Smiling is good for the soul.

Wow, it hasn't been THAT long since I blogged, but it feels like so much has happened!

Renn and I had a great outing at Full Gallop Farm at the beginning of February.  He warmed up quite nicely for dressage, but, per usual, he got a bit wild when it was time to go in the arena.  He had some good moments, but he can be hard to contain with all of that movement when he's feeling frisky!  However, he went on to jump a nice around in the show jumping with an unlucky rail.  He's really jumping quite well now and really listening, but I forget to ride him forward when he's being so good.  Our XC round was definitely one that showed our rustiness from winter, but we got around clean with a handful of time penalties.  I was quite happy with our first outing.  We finished up 6th in our Open Training division.  Not too shabby for our first time out. :)

This past Saturday, I took 4 horses and 2 students to Hillcrest Farm HT in Mocksville, NC.  I also took an AMAZING crew of help, Jeremiah (my husband), Michael, and Chris.  They did an AWESOME job of keeping the horses coming.  Without them, I would never have gotten everything accomplished!

Renn competed in the Training division, and I was really glad that I took him.  I think running him again not long after Full Gallop was just what he needed to continue knocking off the rust.  He put in a decent dressage, but it definitely wasn't his best.  It was a lot better than his test at Full Gallop, but it still wasn't anywhere near what he can do.  I have to learn to really kick him into a softer contact, but he's right at that fine line where he's only strong enough to do so much.  He went on to jump a very good, forward SJ round.  I had a bit of an oops in the one stride, but he dealt with it fine, and we just kept on going.  His XC was interesting.  He had two stops early on course at innocuous jumps, as he was trying to turn and go back to the trailer.  Apparently, he became good friends with the other horses and thought he should be going back to them.  Once he realized that I wasn't having it, he went on and finished the course beautifully.  He didn't look at the ditch, down bank, or drop into the water, which have all been his Achilles' heel in the past.  I was quite proud of him for finishing up a more mature horse.  

Catoctin Moon, aka Moe, one of the sales horses, competed in the Novice division.  It was our first full event together, and I was excited to see how he went.  He was a bit tense in the dressage, but I thought it was a decent test.  The judge, however, did not agree.  For a schooling show, I thought she was pretty tough, but thus is life in dressage, eh?  Anyway, Moe went on to have a SJ round that got better and better as we went.  We are still getting used to each other, and he's still figuring out exactly how I want him to react.  He started out a bit erratic, but by the end of the course, we were much more in sync.  He went on to jump a stellar XC round!  This horse is going to make a young rider or an adult amateur a fun mount!  He's a blast.  He ended up finishing 6th in his division.

Une Grace, aka Gracie, was my little star of the day, really.  She's just barely 4, and this was her first BN event.  She was such a star!  She was 3rd after dressage, as she put in quite a lovely test.  She's still a bit green about the correct bend in the arena, and her canter needs some work, but I was THRILLED with her.  She was 100% better than the last dressage test she did at TTC back in December.  She went on to jump a super SJ round.  She and I just click.  I started her from the ground up, so she only knows my style of riding.  I love her!  She showed her greeness a bit on XC by being slightly nappy between fences 1 and 2, and she didn't want to touch the white dirt surrounding the water.  However, I was thrilled with her.  She didn't look at the ditch and went up and down the little banks.  She was a star.  She finished up 5th in her division.

Golden Altar, aka Zeus, is another of the sales horses.  We did our first BN full event together, and I was quite pleased with how much he's matured since TTC as well.  His dressage was MUCH MUCH better than a few weeks ago.  He is really starting to understand a true connection now and he had some really good moments.  He's quite a lovely mover if we can get him to relax. :)  He went on to put a HUGE smile on my face in the SJ and XC.  This horse is a BLAST to jump.  He was quite good in both phases.  We definitely got some speed fault penalties on XC, but he was never racing or scary.  He just has a huge stride and knows how to gallop.  I have a feeling he will be moving up the lower levels pretty quickly.  He ended up 4th in his BN division.

