Liz Lund Eventing

Happy Hoildays Tune Up

2011-12-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

Last year we had around 8 inches of snow outside already...as of now I just got done riding cross country at Carriage House Farm with Lainey Ashker! Heck - I'd take this any year over having snow on the ground already!

Hmm anyway so this blog clearly was started a month ago and left unfinished only to be started again on Christmas Eve while I sit on the couch at my mom's by the fire place recalling many memories from the year. Starting where we left off...

So yes, I rode in the Lainey Ashker clinic on November 13th. To sum it up it was awesome. Lucy of course, was a star, she knows it. Everything is about her and everything is over dramatic...the photos say enough about her personality!

Of course, as we seem to do best, we had to have a Liz Lund Eventing Party. Thanks to the host - The Shirley Family, for allowing us to have our party at their lovely home. The night was filled with over-eating, sharing some libations, gift exchange, hand stand contests and lots of chatter.

So far winter, as stated above, has been very mild...well pretty much non-existent. No snow and it is Christmas Eve....I mean what has this world come to! Well anyway it has made for some happier feet...well except on those few real cold days we had, the feet did NOT appreciate that too much. One of these years my feet will be the cause of me heading south for the winter...I'll blame it on the toes. So you will need to decide? Are you coming with me?

Lessons have been going well. There has been a very consistent schedule now that kids are in school and we have no shows or events on the weekends to attend. We had our first lessons with Alison Sader Larson at our new farm and are looking forward to having her in occasionally for tune ups. I am hoping to get some weekend group jumping lessons started - aiming for our first date to be January 7th. These groups will consist of gridwork and gymnastics followed by a ground session, learning about either braiding, wrapping, longing, clipping, or any other topic that is suggested!

Although the weather hasn't been horrible, there hasn't been any recent trail riding. I do have to say we have gotten quite used to our big, beautiful, well lit, well insulated, and well heated arena. We love it. We LOVE our new farm and of course the owner Tracy and all of her staff. On our fall trail rides the kids learned many different things from riding in groups, to crossing roads, riding on other properties, what to do in the case of....getting kicked, getting run off with, falling off, etc. Yes, yes, we do have fun!

Both the girls are fat, hairy and happy. Enjoying light work over the Holidays, well really light work since the end of the season, but soon to go back to some regular rides and tune ups so we can start to focus and plan for 2012, which is really right around the corner! The kids all seem happy, although we do miss the few that were not able to join us at EF. Savannah found a great new home for her previous horse, Curb Appeal, better known as Grady around the barn. She is currently on the hunt for a new partner.

Last but not least...as we head into the New Year and grow older...we must accept and welcome the challenges and adventures ahead of us. Huge congratulations to Maria, my one and only right hand (wo)man for her early acceptance to Standford. She will be off to sunny California next fall in pursuit of new knowledge and the college experience.

So next year I will be on the search of somehow finding someone who can fill Maria's very, very large shoes. Job requirements: groom, braid, drive rig, drive horses to and from clinics/lessons/shows/vet when needed upon no notice, teach, train, take order, the ability to say yes no matter what, take amazing photos and then at the end of the year collaborate them into a book, draw/paint/doodle the photos, listen, give advice, talk, care, have the ability to spell check, grammar check and provide input when writing papers, articles, letters or really anything...Ok anyway I'll stop before I realize to severity of the problem...maybe a few people would like to take on a few different areas?? Yes this is my way of saying Maria has been my lifesaver since day 1, before I had even known it. Even though I thought she was a little strange as she would arrive to her lessons, helmet already strapped to her head as she is pulling in the driveway, that was just a little insight as to how motivated and prepared this girl was to take on the world and ready to learn. She will go far in life and I hope to continue to be a large part of it.

Ahhh so yes as times change, so do we and we must learn to grow and adapt. We are all surprisingly stronger than we think, well I'd like to believe I am at least, and as we are presented with life's challenges it is all about how you react, how each little event shapes the rest of our lives. Just like this list of the timeline of top selling Christmas gifts (http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/769/a-timeline-of-the-top-selling-christmas-gifts-ever/) well we continue to change and each item or event that is new in our lives creates a list. Regrets and mistakes are just memories made.

Thank you everyone for being here, supporting me and the team. I am so looking forward to 2012 and well, green grass and the sun producing a little more heat...Have a GREAT Christmas or whichever Holiday you chose to celebrate. We all have so much to be thankful for - goodnight!

Cooking...

2011-11-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

So for anyone who knows me knows that well, I don't normally cook. I don't really know how, I'm not one of those who can grab this and that out of the cupboards and fridge and throw it together to make some wonderful masterpiece. Well I thought I would give it a shot tonight. Um not the grab this and that part, I actually consulted an iPhone app with tons of great recipes. I found one for Filet Mignon, which I bought Rib Eyes instead due to the lack of meat in the meat department of my small grocery store...but anyway it also had a great garlic shrimp cream sauce. I wandered through the grocery store, making sure to get calls in to my mom and Connie Shirley to be sure to get all of the correct ingredients, I mean if it calls for heavy cream, why don't they just call it heavy whipping cream, since you know, that is what they call it in the store...hmph.

After all ingredients were collected I headed home to begin to prepare my findings. I marinated the rib eyes in a mix of red wine, soy sauce, garlic powder and some salt and pepper. I then soaked cut up green, red, yellow, orange peppers and onions in an olive oil with some garlic, salt and pepper. I prepared the shrimp by removing the tails and cutting them in half. Things were ready so I began the cooking process.

I heated up the skillet to cook the rib eyes in and once it was warm I placed the rib eyes in the skillet and let them begin the sizzle. I then melted some butter and olive oil in another pan letting each ingredient melt before adding the next for the sauce. I added some Chardonnay, garlic, salt, pepper, more butter, olive oil and shallots. I then added in the shrimp and let them cook until they became a nice pink color. I placed the peppers on a banking sheet added a little more salt and pepper and placed them in the oven at 400 degrees. The kitchen was starting to smell good!!!

I kept an eye on the rib eyes and kept them turned so as to not overcook one side and cut into one to make sure they had a nice pink color in the middle, yum! The sauce was almost done so I heated up the potatoes and checked on the peppers in the oven. Everything was coming together nicely! Once everything was done I prepared each plate. The rib eyes were topped with the shrimp sauce which ended up not thickening as much as I thought it should so it basically ran all over the plate to mix in with the peppers and mashed potatoes, but thankfully it worked out perfectly and complimented both the peppers and the potatoes. Bryan & Todd (Bryan's brother) were thoroughly impressed and very full at the end of the meal! HA cooking success!

Very good for my first time really cooking a dinner...if anyone heard my last cooking baking story they would be impressed. I mean no one else I know has mixed up flour and powdered sugar, but I can tell you first hand it can be done! At least the second batch of cookies turned out! So I think I am going to continue to try and cook dinners on Monday nights, so stay tuned for more delicious updates!

If anyone wants the recipe click here!

Fall Colors & Winter Ideas

2011-11-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

So as we have been settling into our new barn and show season has geared down we have all found a new passion...TRAIL RIDING! I can't believe the weather and how trail riding cooperative it has been. Elysium Farms has many many trails nearby, also located right down the road are the Polo fields which we have our own races against one another. Quite fun! Both of my girls are hairy, well fed (fat...) and enjoying their pasture at the new barn! Wheelock Whitney's 600 acres of perfectly groomed trails are right down the road as well where we enjoy trying to navigate and learn our way around the area.

Everyone heading out to hit the trails!

One of the many wonderful trails!

Stopping for a quick bite to eat at the Ox Yoke!

Lucy enjoying her new life as an eventer!

Our pile of mostly Charles Owen helmets while we went in to the Ox Yoke for lunch!

As we all are getting settled in for winter and waiting for the time to change tonight, I'm trying to brainstorm ways to stay motivated to "move" this winter and not just begin my hibernation of couch sleeping and tv watching so I joined InFit, a local gym that offers a variety of classes. So far I've taken a spin and yoga class, looking forward to kettlebell classes, kickboxing and many others! Winter volleyball has started and I play on a team with Bryan and four others on Wednesday evenings - so far undefeated, hope to keep the trend going!

Oh & I took up hunting this year! One of my students asked me if I enjoy killing things...sort of an awkward question but I'll answer anyway, it is the whole experience that is enjoyable - not necessarily the taking of poor defenseless animals lives...BUT I do enjoy eating meat, and somebody has to put dinner on the table! (HA if anyone knows me you know that I am NOT that person!) So I went up North to Remer, MN with Bryan, his uncle Larry & cousin Justin. Yes I got to kick back and be a guy for the weekend - it was quite fun! We ate a lot of meat and drank some beer of course. We headed out hunting each day in our camo and orange tromping through the woods looking for grouse. We spotted some and of course Bryan the hunting master shot the first one, Larry got the second and thanks to my hunting guide (Bryan) I was able to get one as well! Check it out!

That is the extent of my killing thus far...we went out bow hunting for deer in a few different tree stands and the ground blind but nothing came in. We spent one night down in Fairfax but again nothing close enough. Missed rifle opener this weekend but am enjoying my time at home relaxing for once!

So I've decided to try and keep up a winter blog as much as possible...things to do in the fall and winter: (if you're not lucky enough to go south for the winter season....)

- Shave horses. Of course this is as much fun as you make it. Last year we decided shaving letters and shapes into our horses rumps was a good way to make this more enjoyable!

- Trail ride while the weather holds. Of course as you can see we have been doing plenty of this so far! Who knows, maybe even when the snow flies we will make it out on the trails!

- Indoor group jumping days. So far we have this planned Thursdays after school and it has proven to be a blast! It is great to get all the kids at the farm at the same time and watch everyone struggle through the gymnastic exercises and circle torture bettering their riding!

- Plan a party. Hopefully we will be planning this before Holiday season - stay tuned for updates!

- Work out...well we all know how fun this can be in the winter but coming into the slow season and holiday season we all know to well how easy it is to pack on the pounds! Join InFit with me and we can take some classes together! I also am hoping to do the WARRIOR DASH early this summer so better get started training now! Trust me if I can get myself to the gym you can too! Rumor has it sports bras are on sale at Target too!

- Stalk Eventing Nation. http://www.eventingnation.com/

- Stalk Liz Lund Eventing . www.lizlundeventing.blogspot.com

- Join something - indoor volleyball team, rec hockey league, a book club, take a cooking class.

- Get your Holiday shopping done early - also making gifts can be more fun and personal to those you care about!

- Read - Well for me I typically read horsey books - one of my favorite sports psych books is Mind Gym - check that out for the winter and get your head ready to get in the game next show season! Other favorites are exercise books - 101 Jumping Exercises will keep you entertained in the indoor! As well as the Dressage book.

OK Now onto the real winter activities:

- Get a group together & have an ice skating party!

- Go sledding!

- Go skiing/snowboarding!

- Build a snow fort & make snow angels!

-My personal favorite is to go for a sleigh ride - I mean most people should go to a place that offers sleigh rides in exchange for money, but I like to keep it cheap and jerry rig my own contraption and attach it to Hannah and enjoy being pulled about in the snow!

-Another one is go on a road trip & video tape it Well if you can't go on a road trip just make a video...here are two of my favorites!
Florida 2010 & Janelle & Aanya :) (You may need to be friends with Aanya in order to view that video...but it is a great one!)

- Start a blog and try and find ways to entertain yourself by writing meaningless thoughts and posting them publicly not knowing really if anyone is actually reading them...hey I have fun doing it!

- Attend your Association's banquets! Tomorrow we kick off banquet season with Lead Hound Pony Club's year end banquet - looking forward to seeing everyone in the same place one more time this year! We will also have the CSDEA banquet coming up and I would love to attend the USEA Banquet one of these years!

- Well that is enough to keep you busy for awhile...I'm sure I will be back with some more random thoughts & ideas shortly! Trying to plan a Liz Lund Eventing party too - so stay tuned for more information on that one! Enjoy the weather while you still can!!!

Elysium Farms & Roebke's Run Fall HT & Northern Country Challenge

2011-10-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend!! The weather (except the wind storm all day on Friday), the people, the horses and more! I couldn't be any prouder of my whole Team! The horses, the kids, and their families!

Friday afternoon Maria and I met at our new barn, Elysium Farms, located in Independence. We moved four of our horses, Hannah, Lucy, Pete & Taco to the new barn on Saturday October 1st, with the help from Maria, Connie, Denny, Olivia & Emily Shirley, and Kristine Johnson. We loaded all of our stuff, and the horses, and headed north to Elysium Farms - owned by Tracy & Peter Kooman. The horses settled in well in their paddocks and we cleaned, organized and moved our stuff into the barn. Tracy keeps her barn in top notch condition. Although we were sad to be leaving Trophy Hill Farm - and very thankful to Katy & David Holub for everything - we were very excited to be off on our new adventure.

Photos: MF Photography

Maria and I finished packing our final gear, loaded the horses and hit the road. We arrived at Roebke's Run, unloaded and got the horses settled in their stalls and began unpacking our gear. In a short time we had our stalls unpacked and headed out to walk the Preliminary XC course. It would prove to be a good test for Pete, nothing he can't do, and honestly, he probably had the chance to school most of the questions at the previous JDRP clinic with Becky Holder. The true test is Pete's attitude, he shuts down on the XC sometimes. Using the water complex as an excuse. Fortunately Maria worked hard and got all of her qualifying runs for the CCI1* this fall, so our plan was the use this as a schooling run. We headed back out the barn and I took the rest of the students out for their course walks.

Packing - we had to make everything fit & we did!

Janelle Johnson had her young horse Corray there doing her first Starter, Emily Shirley riding Ty was in the Beginner Novice as well as Kailey Giancola on her mom's horse Cherish. Morgan Samuelson & Ricky and Savannah Ruhs & Grady were in the Novice Rider division and I was riding Lucy in the Open Novice division. We were ready for the show to begin!

Once courses were all walked we headed back to the stables to do a little decorating. The girls worked hard and set up spiders, webs, colorful streamers and lights on their stalls for the Stall Decorating Competition. I added my blue & yellow LLE lights to the stalls for fun as well.

We all hung out until just after dark and then everyone went their separate ways for the evening to get a good nights rest. I headed into my tent hoping not to blow away in the night.

Bright and early the next morning Maria got up and fed horses and began braiding. She was the first ride of the day. The wind storms had dispersed and there was now just a nice gentle breeze. We headed to warm up and got Pete moving nicely and then the storms rolled in. We were sent back to the barn while the storms passed and were back out there 30m later re-warming up. Pete and Maria put in a lovely test earning a 30 and putting them in the lead.

Next up was Ms. Lucy Goosey. This weekend was the last of 5 shows in the North Country Challenge - a Grandprize of $2500 sponsored by Otter Creek Farm & Roebke's Run. The prize was awarded to the lowest scored rider & horse that attended the 3 Otter Creek Horse Trials and the 2 Roebke's Run Horse Trials. This weekend Lucy and I were in the lead by 12 points so the pressure was on. My technique was to do a little less in warm up to see if I could keep her up in the bridle. The plan worked - she went in and put in a great test earning a 25.5 putting us in the lead. Deb Stern was close behind with a 28. After the dressage, my score widened by lead for the Challenge by another 4 points.

The next Novice riders followed shortly after my ride. Savannah was late to warm up so we did as much as we could before she had to head in. She put in a well ridden test and Grady was very supple given the length of his warm up. She earned a 36 putting them in 9th place. Morgan and Ricky put in a lovely test earning a 34 putting them into a 4th place tie. Emily and Ty had a nice warm up as well and put in their best test yet earning a 32.9 settling them into 6th place. Kailey & Cherish had a nice ride as well earning a 36.9 putting them into 9th place against many tough competitors in the Open BN division. Janelle & Corray had a great ride - despite Corray looking around the ring at everything scary - she handled it well and put in a 37.5 to put them in 6th place.

Everyone had great dressage rides - and now it was time to prepare for cross country! The cross country was very decorated and we knew the horses would be looky at the "spooky" Halloween decorations.

Maria & Pete were the first ones to head out. Her course was riding really well, Pete was forward and responsive to Maria but of course as she headed toward the water he began to back off. The fence before the water, as she called the fence of death, proved to be too much for Pete's brain and he shut down causing them to have to walk of the course.

Next up it was mine and Lucy's turn. She felt great - she was a little looky at the decorations in warm up so I knew were I had to give her a really positive ride. She was a little sticky out of the box so we kicked it into gear and since we are working on moving up to Training level I let her carry on at her own pace and she likes to go! She was great at the water, went right in and galloped on. Unfortunately we came in too quick racking up 5.2 speed faults to our score - narrowing our gap in the North Country Challenge and dropping from 1st to 3rd. I wasn't worried because she put in a great round and that is all that matters.

Savannah & Morgan were the next ones out. They both put in great double clear rounds and were thrilled with their performances. I was really proud of Savannah for riding a little bit smarter out on the course and regulating her pace as well as setting up better for each of her fences. Morgan moved up to a 2nd place tie and Savannah moved up to 6th place.

Emily & Kailey were next up in the Beginner Novice division. They both did fantastic, also putting in double clear rounds and moving them up the placings in their divisions! Emily moved up to 2nd place in the BNR division and Kailey to 4th in the OBN division!Janelle & Corray were up next. Corray was worried about the horses in warm up and the decorations - so we just wanted Janelle to go out and give her a good experience no matter what happened. Unfortunately the environment proved to be a little much for Corray and she was eliminated out at the second fence. We went back to warm up and jumped her a little more where she was great! That wrapped up the riding for the day and we all headed back to clean, feed and get ready for the Competitor's Party & Halloween Costume Contest!

There were so many great outfits at the party! We all had a blast - great food - great people and of course even better dancing!

Although the party ended early we all had a blast! We headed back to get some shut eye and get ready for show jumping the next day.

We got up early and Maria and I walked the Preliminary course for her courtesy round. They put in a good ride only having two rails.

Next up was Lucy - at this point we had a 10 point lead for the Challenge and all I wanted to do was put in a good solid round! She did just so! We had one unfortunate rail - but for the most part she was flying over everything! We ended up 3rd in our division and won the North Country Challenge! What a good feeling - all the hard work from the season really paid off! Thanks so much to Otter Creek Farm & Roebke's Run & everyone else for helping make this possible!

Next up was Savannah and Morgan. Savannah was first to go in the ring and the placements were tight. She put the pressure on posting a double clear round. Then it was Morgan's turn, she put in a great round on Ricky as well having only one rail. Savannah finished in 2nd place and Morgan right behind her in 3rd! Congrats girls! Grady is also for sale as Savannah has sadly outgrown him - he would make a great horse for a pony clubber or small adult! Contact me for more information!

Then it was Kailey & Cherish. They had one unfortunate rail putting them in 5th place. What a great end to Cherish's first season eventing! Congrats Kailey & Linda!

Emily & Ty were next in the ring. They posted a double clear round putting the pressure on the leader. The leader had an unfortunate 8 penalties but Emily was thrilled as she ended up winning her division! Good work Emily!

Then Janelle came up for her courtesy round - we talked about a plan and Janelle though Corray would have a problem at number 7, a fence with some tiny hay bales under it. She put in a great round riding her strong and confident to all the fences but had an unfortunate stop at the hay bales and having it been a courtesy round you are only allowed one refusal. Good work though!

Then Maria & Pete and Janelle & Corray and I headed out to the XC course to do some schooling. Pete ran through his course perfectly with no problems at the fence of death or the water...sometimes that horse is a mystery! We are now focusing on a plan for the CCI1* coming up soon in Kentucky!

Corray was great as well! She flew over her starter fences as if she had been doing this all along - with one stop and short hesitation at the water she galloped right in. I am so proud of her and Janelle - they have come so far! We will miss you and wish you guys were coming to our new barn!

Overall the weekend was TERRIFIC! Everyone had fun and had a great experience! Thanks to the Schweiss Family for putting on another lovely show and all of your volunteers as well for making it happen! Thanks to my sponsors for helping me get to shows like this and of course thanks to all of my students and their families for your support! Thanks to Maria - groom, student, photographer, friend and basically family! Thanks to my mom & step dad John, boyfriend Bryan and the rest of my family as well for supporting what I do! Jen Johnson - my vet, sponsor, student and great friend - we will miss you as you move on to Washington - we hope that you will come and visit! Alison & Ken Larson - dressage coach, vet, sponsor and friends, thanks for all of your help! Stone Ridge Equestrian - sponsor, FLAIR Equine Nasal Strips - sponsor, MF Photography - sponsor and everyone else who has made this possible! Thank you for everything!

THANKS AGAIN!!!!

Otter Creek Fall 2011 - Sunday

2011-09-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

Bright & Early morning at Otter Creek Farm! Fed horses and cleaned stalls. While they were eating we went up and walked the Intermediate & Preliminary show jumping courses one last time before we mounted. I went back to the farm to get ready while Maria cleaned and tacked Hannah. I mounted and headed up to warm up. She felt good in the warm up, warmed up nicely long and low and was jumping really well. Ralph helped us in warm up and then we headed down to the show jumping ring. The placings weren't close, so there was no pressure for placement, but I wanted to put in a double clear round as a end of the season ride.

I walked down to the ring and watched the ride go before me take down two tough rails. The course seemed to be riding nice, but the verticals were proving to come down. I entered the ring, saluted and cantered towards the first jump. Hannah was jumping out of her skin! She was clearing everything with plenty of room to spare and even saved my butt when I totally missed at our triple bar, she picked up her toes and carried me right over without touching a rail! The two stride to two stride rode very nicely. Overall the course was smooth and I was very pleased with our performance! We took home 4th place in the OI division! Go Lady Hannah B!

I was so proud of Hannah for finishing double clear in the show jumping!

Next up was Maria. Pete can be tough in show jumping as he tends to not care about knocking poles down. We needed 16 or less penalties in order to make sure Maria was able to qualify for the Kentucky CCI1*. Pete was knocking fences in warmup but we ended up on a good note hoping that he would pick up his toes in the ring. He jumped well but put in a few tics, which of course he didn't mind knocking a few rails. He knocked 4, cutting in close, but they were now qualified for Kentucky! Congrats!

Next up was Lucy. We didn't have a rail to spare with second place having a 28. They put the pressure on by jumping a double clear round. Lucy is still green in her jumping and although she tends to clear her jumps by a mile, she sometimes takes out rails with her hind end. Having an unfortunate rail at fence 6, a vertical we dropped down the 2nd place. I was still thrilled with her as she has been improving at every show! We also won the Area IV Low Point Adult Rider for the show! I found out it was the Champion's, Cassie Boehm's, birthday so that was a nice birthday present - Congratulations!

Lucy still maintains her lead in the North Country Eventing Challenge! One more show to go, lets keep our fingers crossed!

Next were the rest of the Novice kids, Morgan, Savannah & Kailey. Morgan was very pleased with her round having only one rail, in the sand she has regularly taken two rails - so she was thrilled & put in a very good ride. They finished just outside the ribbons in 9th place. Savannah took down two rails but had a very nice, rhythmical ride and finished in 7th place. Kailey also took down two rails but was thrilled with Nokomis' first Novice! They finished in 6th place. Congrats to all the Novice kids!

Another successful weekend for my horses and the Liz Lund Eventing Team! Congrats to everyone on the weekend! We had lots of fun, lots of new fun experiences, learned a lot & most of all had a great time supporting each other! Looking forward to Roebke's Run in two weeks! The final show of the North Country Eventing Challenge! Stay tuned for more updates! Thanks to all of my sponsors for all of your support!

Otter Creek Fall HT 2011 - Saturday (XC day - the best day ever invented!)

2011-09-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

As stated in the Title of this blog...Saturday - CROSS COUNTRY DAY!!! The best day ever invented! Especially cross country day at Otter Creek!

We started off the day walking the Novice course and making a final plan for students and Lucy, who would be first to go out of our group. I was ready to get this little red headed pony in the water & make in around inside the time! With an optimum time of 5:08 and needing to present to the water prior to running through our flags, I knew I would have to be right on with our pace just in case she took too long at the water. She stopped, half reared once, and then went right in and we were able to loop around and go through our flags without losing too much time. She was great at everything else, giving her self plenty of room between her and the fences! She finished with a double clear on XC to hold her first place lead!

Next up was the rest of the Novice Crew!

Maura Tierney & Dylan had a GREAT round - he didn't even glance at the ditch and they only added a few time faults onto their score which actually moved them up to 8th place! Unfortunately after Maura dismounted near the finish flags she discovered Dylan to be bleeding all over. At some point he stepped on himself and cut his artery open. He quickly had to be stitched up so he wouldn't lose too much more blood. Horses have a lot of blood so they can lose a lot of blood as well - it looked like a blood bath around Dylan before they were able to stop the bleeding! He will be alright but Maura had to Withdraw from the rest of competition and Dylan will be on stall rest until the stitches can come out. Bummer!

Morgan & Ricky had a great round until he decided to runout at fence 11, a table near the crowd and the driveway. He tends to always carry his haunches slightly to the left and this is what happened at the bridge fence. He was distracted coming up to it due to the crowd and then when he saw the fence he began drifting left and Morgan wasn't able to correct him in time. Picking up 20 penalties they circled around and jumped the bridge and the rest of the course well only adding the additional 1.6 time penalties. The stop moved them out of the lead and into 9th place. Morgan was bummed but handled it well & accepts her mistakes and is prepared to learn from them! She was already focusing on how to have a good round tomorrow in the sand, which usually proves to be hard for Ricky.

Savannah & Grady had a good round too. Although they were stopped and warned about their speed early on in the course, a very generous gesture by the President and the TD, in which she then corrected herself and proceeded at Novice speed only adding 7.6 time faults to their score putting them into 7th place.

Kailey & Nokomis put in a great round as well! This was their first Novice together and they put in a double clear round moving them into 2nd place!

Next was Lady Hannah B's turn! As her last run of the season I wanted to take it easy and focus on the jumps. She has gotten more confident and stronger, I think I will need to find a new bit for next season! She jumped everything great! Especially her combinations, we had the sunken road, a hanging log bending line to a table bending line to a corner, two water complexes, triple brush skinnies, the ski ramp, bounce banks and more! It was a blast! We galloped around and played with everything! We added 19.6 time faults to our score but I didn't mind - we were out there having fun! We maintained our 5th place. Thanks to everyone for showing your support, coming to to watch even if you weren't showing, my mom & step dad (& Toby, their dog) for cheering me on, as well as all of my students and their families!

Hannah is such a blast to ride on XC - every show she gets more confident! Thanks to Ralph Hill for helping with course walks and warmups!

Next up was Maria & Pete! Pressure was on as she needed her last qualifying score to go to the CCI1* in KY in October. Of course if anyone knows Maria & Pete, you know that Pete is not a fan of the water. We had a specific plan set up for him at the water to ensure no stops. The first water entrance wasn't flagged and he cantered right in and out over the Otter Creek 'Otter'. The second water was a bank drop in to an angled skinny. Maria ran him quick through the water then down the bank and over the skinny. Pete didn't even blink an eye at the water! It was very exciting! She finished the rest of her course and came in just adding 13.6 time faults to their dressage score to move them to 4th place! Congrats on your final qualifying score!!!

The BN riders rode next. Emily & Kailey both had amazing rounds on Ty & Cherish! Kailey went double clear and Emily only 2.8 time penalties to their score. Kailey finished in 2nd and Emily in 4th! Congrats!

After a very fun & successful day - we were all ready for some good food and table dancing at the OC competitors party! Maria took care of all of the ponies, walked, iced, wrapped, fed, cleaned tack etc. That girl is amazing - and a WONDERFUL groom!

Ponies tucked in waiting for dinner!

Made it up onto Xpress Foto's wall, not only with ONE picture, but with TWO! Go LLE & Lady Hannah B!

Thanks to all my friends, family, groom, photographers, clients, sponsors & of course Bryan - my wonderful boyfriend for coming to the show and supporting me! I couldn't do it without all of you!

After a fun dinner and dance party we were all ready for sleep!

