02.16.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:08 pm by Lori
I don’t know about the rest of you but I am very very very done with Winter and SNOW. I know I wasn’t happy last year with the ice, but this amount of snow is just crazy. Thank gosh we are not on the east coast though where they have gotten even more snow. It is just a hard winter for everyone! Spring has to be right around the corner. I know this because next week is the opening date for SPRING BAY HORSE TRIALS!!!! Wow, time really flies.
As of right now I am planning on taking Rio to Spring Bay in April, VAHT in May and maybe IEA in June. I know Stephanie is planning on at least Spring Bay and VAHT. I know Emily F is in for at least VAHT and is a maybe on Spring Bay as of right now. Still waiting to hear on Vasi for Spring Bay and VAHT. If you do want to go to Spring Bay, open date is Feb 23!!! Get your entry in and put Stable with Bella Vista.
For those of you looking for non-recognized events this spring, we have a bunch on the schedule starting this weekend. We have a slew of people going this weekend to Snowbird! It looks like the weather will hold out and maybe even see the 40s. WooHoo. We have Meridith Weedman taking BVECs Sunny in her first show ever! Very exciting. This pair should do wonderfully!!!! We also have Vasi and Jade, and Stephanie and Wilbur attending. I will be riding Shannon Roger’s awesome mare Crystal City. Should be very exciting, hopefully I can remember the 1st level test. Argh.
In March we have Spring Run Dressage show which Meredith Dubree will be taking Dixie and I will be taking Rio. That same weekend we will be attending Hidden Bridge Jumper show, again we have a large crowd going to this. Denise Elliot will be taking Ali, Morgan Thomas and Luke, Stephanie and Wilbur, Vasi and Jade, Emily F and Grady and Hope and Stoli. Wow. Two trailers going! Fun.
I am hoping we can squeeze in a XC schooling session in March. Tenatively I am thinking about March 14th. I really hope the weather is okay for this as I would like to get there before Spring Bay. Masterson is already closed from schooling for Spring Bay but maybe we can hit up Flying Cross. If you are interested in doing this schooling let me know.
Keep praying for warm weather!!!
Lori
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01.22.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:41 pm by Lori
Hi Everyone,
I just stumbled upon this website. For those of you who will be doing USDF/USEF dressage tests and are having a hard time understanding the pattern without actually seeing the movements, this site is for you. I love to see things and have to draw things to be able to learn them, so you are not alone. http://www.dressage.net.au/natestdia.html#firsttests scroll down and you will find Training through 4th Level tests with diagrams!!!! Best of all they are free! Woo hoo. Now I wish I could find the same thing for the new 2010 USEA Dressage Tests.
Here is a link to the 2010 USEA Dressage Tests….they are different from last year so start memorizing, I don’t want any last minute cram sessions at the ring.
http://useventing.com/competitions.php?section=docs
For those of you doing Into A and B here are links
http://www.usdf.org/docs/tests/dressage/introa.pdf
http://www.usdf.org/docs/tests/dressage/introb.pdf
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01.19.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:28 pm by Lori
We went up to our first show of 2010. Lakeside is usually freezing and miserable but for a first time ever it was very comfortable in the arena. We took Stephanie and Willie, Vasi and Jade, Rio and Angel. Vasi and Jade, and Angel and myself went in the 2ft Beginner Jumper Division. Angel and I went first and wow that little pony is awesome. She didn’t question any of the jumps and when I asked her to move forward and then come back and turn tight she did just what I asked. She had not been in work for a couple of months and hadn’t been off the farm in over a year. She was great. She was just beat out by a large horse that could make super tight turns. Can’t complain though 2nd place isn’t too shabby! Jade and Vasi followed me and boy did they have a good round. Vasi just didn’t quite get Jade up to Angel’s speed and came in 4th! Still a great round for the two of them. Well Vasi was bound and determined to beat Angel and myself in the second class. I went in and pushed little Angel to make even tighter turns and did it very well. Again impressing the heck out of me. Vasi went into that ring with a look in her eye that I have never seen before. I loved it!!!! She had that pony going to every jump, balanced her back for the roll back turns and then pushed her onto the next fence. It was great too see. Unfortunately, she was so wrapped up in riding she forgot which of the two identical single diagonals she had to go to for her last jump and had to make a circle to get back to it which gave her 4 pts. It was still an amazing round!! I hope to see Vasi trying to beat me more often. Angel again took second to that bigger horse (most horses are bigger than she) and took home the Reserve Champion!
