Paradise Spring HT

*Above (3) photos taken by Hoofclix

The season is off to an absolutely fantastic start! This was Willy's last run before moving back up to Intermediate (this coming weekend!) at Pine Top in Georgia, and Deacon increased his experience at the training level.

Willy put forth a lovely test, though he was quick to let me know that the Preliminary Test A was not the Intermediate Test A we were supposed to be doing. Besides several moments of tension, he put forth an admirable effort to receive a 37, placing him in the middle of the JYOP division. Unlike many events, Paradise remains true with the traditional format of eventing, and runs one phase per day in the order: dressage-cross country-show jumping. Saturday morning was sunny and COLD, but as usual, it didn't seem to bother Willy who put in a foot-perfect round, jumping beautifully and fast. The course is known to be quite challenging, especially for the warm-up events in Aiken, but Willy didn't seem to mind and jumped the combinations, corners, and water complex quite easily. While he was quite cocky towards his fences, this is the essential confidence needed for Willy, standing at 14.3, to gallop around an intermediate cross country course next weekend. Sunday's show jumping course was beautiful! The organizer and course designers really outdid themselves! Rails seemed to be flying, for there were several tricky questions- including a small vertical on a grass mound. Yet Willy cantered into the ring like a pro, and proceeded to have one of the few clear show jumping rounds, finishing on his dressage score in 4th place (less than a rail from 1st). I don't want to speak too soon, but it really does seem like the old Willy is back. :)

Deacon was another great story, it has been such a pleasure teaching this young horse about eventing. His dressage has been steadily improving, this time by 6 points! He was the first to go (bright and early at 7:30 am), and really held it together in a rather spooky grass ring. Most of the judge's comments suggested that I ride him more confidently.... little did the judge know of Deacon's outburst the last several times I have been on him... he is not very found of using his back and behaving! Regardless, I was quite the proud mother Friday evening. Cross country for Deacon was a great learning experience. While he jumped clean and within the time, he had several bobbles throughout the course, which began after he decided that half-halts were beneath him. After slamming into the fence (mental note - we may need a stronger bit for this phase), it took almost the whole course to get his confidence back. Though, by the last combination he was jumping well again, and quite responsive to my aids. Just to be careful and restore his XC psyche, I will be moving him down to novice at his next event.... just as a precaution. This horse has great potential, so I want things to be taken correctly and slowly. Sunday, Deacon was quick to redeem himself and jumped wonderfully. He had one unfortunate rail which was a 'rider rail' in that I did not quite get his right shoulder around a turn. The rail dropped him from 3rd to 5th, but I cannot be disappointed with this horse!

UPDATE : With just two shows under his belt, Deacon and Courtney are on the February USEA YOUNG ADULT TRAINING LEVEL RIDER LEADERBOARD... tied for 6th. This is a national rank!

Kick on!

Courtney

Sporting Days

What a way to start the competition season! We made the 3.5 hour trek to Aiken, SC hoping to find the warmer weather... and oh boy did we! Finally I could pull off heavy blankets and give the horses a decent bath. I love competing at Sporting Days, not only is it a wonderful farm, but the courses are always fair, beautiful, and maintain the 'traditional' eventing questions.... its not so much a technical or big course, but asks the necessary questions in a safe and confidence building manner... perfect for a first time out. A huge thank you to Carol Kozlowski who acted as both my trainer and groom for dressage and Jessica Miller who was the most wonderful groom! It was so nice having two knowledgeable sets of hands, especially since my times were so close!

Thanks to Carol and Jessica, the weekend was a huge success. Willy started off being quite a little handful in the dressage... unfortunately all of the hard work done on this phase did not quite show through his lovely 'pony moments.' But what Willy lacked in dressage, he most certainly made up for in the jumping phases. Running the IP means Willy performs an intermediate dressage and show jumping tests, and a preliminary cross-country course. The show jumping was a piece of cake for the pony, completing it very cleanly.. oftentimes jumping me out of the tack ( I think he was just so happy to jump). Cross country was perfect. He was so forward and eager, pulling me to every fence ... which for him is great! We even managed to make time (something we were not trying for... i didn't even wear a watch!). Willy finished on his dressage score of 41... landing him in 2nd place! Very exciting for his first time out!

Deacon also earned a gold star this weekend, minus jumping out of the trailer AGAIN! His dressage was very obedient... though he reached the end of his limit half way through the test and became rather unhappy about the work he was supposed to be doing. Jumping was really great... warming up with Carol was incredibly helpful! Deacon jumped around the show jumping course, not his most brilliant phase, beautifully AND cleanly. Cross country was extremely educational for this young horse. He started off somewhat hesitant, then by fence 3 extremely cocky, then after a near miss at fence 5 (apparently Deacon did not feel it was neccessary to listen to any of my aids) he decided to be a good boy and was an angel for the rest of the course. Like Willy, Deacon was full of running, showing his level of fitness. Deacon finished cross county double clean, ending in 5th! .... So finishing 2nd and 5th... not too shabby for the boys... hopefully everything goes just as smoothly at Paradise in two weeks!