Otter Creek Fall HT 2011 - Friday

2011-09-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

Thursday as usual is the arrival day, hack day, set up day. The weather was chilly but we warmed up as soon as we got to work shuffling stuff from the trailer to the barn aisle. The horses settled in and were very well behaved during their hacks. This weekend was to be extra exciting as an organizer of the Ralph Hill 2011 MN Clinic Series, with Jane Braddock & Jen Johnson we decided to fly him in for some coaching over the weekend!

Friday was again a bit chilly but we were up bright and early! Maria was busy getting Hannah ready for her dressage, braiding, cleaning, shining boots. Hannah was more than "fresh" this morning and did not agree that we had to be doing dressage. She was tense and all she wanted to do was gallop around with her head in the air. She seemed to settle down somewhat towards the end of our warmup and we headed into the arena only for all of her anxiety to come back. Alison Sader Larson helped us in warm up and we worked really hard to calm Hannah down and getting her to soften and come through.

As soon as we stepped into the arena to make our way around the ring while waiting for the whistle, her stride became small and she felt like at any minute she was going to leap from the starting gate as if she were a full thoroughbred with no draft in her...well the trot work was ok, and the canter work...well a little too exuberant. As I mentioned earlier that she felt as if she were going to leap from the starting gate?...well she decided to practice that move down the long wall during an attempt for a medium canter, yes, in true Hannah B form she threw her head in the air, nose above the ears, and galloped down the long wall...Brian Ross scored her very accurately and spot on to what I guessed when I finally exited the arena. She earned a very well deserved 44.8! Oh well! That sat us in 5th place in a field of 6 riders. Both Jamie Price & Megan Moore had two horses running in the division, Poker Run and Overdraft & Widespread Panic and The Grasshopper, and Cindy Anderson had her horse Windsor.

Next up was Maria & Pete. Their warm up was nice, he was obedient in his leg yields and later movements and we practiced a few transitions and getting him really supple. I don't know what it was, maybe the weather, but as the horses warmed up they seemed to build and build upon themselves. Maria entered the ring and put in a very good test, they had some mistakes, but also some very lovely areas, earning a 9 on their entrances "Now that's a salute" was the comment from Brian Ross! Although they earned a 37 they sat in 1st place after the Open Preliminary division was finished.

Lucy Goosey was up next. Alison helped me warm up on her as well. She started out really really nice and uphill and then began to pull and get strong as the warm up progressed. By the time I got her to the ring I was having a hard time keeping her up, but managed to pull it off as best we could. Lucy strutted her stuff around to earn a 24.5 from Kate Phillips, putting us into the lead of the Novice Championship division and also having the lowest dressage score at the show.

Next it was time to go and coach the rest of my students. I had Morgan Samuelson and Ricky, Savannah Ruhs & Grady, Kailey Giancola & Nokomis, and Maura Tierney & Dylan going in Novice, then Kailey Giancola & Cherish and Emily Shirley & Ty in the Beginner Novice.

Morgan, Savannah & Kailey all were in the same division against each other and each of them put in a lovely test. Morgan & Ricky earned a 30, to put them into the lead. Close behind was Savannah & Grady earning a 30.5. Not too far behind was Kailey & Nokomis with a 32 in 4th place.

Next in the Novice was Maura & Dylan. Dylan was great in warm up, but just like Hannah earlier in the day, once he entered the ring he became a little stiff and the judge nailed her for it. They scored a 46 to sit them in 13th place.

The beginner novice students were next out, Maria & I waited for them to arrive and played with Alison's dogs Cozmo & Tini.

The BN students arrived and went right to work. With Emily entering the ring first on Ty, they put in a solid test. I was very proud of her, her dressage has come a LONG way, and it helps to have a great horse to do it on! Thanks to the Johnson's for allowing Emily a lease on their beloved Ty! They earned a 34.8 to put them in 5th place! 2 point improvement over their last score!

Kailey & Cherish went in the ring next. Her mom, Linda & I stood on the sidelines with crossed fingers hoping that Cherish's canter would be good, as we have been working hard to improve upon it. She put in an excellent test! They earned a 34.3 to put them just in front of Emily in 4th place! A 6 point improvement on their last test!

The BN students also had to do show jumping. They both rode great & had flawless rounds which moved them each up! Kailey moved up to 2nd and Emily to 3rd! Cross country for them tomorrow would be the final phase!

Overall Friday was a very successful day of rides! The horses were all good (for the most part) as well as the riders! Everyone was looking forward to XC! We headed off to walk our courses. The courses were all very similar to Otter Creek Summer HT so we all knew what we needed to improve upon from the last show (like going IN the water for Lucy!).

We all headed out for some good food and some much needed sleep in order to prepare for XC Day at Otter Creek!

Richland 2011 - From the Groom's Perspective

2011-09-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

Richland 2011 - From the Groom's Perspective

Tuesday, August 23rd. 4:05 am. Loud chirps from my alarm wake me. I slowly slip out of bed and check my blinking phone: Missed text from Liz - we're leaving an hour later than planned. I happily crawl back under the covers for another hour of sleep.

After catching that much needed extra snooze, I hop out of bed at 5, get ready, and grab breakfast on my way out the door after sending Liz a quick text to let her know I'm on my way. I arrive shortly after 6, feed the ponies, and start loading hay, trunks, bedding, and the wheelbarrow while I wait for Liz to arrive. After she gets there, we finish loading the rest of the equipment and realize that Hannah's very necessary FEI passport is back at Liz's house, an hour north of Trophy and very much out of the way. After a few minutes of frantic texts and phone calls, a friend of Liz's kindly agrees to pick it up and we arrange to meet her at her work (the Capitol in St.Paul) to pick it up.

A few hours, much traffic, and many confusing GPS directions and detours later, we successfully picked up the passport and finally hit the road. We stopped at the Walmart in Menomonie to pick up entertainment for the road and upon returning to the car realized the rig had a very low tire. Luckily for civilization, Walmart offers literally everything these days, so we headed to the Walmart auto service (which I have to admit I did not know existed until this point) and waited for two hours to get the leak in the tire fixed - which the kindly repairmen insisted upon completion didn't cost us a thing! The rest of the drive passed fairly quickly but thanks to our not-so-timely departure, we didn't pull into the show grounds until well after 10pm. Uneventful minutes passed as we unloaded the horses and began to unpack. About halfway through the unpacking process, however, the first raindrops began to fall. The drizzle within minutes progressed to a downpour, and sheets of rain battered us as we moved trunks, bedding, hay, and equipment into the tack room. Thinking it would be better to set up the tent before too much rain had fallen, we attempted to begin putting the tent (we planned to camp for the duration of the event). Unfortunately, my tent-assembly skills are definitely sub-par and after several unsuccessful attempts Liz and I agreed that the soggy, half-assembled puddle of our tent wouldn't make for a very pleasant place to sleep.

Haven given up on the tent and now thoroughly soaked, we went back to the barn and finished unpacking and setting up the horses' stalls. Lucy's stall was on the end, and after 20 minutes of downpour her stall had transformed into her own personal water complex… Fortunately the pelleted bedding worked wonders and she was able to settle down in a relatively dry stall for the night - although it may do her some good to live in a water complex! Finally done at the barn, we climbed back into the truck and Liz set about trying to find us a hotel for the night (iPhone to the rescue!).

Within 15 minutes we had arrived at a lovely, warm, and dry Best Western, and after a quick warm shower and hanging up my soaking clothes to dry, I fell asleep shortly before 2 am - long first day!!

The next morning, we decided to extend our stay at the hotel for the next two nights (air conditioning and showers are so nice!) to allow ample time for the tent to dry out. After feeding the girls, cleaning stalls, and getting fresh water, I set about helping Liz finished unpacking and organizing the tackroom. Then we set out for another shopping adventure - this time to procure extension cords, more bedding, a feed scoop and other tack room odds and ends. When we left Walmart we had gotten everything on our list - and much more! We stumbled upon blue and yellow rope lights in the camping aisle when looking for the chairs, a customizable interlocking drawer system in the bin aisle while getting the garbage can, and by the time we left the store we had all the possible ingredients for an awesome LLE tackroom.

Back at the showgrounds, we set about connecting the extension cords and stringing up the lights (a process that had me at one point standing on top of a trunk that was balanced on top of another trunk, reaching up as far as I could to grab the one, very inaccessible but only functional outlet hanging from the roof). After both horses' fan were gently whirring and the tackroom lights were strung to satisfaction, I tacked up Hannah and then grabbed the dirtbike and the new camera and headed out to watch Liz ride and get comfortable with my never-before-used-brand-new Canon Rebel T2i and 75-300 mm IS EF-S telephoto lens. After a few too-early shots (the new camera's shutter delay is significantly shorter than the old) I was as comfortable with it as my old Rebel.

Back at the barn, I un-tacked Hannah and tacked up Lucy, then stayed and cleaned tack and boots in the tackroom while Liz rode. In the afternoon we took Hannah over for her first inspection and informal jog, which passed without excitement. Overall, a relaxing day and we headed back to the hotel early for a good night's sleep before the start of competition on Thursday.

Up and at the barn bright and early on Thursday, I set to work feeding, cleaning stalls, and getting fresh water for the two girls. Next, I carefully groomed, studded, and braided Hannah, making sure she was spotless, shiny, and ready for her test. Usually I manage to forget something when getting either of the horses ready, and this weekend the theme seemed to be bridle numbers - luckily Liz managed to catch them and by the end of the weekend I just started putting the numbers on the bridles right after I was done cleaning them so I wouldn't forget!! I followed Liz to warm-up with my usual grooming bucket with a brush, damp rag, hoofpick, and fly spray in one hand and the camera around my neck. After watching what was a bit of an exuberant warmup for Hannah, I wished Liz good luck and trekked around the outside of all the arenas (through much dew and many prickly pants) to the spot I had chosen to take pictures from. Watching through my viewfinder, I was pleased to see what I thought looked like a good test for Hannah. As usual, her walk was a bit tense and anticipatory, but her canter work and trot work looked solid and from Liz's expression I judged she was fairly happy with it. Livescoring quickly affirmed my thoughts - a 58.3 put her just inside the middle of the pack in the competitive 2* division.

The stressful part of the day over with, I untacked and washed Hannah off, then tacked up Lucy. This time I followed her to watch and get more practice with the camera:

After more tack cleaning, I walked the 2* course with Liz - yikes!! Attempting to conceal my amazement at how giant they looked (not very well, I think) I followed her though tricky combinations, around giant tables, and by busy water complexes. As we walked I took a look at the Prelim course, which unlike the 2* looked feasible and fun! Maybe next year as a last show before I head off to college!

After a nice dinner out with the Schweiss family and Isabel Holden, we went back to the hotel for our last night of air conditioning, real beds, and showers.

Friday morning I woke up early and slipped out of the hotel room so I could take care of the ponies and catch the morning rides. After almost getting lost on my way from the hotel to the showgrounds (I have a bad habit of not paying any attention to where I am unless I'm the one driving), I arrived around 8 am. After feeding and cleaning stalls, I headed to the dressage rings to watch and take pictures of Isabel and Ashley Keller, who both looked like they had good tests. I took both horses for nice long walks, then headed back to the hotel to pick up Liz. On our way back we picked up food and drinks to stock the tackroom cooler - yum!

Back at the barn I bathed and braided Lucy, tacked her up, and we headed out to dressage warmup. After a very enthusiastic warmup, Lucy seemed to settle down and I was again very happy with what I saw through the viewfinder. After untacking and bathing Lucy we checked scores - a 24 put the Goose in second, behind an even 23.

In the afternoon Liz took Hannah for a walk hack, in which she reported Hannah did mostly jigging and not very much walking - I think she knows the day after dressage is supposed to be XC! We made sure she was happily settled down with extra bedding, wraps, and her new Back-On-Track blanket to ensure a good night's sleep before XC the next morning. A quick search for sushi restaurants on Liz's iPhone led us to Kalamazoo for an amazing sushi dinner, and full and happy we headed back to the showgrounds for our first night of camping. Thanks to an airmatress and tons of blankets and pillows the camping proved quite comfortable and I fell asleep almost immediately.

Saturday morning - the big day! After cleaning stalls and feeding in my PJs, I headed back to the tent to change into appropriate grooming attire, forgoing the flip-flops for the more vetbox-safe closed toed boots. As I stepped out of the tent I looked down to put my boot on and saw, staring up at me, a perfect, beautiful, four-leaf clover! I'm not overly superstitious but I'd never found a 4-leaf clover before in my entire life (despite looking for them often in clover patches) and thought that picking it and giving it to Liz couldn't hurt her chances of having a successful XC ride. Seeming to agree with my logic, she tucked it into her armband.

Trying to calm my increasingly jittery nerves (I think I get more nervous when Liz rides than when I do) I slowly and deliberately got Hannah ready. Studs, boots, saddle, bridle, breastplate, martingale, Flair strip, NUMBER! Ready just in time, I handed her off to Liz, then quickly grabbed the partial stud kit, halter, lead rope, buckets, sponges, scrapers, and towels, tucked a rag and Liz's Gatorade into my camera bag, and buzzed down to XC warmup on the dirtbike. After setting up our area of the vet box, I headed over to watch Hannah's warmup and to practice using the camera over fences for the first time.

Their warmup improved as it went along and after about 15 minutes they were calling her number at the start box. Offering her the Gatorade on the walk over, I wished her luck and then watched as the timer counted her down and she and Hannah took off for the fence. Unlike Otter Creek, at Richland it is almost impossible to see anything except the first and last fences, and I didn't want to risk trekking out across the field for fear of not getting back to the vet box in time. So I waited and listened for the announcer's comments after she was lost from view. "Liz Lund, clear fence 5, galloping on to fence 6… Liz Lund and Lady Hannah B clear the first water complex… Liz and Hannah clear at 16 (the infamous double corners) and 17…" I sighed with relief as each clear jump was announced. Before long I saw a blue and yellow dot come around the corner and watched as they cleared the second to last and last fences. After snapping a picture over the last fence, I threw the camera back into its bag and ran to the vet box, where I was assisted by friends of Phillipa Humphreys and other helpful pairs of hands to cool Hannah down and pull her studs and boots.

She recovered quite well and was released at the second re-check, after which she dragged me (loaded down with helmet, gloves, vest, saddle, saddle pads, etc. and thus unable to resist) back to the barn, where she got a nice, long, cool bath. Before Lucy's ride we were able to get through several rounds of icing (she even stood with her hind feet in the bucket!) and then wrapped her. Livescoring reported a clear round with only 12 time penalties - one of Hannah's best and fastest XC rounds at the CIC2* level.

Now it was Lucy's turn! Thoroughly groomed and with sparkling tack, she headed out to stadium. After a solid warmup she jumped a double clear round, moving her up into first!

After much tack cleaning, organizing, and more icing for Hannah, we headed off to the competitors' party! The food was awesome - corn on the cob, chicken, hamburgers, brownies, and cookies :) After the delicious meal and chatting with friends from MN, I headed back to the tent to upload and edit pictures - my memory cards were almost completely full! Exhausted, I fell asleep as soon as I put the computer down.

At 6 am I woke up freezing and crawled out of the tent to feed and take care of the horses and get Hannah ready for her jog. Although the night before we had been told it would be an informal jog, I saw too many braided horses being walked around on Sunday morning and decided to braid Hannah just in case. Clean, braided, and taken for a lengthy walk, Hannah was ready for her jog. Once we arrived I was glad I had decided to braid - the majority of the horses were braided and I saw many riders in suits and other formal-looking attire. After the first jog Hannah was held, but passed quickly on the second presentation. Phew.

Stadium for Hannah we predicted would start much later in the day, as all of the Prelim, 3*, Advanced & Pan Am horses had to go before the 2* division even started. Horses happy and taken care of, I dragged myself back to the tent for a few more hours of sleep. At around 11 I finally emerged and we began packing up our elaborate stall set-up. Stadium was moving slowly and the 2* was projected to start at 2:40, a slight problem when Lucy's XC time was 3:22. Fortunately, they agreed to let Liz ride second in the 2* so she would have enough time to switch horses before Lucy's XC. In preparation for this I studded and booted both horses, then finished tacking up Hannah and brought her to stadium warmup where Liz had just finished walking her course. After a brief warmup, it was Hannah's turn in the ring. Although she carelessly knocked the first rail, the rest of the round looked effortless and they both looked like they were having a good time. I zoomed back down to the barn, quickly switched tack, and sent Liz off on Lucy.

I put away Hannah's tack and gave her a bath as quickly as I could, then rushed off to XC warmup to watch Lucy. I arrived just a few minutes before her ride, in time to give her a drink and wish her good luck before watching her gallop away out of the start box. Worried about what Lucy would do at the water (her hesitation at the last show cost Liz expensive time penalties), I hopped on the dirtbike and drove as fast as it would go (much to the dismay of the parking staff and general spectators) to the second water complex, where the question was a jump two strides before the flagged water entrance. From my experience eventing with a horse that dislikes water, these questions can be some of the hardest for horses that like to give the water a good long look before going in. Holding my breath, I skidded around the corner on the dirtbike just in time to see Lucy and Liz emerge from the woods, leap over the jump and canter into the water without hesitation. I was so happy I'm pretty sure all the other people watching were wondering what was wrong with this crazy emotional girl who speeds around on a dirtbike - but I ignored them and zoomed off to make sure I would catch Lucy's finish. I got back just in time to see Lucy and Liz bound over the final fence and gallop across the finish line. A double clear round! Good girl Lucy!

Back at the barn, I packed up, wrapped the ponies, and loaded the equipment in a happy daze. What a long, exhausting, but amazing week! Hannah ran around the 2* clean to finish in the top half of her division and Lucy won the NH division - not bad for her second Novice!

As we pulled out of the showgrounds I felt amazingly lucky to have been able to be a part of that week and experience such a beautiful and well-run event. Thanks to everyone who made the show possible, and especially to Liz for letting me tag along and help out - I had a blast!

-Maria Filsinger
photo credit: MF Photography

I would like to thank Maria for grooming for me, not only at Richland, but all of my other shows as well. She is a very organized hard worker. Thanks for everything!!!

Lady Hannah B - Richland Park CIC2* Photos

2011-09-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

Richland Park Horse Trials
Lady Hannah B & Liz Lund - CIC2*
Photos: Maria Filsinger Photography

Lady Hannah B - OCF Summer Photos

2011-09-02T19:32:00.001-07:00

Lady Hannah B & Liz Lund
Open Intermediate - 1st Place
Photos: Xpress Foto - http://www.xpressfoto.com/

Otter Creek Summer HT 2011

2011-08-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

Otter Creek - the best show on Earth! Nothing beats a weekend at Otter Creek. You get great weather, guaranteed rain at some point, good people, great courses, dancing and now singing!

We arrived on Thursday. I brought Hannah & Lucy over with Mia & Gabi Geraci. Maria wasn't too far behind us with Sam & Cody. On the way over I had to stop and fix one of Lucy's shoes, so when we got there we quickly unpacked and I tacked up for a lesson on Hannah with Alison Sader Larson. Hannah was great in her lesson! Afterwards I headed back to the barn to organize for the rest of the weekend. The tack stall was nice and organized, with a new tarp as an addition for the floor, signs were hung with new yellow string, and the horses were all tucked in with hay and water. I hacked Lucy around and helped my students for the weekend. Maura Tierney and Dylan, Kailey Giancola and Nokomis, Emily Shirley & Ty, Mia Geraci and Cody, Gabi Geraci and Sam, and Jen Johnson and Cannon. Janelle Johnson & her new, young horse Corray were also there and had a great dressage lesson on Thursday. Corray didn't blink an eye at anything and handled the new environment very well! The horses got baths and Maria cleaned all of the tack for the weekend. We were ready for Friday!

Friday morning was nice, it was a cool weekend and actually required a light weight jacket in the morning and evening - it felt like fall! Hannah put in a nice test, she was a little strong once we got in the ring but we earned a 38.4 to put us in third place out of a division of 4. We then had a long break so we got all of the course walks in for the day and then Lucy was up next. She was a little stiff but warmed out of it and put in a great test earning a 26.5 to put us in 1st in a large division. Lucy and I were competing in The Chronicle's Novice Adult Team Challenge along with Maura Tierney & Dylan, Jen Johnson & Cannon and Deb Stern & Oliver. We all put in great rides and our team was sitting in 1st at the end of the day. All of my other students had great rides as well! Jen earned a 39.5 and Maura a 41.5 in our Novice division. Deb scored a 31.5 as well helping secure our 1st place team scoring. Kailey earned a 40 in the dressage at Beginner Novice. Emily rode a nice test to score a 36.5 and Mia and Gabi put in solid tests to tie with a 44.5. Great day overall for everyone!

Saturday morning was raining of course! At some point it rains at Otter Creek - it wouldn't be Otter Creek without it. The footing there is so great that it can hold a lot of water and it really wasn't raining hard and was done shortly. I was up early, fed horses and walked my Intermediate course. This show the courses were new so I made a plan and was ready to ride to it. My goal was to gallop faster, set up closer to the fence and ride forward in my combinations and not pick! It all worked and we had the fastest time around the XC only adding 15.6 time faults to our XC score to move us into the first place position. There were a lot of new, good questions this year. Putting my favorite fence, the weldon's wall as fence #4, Hannah flew over that (photos to come). Then we headed to a log on the bank of the water to the Otter and galloped on towards the sunken road. It was a coop, one stride down the bank, two strides across the road and bounced out over a coop, we flew on towards the next question. A log, bending line to a large table on a four stride line to a right handed corner. Not a problem! We zoomed on to our set up fence at the coffin, jumped in one stride over a ditch one stride over a fence out. Then we had two triple brush skinnies on a hill on a forward bending four stride, Hannah flew over those as we galloped towards our second water questions. We had a drop in bending line over a skinny out. OCF put the ski jump back on course and we jumped up the bank, one stride over the log down the large hill on the back side. We bounced down the banks on a three stride bending line to a left handed corner and galloped towards the even bigger hill towards the end of the course. We jumped the roll top at the top of the hill as if you were jumping into nothing, slid down the hill, gathered the canter back up to jump the triple brush skinny at the bottom and raced towards the last fence and through the finish flags! It was one of our best XC rounds, every fence felt great! Those are ALWAYS the best rides - especially heading into our CIC2* to come at Richland Park in just over a week! I was thrilled! I UNHOOKED my vest and hopped off Hannah and walked her back to the barn. She got a long bath, iced her legs and lots of hand walking the rest of the day.

Next up was Ms. Lucy! Her first novice! She was great to everything but the water, as usual I made a plan to present her to the water before actually presenting her to our water question, it took close to a minute to get her into the water but once she did she was fine, galloped through the water up the bank and onwards. She didn't even glance at the new ditch, but made sure to clear it by a mile! Everything else was great, so we still have some more work to do at the water but she keeps improving! Richland will be her next big outing!

Maura had a great run around, she picked up a stop at a bench before the water, as she is getting used to running at a faster speed she tried to take too much control and just pulled Dylan to a stop. Dylan then had a hard look at the ditch picking up one more stop, but overall very fixable mistakes. Jen had a great round on Cannon running around inside the time. Kailey jumped double clear around the XC - over coming her and Nokomis' fear of the hay feeder which they have had problems with in the past! Janelle rode Corray in the XC warmup and jumped the warmup fences. Corray was great and had a blast being out there with all the event horses! She will be ready for a show this fall! Emily, Mia and Gabi all put in double clear XC rounds as well! So proud of all of my students!

Of course we attended the competitor's party on Saturday night for great food from Foster's Catering and this year the Warner's added Kereokee to the night's events! We sang a few songs and then plugged in the iPod for some fun table dancing! Another great party!

Sunday morning I was up early taking care of the horses and walking my course. The course looked good, was meant to be ridden forward and had some nice flowing turns. I tacked Hannah up and we headed towards warmup. She felt great, still full of energy and ready to jump around. We had a great round! I missed coming into our first one stride so we took the first fence rail down as well as the second, but those were our only two rails the whole round. Everyone else had 1 or 2 rails as well. Hannah kept our lead winning the Open Intermediate division! I love riding her so much, she is such a smart, talented horse with a huge heart! She loves her momma and takes care of me!

Our Novice group was next, Lucy had one green rail in the ring but put in a great round. Maura had a "refusal to move forward" penalty adding 4, plus 4 time to her score, but he didn't technically refuse anything, just got sticky when going away from the in gate. Jen picked up one rail and Deb jumped double clear to finish individually in 2nd place, Jen finished in 9th and our team finished in first overall! We get our names engraved on a trophy and got saddle pads as well. We were interviewed after leaving the ring and I am looking forward to receiving my next Chronicle magazine!

Kailey picked up one rail in show jumping and ended up finishing in 5th place in her BN division. Emily finished on her dressage score to earn 5th place, Gabi finished on her dressage score to finish in 10th and Mia added one rail to their score finishing in 15th. Everyone had a great first outing at Starter and they are now hooked! Everyone will be returning at Otter Fall for another go at it.

I am so happy for everyone and very pleased with my mares! Thanks again to all of my sponsors for making this possible, all of my friends, clients, family and more! I am looking forward to Richland as we leave a week from Tuesday! Hannah will be stepping it up to compete in the CIC2* against all the big boys and Lucy will be doing her 2nd Novice - I hope she likes Michigan's water!

Now a busy week of lessons and rides before we head off across the country again! I will try & update more often! Take care and thanks for reading!

Hannah B working it on the Intermediate course! Thanks to Diane Stoffel for the photos! More to come!

North Run/Ralph/Pony Club Ratings

2011-08-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

After USPC Championships were done with I came home and went back to work with the horses at the farm. Lots of lessons and training rides as we all knew too well what the end of July meant...next was August and then school starts again and my kids have to hit the books.

I helped Kathy O'Dea and Sky at the North Run Dressage Schooling Show on July 30th. It was their first show in a long time and went very well! They earned a 64% at Training level! Great accomplishment for them both! Sky was very well behaved and Kathy handled her nerves very well! Looking forward to our next outing together!

The first weekend in August was another Ralph Hill clinic! It was held at Jane Braddock's Foucsed Riding Farm in Hager City, WI. The weather was lovely and everyone had great rides! Lucy decided she couldn't stand being away from Hannah on the first day of the clinic and broke away from the trailer and galloped down the road taking a tumble after trying to turn on the pavement. She was alright, just a few scrapes but was able to work in the clinic. Hannah was a super star as usual and Lucy tried her heart out, having a few difficult moments at the water but I am hoping to see an improvement the more and more she gets out. Looking forward to our next clinic to be held in September at the Schweiss Family's farm!

I had a bunch of students pass their ratings this year as well! Maria Filsinger just got back from two long weekends earning both her B and her HA - Congrats! Elise Brann earned her D1 and Mia and Gabi Geraci their D3s! Kelsie Longe earned her C3 as well as Marianne Kelley. Becky Longe got her C1 too!

Congrats to all the pony clubbers!!! That is hard work and you stuck through it!

Fun trail ride at Trophy Hill! Closest to furthest: Alex Lundahl riding Blue, Emily Shirley riding Ty, Olivia Shirley riding Pete, Savannah Ruhs riding Grady, Maria Filsinger riding Hannah, Me riding Lucy, and Janelle Johnson riding Corray. Photo thanks to Karen Ruhs.

United States Pony Club Championships

2011-08-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

The Kentucky Horse Park. It is such a beautiful place and hosts amazing equestrian events. This time we were down there for the USPC's Championships. I had students competing in Eventing, Dressage, Tetrathalon and Quiz. It was a HOT week in Kentucky with the heat index well over 100 each day. Everyone worked hard on keeping horses cool & happy. Maria Filsinger & Pete took the lead in the Preliminary division with a 28.7 after the dressage, but after an unfortunate miss at the B element coming out of the water she dropped down in placings. She jumped a double clean show jumping round to finish individually in 8th place and her team took 2nd place.

Abby Turnacliff and Anne Bower's Ziggy Who finished the week on their dressage score to take home the 5th place individual ribbon.