Stephanie and Willie had decided just to do the 2′6-3′0 Hopeful Jumpers. They went into their first class and looked great. Stephanie made a miscalculation on a turn and Willie just didn’t think he could make the jump. Circling around they got right over it and had a beautiful course. The 4pts kept them out of the jump off though. In the second round she was ready to ride Willie over anything and again they looked great. The last part of the course was very similar to course number 1 and caught her off guard, instead of jumping jump 7 from course 2 she went to jump 8 from course 1. 
Darn and it had been so good up to that point. Vasi decided to do this second class of the 2′6-3′ division to make up for her missed jump in the 2′ class. She went in and rode great. She happened to snag a rail though, but was still able to pull out 6th place.
Stephanie and Vasi both went in the Gamblers Choice. Again they both had awesome rides getting all the jumps worth 50pts multiple times. Stephanie then went for the Joker and about 3 strides out they blew the whistle again, she didn’t stop which was good but she was distracted enough to let Willie’s canter get flat, so he knock the rail and that took 100pts from their amazing score of 350pts, this placed her 4th. Vasi also decided to try for the Joker but Jade had other plans and decided she wasn’t into jumping anymore. With a stop they didnt have the 100pts taken off so vasi finished with 275 placing her second in the round.
After everyone else, I finally got to get Rio out of his stall for the 3′ -3′3 Schooling Jumper Division. He would have preferred the freezing temps as his coat has grown out from his clip job in November. We went right into the first round picked up a canter and started over the first Oxer. I think he thought I was crazy, he was totally not awake for that first jump and probably took a good two more jumps to realize that he was doing a round at a show. He jumped great and was on the money with his lead changes. With a clear first round he went into the jump off and I decided to push him a little bit and see what he could give me. I asked for the inside line on the turns and pushed his speed a bit more and he did it!!! I was thrilled. I don’t think he was thrilled but I know I was. He came out of that round in 3rd competing against some very skilled jumpers. Second round we went in and started out great. We got a little flat to a vertical and pulled a rail but he finished out the course nicely still getting every lead change with no issues what so ever. 
It was a good day in all with everyone riding really well. The horses were well behaved and some ribbons were won. A pretty darn good start to the season not we just move up from here! Good Job Girls!
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01.12.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:41 pm by Lori
Happy New Year everyone!!! I am a little late with the new year wishes but I have been so busy with holiday get togethers, travel and the regular craziness it has been hard to find time to do a post.
This week marks the end of our vacation period. We did almost three months vacations from horse shows this year!!! It has give many of us time to catch our breath and to work on things we discovered while showing last year. We will make our first trip to Lakeside this year on Friday. It will be Vasi and Jade, Stephanie and Wilbur, and I will take Angel and Rio. We may meet up with our friend Anne and her two horses there depending on how the weather holds. It looks like it might be warm and dry, which would be great. When I say warm I mean in the 40s. Don’t get your hopes up for 70 degree weather. Bundle up and be ready to freeze all day like usual. It should be fun to get back out there.
I know it is really hard to motivate yourselves to get out there and ride right now seeing that the temps have been in the teens for a majority of the past two weeks and we have had a coating of snow on the ground, but this time of year is great to work on our dressage and to get out there and do some bonding with our horses. Many of you plan on doing a show in Feb, whether it is Snowbird or Hidden Bridge. Our horses are definately not in the shape they were in October and we might not be either. Start thinking about this and how an extra ride a week will help you and your horse get prepared for Feb and into spring. Even to bundle up and come take your horse for a long walk is a great way to get them in shape.
