Rox was great all weekend at the Southern Pines Horse Trials II in North Carolina and finished third in only his second time competing at advanced level! In the dressage everything has improved: from the minute he got there he went right to work and he was very mature. He likes the atmosphere and the challenge of advanced level. I felt like he even improved in the ring and was there to work. I felt like every movement was an improvement from our last event. I’ve just been working on improving everything, getting him stronger and getting our changes thing, but I think his new maturity was key. He was trying really hard through the whole test; he’s getting fitter and all of this is still new to him so I’m really pleased.
Cross-country was really hard! In the division there were quite a few problems on cross-country, including quite a few falls at the water which had a hard gymnastic line. Out of the first five or six rides, several fell, so it was a rough start to the advanced division. We certainly had areas on course that he felt green since he’s new to the level, and I knew it was a lot to ask, but he went out and impressed me with every jump. There are still areas to improve on but, like smoothing it out a bit but he was quick to my aids, handled the turning questions, and was totally on the ball. I haven’t been pushing for the time at advanced yet but he was one of the quicker rounds of the advanced – he was right there in the mix. He started out ready to run and jump, and the nice thing is, as he gets stronger and fitter, he doesn’t start pulling harder. His next outing will be The Fork, where he’ll do his first CIC3*, and the plan then is to aim for the CCI3* at Jersey Fresh.
For news and photos of Rox at Southern Pines check out Eventingnation.com
This was Cavaldi (Joey’s) first competition out since Galway Downs in November. I bumped him down to the intermediate on purpose because I wanted him to have a nice easy outing. I planned not to run cross-country because he’s jumping well and I didn’t feel like the run would be what he needed, so they allowed me to do Southern Pines as a combined test. He was full of himself and glad to be there but he felt ready to go – you could tell he was looking for the start box! I think it was good to get him out and keep it all a little easier. He’ll run advanced at The Fork and finally get to set foot on the cross-country course. So far this season he feels really good in his fitness and training so we’re moving forward with our plans to go to Badminton!
Young Horses Finish on Top at Pine Top
At Pine Top I ran Ricardo Time, Sahara and Textile all in the novice; that was their last trip down here in Aiken and they were all quite good, it was a nice way to end the season. It was Tex’s first novice and he jumped his best yet, especially on cross-country. Sahara put in another rgreat outing and finished 6th in a big novice division. RT has grown up so much down here and won his division. He scored a 21.7 in dressage and added a couple of time faults on show jumping to finish with the lowest score of the weekend! They’re all going to have some downtime after they head back to New Jersey this week while I stay in Aiken to prepare for The Fork with the upper level horses, Rox and Joey.
The Fork will be Castle Jordan’s first outing since the CIC3* at the Fork last year, and he’s going to go training with my student Beth. They’ve been doing really well together and he’s staying sound after re-injuring a tendon; he had a long time off and is doing quite well.
After The Fork I’ll drive home to New Jersey and then start preparing for the trip to England!
-Kristin
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