Morgan Samuelson & Cindy Piper's Allie Cross Limerick were tied for 4th after dressage on her best dressage score yet, a 29! After a double clean cross country round she moved up a place, but with 2 rails in show jumping she ended up finishing 9th individually. That is the name of the game!

Kelsie Longe and Anita Boyd's Dance By Me (Scooter) had a good personal dressage score, a 39.5 and jumped clean around the XC and as she was thrilled galloping away from the last fence she forgot to go through the finish flags giving them a technical elimination. She was allowed to show jump and had a great round!

Jessie Longe & Milo had a successful week as well. One unfortunate runout on XC and a good look at the crowd in show jumping they added up 12 time faults in the SJ phase. Overall a GREAT learning experience for both Jessie and Milo!

Maddy Kalscheur & Skyla earned a 34.8 on their lovely dressage test, jumped double clear around the XC and only took down one rail in the show jumping to finish in 12th place.

James Day & Tucket were a pick up at the show that I helped coach. A very nice kid with a lovely little pony! They earned a 34.8 as well in the dressage but ran right past a fence on the XC giving them a technical elimination. James had a nice show jumping round to finish a great week!

Katy Turnacliff had a very successful week on my Lucy! Her horse unfortunately was lame so she wasn't going to be able to compete so I let her take Lucy down to the show. She was only able to put a few rides on her before going and competing her at 3rd level, which she was a little rusty at due to practicing her beginner novice and novice level movements for eventing! :) Katy did a great job on her and had a lot of fun! She helped her team to finish in 4th overall!

There were a lot of other kids down there competing as well! Becky & Audrey Longe competed in the Tetrathalon. Mia & Gabi Geraci competed in quiz. Katie Rossi was a stable manager for a Novice team. Everyone had a great learning experience and I was honored to be able to come down and coach a bunch of awesome kids! There were a lot of parents down there helping for the weekend as well - thank you to everyone!

Katy Turnacliff riding Rhine Maiden at USPC Championships 2011 - Photo MFPhotography

Coaching students on XC Day - Photo MFPhotography

What a fun experience - thanks again to everyone & congratulations!!!

A Blog is better late then never!

2011-08-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

I'm back!! I can't believe it is already August, I'm officially 24 and summer is already over half way done?!

So much to catch up on considering that Otter Creek was the last blog!

We have:
Carriage House
D-Camp at Trophy Hill
Fox River Valley
Roebke's Run

Ok so lets start from Carriage House. Carriage House was an interesting show this year. Although the show jumping courses looked quite inviting to the eye with some rider questions, the horses surprisingly did not like them. I'm not sure if it was the heat and the horses weren't up to the challenge, the brightly colored fences in which I have had a variety of horses jump and not have a problem with or just a fluke. The day was rough for a lot of the competitors, starting off the beginner novice division with some falls, lots of a refusals and eliminations. Unfortunately I think the biggest problem was the "start" of things, although the BN mistakes could have been rider error, it seemed to put a hinder on everyone's cheery mood and cause some nervous chatter throughout the show grounds. This showed in the ring. Many riders were making mistakes and their mounts could tell they were nervous.

I decided to move Lucy up to Novice there, she earned a 27 in the dressage. Very good considering every one of my half halts was followed by a very "enthusiastic Lucy step". If you have seen her go then you know what I mean - if you haven't then come and watch her sometime! Then it was our turn for show jumping, she was overly exuberant in the warm up, leaping over the warmup fences. We entered the ring and she thought that those brightly colored fences were quite interesting as well as a variety of other things in the arena taking away her concentration from me. Clearing her fences with room to spare was not a problem, but keeping her attention on me was. She was very well behaved, did nothing wrong, just a few greeny mistakes. She stopped shortly at the down bank which they counted as a refusal and then stepped right off the bank. As we came around another corner there was a jump judge sitting in the corner which Lucy thought was quite intriguing. Not spooking at the judge but focusing on the judge quite intently as we came through the corner she didn't see her next fence. Had a brief stop and we turned around and she jumped right in no problem. She was very well behaved! Overall it was a good experience and now I know more of what I need to work on with her before she moves up to Novice.

Carriage House was followed by a fun week! The Jr. Board put together a fun D-Camp held at Trophy Hill. We had 12 kids attend starting Monday night and leaving Thursday afternoon. Monday was move in and the kids got settled and set up their tents. They camped right in the back yard at Trophy Hill with their horses sleeping close by in the stalls. Tuesday we did XC and Weds we did a show jumping lesson. They played a variety of games and did a lot of horse management as well. Everyone had a great time! At the end of the week all 12 kids did a musical ride for the parents - it was amazing!

Next up was a weekend away at the cabin. It was a nice two day break, although the weather was bad, Bryan and I got some good fishing in!

Then we headed off to Fox River Valley in Barrington, IL. I had Hannah going in the CIC1* there and Lucy doing the Beginner Novice. Lucy is still green at jumping, as you can see from her over jumping her fences and is still cautious at cross country, especially at the water. Although she is 8, I am treating her like a youngster because I want her to be really confident as she moves up the levels. Of course with her dressage background she put in a really nice dressage test earning us a 19. Hannah put in a lovely test as well to put us in 3rd with a 51.2. Just over 1 point out of 1st place. The cross country looked nice. My goals was to work on Hannah's rideability. I now have her going in a snaffle and am still getting used to it. She flew over the fences with ease and we came in a little over optimum time adding 14.4 time penalties to our score pushing us into 4th place. She made up for it in the stadium by putting in the only double clear round in the CIC1* allowing us to finish in 2nd place. I was so happy with her! Lucy did great as well - she ran around the XC hardly blinking an eye until we came to the water, she slowed to analyze the situation, but in my opinion maintained forward motion, but the jump judge did not agree and we unfortunately added two stops to our score. She did well in the show jumping, only dropping one rail, surprising for how high she jumps her fences! She is so fun to work with and see progress over the summer!

The students had a great time too. Maria Filsinger finished another preliminary and Abby Turnacliff took home 4th place in the training. Maura Tierney finished in 7th place in her Novice division as well. It was a fun weekend. I traveled with the Kellenberger family, Lisa as well had a successful weekend finishing 5th in her training division. Deb Stern was there as well and won the beginner novice division from a 3 way tie on a 26.5! Minnesota was well represented!

Next up was some vacation time! The fourth of July weekend Bryan & I headed up to some friends cabin for some fun in the sun. We played in the water and went tubing. It was a good break! Came back home for a few days of work and then headed off to Osh Kosh, WI for a volleyball tournament. Although my team and I didn't do so well we still had a blast!

Then I was back at it. My students rode the horses while I was away so they were maintaining a steady work program and taking care of the farm. It is good to have reliable help at home so I can get away once in awhile! Lucy's next show was at Roebke's Run, hosted at the beautiful Schweiss' Farm in Hector, MN. The few days before the show brought us lots of rain so we arrived to a very muddy facility, but none the less the Schweiss were hard at work putting out footing and draining water from the places that were not supposed to have water! We got all settled in and checked in. At check in we discovered that XC had been moved to Sunday in order to allow the footing to dry out more. We rode dressage on Saturday and then had the rest of the day to walk courses and relax. Lucy was tense for her dressage test and the judge marked her down for grinding her teeth, scoring her a 37 on a very lovely, steady test. With a double clean XC and show jumping round though she moved up to finish in 2nd place. The team did great as well. Janelle Johnson took home the blue on Royal Cootitan, Kailey Giancola on Nokomis took home 3rd, Maura Tierney on Dylan took home 4th in their Novice division and Savannah Ruhs & Grady took home 5th in their Novice division. It was a great weekend! Congrats to everyone and THANK YOU to the Schweiss Family & all of the volunteers to make it such a great show - we look forward to coming back in the fall!!! Of course thank you to my groom Maria for always being such a good help and a GREAT photographer!

Another blog to follow shortly recapping the USPC Champs in Lexington, KY & Otter Creek Summer Horse Trials!!!

Until then - take care - kick on and keep riding!!!

Horse Show, Horse Show, OTTER CREEK!

2011-05-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Recap! Prepare yourselves because this will be a novel! Don't worry though, there are a lot of photos as well!

Thurs AM Maria & I were up early at the farm finishing packing, hooking up the rigs, loading hay and shavings, the wheelbarrow, the dirtbike and finally the horses. We headed off to Otter Creek & the weather was lovely. As we arrived we unloaded everything into the tack stall, hung up the LLE and sponsor banners and settled the horses into their stalls.

Photo: Sarah Bergstrom (my mom!)
I lessoned with Alison Sader Larson at 1230 on Hannah - she felt great. She clearly doesn't have a 10 in her gaits, but when she is steady and supple she can score really well. Then Maria, my hard working groom, assistant trainer and photographer had Sam up in the warm up and walked Hannah back. Sam was great as well. His canter is coming along, still a little unbalanced but getting stronger with work and a variety of exercises. Next up was a lesson on Lucy (Rhine Maiden). She was wonderful, a little stuck and tense in the beginning but we were able to work through that and then she was soft and supple and felt amazing. Maria was there to take Lucy back and brought me my final ride, Cody. He is such a fun boy to ride, quite lazy at times but can step up when you really ask him to.

With all the horses ridden, Maria worked hard back at the barn cleaning all the tack for Friday, making sure horses stalls were always clean and that they always had full water buckets and hay. My students started to arrive and we began lessons. Jen Johnson & Cannon, Kelsie Holbrook & Tess, Ashley Reut & Rory, Morgan Samuelson & Ricky, Abby Turnacliff & Ziggy, & Janelle Johnson & Ty all had great rides - now the test was to see if they can ride and perform as well with the added pressure of the show ring on Friday!

Hannah kicked off the dressage for the day for the LLE Team! With only three riders in the Open Intermediate my goal was to stay in the 30s. I thought Hannah was lovely throughout her test and some of the scores were a little low on her movements, but I was really happy with her performance. I remember as I went to do my extended walk from M-V that there were NO footprints...I second guessed myself but stuck to what I knew was right and walked M-V. The others had walked incorrectly! It was a scary moment though but I am glad I didn't just copy what the others were doing! Hannah earned a 39.2 to put her into 2nd place.

Photo: MFPhotography
Next up was Ashley Reut and Rory. They had a nice warm up, despite a little bit of confusion in their dressage test they still earned a 34.2 to put them into 4th place in Jr. Training Rider. Morgan Samuelson and Allie's Cross Limerick (Ricky) put in a nice test earning a 34 but putting them all the way back in 9th place in the Jr Novice Rider division. Tough class! Abby Turnacliff & Ziggy Who (Ziggy) also had a lovely test and earned a 33 to place her in 8th place in the Jr Novice Rider division. Janelle Johnson & Royal Cootitan (Ty) put in a nice test earning a 35.2 to tie them in 6th place in the Jr. Beg. Novice division. Kelsie Holbrook & Tess were competing in the Open Training division. Tess never relaxed and it showed in her test, Kelsie navigated the test accurately except for one mind blank but other then that her figures were ridden very correct. They scored a 42.3 to tie them for 16th place. Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon (Cannon) also had a tough dressage ride, Cannon was feisty in warmup and never calmed down. They competed in the Open Training division as well and scored a 44.1 to sit them in 19th place.

Photo: MFPhotography
Hannah B Jr (Hannah the Honda) came in useful running from the stable to warm up to make sure everyone got the coaching they needed!

Lucy was up next for the dressage. She (and my 2 other horses) were all competing in the Open Beginner Novice. Maria had her work cut out for her getting horses cleaned, tacked, braided, cooled out, etc. She had a great warmup, she was looser then the day before and felt great. I just had to keep her lid on and make sure that she didn't try to passage down center line or do extended trot across the diagonal. We held it together and she earned a 26.2 to take the lead!

Photo: MFPhotography
Next up was Peppy's Nu Image (Cody) owned by Mia Geraci. He put in a great test, I was able to get him a little more uphill and taking large strides rather then short choppy steps. He earned a 31 to put him in 4th place!

Photo: MFPhotography
Then it was Sam the Mans turn!!! Sammy is owned by Gabi Geraci. He has come a long way as we have been working on his canter and helping him balance and take more even strides. He earned a respectable 37.5 to settle him into 9th place.

Photo: MFPhotography
It turned out to be a very successful day for the LLE Team! As the day ended we finished up all the course walks. I walked the Intermediate, Training, Novice & Beginner Novice (well, Janelle & I dirtbiked the BN course) by the end of the night while Maria took care of everything back at the barns. The night brought rain and the cold I seemed to have began to catch up with me. I was congested and had a very sore throat and some trouble sleeping.

The weather held out and was quite nice Saturday morning. The day did not quite start off how we wanted. 2 of my 3 training riders had falls in the morning. Unfortunately the rider before Kelsie Holbrook had a fall and she had to be held on the course while they picked her up in the ambulance to make sure she was fine, thank goodness she was. There was some confusion about what Kelsie could do on course and she became a little frustrated. Tess did not like having to stand still and as Kelsie started going again she ran out at the ditch 5a and Kelsie stepped off the side of her, resulting in elimination. Thank goodness they were both okay and be back at it again soon! Ashley Reut was having a great round, with a small bobble coming out of the water that Ashley tipped her shoulders a little bit at Rory and he stuck of the ground, she stuck in the tack and galloped on. Unfortunately coming down the hill to their table, the 2nd to last fence Rory stuck off the ground and hung his hind legs up on the table. The momentum shot Ashley up his neck. She almost pulled through it but the momentum of going down the hill caused her to tumble off the right side. Again thankfully they were both alright! Jen Johnson & Cannon however had a lovely ride around the cross country only adding a few time penalties to their score. Not bad for their first time back at Training level after over a year! I do have to say between coaching my training level riders I witnessed a rider (who will remain nameless) unfortunately fall into the water. After the rain the night before the footing was a little slick and her horse lost his balance tossing her right into the water. She lay there laughing for a second and I ran across the water to catch her horse who just stood there. Both were ok & thanks to Maria's photography skills we have this photo.

Photo: MFPhotography
Next up were the Novice level competitors. Maura Tierney & Dylan, Morgan & Ricky, Abby & Ziggy and Deb Stern & Oliver all had great rounds jumping clean! They had a blast out there on course!

I hurried back to the farm to make sure Hannah was ready to go. I always get a bit nervous/excited to go out on the cross country so I took some time to go over the course in my head and how I was going to ride everything. Warm up was great! Hannah was jumping out of her skin! Of course at about the time I got on her the rain began to pour down. None the less we pushed on! The footing at OCF is absolutely amazing and can take a lot of rain, so the footing was not slippery with the right size stud! We headed down to the startbox and of course Hannah began to get excited as we entered the start box at the 15 second mark to prepare to gallop away. Out of the start box we exploded and as we galloped to fence one I saw the long spot...thankfully so did Hannah I sat up slipped the reins as she thrusted off the ground. We galloped on and I was determined not to "get in her face" too much. Unfortunately I didn't bring her back enough for 3, which was immediately followed up by a left hand 90 degree turn to 4a which was a large triple brush skinny on the top of a hill, landing to a left hand down hill 4 strides to another skinnier triple brush skinny. As I struggled to turn to 4a I messed up the striding and she had to jump me out of a bad distance to 4a, instead of punishing her for saving my butt and turning to 4b, I circled and picked up 20 penalty points between 4a and 4b. Lesson learned! The rest of the course went on well. We had a chip to a large table before the sunken road and then I finally was able to put my head back on and actually ride a little better. The sunken road was great and we galloped on to some large tables. The second water was a large log drop in bending 6 strides to a large corner out - she was foot perfect! Then of course, my favorite (not!) the weldon's wall...if you know me at all you know why I do not like ditch and walls! Feel free to ask sometime. Anyway, I set her up around the turn, saw the perfect spot and rode her 3, 2, 1 right up to it and she flew over it! We galloped on to the table in the woods, down the bounce banks bending right hand 3 strides to a corner and to a few more fences to the giant hill. Jumped the fence at the top of the hill going into space and shuffled down to another triple brush skinny. Galloped on to another table and set up for the coffin. A coop, bending one stride to the ditch, bending two strides out over an angled vertical brush fence. We cruised across our final few fences and through the finish flags. I was ecstatic, a little frustrated with my pilot error at 4a/b but none the less more then happy with my ride, which was my first Intermediate run in the the eggbutt snaffle! How cool! As I was going over my ride to Maria I jumped off and POP! All of a sudden I felt my Point Two airvest squeezing tightly around me because I forgot to un-clip - which I have been told is very common! As soon as Maria helped me out of my vest she un-tacked and cooled out Hannah as I went down to get on my next horse.

Photos: MFPhotography
Next up was Sam the Man!!! I was ready to head out and navigate that BN course on Sammy! He was great. He warmed up well, while we were waiting our turn he began to get a little nervous at the other horses galloping around but he settled in as we headed down to the start box. He ran around the course in style! He was a lot of fun to ride and I look forward to seeing him and Gabi and shows together!

Photos: MFPhotography
Next up was Cody! He was awesome and went out there like a pro. I look forward to Mia and him at shows this summer! Unfortunately Maria was busy getting my final ride ready and was unable to take any photos of Cody on the XC!

Finally Lucy was up! It was her turn to prove herself. She has only been out 1 time cross country schooling so this was her 2nd time out on the XC! She was more then ready and ate up the course. She didn't look at any of the fences except getting a little wiggly through the water. She went out there like a pro and jumped everything and came in inside the time to maintain her 1st place position! I was absolutely thrilled with her!

Photos: MFPhotography
Last but not least, Janelle headed out on the cross country and put in a beautiful round!

After everyone finished up the day, Maria worked hard icing and wrapping the horses, cleaning tack and organizing the tack room. Then it was time to relax, eat and hit up the dance table! If any of you have stuck around for the competitor party at OCF you know it is the best there is. Great people, great food and of course great music! We danced to a variety of kid music (rap & hip hop) as well as "adult" music, 80s, the electric slide, cha cha slide & some Michael Jackson!

Photo: William Warner
We headed back to the barn after the fun and dancing to do night check and go get some sleep. Lucy was very tired after her first cross country run and was very cuddly!

Photo: Abby Turnacliff
Sunday morning turned out nice. The rain had cleared and I was getting ready for show jumping. The course was large and twisty. Hannah was off walking as I was going over the course in my head. She came back, we cleaned her up, tacked up and I hopped on and headed to warmup. She warmed up great, felt fresh and ready to go. We headed to the ring to be the first to go as we were in 2nd by .6 behind Erika Treis Peterson. We entered the ring, picked up a nice forward canter and headed to our first fence. We took the inside turn to fence 2, and the course went smoothly. We had a vertical to vertical one stride for fence 4a/b and another triple combination with a vertical one stride to an oxer, two strides to a vertical. The final line was a vertical, forward five strides to a large swedish oxer, four strides to a straight up and down vertical plank. We cleared the finish line leaving all the poles in the cups and came in right at the optimum time. I was thrilled! Hannah felt great and was looking for more jumps at the end of the course. I trotted out of the ring and gave her a huge hug! Erika jumped a clean round but added a few time penalties to her final score pushing us into first place! I was thrilled with our win at the Intermediate level at Otter Creek Horse Trials!!

Photos: MFPhotography
What a great start to the final day!
Jen's horse Cannon was a little stiff and although she put in a good first half of a show jumping round she decided to retire him before the end of the course. I respect her decision 100%! You have to do what you think is best for your horse at all times!

Maura jumped a clean round to finish in 9th place in Novice. Deb Stern unfortunately had a refusal at fence 5, at the representation to the fence he refused again and she tumbled off landing on her feet. She handled the situation very well and is ready to do some more show jumping preparation so she is more then ready at her next horse trial! Morgan had a few rails but still finished within the ribbons in 7th place while Abby jumped a clean round on Ziggy and finished on her dressage score in 3rd place! Janelle & Ty put in a good round, Ty bobbled at two fences but they completed the event! Props to Kristine Johnson, Janelle's mom for competing in the starter division on her horse Cleto and taking home a 5th place ribbon! Congrats to everyone!

My BN horses were great! I started on Cody and he put in a good round, got a little lazy with his hind legs at fence two and had a rail but still put in a solid round.

Photos: MFPhotography
Sam was up next. He was great! He put in a nice round jumping double clear to finish on his dressage score of 37.5.

Photos: MFPhotography
Next was Lucy! The last ride of the day. The pressure was on as I didn't have a rail to spare. Lucy was great and ate up the fences! She jumped double clean to finish on her dressage score of 26.2, winning the Open BN division, followed by Cody in 4th and Sam in 5th! Lucy also won me the USEA Area IV Low Point Adult Rider award for the show!

Overall I was very happy with the weekend! Students had good learning experiences and it was fun for all who attended! I look forward to our next outing!

I would like to thank all of my sponsors making these competitions possible! Larsen Sader Dressage, Stone Ridge Equestrian, Sleipner Stables, FLAIR Equine Nasal Strips, Jennifer Johnson DVM, Kaesen Farms, County Saddlery, MJ's Entertainment and Sarah & John Bergstrom! Without you I wouldn't be here!

Thank you to my tireless groom Maria Filsinger and team photographer! She worked harder then anyone this weekend taking care of my horses. Also thanks to everyone else who was recruited to help out with the horses as well!

Thank you to Mark, Lena, Jenny & William Warner for hosting such a wonderful show and of course everyone that goes along with getting ready for the show, set up, volunteers, judges, the TD, everyone!

And of course thank you to my boyfriend, Bryan, for putting up with everything that comes along with a horsey girlfriend!

This weekend I will be in Hector, MN coaching the Northern Lakes Region Pony Club's qualifying rally.

The following weekend, June 5th we will be off to Carriage House Combined Test in Hugo, MN. Lucy will be moving up to the Novice level and I will have many first time students out there as well! Stay tuned for more updates as the summer gets busier and busier!

Thanks again to all and kick on!

Is there Spring anywhere?

2011-04-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

Finally caught up on all of my emails after I fed all the horses, cleaned all the stalls and did some more miscellaneous chores. I think the rain finally quit for a little while but it is blowing like crazy...and of course none the less we are go get an inch of snow tonight and tomorrow! Seriously, it is almost May!

Horses have been going well.

Fri & Sat we spent time at Otter Creek. Jenny Warner set up some great show jumping exercises for the horses on Sunday and Saturday was full of cross country schooling! Lucy did wonderful, she jumped everything presented to her and although a little hesitant at the large water complex once she was in she enjoyed splashing around! I am excited for her eventing debut at Otter Creek Spring Horse Trials!!! Hannah of course was awesome, let her gallop and jump out of stride over some of the preliminary and intermediate fences. Cody was a rockstar as well, he is so easy going and fun to ride! Mia will have a lot of fun on him at Otter Creek Spring riding in her first event ever!

Lots of other students and friends were there and everyone had a great learning experience although, shocking the weather was not so great! I do have to say it was better then the Thursday at Otter Creek Fall 2010 where the rain did not quit from Thursday morning until Friday morning...and it was really raining buckets! I went through a few jackets to say the least.

Unfortunately our weekend XC schooling at the Schweiss Farm had to be canceled due to the 6 inches of frost that they still have in the ground! We hope to make it out there in a few more weeks.

Now we are preparing for the Ralph Hill clinic on the 7th and 8th held at Trophy Hill. I will be riding both my girls in the clinic and look forward to what Ralph has to say about Lucy. Also looking forward to the great exercises he sets up for the horses!

The group is growing for Otter Creek Spring - we hope to have a GREAT turn out of Liz Lund Eventing horses and students! Make sure to put Liz Lund Eventing on your stable with blank if you want to stable with us!

Kick on!

Spring Bay HT 2011

2011-04-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to our first show of the season! Re-cap of all of our exciting events!

Weds 4/6:
Packed all of our gear, hay, bedding & Hannah & Cody into Maria's truck & trailer and headed down to Dark Horse Farm in Lakeville, MN - Kate Jensen's Farm, so we could meet up with our trailer buddy, Jen Selvig & her horse Spoofin & her groom Kate.

Unfortunately Maria's horse Pete, was supposed to come with us but pulled up lame a couple weeks before and is currently resting. We hope he has a quick recovery! My client's, the Geraci family, were kind enough to offer Maria the ride on Mia's horse Peppy's Nu Image (aka Cody). I felt very confident in Maria taking the ride on Cody & stepping up in her duties as LLE's Assistant Trainer! After settling the horses in a stall we moved all of our gear from Maria's rig to the 3-horse rig so that we would be ready to go early in the morning. Once everything was packed we went to bed for a few short hours.

Thurs 4/7:
2am - Wake up, hook up truck & trailer, feed horses, wrap legs & load.
3am - I hopped in the drivers seat & we began down the road! We stopped at a gas station quick to top off the tank and down 35 we went! As we drove south the weather improved & was starting to warm up. The horses were all traveling well & we would offer them water at each stop. Hannah enjoys sticking her nose all the way down to the bottom of the bucket & splashing around & then bopping her lips, rather then actually drinking the water! Eventually we arrived at the KY Horse Park with me behind the wheel the entire time! It was sunny & warm! We prepped the stalls & unloaded the horses so they could settle in as we unloaded all of our gear. After we were done unloading and unhitched we walked the horses all around the park and let them munch on KY's own blue grass! Wrapped their legs & then off to dinner where we met up with Nicole Zullo, long time friend from MN that goes to UK. She was kind enough to let us stay with her for the weekend - much appreciated!

Fri 4/8:
Up and off the the Park! Stopped to get some quick breakfast & then fed our ponies & loaded them back up to head over to Carriage Station Farm, Cathy Wieschhoff's farm to get in our FIRST cross country school of the year! (Yes, the day before our first show due to the horrible MN spring we have had so far! Snow expected for Saturday 4/16...)
Hannah & Cody were very well behaved XC schooling & I was very confident that they would both jump clean around the XC on Sunday.
We headed back to the park where Maria & I bathed both the horses and cleaned all of our tack. We organized our area and Nicole came to pick us up. We headed off to a Mexican dinner & then back to the farm to walk the horses, feed them & wrap their legs. Then we headed off home & settled in for some sleep!

Sat 4/9:
Bright & early! Off the to Park again and feed the horses and un-wrapped their legs, touch up cleaning & braiding & we were ready to go! Hannah put in a lovely dressage test earning us a 33.9 to put us in 3rd place in the Open Preliminary - B division.

I headed up to watch a few of the first show jumping rounds & then switched gears. We walked to the warm up ring & warmed up. Hannah warmed up like she was at home in the ring, I was hoping she would light up a little at the show. We entered the show jumping ring and made a large canter circle and I realized she had finally lit up and I had a lot more horse underneath me! The course was very twisty, designed by a jumper. It rode very well! We finished inside the time and with no jumping faults! This secured our 3rd place spot.

Next it was Maria's turn. Cody looked quite snazzy in all of his show gear. They were put into the Open Beginner Novice Division A. We had my dressage saddle on him & Maria had him all braided up. They had a lovely warm up despite our slight delay due to stormy weather. They put in a lovely dressage test, earning a 35.2 to place them in 7th.

Then they switched gears and got ready for their show jumping round. After a great warm up they jumped a double clear round moving them into the 5th place spot!

It was a very successful day! I headed over to Masterson Station and walked my cross country course, which was very similar to the track I ran two years ago. It was very friendly and got you out and going over the first few fences. We also had a table, two strides drop into the water and out up and over a bank. Two large tables on a bending line, a coffin, trakehner, double up banks to a skinny and a corner to skinny question.

I was looking forward to riding it!

Sat 4/10:
Up early, finished feeding and packing the trailer and headed over to Masterson Station for the cross country. I gave Maria a course walk and talked her through what to do with Cody in each situation that could occur. She was more then ready to take him out and give him a good ride. I headed back to the trailer & got Hannah and myself ready to go out on course. We had a great warmup and I worked on going forward to my fences and not over setting up. Fired off some great fences and headed to the start box. 3,2,1 have a good ride! Oh how I have missed those familiar words! I thanked the starter and galloped out of the start box towards fence one. It all rode really well. I also changed Hannah's bit last minute after our XC school on Friday to a snaffle. I was able to run faster & we came in right on optimum time putting in a double clear round to move us up to finish in 2nd place! What a GREAT first show of the season!

