Foot, No Horse"?  Well we nearly had no horse. My poor mother was doing everything in her power to keep him comfortable. One of my awesome sponsors, HOOF WRAPS, was there to save the day.  My mom quickly ordered a wrap in order to avoid going into duct tape and vet wrap debt. Slowly and surely he grew his foot back was normal again!

So, now here we are a few years later.  Rockie is coming 18 this year and my mom was talking about how he needed to stay in work to keep everything moving properly.  I somehow convinced my parents to truck him out here when they were making the trip for Christmas, so they loaded him up (along with all of my things from my old room - I think they are really kicking me out!), and made the long trip out to NC.  Unfortunately, my student who I wanted him for needs to sell her horse (contact me if you know of anyone looking for a lovely open show/lower level dressage horse!) before Rock moves to her barn, so I get to have him around every day to pet and teach some lessons on.

Which (finally) brings me to the point of this post.... The Running Start Horse Trials was originally scheduled for the 23rd of February, but the lovely weather we've been having this winter (sarcasism), required it to move to Sunday. I had Prophet entered in the Prelim CT, but he had a chiro appointment on Sunday so was out for the show.  They weren't going to give refunds, so I needed a replacement, so I figured I should probably run Rock around once before handing the reins to Sarah.  They let me change to the Beginner Novice HT and down to Vass, NC we went.

Rockie was so excited that I wasn't so sure we'd get our giraffe neck down long enough for an entire dressage test, but we did, and it wasn't so bad. Show jumping came and Rockie thought that the jumps were way too small, and that lead changes were VERYEXCITINGTODOWITHLEAPSANDSQUELS!   So on we went to XC where he promptly tried to buck me off every time I attempted to slow him down.  He felt amazing though, and I had such a stupid grin on my face the whole time.  I even let him have a gallop up the last hill, speed faults be damned.

Running Start is sort of notorious for their slow posting of placings, so up the end, I had no idea how we'd placed.  When they finally posted everything, Rockie's name was in the first place column.  To say that I was excited is a bit of an understatement... or a really big understatement.   Really, you'd have thought I'd won Rolex - I was hugging  people I didn't know, squealing like Rock doing flying changes. Holy crap he won!!!!

So now hopefully he will calm down a little bit for Sarah to have fun on, although the horse definitely has jumping on the brain again.

In addition to Hoof Wraps, I also need to give a shout out to another amazing sponsor, CurOST, who definitely helps keep Rockie comfortable and happy doing his job at 18 years young. I have the most amazing sponsors ever!

C-Horse Stuff

The weather has been dreadful, and wonderful, and dreadful again.  Ah, the joys of living in North Carolina. :)
This morning, we were pretty much frozen in, therefore I used the morning off to play with some Pinterest ideas I'd had.  I've got to get around to making another 'official' order of C-Horse Equestrian apparel, but I think these are pretty cool too!

12 days of Christmas - I really am bad at this

Seriously?  How did I lose a week of my life.  Maybe it had something to do with the show to organize, lessons to teach, horses to ride, parties to plan, and a few winks of sleep in there... but alas, I apologize for slacking, and now need to pick up where I left off!

Today's feature comes from Whinny Warmers - a wonderful company with a cute name.

The owners of WW are awesome people who do a ton for the equine world.  They generously support my team, and my horses love them for it!  In the summer, my kids have all four legs protected by the Summer Whinny, which keep their legs cool and flies away.  In the winter, their legs are warm and toasty with the Whinny Warmers.  Both products have multiple benefits, including increased circulation, wound protection, anti-bacterial properties, keeping whites white before shows, and keeping soft tissues happy between rounds. Pretty much, they rock.








Not only is WW very supportive of my team, but they also are very active in supporting rescues and other great organizations all over the country.  How can you not love a company who does their part to give back!

Here in NC, the weather is starting to turn (finally!) and any horse would LOVE to find Whinny Warmers in their stockings to help keep those feetsies warm!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 4

In between Christmas madness, and enjoying the 70 degree weather, I've actually managed to remember the blog 2 days in a row! Yay!

For a quick recap, Day 1 featured BonVivant Equine and their wonderful browbands, bran mashes and boots. Day two was the wonderful company CurOst and their products that make my horses feel wonderful, and Day 3 was the awesome quartermark queen, Kate Bremser.

Which brings us to Day 4.

I'm going to go ahead spill a secret.  I live for the shows where I know Becky Raubacher and her wonderful husband Chris of Animals to Wear will be in attendance.  They are absolutely wonderful people and Becky is one amazingly talented artist.  Even when I haven't seen the two of them in months or even a year, I feel like no time has passed and I usually leave their booth with a bag full of awesome goodies and a warm feeling of friendship and support.

Those of you who see me on any kind of regular basis know that I basically live in their clothing.  They do an outstanding job of selecting just the right apparel on which to print Becky's beautiful art.  Every article of clothing wears like iron, fits amazingly and keeps me looking at least a little put-together!

I would go into details on my favorite products, but pretty much, just open up any link on her website, and you won't be disappointed.  Here are just a few pics to give you an example of how important Animals to Wear is to the C-Horse Team.

Cadet

dressage pad

dressage pad and Kerrits Half Zip carbon

polo

Seriously, if there is a horse-crazy person on your list - you will make them the happiest person in the world with ANY gift from Animals to Wear.

The 12 Days of Christmas - Day 3 (aka 2.5)

The third installment features a product that I find super cool, and is a must for every eventer, and most other riders who like to add a bit of flare to their appearance.  Quarter marks are one of those things that add a bit of polish to your turnout, and when my good friend Kate Bremser made me a custom stencil I was pretty much pumped.

P with his seahorse quarter mark at Poplar Place 2011.

When I was younger, I had a stencil of the Chinese Symbol for "good luck", and would stencil it on my equine's behind with glitter glue.  I've since grown up a bit and opt for simply the brush technique, which is why it's important to have a stencil made with appropriate material, and clean, crisp cut lines. Kate does an amazing job, and for a very afforable price.  It's a perfect way to get a custom/one-of-a-kind gift for the equestrian on your list!

In fact, my seahorse was even featuring in the US Eventing magazine in the AEC's section this year!



If you are interested in obtaining your very own quarter mark, just let me know and I'll get you in touch with Kate!