If anyone thinks their horse needs a trace or body clip before the shows start let me know. I won’t do it the day before the show, I need to be able to do it on a weekend and you want your horse to get a little use to his/her new hairdo. If you want to learn how to do it we can arrange something.
Lori
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12.22.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:46 pm by Lori
I just wanted to send a quick greeting to everyone. I am leaving tonight and will return Monday the 28th. Lessons will resume after my return. If you do not plan on coming for your regular lesson time that Saturday please do let me know. I have off on the 1st if anyone is interested in doing a lesson then.
The ring seems to be holding up really well. We have been trying to keep it from freezing but it seems to be draining nicely. It should be great to ride in over the holidays, so take advantage of the time off from school and work to get out there and ride, winter is the perfect time to work on our dressage. Seeing that the tests are new for this year there is plenty to work on!!!!!
In Jan we are going to Lakeside with Vasi, Stephanie and Morgan on the 16th, and Hidden Bridge with Hope and Emily on the 24th. (If those entries get sent in and accepted ;-))
In Feb we are heading to Snowbird with Meridith, Stephanie and all three Farrars on the 20th and looks like Hidden Bridge on the 21st with Denise. (BTW for snowbird, Laura and I concur that the %CT class will be any USEA 2010 dressage test of your choice, if you are eventing this year I suggest picking one and signing up for that class.)
If anyone else would like to go to any of these shows let me know ASAP.
Happy Holidays (If you are out at the farm be sure to stop in and meet Lyn’s new puppy who will grow up to challenge Merlin for biggest dog on the farm!!!!)
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12.07.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:09 pm by Lori
Hooray just in time for the first freeze of our arena we were able to get new sand footing put in it. It is wonderful. Vasi had the honor of the first ride on the new footing. Jade liked it so much she decided to poop in it like 4 times. Thanks Jade for breaking in the arena. :-) I rode on it after that and it feels great, nice and supportive. Next time you are out and see Francis be sure to thank him because it was he who got the job done!!!!!!
We also got all the water heaters in the troughs just in the nick of time as the weather took a serious cold turn this weekend. Francis was also able to get electric out to the troughs so there aren’t 80,000 extension cords running up the aisle this year. Again Hooray for Francis, what the heck did we do without him?!
Ok enough kudos for Francis, onto horse show stuff…. I need a head count for the Jan Lakeside so I can arrange for stalls and figure out the trailering. We can either go up on Friday the 15th, school and show on Saturday the 16th, or go up on Saturday, school Sunday AM and show on Sunday. Please place your vote.
Also, the following Sunday (24th) is Hidden Bridge Jumper show, the show bill is posted on the schedule page as a link. We need to preregister for that so let me know if you want to do that. The driveway there is a bit tight, I haven’t taken the big trailer in it yet but I am told it can make it. I am thinking we will just go up the day of that show, it is in Prospect.
Keep in mind I would like to attend a dressage show this winter, Feb is Snowbird at the horse park in lexington.
Heads up- I will be out of town for Christmas this year, leaving the 23rd and will return on the 28th. I will have lessons on the weekend of Jan. 2nd though.
Stay safe with the wintry weather
Lori
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11.20.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:42 pm by Lori
Can you believe it is already the end of November. I know I can’t. Where the heck did fall go? I know I have been talking about winter coming for a while but the cold came on quickly and then disappeared. I am not complaining. Although I am tired of having to deal with really sweaty horses with really long hair. Even Rio who is clipped is taking forever to dry off. I do like that riding outside is still very possible and that the horses get lots of outside time which they love. I wish the days didn’t get shorter as I like riding out in the field for dressage and for hacks but we do have lights on the arena so everyone can get out there for their evening rides if they would like too.