Next it was Maria's turn, she geared Cody & herself up and we headed to the BN warm up. Cody was a little fresh in warm up and missing his friends. He whinnied in warm up but no one responded so he soon settled into his job. He was a little squirmy in the beginning but Maria was able to get him going forward and focused on his task. The more he gets out the better he will get, I look forward to seeing him out more this summer. She headed out of the start box and also jumped clean & finished inside to time allowing them a 4th place finish! Congrats!

Jen Selvig & Spoofin also had a successful weekend. They completed the preliminary division with only one small bobble on the XC. We all then wrapped legs & loaded up to hit the road again. Once again I hopped in the drivers seat to drive the whole way home. I enjoy driving! Unfortunately we ran into a dilemma of bad weather, bad storms through Iowa so we couldn't go that way, and bad storms through Wisconsin and Illinois so we couldn't go that way. Thankfully my friend, Jordynn Sahagian and her mother Vicky, let us bring the horses to their farm in Barrington, IL to spend the night and wait out the storms. I am glad we did because there were tornadoes all over WI! We headed out at 4am only for me to discover that I left my wallet at the last gas station the night before just outside of Indianapolis....bummer! All of my credit cards, drivers license, cash, checks & more! I spend the majority of the morning calling my banks and canceling all of my bank accounts and cards! I still am hoping someone will stumble upon it and send it back to me...

We finally made it back to the Lakeville farm and Maria and I had to switch rigs & head back to Trophy Hill. Finally arrived at our farm around 1pm! We unloaded the horses and they were very happy to go outside and roll around! We unloaded and both headed out separate ways. I went home to get some sleep! Now I am well rested and looking forward to the next show!

The plans are to have quite the crew at Otter Creek!
I hope to ride Hannah in the Intermediate, Lucy in the Beginner Novice, Cody in the Beginner Novice & possible another horse in the Beginner Novice or the Novice. Entries have already opened so I am working on sending in my forms!

I look forward for all of my other students to show this season! It is going to be a fun year! Many of my kids are hoping to qualify for the Pony Club Championships in Lexington, KY in a variety of disciplines. Eventing, show jumping, quiz, and tetrathalon.

Hopefully our ground dries up soon so we can get some cross country schooling in and ride outside!

Stay tuned, and in the meantime have a good ride!

& the winter blues continue...

2011-03-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Ughhh March 23rd and we are supposed to get another 6 inches. There is already a few inches on the ground. Will winter EVER end? A little over 2 weeks and we will be on the road to Kentucky! At least I have been able to get in some good trot and canter sets down the road before it iced over again!

The Holly Clinic on March 5/6 went well. Both the girls were in attendance and jumped well. I worked on keeping Hannah coming forward and Lucy nice and quite so that she doesn't over jump everything. We worked on bending lines, adjusting strides between fences and course work. I really enjoyed working with Holly and we hope to get her back after she has her baby in June! I wish her the best of luck and that the remainder of her pregnancy goes well. She will make a fun, great mom!

Hannah's jumping has been improving over the winter, I can't wait to get out of the indoor and work on some jumping outside. The first time may be at Spring Bay in April!

Lucy's jumping form is superb, although she is still over jumping I hope that will go away with more time, or when the height of the fence matches the size of her jump!

Kathy Theissen is back in town and has taken over the Brightonwood lessons again. Finally my schedule isn't so hectic, although I have a full barn at Trophy Hill now. Gabi Geraci has a new prospect on trial and we really hope that she will work out!

Benz had an unfortunate run-in with the fence and is on stall rest so that he can heal quickly, thank goodness there were no major injuries, just lots of scraps and a bruised ego.

Harry's training has been going well. He is now walk/trot under saddle off the longe line! He navigates around the fences in the indoor and even walks over poles on the ground. He has found confidence in me as a rider and trusts me now. Jess, his owner, has been coming out and watching his progress. I hope to have her on him soon, and maybe even cantering a few more weeks!

Kelsie & Tess are starting into a solid lesson program now after I tuned Tess up for a couple weeks. They will begin jumping soon and preparing for Otter Spring at Training level.

Ashley & Rory have been jumping well and he is responsive on the flat, now we hope he keeps up this energy as the weather begins (if ever) to warm up. She will be going out at Training Level at Spring Otter as well.

Maria & Pete have been working hard all winter, I think he is more fit then he was last summer considering Maria has been doing a lot of road work with him already! He will be starting up the season with a run at Prelim at Spring Bay in hopes to get qualifying runs for the CCI1* at Colorado in June. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for Pete to go in the water!!!

Morgan & Ricky have just started jumping as they will be getting ready to head out Novice for their first show at Otter Spring & they hope to qualify at our Regional Mega Rally for the USPC Championships in Lexington, KY this year.

Mia & Cody have been progressing quickly. I hope to take "Peppy's Nu Image" out Beginner Novice at Otter to give him a tune up run and then Mia will take him to Carriage House Combined Test and Roebke's Run for her first event!

If all goes well with Gabi's trial horse I will take her out Beginner Novice as well, since she comes from a H/J background, I will give her a test run and then Gabi's plans will match Mia's. They both hope to do another USPC Rating this year as well!

Janelle is working hard to bring Ty back from the winter so they can head out Novice at Otter Spring.

Well that takes care of the "Trophy Hill Gang". A lot of other kids are away on Spring Break, due to the weather lessons were canceled for the day so I am catching up on updates!

Check out the site for sale horses available - http://www.lizlund.com/Sale_Horses.html

Kick on!!!

Winter Blues...

2011-03-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

I think everyone has the winter blues right now. It just never seems like it will end! Of course heading off to work yesterday it was below zero and the car had to warm up awhile. I never go anywhere now without warming up my car! It is just miserable to have to hold a cold steering wheel!

The horses are sick of the indoor. A few have come up with tricks, like being scared of one end, or getting a little cranky and playing games. The girls have seem to all come into heat at the same time...hopefully that means spring is on the way! There is hope! The extended forecast shows that we are slowly warming up....
Wednesday - Mar 16
Clouds break for sun; warmer 46°Lo 21°!!!

I can't wait!

Work has been crazy busy right now. Since my good friend & roommate Sarah Travis has decided not to return to this tundra and continue working with Betsy Steiner I have taken on a good handful of her dressage clients. Kathy Theissen, owner of Brightonwood Farm has headed to Aiken so I have taken over lessons and a few training rides at her farm too, putting me there 7 days a week! Not to mention I still have the 9 horses at Trophy Hill and all my current clients to maintain a schedule with! She returns on the 20th and things will calm down a little so I can really focus on getting Hannah & Maria ready for Spring Bay!

Last weekend was the Janet Foy & Bill Solyntjes Ride a Test Clinic. It was great! There was a variety of demo riders (myself on Lucy included) that did a great job of showing what to do and what not to do. They went over to correct movements, why some movements have changed and some things that judges do NOT like. Example - don't salute with your "whip" hand. Don't re-adjust yourself in the saddle when you halt.

Lucy was a little crabby, so a few times she showed off how she can prance around when she doesn't want to come off of my right leg. Janet was pleased because we showed a variety of scores anywhere from 4s to 9s. She made a point to make an example of my behavior when Lucy's behavior was not so hot. Don't react, don't "train" your horse in the ring. She liked how I handled the situation and just kept on going with the test no matter what Lucy did. It was good to hear from a judge because its hard to know what to do when your horse is rearing, running sideways or just plain not behaving in the ring! Everyone seemed to be entertained by her antics though so she was well liked throughout the crowd of around 175 people.

The girls did some gridwork yesterday. Trot poles to an x one stride vert one stride oxer. Lucy is jumping better, not jumping as big, still slightly over jumping her landing and then needs to be really quick with her feet. She jumped over her first barrels as well, didn't even look at them! Hopefully that is a sign that she is going to be brave out on the XC.

Hannah is getting better. As usual, been trying to figure out what frame to ride her in, because she literally would prefer to carry her nose above her ears, which gets a little frustrating at times. She is quite a difficult horse. The important thing with Hannah is to "keep the bad thoughts out". As soon as I get too picky and want to perfect everything we run into problems. I tend to take too much out of her and collect, collect, canter in place...to everything. Last fall the lessons with Kim Barone helped immensely so we have been working on really riding forward to the fences. I look forward to Kim getting back from FL in a couple weeks so I can get some lessons in before Kentucky. Keeping my fingers crossed I will be able to get outside before the show...if not I am looking for a place to school in Lexington on the Friday before Spring Bay if anyone has any ideas!

Kristine & Janelle Johnson's Aristotle has joined us back at Trophy Hill. He will be staying long term so he and Janelle can get some regular lessons and training. I look forward to having them at the farm all the time!

Prince Harry is a new temporary addition to the farm. He is owned by Jessica Kortuem. He is a 4 year old Welsh Cob. He arrived on Saturday the 27th. So far he is still working on the ground, desensitizing him to all of the new scary things in his life, like the garage doors, jumps in the indoor and more. He is being longed and sacked out, soon I will be on his back and he will be learning the basics of being a working horse!

Kelsie Holbrook's Tess has come back into work. She is doing well, we are working on legging her up and getting her back into the dressage work. It will be another couple weeks before she can start jumping, but she is doing great!

Ashley Reut's Rory and Beth Reut's Benz are doing well too! Benz seems to keep ripping his shoes off for some reason but those quickly get tapped on by our farrier Terry Dokken! Rory is jumping well and has been great on the flat. He is a big boy so we always are working on keeping him light on his feet!

Mia Geraci's Cody has been working hard ever since arriving. He is jumping better then ever and Mia is even starting to understand the concept of dressage and having a connection. Gabi Geraci is half leasing Maria's Pete and having a blast. She has improved greatly over the last few months and is enjoying riding a horse with some size! We hope to find her a horse in the next month!

Maria took over for me while I was on vacation and she had a plateful! She took great care of my horses keeping them in work, doing their conditioning and even taking over some of my lessons for me. Pete is going well, jumping really well, he is a bit feisty on the flat but we are working on sorting that all out! We are really looking forward to Spring Bay!

All the other LLE Team students are working hard, lessoning when they can at their own barns. We are all looking forward to our first outing of the year. We have a full calendar for the summer!

Stay tuned for more winter updates...hopefully soon they will be spring updates!! Take care & have a good ride!

2011 Updates - February

2011-02-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we are heading into the middle of February already! So far this year has started out great! We are all happy and healthy at Liz Lund Eventing and Trophy Hill Farm. Kelsie Holbrook holds the fort down in the morning taking care of the horses, while Maria Filsinger usually heads up the pm chores. Also many thanks to Katy & David for helping keep an eye on things, as well as Jack Bloomquist and Morgan Samuelson for helping out with chores when needed!

Lucky me is writing this blog in my bikini on the beach while on vacation in Ft. Myers, FL - thanks to a private sponsor I am able to take this trip...much needed break from the cold! This vacation has caused my fingers to Google "Florida Boarding Barns" many times...it never hurts to look! I think a winter in FL for some hard training time would do myself, my horses & clients some good! We all have to admit it feels good to be able to ride in a t-shirt in January!

We successfully hosted another Liz Lund Eventing Jumper Schooling Show. Surprisingly for January we had a great turnout! We look forward to having one more indoor jumper schooling show and then adding the outdoor schooling shows as the weather improves to include dressage, show jumping & some cross country!

Maria is officially my assistant trainer and working under me. She is taking care of riding horses and lessons while I am gone and will be helping out with lessons and coaching throughout the summer.

Hannah has been doing well, Maria is taking care of her riding and fitness while I am gone and she will be ready to rock and roll for her first show in April! Maria won the 3'3'' and 3'6'' classes on Hannah at our last schooling show with Janelle on Aristotle in a close 2nd!

Lucy is coming along well, understanding more and more each day that you don't have to ALWAYS jump 5 feet over a teenie tiny cross rail, or a ground pole. As her jumping improves I look more and more forward to getting her out on the cross country! My first show with her will hopefully be Otter Creek Spring.

Trophy Hill is going to be full with long term boarders Maria Filsinger & Pete, Kelsie Holbrook & Tess, Ashley Reut & Rory, Beth Reut & Benz, Mia Geraci & Cody, soon to be Gabi Geraci & her new horse (that we are STILL searching for) Janelle Johnson & Aristotle and of course Hannah B & Lucy Goosey. I also have a few horses coming in and out of training for short term periods. Looks like we may be looking for somewhere new to store our hay as we fill up the stalls!

I look forward to what the future holds for myself, my horses and all of my clients! Now I have to figure out how to bring some of this Florida warmth and sunshine home with me when I leave!

2010 Wrap Up

2011-01-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has already been a year from when I was packing up to head to Ocala for a few months to make the most of the winter eventing season. As things progress and change I find reflection a useful tool in growing and learning from the past.

There were ups & downs in Florida, from getting the rigs stuck in the mud early in the morning heading out to horse shows, to winning Rocking Horse Spring at the Intermediate level. Overall, the near three months brought lots of learning experiences and new friends. Come mid-March I was ready to head back home to Minnesota and see my family, friends & clients. Surprisingly, it was quite warm when I came home, with the majority of the snow gone and show season ready to start. The main goal of going to FL was to get ready for the Otter Creek Spring CIC2*, and as I drove home through varying terrain and many different states, I knew I was ready.

I came home and began leasing Trophy Hill Farm, owned by Katy & David Holub in Cologne, MN. I operate a small boarding and training facility as well as teach trailer in lessons and host clinics out of the farm. Big thanks to Katy & David!

We were lucky to get to as many shows this year as we did, considering the loss of Maui Jim Horse Trials & Wayne DuPage Horse Trials, two major shows hosted at Lamplight right outside of Chicago, IL. Once back in MN, Hannah and I competed in our first CIC2* at Otter Creek and finished 2nd. We ran around Richland Park only to have a fall near the end of the course, but finished the season successfully back on home turf at Otter Creek Fall Horse Trials, taking 3rd in the Open Intermediate.

Juliette made quite the scene this year, owned by Katy Holub. Juliette made a large leap, literally, to the Preliminary level. At 13.3 hands those jumps were as big as she is, but she leapt over them with ease. She took 4th Place at Catalpa Corner and 4th Place at Otter Creek Fall - both at the Preliminary level. She is off to Florida to find a new home, and will make someone a very happy new pony owner!

Lots of students had great success competing in 2010 as well. Maria Filsinger & Pete made the move up to Preliminary and finished a few fall shows at the level, including a win at Wayne Fall Horse Trials. Their goals to qualify for the Young Rider Championships in 2011 and it looks to be in reach with a lot more hard work, only time will tell if this dream will unfold. Kelsie Holbrook & Tess quickly progressed up the levels from BN at Otter Creek Spring to finishing at Training level at Otter Creek Fall. Morgan Samuelson successfully rode the pony Ricky up to the Novice level after taking 2nd Place at their first BN recognized event at Catalpa Corner. With the addition of many more students to Liz Lund Eventing throughout the summer, we were flooded with kids at Fall Otter Creek. I would like to thank everyone for a WONDERFUL show season and congratulations to Maria Filsinger & Pete, Kelsie Holbrook & Tess, Morgan Samuelson & Ricky, Janelle Johnson & Ty, Ashley Reut & Rory, The Longe Family & Phoebe & newest member Milo, Savannah Ruhs & Grady, Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon, and Anna and Sarah Kate Pierro!

The team looks like it is growing even larger for 2011 as many of the new members look forward to attending their first recognized events. We look forward to continuing a very successful Rider Development Program through the Lead Hound Pony Club as well as expanding the Team to the East side of town through Rolling Hills Farm in Hugo, MN. Many new members were able to attend their first events this year, such as the Lead Hound Pony Club Schooling Show, Mega Rally, Pony Cup & the Liz Lund Eventing Schooling Show. There are a lot of new up and coming riders ready to hit the show scene this season. Keep your eyes peeled for Emily & Olivia Shirley, Mia & Gabi Geraci, Alex & Skye Lundahl, Olive Younquist, Makenna & Ellis Rold, Tayler Ittel, Katie & Aubrey Rossi, Belle Wanke, Elise Brann, Chelsea Flietman & all of the newest members of the team.

I am also developing an adult eventing team, starting with Maura Tierney & Deb Stern we are looking to expand the "wiser" eventers and keep Liz Lund Eventing growing with all ages & breeds! One of the newer adult riders is Isa, she takes lessons on Hannah at Trophy Hill when time allows. Contact me for more information at eventrider@lizlund.com.

Big thanks to the kid's parents, without you guys it would be hard to get a lot done! Organizing lessons, carpools to the barn, ride shares to horse shows, and more. Thanks for making my job easier!

In 2010 I became even more involved with the Pony Club and look forward to helping future "clubbers" strive to meet & exceed their standards for their up-and-coming ratings in 2011. We had fun during mounted rating-prep sessions this summer with Marianne Kelley, Maria Filsinger, Abby & Katy Turnacliff, Morgan Samuelson, & Kelsie Holbrook. In 2011, we plan to go even further by offering some D-Level Pony Club Camps as well as some Liz Lund Eventing Summer Camps.

Of course many thanks to my 2010 sponsors, professional advisors & supportive family: my mom - Sarah Bergstrom, & step-dad - John Bergstrom, my four siblings - Kiki, Maggie, Lauren, & Michael.

Jen Johnson DVM who provides Liz's horses with vaccinations, certifications and supplements she needs to continue competing,

County Saddlery for helping get Liz's name out there with a link on the County Saddlery Website under the "Friends of County" link - http://www.countysaddlery.com/pages/friends.html,

Kaesen Farms - Where Hannah was born & bred! Kae has been such a kind friend over the years, helping out anyway she can. She helps maintain my website, sends moral support & is always sending kind words! www.kaesonfarms.net

I would also like to thank the team that cares for my horses, including Ken Larson DVM who does all my xrays and injections as well as teeth and Terry Dokken with Dokken Farrier Services who cares for my horses feet and keeps them in top condition at all times. Alison Sader Larson - dressage coach for me, Hannah, & Lucy. Katy Bloomquist - legal advisor & husband David Holub - Trophy Hill Owners. Jane Flanders with Great American Insurance LTD. - providing insurance for liability and equine insurance. Connie LaFond - accountant.

My boyfriend Bryan - I think we both work completely opposite hours, but we still find time to see each other. He has been very supportive and even trekked out to a horse show & a "horse" party...he has been great keeping me balanced & involved in the "real" world and making time for other fun things besides horses, like camping, hunting, fishing, volleyball and more.

I have also renewed my membership to the American Horse Trials Foundation (AHTF) and am again eligible to receive grant money towards my training and competition.

The AHTF is a nonprofit corporation established to assist Three Day Event Riders & Organizers in raising tax-deductible financial support for national and international competition.

Event riders who are bona fide national or international level competitors are eligible to apply for grants from the AHTF to further their preparation for Olympic or World Championship competition. At this time the AHTF beneficiaries include many of the top Eventers in the country including riders from the US Olympic & World Championship Teams. Since its inception in 1987, the AHTF has distributed over $2.2 million directly to Eventers for competition activities, while only about five percent of contributions have gone for the cost of administration.

The AHTF has been granted tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All contributions are deductibe to the maximum extent allowed by law. The AHTF is a member of the American Horse Shows Association, the United States Equestrian Team, and the United States Eventing Association, and participated in the United States Olympic Committee Job Opportunities Program.

To make a contribution through the American Horse Trials Foundation, go to www.ahtf3day.org and click on "Donate Using Just Give". Under "Designate my Donation" please indicate that you would like the funds to be used in support of Liz Lund's Training & Competition Costs.

With a lot of ups & downs throughout the year, we all came out having a great time and learning a lot. To top the year off I purchased Rhine Maiden, aka Lucy as a new eventing prospect for Liz Lund Eventing. I hope to find come spring she loves water, banks and ditches!

The 2011 season looks very exciting thanks to the addition of several new shows! Minnesota is adding THREE events, two held at the Schweiss Farm & another at the Kunz's farm in Delano. Otter Creek is also ADDING another event to the summer calendar. In addition to showing, LLE is also planning to do some mini-clinics with an emphasis on Dressage, Cross-country, & Show Jumping. I'm also looking forward to hosting several summer camps that will include both mounted and unmounted components, some for Pony Clubbers and some open to everyone! This is going to be a very fun, very busy year. I look forward to the snow melting and getting on the road to our first event. So far the plan seems to be to head to Lexington, Kentucky and compete at Spring Bay Horse Trials. Of course I look to continue teaching at the Lead Hound Pony Club Rider Development Program as well as maintaining regular riding lessons out of many different facilities.

We are in the process of putting together the 2011 LLE calendar and it is full of opportunities for everyone - stay tuned as it will be posted shortly. Overall - thanks to all my friends, family, clients, and my boyfriend for helping me and supporting me through this journey.

I welcome and suggest comments and suggestions, thoughts and ideas for the upcoming season! I look forward to it! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Welcome Lucy!

2010-12-20T06:59:00.000-08:00

Liz Lund Eventing would like to welcome it's newest member! Rhine Maiden (aka Lucy) has made the transition from dressage horse to aspiring event horse! She is a 2003 Hanoverian Mare by Rohdiamant and out of Desert Sun. She has successfully shown through 3rd level dressage and is trained through PSG. Liz purchased her from dressage trainer's Alison Sader Larson & Ken Larson. She just recently began her jumping career and has found to love it. When spring rolls around she will be ready to hit the turf and test out the waters to see if cross country will be her thing! Liz hopes the best for this little talented mare and has her eye on her for awhile!

Stay tuned for updates on Lucy as she progresses in her jumper training.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T08:37:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! Done longing horses for the day, time to get ready to eat lots of food and be thankful!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for so many things! Most of all my parents, they have stuck with me through the good and the bad. I don't know what I would do without my mom. I would like to thank John Bergstrom, my step-dad, for putting up with this one crazy stepdaughter's lifestyle! My dad, who is missed everyday and my sisters, step-sister & step-brother, grandmas & grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc etc...my whole family!

My friends. They never give up on me, even though they probably know I will be in bed because I've worked horses and taught lessons for 10 hours and will probably be up early tomorrow ready to do the same thing!

My horses. Well technically I only own Lady Hannah B, but I am thankful for all the horses I have ridden, currently train and will train in the future. They are who I am.

My horsey-friends & clients. Always there being supportive and helping out, whether it is doing chores at the farm, taking lessons, educational sleepovers, grooming at horse shows, attending schooling shows and events, representing Liz Lund Eventing with their logo wear, or just being there.

The list is never ending...I have had a lot of great opportunities in my life so far and can only hope they will continue to expand. Thanks for everything everyone!

Enjoy your Turkey Day!

Liz Lund Eventing Schooling Show Results 11/20/2010

2010-11-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

Lead Line
1st Place - Elise Brann riding Blizzy

Ground Poles
1st Place - Gabi Geraci riding Taco
2nd Place - Aubrey Rossi riding Roo
3rd Place - Elise Brann riding Blizzy
4th Place - KT Harrington riding Phayra

Cross Rails
1st Place - KT Harrington riding Phayra
2nd Place - Mia Geraci riding Blue
3rd Place - Gabi Geraci riding Taco
4th Place - Emily Miller riding Dilli
5th Place - Hannah Gordon riding Riesling

18''-21''
1st Place - KT Harrington riding Phayra
2nd Place - Erin Owen riding Clacny
3rd Place - Mia Geraci riding Blue
4th Place - Gabi Geraci riding Taco
5th Place - Emily Miller riding Dilli
6th Place - Skye Lundahl riding Blizzy
*Other riders - Kati Rossi riding Roo; Hannah Gordon riding Riesling

2'-2'3''
1st Place - Ellen Emrich riding Tango
2nd Place - Erin Owen riding Clancy
3rd Place - Sara Fogelberg riding Joey
4th Place - Janelle Johnson riding Aristotle
5th Place - Emily Miller riding Dilli
6th Place - Olive Youngquist riding Magic
*Other riders - Mia Geraci riding Blue; Hannah Gordon riding Rielsing; Morgan Samuelson riding Sammy

2'6''-2'9''
1st Place - Ellen Emrich riding Tango
2nd Place - Laura Sarff riding Emmy So Easy
3rd Place - Sara Fogelberg riding Joey
4th Place - Morgan Samuelson riding Ricky
5th Place - Janelle Johnson riding Aristotle
*Other riders - Savannah Ruhs riding Grady; Alex Lundahl riding Eclipse; Erin Owen riding Clancy

3'-3'3''
1st Place - Laura Sarff riding Emmy So Easy
2nd Place - Janelle Johnson riding Aristotle
3rd Place - Terri Zenz riding Tango

3'3''-3'6''
1st Place - Terri Zenz riding Tango

Gamblers Choice
1st Place - Laura Sarff riding Emmy So Easy - 51 Points
2nd Place - Ellen Emrich riding Tango - 43 Points
3rd Place - Savannah Ruhs riding Grady - 35 Points
4th Place - Alex Lundahl riding Eclipse - 22 Points

Switch Ride Group A
1st Place - Alex Lundahl riding Grady
2nd Place - Mia Geraci riding Blizzy
3rd Place - Skye Lundahl riding Blue

Switch Ride Group B
1st Place - Savannah Ruhs riding Eclipse
2nd Place - Morgan Samuelson riding Tango
3rd Place - Sara Fogelberg riding Lady Hannah B
4th Place - Terri Zenz riding Joey
5th Place - Ellen Emrich riding Sammy

4 Bar
1st Place - Connie Duff riding Emmy So Easy
2nd Place - Savannah Ruhs riding Grady
3rd Place - Morgan Samuelson riding Ricky
4th Place - Savannah Ruhs riding Eclipse

Chicken (no stirrups)
1st Place - Terri Zenz riding Tango (4ft)
2nd Place - Morgan Samuelson riding Ricky (3'9'')

Congrats to everyone today! Thanks for making today so fun and successful! Stay tuned for more information about the next Liz Lund Eventing Schooling Show tentatively aiming for January 2011!

Time to train...

2010-11-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

We had our first snowfall this weekend...well we got around 8 inches of snow! I woke up Saturday morning really early to head out to the farm to load up Hannah and bring her to a nearby farm for the Anne Kursinski clinic. I didn't actually expect the weather men to be right but when I woke up there was already a few inches on the ground!

It took my normal 30m drive a whole hour to get to the farm. Maria was finishing chores and we loaded up Hannah and headed on our way slowly pulling through the unplowed roads in four wheel drive. The clinic was hosted at Kim and Andy Barone's farm in Watertown, MN - Raven Ridge Farm. It is a beautiful and WARM facility, a great place for the clinic.

Anne warmed us up on the flat first. She really emphasized carrying your hands in front of you and stretching long and deep into you heel. She also wanted me to carry myself slightly forward of the vertical, rather than sitting like a "dressage rider". New concept for me but I was more than willing to try it. She wanted to demonstrate her position so she got on Hannah and showed everyone how solid her position was and how we should work on getting ours to match hers. She really liked Hannah and thought she was very athletic.

We then warmed up over a small cross rail. We trotted to the fence, being sure ahead of time we were in two point all the way up to the fence, another new idea for me, but it helped me to stay lighter on Hannah's back. We then had to drop our stirrups on landing and halt straight. A very good exercise for balance and straightness. Here is a video.

Another exercise we did was to canter an oxer, left hand turn to a forward three stride oxer to oxer and halt at the end in a straight line. Here is a video.

One great thing she had us do to all of our fences was to count up to eight with the rhythm of the horse's stride. Another exercise we did was to jump an oxer four strides to the butterfly vertical, turn left over the arch bridge back to the oxer and then FIVE strides to the butterfly vertical. This helped us work on our eye and adjustability of our horse. Here is a video.

We also worked on a bounce line with three fences in a row. The next day we incorporated more bending and related lines and continued to work on being light.

We also held our reins like driving reins and worked on automatic releases keeping our hands wide and off the horses neck working on our own balance.

It was a good clinic, although things were very different then what I was used to, it is good to be open minded and I am really interested in learning different styles and techniques of riding to become better overall.

