It was great to finally be back in the show ring after spending most of 2014 on the sidelines due to a riding accident. As always, my students never cease to make me proud.
Sarah Borns earned her
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Shows
PVDA Sugarloaf Show Recap
Students Allison Stork and Shera Solomon were awesome at the PVDA Sugarloaf Show yesterday.
Allison rode Im a Driftin Dude at Intro A and B. She has been diligently working on retraining “Niko” all winter (he was originally a western horse) and her hard work is paying off. They were third in Intro B with a 65%+, and they won Intro A with a 68%+! Great job, Allison.
Shera and her OTTB mare Kerrigan In Command have been working hard on straightness and suppleness, and it showed with scores of 66 and 67%, two blue ribbons, and First Level High Point! “Kerry” has also made big changes in a small amount of time. I’m excited to see where both these horses finish off by the end of the year!
VADA/NoVA Summer Show Recap
Katie King and Shine had another great show this past weekend. With solid mid-60s scores at First 2 and First 3, Katie earned her second USDF/GAIG qualifying score at First Level. She is now completely qualified for both finals shows. And last but not least, they won their First 1 class on Sunday with a 70%, including a score of “8” on harmony. Very exciting, but this team is definitely not resting on their laurels. They are hard at work to be able to try dipping their toes into the water at Second Level later this year.
I brought along my mare Samsara (“Bee”), as a non-compete. Bee can be emotional, so she is going to shows this year just to hang out and school. She was a really good girl, and we had two super lessons with JJ Tate which lead to real breakthroughs. She’ll be coming along to Dressage at Lexington for more exposure. This mare is really talented, and I think she’s worth taking the slow approach.
VADA/NoVA Spring Show Recap
Katie King and her mare Shine kicked off show season in style. They qualified for the CBLM Finals at First Level, received their first GAIG/USDF qualifying score at First Level, and earned the required First Level scores towards Katie’s long term goal of earning the USDF Bronze medal. Additionally, they placed in all of their classes, and even won the AA division of First 1 with nearly a 69%. Super proud of this pair!
Dressage at Lexington
I took Amy Stika’s Routinier (“Roo”) to Lexington again this year. This is one of my absolute favorite shows: wonderful staff, professionally run, and a great time!
Roo and I did the I-1 on Saturday, and we had our best ride ever to score a 69% and change. So tantalizingly close to breaking 70! One day. On Sunday I did a little too much warmup, so he was a bit tired, but we still managed a solid 65% for 6th place in a huge class.
Photo by Shari Glickman.
Congratulations are in order!
My wonderful student, Rebekah McCormick, earned her final score for her USDF Bronze Medal at the VADA/NoVA June show this past weekend. She and her lovely mare Lisianthus scored a 65.789% in Third Level Test 1, placing second in a competitive class.
Rebekah is a delight to teach, and a very hard worker. She has two small children, takes care of a farm, and rides outside all year long! It has been a lot of fun helping her up the levels.
Photo of Rebekah and Lisianthus is courtesy Pics of You.
PVDA Loch Moy Show
Huge congratulations to my student, Rebekah McCormick, on her success at PVDA’s Dressage at Loch Moy competition. She competed her lovely mare, Lisianthus (also known as “Lizzy”), at Second Level for the first time and she rocked it! She and Lizzy scored a 64%, including a “9” on her first centerline. Rebekah is working on her USDF Bronze medal, and this score puts her halfway there. Congratulations!
VADA/NoVA Autumn Show
I took Amy Stika’s GOV stallion Routinier to the VADA/NoVA Autumn Show September 10-11. I was feeling a wee bit unprepared coming into this show as I had surgery on August 22nd and was out of the saddle for almost two and a half weeks. But, I really wanted to get one last show in prior to the BLM Finals and GAIG Region 1 Finals, so off we went.
The footing held up well to the torrential rains of the past weeks, but “Roo” was not too thrilled with the deeper footing on Saturday. Still, we had a fairly clean test for a 63.947% and second place in the Intermediare I.
Thanks to the combination of warm sunny weather and a nice breeze, the rings had dried out quite a bit by Sunday. Roo was much happier and we had a super go in the Intermediare I, for a score of 67.105% and first place. Thanks so much to owner Amy Stika for the opportunity to ride this wonderful horse. He is a treasure!
Rudy Debuts at Third Level!
Marsha Mason-Thies’ Holsteiner gelding Rulet, aka “Rudy”, made his Third Level debut at the EEM Summer Fling August 7th & 8th. Rudy was a pro, doing his flying changes in the ring like he’d been doing them forever! Congratulations, Marsha. Onward to Fourth Level and Prix St. Georges!
Dressage at Lexington
I took Amy Stika’s Oldenburg stallion, Routinier (Rohdiamant x Inschallah), to Dressage at Lexington over the weekend. “Roo” was a superstar. We won the Intermediare I on Saturday, and were 4th in a huge Intermediare I class (over 20 horses!) on Sunday. Thanks so much to JJ Tate for the great coaching!