We are really working on farm updates, if you come out to the farm you will notice a large change. Our first pasture that had a beautiful tree in it, no longer has that tree. The drought did a number on it then the ice storm last year was the final straw. The poor tree had to be cut down. Francis and his brothers did a wonderful job taking it down with out killing themselves or any of the horses. (Barely) Hopefully we will also have a new load of footing in the arena soon. We had hoped to get it a couple of weeks ago but there were issues with the dump truck.
The farm is completely full right now with boarders and training horses, so we are very excited. This does mean that I am very busy. Please make sure you are on time for your lesson, which means being tacked up and on your horse by the time you lesson was scheduled for…ie 10am lesson you are on your horse by 10am. The lessons are scheduled back to back these days because we are trying to fit everyone in during the light!
On another note about lesson….There will be NO lessons Thanksgiving Week. You are welcome to come out and ride but I will not be available to teach. Lessons will return to their regular schedule the first week in December.
So I do believe our next show will be here before we know it. We are planning on going to Lakeside either the 16th or the 17th. I think I would prefer going up on Friday the 15th and showing on Saturday the 16th. That gives us Friday night to school which I do not believe is an option Saturday night. Please let me know if you would like to attend. I need to get a stall count, figure out trailer situation, and see if I will have enough time to ride one of my guys at the show. Keep in mind Jan also has Hidden Bridge Jumper show in Louisville (Details to come) and Feb/Mar has a Lakeside and a Snowbird Dressage show which we will try to attend.
The first horse trial we will attend this year will most likely be Spring Bay. I know I had previously sworn this show off because of horrible weather in the past but it is so hard to wait to start the season, and with this year hosting the WEGs not as many HTs will be in KY. I know it is far away but put it on your schedules if you want to risk starting the season in sleet and freezing rain with me.
Also, I have been tossing around the idea of doing a weekend clinic at the farm, where you get a dressage or stadium lesson, then we do a knowledge session on something like body clipping (or whatever anyone has interest in learning). Haven’t thought of what I would charge yet, but if I have enough interested I will put something together. Let me know.
Lori
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10.28.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:51 pm by Lori
Alrighty, I have been trying to hold off on saying winter is really on the way, but I think at this point we can delay no longer. The days are getting drastically shorter, the time will change this weekend and the cold weather is on the way. We got a nice taste of winter weather at the past two shows, and boy I don’t like it.
We did our final horse trials this past weekend. I am so happy BVEC got to end our long season on a good note!!!! We have had some major ups and downs with everyone this year, but I am so proud at how you all continued to work hard, have great attitudes and make accomplishments!
So to recap Octoberfest, Laura Farrar finally got to go to a show with Noah this year, she did just the dressage and can I say WOW! They got 1st and 3rd in their 2 tests. Kick Butt Laura!!! Hope Farrar, still on her borrowed horse LeStat put in an improved dressage test and was tied for 13th after dressage. Emily Farrar was allowed to take Noah to her first Novice Horse Trial. They too put in a great dressage test, although Emily had a slight ADD moment and forgot where to walk, with her 2pt error she still scored a 32!!!! Vasi took her pony Jade. They have had a very long season really trying to work together as a pair. They had a GREAT dressage test!!!! FINALLY. With a score of 34 they sat in 5th place! Our last rider was Stephanie, she too was on a borrowed horse, Gem of a Guy. Stephanie had to make a choice the week prior to the show to cancel or ride a horse that she hasn’t ridden before and who hasn’t been ridden much at all this year or done any XC at all this year. She took on the challenge, rode Gem 3 times prior to the show and went in and had her best dressage test ever! Both of them being nervous they did a fabulous job keeping their cool to get a 34 as well.
Day 2 was stadium and XC. The best part of the weekend was that we scored NO JUMP PENALTIES!!!!!! HOORAY!!! FINALLY!!!! We did have a few time penalties, but I would rather them go around at a pace they are comfortable at and not have any refusals then try and rush to make time and in turn get a jump penalty. Vasi finished in 6th, Emily in 8th and Stephanie just out of the ribbons but her accomplishment of finishing was truly amazing!!! Our only unfortunate event was LeStat was not himself during Stadium, and Hope decided it was not their show. She decided to withdraw. Being safe is always the best choice.