Another clinic I attended was one of Daniel Stewart's 'Psycho Clinics' taught by Dori Johnson. It was a great challenge and a lot of fun to ride with my students. The first exercise was called steps. There were 8 cross rails set up right next to each other in a zig zag formation number 1-8 on one side. The rules were that you couldn't cross your path or go to the outsides of fences 1 and 8. We were sent off cantering and Dori would tell us a number to jump...that was easy...then we were sent off cantering and Dori would tell us two numbers...the first number was the number of fences we had to jump and the second was the number that the fences had to add up to. For example, 2-6. So you would go and jump fence 4 and then fence 2, or any combination that adds up to 6 in two fences. Then she gave us three numbers, 7-3-21. The first number was the number fence we had to jump, the second number was the remaining jumps we had left, and the third number was the total of all the fences. So if we started with fence 7, we had two fences left to get 14. Then she would shout 6 evens or odds at us in any order and we had to jump those fences. Then she added three evens or odds at the end of the three numbers and that totally threw me for a loop! It was a lot of fun and the purpose of the clinic was the mentally stress the riders and see how their riding changed. It was a lot of fun!

The next exercise we did was called the box. This was a color and names exercise...more my thing but still challenging! There were two fences on each side of the square, about two strides across the center. You can jump all sorts of combinations. The fences we had were Blue, White, Canada, Teal, Ugly, Purple, Jungle and Green. We had to remember which fences were which and as we were cantering around she would tell us what jumps to jump, gradually adding more and more until we got to 8, Marianne Kelley even attempted 10! I could do 6 really well, but 8 was too much for me. The goal was to figure out an easier way to remember the course. Rather than remembering each individual fence, we would remember lines. Then when we got to 8 different fences, we would remember 4 different lines. It was a great concept to making course memorization easier.

Overall these clinics have been a blast! I am starting up dressage lessons again with Alison Sader Larson and look forward to continuing to work on our fourth level movements. I will also be taking a jumper lesson here and there from some local jumper trainers.

I am proud to announce I am hosing my FIRST ever Liz Lund Eventing (jumper) Schooling Show on November 20th and Trophy Hill Farm! It should be a blast, we have close to 20 different riders and over 45 rounds so far throughout the day! Classes range from lead line to different height classes, to fun classes like 'four-bar' and gamblers choice! Stay tuned to see how it goes!

Stay warm if you aren't headed south for the winter!

Getting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable - OCF Fall Recap

2010-09-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

Otter Creek Fall Horse Trials was a success. I had Lady Hannah B running in the Open Intermediate and Juliette in the Open Preliminary. I had a lot to overcome as I headed into the weekend.

After having the last couple horse shows not go well, I was more nervous. Having prepared with lessons and the Ralph Hill clinic the weekend before, I knew that both myself and my horses were more then capable to conquer the upcoming challenges. One of the most helpful things I have learned going out and doing things that I am worried about, is understanding that the feeling of being uncomfortable, isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is just something you have to get comfortable with and know how to handle your reactions. "It’s not the situation but how you respond to it that makes the difference; it is within your control."

A book that I enjoy reading when I feel more nervous then normal is "Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence" by Gary Mack with David Casstevens. It is all the inspiration and encouragement I need to put myself in a better mental state. Although the book does not relate directly to eventing, the stories and quotes from the world of professional athletics can easily relate. Just like in horse back riding, you need to be able to control your thoughts heading out on your horse, whether it is into the dressage ring, the start box or the show jumping stadium. My favorite quote from the book is "You have to learn how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable."

We all know how much preparation and work goes into getting ready for one weekend. Weeks of hard work, gallop sets, dressage lessons, jump schooling, hacks and more. If you don't put in the work before hand, you can't expect to get out on the field and perform your best, and it isn't fair to your horse to not prepare them adequately for the game. "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."

The book also talks about goal setting.
SMART Goal Setting:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Time-bound
I had some very specific goals for Otter Creek. It wasn't to go out and win, it was to go out and perform my best. I had to overcome my latest fears of the potential to do bad. Because of my last falls, I had a lot of "what ifs" on my mind and I needed to clear my head of everything and go out there and do what I knew I could do, and that was put in a clean jumping round on the cross country. How did I know I could do it? Because I trust in my abilities to not over face myself, or put myself in a position that I am not ready for, and I knew I was ready because I have done it before. I had to push myself to take any self doubt out of my head, and replace it with confidence and self assurance that I was very capable of reaching my goals. "I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated." - Emmitt Smith.

I arrived early Thursday morning after a 2 hour drive in the pouring rain. I unloaded the horses and set up their stalls and organized the tack and feed stalls. I had special permission to walk my courses so I went over them with Kati Bodin and we came up with a game plan for each question. I then returned to the barn, soaking wet...literally all the way through and put on jacket number two. I tacked up Hannah B and headed out in the downpour for a dressage lesson from Alison Sader Larson. Hannah was great, as one dressage judge once wrote on my test "Good Mudder." I returned to the stable to put on jacket number three and wait for more students to arrive so we could work, again in the rain.

After the rest of my students arrived, we did lessons and then I rode Juliette. We settled the horses in for the night and hoped the weather would change overnight. Friday held early morning rides. Students Abby Turnacliff, Ashley Reut and Kelsie Holbrook performed in the Jr. Training Division dressage putting in good tests. Abby and Ashley competing for the 2nd time and training level and Kelsie moving up for the 1st time. I rode Hannah in the competitive Open Intermediate division and scored a respective 38.8 to put me in 4th place. Maria Filsinger and Pete put in a lovely dressage test to take the lead on a 34.8. Juliette put in a great test earning a 41.7 for a three way tie for 9th place. Morgan Samuelson & Ricky, Savannah Ruhs & Curb Appeal, Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon, Janelle Johnson & Royal Cootitan, Jessie Longe & Phoebe, and Kelsey Longe & Dance By Me all were riding at the Novice level and had good tests for the day. We were all looking forward to the cross country!

The weather report proved wrong, and we had sunshine on Saturday. We were all thrilled with the new forecast and although it was cold, the sun began to warm everyone up. Training was first to go for the day, so I warmed up Abby, Ashley & Kelsie and sent them out on course. Abby had an unfortunate fall at the fourth to last fence when Ziggy chipped in but didn't get his legs out of the way in time and the momentum sent Abby over his shoulder. Prior to her unexpected dismount she had a great round! Ashley & Rory had a wonderful round with one unfortunate stop at the ditch and wall but only added 5.6 time faults to their score to put them into 9th place. Kelsie had a wonderful first cross country experience at training level with a clear round putting her in 7th place.

Next was the Novice riders. I sent out Morgan, Savannah, Jen, Janelle, Jessie and Kelsey out on course. Unfortunately Savannah had a unplanned dismount into the second water complex, and Jessie at a dock fence out in the field. Although both riders were disappointed, they pushed on and helped the rest of the team out. Morgan, as expected, came in a little too fast on the speedy pony Ricky, adding 4.8 speed faults to their score, but Morgan now understands how important it is to maintain a steady pace and not run too fast (but nonetheless she was definitely having fun!) Janelle jumped a clean round to move up to 1st place and Jen also put in a lovely clean round moving her from 14th to 8th place. Kelsey also jumped a clear round moving them up to 6th place.

Next up was the Intermediate division. My first test of the day was to navigate Hannah clean around the Intermediate course. I had cleared my mind of any doubt or "what ifs" I had and put in my head visualizations of how my ride would go, positive thoughts only! After a great warm up we headed to the start box where Hannah jumped up and down in anticipation to get out on course. We galloped out of the start box and towards fence 1. We jumped clean and clear and headed out towards the upcoming questions on course. Our first question was fence 3, to 4A/B. We had to jump a vertical brush fence bending left hand turn to a triple brush skinny set at the top of a hill on a forward four stride to an even skinner triple brush skinny. Hannah navigated the question and galloped on to fence 5, a skinny cabin. We jumped the cabin and headed towards the water where we had a fence down into the water to another one on the mound back into the water. We headed to the picnic table to set up for the sunken road and jumped the bounce in, down the bank two strides across up the bank to another bounce out and ran on to a large table to a skinny cabin and down the hill to the second water complex. We had a large log drop in to a corner out. Next up was the weldon's wall, Hannah is so honest, I put her in right up to the ground line and she jumped on over. We headed towards another table in the woods to the down bounce banks on a bending line to a corner. We head to a vertical ramp on the tree line to the campfire vertical in the woods. We gallop up the large hill to a roll top and slowly slide down the backside to a triple brush skinny. Onwards we gallop to another picnic table and around the dressage ring to the coffin question, a ramp set on an angle one stride to a large ditch and two strides to a large brush vertical out on a bending line. After completing our last question we jumped the bench, the ramp and the final bear vertical and crossed the finish line. I was so happy that I was able to put myself in the right frame of mind to get through the course. Although we came in slow adding 23.2 time faults to our score, I came and did what I had set out to do, jump a clean cross country round. I was more then happy and my clean round had moved me up to 3rd place.

Next up was the Preliminary division, Maria & Pete were first to set out. Maria came up with a plan to ensure no eliminations at the water, which have been an ongoing issue of Pete's even before we purchased him. Maria put in a lovely round with only one refusal at the second water, a very good round only adding a few time faults to their score. I was very happy with her performance, we still don't know why Pete won't go into some waters and why he will go into others without even looking, but Maria has done a great job of working on building his confidence and getting him solid at the Preliminary level. Over everything else he is a machine, jumping everything out of a stride and not blinking an eye at anything else. We will keep working on him so look out for the two next season!

Then it was Juliette's turn to run around the course. Galloping up to the massive 3'7'' fences, that can be brushed up to 4'3'' with heights across the top up to 4'7'' and at the base 6'11'' with drops up to 5'3'' in height can be quite intimidating on a pony that is only 13.3 hands. But I couldn't ask for a better Preliminary Pony! She has so much power in the little body of hers that these preliminary questions are easy for her! She galloped out of the start box towards our first ramped roll top and flew over it, jumped up over the bike rack and over the large roll top towards a large ramped brush fence. Galloping on to fence 5 a skinny table and then a large roll top before the water. After galloping into the water we jumped the Otter and ran out of the water complex towards the large picnic table at the top of the hill shared with Intermediate before the sunken road. We jumped a coop one stride down the bank onto the road across to another vertical coop. We galloped on up the hill to a large table and then over some cabins back down the hill towards the second water complex. We had to drop into the water and gallop across to a vertical ramp out of the water. We then crossed the field to the large bridge question to the double bounce banks up and into the woods to a corner. Our of the woods to another vertical ramp on the tree line and to the camp site to jump two tents on an angle. We put in a lovely two stride and galloped up the large hill over a roll top at the top, slide down the hill to drop down a log drop and gallop out of the woods to another large picnic table (even bigger than the first and also shared with Intermediate) around the our coffin complex which was a roll top in, two strides to the ditch and one stride out over another roll top. We completed the course jumping the bench, the ramp and the vertical log and galloped across the finish line. I was so proud of Juliette, putting in a great round and adding 18.8 time faults, coming in faster then most of the larger horses in the division! We moved up from our 9th place tie to 4th place.

Overall the Liz Lund Eventing Team had a very successful day! I would like to thank everyone who helped get my horses ready and take care of them after my rides! The competitors party on Saturday night was a blast as usual, dancing on the picnic table, chatting with friends and fellow competitors around the bonfire and just hanging out reflecting on the days events and prepare for tomorrow's challenges in the show jumping ring.

Show jumping started at 8am when there was still frost on the ground. I warmed Hannah up and headed down to the ring to watch. Rails were flying left and right as we had to jump over a "pink course" sponsored by Jumps 4 Joy...which proved to be a challenge for just about everyone. Although I had 3 rails on Hannah I maintained my 3rd place position, which isn't common, so that right there tells your how many issues everyone had with the course! Overall I was very pleased with our performance over the weekend. A great way to end the season. I am looking forward to working this winter to improve even more for next seasons challenges.

There were 156 competitors at the horse show, and there were 1060 jumping faults throughout the day on Sunday, majority of them being rails and some of them being stops. I did the math for Poplar Place September Horse Trials, the same weekend, which had 206 riders and only 648 jumping faults throughout the day, which I also assume some were stops but most were rails. Obviously something was going on with our Jump 4 Joy jumps! I looked for reviews online but couldn't find anything. So far my experience with the Jump 4 Joy jumps has not been positive. The horses, even if they are jumping well are punished for doing their job. Despite this being said, we put in the best rides we could throughout the day.

Lady Hannah B finished in 3rd in the Open Intermediate division. Juliette 4th in the Open Preliminary with Maria Filsinger & Pete in 7th. Kelsie Holbrook & Tess finished 6th in the Jr. Training and Ashley Reut & Rory finished in 9th. Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon took 7th in their Novice division, with Morgan Samuelson & Ricky in Jr. Novice, with Janelle Johnson & Royal Cootitan finishing just outside the ribbons in 9th place at their first Novice event and Kelsey Longe & Dance By Me taking home the 2nd place spot in the division. Everyone had a lot of fun, it is always great when we all can get together and support one another over the weekend.

I would like to thank everyone for making the 2010 show season a successful one! I have come out of the season a better rider and teacher! I look forward to working hard this winter towards improving for the 2011 show season! Look out because Liz Lund Eventing is going to hit it hard this winter!

On another note, I will be staying in Minnesota this winter and am available for training and teaching either at my farm, Trophy Hill Farm or am willing to travel. I hope everyone continues to take lessons and set new goals for next year!

I will try and continue blogging throughout our training this winter. Stay tuned for updates on schooling shows and clinics this fall! Kick on and get over it!

Mind Gym Quotes-

“it takes years of hard work to become an overnight success”

"Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit"

"Create your own mind gym visualizing yourself overcoming mistakes and doing things well"

"Focus on the task – do not let negative thoughts intrude"

Derby Days!

2010-09-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

We finally had some beautiful weather! I think I actually got some color back on my face! It felt good to be outside all day in the sun with a great group of people. Jean & Walter Kunz hosted a Derby at their farm, Steepleview Farm in Delano, MN. It was run great, thanks to everyone who helped out!

I had a lot of students riding, some of them it was their first show! Skye Lundahl, Mia & Gabi Geraci, and Olivia Shirley headed out and each did two rounds on the Starter course. They all learned a lot and had a lot of fun riding, watching and helping everyone out. Next was Alex Lundahl on a new pony, Savannah Ruhs, and Emily Shirley riding at Beginner Novice. They both had a blast figuring out their mounts! Janelle Johnson, Jen Johnson and Savannah Ruhs navigated the Novice course, figuring out the challenges of a higher level and navigating the course beautifully. Kelsie Holbrook, Jen Johnson, Maria Filsinger and myself competed in the Training division. We all had a blast and it seems the pony is back on her game after a slight bit change and some more schooling, she came in first place!

Tomorrow we head off to the Schweiss' farm in Hector, MN to go cross country schooling in preparation for Otter Creek. We are all looking forward to our "hometown" show in a few weeks! Liz Lund Eventing will have good representation! Stay tuned and kick on!

Pushing Forward

2010-09-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

To say the least I feel stuck in a rut. The last 3 shows have not gone quite according to plan. Yesterday at South Farm was not an ideal day at a show. The rain was pouring down in sheets as it was maybe 50 degrees. It was cold and wet and miserable to say the least. Juliette's dressage was pretty good for her! She was relaxed but kept trying to leave the ring and head back towards stabling... She definitely did not want to be out in the rain and wind! We got a 38.7 - anything under a 40 is pretty good for the little pony!

Maria's horse Pete was pretty stiff and flipped in his counter canter, the judge was very unforgiving and gave her a 40. We headed back to our stalls to try and dry off and get ready for the XC. It was raining hard while we warmed up, you could hardly see and it blowing like crazy. Juliette was jumping fine, but once again kept trying to head back towards the stabling. She just didn't feel on and like she wanted to be out there, not a good feeling heading towards the start box! As we headed out, she felt under confident, backing off at the first few fences, I retired her after fence 5, knowing that what I had underneath me could become dangerous as the course progressed. I would rather be safe and sound to try again when she is more on her game.

Unfortunately, Pete would not go in the water. He stopped at our A element, a cabin followed by a one stride down a bank. He jumped on the second presentation but stopped and backed up, went forward and backed up again down the banks causing the jump judges to excuse them from the course. We decided it would be best for us to head on the road as soon as possible, so we packed up, stripped the stalls and headed out on the road. We stayed again at Vicky & Jordynn Sahagian's in Barrington, IL.

After sleeping in until 8am this morning, we ate breakfast and then headed to the Barrington Riding Center to do some XC schooling. The weather was great, cool and sunny. The horses felt refreshed and happy to be out. We jumped a few fences, and the pony felt "normal" again which was comforting. Peter went right into the water as well as a creek we found to walk the horses through. All in all, it ended with a great school as we prepare for the next Preliminary at Otter Creek Fall Horse Trials.

Though the team took a hit again this weekend, we will keep pushing forward and working hard to achieve our long and short term goals.

This weekend holds the Eventing Derby at Walter & Jean Kunz's farm in Delano, MN. A lot of first time riders will be doing their first show! It will be a blast! Sunday we head off to Hector, MN to the Schweiss Farm to go cross country schooling in preparation for Otter Creek.

Stay tuned...chin up, heels down & keep kickin!

On the Go

2010-09-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Ohio...only two temporary breakdowns yesterday and a minor stall today, just to have the repair men tell us they don't know what is wrong with the truck...oh well, the truck chugged on and we arrived, after 15 hours of driving at South Farm. A huge thanks to Vicky & Jordynn Sahagian for letting us lay over at theirlovely farm in Barrington, IL!

We unloaded the horses, our stuff and checked in. We walked our course as the sun went down, checked on the horses again and drove over 45 minutes to our hotel...this driving thing is getting a little old! It will be nice to have a couple week break (well break meaning not driving back across the country again until October!) after this one before Otter Creek!

Juliette's dressage has been improving immensely and I hope our hard work will be reflected in our dressage test tomorrow, although after two days of driving, I hope the horses have fully recovered by morning. The XC course looks great, starts out with some nice galloping fences that gradually get larger and then puts us into the water for our first challenging combination. We have a fence, one stride drop into the water, bending line across to a bank out and a few strides to another fence. The coffin looks decent and is set in the woods, a one stride to a ditch and a one stride out. The two corners on the course are single fences, but of significant size (especially on a 13.3 hand pony!) and there is a large, but inviting weldon's wall on the track as well. We have a good bank question up the bounce banks to a steep hill on the other side down to a large log.

Overall the track looks nice and will be a good test for both Juliette & Maria's horse, Peter. Stay tuned tomorrow for updates on how dressage and XC turns out!

Emotional Commitment

2010-08-30T03:02:00.000-07:00

4:49am...Finally I am in my comfortable bed, looking at my very full inbox and already planning ahead work for the week before heading off to Ohio.

I had a lot of time to think about the future plans on the long drive home and as I was pondering I took a look at my horoscope just for fun and found it very intriguing...this is what it states:

"If the state of the world, or recent disappointments, or ongoing challenges are causing you to have a rather gloomy view of life right now, you need to find a way to restore your faith in your beautiful destiny. It's easy to get caught up in problems when they seem to keep knocking you down. But you have a purpose in life, and very soon you will have the chance to take on a very important mission - one that involves your reason for being. So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and find the inspiration and motivation that will take you where you need to go."

Quite fitting in light of the past few weeks most recent events! I am very thankful for how things happened because they could have been worse, both Hannah B & myself made it home safely and in one piece, although slightly sore! I am already looking forward to seeing all my students this week, catching up on work, bills & emails, prepare for our next event this upcoming weekend and continue to try and plan for a season south this winter!

Not only is this sport my job, it is my passion, and something that I want to share with anyone who feels the same. This sport means a lot to me, I love my horses and my students, I am emotionally committed to what I do. I enjoy helping horses and people learn as they progress through the different stages this grueling sport requires. There are many ups and downs (literally) but we all have to pick ourselves up, dust off and move on! I look forward to the many challenges that will present themselves as I further embark down the road of trying to make it as an upper level event trainer in the state of Minnesota.

I would like to thank everyone for the kind words and motivation to keep on kickin!

Now it is time to catch up on sleep!

try, try and try again...

2010-08-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Here I am yet again writting a blog that I wish could be written differently, but I suppose this is how lessons are learned. Hannah was nice and fresh this AM and ready to go. Our warmup was splendid and we came nice and forward out of the box and over fence 1. We had a nice smooth turn to #2 abig oxer and a lovely fence 3 out of the woods. We were a little sticky coming to #4 the weldons wall but that was due to off striding coming in so she had to quickly add another step and drifted slightly to the left. We jumped in well to the water at 5 and had a smooth turn to jump out over 5b the cabin. I set her up for fence 6, another big weldons wall which she jumped well but drifted left again on take off, a new problem as of today, she normally drifts to the right. We jumped well up over 7a a big brush to 7b a bank bounce to 7c a rolltop. We galloped on towards the second water and jumped the corn cob in well, popped over the brush on the island back down into the water on a steady 5 strides to the angled brush fence out. Galloped smoothly over #10 the turkey feeder and headed onto the sunken road which rode in a nice two to a two. We galloped down to the wagon which jumped well and onto our next cabin put in a short 5 to the brush then up the hill to the next cabin. We jumped 16 a cabin to set up for the coffin lovely and I brought her back to jump the verticle rail down to the ditch. I broght her back slightly too much so she had an awkward jump in and yet again drifted left. Popped the ditch and I really had to steer to 17c the skinny out which she was very honest adding a 3 and jumping out over the c element. We galloped onwards towards the corners 18 and 19. Jumped slightly up and down over the first corber and I sat up and pressed her for the four strides to the second corner which was a mistake. I should have either sat up and half halted for the 5 strides or circled out to represent as they were numbered seperate. Well anyway she went to add the 5 which wasn't there bc I pressed her up in the middle and she just ran into the fence, luckily she saved herself from flipping over the fence sideways but I got launced off of her left side into the ground with a loud pop as my airvest pin pulled out and quickly exploded around me. Hannah galloped off and pulled up not too far away as I scrambled to get my pinny off so I could loosen my vest and breath again. Laurie from xpress foto quickly ran over to assist and a golf cart was there immediately to bring me to my horse. We only had 5 fences left, a table, open oxer, another table, a rolltop to the final table, nice forward galloping fences that she would have easily done.

All in all you can speculate all you want about what could have been done differently but now I know what to need to work on. If you know Hannah she is high headed and can get very up and down in her canter. I need to think quicker while I am out on course. She schools so well at home but I need to know what to do instantly when I feel something go wrong. It would also help if I had an event trainer to work with on a regular basis at home but we just don't have any resources in MN. I hope to go and work with someone on more of a regular basis this winter in either Aiken, SC or Ocala, FL.

Overall I feel we are both very capable of the level we just have to start filling in the holes with some more skillful riding and knowledge. Unfortunately we don't get ton continue on this weekend but I am already starting to mentally prepare to take the pony preliminary next weekend at South Farm in Ohio. Hopefully I can learn from our previous fall at Wayne DuPage and you know, maybe stay in the tack at one of these upcoming horse shows. Hopefully spirits and confidence begin to pick up as the day goes on. You can't dwell on mistakes made for too long, take what you can and move on a better, more educated rider and go out there and try and try again! Stay tuned for updates at South Farm this following weekend! Thanks for all of the support!

Bring It!

2010-08-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

As I sit outside my friends stall while she braids I figured I would have time to report on my dressage ride and go through my course. The smell of fresh shavings and hay wofts down the aisle. The weather is beautiful, not too hot yet and quite chilly at night.

Hannah is settled in and seems to have rested well last night. We arrived at the show around midnight and poor Hannah hardly had a good nights sleep before it was time to check in with the vets, braid and go in the dressage ring by 1133am. To say the least I had a very tired horse. She was well behaved in the warmup and tried to put in a good test. She jigged slightly in her walk but all in all she was a good girl, just tired so we did our best. The judges both scored very similar to one another both giving us a 58.52 for a total of 62.2 to put us in 22nd. Slightly better score then at Otter Creek CIC2* earlier this spring. Someday I hope to be able to get myself to my shows so that I can come with plenty of time for Hannah to recover from her haul, but I am very happy to just have gotten here.

I was able to get out on the cross country yesterday and check out our course. Not having done a show with Hannah since May makes the jumps seem large but overall the course looks like it will ride well. I need to go out and walk all my distances again and make a final game plan as well as have my coach, Philippa Humphreys, check it out. We start out of the box with a ramp down to an oxer, through the woods up a vertical log to a weldons wall. Next we head to the water and drop down a raised log drop bending line to a cabin. Number 6 is rather large, it is a weldons wall type fence but instead of a ditch there is a down bank in which they built up a large verticle brush fence to be jumped as one with a large landing downhill. Then we head on to a brush fence bending line up a bank bounce to a rolltop. We gallop on up the hill to the wnext water. We jump a corn cob round log across the water to a brush type fence on a mound in the middle of the water. And then a bending line to a skinny brush fence. After the water we gallop on to a turkey feeder and around to the sunken road. We jump a bench down the slight hill to go up the bank to another bench. Next we head to a large table to be followed by a skinnier brush fence in line with a larger brush fence followed by another skinny brush fence. Then we gallop on to our coffin with a skinny brush down to the ditch on to another skinny brush. Next we have two large corners set 4 strides apart onto a large flower table. As we head home we jump an open oxer to a skinny (but wide) table to a roll top and then our final large table shared with both Advanced and the CIC3*! This will be a good, challenging course for the both of us and we are ready for it! We are going to have to bring it!

The Big Time...

2010-08-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here it comes! The big time! I am about to head off to Richland Park Horse Trials to compete against the best. I will be running Hannah in the CIC2* against riders like Bruce Davidson, Mara Dean, Eric Dierks, Leslie Law, Phillip Dutton (on 2 horses!), Becky Holder and many other very accomplished riders. So now I am mentally preparing for the next days upcoming events. Most importantly is keeping Hannah happy, healthy and sound. We embark on our adventure tomorrow and arrive late at the horse show. My goals consist of putting in a steady dressage test, as long as I am happy with it I won't let my score bother me. A clean jumping round on the cross country, I will be very happy if we make it in with under 15 time penalties, but most importantly I just want to jump clean and take it easy. Both Hannah & I are very green at this level so I am more looking for a good experience then a blue ribbon...or with this competition any colored ribbon! I look to jump double clean in show jumping, I will have to ride very smart in all three divisions and make sure to stay in the center of Hannah and out of her way.

I look forward to trying to keep everyone posted, I will not have internet access as I am kickin it old school and sleeping in a tent, but I will have my phone! I would love calls of encouragement so please feel free to give me a call anytime! Now it is time to focus on a steady, consistent dressage test!

The Long Road Ahead...

2010-08-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

Despite a long day, long drive & late arrival, I am here typing up my blog!

The ups and downs of eventing are never ending, but very humbling and they are the reason that I enjoy this sport so much!

So the good or the bad first?...well not really bad so we might as well start there.

I headed off to Wayne DuPage Horse Trials this weekend with Juliette to run her second preliminary horse trial. We left on Saturday, arrived in the evening, settled in and schooled the flat and walked the XC course. Surprisingly the XC course was a lot more demanding then I had expected. Pony put in her best dressage test yet, although only scoring a 40 point something she felt amazing, counter cantered both directions and walked the entire walking section! She was jumping great in show jumping but the rails were flying for the whole division! We had a lot of challenging Preliminary questions on the XC. Bending lines, skinny after skinny! Our first water complex was at the "old water" and we had to drop in over a rolltop drop to the water, across to a cabin and a bending left hand turn to a right hand corner - pony jumped it fabulously! Our next big question was up a bank, one stride off a bank, one stride off another bank, and a few strides on a bending line to a triple brush skinny - once again the pony jumped it like a seasoned pro! She has no idea how big she really is! She flew over the large tables, jumped the barrels bending line to another corner very well, took what is normally the Intermediate drop into the Maui Jim water great, landed took two the three steps and unfortunately stumbled across some bad footing. After sticking with her a few strides trying to right myself off of her neck, I hit the water while the pony scrambled to not trample me just grazing one of her hooves across my face...nose is slightly sore and I think my shoulder may have popped out, yet once again so at least I know that will be fine! All in all we had only a few more fences, she did all of the demanding questions on the course perfectly but we had to walk away with a Mandatory Retirement because you are no longer allowed to fall anywhere on the course according to the new rules. She really proved herself to being a Preliminary horse, its just hard when a 13.3 hand pony loses her balance, there really isn't anything to hold on to! I'm sure I will be sore this week, but it all comes with the long road ahead!