My student, Catherine Schumak, and her horse, MrSecretAgentMan, also competed in the Training to finish 2nd!  They are really maturing together as a team.  (unfortunately, we didn't get video of them!)

Also, Maddie Whisnant, and her horse, My Daddy's Cash, competed in their FIRST BN event together.  Maddie did a great job!!  I look forward to watching these two as they progress.


I'm very excited about all of the hroses.  I just can't stop saying it!  Bug will be making his spring debut next weekend at Sporting Days in Aiken.  He'll be competing in the IP division.  After that, everyone is going to Full Gallop  March 9-11.  I'll be competing 5 horses there!!  I am glad that I will have a great crew with me that weekend as well. :)

I also want to give another shout out to my awesome sponsor, Snider's Elevator!  They have been great in helping me find the products that I need to make this business a success.  Please check out their website at www.sniderselevator.com. 

Until next time....sit tall, soft elbows!

Every day I'm shufflin'...

Wow!  Life has been a whirlwind of activity since I last posted.  There are 9 horses at RSS right now, and that keeps me quite busy! 

In exciting news, Bug has been cleared to start jumping and galloping and doing regular work.  The abscess pocket was down to a quarter of its original size, after just 4 weeks.  Bug was very happy to hear this news, as constant flatwork was starting to make him grumpy. 

This past weekend, I took 3 horses to TTC in Mocksville for a Combined Test, Jumper Show, and XC schooling. 

Une Grace and I waiting for our Jumper classes at TTC.  Love her stripes!



 Catoctin Moon, a sales horse owned by Lindsey Matossian, did the Novice CT.  He was quite good in the dressage, scoring a 31.3!  The judge stuck her head out of her car at the end and told me how lovely he is.  Honestly, I really quite enjoy riding him, so I already knew that! :)  He went on to have one rail in SJ, and he finished 3rd.  He is still getting used to the way I want him to jump, so we will get that sorted.  I was really quite pleased with how he was.
Golden Altar, another sales horse owned by Gina Woods, did the BN CT.  It was his first real dressage test, and his first show with me.  He was a bit confused about what exactly we were doing in the dressage test, so our score wasn't the greatest.  However, he jumped a great double clear round in SJ.  He is green on the flat, but he is quite good when it comes to jumping.  With more miles on the flat, I think his dressage will catch up with his jumping soon.
Une Grace, yet another sales horse (and my favorite little mare to ride) owned by Morning Glory Sporthorses, did the 2'6" Open Jumpers and the 2'6" Jumper Derby.  Gracie is only just coming 4, and she is amazing.  For the first class, she did a lot of looking around but jumped everything.  Unfortunately, she had a rail in the first class.  In the Derby, she went in and had it all figured out.  She jumped a stellar round to win the class!  I love that little brindle mare!

On Wednesday of this week, I am taking Renn to the first recognized event of 2012 for RSS, Full Gallop Farm.  Renn is competing in the Open Training division.  I am aiming him at the Training 3-Day at Heart of the Carolinas in May, and we need one more qualifying score.  I'm hoping we can get it on Wednesday and not have to worry about it for the rest of the spring. :)

I am really excited about my "string" of horses this year.  They are all very talented individuals, and I can feel my riding improving, thanks to sitting on so many horses.  I am very thankful to all of the owners for giving me the rides on these fabulous horses!  I can't wait to get everyone out and about this spring!

I hope everyone is having a great year so far!  Heels down, eyes up, kick on!

Always write in pencil...

I hope everyone had a great holiday season!  A lot of things have been going on here at RSS.

Unforunately, as with all things related to horses, things change quickly.  Just before Christmas, Bug decided to pop a doozy of an abscess.  It was bad enough, that we were worried he had fractured his coffin bone.  After x-raying, I was thrilled to find out that there was no fracture.  However, the abscess pocket could be seen on the xray.  It went from his sole all of the way up to his cornary band.  Now, it's a waiting game.  I have to wait until the laminae all fill back in.  He will get his shoe back on January 23rd, then we re-xray to check out what the pocket is doing.  I have been saying a lot of prayers for my boy! 
Of course, this means that the show schedule I had just painstakingly made up is now no longer.  haha  Oh well.  I have made up a new schedule...and I wrote very lightly in pencil!!