The parents were great and Brian the proffessional BVEC photographer took some excellent pictures on day 2. I am so happy with how well everyone worked together and worked as a team! I personally thought the new Blue BVEC XC pads looked awesome too!!!!
We will have a couple of months off from showing, as we will skip November and December at Lakeside. We wouldn’t want to go there if it wasn’t FREEZING. We will try and hit Lakeside in Jan. and Snowbird in Feb. I am also trying to put some dressage clinics together, so stay tuned. This winter will be a perfect time for lots of dressage work and position work. The harder we work over the winter the more prepared we will be come spring!!!!! Oh I can’t wait for spring.
Start thinking Position Perfects Performance
Lori
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10.20.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:31 pm by Lori
Can I just say, when it rains it pours!!!! This past week was just a struggle for BVEC and TEAMRIO. We started off the Saturday before MidSouth Training Three Day andHT with Rio being lame. He is never lame….ever! We just couldn’t seem to findanything wrong with his legs or feet. Well after more investigating I found a nice swelling right in front of his shoulder, on his neck. We had the vet out and Rio had managed to strain his shoulder muscle, most likely playing in the mud! The vet said we could try to get it better and he might be sound by the jog on Thursday. Our best bet was stall rest. ARGH. With this news I called the one person that I thought could help, Kelly Flowers. Kelly is our Equine Massage Therapist and Chiropractor. He is so wonderful, he came all the way to the farm on Sunday just to work on Rio. Kelly had a better out look for Rio and thought with little doubt that he would be fine by Thursday. He gave us some physical therapy for Rio to do, stall rest, hand walks, and some light trotting on the lungeline only. My Sunday continues with a call from Stephanie. She too is planning on competing at MidSouth HT. She is down in Memphis and Wilbur, who is never lame, is lame!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! So the farrier down there thinks it might be an abscessbut can’t find one. The trainer thinks it might be his tendon. The ship home that night, with plans to go to Roode and Riddle Monday AM to have it check out.
So Monday rolls around, I am not feeling well…joy, I put Rio on the lungeline and ask him to trot. He is a little nutty but trots sound!!! HOORAY. As I ask him to walk, which he finally does, some how my lungeline snap breaks, Rio is free in the indoor, andruns around like a crazy man! Way to stress the shoulder!!!! Unbelievable. I finally catch him and put him back in his stall, thinking well he won’t be sound after that. Stephanie and check out Willie, and it really does just appear to be an abcess, so instead of traveling up to the vet, we call our kick ass Farrier, Chris Overly, who so wonderfully comes down Monday night. After digging around he is pretty sure it is an abcess, puts the shoes back on and suggest packing his foot with Magic Cushion. He is pretty sure he will be sound by Saturday. With this good news. We pack up the trailer.
Tuesday still feeling yucky, I leave with Rio and Willie for the horse park. We get there get settled in with no issues. Awesome. Early Wednesday morning I wake up to RAIN. Not just a little rain but pouring down rain. Oh yeah, did I mention it was in the 40s and felt like 36. WHAT THE HECK! Good news, Rio is still sound, bad news Willie still not sound. All the clinics for the 3 day, were still held. It was so darn cold during them, it was miserable. Dorothy Crowell was the clinician and she was really great! The organizers also did a wonderful job trying to get us out of the rain.