Now on to the GREAT news!

Students Maria Filsinger, Abby Turnacliff, Marianne Kelly doing their C3 eventing ratings & Katy Turnacliff doing her C3 & B dressage rating, all headed off to Riverfalls, WI. On Friday, the eventing group did formals and flatwork including switch rides and all passed with flying colors! Saturday morning they started out with longing, once again all passing that section and then began gridwork followed by course work and switch rides. All 3 passed the gridwork. Unfortunately Marianne's horse was being rather difficult and they didn't pass her when the course work began. Maria & Abby finished up the day with successfully passing their C3s and Marianne experience one of the lows of horses, but now knows what needs to be worked on at her next attempt, because eventers (especially eventers!) never give up!

Katy Turnacliff passed her C3 dressage on Saturday afternoon and did her B on Sunday. She used Hannah B as a her switch ride and had a great test, also passing her B rating!

Congrats to all the Pony Clubbers!

Then Maria put Pete in the trailer, headed East on 94 towards Illinois to attend the Wayne DuPage Horse Trials...in which I plotted last minute after she told me she passed. Originally we were going to go to Dunnabeck Horse Trials later in September but we are unable to attend due to a Ralph Hill clinic the same weekend. About 2 hours into the trip they had truck problems, were delayed 2 hours and didn't get to the show grounds until 11:30 that night! Pete was happy to be somewhere, it was nice and cool at night and he settled in well. Maria put a nice dressage test in the next morning, yet like everyone else had a few rails in the show jumping but they had yet to face their true test, the cross country.

Pete's history of having water issues was either going to prove to be fixed or yet show its ugly face...having two difficult water questions was really going to put Maria's riding and Pete's confidence to the test! Maria rode beautifully and due to my unfortunate departure between fences I was able to watch her skillful riding through the 2nd water complex. She tactfully brought Pete to the trot to present him to the water, he sort of shy-ed and slowed down but jogged down the huge 5 foot drop like it was a small step, across the water and out the bank one stride over the coop. I was absolutely thrilled to be able to see Maria handle the situation the way she did, I couldn't have been happier for her! She was all smiles (minus her one sad face of sympathy for the pony's mandatory retirement) when she returned to the barn! We were going over her course as we walked up to check scores once the horses were taken care of and as I was looking at the scoreboard and chatting with another rider who had an unfortunate departure about our mandatory retirements I didn't even check yet to see what she had scored. She stood by my side quietly waiting for us to finish our discussion. I turned to the scoreboard and was absolutely thrilled to see she had won the division! I didn't understand why she wasn't jumping up and down spastically because as soon as I saw the results that is exactly what I did!

I am so proud of my students over the weekend, they all handled their outcomes very maturely, learning from new mistakes made and quietly enjoying "their moment".

I am looking forward to running Hannah in the Richland Park CIC2* next week (wow that time flew by!) and the following weekend the wonder pony and I will make another attempt at the preliminary level at South Farm HT in Ohio. We have a jam packed fall season and I am looking forward to it immensely!

Stay tuned for updates on Pony Club camp this week, Becky Holder's Jr. Developing Rider Program to be held at Trophy Hill, cross country schooling at Otter Creek and more exciting adventures!

Preparing...

2010-08-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like seeing something you want and knowing that it is out of reach...

Horses can be so frustrating at times. Currently I am in the search of a individual that would like to help me out with my goals. I don't have the financial backing to purchase another horse and am hoping to find someone who would enjoy helping me achieve my goals of getting a young horse for the future.

Anyway, unexpected things can also happen. The owner of Juliette, the wonder pony, just informed me today that we will be heading off to the Chicago area on Saturday (yes, in like less then 3 days) to attend the Wayne DuPage one day. Good thing this weekend was open! As I am sure you have heard me state before, making plans with horses is no easy task. My goals with Juliette are to get four solid Preliminary runs under her belt (so far has 1) and tackling the CCI1* course at Midsouth 3Day in Kentucky in the middle of October. Of course this is no easy feat considering I am riding a 13.3 hand pony...although I will be the first to admit my level of confidence in her is quickly rising to equalling my confidence in my own 16.3 hand 2* mare.

It is great to finally have another horse (well a pony) at the upper levels. We are hoping to continue to progress in the dressage as that is not her strong suite and keep tackling the jumping obstacles as they are thrown at us. Stay tuned for our progress throughout the weekend.

As far as Ms. Hannah B goes, we are headed off on the 22nd to Michigan to stay at Philippa Humphrey's farm in Rockford for a few days and then heading down to Richland Park HT. We will be doing the CIC2* and my goal is to finish in the top third of our division. I have had great runs at Richland Park previously and hope to continue to. Last year we had 1 run out at a corner due to pilot error (of course!) but none the less had a great, successful, educational weekend. I will continue to update my blog as often as I can, feel free to give me a shout if it is not often enough! eventrider@lizlund.com

Stay tuned for posts on shows, sale horses, students and more!

Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trials

2010-08-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Early Friday morning we all headed down to Iowa City to attend Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trials owned by Susan Brigham and Jim McNutt. LLEventing had a large crew in tow, Liz was riding Juliette, owned by Katy Bloomquist Holub, at her first preliminary event. Keep in mind Juliette is the 13.3 hand grey wonder pony! Maria Filsinger & Pete doing their first preliminary as well, Abby Turnacliff & Ziggy Who moving up to the training level, Kelsie Holbrook & Tess moving up to the Novice level, Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon at their first show back since Jen's baby Sam, Morgan Samuelson & Ricky at their first show together competed at the beginner novice level, and Janelle Johnson & Royal Cootitan at their last beginner novice before they plan to move up to novice. As you can see we had quite the crew!

Liz Lund Eventing polo shirts came in, so we were all able to represent in style. We had a lot of comments on how great we looked and how much of a team we were.

As soon as we arrived the work began, unloading, filling water buckets, organizing trunks, cleaning tack, riding horses and teaching lessons. Friday afternoon involved everyone taking a dressage lesson and then doing course walks...to say the least I was a little tired after walking BN, N, T & P courses one after the other. We had some light rain on and off throughout Friday and it rained on into the night. We all headed off to eat dinner and get some sleep for a bright and early morning.

Arriving at the farm at 5:45am on Saturday I had to bathe and braid Juliette for her early dressage ride. She put in a great warm up on the grass and the studs I had chosen were of the appropriate size for the grass footing dampened from the previous night's rain and the morning's dew. As we began our final rounds around the outside of the dressage arena before we heard the bell, she became a little tense and tight, I did my best to keep her pushing into the bridle. We entered the ring and she put in a decent test, she flipped once in her counter canter which was immediately corrected, and rewarded for later, but over all had a steady test. The judge seemed to like the pony and complimented me for my soft giving hands even though the pony was tentative to accept the contact. We were generously rewarded a 37, to be 5th out of a competitive group of 20. I was pleased with Juliette's performance and we headed back to the stable to switch tack and put some larger studs in for some higher speeds and slicker footing.

We had a lovely warm up for the cross country. Everyone always is surprised when she enters the arena, you can almost see in their express "You are taking that pony at this level?!". She jumped well and was easy to adjust. We headed over to the start box and off we went. She had a great pace considering she has to take probably twice as many steps as the other horses in the division. She was great to everything, jumped strong into the water but I was able to hold to our bending line to the skinny. She handled everything like a champ and I am looking forward to stepping it up at a more challenging preliminary. She recovered nicely after the course adding only 7.6 time faults to her dressage score to secure her 5th place into show jumping.

The next morning she was anything but tired, she was bathed again (of course she loves her poop pillows) in the morning and then hand walked. As I tacked her up she was pawing at her stall ready to go! Again she had a lovely warm up, and jumped a double clear round in the show jumping which proved to be a tough course for a lot of horses and riders having rails come down and time on the clock. She finished 4th in her first preliminary, a very successful show!

I couldn't have asked my students to have performed any better. Almost all of them were moving up a level! Maria had a lovely XC round on Pete, he jumped into the water with out even questioning it, Maria rode it lovely preparing him for the drop in with a large trot circle. She had a double clean show jumping round and finished in 2nd place at her first preliminary! Abby Turnacliff & her horse Ziggy Who made the move up to training level and jumped clean around the cross country with only one rail down in show jumping to finish in 5th place. Jen Johnson and her horse Loose Cannon were back at it after delivering a beautiful baby boy and finished 4th in their novice division. Kelsie Holbrook & Tess made their move up to the Novice level to jump double clean finishing on their dressage score in 3rd place. Morgan Samuelson and her new mount Ricky, owned by Cindy Piper, competed at their first horse trials together at the Beginner Novice level and finished 2nd on their dressage score. Janelle Johnson and & Royal Cootitan (Ty) completed their final beginner novice, before preparing to move up to the Novice level, in style winning the division as well as the Madison Brigham Memorial Low Point Jr. award.

Congrats to everyone! Looking forward to our next adventure!

Stay tuned as Maria & Liz head off to South Farm HT in Ohio to compete Pete & Juliette at their second preliminary horse trials!

Midsummer Update

2010-08-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Alpine Farm hosted a hunter/jumper show in which we attended on June 25th. I brought Juliette, the 13.3 hand sale pony and showed her in the Level 2s & 3s. She jumped around very well. Student, Kelsie Holbrook and her horse Tess competed in the 0s, 1s and 2s and gained a lot more experience in the jumper ring.

The following weekend we headed off to Parkside Dressage show, also at Alpine Farm. Both myself on Hannah and Maria on Pete went to compete. Maria had a very successful weekend, winning all 5 of her classes at 1st and 2nd level with scores in the mid to high sixties. Hannah performed our first 4th level test, we had an amazing warmup with wonderful lateral movement and lovely changes but when we entered the ring she became a little tense. None the less I was very happy with her performance in the test as well as her 3 other 3rd level tests.

Attending our local jumper and dressage shows is a great way to get more ring time to help prepare for upcoming events.

Maria headed off to Chicago for Young Rider Camp with Pete and learned a lot of valuable information from her riding lessons to unmounted lessons.

The Liz Lund Eventing team has been working hard as we are preparing to head of to Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trials July 30th-August 1st. Stay tuned for a horse show update!

The Upset

2010-06-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

This is the story I was working on for my creative writing class - enjoy!

The Upset

I never imagined that I would end up lying in this hospital bed with my dreams and future crashing down around me. I don’t remember the impact or anything leading up to it, all I do know is that I should not be here.

“3…2…1...have a nice ride.”

With those words echoing in my ears, we thunder out of the start box. Within seconds, Watkins is powering toward our first fence. This is what I live for, the sudden rush of adrenaline and the power of a 1200 pound animal beneath me. Each stride gets longer and freer as we head down a galloping lane, his hooves beating in perfect time with my heart.

As I come back to consciousness the rhythmic galloping fades into a slow, steady, high pitched beep coming from the heart monitor. At least I am awake enough to know the consistent sound means that I am somewhat living although I feel as if I have been run over by a high speed train. With blurry eyes I try and gain my focus to look around the room but my eyelids grow heavy as I sink back into unconsciousness.

We are nearing a difficult part of the course, where combinations and meandering lines take the place of nice, galloping fences. Watkins has found his rhythm, each stride powerful and purposeful as we head toward the next fence. I see it growing larger between his ears as we approach, and before I know it we are safely on the other side. People cheer as we head through the water complex, droplets scattering and reflecting the light like a million tears. I check my watch – it’s time to speed things up.

I burst into reality and try to reach up to wipe the sweat streaming off of my forehead only to realize I cannot move my arms. A white alien walks into the room and introduces himself as Dr. Finkley. As far as I can tell his straining hospital gown is at least two sizes too small, but his short round stature seems warm and comforting.

“Glad to see you awake Ms. Carlson, we have been waiting for you to come around. Your mother is waiting outside, shall I bring her in?”

I blink trying to comprehend what the doctor is talking about and stutter,
“sure”.

In a second my curly haired, rambunctious mother runs through the door. She hurries to my side and reaches for my hand but quickly retreats unsure as to where to put her hands. I don’t even want to see myself from her reaction. Before I know it she has tears dripping down her face even though she is smiling ear to ear. Still no one has said anything as I give her a confused and scared look.

She begins to open her mouth to speak as I blurt out the words,
“Where is Watkins? What happened? Is he okay?”

The smell of the sterile environment and latex gloves wafts into my nostrils as I blink cautiously and try to steady the spinning room. The white walls, white lab coats and white equipment blur together as I fade back in time.

We near the end of our course and I can tell Watkins is laboring. Each breath comes with a little more effort than the last, and his neck is frothy with sweat. Even still, I push on, knowing that too many time faults will drop us out of the lead.

“This is what we’ve prepared for,” I whisper into his ears as we gallop along, “I know you can do this.”

Quickly I come around as my mother’s words become a reality.

“You had a bad fall at the last fence, honey; it was awful; he tried so hard…”

Before she finished I cut her off,
“Well where is he? Is he going to be alright? It was my fault; I shouldn’t have asked him for more than he could have given.”
As I speak I begin to taste the salt from my own tears streaming down my face.

“Yes honey, he is alright, he is at home resting, and has missed you for the last week.”

“A WEEK?!” I shriek in disgust. “What happened, when can I see him?”

It’s the approach to the final fence, and my watch, large and luminous, is ticking down the remaining seconds far too fast. I push Watkins for everything he has, asking him for the long spot to the big table jump. He hesitates, and then takes an awkward half-step before launching off the ground with every ounce of effort he possesses. Even from take-off, I know it will not be enough. The fence looms too large in my view, and within a few seconds the world is turned upside down. I feel a sharp pain sting throughout my body as I see Watkins coming down on top of me, a second before everything goes black.

“It was just a bad distance, neither of you saw your spot and he gave it all he had and you stuck with him until you couldn’t hold on any longer,” explained my mother.
I now remember bursts of consciousness that come with my shortness of breath and the numb sensation tingling through my body.

“It seems Leigh Carlson has had a bad fall at fence 25. Please hold the horses out on the course as we make way for the ambulance to come through,” the announcer booms over the loud speaker.

I see the flashing lights and scattering of people. As I blink in slow motion paramedics are asking questions but I can’t make my mouth form any answers. I try to look around for Watkins but cannot find him anywhere. I can tell people are touching me and moving me around, strapping restraints on me, sticking needles into my arms, a breathing device is secured around my face but still everything is moving so slowly.

“I saw the whole thing and watched in horror as there was nothing I could do about it. I was scared to death and rushed over to you. You were hardly conscious and struggling to breathe. Your limbs were mangled in ways that they shouldn’t have been able to bend. The paramedics secured you to a back board with breathing support and rushed you into the hospital,” my mother sighs and mumbles off into silence as Dr. Finkley takes over explaining what had happened.

“You had emergency surgery to repair a punctured lung, but thankfully that was the only internal damage you had. I’m sure you are pretty sore, you broke four ribs, one which caused the lung damage, multiple breaks in your pelvis, a bad concussion and broke the right side of your clavicle as well as your left humerus.”

My jaw dropped as the injuries were listed off and all I could think about was how this would ruin my plans to make it on the North American Young Rider Team in my last year I was eligible to ride as a Young Rider. Instantly my mind switched to how thankful I was that I would be able to walk into the barn and see my Watkins once again.

“Thankfully nothing more serious happened and Watkins is safe and sound at home,” my instantly cheerful mother piped in.
I smiled at her in agreement as I thought about the next time I would be able to see and ride Watkins again.

As I climb up the podium to accept my medal, tears come to my eyes as I think that only six months ago I was lying in a hospital bed watching my dreams and future crash down around me. Not only am I thankful to be alive but I am able to ride again and realize that my dreams have come true. I made it to the North American Young Rider Championships and though I did not win the individual gold, I know that I will be back on top again.

I looked into the bleachers and see my mother with tears in her eyes. As we make eye contact we both know how lucky I am to be standing here. Our team accepts our award and we mount our horses for a victory gallop. I am thankful for the opportunity to be back atop Watkins again.
I close my eyes and wrap my arms around his muscular neck.

In an instant my eyes snap open to the bright lights of the hospital room and I realize my perfect reality is just a dream. It will be a long, tough road to recovery, but I know that thundering hooves, flaring nostrils and the smell of leather will be my whole world again someday. This is what I love and this is what I will do.

Looking Ahead

2010-06-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hi again!

It has been far too long since my last post - but late is better than never!!

I am sitting outside the trailer right now at Carriage House Farm having just finished my ride on Juliette (the wonder pony) in the Ralph Hill clinic. I thought it would be a perfect time to blog!

Well lets see what I have done since last time...I rode in the Jimmy Wofford clinic the weekend before my CIC2* at Otter Creek. I really enjoyed the ring work we did on Saturday and the different exercises Wofford set up. They really made you think about each step along the way. One interesting one I thought he set up was a vertical - perfect 3 strides to an oxer - perfect three strides to another vertical. It rode long from the vertical to oxer and short from oxer to vertical even tho mathematically it should have been perfect. It was a good exercise. The cross country day was pretty easy going and we just did a few small exercises - Hannah performed very well.

Then we were off to Otter Creek Spring and to our first CIC2*. With everything in line thanks to a lot of friends and family we arrived at Otter Creek on Thursday afternoon. Things were a little hectic at first as I had three dressage lessons back to back on all three of the horses I was competing but after that I was able to settle in, get everything organized, do my in barn and teach my own students later in the day. Friday I was up early for dressage. Hannah warmed up pretty well, she wasn't as soft and just stayed a little tense throughout her test but we scored a 64.2 to put us in 2nd place. The cross country looked challenging but very do-able. The three CIC2* riders all huddled in the barn as we waited for the go-ahead to get on our horses and start warming up. There were storms and we had a little over an hour delay then we all mounted and walked up to the warm up. Each rider ran clean on the XC, but we all racked up time because of the footing. We added 27.6 time faults to our score but kept our 2nd place position and the placings tightened up even more. Show jumping proved to be tough as I watched the first rider drop three rails. Hannah had a great warm up and didn't feel tired at all the from the cross country. She headed to the ring and knew what she was there to do. She jumped double clean - the only double clean at the 2* and Intermediate level! She was fabulous and we finished in 2nd place - couldn't have asked for anything more.

Juliette - also known as the wonder pony - was fabulous as well. She put in a lovely dressage test scoring a 40.5 to put her in 11th place out of 15 riders. No worries - she always makes up the placings on the cross country & in show jumping. She ran a lovely course - plenty of air time over the training level fences and of course no notice to the fact that she is just a 14.1 hand pony! She jumped a fabulous show jumping round and due to rider error she had a rail on the last fence. She moved up from 11th after dressage to finish in 4th place! What a good pony!

Just Truffle - a young horse owned by Ginny Buell was my third ride for the weekend. She was green and showed a little tension previous to mounting on Thursday so we decided to longe her a little before the lesson and before dressage on Friday. The longing helped her relax and she was able to focus on her test. She put in a steady test - a little behind the vertical at times but scored a 36.2. On XC she was a little green but jumped each fence and only added 4 time faults to her score. Show jumping she lost her head a little - each fence was fine but in between the fences was quite scary! She got around the course but definitely needs more ring experience! I wish Ginny the best of luck with her future shows!

Maria had a great weekend on Pete in the Jr. Training - to make up for the stop at Spring Bay early in the year she jumped a clean cross country round and Pete didn't even look twice at the water! She lost her mind a little in the show jumping ring and forgot where she was going, but thanks to her mega lead she was able to have two rails and still take first place!

Kelsie Holbrook rode Tess is the Jr. Beginner Novice and had a wonderful show. For never scoring under a mid to high 40 the 26.7 looked pretty good. She jumped double clean on the XC and a double clean show jumping round the finish in first place on her dressage score.

It was a great weekend for Liz Lund Eventing!!

Next we headed off to Carriage House Combined test to bump the horses up a notch. Unfortunately Pete, Maria's horse had some skin issues on his legs and wasn't able to attend (she is in Kansas now attending Queeny Park - her first show on Pete without me - good luck to her!) Juliette stepped it up quite a bit for her best dressage score to date! Not only was it her best score but it was her first time at the Preliminary level. She jumped amazingly throughout the show jumping course with once again (will I ever learn?!) having a rail at the last fence again! She jumped through the large course very well & finished in 4th place.

Hannah performed a lovely test at her first Advanced. She had lovely changes in the warm up but grew anticipatory in the test but scored a respectable 37.8. She jumped a double clean round in the show jump ring just in time to clear out before a storm hit...even though the storm only lasted about 10 minutes it was nice to be done before the bad weather.

Students Kristine and Janelle had a great show also. This was one of Kristine's first shows and she rode fabulously and finished successfully! Her daughter Janelle rode a lovely test and finished in the Beginner Novice in 2nd place. It was a great day again for Liz Lund Eventing!

The Ralph Hill clinic today went very well! Juliette jumped very well today we jumped a X from the trot (6 pony strides) to an oxer was one exercise. Then we trotted into a 3 bounce line. Then we had 3 - 10 foot canter poles to an oxer with a pole on the landing side. A tight turn to a 21 foot one stride vertical to vertical. They were all great exercises and the pony was great!

On Hannah we did something slightly different just to sharpen her up. We started with the X to the oxer exercise and the bounce exercise then just worked on jumping to oxer with a placement rail on take off from really tight turns. It really got her thinking and she was jumping very well.

Right now I am also working on finishing up one online class - creative writing - which when I am done I will post my story on here! Then I start two more online classes on Monday...eeek! Then one more late this summer and two in the fall and I should be done with school!! I can't wait!

So far I am off to an A rated Hunter/Jumper show the 23rd-27th of May at Alpine on Juliette to do some jumper classes with her and see if anyone in the jumper world is interested in her as a jumper pony. Sue Goepfert jokingly said she would find 2800 people to donate $10 so we could start a Pony Syndicate so I could keep the ride on Juliette! Wouldn't that be fun!

Following the H/J show I am taking Hannah to a dressage show at Alpine on July 3/4 to do some 3rd and 4th level tests to get some ring time. Then we are off to Montana to run the Open Intermediate at Rebecca Farm. I have heard wonderful things about the place!

After that I plan on doing the CIC2* at Richland Park HT in MI during August & then the Open Intermediate at Otter Creek in the fall. Following Otter Creek I will be aiming for a CCI2* at Fair or Chatahoochie in October...we shall decide as the time gets closer! I will try and keep in touch more often but with school and a busy teaching and training schedule who knows when I will be back next!

Preparing for Otter Creek Spring CIC2*

2010-05-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

The winter season in Florida has paid off. Hannah is in great shape and we are ready to go to our first CIC2* at Otter Creek Spring Horse Trials in less than 2 weeks.

Last weekend I rode Hannah in the Ralph Hill clinic. Saturday was at Trophy Hill and Sunday was cross country at Carriage House. On Saturday we did a great exercise that worked on rhythm and keeping a steady pace, a balance and the correct leads. Hannah was jumping great, we ended the day in the water. On Sunday we warmed up like we would at a horse show over a x, vertical and oxer. Hannah was cracking over the large oxer and we headed to our start box and practiced leaving the box, getting in a rhythm and jumping a few fences. We then schooled banks, ditches and water. We schooled some tough bending lines and Hannah was right on for each one.

I also rode Juliette, the 14.1 hand grey pony owned by Katy Bloomquist Holub in preparation for her first outing of the year, training level at Otter Creek. She was also a rockstar over the weekend.

Today I rode Hannah & Juliette in dressage lessons with my dressage trainer Alison Sader Larson. I had two great rides, although the more Hannah gets fit the harder she is to ride in the dressage, but hopefully it will come together at the horse show.

I am planning on riding Hannah with Jimmy Wofford this weekend at Pine Meadow Farm in Delano, MN as a final preparation for the CIC2*. I will keep you posted after the weekend!

There is nothing quite as pleasant as coming home again...

2010-04-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Its feels so good to be home! As hard as it is to be an International level event rider from the state of Minnesota-I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's where I grew up, where my family and friends are, as well as my loyal students and clients!

The drive home went by quickly-and moving back in was easier than expected-I suppose you get used to moving when you do it a lot!

I moved out of my apartment at school in Menomonie and into an apartment with friend and local dressage trainer, Sarah Travis. It is great to have a girl as a roommate and new friend!

Work began quickly, lessons started to add up and I am now working on finishing up details to leasing my own farm! I just began working out of North Brook Eventing Center (formerly North Brook Farm) with Jan Fisk and Alison Sader Larson and really look forward to getting a good event training center started.

I hope to bring in a few more training horses and students into my barn, and plan to take things as they come!

A lot more to come, I am coaching Maria Filsinger and her horse Pete in KY this weekend at their first event of the season. I can't wait to watch my students progress throughout this 2010 show season!

Stay tuned, til next time! Kick on!

Ice in your veins...

2010-04-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

"You have to have ice in your veins".
Don't always take the first spot that you see.
Be patient.
Rhythm. Balance. Suppleness. Bada bum.

These are just a few things that have been running through my head lately. My favorite quote is the ice in your veins. Translation-there is a strong decision to be made-must be made with a meditated outcome in order to avoid having regret to your reactions in which could make the situation worse.

Stick to your gut-don't let "flight" instincts take over. Riding is a series of decision making. Small corrections and adjustments made to both horse and rider in order to complete the required task.

Coming back to Rocking Horse after my fall at the previous one-required me to have ice in my veins. I had to come back and prove that I had learned from my previous mistakes. My goals were set and I was ready to conquer the weekend.

Like all of the other FL horse shows there was at least one rainy day...as we loaded up Friday AM in the rain, I began to grow more nervous for the show jumping phase which was to be help in the afternoon.

As I warmed up for dressage, taking careful note to the footing, I over heard the announcer say that show jumping has been moved to Sunday. I was completely relieved in which helped me relax for my dressage test. Hannah put in a great performance. We scored a 32.8 which put us in 2nd for the day. I was very happy with Hannah-the judge stated that I had a "good mudder". That is the quarter shire in her pulling through!

I walked my cross country and was really excited, the course looked challenging with lots of good lines and questions. It would be a true test of the work we had done over the winter.

I can definitely say Hannah wasn't backed off at anything, the nice thing last year when I had just moved her up to Intermediate was that she backed herself off from the fences, she didn't seem to this time around! I definitely will need more bit for the future, my half halts were ineffective and I had a hard time getting her back before fences. She jumped everything fabulously and we came in with only 3.2 time faults! The time faults moved us back to 3rd, but I was just happy with the clean round!

After preparing at HITS previously in the week I felt ready for show jumping. Although the ring at Rocking Horse was much smaller than the large jumper rings at Post Time, I felt prepared. We headed into the ring after a short warmup and jumped a nice round with only one rail. After negotiating the tough show jumping course that proved to cause issues for many, we ended a very successful weekend of accomplishing our goal-to complete our first Intermediate horse trial of 2010. Not only did we accomplish our goal but we ended up winning the division. It was a fabulous way to end the Florida season.

Stay tuned for more recent updates! Kick on!

Rocking Horse III 2010

2010-02-21T16:32:00.000-08:00

Well no body said this job would be easy! This weekend was not what we had hoped for as far as results go, but this is a sport and definitely a chosen lifestyle that you can either handle or you can't. I had an unfortunate fall in show jumping on Friday but instead of walking away with a negative attitude I look at it as a learning experience and a chance to improve at the next show.

I am lucky to say that I really do feel it was a fluke and that it is very fixable, where it could have easily been something worse. I am thankful for what it was but just disappointed as the cross country looked as if it would have been a great experience for both Hannah and me.