Renn has been quite the good little stallion.  He got to participate in the first show of the season for RSS.  I took him to TTC for the schooling CT and XC schooling.  He did the Prelim CT, and he was a lot better than I expected for his first trip out.  His scores in his dressage test were a 9 and five 8's in a row, and then we cantered.  :)  We are still working on getting him quiet in the canter, but I was THRILLED with the beginning of his test and the trotwork.  He was jumping super well in the show jumping, but I got stuck in letting him go too slow and didn't ride him forward enough.  I have been working so hard to get him rideable, that I forget to put my leg on when he's listening.  We had one rail and time, but I was still thrilled with him.  Just need to keep working on myself.  Isn't that always the story?  My plan for Renn is to compete him at Training all spring and then shoot to do the Training 3-Day at Heart of the Carolinas in May.  After talking with Bonnie, I think this is the best thing for him.  I want to take a step back and really get his confidence back.  His first recognized outing will be Feb 8th at Full Gallop Farm.

I am very excited about all of the sales horses that I have right now.  I still have Rosarita and Fame, which are coming along nicely in their training.  Due to veterinary issues, Whitfield has gone on to a new home, where he is happy and living it up.  I'm so happy that he found a great home.  I have two new horses here for sale.   I will post more about them once I've had them a bit longer.

I also had the pleasure of helping Morning Glory Sporthorses with the sale of their 2 year old Oldenburg filly, Glenn Kinchie.  Congrats to Jenn Church on her lovely new jumper prospect!

That's all for now!  Head up, heels down, kick on!

Time flies

Wow, has it really been a month and a half since I posted?!?!  Ahh!  So sorry for my lack of promptness!!  There has been a lot going on here at Rocky Start.  Where to begin?

Bug has been on hiatus since Fairhill.  He got a few weeks of no work at all, and he is now back to work on the flat.  He is so thrilled to be doing so much dressage! haha  He will start back to jumping this week, which I'm sure, will make his life worth living again.  haha

Renn had his big move up to Preliminary at Virginia the end of October.  Bonnie and I had been schooling him hard, and we were sure that he was ready.  I decided to do the Gambler's Choice jumper class with him the Friday evening before the show.  See the video above!  He was a superstar in the big colesium, and he even jumped the bogey fence at the end, a huge airy vertical with no ground line.  Renn was pretty full of himself for his dressage test the next morning.  Due to snow on the ground, they pushed XC back and we had to wait around all day to go.  The course wasa pretty good move up, however, Fence 8 abc was a very tough coffin in the back of the course.  The B element was the ditch off of a 90 degree turn.  The ditch was also hiding behind some tree limbs.  Renn thought he was going until the last minute, and unfortunately, I trusted him a bit too much.  He slammed on the brakes at the last minute, and I kept going.  Air vest deployed.  End of the show for us.  It was unfortunate, as I believe that if I could have represented, I would have gotten him over it.  We will work hard this winter to be sure that his confidence is back, and he's ready to go.  He'll do some Trainings in the early spring to see where he is before we decide to move him back up. 
Also, on the Renn front, I am offering a discount on stud fees for 2012 if you book before Jan 15.  Contact me for more information!  Check out the video of Renn in a lesson with Bonnie.

We have some new horses here at RSS as well.  I think I may have talked about them before, but I have more information on them now.
1.  Rosarita: 2005 Hanoverian mare by Rolling Stone (who is by the great Rubenstein I) and out of MS Amelia.  She is 16.2 hands and liver chestnut with a star and 4 socks.  She has a puppy dog personality, and she is very athletic and willing.  She was started late as a 5 year old then left for a year, so for her age, she's pretty green.  However, she is coming along quickly.  See the video below of her in a lesson with Bonnie.  It was the first time she'd ever done any grid or real polework.  I believe she will make an excellent young rider or adult amateur's horse.