Fly High!
Courtney

Gearing Up for 2009

The team is well underway with preparations for the 2009 competition season. Horses are being clipped and prepped, tack is being polished, the NEW 4-STAR TRAILER is being organized, and last minute essentials are being ordered. The team is finalizing the "color" switch from hunter green and burgundy to black and pink by ordering new blankets, saddle pads, coolers, halters, quarter sheets, leadropes, etc, etc, etc. The list goes on forever, but the essentials are just about finished (especially considering we have only a week left!). Deacon and Willy will be making the trip down to Sporting Days in the wee hours of Saturday morning running Training and Intermediate/Prelim respectively. The horses are going great on the flat and conditioning... though the latter has been rather difficult with all this crazy weather! Both boys have a jumping lesson on Sunday with Holly Hepp, who has been absolutely wonderful for both horses.  The most stressful thing has been getting Willy's paperwork and qualifications together for the Poplar CIC** ... its been a full competition season since I have run a FEI Event... and those are always stressful! The team is still searching for sponsors and owners.... please e-mail or call me directly if interested. I'm working on placing a PayPal account on the website to make cash donations easier.  Kick on! 

Courtney

Virginia Horse Trials

What a wonderful weekend, Brian and Penny Ross due an excellant job of organizing a well run event! In addition to the normal festivities (BN-I and Adult Team Challenge) a 'College Team Challenge' was held. A number of colleges sent individuals or teams, and Courtney comprised 2/4 slots of the Wake Forest/ Virginia Tech scramble team. 

Courtney and Willy started the team off on a perfect note... having the lowest factored dressage score of the entire college competition. The pair was also in the top 5 within their own preliminary division. With the addition of the other dressage scores, the Wake Forest scramble team was in first place after the dressage portion of the competition, and both of Courtney's horses were placed very well in their respective divisions. 

Deacon showed his greenness in the show jumping phase, backing off just enough in Virginia's indoor arena. It was very exciting to see how calm he was in the charged setting, though he was a bit intimidated! Another educational experience for baby Deacon was the cross country course. It was quite challenging for training level, having several offset lines, combinations, a wide open ditch, and a scarey brush into water. However, Deacon handled the course like a champion... only incurring a handful of time faults. With his altogether stellar performance, Deacon ended up in 6th place in a very competitive division. 

Willy provided a clean and very fast cross country go, picking up only a handful of time penalities on an otherwise PERFECT GO! What a champion this little pony has become! And in true, 'Wil'Ya Love Me' form, he put in a solid round in the indoor incurring NO faults. Willy's picture perfect weekend landed him in 4th place, just a few points from 1st. 

With the addition of several time penalities, the Wake Forest College Team fell to 3rd place overall.... mere fractions of a point from 1st.  Nevertheless, Defying Gravity Eventing was very excited about everyone's performance over the past year and look forward to an even better 2009. Happy Holidays!

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.

Five Points Horse Trials @ Carolina Horse Park

Willy was quite the superstar this weekend. He competed in the OI division earning a career low of 37 in dressage. The cross country was quite big! Many of the jumps were very solid, with lots of galloping! Willy rose to the challenge and jumped around CLEAN, though he is still quite inexperienced at this level, so he acquired some time penalties which dropped him from 5th to 9th. Willy led off the intermediate show jumping in good form, with just one slight miscommunication into the final combination. He finished the event in 9th, yet again in a field full of the country's top level riders.

Deacon also put forth a solid showing, on a course which almost mirrored that of the Training Championships!!! Dressage was workmanlike as usual, placing him in the top 6. Show Jumping was in perfect form, until Deacon encountered his first one stride-one stride triple combination. Cross country was very difficult both in technical elements and size, and Deacon preformed quite nicely once again. I'm looking forward to really pushing him at the next event, because I now feel he is grasping the 'training level' questions quite well. Though in typical warmblood fashion, it is quite difficult to 'get his engine going.' There is always something to work on!

Full Gallop Summer Horse Trails

What a fabulous weekend! Willy and Deacon made their first showing in Aiken, South Carolina. A big thanks to Sally Cousins who was kinda enough to open her barn for my horses, giving them a luxurious place to stay for the weekend.

Saturday started with a very heavy fog, however it was not enough to hide the cross country fences from sharp little Willy. Fortunately he settled down just enough for the dressage, earning a 44 in a division filled with the nation's top riders! He went on to have a clean and fast show jumping, finishing the day in 8th place. Deacon stepped up to the plate today, and put in his most consistent test to date, earning a 36. After a double clean show jumping round, Deacon finished the day in a tie for 4th.

Both horses ran fabulously on Sunday. Willy jumped around his toughest intermediate course to date, answering all the questions and soaring over many of the maxed out fences, to finish in 9th place. Deacon also faced quite a challenging course complete with a Weldon's Wall, rolltop into water, and ditch combination, though an early "green horse" moment caused him to fall several placings...finishing in 9th.