Hannah was jumping really well around the first half of the show jumping course and as we came off of a one stride 6A/B we landed and I took a half halt to set her up for 7, which was on a slight bending left turn set on an off stride, a holding 7 or a moving 6 and no body seemed to have a good ride to it throughout the entire event. As I half halted between 6B and 7 Hannah threw her weight slightly to the right and I straightened her to the fence and she didn't even seem to see it as we were upon it too quickly and when she set her front legs down, in which I thought was in an effort to jump, it was really in her realization that she was at a fence and she stopped and I popped off. I thanked the judge and met the EMTs at the in-gate so they could be sure that I was alright. As soon as I was checked out I jumped a few warm up fences, patted Hannah and walked back to the trailer with a quick ending to a weekend that should have been quite successful.

We will head off to HITS before Rocking Horse Spring and jump around a Level 4 just to make sure it was a fluke. We have plenty of time between now and our next event to make sure that we are well prepared!

This is definitely a sport of ups and downs. I heard a quote that fits it well;

"The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dreams, and how you handle disappointments along the way."

I feel this quote holds true because we are in a sport that unfortunately comes with a lot of disappointment. On a positive not it also comes with a lot of success, and the disappointments make the success that much more enjoyable.

I will keep updates on HITS and how the training is coming along!!

Enjoy what you have because at any given time it could be taken away.

Until next time! I hope to be able to share many of my upcoming experiences with everyone along the way! Keep on ridin'!

Florida 2010 Update #2!

2010-02-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

Finally the sun is beginning to warm us up down here...It was 25 degrees this morning, I didn't come here for cold weather...oh well, at least we have sunshine and good horse life down here! I am so grateful for being down here and having the chance to be able to compete during the winter season and get a head start on the 2010 competitions.

Things have been great down here. Autumn's horse, Alpek had a successful surgery to remove the tumor in his nostril, he is healing up well and the tumor was benign and he will come back to work as soon as his face heals. She recently purchased a new horse, The Real Deal, who is an Irish boy and is a ton of fun! She has successfully competed him at two training level events now, taking 3rd place at Rocking Horse II this week. She is doing her first preliminary on him this weekend at Rocking Horse III. Lark is moving her horse Pelaar up to Novice at the weekend and Philly will be riding Rockstar (Rich N' Famous), Proximo and Oliver (Prince Charming). Another busy weekend ahead of us, the work never seems to end but we are all having a great time!

I have met some nice people at the tack store, Winning Edge, owned by Ed McNamara and really enjoy working there a few times a week. Our days of full of work, showing, chores, riding and cleaning!

I am taking Hannah to Rocking Horse III this weekend and we are competing in the Intermediate Rider division. She has been really good on the flat this week, I have been working her in her double and she is really coming into the contact well and not throwing her head and front legs in the air....so I am hoping for a quality test tomorrow. I had a jump school on her last night with Philly and we worked on jumping down the hill with bending lines to skinnies and making sure that on the landing stride she is on the half halt and waiting for ME to tell her where to go rather then just landing and galloping on like she thinks she knows what is next...we had some issues with that last fall at Wayne DuPage. Now that I have her listening a lot better I hope to jump clean at our first Intermediate of the season.

Mr. Max has been doing well and enjoying the Florida weather. He did his first jumper show at HITS week I and did great! I have a few interested people in him so I am hoping to get him sold before I head back north, in less than a month now!

I will keep updates through the weekend!

2010-Florida!

2010-02-08T06:06:00.000-08:00

Florida...where I plan on spending every winter for a very very long time! Things have been great down here. I first drove down with my dressage trainer, Alison Sader Larson, to Palm Beach Gardens and stayed with her for a little while, helped her get settled and the horses settled. I returned home for the Holidays and headed out on the road again to Palm Beach Gardens to spend a week with Alison until the horses arrived. I headed north to Ocala on Saturday the 16th to meet my horses and my event trainer from Michigan, Philippa Humphreys as well as another family from Minnesota, the Schweiss'. Autumn & Lark Schweiss are living down in FL with Philippa and me, then the family, dad-Mike, mom-Julie, and sister-Brook come down on weekends for horse shows.

The first week we made sure to have the horses all settled in and did a lot of road work and hacking. Then we got to work. I have Hannah down here, as well as a sale horse, Maximum Eclipse, aka Max. I have met some cool people down here. I began immediately looking for work right away and found a job at the tack store, The Winning Edge. I work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the shop. Each day I get up around 7am, feed the horses, clean stalls and begin the day!

I am currently enrolled in 3 classes through UW-Stout that are offered online, so I have to stay on top of my schoolwork. The days here are long and filled so by night we are all ready for bed nice and early!

Max is a really great horse. He would be perfect for a young teenager looking to get some show experience. He would do amazing as a jumper or a lower level event horse. Perfect horse for a pony clubber looking to move through the ratings. In the summer of 2009 he was the horse Annie Jones rode to achieve her B USPC rating.

I have completed my first show of the season, Rocking Horse I. We competed in the I/P division. Hannah was great, her dressage was nice and steady, I thought she deserved a better score than a 39, but in comparison to the rest of the class we were placed right in the middle at 6th place. Following dressage we had show jumping, the track was proving to be difficult for a lot of the horses. Even the 4 star horses who were just coming back to for the 2010 show season were having rails and time faults. We had one rail and added on a few time faults but even with that it moved us up two places to 4th place. The cross country track was really friendly for a first show. Lots of galloping fences and not too technical. I felt very comfortable going out. Hannah felt as if she was right back in the middle of show season and knew exactly what her job was. We jumped clean and came home inside the time moving us up to finish in 3rd place.

It was a great first show! The next show is going to be Rocking Horse III the third weekend in February and we will be doing Intermediate in preparation for the CIC2* at Otter Creek in May. I look forward to seeing everyone at the horse shows! Stay tuned!

Winter '09-'10

2009-11-17T11:51:00.000-08:00

Well...I suppose it isn't quite winter here yet...but the leaves have changed colors and fallen from the trees leaving our land looking desolate and barren. We have already had some snow but are quite lucky to have some very nice weather right now. The sun is shining and it is a steamy 45 degrees out!

I have moved all of the jumps into the indoor arena for the winter as to begin our grid work and gymnastic schooling in order to prepare for the 2010 season. The horses have grown full winter coats and are nice and warm in the biting cold air outside. Poor Hannah had all of her coat shaved off for the winter but is bundled up warmly in her blankets. Most of my students are in school during the day so lessons don't begin until the sun as set around 430pm and the kids are scurrying out of school in order to have the barn air comfort their stresses from school.

I myself have gone back full time at the University of Wisconsin-Stout only to once again have a very nice schedule of only having classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays allowing me a lot of time to spend at the farm with the horses.

I am done with school in the near future...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Right now the plan is to head to Florida for two months, January 15-March 15 with my eventing trainer, Philippa Humphreys. She is renting a farm in Ocala really close to the HITS show grounds and I will be staying and training with her. So far the plan is just to train, if finances allow I will hopefully do a show or two, but we will see when that time comes. I will be continuing my education by taking online classes, so I will need to find a nice internet cafe with a nice comfy couch to confide myself to on a daily basis.

My students will be taking a lot of lessons prior to me leaving for Florida in order to prepare them for two months away from a regular program. Upon my return we will continue lessons and I hope to start to build more upon Liz Lund Eventing. As I near the end of my school life...which seems like my life, I have done nothing but go to school for just about my entire life, I am looking to expand my business and bring in new clients, students and horses. Stay tuned for more updates on my business.

I now have my logo secured and will be making my Liz Lund Eventing gear soon. If you are interested in any gear from hats, jackets, t-shirts and more please contact me at eventrider@lizlund.com or (952)210-9448.

Thanks all for now, stay tuned for training tips and more updates. Keep kickin'!

Otter Creek Fall HT 2009

2009-11-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

So, now that the shows have ended and we are heading into the dreaded cold season here in MN, it is time for me to get back to my blogging!

Otter Creek. One of my favorite shows with my favorite midwesterners! I love living in MN, I truely do, despite the cold weather and a short show season, it is my home.

I was lucky to have picked up a Training Level ride on Juliette, the pony that I moved up to Training level at Wayne DuPage and a new horse, Centauri, owned by Jean Kunz to debut his eventing career with me, at the Beginner Novice level, and of course Hannah I was taking Intermediate.

I'll start with Centauri. It had been awhile since I had shown a greeny. Centauri is a nice horse, 8 year old Hannoverian from Missouri. Jean had just purchased him no more then 2 weeks before the horse show. We decided to give it a shot, take him out for the experience and the atmosphere, giving him a confidence boost in his show exposure. He is a very nice mover, has a big jump and really uses his neck effectively. To view some videos of Centauri at Otter Creek please follow the following link- http://www.youtube.com/user/RiderL9.

He put in a nice dressage round scoring a 39.5. Not bad for his first time out! We were ready for cross country on Saturday. I really wanted to take it slow and build his confidence so we headed out of the start box in a nice steady trot...which Steve Kath, local announcer and friend for years, since I had started my eventing career, enjoyed pointing out to the crowd how slowly we were going! Centauri looked at the crowds and the different fences but stayed focuses, he jumped clean and we had some time of course...but he was able to canter certain fences and areas of the course as long as he stayed focused on his job ahead of him. He seemed to definitely enjoy it out there! Show jumping was a blast. Centauri has an amazing canter, he just feels like a rocking horse underneath the saddle. He jumped a clear round and finished his first show with no jumping faults! Overall Centauri had a great experience not only out being ridden, but he really seemed relaxed the entire weekend and enjoyed the show atmosphere. He never whinnied when one of his friends left he just quietly munched on his hay and would lay down everyday in his stall.

The pony, Juliette, is always a joy to ride. She put in one of her best dressage tests yet, only to sit us in dead last on a 43, a score I thought to be a little unfair. She is a pony, so of course she moves shorter then most but she is obedient and does her job. We are constantly working on more stride and length with her and she is coming along well, we can only hope to see a difference in the scores next season! Well cross country is definitely this little rockets thing! I guided her flawlessly around the large training level course and came in under the optimum time to move us up to 6th place out of the original 14 starters. The show jumping course proved to be challenging for everyone throughout the day. There was only 30 some rounds that were jumped clean out of over 175 competitors. She felt great underneath me and was jumping well but we had an unfortunate 2 rails, but having the show jumping proving to be challenging to everyone we finished in 5th place. Another great outing for the pony-another great step towards the Preliminary level!

And on to my favorite-Hannah! The connection that Hannah and I have is irreplaceable and I will never probably have the same bond with another horse as I do with Hannah. We know each other in and out. We put in a lovely dressage test to sit in 3rd on a 38.6. We rode Intermediate test A-my least favorite of the 3 test as we have to ride in the small arena. It is really hard to do all of the movements asked in an Intermediate test well in a small ring. Excuses excuses, but I felt we had a great ride regardless. I was excited for the cross country. It was my goal coming into the show to jump a clean cross country round, even if that meant adding a few more then desired time faults to our score. Not only did we jump a clean round but it was amazing! If anyone knows me they know my fear of weldon's walls, having had a bad fall at a clinic the spring of 2007 into one, I just haven't gotten that out of my head. So of course, Otter Creek built a new, rather large, Weldon's wall in the middle of their field for the Intermediate course. The course presented a lot of challenging questions, from triple brush skinnies, two water complexes, bounce banks, corners on a bending line, large tables, a sunken road consisting of a bench, bounce down a bank, two strides across the road up the next bank and a bounce out over another bench and of course me ever so dreaded weldon's wall. The course couldn't have ridden better. We rode in perfect harmony over everything racking up a few time penalties but moved up to 2nd place. I couldn't have been happier, what a great way to run my final cross country course of the season. Show jumping also went well, as I said previously the rails came down like rain. I watched a competitor before me pull out of the ring, another had over 8 rails, not so comforting as you head into the ring! All in all, Hannah jumped well having only 2 rails and I was pleased! We finished in 2nd out of a mere 5 competitors, but none the less it wasn't about the placing it was about the performance and I couldn't have asked for anything more!

It was a great weekend, I met a lot of new people and it was an amazing closer to the 2009 show season. I am looking forward to winter training and coming out even stronger then ever for the 2010 season!

Richland Park Horse Trials 2009

2009-10-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

Liz & Hannah at the first water complex at Richland Park HT 2009:

LLEventing headed on, shortly after having arrived home from Wayne DuPage, back across Illinois to Richland, Michigan. Liz had Hannah in the Open Intermediate division and student Jen Johnson and Cannon rode in the Training Rider division.

Liz's dressage score wasn't quite what she was hoping for but nevertheless they put in a decent ride. The cross country course was the biggest and most challenging course Liz & Hannnah had yet to ride, but it was designed well and looked as if it flowed great together. The cross country course went well, we had one rider error at our second corner on the course, probably the biggest corners I have jumped, so I mentally freaked myself out and pushed for the long one...which as we all know is not the solution when riding a "skinny" type fence. I allowed for the right hand runout, represented and jumped the corner flawlessly. We continued on our way, galloping around the familiar course from last year's horse show, but this year, having moved up a level-it presented a lot more, tougher questions! I had a blast and Hannah seemed to enjoy herself also.

Having only ridden at Richland once I had heard they had a reputation for large show jumping. The course seemed long, but looked like it would ride smooth and ride smooth it did. I had a great warmup and was about ready to head into the ring when I heard a 'snap'. A spectator informed me the noise was Hannah's shoe. Having only 15 riders in my division I quickly found the farrier, had the shoe put back on and headed back into the warmup ring. I made it just in time to be the last rider of the divison, having a lot of people come up to me congratulating me for being placed so well...which well, was not the case but it felt good! We rode a nice course having only the last rail of a square oxer come down. I was very pleased with our performance from the weekend.

It was time to get prepared for our final event of the season, Otter Creek. A course I had yet to complete at the Intermediate level. It was my goal, to jump clean on the cross country, having had Wayne & Richland have one runout, both of which were rider erros. I was absolutely determined to stick to my guns and ride out my plan.

Wayne DuPage Horse Trials 2009

2009-08-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well it felt as if we had just gotten home from Catalpa as we were heading on the road to another show. We could do the drive to Illinois with our eyes closed. Once again the weather was great and the horses traveled well. We arrived safe and sound to Wayne DuPage Horse Trials.

It was going to be a fun weekend I could tell as soon as we arrived. I had picked up a catch ride for Katy Bloomquist-Holub on her pony, yes literally a pony, Juliette, at her first Training Level event. Hannah had come off an awesome dressage lesson on Weds and we were ready to perform.

Maria had Pete at the show and this would be her last novice before we have her move up to training level at Trott Brook Horse Trials so we really wanted a positive, confident run.

Friday was dressage. Hannah was first to go, I decided to ride her in the double bride as we were riding Intermediate Test B which is held in the large arena, our favorite! She performed a beautiful test while her rider on the other hand was a little out of it. I had one error in our test, we were supposed to walk KBM and I accidentally walked KXM, we had to re-perform our movement but scored a 7 on it, which is great as we don't normally score well on our walks! We were in Arena 1 right next to the road and in one of our 3 loop canter serpentines, a truck decided to use it's air brakes and Hannah did not like that so much, spooked a little but came right back to work. Despite my mistake and the slight spook I felt as if we had really given it our best. Later in the day I found out that our score really reflected the hard work we had been putting in with my trainers Alison Sader Larsen and Ken Larsen. We were sat in first on a 24.6, the best score we have EVER earned. I was thrilled.

I then had a bigger challenge of making sure the pony would perform a decent dressage test. She definitely loves to jump, but does not enjoy the dressage so much. She gets bored. For the most part she was well behaved. Slightly jiggy in the walk and quick in her transitions but we earned a 39.5 which put us in 16th out of a division of 17...oh well, we went to jump around anyway!

Maria had a lovely test as usual on Pete, they scored a 35.8 which I thought was a little harsh but that sat them in 5th place in a Jr Novice division of 13. Again, we mainly wanted the both of them to have a great confident weekend before their big move up to training level.

Friday we walked the cross country courses. I thought the Intermediate course looked great and had some challenging questions on it. The question I was most worried about was the bounce banks down, bending line to a triple step skinny. Well my worries proved to be correct as we did end up having a run out on Saturday due to some inexperience at the Intermediate level. I circled her right around and she popped right on over it on our second attempt. We racked up some time with our run out but we still sat comfortably in 4th.

The Training Level course looked fun, because I had only been riding Prelim for the last four years it was refreshing to see something slightly smaller, especially because I was on a pony that I had only a few rides on and it was her first training. The course was a nice forward course, not too many combinations but some maxed out training fences for sure. The pony was full of piss and vinegar in the warm up but I knew she would settle in once we were out of the start box and heading out on course. I wasn't quite sure of how to run her because she was a pony, so of course generally she would have a smaller stride. I did a lot of preparation and really had to ride up to each fence but in between I let her run as fast as she wanted to, which was probably as fast as she could run. We jumped clean and came in well under the time. Our double clean moved us up into the 12th place position.

It was odd being done before noon on Saturday with two rides, so we enjoyed the company of friends until it was time to coach Maria and Pete. They warmed up well and I told her to get her rear in the tack and kick on to that first fence as he can be sticky out of the start box at times. Of course he was, she gave him one hell of a ride with three good smacks on his backside over the first fence. He was all business from there on out! Didn't even take a peak at the water and they came in double clean. We were all thrilled with our day and looking forward to show jumping on Sunday.

Sunday was great. Hannah warmed up well. Of course having moved up to Intermediate the show jumping courses still seem to look large! We had a great round and Hannah was clearing the jumps with room to spare. We had an unfortunate rail at fence 7 but completed the round within the time and held onto our 4th place position. I was thrilled.

The pony's training level jumps look large as well, especially sitting on her outside the ring. It comforted me that friend Jamie Marlewski had her even smaller pony, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, in my division. The pony, like Hannah, jumped the jumps with room to spare, and put in a double clean round to finish on her dressage score of a 39.5. We moved up from our 12th place position after the cross country to 6th place. It was quite an exciting weekend!

It was then time for Maria to jump Pete. We were aiming for a double clean show jumping round as Pete tends to become lazy with his feet, we really wanted to get in a double clean round before her training move up. We followed our plan, Maria rode very well and they came out of the ring having left all the rails in place! We were ecstatic. She finished in 4th place as well.

After a fun weekend, we had to load everything up in the pouring rain. Everything was drenched, we were tired and just wanted to get home. Nate took the wheel while I slept for a few hours and then we switched. We arrived home again with happy, healthy and sound horses.

Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trials 2009

2009-08-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

The LLEventing team headed south to Iowa City, Iowa to attend Catalpa Corner. I had never been before, but had heard great things about the show. My friend and groom, Nate and I left late on Thursday night and drove through the night to arrive at the show bright and early on Friday. We were put in one of the permanent barns, which was great. It had large stalls and a great breeze coming through. The weather was fabulous.

Later in the day Maria Filsinger and her horse Pete arrived as well as Jen Johnson and her horse Loose Cannon. We had everyone settled in, hacked and ready for dressage on Saturday. We walked the courses in the evening and had our plans of attack.

I had an early ride with Hannah, she warmed up fabulously but when we went into the ring she became a little distracted. We were sat in 2nd with a 35. We ran XC later that day, the course was great, well built and the land it was on was beautiful. We jumped a clean round and racked up a few time faults, but kept our 2nd place.

Maria also had a lovely warm up on Pete, as well as Jen and Cannon, but as with Hannah they did not like the rings and became spooky and distracted. Maria scored a 35.8 to settle her into 3rd place after dressage and Jen scored a 32.6 to put her into 6th place, tough division!

Maria had a lovely ride around the cross, she really had to get after Pete who came with quite a water issue that we are slowly but surely working through. She moved up to 1st place after the cross country, but the pressure was on going into show jumping as she didn't have a rail to spare.

Jen had an unfortunate tumble at the double down banks where Cannon lost his footing and tripped head first down the second step. Both were okay and ready to get on to the next show as soon as possible.

Show jumping was early on Sunday. Hannah was jumping fabulously and we had a clear, steady round but added 2 time penalties to our final score and that moved us into 3rd place. I was happy with her confidence throughout the weekend and knew we were definitely ready for another intermediate run!

Maria show jumped well, she did have one rail and also finished in 3rd, but overall it was a very successful weekend. We are excited for Wayne DuPage coming up in a couple weeks.

Overall we had a successful and fun weekend, always a learning experience no matter what happens!

Maui Jim Horse Trials

2009-08-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

Well we made it successfully back from Maui Jim Horse Trials and completed our first Intermediate Horse Trials! I had a blast and Hannah felt great, especially around the cross country and show jumping!

Hannah is more fit then she has ever been so little by little she is getting a little more hard to control on the flat and in the dressage ring. It took us two long dressage schools to get the spins, rears and extra edge out of her before we headed into the ring. I wanted to keep things a little more conservative as to be sure we would not have any explosions. We put in a nice quiet ride and scored a 36.9 to put us in 23rd out of 36 competitors, tough competition as the leader led on a score of 30.3. I was happy because it was a good score and she was well behaved, knowing that we can score better if I were to ask for more. Next was the cross country which seemed rather large only varying a little from the CIC2* and sharing a lot of fences with Advanced!

Our first fence was a massive roll top shared with advanced, to a hanging brushed log, next were some logs in the woods (also shared with Advanced!) then number four was a large corner. #5 was a skinny cabin, #6 a large table, #7 another hanging log shared with advanced. #8 was our first water, we ran up what they call a ski jump, then jumped over a brushed coop that landed down the ski ramp into the water, bending line to element B-a skinny brushed step chevron. The CIC2* had two brush skinnies at this first water question which eliminated 1/2 the division! #9 was a large trakehner, #10 another large table, #11AB were bounce banks up. #12 was a large bench shared with Advanced. #13 was a fence they called a ‘Yurt’ which was like a roll top type fence to #14 which was called ‘the big yurt’ which was the same type of fence but also shared with Advanced! #15A was a skinny log, 3 strides to 15B which was another large corner. Then #16 was our next water element, we had a roll top one stride into a large drop into the water. #17 was another large hanging log shared with advanced, #18 was a “Cornish Table” which was like a large table with gravel on the top, really wide! #19 was a skinny table with gravel on the top, and #20 was a roll top. Hannah skipped around the course without any problems and we only occurred 3.6 time faults! I was so proud of her! It was so much fun and the weather was great, a little hot and the footing was sloppy in some sections but overall it gave a great flowing ride & Hannah was jumping out of her skin! After cross country we moved up to 13th place!

The show jumping seemed really large, but rode great in the huge Grand Prix Show jumping ring that they have at the Lamplight Equestrian Center. We had two triple combinations one was a 2 stride to a 1 stride and the other was a 2 stride to a 4 stride. We had one rail on the first combination at the first element, which seemed to get well over half the division. Many people had rails but I was so proud of her, she was not tired whatsoever on show jumping day & jumped really well! We finished in 12th out of 36 starters so I was MORE than happy!

My student Maria Filsinger & Pete also had a great run, she started off with a 33 in dressage which set her 3rd in the Junior Novice division. She ran clean cross country which moved her up to 1st place, she had only 1 rail in show jumping but kept her first place and won the division! Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon unfortunately had to scratch because the morning after we got to Lamplight, Cannon developed cellulitis and his leg was swelled up like a balloon!

We are all headed off to Catalpa next. I will run Hannah at Prelim for a confidence run just in case she got shaken up at all on the cross country, which I doubt is the case but it will be good for both of us! Maria will be running Novice, & Jen Training. It should be a fun outing!

After that I am off to do another Intermediate at Wayne DuPage followed by Richland Park in Michigan, followed by a Preliminary at the American Eventing Championships, an Intermediate at Otter Creek! A lot of fun to look forward to!

Otter Creek Spring HT/Carriage House Combined Test

2009-08-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do! Hope everyone has had a good show season thus far!

After Spring Bay HT we headed off to one of our more local shows, Otter Creek Horse Trials held at Otter Creek Farm in Wheeler, WI. We had been putting in a lot of time with my dressage trainers Ken Larson and Alison Sader Larson of Larson Sader Dressage and it had been paying off. Hannah continued to get more fit as the snow melted away and the footing become more workable.

Friday was the dressage. We warmed up, Hannah felt great, she was moving forward into the bit, lengthening her stride rather then taking her normal quick hurried steps, smooth transitions and just felt smooth. I couldn't have asked for a better horse that day, especially because as she gets more fit she gets a little more difficult to deal with in the dressage, especially in the small ring! We put in a nice ride to settle us into 1st place with a lead of over 5 points with a 54.1. I couldn't have been happier.

I was so looking forward to the XC as we have run around the preliminary course for the last few years, I felt like we just had to make time and we could possibly win a one star! Well of course, nothing ever goes to plan.

We had our formal jogs at 5pm Friday after the dressage. Nate Dressel, friend & groom made sure that Hannah was sparkling as I got myself ready with friend Jordynn Sahagian and Kendal Torrel. We walked around and did a few practice jogs before presenting to the FEI judges. As we jogged down the hard road I could sense something was wrong and as we jogged back I could tell from the look on the FEI judges faces that something was not right. Hannah was slightly off. I was devastated but decided to withdraw from the rest of the competition.

I immediately brought Hannah in for xrays, as she has had shoeing issues in the past and that is what I was hoping for rather than something more serious like a tendon injury. Her angles were off on her right front which was causing the lameness. All it took was a little bit of special tender love and care from my farrier, Terry Dokken with Dokken Farrier Services to get her back to normal. We later discovered that she had a false sole, and once we took off more sole she went back to regular shoes and has been sounds since...knock on wood!

I was proud of my friends and students at Otter Creek also. Kendel Torrel took 2nd in her first ever CIC* on her mare Badland's Echo. Jordynn Sahagian and Nestor won the CIC2*. Students Jen Johnson & her horse Loose Cannon took 8th in the Training division and Maria Filsinger & her horse Pete took 3rd in the Jr. Novice division. Overall we had a fun and successful weekend!

Since Hannah was better immediately after Otter Creek we continued on to Hugo, MN the following Sunday for Carriage House Combined Test in which I was entered at the Preliminary and Intermediate levels.

I was one of the first rides in the small Preliminary division of 4 riders and we scored a 31.1 on our dressage to put us into 1st place. Considering the competition was really tough in the Intermediate I was happy with a 34.8 to take 1st against a total class division of 1...myself!

Show jumping was next, I have been playing around with different bits to see what will work for Hannah. Our first round I wanted to make sure I had the control I needed, we jumped a nice slow round having only one rail down to finish in 2nd place.

Next I waited for the jumps to be put up to Intermediate height and we entered the show ring. I pushed her a little more forward to the bigger jumps and we jumped double clean and took home the blue ribbon! I was very proud with her performance that day.

Next we were headed off to Maui Jim Horse Trials for our big move on up to Intermediate!

Spring Bay HT 2009

2009-04-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

Spring Bay HT was a huge success for LLET!

To sum things up, Hannah put in a great test to sit 2nd after dressage on a 35.4. We put in a double clear show jump round to be set in 1st place. Sunday was the cross country, being this show was in the beginning of April we hadn't had a chance to get out on the cross country school, so our main goal was to get out, see the fences and run around clean. We ran slow but jumped clean, racking up some time faults we finished in 6th place.

Student Maria Filsinger & her new mount Pete competed in the Beginner Novice division as their first show together, they finished in 1st place on a 23.5! They are more tehn ready to move up to Novice at the next show.

Jen Johnson & Loose Cannon put in a solid weekend to finish 3rd in their Training division.

Kendel Torrel & Badland's Echo had a great weekend too and finished in 7th Place in their Preliminary division!

Show Prep

2009-04-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

*As published in the Cross Country Magazine from CSDEA
2009 Show Checklist
By:Liz Lund

The following equipment list can be used for just about any equestrian discipline but is mainly focused around Eventing and Dressage. Depending on the type of show you are going to, the distance you need to travel and the amount of time you will be there will require slightly different supplies. Also depending on your horses needs some will have to bring more and some less. Anyone who has shown before realizes that there can be some stressful times before entering the show ring. Being prepared to go to a show will help reduce these stressors. The following list can be cut out and copied for future use.

