Tryon Horse Trials

Another great showing for Defying Gravity Eventing. Deacon is developing into an event horse, he is really understanding what is being asked of him for this sport! It's very exciting for me to bring along a horse with this much talent and potential. I really cannot wait until it really 'clicks' with him. At Tryon, Deacon was relatively unsettled... there was a whole lot going on in the warmup ; lots of little ponies to play with and lots of open space to run! The indoor was pretty spooky, though Deacon pulled together a fairly competitive dressage test. However, cross country was the exciting phase for Deacon this weekend. His first clean training! Deacon cruised around the course in perfect style, finishing with no jump or time. Quite the little champion i must say. He was a little sore Sunday morning, but lots of walking helped him work out the kinks, and he had a beautifully clean, though one second slow, stadium round... finishing in 6th! (tied for 5th... but he went a bit too fast xc!)












Willy competed in the IP (a combination of Intermediate Dressage and Show Jumping, with Preliminary Cross Country) at Tryon and really showed how much he loves his job. With only a 10 minute warm-up (GPS malfunction) we trotted into the ring in true style, producing many lovely movements. It was a brisk morning, and he was a little fresh, but that only led to more expressive movements. The judge rewarded him with a 40 in Intermediate Test A, putting him in the lead. Cross country was a breeze for Willy, though I just wanted a fun, stress-free outing after the hard Five Points course. Willy cantered around, first out of the box, in true Connemara form, taking all of the direct routes cleanly. Leading into the show jumping ring, Willy put in yet another perfect performance, finishing with yet another clear show jumping round... for yet another WIN! This was a great way to end the 'intermediate' season with him, for he has very much regained his confidence and is ready for the challenges of next year. We just have one final competitition... Virginia Horse Trials, before a well-deserved vacation.