Woodside Success!
A HUGE congratulations to the big winners, Julie and Claire, who both finished on their dressage scores, winning their divisions! Julie rode Cooper superbly in his first ever event, and Claire and Caz put in their best rides ever, remaining calm and THINKING throughout the WHOLE weekend =) This was Masha’s first Novice level event and she piloted Sly around like a champ and earned 6th place (green IS Sly’s favorite color after all). Chloe and Nipper did so well in dressage and stadium but had a disappointing stop on x-c, resulting in an unplanned dismount. Chloe was a true star as she got back on to finish the rest of the course beautifully. I am really proud of how well she handled her disappointment, cheering her teammates on and most of all for picking herself up and getting back on.

And finally, Cash N Diamonds…he’s become a jumping machine. Brave at all the jumps he went clean yet again earning us 2nd Place! Thank you Gill for letting me ride your big boy, he’s so much fun and he really does make my butt look small =)

It was such a wonderful weekend! ALL the horses and riders were great, not just in one area, but at everything. I am proud of the whole group and am so lucky to have such wonderful friends, family, and clients! Thank you Julie and Avery for all your hard work.

You’re all awesome!
Meg

Makenna is growing, and greying!

SMCHA Show, Go Team THF!

What a wonderful day! A HUGE congratulations to all the riders, everyone took home ribbons! Holly and Gill made their showing debuts with THF, and they sure made me proud. It was so nice to have parents and friends there to cheer the crew on, the food was amazing, and the THF team sure looks strong. While h/j shows are a little outside our normal focus, we were a force to be reckoned with. I’ve posted the photos I took today on a wedshots site, here’s the link.

You’re all awesome,

Meg

http://community.webshots.com/album/560171555ebXCkQ?vhost=community

Montana Recap!