* Rider Equipment

-Show Coat
-Dress Shirt
-Breeches (white/tan/light colored depending on type of show)
-Belt
-Stock Tie/Pin or Rat Catchers
-Gloves
-Hair Net
-Helmet/Top Hat
-Bobby pins/hair spray
-First Aid Kit
-Safety vest
-Medical armband
-Dressage whip/jumping crop
-XC Watch

* Horse Equipment
-Grooming Supplies
-Brushes
-Hoof pick
-Coat shine
-Mane/Tail detangler
-Braiding Kit
-Hoof polish
-Bug spray
-Tack cleaner
-Saddles
-Saddle pads
-Girths
-Bridles
-Other extra riding equipment: breast plate/martingale/etc.
-Leg wraps/boots
-Stud Kit
-Bathing Supplies: bucket/sponge/sweat scraper/shampoo/conditioner/etc.
-Coolers/Blankets/Fly Sheet
-First Aid Kit
-Towels

* Stall Equipment
-Buckets
-Hooks & clips
-Stall guard
-Shavings
-Hay, with hay net if necessary
-Feed and supplements
-Salt block or electrolytes
-Twine
-Bridle hooks
-Saddle Rack
-Hose attachment
-Chairs

* Trailer Supplies
-Extra tack: stirrup leathers/reins/etc.
-Tools: needle nose pliers/hammer/wrench/etc.
-Spare light bulbs for trailer lights
-Trailer jack or ‘trailer buddy”
-Tire Iron
-Spare Tire
-WD40
-Duct Tape
-Scissors
-Spare gas can
-Water container for long road trips

Some things that can be done before you leave for a show are things like bathing your horse, clipping stray hairs, cleaning your tack and making sure all of your own show clothes are clean. Packing of the trailer and gear should all be done the day before you plan on leaving to reduce stress or a late leave time. Grooming supplies should be brought in order to keep your horse clean throughout the show, blankets and slinkies/sleazys can be used to prevent manure stains overnight at horse shows. Make sure to have a COGGINS and HEALTH CERTIFICATE when traveling, it is required by law.

Other accessories and necessities can include a rule book, which you should be familiar with to make sure you are using the correct tack and equipment and won’t get eliminated for something silly like wearing bell boots in your dressage test or a standing martingale at an event. Be familiar with the discipline you are showing, but ultimately people learn from mistakes, so take into account that every show you go to is a learning experience. Write down what you forgot or things you had to borrow, take note to new rule changes and always keep yourself updated. After horse shows can almost be just as stressful and everything tends to just get thrown back in the trailer. Make sure when you are done at a show that everything is re-packed and put where you will find it again to make going to your next show a breeze. Re-organize your trailer when you arrive at home and know where everything you will need is, re-stocks anything else you may have used or forgotten.

I wish you all the best of luck this 2009 show season!

Preparation

2009-03-25T00:10:00.000-07:00

After a long cold winter of putting in our time, we are finally starting to see the payoffs of the dreadful winter. Spring is right around the corner which means shows are just around the bend!

A week from now I will be on the road with some close friends and clients heading south to Lexington, Kentucky for our first show of the season, Spring Bay Horse Trials. This will be the earliest I have shown in the show season, so I hope all of my preparation and training will pay off. Since this is the earliest show I have done, we had to begin conditioning work earlier in the indoor arena. Trot sets started early and I am now up to where I would like to be and have done a few gallop sets, weather permitting. We are hoping to have seen the last of the snow but you never know in the unpredictable midwest!

I will be debuting the 2009 season atop Lady Hannah B in the Open Preliminary division. This weekend the 28th & 29th I will be doing some last minute preparation with Eric Dierks as he will be at Trophy Hill Farm for an eventing clinic. We hope that Spring Bay will be a friendly opener for us and allow us to get out off of the farm and out on the cross country in order to help prepare for our CIC* at Otter Creek Farm at the end of May.

Traveling with me to KY will be my long time student Maria Filsinger and her new mount Peter. This will be their first recognized event together and they will be starting out at the Beginner Novice level. They have put in countless hours of training and preparation all winter also. Also attending and debuting her 2009 season will be long time friend, client and vet Jen Johnson and her horse Loose Cannon. Cannon had tie back surgery last fall and recovered well, this will be his first test out on the cross country. Kendall Torrell will also be joining us on our long journey to KY and riding in the Preliminary Rider division in order to prepare her for her first CIC* at Otter Creek Spring HT at the end of May.

Not only will it be a great kick off to the 2009 show season but I also look forward to seeing my coach Philippa Humphreys (formerly Richards) and some of her students that I had a chance to grow close with while training in Michigan with her in 2008.

So far we have no set in stone plans for the season but hope to attempt the move up to the Intermediate level later this fall. I am in no hurry as I am a full time student at UW-Stout and still have 2 years to finish out my degree. I want to learn and get as much experience as I can a top my mount Lady Hannah B while she is still in the prime of her career.

I have been accepted into the American Horse Trial Foundation and look forward to finding support from clients and fans from all over. I am also proud to say that County Saddlery has picked me up as a sponsored rider and have held on to my long term sponsorship with Kaesen Farms out of Bastrop, Texas.

I look forward to seeing everyone as the weather warms and we all crawl out from underneathe the blankets. Pleaes check in periodically as I will be updating my blog more consitantly with the warm weather and exciting prospect of a new show season. I wish you all the best of luck this show season.

Untill next time. Ride on.
Liz Lund

thoughts, pictures & Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

Kelso at Midsummer Dressage Show -- Lake Elmo, MN

Liz's student Maria Filsinger riding Hannah in a dressage lesson.

Maria Filsinger having a jumping lesson from Liz on Hannah.

Liz & Kelso :)

Here comes the cold season!

Although we have had some nice warm weather late in the year, I don't think it is going to warm-up until spring now!

As I focus on school for the rest of the semester, Kelso is planning on going home on December 1st. I will just have Hannah for the winter, it will be a nice break from working at the farm so that I can focus on my school. There is a cold winter forecasted ahead of us too!

I would like to say Happy Thanksgiving a little earlier to everyone! I know that I have a lot to be thankful for myself.

Of course, most importantly I am thankful for my loving family and all of their support and love they give me. My direct family being my mom, Sarah Bergstrom, my two sisters; Kiki Lund (23) and Maggie Lund (16), my step-dad John Bergstrom, and my two step-sibllings Michael Bergstrom (18) and Lauren Bergstrom (21).

It is so nice to know that I am surrounded by a wonderful horse community. People in my career have been so kind and helpful, I have learned life-long lessons and made never-ending friendships.

I am lucky enough to experience college and start to venture out into the world on my own, while still having some support from home.

And I am even more lucky to have my horse, Hannah banana, with me here at school.

I am greatful to have had opportunities to have had a lot of different endeavours and adventures and been able to try new things to help figure out where I want to be in my life.

Future plans are all unknown right now as I am living in the moment. I plan on finishing school within the next two years and then seeing where my life will take me, a lot can happen in two years!

I hope to venture to Florida for a month with my trainer, Philippa Richards, and groom for her while she shows her competition horses. Those plans are not final, as I need to figure out my online classes and expenses for the next 6 months.

I hope all is well with everyone reading and please if feel free to contact me if you have any questions or just to say hi!

eventrider@lizlund.com

I am also starting to go into web-design part time, so if anyone wants a webpage built, designed, and maintained please contact me or send people my way.

View my own websites at:
www.lizlund.com
www.pheventing.com
and one coming soon www.phflyfishing.com

Thanks! Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!

The Road the the CSDEA Dressage Festival

2008-09-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

TEXT:

I must give credit to Ellen Hoffman, owner of Worth the Wait, for
persuading me to compete in recognized dressage shows this
season. In August of 2006, when I received a call from Ellen asking
if I would start her 3-year-old Oldenburg,Worthy, I jumped at the
opportunity, and began working with Worthy immediately.
Worthy turned out to be a very quick learner, a great mover, and
a smart horse. I worked on a lot of training basics with him, from
longing, to in-hand work, trail rides, jumping, bareback rides and
more.There wasn’t anything the horse was spooked by.We would
ride next to the road as big trucks and motorcycles zoomed by,
and he would stay focused and working hard. He is a type of
horse that really loves to work. He is sensitive, and willing to
work for you, and as long as you don’t pick a fight with him, he
will give you his all.
Ellen wanted me to make Worthy into a good fit for her, so I did
my best and put him to the test.We dipped our feet into the
event world a little in the spring, but soon realized he preferred
strictly dressage.This was perfect for Ellen, as she wants to show
in dressage. So we switched gears, and began to really focus on
Worthy’s dressage career.
Although I have been an event rider for most of my riding career,
I love dressage.This year at the Maui Jim Horse Trials, there was
a vendor selling simple t-shirts with quotes on them, one of them
being: "Eventing - Making bad dressage look good." Yes, it is true,
there are a lot of eventers out there who compete in the sport
primarily for the cross country phase. Without the dressage
scores, however, it is hard to win consistently. Dressage is
important. I find that a horse with a solid dressage base will jump
better on the cross country and in the show jump ring, and will
use its body more correctly in general.
My goals for the year included getting my USDF Performance
medals at Training and First levels, and also receiving my Bronze
Medal. I began the dressage show season with Otter Creek's
spring show, the May Flower I & II.
I made my dressage debut on my own horse, Lady Hannah B, at
2nd and 3rd level. I also debuted Worth the Wait (aka Worthy,
owned by Ellen Hoffman) at his first show at Training and First
levels. I was hooked! The horses brought home a variety of
different scores and ribbons, and I had a blast.
At the end of May,my training horses and Hannah came home for
the summer from where they had wintered (Otter Creek Farm,
and Hay River Equestrian). Ellen Hoffman was able to relocate
Worthy to Kathy Theissen’s training barn, Brightonwood Farm. I
continued to ride Worthy when I wasn’t in Grand Rapids, MI,
working with my trainer, Philippa Richards, or away at horse
shows. Kathy Theissen took over training Worthy, and Ellen took
lessons with Kathy.When I was able, I also brought my horse,
Hannah, over to Brightonwood Farm for lessons with Kathy.
My next dressage show was the St. Croix Dressage Classic, held
at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, MN. I opted
to only show Worthy this time. It was a rainy,muggy weekend, but
we didn't let the weather put a damper on our spirits.Worthy
worked the dressage ring like he had been doing it his whole life.
By the end of the weekend, we were 6-for-6 in blue ribbons -
quite an accomplishment for a young horse in his first show
season! At this point,Worthy was well on his way to earning his
USDF Training Level Performance Award.
Our next show was the Parkside Dressage Show, held at Alpine
Farms in Long Lake, MN. I rode both Worthy and Hannah at this
show, riding in classes from Training to Third levels. As usual, in
July, it was a very hot weekend, but all the competitors kept
pressing on. I have ridden at Alpine Farms for their hunter/
jumper horse shows. CSDEA's Parkside Dressage show there
was just as fun, and very well organized.
Two weeks later, we were off to the Washington County
Fairgrounds for the Midsummer Dressage Show. I rode Worthy,
Hannah, and a new one, Cover Story (aka Kelso), owned by
The Road to the CSDEA Dressage Festival by Liz Lund
The author and Worth the Wait, aka “Worthy” achieved many
goals in 2008.
Jennifer Johnson DVM. All the horses were great, and I had
received my final scores needed for my USDF Bronze Medal.
My next dressage show was the USDF Region 4/Midwest
Championships. This was my first dressage championship show.
Worthy put in a stellar warm up class, only to be a completely
different horse for the Midwest Championship class. Horses are
horses, and you have to ride what you have. In that class, I had
what Worthy probably should be most of the time: a young,
spooky, green horse. He made up for it the next day by maturing
overnight, and receiving second place in his warm up class, and
eighth place in the USDF Region 4/Great American Insurance
Championship class. Overall, a great experience, and, as is usual
with the Brightonwood Team, a fun time!
As the end of the season closed in, my final dressage show was
the CSDEA Dressage Festival. I rode on a team with Kathy
Theissen and Sarah Travis. The week before Dressage Festival,
both Kathy and Sarah had put some serious training rides in on
Worthy to prepare for the show, as I was now at school full-time,
and traveling every weekend. With some nice tests, and scores
staying in the upper sixties, we received 3rd Place in the Team
Championships. Kathy and Sarah’s help over the season has been
tremendous, both in Worthy’s training, and my riding.
It was such a wonderful experience at Festival this year. The
Festival Under the Stars rides were amazing, creative, and so
much fun to watch! There were a variety of rides, from musical
kurs, to bull fighting, dancing and vaulting. Not only was it a fun
weekend, but we actually had nice weather. For anyone that
knows me, every single event that I have been to this year, it has
rained.Two even cancelled the cross country due to the volume
of rain. This year hasn’t been my year in the event world, but I
sure had a blast meeting all of my goals in the dressage ring.
By the end of the dressage show season,Worthy had received his
USDF Training Level Performance Award, I had received my
Training and First Level Rider Performance Awards, and also
achieved the USDF Bronze Medal.
I would like to thank everyone who has helped me in my dressage
endeavors this year. I will not name anyone as I feel I would most
likely leave someone’s name out, but a big thanks to my
supporters, family, friends, clients, students and most of all my
horses.
At each dressage show, the Brightonwood Team made me feel a
part of a team. It was fun to have friends cheering you on at
ringside,willing to read a test at the last minute, or helping polish
your boots after you have gotten on your horse. I have had such
a fun time this year at the dressage shows, I just might be back
next year!
My goals for next year are to continue showing Worthy at
Training and First level, focusing on getting the high scores he is
capable of on a consistent basis, moving my mare up to Fourth
level, and working on getting some of my scores for my USDF
Silver Medal - and hopefully having as much fun as I did this
season!

Across the Pond to a Brighter Future

2008-07-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

Across the Pond to a Brighter Future

Author: Emily Daily

07.24.2008

By Liz Lund

Meet Philippa Richards - a talented young lady who’s quickly making a name for herself in the U.S. after arriving from England in 2005. Keep your eye on her, we’ll be seeing lots of great results from this talented rider in the future!

(Left: Philippa competing Gentleman Jack, owned by Kate Dernocoeur, at Otter Creek Horse Trials.)

Photos courtesy of Philippa Richards & Liz Lund

Philippa Richards, born 11/16/1982 in Chester, England, sat on her first pony at only two years of age and began taking lessons at age four. She grew up around horses and was in love with them (editor’s note - the name Philip means "friend of horses" and her nickname is "Philly"….I think fate had a hand in Philippa’s future!). Tuesday, Philly’s first pony, was an 18-year-old Highland pony that was given to her as a gift that she used in Pony Club and rode with her hunter trainer. When it was time to get a new horse, Philly advertised as needing a horse in the local paper, and received a phone call about a pony named Pen Pal. He was nine-years-old, stood at 12.2 hands, and had competed in show jumping. She competed in working hunter ponies with him which led to her discovery of hunting and eventing, and she found her true equestrian sport.

(Right: Philly as a youngster learning to ride. Below Left: Philippa & her husband, Peter Humphries, after Richland Park HT 2007.)

After Pen Pal, Philly went three years without owning a horse but she rode anybody else’s horses that she could. She met good friend and trainer Tuffy Tilly who offered to find Philly a horse that she would be able to compete. Then she found her angel, Christian. He was a nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse. By the time she was 14-years-old she was winning at Preliminary and rode him to her best dressage score yet of a 17.0 at that level.

After high school, Philly went to University of Leeds, England. She survived the first year of school without a horse but needed one to keep her motivated to continue her education towards earning a degree in Physical Education. Philippa purchased Daisy. Daisy was young, scruffy, and nothing special to look at when Philly first acquired her. Philly started working with Daisy, whom at the time was an unbroken six-year-old ½ Irish Draft and ½ Thoroughbred. Before she came to the United States, Philly competed Daisy through Intermediate and another horse she owned she competed at the one star level. When Philippa moved across the pond to the States, she sold her one-star horse but brought Daisy along because she couldn’t sell her as no one else could ride her.

(Right: Philippa & Whoops A Daisy on their first Advanced course at Richland Park HT 2007, earning 6th place.)

In October of 2005, Philly decided to move to the United States to live with fiancé Pete Humphreys who had lived in the U.S. for twelve years. 2006 was Philippa’s first competition season in the U.S. She ran around a handful of Preliminaries at various shows and jumped double-clear in the one-star at Maui Jim Horse Trials at Lamplight Equestrian Center before Philly moved Daisy back up to Intermediate at Champagne Run held at the Kentucky Horse Park. After Maui Jim in 2006, she began working with Robin Walker, who is from Grass Lake, MI.

Spring 2007 at Otter Creek Horse Trials was the first time that I met Philly. She is young, spunky, knowledgeable and I was instantly intrigued by her background. It was impressive to watch her atop her mare, Whoops A Daisy, as they won the Open Intermediate division at Otter Creek Farm.

(Above Left: Philippa & Whoops A Daisy won the Open Intermediate division at Otter Creek Spring HT 2007.)

Philippa made her Advanced debut at Richland Park Horse Trials in 2007 earning a solid sixth place amongst top four-star competitors and horses like Karen O’Connor on Hugh Knows and Mandiba, Missy Rasenhousen on Critical Decision, Clark Montgomery on Up Spirit, and Jonathan Holling on Tinkatoo, and her trainer, Robin Walker, on Amazing Odyssey. She was on Daisy, the horse that many had believed would never go above Preliminary.

Philly aimed to compete Daisy in a three-star this year but with the ups come the downs of the horse world, and disappointing news hit Philippa in early June of 2008. Sadly, Daisy injured herself and is out of work for the rest of the year. With the mentality of the utmost respected top event riders, Philly wisely decided to give Daisy a full year to recover. Philly understands that her horses must be in top physical and mental condition to compete at the upper levels. Although her three-star dreams have been put on hold for the year, she presses on with her Training horses to further their experience and is currently campaigning for more clients and horses to bring up the levels.

(Right: Philippa riding Atticus, owned by Sarah Hughes, in competition.Left: Philippa riding For the Top, also owned by Sarah Hughes.)

Sarah Hughes is her main client, providing Philly with four mounts. Sarah’s eight-year-old Oldenburg gelding, For the Top, aka Alfie, is currently competing in the Preliminary division aiming for his first one-star this fall. Atticus, a seven year old Thoroughbred is also competing at Preliminary looking to do the one-star in the fall as well. Hot Prospect, aka William, is a seventeen-year-old Thoroughbred who Philippa currently competes in the Intermediate division. Viraldi is a KWPN Registered six-year-old dressage prospect. With miles of legs underneath him, he stands around eighteen hands high! He is young and Philly is looking forward to getting her feet wet with him in the dressage world.
Kate Dernocoeur is owner of Gentleman Jack, a Thoroughbred whom Philly has competed through Intermediate.

Philippa’s groom, Sarah Raby, works hard to keep Philippa’s horses groomed to perfection both at home and at horse shows.

Students of all ages ride with Philly from near and far. One student, Kyleigh Klaasen, 19, has been riding with Philly since the winter of 2005. She says, “Philippa makes riding challenging yet fun and there is never a dull moment.”

Philippa found Oliver, a “Prince Charming” for young student Sarah Chiazza from England and created a match made in heaven. Sarah is thirteen years old and competing at the Novice level.

(Right: Philippa competing Gentleman Jack owned by Kate Dernocoeur.)

Philippa’s students love to be around her, help her at every chance they get, and share the same love for horses that Philippa does. One student, Courtney Ainsworth, third place winner at the 2007 AEC at Training level, says, “Philly pours her heart and soul into not only her own riding, but also her students. I know she cares so much about how we do - it is really an inspiration. I want to do well for her AND myself.”

It takes special talent to be able to bring a horse from nothing, up the levels and to Advanced. Philippa’s favorite horses are the ones that people have given up on, the un-rideable, the ones that people said will never be any good.

Philippa purchased a new horse this summer from Sheridan, Wyoming. Rockstar is a 5 year old Dutch Warmblood/Thoroughbred that Philly hopes will be a great event horse.

I went to Michigan in June to work with Philippa and value everything I learned during the experience. I can’t wait to return at the end of July for a month until I return to college in the fall.

Visit Philippa’s website at www.pheventing.com - it will be up and running shortly!

summer time updates

2008-07-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys, it has been awhile! I have been really busy this summer!

The ups and downs of the non-stop round the clock sport never end!

Latest news: Addition to training, Cover Story aka Kelso, owned by Jennifer Johnson DVM. He is a 5 year old Warmblood cross who had been in training with local dressage trainer Lindsay Fuchs. Lindsay did a phenomenal job with Kelso and he came to me early June to start his eventing career! With a great base that Lindsay put on Kelso he has been pretty easy going, minus his "I want to be in charge" and clumsy trip over his own feet on occasion moments he has been coming along well. I hope to aim him at Trott Brook Horse Trials as his first event outing.

Miss Hannah B has turned into quite the dressage horse! We have attended two more dressage shows in July. Parkside Dressage was the weekend of the 4th of July, we competed in second and third level receiving various ribbons and qualifying scores. Next was Midsummer Dressage at the WA Cty Fair Grounds. We competed again in second and third level receiving even better scores then at Parkside Dressage.

Also, Midsummer Dressage was Kelso's first outing to a show. After quite a display of stubbornness on Saturday he stepped up to the plate on Sunday to put in a great test receiving 6s & 7s on most movements!
Currently Kelso & Hannah are in Michigan at Ford Creek Farm in training with Philippa Richards for two weeks until I return back to Michigan on August 11th to continue working with the horses. I had (so torturous! wink wink) to stay back in MN because of family obligations and a camping/concert trip with friends in early August.

I have been working hard on writing for other articles (see my CSDEA post about Otter Creek) and also see my following post which was published on the USEA Blog website.

check out my article on Philippa Richards: USEA Blog-Philippa Richards

I began creating a website for Philippa Richards also, which can be viewed here: PHEVENTING.COM

I have cut back on training and lessons for the month of August as I will be heading off to Michigan and then returning to UW-Stout on September 1st.

September is full of fun horsey plans.
5-7: USDF Regional Dressage Championships/Midwest Dressage Championships-Mason City-IO on Worth the Wait competing in the Training Level Championships
11-14: American Eventing Championships on Hannah in the JYR-Prelim Division Championships
20-21: Dressage Festival Under the Stars on Worth the Wait at Training Level and 1st Level
26-28: Otter Creek Fall HT & Area IV Championships on Hannah competing in the Preliminary Championships

Here are some attached pictures from my summer adventures!!!

Stall card at Lost Hounds Horse Trials in PA. Withdrew b/c they cancelled XC due to heavy amounts of rain.

Jordynn Sahagian and I buzzing around on the mini-bike at Lost Hounds Horse Trials.

Hannah trying to steal Alfie's hay on our way to XC Schooling in Michigan.

Riding one of Philippa's sale horses, Sylish Tuxx.

St. Croix Dressage Classic 6/7-8/2008

2008-06-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Owner Ellen Hoffman proud of her 5 year Old Oldenburg gelding- "He sure has been Worth the Wait!"-Ellen Hoffman

Friday evening was on and off rain storms. Owner, Ellen Hoffman and I finally found a break in the weather, waited for traffic and loaded Worthy up into the the trailer and headed to the Washington County show grounds for the St. Croix Dressage Classic.

Ellen braided his mane Friday evening so we would be ready for our classes on Saturday. The weather turned out great, we got Worthy ready and I got on him to warm up for my first class, First Level Test 1. He felt great, he doesn't need much of a warm up so we headed to the ring to perform our test. He felt really good, rhythmic and moving forward. We entered the ring, halted/saluted at X and continued on to put in a great test earning a 64% to win first place! We decided we wanted to keep that trend up so I focused on keeping him calm and made sure to ride him the same in the two tests following on Saturday.

Our next test was Training 3, also earning a 64% and winning first place again. Following Training 3 was Training 4, our Region 4 Championship qualifying test, we earned a 64% again taking first place. What a great first day, nothing but blue and Ellen was thrilled. It is such a great feeling when you can go out there and get rewarded for the work I have done at home.

Sunday we started with First Level test 2 earning a 65% to take the blue again. Next was Training 3 followed by Training 4. Worthy was starting to get a little tired, but nothing could keep him from trucking along. We earned another 65% in the Training 3, winning 1st and received our best score of the weekend a, 67% to win our 6th class. I was very thrilled with him and Ellen was very happy!

We are now preparing for our next dressage show, July 5th-6th, Parkside Dressage at Alpine Farms in Minnesota. Our goal is to qualify for the Region 4 Championships in Mason City, Iowa.

Carriage House Combined Test 2008

2008-06-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Liz & Hannah in the Open-Intermediate division performing their dressage test. Receiving a 36.6 putting them in 2nd place.

Liz & Hannah pleased with their day's performance.

Carriage House is always a great show, close to home and held in one day. I had three horses going in the show. Hannah in the Open Intermediate division, Worth the Wait in Open Novice and Hamel in Open Beginner Novice and Open Novice. The horses were great.

I had to get up extra early on Sunday to feed and turnout the other horses and trailer to Carriage House to be the first ride of the day at 8:00am on Hamel. I arrived, unloaded Hamel, quickly braided him and tacked up. I was very grateful to have my friend Chelsea Leines there helping me groom and take care of the horses.

Hamel's first ride went pretty well. Being an 'off-the-track-thoroughbred' (OTTB) he gets a little excited with all the commotion, but even him being excited really isn't hard to handle. He earned a 38 on his first dressage test and put us in 4th place.

My next ride was on Worth the Wait "Worthy". He is a dressage horse that is experience eventing on the side for a little fun, even though he seems to enjoy the dressage the best, we will see how far he goes as an "event" horse. He earned a 34 in dressage to put him in 3rd place.

Next was Hamel again and he was not so good, this time we rode in the grass ring and he was "hopping" around like a bunny. Like I said above, nothing to hard to put up with, just annoying at times like when you are trying to turn and trot (not hop) down centerline to salute. All in all he was pretty good considering that was only his 3rd show!

My first show jumping round was next beginning with Hamel. He was quite a handful in warm up, just getting excited and once again "hopping". I call it hopping because it really isn't bucking or crowhopping...but he just puts his head down low and hops, it is quite entertaining I am told. He got into the ring and was much better, jumping clean adding only time to his score to finish in 6th place taking home a green ribbon for his mom, Jean Kunz.

I then had my dressage ride on Hannah. I tacked her and warmed up and she felt really good, responding to my aids, doing her laterals smoothly and acing her walk/canter transitions. We entered the ring, performed our test, saluted and thanked the judge. We received a 36.6 putting us in 2nd place.

Next were the two youngsters, starting with Hamel who had seemed to be adjusting better as the day progressed and his hoppiness was slowly getting better. His novice course was great, he jumped everything. He is such a cool horse, and definitely will be a clean show jumper no matter the height of the fences. He finished 7th in the Open Novice division.

Worthy is also a great jumper, he has amazing movement too which makes the dressage come easy to him. He isn't as experienced or comfortable with jumping so he gets a little "ring sour" but only in the show jumping ring. Out on cross country he gallops willingly to and from the crowds, while in the show jump ring he tends to get a little claustrophobic. He had one rail and a few time penalties from doing a little "dance" towards the outgate, overall he was great and as the course continued he progressed quickly.

Hannah was the last ride of the day and the jumps seemed huge compared the the BN and N fences earlier in the day. I was using my new bit (the 3 ring elevator, with a figure 8 noseband, a kinetin noseband and a running martingale) and she seemed to do really well in it. We entered the ring and jumped a great round having only one rail and taking on 7 time penalties, which I was not at all upset about because that meant my bit was working and now I know I just need to work on pressing her more forward without losing control. We finished in 3rd place.

Overall the Sunday show was a success and a lot of fun. The drive home seemed long after the long and hot day at the show but once we arrived at home the horses were happy to see dinner and I was happy to drive home and go to sleep.

“Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goal” – Jim Lefebvre