Looking Back at 2010 and Forward to 2011

The end of the season, and end of the year is always a great time to take a step back and reflect. I am feeling incredibly grateful looking back

at 2010, not only has it been a great year for my horses and I, but also for my students and business as well.

Joey and I returned to four-star competition in April at Rolex and finished in the top 20. Truly helping us to start the season with a new confidence level, especially after having had a lot to work through from previous years and also old injuries. Then finishing the year with a top three finish at the Fair Hill International CCI*** on Joey, and George finishing in 12th at his very first CCI***. Both George and Rox, as well as my younger horses, made great progress throughout the year which helped secure a 19th place finish overall on the USEA Rider of the Year Leaderboard and also a 10th place on the USEA Leading Lady rider Leaderboard! As a rider, I also tied for 3rd overall on the PRO Tour Event Series Leader Boards and Cavaldi (Joey) tied for 2nd on the HAYGAIN Horse Leader Board!
I am extremely excited to announce that I have been selected to be on the US Equestrian Federation's "A" Developing Riders List and will have the opportunity to train with Capt. Mark Phillips this winter! It has been a few years since I have been on this list and I am looking forward to taking full advantage of this opportunity. There is a new format for the list; they are not listing horses, so I am hopeful that there may be opportunities to take Rox and George to some training sessions as well as Joey.

For my business, KSeventing and Everbreeze Farm, it has been a busy year!! I feel like we are growing more now then ever before! The farm improves by the day and I am very lucky to have an incredible group of students, horses and employees to keep me VERY busy.....and on my toes :) I would also like to congratulate my students for many big accomplishments this year, from ribbons and placings at competitions, to selling horses, buying horses, and all taking their riding to new levels in 2010!!

As I start to plan for 2011, the year will start with winter training plans. Phillip Dutton, my extraordinary coach, is going to Wellington, Florida for a few weeks in January to further work on show jumping and dressage. He has graciously asked if I can participate in lessons with US Coach Katie Prudent; I am hoping to learn as much as we can with this opportunity with her as well as my dressage coach Betsy Steiner who is also there for the winter. Hopefully things will work out to go to Aiken for a couple weeks, then Wellington in January and back to Aiken in February to start the winter competition season. Busy busy busy, yet exciting!!

I want to take this opportunity to thank my sponsors, friends, supporters and staff. Really to thank everyone who is so supportive of my horses and I in any way. There is an unbelievable amount of effort; physically, mentally, emotionally and financially, that goes into everyday and every competition to create success. There is absolutely no way that I could do this alone, do this without everyone's help and I am so so very grateful! Thank you!!!! Let's all enjoy a wonderful holiday, spectacular new year and lets all ROCK IT in 2011!!!

-Kristin

Irish Gelding with World Class Potential for Sale

Striker is an imported 16.3h, 7-yr-old Irish Sport Horse gelding by Maltstriker (KWPN). He has incredible athletic ability! This is a world class horse that just keeps getting better! He is currently jumping 4+ft. and schooling 3rd level dressage movements. Serious inquiries only please. Contact Kristin at 973-768-4174 or kseventing@yahoo.com

Gorgeous, Talented Irish Sport Horse Mare for Sale

Diva is a 5-yr-old, 16.1hh, grey Irish Sport Horse mare. She is a scopey and honest jumper and a lovely mover on the flat, and she is very sane and straightforward. Currently competing in training level eventing and schooling 3'6" at home, Diva is very fun to ride and always wants to please! Suitable for Jr, YR or AA. Great on trails, superb attitude. No vices. Contact Kristin at 973-768-4174 kseventing@yahoo.com $30k negotiable to the right home.

Fair Hill CCI , end of season wrap up...

What a weekend! Joey finished 3rd in the 3star and George finished 12th in his very first 3star! Rox had a strong finish as well in the 2star, his final placing doesn't really show how well he performed this weekend though. To date it is the best that Rox has jumped on xc and in sj. He just keeps getting stronger and more educated as we go, but at Plantation and now FHI, he is truly showing me his potential, and a tremendous amount of maturity!

George really pulled through this weekend and took it all in stride. He can be a bit of a high stress horse, but handled himself beautifully and just ate up the xc! This is certainly the hardest xc course he has jumped and you would never have known it! I am very proud of his 3star debut!

