Fairwind Stables Blog

Gemwood Horse Trials

I competed with Podge and Piccolo at Gemwood this weekend. Always a favorite event as it’s held just a few minutes from the farm and there are always friends to catch up with.

Podge was entered in the Open Preliminary division and we were anxious to show off all our hard work since MayDaze. I had been working out just the right warm-up for him and stuck to the plan as well as I could but the grass warm-up area was quite slippery and he never really got into a good forward way of going. However, he was much more uphill and supple and improved by a few points on his last test. Warm-up for stadium was by far the best I’d ever felt from him and we went into the ring confidently. Well, one of us went into the ring confidently but Podge was quite sure there were boogiemen located along the rail and spooked halfway to the first fence! Once he started jumping, he got his mind on his job and I think I finally rode without the distraction of being in competition. We had one rail as I rode poorly on a bending line to a combination but I was thrilled with how well we’d both done. Sunday morning, we woke to a sky full of dark clouds and no sooner had I started tacking up for cross country, it started to pour! Our start was delayed by 30 minutes but we were grateful for the rain that was softening the rock-hard footing. He was quite a bit stronger than he was the day before and I was wishing I’d planned to have a different bit at the warm-up. However, there was no time for that before we set out on course. He was very strong around the course but jumped confidently. If only he could get over his concern for patches of ground that aren’t covered in grass! We had one interesting moment near the end of the course where there are two paths through a grove of trees. I wanted to take the closer path but, at the last second, he saw the patch of ground where a jump had been sitting for a while and leapt to the other path paying no attention to the rider on his back that got whipped in the face by the tree branch. I can’t complain too much though as I was really thrilled with him in all three phases.

Piccolo had her first competition since fall of 2008 and showed that she hadn’t missed a step. In fact, I think she was even better after the time off as she was fairly relaxed in the dressage. A disappointing score in the low 40s was unexpected but I was happy with the test regardless. For stadium, she followed in Podge’s footsteps with a surprisingly relaxed warmup. She went into the ring and jumped around so quietly that we would have been competitive in the hunters. In fact, it was so quiet and slow that we ended up with 5 time penalties! It was just what she needed for her education though and I was so proud of her maturity. She was just as obedient on XC. I have always loved riding Piccolo XC because she’s incredibly honest and I can feel her working things out and getting more confident as she goes around the course. I’ve never had a bad ride on her and this time she didn’t let me down either. She finished the event in 8th place.

A big thank you to Laura Beaver who has gone above and beyond to make some really fantastic changes to the cross country courses at Twin Towers. The new water jump is fantastic and all the courses asked good questions.

Dorothy Crowell Clinic

We had a great time hosting the Dorothy Crowell Clinic yesterday. Thank goodness it finally stopped raining and I don’t think we could have had better weather. We expect to have her back in August. Pictures can be seen on our facebook page.

MayDaze horse trials

In spite of having a year off and then missing out on our 2010 debut at Greater Dayton, Podge did quite well at Prelim this past weekend in Kentucky. Our dressage test left much to be desired which was disappointing after all our hard work last year. In hindsight, I think I could have managed our warmup better since he came out a bit tense and tight but I still chose to ride early given the chance since it was looking like a storm would blow in any minute. He’s been like a new horse to ride on the flat and is normally a pretty obedient horse but has never liked doing the dressage in the rings where he’s used to jumping stadium. We were well down the placings with a disappointing score in the mid-40s.
I decided to try a new bit for stadium and he’d gone very well in it at home earlier in the week. However, he was quite enthusiastic to be back to eventing and didn’t agree with the bit or how I was riding him in it so we pulled the first 3 fences before we started to settle into a rhythm. An embarrassing 16 faults later, we had actually moved up a few places going into cross country.
Since my goal for the weekend was to complete, I decided just to cruise around XC making sure he was starting the season off confidently. We were back to using a different bit again but this time it worked out as I’d hoped. He jumped beautifully around the course and I never would have guessed he’d had time off. We racked up about a minute’s worth of time penalties but we both felt happy and fit going through the finish flags.
Coming away from the weekend, I know what both of us need work on but feel confident that our season will continue to improve. We’ll be at South Farm July 2-4 for our next event and then our favorite local event, Gemwood, after that.

Dorothy Crowell Clinic

We will be hosting a Dorothy Crowell clinic on June 16th. Rides will be $100 each and we will have small groups from baby green to intermediate. Please contact me for more information.

Greater Dayton HT

As usual, I’ve been bad about my updates on this blog. I’ve been keeping things more up to date on our facebook page and invite everyone to join. There isn’t a dull moment with an 8-month-old baby crawling around and I’m finding that I’m learning a whole new level of organization to get things done!
We just wrapped up Greater Dayton HT at Twin Towers Park. This is always one of my favorite events and we were fortunate to have great weather all weekend. Unfortunately, I ended up withdrawing Podge after dressage due to some soreness that showed up from a minor mishap a couple of days before the event. Confident that he’ll be back to 100% soundness with a couple of days off, we will be going prelim at MayDaze in 2 weeks. He’s been working really well for me this year and I was anxious to show off all our hard work for the hometown crowd but we have some big goals for this year and his soundness and mental attitude are my top priority.
Some of my students were competing and did not disappoint. Jayne Whitton and Grace’s Star finished on their dressage score in the novice division to place 6th. Bill Rollins and Pennmerryl’s Moon Shadow competed in their first Beginner Novice and added just one rail to their score to finish in 9th place. Robbie Rowe and Enzo Ferrari had a humbling introduction to eventing but I’m confident this pair will be more prepared next time and will be tough competitors. I have such a great group of students and I hope they enjoy riding with me half as much as I enjoy teaching them.

