April Events!!!
April has been another very busy month. Both our barns are full with horses in work and we're working with lots of horses hauling in for training. It's nice to see lots of dedicated riders and owners working towards their goals with their horses.
I took 2 horses to the inaugural Chattahoochee Hills event. Pamiro W. had another successful weekend at the preliminary level as well as Amelia Ebhardt's, Whimsical, at the novice level. Despite the confusion of the change in ride times due to thunderstorms and only having 15 minutes to warm up for dressage, Pamiro W. still finished the weekend in 6th place. This was Whimsical's first recognized event. He listened well and was nice and bold to fences, finishing in 6th and gaining valuable experiences.
The Lakeland Dressage Schooling Show was also a great show where both Tina and Jordan were able to practice quite a few dressage tests for upcoming events. It was a nice low key atmosphere for both horses and riders to gain show experience.
March Events!!!
Citrus Oaks Farm would like to send our deepest sympathies to the riders who lost their partners at the Red Hills Horse Trials. It was an awful ordeal and we can not imagine the distress these riders must feel over loosing their mounts. We also send our thoughts and prayers to Darren Chiacchia and his family. Darren is an amazing rider and horseman and we wish him a speedy recovery. Donations towards Darren's recovery can be made via his website, www.teamchiacchia.com.
March was a very busy month at COF. The first weekend we spent x.c. schooling in Brooksville and at the South Creek Pony Club D rating. Congratulations to Jordan and Gabrielle on passing their D-1 and D-2 ratings. The girls studied and work very hard on their riding and knowledge and did a great job.
The next weekend Pamiro W. and I had a great show at Rocking Horse Spring H.T. Pamiro W. won the dressage and had a clean Stadium round. The x.c. course had much more challenging questions on it but Pamiro W. had a great run and was just over the time by a couple of seconds which finished us in 2nd place.
The following weekend we took 6 horses and riders to Fannin Hill Farm schooling show. It was a very busy but good day. We had some top placings at the event. Everyone rode well and gained valuable experiences.
I did get one weekend off and then we were off to Georgia for Poplar Place H.T. the last weekend in March. Pamiro W. had another great score in the dressage arena, a 28.5, which placed us in first and was the lowest dressage score of 4 Preliminary divisions. With a clear stadium jumping round and x.c. run, he won the his Preliminary division. Pamiro W. continues to impress me at how well he's upgraded to the Prelim level and remains very competitive. Hopefully, our good luck continues.
Diane, Kildalton's Pride mother, also spent a week with us. She flew in from Wyoming and spent a lovely week riding and spending time with her horse. What great weather she had. It was a lot of fun spending time with her on and off the horses.
Ocala II and Rocking Horse Winter III!!!
The two weeks prior to these events were very difficult for our family. We'd like to thank everyone for all their thoughts, prayers, and help around the farm during this time. After spending 2 weeks in NICU and 3 heart surgeries, Kaden did come home this past Monday and is doing well.
Ocala II went well given all our circumstances the week prior. Leah managed to stay awake and remember enough of her dressage test to ride Pamiro W. through the test without being rung. Unfortunately, it wasn't at all the team's best. After a night of 14 hrs. of sleep for Leah, X.C. and stadium jumping went extremely well, with huge improvements moving the pair to finish in 7th in the Open Training division.
Rocking Horse III was a huge surprise. It was the first time out at these levels for all 3 of Leah's mounts. Pamiro W. and Leah had the best dressage score of 6 Preliminary division, about 120 horses, with a score of 27.5. They stadium jumped clear and x.c. jumped clear, just adding .4 penalties for being a second too slow x.c. Their final score was a 27.9, which won the division, but was also the only final score in all 6 Preliminary divisions that was in the twenties. Leah and Travis ventured out for Travis' first Novice event. With a respectable dressage score of 34.7, Travis was tied for 8th. He was fabulous on x.c. and stadium jumping, clean and clear and moving up to finish in 5th place. Way to go Travis! It's amazing how well this little horse has done in such a short time. Thank you to Jitka, Travis' mom, for all her grooming at the show and all those training rides leading up to the show. Leah and Shaw also took on Shaw's first Novice event. Dressage went well with Shaw's best dressage score yet, 34.2. Unfortunately, there was a bit of negotiations between Shaw and Leah about the first jump on cross country and it ended with 20 penalties. Once they regrouped and refocused the remaining cross country jumps were no problem at all. It was as if Shaw was an old schoolmaster down to all the questions. Stadium was clean and clear and extremely rhythmical but the x.c. stop kept the team out of the ribbons and they finished in 12th. (February 2008)
Rocking Horse Winter I and II!!!
We had a great weekend at Rocking Horse Winter I. Kim, First Impressions' mom, was able to spend the weekend with us since it was her mid-tour vacation from South Korea. Thanks Kim for all your help grooming! You were great, as usual. Pamiro W. started the morning off as the second ride of the day in Arena 4 and a first place finish after dressage. He stadium jumped clear later that day which held him in first place position for cross country. Unfortunately, there was a tack malfunction at jump #4 and luckily just ONE of his girth straps broke. As they galloped around the rest of the course, Leah felt something constantly hitting her foot. She spent a good amount of time looking down trying to see what was the problem and ended up with time penalties, finishing the team in 5th place. A word to the wise, even if you clean and inspect your tack everyday, if it's an older piece of equipment leave it for schooling purposes and buy a newer piece for competitions, it might mean the difference between first and fifth place or something much worse like an injured horse. First Impression also had a great first run at the Novice Level. She wanted to show her mom how much she's learned at COF. First Impression had a 3rd place finish after dressage. An unfortunate rail put her into 5th and a clean x.c. run finished her in 5th. Mariana and Travis also competed in their first USEA Horse Trials at the Beginner Novice Level. Just finishing all 3 phases in your first competition is a huge accomplishment but Mariana did even better than that. Nerves got the best of her and Travis in the dressage arena but a clear stadium round moved them into 7th. They went out on their cross country course like a blaze of fire and finished clear but pick up some time penalties for going too fast so they finished in 6th place and now we know Travis is ready for the Novice pace. Congrats Mariana! (January 2008)
Rocking Horse Winter II was a very low key show. Pamiro W. was the only horse from COF competing. He was tied for 3rd after dressage. He definitely ran his best cross country course yet in terms of listening and responding to his Leah's aids. And stadium was just as educational and clear. So Leah and Pamiro W. finished in 2nd place on their dressage score of 32.0, just behind first place and their very, very close score of 31.8. (February 2008)
The New Year brings lots of firsts!!!
We have a lot of firsts to kick off the new year. Heidi, Mariana, Kristen and Tina all competed at the Rocking Horse schooling show. Heidi competed at Beginner Novice for the first time. She had a very successful show, finishing 2nd with a slight memory lapse in the dressage ring which costed her the win. Mariana, Kristen and Tina all competed for the first time at Rocking Horse. Mariana tied with Heidi but finished in 3rd place based on their x.c. times. Kristen followed closely behind finishing in 7th place. And Tina had a successful 60% score in Intro test A and 4 fault 18" show jumping round.
Two weeks later, Gabrielle and Jordan both competed in their first horse show at the Lakeland Dressage Association Winter Gala. Both girls worked very hard memorizing and practicing their dressage tests and it paid off with many ribbons. Alex was very steady winning both her tests. Tina made great strides bettering her scores in the Intro classes on Dallas and increased her competition experience with Houston. Kristen had major improvements in both her tests as well. Leah also took advantage of the show to practice her USEA combined training tests on Pamiro W., both tests were very successful. Congratulations everyone! (January 2008)