Thursday we had the long awaited first horse inspection. With Rio all braided andin his bridle we headed to the holding area. We were rushing because we thought we were late, however, once we got there we had to await with a slew of horses. This did not make Rio happy. I believe he thought he was back at the track, waiting to be raced. He was chomping at the bit, wouldn’t standstill, swishing his tail. He was just not himself. We were fourth to jog for the ground jury and the vets. He jogged out great, then on the way back he just got a wee too excited leaped in the air, cantered a few steps then continued to trot. They passed him no problem! Phew. That was great news. ……Bad news Willie still lame. That night I went out for a hack of enduranced phases A and C, so that I would know where to go. I went with 3 other riders. This was not a good idea. 4 TBs, all wound up. Rio having been in a stall since the previous saturday, and they are out hacking across the KY horse parks open terrain. Each one of the these horses at one point tried to ditch their rider, multiple times we were getting run away with and Rio jigged most of the walk home. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, because I clipped Rio on Tuesday, his sensitive skin was bothering him when I had the saddle pad on him, so he was trying to buck me off, bite at the saddle pad and shack his body constently. Joy.
Friday, we went to dressage. He was actually great to braid, which is not normal for him. We get down there and he is so pissed off about the saddle pad, I am having a hard time controlling him at the canter. I have never had tired arms in dressage warm up. I was getting frustrated, he was frustrated, it wasn’t good. I decided to just do long and low. Did it at the trot and canter, he calmed down, still swishing his tail but not rushing or chomping at the bit anymore. We went in the ring andhad a pretty good test. It wasn’t out best but not our worst either. He was not his normal relaxed self but at least he didn’t run around like a fool. What was unlucky was the 2nd judge, Susan Posner. I have never had good luck with her as a judge. I knew going in that she would not give me a good score. I am just lucky that there were two judges. The first judge scored us a 37.5 while she gave us a 43.5. Unbelievable. Anyway, it averaged to a 40.5. I wasn’t thrilled. Oh yeah…Willie was still lame, so at this point we decided it was time for the vet to come take a look, especially since Hagyards was the show sponsor. A lovely vet named Heather came and took a look. She too thought it was an abscess and thought that he just needed some more time and gave us something else to pack his foot with. She said he wouldn’t be sound for the show and that Stephanie should withdraw. :-( If it Willie wasn’t sound or much better tomorrow she wanted to take xrays.
Oh yeah, it was raining and freezing this whole time.
Saturday brought Endurance Day. We have been working and training for this since April! It was FREEZING OUT! I had everything all packed up and we set up a spot in the Vet Box. Carolyn, Stephanie and Francis all new the plan. I would leave for phase A, which was a 16 min trot ending at phase B (steeplechase), they would meet me at the start of Steeplechase. This all went as planned. Rio was actually very strong on phase A. I rode it in my loose ring snaffle, andif I were to do it again I would put on my two ring, maybe on the second ring. I was tired by the end and oh yeah FREEZING! The team offered Rio some water which he really didn’t have any interest in, and we went over to the start box of steeplechase. The optimum time was 2min 50 seconds, we had to jump 4 3′6 steeplechase fences at a speed of 550mpm. The footing wasn’t too horrible except for in front of jump 3 which was a swamp. After wiggling around on the way to jump 1, Rio really got into it. I have never felt him so strong. He jumped 2 great and actually rebalanced down the hill toward 3 well, he got stuck taking off for 3 and really had to stretch for it. He then took off like a crazy man as the path toward fence for head toward home and the other horses on phases A and C. I then had to make a pretty hard turn to the right, well it felt hard because trying to turn a race horse who is basically in control at this point is no easy task, we barely made the turn and WOW did he over jump 4. He then proceed to take off like a crazy man to the finish. This is the first time I have ever felt like I am being run away with. Needless to saw, we made time….. by about 30secs. I got him stopped and he acted like nothing had happened. I on the other hand had warmed up considerably even though it was sleeting at this point. We passed by the team again, took a sip of water and headed directly out onto phase C. Phase C is more like the cooldown, it was 25mins at the walk and slow trot. Hmmmmm… that didn’t happen. Rio was still in go go go mode and was power trotting and jigging. I got him to walk at one point heading away from home, then one the way