|  Update No 3 - July 2008 Between eventing and dressage the last few weeks have been very busy for me here at Tewksbury. Rocco (Sir Echo) has really been going very very well especially in the jumping. We just ran back to back one stars at Maryland Horse Trials (MD HT) where he was clear cross country and show jumping. I would have to say the show jumping was pretty big for that level and the cross country was tough enough too. The week before I went to a show jumping competition in Virginia where Rocco and I did well and jumped off against some pretty good horses. His jumping there was the best he had jumped since coming to the US, so I took that idea into the ODE and rode him more like we were in a jump off which just means I was less protective and more forward.  This worked brilliantly as he didn’t touch a fence and looks amazing in all his photos. I also competed Tewksbury Samson (pictured right) and Tewksbury Merlot at the show jumping competition and they both won ribbons in their respective classes which made the two and a half hour drive worth it! Actually it was two and a half to get there, 6 to get back. (Apparently the Americans have some type of celebration on July the 4th known as the Fourth of July. From what I now understand it involves everyone who owns a car to be on the road at the same time!!! 6 hours of driving at 30kms an hour. Lucky the horses travel well.) Back to Maryland Horse Trials: The courses here are just SO well built and inviting, they provide a great test for the horse and rider. By the time they get to one star they need to be very well schooled and confident. MD HT is no exception. The undulating terrain, not to mention the high humidity and 36 degrees temps, required a fit horse. Rocco felt like an old schoolmaster and was very enthusiastic and understood the course really well, so I was really happy with him especially as the first event fell on my birthday! Both Boyd Martin and Ryan Wood had a successful weekend with their rides although Ryan did make a bit of a ‘splash’ on a catch ride!! He came back from the cross country covered in mud saying something about his horse not quite landing on his feet in the water…. The photos do show a very unusual jumping style from the horse and Ryan showing great stickability by staying with the horse until well after they were lying in the water! The next weekend Boyd went on to win both the two star and intermediate classes at the prestigious Stuart Horse Trials in NY. About half of the class was eliminated on the cross country so that was no mean feat. Kadi Eykamp also did well with her two horses placing in the top ten, as did Simone Kann with Balmoral Trim Tram. So the Aussies certainly made an impression!  I was very lucky to attend a clinic with highly respected Olympic level dressage judge and coach Linda Zang (she has been to Australia a couple of times and also arranged a Young Rider competition for Australian riders in the USA - they rode borrowed horses). I took Tony the dressage horse and Rocco. This was very brave of me as every horse there was a dressage horse by Donnerhall out of a Rubinstein/Weltmeyer mare or so I was told. I turned a few heads when I showed up with my eventer (and a palomino one at that)! Linda was fantastic and very quick and accurate at with assessing both horses’ strengths and weaknesses. The exercises she gave me worked and will keep me busy for a while. The exercises with Rocco are very similar to what Heath teaches so I was pretty familiar with it. I would have to say the most exciting thing about the day was the Amish horse and cart that kept going past the indoor arena. And I know the horses agree with me as both of them tried to vacate the area as quickly as possible. What did I do in a stressful situation like that? Calm my horse? Ask the Amish lady to kindly find other route? Hide behind the stables? No! I got Cherie to photograph me on Rocco staring at the cart as though it was the devil coming to take him for biting me and ripping my shirt!! My support crew (Cherie, Linda and Kathy) were very helpful all day and kept me awake driving home (maybe I was tired from working hard, or maybe I was tired from Robin’s ‘birthday 1 or 2 drinks’ the night before!) The dressage has been going pretty well for me too. Tony and I went very well at our first big show together placing 2nd. Considering we made quite a few errors in the test, it was a great result. And the heat! Gosh it was hot! I had to sit in the car’s air conditioning between tests just to survive. Lucky petrol’s cheaper here….. ! Silva Martin (Stigler) was also there with her fancy dressage horses from Pennsylvania, including Jeff the Chef (Jive Magic), and had a successful show winning many ribbons. One of my students, Linda Lewis, also had a successful show winning a ribbon also. Not bad for her first competition in 12 years and on a horse that she has brought along mostly by herself.  All in all I’ve had a great start to my new life in America with a lot of support from everyone in the barn and particularly Cherie and Mel from Tewksbury Manor. I’m looking forward to continued success over the coming months with a competition booked in for every weekend. Congratulations are also in order for Sally McKechnie who married Hugh Lofting in a ceremony well attended by Aussie eventers. Pictured right is Tewksbury Famous Painter. Really looking forward to the Olympics in a couple of weeks, particularly Cyberhorse’s coverage. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie……. Regards Kate. Go to Story No 1
Go to Story No 2 
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