The Adequan FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships started Wednesday with the first veterinary inspections for the CH-J* and CH-Y** competitions. Yesterday the CH-Y** competitors took to the arena to compete in the dressage phase. The combined Area V & IX team is in the lead with Area III not too far behind, Team Canada rounds out the top three. Anisa Tracy from Area IX aboard the Thoroughbred gelding, Tigger VIII, are currently in the lead with a 45.4. Kelly Pugh and Devon Brown are tied for second with 51.9 and Karen Shull sits in fourth with a 52.4 The CHJ* competitors competed in their dressage phase today and The Area VI, VII & VIII Team is in the lead with Area IV in second, and third going to the Team from British Columbia and Quebec. Individually Kelly Loria and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds are in first with a 40.0 (pictured above, photo from StockImageServices.com), Claire Kelley and Clifton Peekachu sit in second, and Kendyl Tracy and Rowdie Jo Adams are tied for third.
Local newspaper, The Pilot, recently published a story about successful Young Rider, Lizzie Snow.
By Stephanie Diaz
Eventing enthusiasts who have seen Lizzie Snow ride cross-country would say she has a good eye for reading a course.
And they’d be right.
A recent graduate of The O’Neal School, Snow, 18, is one of the nation’s top young event riders, and the recipient of the United States Eventing Association’s 2009 Junior Preliminary Rider of the Year award.
The Adequan FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships started Wednesday with the first veterinary inspections for the CH-J* and CH-Y** competitions. Yesterday the CH-Y** competitors took to the arena to compete in the dressage phase. The combined Area V & IX team is in the lead with Area III not too far behind, Team Canada rounds out the top three. Anisa Tracy from Area IX aboard the Thoroughbred gelding, Tigger VIII, are currently in the lead with a 45.4. Kelly Pugh and Devon Brown are tied for second with 51.9 and Karen Shull sits in fourth with a 52.4 The CHJ* competitors competed in their dressage phase today and The Area VI, VII & VIII Team is in the lead with Area IV in second, and third going to the Team from British Columbia and Quebec. Individually Kelly Loria and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds are in first with a 40.0, Claire Kelley and Clifton Peekachu sit in second, and Kendyl Tracy and Rowdie Jo Adams are tied for third.
Today was the two star dressage and boy was I nervous! Usually dressage tends to be our weaker phase and as I went out on our morning hack I started looking at the other two star horses and thinking to myself "there canter is better then mine" or "my canter departs are not nearly that good!" I had a moment of self doubt but then I realized that I can only control how I do, sometimes not even how my horse does, but definitely I can control how I ride. I did some intense visualizing and after hacking her I was feeling way better. She felt amazing and I was confident that with all our dressage lessons with Nicole Perry and all the work I had put in with my mom that I needed to have a little more faith in myself.
Many event horses, from Beginner Novice packers to elite Olympians, got their early start in the racing industry, with many having two, three, and even four or more different careers before their retirement. Writer Kitson Jazynka had the opportunity to volunteer at a local horse rescue and got some hands-on experience with rescued horses, many of them originating from Florida racetracks, and surrounding areas. Do you have an ex-racehorse or rescued horse who events?
by Kitson Jazynka
It’s one thing to read about discarded racehorses heading to slaughter in cramped, hot trailers. It’s another thing entirely to spend a summer morning hosing and sudsing a sweet, young nibbly Thoroughbred boy who might otherwise have ended up on a dinner plate in Europe. This was on my mind recently as got acquainted with Merlot (his Jockey Club name is Can’t Stop the Light) over shampoo and a bucket. As the adorable dark bay gelding snuffled my pony tail and enjoyed the spray of cold water on his face, I wondered where life will take this sweet, young horse.
(Left: Author Kitson Jazynka pictured with Taff, one of the horses residing at the Pure Thoughts Horse and Foal Rescue.)
The 24 hours since my last blog have been turbulent to say the least.
To start on the positive note I had an amazing lesson with Kyle yesterday on the flat and was floating on cloud 9 while walking back to the barn. Conveniently, immediately after I walked past our vet and waved some of the show jumpers grooms were yelling "Hey Lady, Hey Lady!" and pointing at Gracie’s hind end. My first thought of course was "well, they don’t want to go near that" but then I saw what they were pointing at as one of her hind shoes was hanging on by just one nail. Luckily our amazing team vet, Dr. Chris Newton was able to come remove the rest of the shoe safely and send me back to the barn, back on earth to soak her hind foot. How fun does that sound with Gracie? Despite a few initial kicks at us to let me and Alex Green know she didn’t enjoy this Grace finally let us put her foot in. When she trotted up sound later Chris and I decided to have it glued on the next morning after a night of having it wrapped. Thank you Grace for waiting for the perfect moment, the day before jogs, to throw the first shoe you’ve ever thrown since I’ve owned you. And a hind one at that! But again, she is one tough little mare and didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it.
By Missy Miller
Being in Kentucky means several things, The delicious Ale-8-1, gorgeous blue grass scenery mixed in with the luxurious racehorse farms scattered everywhere, and of course the Kentucky Horse Park which also means Young Riders has finally arrived!
I apologize for not writing at all during training camp, but with all of that team bonding and putting out finishing touches into our rides, when time to relax rolled around it was usually with eyes shut and brains turned off. The Area 3 young riders were lucky enough to spend our final week preparing for NAJYRC at Carl Bouckarts amazing Chattahoochee Hills. The preparations being made for this years American Eventing Championships are amazing and I am looking forward to seeing it all in September.
By Alexa Ehlers
We are officially on the road to KY! This week was our Young Rider “training camp”. We had lessons with Mike Huber all week and grooms came in later to get to know the horses and our programs. Our area is so large that some of the grooms and riders live over 10 hours from each other. It was great to get to know all of our team mates even better. Let’s just say that I have plenty of stories from the week about the team’s lunches, dinners, Balderdash, Charades and laser tag outing (2* rider, Jacob Fletcher’s new obsession- the laser tag).
Twenty-year-old Kelly Pugh of Tres Pinos, California is competing this week at the North American Junior/Young Riders Championships in Lexington, Kentucky. She is a member of the Area VI two-star team with her Trakehner/Thoroughbred mare, Copycat Chloe.
Check out and aerial view of the CIC3*W cross-country course at last weekend’s Event at Rebecca Farm. Thanks to FEI TV for capturing and providing this unique footage via a yellow remote-controlled helicopter with a mini-HD cam on board. Watch the video here! Read the rest of this entry »
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