2.  Whitfield:  2005 Hanoverian gelding by Wildcard.  He is 17 hands and bay with a star and 3 socks.  As with Rosarita, he was started late and then left for a year.  He is a sweet boy, but he is very sensitive.  He needs an experienced rider with patience.  He loves to hack out, and I am thinking that he may be best as a foxhunter.  We will see.  See the video below.  It is also from a lesson with Bonnie and was his first time doing grid and real polework.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMYaCLAMaoE&feature=related

3.  Fame de Bromont:  2002 Oldenburg mare by Walldorf.  She is a 16.1 hand liver chestnut with a blaze and high socks.  Fame was well trained then had an injury that put her out of work for awhile.  She is just coming back into work.  More information to come as she progresses into work.

In other news, I have decided to donate 5% of my income from lessons and training from Dec 5 thru Dec 31 to Cabin Creek TB Rescue.  In light of the new Horse Slaughter Bill being passed, I have decided that, even though I am financially strapped, I would like to try to help the rescues who are keeping as many horses out of the slaughter houses as they can.  I got my lovely Ellie Mae from Cabin Creek, and I plan to get as many as I can from there in the future.  There's nothing like an OTTB!

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and remembered to be thankful for everything that they have.  I am very thankful to God for all that He has blessed me with.  Even when times are tight, I know that I still have it a lot better than many others.

Thanks for reading!!  Heels down, kick on!

When it all comes together....

"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."
-Frank Lloyd Wright

And so, the culmination of my entire competition year has come and gone, and I can't wipe the smile off my face!  Eventers always talk about the show where everything comes together....the show where your horse peaks at the perfect time.....that show that just goes right.  Well, I got to experience that at the CCI** at Fairhill International. 
My horse is amazing, to say the least.  Just over a year before our trip to Fairhill this year, he was at Viriginia Tech having emergency colic surgery for the second time in his life.  Being a poor up and coming professional, I was sure that I was going to have to put down my horse of a lifetime, just because I couldn't afford to pay for the surgery.  As with all things related to insurance, once there's an issue, it's uninsurable.  Therefore, I was looking down the nose of a huge surgery bill with no way to pay it.  Thank God for the awesome vets and surgeons at VA Tech.   They made it happen, and I will be forever grateful to them.  Between the vets and my AMAZING support team of people, we got Bug fixed, home, and paid for.  When I think back to all that my boy has been through, it makes this past weekend even more amazing!!
I also have to send a HUGE "Thank you" to Bonnie Mosser for coming all the way up to Fairhill to coach me for the weekend!  She kept me mentally straight and gave me a plan to stick to.  I am so grateful for all that she has done for me, and I'm looking forward to more!  My riding has improved so much in the short time that I've been riding with her.  She just says things the way that I need to hear them. 
So, the Clif's Notes version of the show.  It was HORRENDOUS weather for the first few days, though, I'm told it was nothing like a few years ago.  For that, I am glad.  Bug's dressage test was done in the rain with about 30 mph winds.  The weights in the tails of my coat kept hitting me in the back of the head!  Normally, this would have been just the thing Bug would have looked for to spook.  However, we both kept it together mentally and put in our best test to date!!  Yes, of course, we have tons to work on and keep improving, but I am THRILLED with how well he went.  Our score was about 12 points better than it was at Jersey in the spring.  That's quite an improvement!  This put us tied for 30th place out of 68.  I will admit...I may have done a happy dance in the stabling area when they announced my score.  My goal was to break 60, and we got a 59.2! :)

The XC course was tough.  It was definitely more of an Advanced test, and I was really excited to see how Bug would jump around it.  I knew if I kept my head on straight, and he saw the fences, we would be good.  However, I knew I needed to be as close to optimum as possible, which I have struggled with in the past.  Mud makes me a bit nervous, as I displayed at Morven, so I was anxious to see if I could pull it off.  I was number 57, so 50 some odd horses were going to run across the sloppy footing before I even got a chance.  Bonnie told me to take it a bit easy in the first field, as the footing was sloppiest there.  After I got over fence 11B, I was to gun it!  haha  Let me tell you, if I doubted that Bug could make time before, I'm certainly sticking my foot in my mouth now.  We were only 15 seconds over time on a 9 minute course!  For us, that is amazing!  I think we were 60 seconds or so over at Jersey.  I've finally figured out how to go fast and still be balanced and jump!  If the footing had been good, I have no doubt that we would have made time.  My little superstar charged around that course and ate it for breakfast.  He never batted an eyelash, just kept saying, "BRING IT ON!"  Our awesome round moved us up to 19th place! 

