Winter Wonderland 2023

Winter Wonderland Dressage Show at Stableview in Aiken, SC! Alhambra got a 65% at Intermediate A! I’m so pleased with our first attempt together at a rated show and we are solidly on our way up! Hayley completed her first freestyle ever (is now hooked) and got a qualifying score for Second Level Open Freestyle – it’s super cute and fun! Theresa and Sudi successfully completed their tour at Intro Level at her first “real” dressage show ever and only second dressage show ever! Looking better and better each round. Amelia was consistently mid-60s at Training Level with her first show on Francesca and promising pair for the upcoming year! Her family came out to cheer her on. Kindred and Bucky the Champ cleaned up with Training Level at their first show together looking like little pros. Ava and Oksana also had their first show together in Intro and Training 1 with a promising start, looking beautiful together and lots to build on. Matt and Frankie got a qualifying score for First Level Test 3 and their partnership is growing!

Thanks to everyone who supported and helped including Amy McElroy for schooling me, Lynn Cobb for beautiful pictures, and Lauren Read for joining us for the weekend!

Made in the Shade

We had a great time at Made in the Shade! It was hot but it was worth it! Ritz debuted his 4th Level Freestyle in Style! Matt and Hayley rehearsed their Training-2nd Level Tests for Regionals. Ava won the Junior Scholarship and attended her first rated horse show with her new lease horse! Amelia and Bucky moved up to Training 2 and competed in the Jovee Pony Championships! Maddie and Happy moved up to Third Level and got two scores towards her Bronze Medal!

Tryon Summer 1 & 2

Tryon Summer Dressage was on point! Maddie qualified for Second Level at her first time out at Second! You go girl! Terri pulled out the stops and cleaned up in Training and the Pony classes on the “B” Team – go Bucky! Ritz qualified for Fourth Level on his first time out at 4-3 and got a 73% in the 6yo Test!

Best of all we had a lot of friends and family come up to support us! Go Team!

Lowcountry Classic

Recap from February: The Lowcountry Classic was a success! We showcased what we’ve been working towards. It’s great that we have a rated show in our “backyard”. Ritz (Dreamliner) won High Point Open both days in his 4-1 debut with a 70%. Chaska qualified for Regionals at Second Level in the Open division. This was his first time at 2-3. Amelia won all of her classes and the National Pony Cup on Saturday with a high of 73%. Abby achieved her personal goal of getting in the 70% at First-2 both days and got two scores towards her bronze medal. Kairos competed in his first show ever and was a total rockstar like he’s been to a million dressage shows and had a high of a 70% and qualified for Regionals in Training Level. Carol brought Stella for the weekend as a guest horse to get experience in a weekend show environment and Stella loved it and took every new thing in stride. We also had friends and family come out to support us and we thank you!

USDF Trainers Conference

Lots of takeaways from the USDF Trainers Conference and had the pleasure of meeting Lendon Gray who stopped by Laura Ashley Killian’s farm to watch a young rider. Lendon heads https://dressage4kids.org/programs/ which has a lot of opportunities for young riders to get a leg up!

One of the takeaways as a general rule of thumb for when you are training a horse is to “do the opposite”. If your horse is tense, go for relaxation. If your horse is dull, get more reaction. If your horse is too high, go low. If your horse is too low, bring the frame up. If your horse is too long, then compress the energy. If your horse is too tight, then lengthen the topline.

Winter Wonderland Dressage Show

This was a perfect show to top of the year and simultaneously kick off the new show season. On Saturday, Ritz showed Third Level Test 3 and got a 72% first time out and won his division. Amber performed an Intermediate 1 “Christmas Special” Freestyle with a 66.5% which is a both a qualifying score for Regionals and our first score towards a Gold Freestyle Bar. She also won the high score Freestyle award donated by Shang-ri La Equestrian. On Sunday, we did the regular division Intermediate 1 and received a 64.8%, which is also a qualifying score for Regionals and our second score (with a different judge) towards a Gold Medal.