back home there was just no hope so I let him power trot. Carolyn, Stephanie and Francis drove back to meet me at the dreaded vet box. Finally I got on the road almost back to the vet box and Rio decided he could walk. Which was good because we were coming in so early. We made it to the vet box at about 21 mins. The vets took his TPR, said he could just have his cooler put on and walked. No water poured on him. The team did great in the vet box. We had to switch his bridle to my two ring, because boy did I need more control. at about 7 mins in the box we did a jog for the vets, they took his vitals again and said he was good to go. We got back on and down to the start box with 30seconds to go. I love the women who was assigned to us in the vet box, she was amazing!!! Rio was great out of the start box. Perfect to the first 3 fences. Then he got a little nutty again. I had to make a hard turn to fence 4 which was a jump into the water. This jump was a joke! Once I made the turn, Rio actually cantered over the jump landed and I believe thought…what the hell was that. He jumped the next fence great then got a bit nutty again, and I hardly made the turn between 6A and B. He took off after 6B and I knew there was bad footing coming and a huge table top going down a hill. I hard to rip and tear his head off to get him to slow down, once he did he jumped the table but hit it with his back foot because I believe he slipped pushing off. We trotted the hard turn to the next fence and then made the 1 stride to 3 stride bending like no problem. I hard to push him up the next hill because I believe he was now tired. He jumped the coffin combo like it was nothing and did the rest of the course with ease. He didn’t pull on me at all. He hit the both coops with his fronts, near the end, I think fatigue was catching up with him. We took the short route between the second to last fences but it wasn’t fast enough. We finish clear but with some time penalties.
We hoofed it back to the vet box so they could check him out and release him. He was pretty much cooled out by the time we got back up there. They said he had no issues and was good to go. Back at the stalls I iced his legs and wrapped him up and all he wanted to do was nap. Which he did. Willie was still lame so we had the vet come back, she took xrays and besides a slight track of an abscess she found Willie has a slight deterioration of the coffin bone. He needs time off for it to heal… 4 weeks to 3 months! OMG!!! At least by the afternoon the Sunday had peeked through a couple of times.
Sunday morning we were up and out braiding for the jog. I took Rio out for a walk and he had a slight stiffness. I went and did a practice jog for the vet, and oh yes…we have a limp. Not the front right due to the should but now we are lame in the front left. It was ever so slight and the vet thought that it may have been because of where he his his pasterns on the jumps the day before or he tweaked it in the mud on course, but if we kept walking he might loosen out of it. So he suggested we present at the inspection. Which we did. And they held us. The vets checked him over and found a slight sensitivity to palpation on the tendon on his left front leg. Most likely stressed it in the mud on the course. She thought if we jogged faster and straight they would pass him and we could do Stadium. At this point I was not sitting in ribbon contention anddid I really want to risk my horses tendons for 1 round of stadium in potentially sticky footing. I opted to withdraw and save his legs for another day. :-( All this hard work out of so many people and the last day we have to withdraw. So disappointing, but as most of you know that is how the horse world goes. There is always next year.
I really want to thank everyone that helped out TeamRIO at this show. The team at the show; Stephanie, Carolyn, & Francis. The people who got Rio sound enough to be at the show; Scott Blair DVM, Kelly Flowers MPT ESMT, and Chris Overly the Farrier. The people who took care of Merlin, Marianne and Morgan Thomas, and Meridith Weedman. My wonderful husband and best emotional support ever, Brian, who also tried so hard to be there for Saturday and things just didn’t workout our way. Everyone who sponsored TEAMRIO this year: Shannon Rogers, Nancy and Rich Kovatch, The Correia Family, & Painted Creek Farm.
So we will work hard through the winter to improve out Stadium and Dressage work. Next year we will come out at Training and hope to make the move to Prelim. Rio is currently qualified to move up, so next year should be very exciting!!!!!
Lori
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10.13.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:27 pm by Lori
Hello All,
I am leaving for Lexington in a few hours. Our stalls our 1947 and 1948, so please feel free to come and visit us. Rio seems to be sound. Hooray! Hopefully Wilbur will follow in his footsteps.
Thanks to everyone who has helped us out!
Lori
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