Joey.....what can I say....I couldn't be happier! And neither could he! Joey just gets better with age! Not only did he put in a stellar weekend, but seems to be actually enjoying himself more now, not as stressed about competing. He jumped a beautiful SJ to clinch 3rd place and also won us the owner/rider champion ribbon!

There are quite a few people that I want to thank for all of their help getting us to FHI and for their support! It takes so much effort to make weekends like this happen, not only at the event, but also 'behind the scenes' , and for many months and years leading up to them. First off, I want to thank my team for making it possible to ride 3 horses at Fair Hill, it was busy, but went so smoothly with their help! My sponsors, Jaime and Five Star Tack, Gene and County Saddlery, Running 'S' Equine, and Horse First. Special thanks to Dr. Greg Staller for always being on top of my horses care, he puts in many hours helping us get to these competitions! Bob Pethick, of Bedminster Forge, the boys definitely couldn't do this without you, (and thank you for the last minute help! ;) ! Endless thank yous to Phillip for all of his help and knowledge. Betsy Steiner has also been a huge part of this success this year at FHI!

Looking ahead, we are still remaining quite busy here at KSEventing. The big boys get some down time now, but we have quite a few horses for sale this fall and some youngsters that are still competing. I am hoping to have all of the updates on our website this weekend. There are some big changes happening this fall in preparation for next season, and hopefully getting ready to make it across the pond again in the Spring!!

Thank you everyone for your support!

Kristin

Update from Fair Hill

Here we are at the Fair Hill International three-day event. The dressage was good for all three horses - Rox was a little bit tired he was quite good and he scored pretty well, but I felt like he lost some points in the canter work. Maybe he was getting a little tired. But the work he's been doing is very good. For Rox and George, they're so improved in general but they're in the process of gaining strength in the dressage. Rox got a 54, which is fine, but I know he can score even better than that.

George had one of the most relaxed tests I've had with him; if anything he was behind my leg. He was moving beautifully and was the most relaxed and rideable he's been, but after watching the video again and again he was a little bit fussy so I plan to talk with Betsy about that - maybe he was also tired. Unfortunately he scored quite high but I was happy with him, especially since he never really lost his cool anywhere. This is a new side of him that we have to work on!

Joey was great, his trot work was lovely and his canter work was very good. He was a little tense on his right lead and before his changes but he was rideable and so good in the dressage. The lessons with Betsy have paid off tremendously - it's a good place to progress from.

Rox jumped the best he's ever jumped today. He's a big horse with a big stride and sometimes he doesn't like to put himself together, but he only made one mistake when he got a little exuberant into the sunken road, so he got close to the up bank and scrambled up, so I stopped and regrouped and took the alternate route, so we lost a little time but in all it was a good confidence builder before moving up next season.

The other two jumped around the 3* beautifully. This is George's first three-was and he was great, he was so confident and we never lost the rideability, I felt like he matured tremendously today; even with the crowds and roping, which he's never seen, he was a good boy.

Joey was such a lot of fun to ride cross-country: it feels like finally instead of pulling I can kind of kick him around. It's like riding a big pony out there! In the very beginning he got a little strong and I think I lost a little time there - we had a few time faults - but other than that he was pretty perfect and jumped great. We were looking for a good, confident practice round to prepare for next season, and that's what we had today. It was a good course and great footing. Joey is currently in fourth place in the three-star.

Here are the scores for the event.

So far they all look good - we'll give them a good rest tonight and hopefully they'll all feel good tomorrow!

-Kristin

Bucks County, Plantation, Flora Lea and more...

Time to catch up on the last few weeks! I took Ray (Lumiere Royale), my 4 yr old gelding to his first event at BCHP. He is by Lux Z out of a Cavalier Royale mare. Ray was a star! He won the dressage on a 24.3 and clean on cross-country and in show jumping. Cross-country is always fun the first time out, but by half way around he figured out what the game was; by the end he was looking for the next fence. We would have won the event, but being four years old, with no stud holes in his shoes yet, the show jumping got very slick and I decided that for his first time out, slow and steady would be in his best interest and a few time faults dropped him out of first. He really handled the day beautifully; it was a super long day and one of our first cold and rainy days as well.

My student Beth rode From to third place in their third training event together. She is doing a wonderful job getting to know this horse, and having a blast!