Returning to the barn all smiles, I realized that now, my nemesis of the year, show jumping was staring me in the face.  Yikes!  Could I pull off a good round with a huge crowd?  I tend to let my brain shut down.  Show jumping has been MY nemesis all year.  My horse is an AMAZING jumper, and he is very adjustable.  He can and will jump from ANYWHERE.  People say...what's the problem??  Well, the problem is, that makes it very hard to get your eye tuned to what's correct.  However, I knew that I had put in many hours with Bonnie, and I COULD do it.  I just had to step up my mental game and get it done.
After walking the course with Bonnie on Sunday morning, I knew it was tough, but I also knew that my horse could make it look like a child's game.  I bucked up my brain and put my big girl pants on.  Let me tell you, as I jumped the last fence, I definitely threw my fist in the air!  It was the BEST round of my LIFE!  Foot perfect.  Amazing.  I sooo wish I had it on video!  The cheer from the crowd was amazing!  The announced commented on the fact that I must be a crowd favorite, and that I was thrilled with how my horse went.  I guess he could tell because I was grinning from ear to ear. 
We finished 16th out of 68.  That isn't too shabby for Fairhill! Our entire score was still 5 points better than my dressage score at Fairhill! I am still grinning.  I love my special pony.  He is definitely my once in a lifetime horse.  I cherish him every day.  Just watching him in the field as he bosses around his pasture buddy makes me happy. 
Bonnie says to start studying the Advanced and 3 star tests, as we're going big next year!  Bug says, "I really belong at Rolex, but Advanced will do for now, I guess."  :) 

In other news, baby Renn is doing his first Preliminary this coming weekend at the Virginia Horse Trials!  Wish us luck! :)
Also, I have gotten a sponsor!!!  Snider's Elevator (www.sniderselevator.com) has graciously offered to sponsor myself and my ponies!  I'm so excited!  I worked there through college, and they carry a large selection of riding supplies.  Check out their website!  Sending out a big "Thank you" to them!

Mud, Sweat, and....er...Cheers!

Hello, hello!

Things have been super busy since I last posted.  Bug, Renn, and I made the trip up to Morven Park last weekend.  Let's just say, I'm very glad that my mom got me a set of Frog Togs for Christmas last year, as I got to put them to good use there!  The weather was abysmal.  Cold, pouring rain, and wind were in abundance on Saturday.  Renn competed in the Open Training division A in a field of 15.  With the horrible weather and the cross country running right by his dressage arena, I was worried that Renn might be less than attentive.  However, I must say, he was very strong, but he was willing and listening for the most part.  He ended up with a 35.9 which put him in a 4 way tie for 5th place.  The weather only got worse as his jumping phases were upon us.  I am soooo proud of my boy for the way he went in the horrendous conditions.  He jumped double clear around a tough show jumping course and went on to put in another double clear in the XC around a tough course with very slippery footing.  Baby stallion ended up 4th in that huge division that included a lot of big names!!  After talking with Bonnie, we have decided that Renn has earned his way to a move up to Preliminary at the Virginia Horse Trials!!  Yay!!
Bug was in the Open Intermediate A division with a field of 16.  He put in his best dressage test to date in the indoor arena with a 39.6!  We finally broke 40!  That was even with an accidental flying change.  He was quiet and relaxed.  What we really lacked was brilliance in the trot for better scores.  I was THRILLED with him.  All of the hard work that we've been doing with Bonnie is paying off!  He went on to jump a double clear round in the show jumping.  The footing had gotten even worse by the time that we went, and Bug felt it was neccessary to overjump everything by 3', so I was a bit discombobulated, and I didn't ride as well as I would have liked.  There were some great fences, and there were some not so great fences. 
Bug's XC was on Sunday, and the rain had let up some, but the footing was still horrendous.  The weather was very cold, though the wind wasn't as bad.  I decided upon walking the course that I wouldn't be trying to make time.  The footing was horrible, and with it being so close to Fairhill, I didn't want to risk him.  During the warmup, Bug was jumping huge, and upon jumping a big warmup rolltop, he landed hard and got his feet stuck in the mud.  We almost had a tumble.  I think it rattled both of us, as we just weren't ourselves out on course.  I wasn't going forward enough to the fences, and Bug was being extra careful in the mud.  He was all about adding the stride. 
We ended up in 7th place in the division, which made me really happy.  We made it around, and even though there are still things to work on, I feel like we're making progress. 
Fairhill is upon us, and we leave on Tuesday at 5 am!  The jog up is on Wednesday, and the dressage fun begins on Thursday.  We won't find out any of our times until after the first jog. 
I hope people will come out to watch us!!! 