Hi All!
We’ll we made it. The trip took almost 24hrs drive time EACH WAY, a total of 2400 miles roundtrip. Horses, riders, and grooms all made it back safely and while it wasn’t quite the trip we had hoped on the riding front, it was a ton of fun and I hope we’ll have even more horses to go next year. The recap….
We left promptly at 4am on Sunday the 22nd. Our first stop was in Northern Ca, where we pulled into a gas station off of highway 5 only to pull in and see fellow Woodside trainer Liz Hall walking towards us! It turns out her and another California trainer, Mathew Brown, also left the bay area at the same time we did. I think we all had the same idea to leave early in an attempt to beat the heat. We made it to our first stop Sunday afternoon, White Salmon Washington, where we put the horses up at my dad’s 100+ acre farm. Noah and Coco Puff were turned out into a 50acre pasture, complete with cows and a pond for the evening. They enjoyed a 3am gallop around the field, and I think the layover and turn out helped keep them happy.
Day two took us through Idaho and into Montana. According to Mapquest the drive would be 9hrs, however with the road work and heat (100+ degree temps) it took closer to 12hrs.
We pulled into Montana Monday night, settled the horses into their stalls, and made the last part of our trek to the Sunde Cabin which is located right on Flathead Lake, approx 20mins from the horse show in Kalispell.
Tuesday was a day off for the horses and a day in the sun for the THF team, which we all got plenty of! Julia Sunde (Stanford Teamer Jane’s mom) is the most gracious host! We spent the day jet-skiing and "super mabel-ing" a raft which is pulled behind the boat at more than 40 mph. Karina, Alexandra, and Sydnee LOVED Mabel, while Julie and I turned green within the first 5min. The evening was compete with a BBQ and s’mores at the campfire.
Wednesday we ventured to Herron Park, a riding facility 20min from Rebecca Farm complete with a cross country course. Both horses and girls had a fabulous cross country school! We spent another afternoon on the lake, followed, by a late afternoon dressage school back at the horse show.
The show began on Thursday for Novice and Training level riders. Karina and Coco Puff put in their best performance, the most consistent I’ve ever seen them, I was really proud of how far they’ve come since joining the THF team just earlier this year. When scores were posted we were disappointed, while it was so her best test to date, it scored poorly, the judge was hard on their performance. Although it’s always a disappointment to receive a bad score, Karina took it very positively and was pleased with her ride. Alexandra’s ride was later in the day and she too had a good test. While I thought she rode the medium canter conservatively, it was an accurate performance. The judge liked the pair and gave them a "9" on their halt! They landed in a 6th place tie after day one.
Friday was cross country for Novice and Training levels, while all other levels (Prelim, Intermediate, and Advanced, CCI*, CCI**, and CIC***) ran in the traditional format. The day began early for Karina, with a morning ride time. Her cross country ride was fabulous and Puff was a star. Karina stuck to her plan and made the ride look easy, galloping across the green fields and beautifully decorated jumps effortlessly, posting a double clear round. With Coco Puff poulticed and wrapped we began prepping Noah for his afternoon performance, only to find his front leg very swollen! A quick jog out and it was clear that Noah was off in that leg =( A trip to the office in search of the vet and our fear that he would not be competing was confirmed. Noah was Withdrawn from competition. I can not say enough how proud of Alexandra I am. It is never an easy decision to pull your horse from the middle of the competition, especially when you’ve traveled 1200miles and worked countless hours to get there. Alexandra didn’t think twice about the safety of her horse and was a true sportsman throughout. I think she HAS to go again next year so she can ride that course =) I know they would have dominated the competition.
Bute, ice, and a wrap was all we could do Friday afternoon. When we returned that evening for barn chores, Alexandra saw a spot of blood on Noah’s wrap that hadn’t bene there before. Further investigation provided us with some answers to Noah’s mystery lameness. A puncture wound on the back of his left front. How a horse hurts himself in a well bedded stall is beyond me, Noah is a very clever boy. The wound (missed by the show’s vet) was treated with a sweat wrap and we left for the night. Back on the lake Julie mastered waterskiing, while I finally got my turn on the skis. Dinner out with Jane and her family completed the long and exhausting day.
Saturday Noah’s leg looked better! Although still slightly off, the sweat wrap seemed to do the trick so I stuck with my plan of treating the wound. We spent the day watching the upper level competition and shopping at the trade fair. That evening we had a great BBQ with Jane and her family, celebrating Julia Sunde’s Birthday and hanging by the fire.
Sunday came way too quickly. Enjoying a late morning we got to the show and began the morning routine while Karina and Alexandra took the horses for a walk. While making up grain for the horses I heard rider numbers called and began to worry that the schedule I’d seen the night before had been wrong and that Karina was supposed to ride earlier than we thought. I sent Sydnee on a mission to find Karina and Karina on the run to find out when she was supposed to ride, we were LATE! We all scrambled to get Coco Puff ready, Karina threw on show clothes, didn’t even have time to put her socks on, and was up and on in record time. We made it to the arena a few minutes late, her ride time had passed! Luckily for us, the judge granted Karina permission to ride out of order, but not a mistake I ever want to repeat! The pair entered the arena and made it over the first part of the course. Coming to a combination Puff slipped, knocking the rail underneath his legs. Karina felt him stumble over the rail which was trapped between his front and hind legs and pulled him out from the second part of the combination. The whistle was blown and fence reset. Karina started up again and headed for the second element of the combination while we all watched helplessly from the sidelines. Karina earned her first ever Elimination as in stadium you MUST retake the whole combination after a runout/refusal and she only retook element B. A very tough way to learn the lesson but I know she’ll never make that mistake again.
Sunday afternoon was spent packing and getting ourselves ready for another early departure. While the trip was not the riding high we would have liked it to be, it was a great experience and I enjoyed having all the girls there. The competition is one of the toughest there is in the West coast and the girls showed me they were more than ready to take it on.
The return trip home took us back to my dad’s for the night. The horses were put in a paddock for the evening (so that Noah wouldn’t put his injured leg in the pond) only to have the horses escape through an open gate. They got a good romp in before we captured them, and while it wasn’t planned, I think the horses really needed that run. Pizza and a movie competed our last night together. I got a much needed good night’s sleep and woke rested Tuesday morning, ready for the 13hr drive through Oregon and back home to the Bay Area. Driving through Northern Ca Tuesday afternoon the temps climbed to 109 in Red Bluff. Pulling in at 7pm last night seemed surreal. The 10 day trip came to an end. I got some much needed sleep last night and will begin lessons again this afternoon. The Woodside Horse Trails are just a little more than a week away!
Montana in 2008 anyone?
Meg