After Bucks County I had more lessons with Betsy, which have been incredibly helpful. At Plantation Joey, George and Rox all improved in their flat work. It is certainly a work in progress, but well on its way! Joey and George did the CIC*** and Rox did the CIC**. It's always an exhausting weekend riding these three boys! The cross-country was a blast on all three. They were all clean, quick and jumped beautifully. The courses were completely different at Plantation this year: a huge congratulations to all at PFHT, they have done a wonderful job!

Show Jumping was pretty good, we have some room for improvement, but the boys all placed. Joey was 4th, George was 8th in the CIC*** and Rox had an unfortunate 1 rail down to finish in 10th in the CIC**. Joey won the best conditioned in the 3-star and Rox won best conditioned in the 2-star, so that was very exciting! Overall, I was very pleased with our weekend and am looking forward to the rest of the fall season.

After Plantation we caught a couple more lessons with Betsy before she headed out to watch the WEG, where she is also commentating for the Eventing Dressage, so listen in! Then Ray did event numero dos at Flora Lea...and he won! He is getting better and more mature by the day. He won the dressage again on a 24.3, and jumped great. I must give another huge congratulations to Flora Lea on making some lovely improvements to this long running event, they had a wonderful turnout and I hope this competition continues to grow each year.

Now a quick jumper show for George before we head to Morven Park with Joey, George and Rox in the Advanced!

In other news: Gotteulan sold and will have a lovely home as a jumper, congrats to Emily! We also have some exciting new horses being added to our team - I will start updating as they arrive!

We are starting to book spots for Aiken if anyone is interested and also have stalls available in NJ at Everbreeze which will remain open all winter. Please contact me for more info!

Check back soon,

Kristin

Training for the fall season!

After The event at Rebecca Farm in July, Phillip and I spoke about what has been holding me and my horses (Joey and George mainly) back from really going out there and winning......the dressage. We have worked so hard on improving all 3 phases and I am incredibly lucky to be sitting on such talented animals and having great instruction! But when it comes down to it, those 2 advanced horses are HOT! This shows up the most on the flat, they can be near impossible to settle and I work so hard on our flat work so it can truly be disappointing to the point of almost discouraging at times when I can not seem to help them to pull it together in the arena.

Time to make a plan.....

I decided to pull my horses out of Richland (a tough decision because I have been wanting to compete there for so long, but there is always another year!), and find a dressage instructor that works well with my boys and me, has the time, and is willing to really give me a hand in working towards my goals.

I spoke with many people whom are part of my 'team', and sought out recommendations on who to approach. Phillip helped me to come up with some trainers to speak with and then Dr. Greg Staller again mentioned that he thought I should speak, and meet with Betsy Steiner. So I did. Let me just say...thanks Greg!

So far Betsy has been incredibly helpful in just the few lessons we have had to this point. She has sat on Joey and George as well and had nothing but praise and lovely compliments for both boys. Truly inspiring to ride with, watch, and listen to Betsy! I am trying to work with her as much as I can right now to really get a jump start on this fall season! I am feeling my confidence and motivation rising more and more each day...and better yet, I can see and feel it in my horses as well!!!

Today I went down for jump schools on my boys with Phillip before he heads to GA next week...last jump school for awhile with him while he prepares for the WEG. Joey, George, and Rox were super and it was very helpful (as always), to get a 'tune up' from Phillip!

I also took down my lovely 4 yr old, Ray, and jumped with Boyd. Boyd rode Ray for me for 2 weeks in August to help me work through some baby moves that Ray had while being ridden around other horses. Money well spent! He did a great job and Ray is becoming more confident each day! What a super horse, I am very excited to take him to his first event next weekend at Bucks County!

More lessons this week, then Bucks County for Ray and Plantation for the 3 big boys! So Fall has arrived and we are feeling great!

I have to Congratulate Vanessa on selling Poppy today, she has worked so hard on developing this young horse and her work has paid off! Poppy has turned into a lovely 5 yr old and her new owner is very lucky to have her!

Also, our working student, Melissa, from this summer is coming back tomorrow to work for us full time and we are so excited to have her back to stay!!

Till next time,

Kristin

Ballylaffin Bracken is back!

It has been a few months, but 'Rox' finally feels like he is back in good form! Winning the prelim 2 weeks ago at the NJ HT and just finished 3rd at Waredaca this past weekend in the Intermediate! He scored a 28.0 in dressage and clean jumping in sj and xc, just a few time faults xc pushed him into 3rd overall. He looks and feels great after the weekend, I'm excited for a great fall season with Rox!