Looking forward to spring

This part of Ohio, like much of the country, has been pounded by Old Man Winter but that hasn’t prevented plans being made for spring events. Area VIII’s first event, Spring Bay, opens in less than a week. If you are considering any of our services, please see our 2010 prices here.

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Midsouth Team Challenge

Last weekend, Podge and I returned to eventing after a year hiatus. I loaded up in Dayton with all my normal eventing gear and just as much baby gear as 6-week-old Claire was making her debut on the eventing scene (although a bit young yet to be riding!) Podge and I were on a team with Brooke Lundberg and her mare, Sierra’s Sexy Model, and Taylor Reynolds with Paloma Bella. We were disappointed to have lost Jayne Whitton due to Sadie’s absess the week before the event but Jayne was kind enough to drive down and support the team. My boy was feeling like quite the stud with our team name, “Podge and the Girls”!
The weather was cold and windy all weekend and Podge was definitely feeling frisky before the dressage. For a horse that is usually pretty sedate, I was shocked that he was still very much on the muscle after 30-40 of warmup. I thought the judge was very generous giving us a score in the low 40s! He was still feeling pretty fresh going into stadium that afternoon but was focused on the jumps and we ended up w/ a double clear round. He was great, albeit a bit strong, on XC Sunday morning and we ended up in 9th place.
Taylor and Brooke also finished on their dressage scores and our team ended up in 18th. It was great to see what a great job Taylor has been doing with Paloma in the nearly 4 years since she bought her from me.
I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents who helped babysit in the weeks leading up to the event as well as at the event. There is no way I would have been able to prepare and compete without them.

Claire Elizabeth Miller has arrived!

At 3:47pm on September 1st, Ryan and I became parents to a beautiful little girl named Claire. She weighed in at 8lbs 8oz and captured our hearts immediately.

Gemwood Horse Trials

Gemwood is always a fun event for everyone since it’s very close to home (less than 10 min from Fairwind Stables) so it’s the “home course” and everyone comes out to cheer the riders on. Saturday’s weather was less than ideal with heavy showers and storms rolling through during the day but it did little to squash the enthusiasm of the riders. Becca Gentry very kindly took lots of pictures which have been loaded onto the Fairwind Stables group page on Facebook.
Susie Gertz and Practical Magic (Elvis) had a really nice dressage test to start the day. Their warm-up was one of the best I’ve seen from this pair and I thought the test was consistent and steady. As they were preparing to head to stadium, a huge storm blew through and put the event on hold for a short time. Being one of the first few riders back into the ring after the break, I thought Susie and Elvis handled the wet, sloppy footing really well but had one unfortunate stop at a triple bar oxer. Sunday dawned sunny and breezy so the footing for XC was perfect. The pair headed out confident and forward – the latter being a big goal for Elvis this year – and ate up the course. Sadly, another goal with Elvis is to get him to stop looking at changes in footing so when he hopped over the ditch to find fresh gravel spread before the “B” element, he wasn’t as focused as he needed to be to continue his forward attitude! Susie did a great job of bringing him right over it the 2nd time and the pair finished the course.
Brooke Lundberg and Sierra’s Sexy Model (“Cici”) competed in their first novice event at Gemwood. This pair has been working very hard on their dressage this season and it paid off with one of the nicest tests I’ve seen from them. They also had to ride stadium after the heavy rain but rode positive and forward to a clean round in the wet footing. On Sunday, Brooke and Cici had their game faces on for cross country. They had a fantastic warm-up and set out over the bigger course with confidence. They finished the weekend on their dressage score in 6th place in a big division! Not bad for a move-up!
Jayne Whitton and Grace’s Star (“Sadie”) also moved up to novice this weekend and didn’t disappoint. They had a really solid, flowing test in dressage which was awarded with a good score. On to stadium in the wet grass ring where Jayne and Sadie jumped better than I’ve ever seen them. I think both were ready for the challenge of moving up! A clean round had them up in the scores going into XC on Sunday. Sadie is a young mare who Jayne has done a fantastic job of bringing along and teaching to focus on the job. All the hard work paid off with a forward, confident ride around the solid novice course and Jayne and Sadie ended the event in 3rd place! Way to go!
Finally, Susie Gertz and Zooby-Do competed in beginner novice. In spite of a couple of greenie moments from the young mare in the warm-up and one in the dressage ring when another rider rode very close during the their test, the pair had a really outstanding dressage test. The judge awarded them with a 30.0 penalty! This young mare has been going through some growing pains with her jumping the last couple of weeks and while she warmed up fairly well for stadium, they were unfortunately eliminated when Zooby decided she just didn’t want to play that day. I have no doubt that this pair will work it out and come back as even stronger competitors this fall.
Great job everyone!