Ever since I bought my 16.3 thoroughbred Stalking Man, three years ago, my goal was to complete a one-star before my 18th birthday. With extreme training, long hours, and a lot of support I made my dream come true at Morven Park CCI* this fall.
Thankfully I went to the training 3-day at Waredaca so I knew what to expect, but my good friend Anna Petrea went into this blind. Anna and I sat down with our trainer Karen MaHaffey and talked out our training schedule and what we would need. We carefully planed our 30-day conditioning schedule, our schedule upon arrival, and everything in our horse diet. Little did Anna and I know but the long painful hours of trot and gallop sets would help our relationship and knowledge of our horses.
Not only did I learn from my conditioning schedule, but from just four days at Morven I learned so much about the benefits of the long format and about myself and my horse. Before we knew it, our first jog out and dressage day had come. I can’t even explain the nerves I had in my stomach before jogging out. Anna and I both passed with a sigh of relief. Quickly after the jog, we tacked up and went to hack roads and tracks. The whole facility was breathtaking. It was obvious a lot of time and effort was put into making the weekend happen.
Dressage was a complete blast! It was exciting to see everyone braided with their top hats and shad bellies. But dressing up didn’t mean as much to Anna and I as our dressage tests. I received a 58.6 and Anna was close behind with a 67.5.
After a good nights rest, endurance day was finally here. Anna made sure we knew exactly where we were going on roads and tracks; we hacked it at least a hundred times. Karen had cross country and steeple chase minute markers down to a science. Finally the most anticipated part of the weekend were only hours away.
Heading out on Phase A was the most nerve-racking. You had to prove you knew the pace of your horse only having 16 minutes to warm up for 3 kilometers. If you aren’t warmed up enough by Phase B, steeplechase, you risked your horse tying up or having any health problems. I believe one of the competitor’s dad calculated that steeple chase required a horse to gallop at speeds of 30 mph or more. “It’s the biggest adrenaline rush you’ll ever feel.” I kept telling Anna, “Phase C should be the calming down period for the rider!” I didn’t think she believed me until I saw her smiling with her thumbs in the air trotting down to join me in the vet box, but there was no time to share stories. We had 10 minutes to ice, walk, spray, our horses; do anything to get their temperature down. The cooling process is truly what a 3 day tests. When five to six minute gallop sets and trotting non-stop for an hour makes up your conditioning schedule, you learn your horse quickly, along with his respiration; his heart rate, and his temperature.
After the vet’s approval, Shadow and I headed for the start box. Karen warned me that my first few jumps Shadow might jump as steeplechase jumps, but I had to be back before the 4th jump; a brush oxer, two strides to a huge drop down, and four strides to a chevron. It was one of the challenges of the course. I was screaming at my mom going through the finish line. It was one of the best courses I’ve ever ridden; I felt as though I was totally in control. Shadow was listening to me and I was listening to him but he was still taking care of me by his instincts.
Unfortunately, Anna didn’t have the same experience. Her horse Beamish changed on her out on cross-country but she agreed she was thankful for time spent because of how much she learned about her horse.
After two rails and no time faults in stadium, Shadow and I ended 5th out of 15 of the best junior riders. I realized how lucky I was seeing people from Ohio, Texas, and Illinois competing against me, also that I was able to complete a long-format one star before they disappeared. I learned so much and had such a wonderful time. I recommend doing a long format show before they’re gone. Hopefully more riders will help save the long format so other riders can experience and benefit from it. My experience at Morven has forever changed the relationship between my horse and I along with opening many doors for my future and I’m so thankful.
Veterans and young riders shined at the Twin Rivers Spring International in Paso Robles, California, during the event from April 11-14. The weekend's competition featured the largest field for the international levels of eventing in the history of Twin Rivers with a total of 70 FEI level entries.
To chip or not to chip? That won’t exactly be the question anymore as of Dec. 1, 2025. In order to help prepare USEA members for this upcoming rule change, which was approved in December of 2023 by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), we have dedicated this edition of Rule Refresher to the topic of microchips.
Kelly O’Brien has her eye on a prize. “Pretty much the rest of this season will be targeted towards getting fired up for the AEC,” says O’Brien, 54. She and B E Never Say Never, a 19-year-old Dutch Warmblood, have qualified for the 2024 USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds already, thanks to decisively winning all three of their 2024 outings thus far.
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