Summer News

It has been too long since I have updated everyone on our busy summer! Let's go back a few weeks.....

In July I flew out to Montana with Joey and George, (Vanessa came with us), to compete at Rebecca Farm. What an experience! This has to be one of the most beautiful places not only to visit, but also to compete. The trip started with a pretty interesting flight of 18 horses being loaded onto a plane, walking right up a ramp off the runway into their stalls.

The horses traveled very well. There were three horses across on the plane,and that was the entire width of the plane. It appeared a bit cramped, but they were great! Tex Sutton, the shipping company, did a wonderful job and our horses traveled incredibly well.

When we arrived in Kalispell, we got off the plane only to be greeted by a huge crowd from town, with people taking pictures, and all the media was there to watch the East Coast horses arrive. It was big news! We had a very warm welcoming.

Click here to check out the pictures of Joey and George walking off the plane, as well as the beautiful Montana scenery.

The competition at Rebecca Farm was great! We riders could not ask for better courses, footing, arenas, weather, and hospitality. Sarah Kelly Broussard did an amazing job getting us all out there and keeping us organized, along with the 500 horses competing at their event. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and a huge thank you to the Broussard family for making this possible, we will never forget it!

Both boys had a great week: Joey finished 13th in the CIC*** World Cup division, and George was 7th in the CCI**. If there is a way to compete at Rebecca Farm more regularly, I am there! This is one of the nicest events in the country!

Video: Joey at Rebecca Farm



Video: George at Rebecca Farm



When we arrived home, it was back to work in NJ, with an event on the next weekend and new horses arriving at the farm in only two weeks.

The NJ HT went beautifully. Rox (pictured above) had his first event back since the spring and won the preliminary on a 26.5. BM Gotteulan, ‘Gottcha’, (pictured below) won another novice, this time on a 23.5! He is a super young horse. It’ll be sad to have to sell this one!


Back soon with news from Waredaca...

-Kristin

Gottuelan Wins at NJHT

M Gottuelan won another novice event, this time at The New Jersey Horse Trials, on his dressage score of 23.5! This fancy guy is for sale, please contact me for more info! He is a very special young horse! -Kristin

Flying West to Rebecca Farm

Kristin is in Kalispell, Montana for the The Event at Rebecca Farm and will be up against some seriously tough competition. Stay tuned for updates!

Here's an interesting article from the local newspaper about the event and its international range of participants.

The event schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, July 21, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: The USEA Spalding Labs Young Event Horse Series gives owners and breeders the opportunity to showcase the potential of their four- and five-year-old horses. The USEA Future Event Horse Series focuses on yearlings, two-year-olds, and three-year-olds.

Thursday, July 22, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Dressage, all Fédération Equestre Internationale levels. Dressage, National Horse Trial Levels.

Friday, July 23, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Dressage, all FEI Levels. National Horse Trial Levels Dressage continues. Cross-country phase begins at 8 am. National Horse Trials Novice and Training Levels.

Saturday, July 24, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Cross-country phase all day. All FEI Levels. National Horse Trial Levels continue.

Sunday, July 25, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Show jumping phase, all levels. Awards ceremony at end of each division.

Lots of Eventing!

Kristin has had a busy past few weekends eventing. Here's an update:

Castle Jordan came back to intermediate with a wonderful run at Seneca. Then the next day I rode Cornerstone Striker and BM Gotteulan in a Jumper Show at Briarwood farm in NJ. Striker is really coming along and shows to be a super jumper with endless potential. Gottcha was great, it was good for us to get to know each other over some courses since I've only had him a few weeks.

The practice paid off: the following weekend was Bucks County HT where Gottcha won the novice on a 26.5...he was a super boy, brave and a blast to ride!

Then we were off to Surefire (click here for results) where Castle Jordan, (George), was great in the intermediate, finishing third. Gottcha was really good again too. It was the hardest course he has encountered and the most atmosphere at an event. He is a very promising young horse. Cavaldi (Joey) also got to come out for the weekend and did the dressage, where he actually behaved quite well considering it was his first time back out since Kentucky!

Now getting ready for our big trip to Montana! I'm very excited about competing at Rebecca Farm with Joey and George.

-Kristin

Welcome to Kristin's Blog

Welcome to Kristin's new blog! Be sure to check back frequently for news about Kristin's horses, business and competitive endeavors.