I will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible at Fairhill.
All thoughts and prayers are much appreciated! :)

My own worst enemy...

I know that it's been awhile since I last blogged.  I hope this all finds everyone well!

After Waredaca, I went home and started to work hard with the boys.  I've been riding in what I like to call, "Bonnie Bootcamp" every week that I can.  We have been working hard on Bug's dressage and my show jumping, as well as Renn's show jumping.  I am determined to learn how to ride! :)  We also had a XC schooling session with Renn, and he was a superstar.  He jumped a lot of difficult combinations like a pro.

I took Bug to the Five Points Horse Trials the beginning of September.  I had a plan for our dressage, and it seemed to really work.  He was the most relaxed and supple that he's ever been in a test.  There's always more work to be done, but I felt like it was a big improvement.  As far as the judge goes, though, we only scored about 2 points better than Waredaca.  Oh well.  The XC was a big, gallopy course.  The optimum was just under 7 minutes, so I knew this would be a good test of whether we could make time on a longer course or not.  Bug was a superstar!  He was forward and bold.  We had one sticky moment going through the sunken road, as we've never done a proper one before.  I got a bit zoned on the A, B, C, D...lots of flags to overwhelm me!  Bug was great though and packed me through.  Other than that, we had a great round.  We were only 13 seconds over time!  If we had been more forward through the sunken road, that would have saved us even more time.  I was thrilled with him.  This put us in 6th place!

I walked the SJ course on Sunday with a bit of trepidation.  It was a very forward course, and I was already worried about  making the distances without the chip stride.  This led to me not quite finding my mojo in the warm-up and just running at things in the course.  We ended up with 3 rails, which is unheardof with Bug.  I was actually a bit worried that he was sore somewhere.  So, this dropped us down to 8th place. 

I was very bummed, but it definitely gave me more to work on.  I also learned that I need to really learn how to acquire mental toughness. 

Bonnie and I have been working hard on the boys ever since.  We are headed to Morven Park this weekend, where Bug will do his last Intermediate before the CCI** at Fairhill, and Renn will do Training. 

Also, in other news, I have 2 new consignment horses in.  Whitfield is a 2005 Hanoverian gelding by Wildcard.  He is 17 hands and a lovely blood bay.  He is a bit more of a sensitive being, but I think he will make someone a great horse.  Rosarita is a 2005 Hanoverian mare by Rolling Stone.  She is 16.1 and a lovely liver chestnut.  She is bold and very sensible and willing.  I also think she's going to be a lot of fun!  There will also be another horse arriving sometime in the near future. Fame de Bromont is a 2001 Oldenburg mare by Waldorf.  She is 16.2, I believe, and also a very lovely liver chestnut with a lot of chrome. 

Hopefully, this fall will be a great time for Rocky Start Stables and its students!  I'm excited to work hard and see how things pan out.

Until then...heels down, head up!