mud season...

This winter has been a strange one as far as mother nature is concerned. I have come to expect slipping and sliding into my drive way at night. On certain nights not being able to even make it up the road I live on. All of these things plus a below average temperature have made me realize that I love under armour, neck warmers, and toboggans... (proper clothing is essential for survival). so imagine my surprise when I checked the not always so smart, smart phone this morning and saw a high of 45*... Steamy I know. I was so excited to hear about something above 30. that I didn't think about all the rain/snow/sleet we have had around here. Needless to say I looked like a swamp creature post barn today, but I only had to wear a fleece!!! (so while I will not complain to much about the mud.. my apt would appreciate it if it weren't so muddy out!) so on to those ponies!

Mr. North just gets better every day! The left lead is not just something I dream about these days! Due to the non frozen ground situation. the horses even got to leave the indoor! (positively earth shattering.) Morris is looking FANTASTIC post holiday, and is so excited to get to run XC soon. He even started counting down the days until Pine Top. (Check out Mr. M's spring plan, we hope to see you there!)The ponies are all in the process of being primped for their trips down south. I think they are tired of seeing me with a pulling comb, or clippers in hand. (alas this is not something that they will stop seeing anytime soon!)

As with all thing migratory. The making of lists. packing. organizing. moving. shopping. lists. have all began at BCE and for me. I am getting almost freakishly good at packing my stuff, and all the horses. plus there stuff... during my last few free days here I have been exploring DC. enjoy the pics of something not horse related!

New year. new you? maybe.

I have been telling everyone. It's a new yr. you get to be a new you! I actually had very few resolutions this year. Come December I will share, for now I am going to make them a part of my everyday life, I even stuck to a few small things... well enough with new years resolutions.. on to exciting things.. like AIKEN!!! (and no I have not been counting down days or anything. it's 15 in case you were wondering)

With every winter comes many hours in the indoor, and then the packing, and then the migration. This year we have spent a large amount of time inside thanks to the snow, I am excited to get to Aiken and start up the spring show season. We have Morris entered at Pine Top II in Feb at Intermediate for his first run back. We are bringing 7 horses down with us. I for one am very excited to get to show North around down there. (and get him out of the indoor!) Which reminds me Mr. North is learning how to jump! I am extremely excited about the progress he has made in the 2 months I have had him. He is getting consitenet on the flat, he has even decided that he remembered how to canter on the left lead. Now he is trotting jumps. Baby horses are rewarding, now he can even trot 2 in a row. He will get to start going out schooling in Aiken and I hope to take him to some derbys and small shows.

While we have been stuck in the indoor we have been doing lots of jumping exercises to keep all the horses sharp! Baby Fred has been very entertaining in the snow. he loves eating it almost as much as he loves rolling in it. Mr. M even got to start jumping again. He wanted me to tell everyone that he would really just like to jump EVERY DAY! I told him that the circles were necessary. poor morris...

We have gotten a few new horses in for sale at Blue Clover Eventing. one is a young OTTB that I totally adore! If I had time for 2 I would grab him in a second. so check him out. We also have an adorable pony named giggles. She gets all the cute points and I even threatened North that he would be traded in (but then he magically remembered about that left lead!)

One thing I do promise to do this year is update more frequently and include pictures. and sometimes video.

Hopefully I will be seeing you down south. with a few less jackets on.

The last day of 2010

It has been a long awaited last post... or something like that. since Fair hill it has all been a bit of a whirlwind, that isn't letting up. so before I run off to ride my horse for the last time this year, I will update for the last time.

After Fair Hill baby Fred had 2 shows, Waredaca and Rubicon. He was awesome at Waredaca. jumping around like a seasoned pro! Taking it all out of stride. check out the video- ... Rubicon was a fun weekend for me! One of my good friends invited me to the MC ball on friday. we took a vote and decided I should go. So after dragging my dad out dress shopping... which was all in good fun! and running about making sure everything was done early Friday so that I could drive down to Richmond in time to make it for the cocktail hour, the week was filled with good fun! Fred was a pro. he got to be a grown up pony with a hoodie and getting braids the day before! I met Valerie the next morning at Rubicon. After a late night there was a large amount of coffee drinking at way to early in the am. The ball was a lot like prom except all the guys had on the same uniform. Which can be a little odd. We ended up sitting next to a guy that lived in Grapevine. It makes me laugh when I meet people from that area around here! anyways back to Rubicon... Fred was awesome put in his best test to date! (24.. ) not to brag. and finished the day in 8th in a tough division.

Most of you know that around the same time as Rubicon, I sold Sam. It was a very happy and sad moment for me. He has a great new family and I am very excited to see what they can do in the future! I also acquired a new project. North Star. he is 5 and off the track... and... another chestnut with a white star... (I think I might have a serious problem with red heads!?!) He is an awesome young horse. I am very excited to see what he will be doing in a few months.

I have spent a few weekends traveling, a whirlwind 6 days in 4 states for thanksgiving! and then a relaxing weekend in LA. (thank goodness I got my in n out fix! ) and a weekend at home in atl for christmas with the rents.. Kind of funny to see the whole world shut down at the forecast of snow. Then coming home to it and not being able to drive up the road you live on! My car is not a fan of snow. scratch that... ice....

I finished up this semester. with a personal best GPA for juggling school horses and a social life. (and sometimes another job). As a final note, a big thank you to everyone who has helped this year. Some of you it was a word or a statement, some letting me study, and some helping me through all the adventures life has thrown at me. I am looking forward to a new year with many new adventures!

P.S. I attached some pics. dress shopping. fred in a hood. and what not. enjoy!

The hill that was fair.

Fairhill was an experience! Morris was a star finishing 12th in the 2 star.but i think thats getting ahead on the story a bit! On Thursday it decided to turn into a lovely rain filled day.(after all we were at fairhill and what would it be without a little rain!) In which I must admit to hiding in the barn for most of the day, we did make it out to walk the course. It was beautiful. But there certainly was a lot to do. The first fences were nice and straight forward and then wham! Fence 5 was the first water. And it didn't let up. The course was going to be hard to make the time and I was glad that morris is a xc machine. Thursday afternoon we all ventured out in the rain(with as many layers as possible on) to the dressage arenas. It's nice to be able to walk them around the outside of the ring before you add in the spectators judges and flapping tents in this case. Morris was super! even though he is very opposed to rain!

On Friday we had an early morning so that Valerie could preride then I could beautify and then go straight to the test! Morris is making huge improvements on the flat. Everytime he goes in the arena its better. There was a large gap between the two judges score and it would be a lie to say we were happy with the scores. But alas this is not a dressage show! Come saturday the score board was shaken up. The time was hard to make with very few clear rounds inside the time. Morris was one of them! Their round moved them into 12th. Morris looked awesome at all the jumps I was able to watch from the vet box. Those nine minutes seem to last forever when your waiting for your horse to come back! Morris was obviously unimpressed as he drug me back to the barn! Then as any groom will tell you the icing wrapping walking jogging begins. Morris had a crew of people helping to make sure he recovered as quickly as possible! ( many thanks to randy Dr ober and everyone else that gave a few minutes to morris!). Sadly come saturday night I was at a huge loss. Jenn Simmons had a fall on xc and as a result JB was put down. As most of you already know,I spent the past year working for jenn, and let me tell you it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Jenn is an amazing person with a huge heart who is always smiling, and willing to help anyone. She taught me to many things to list. and JB was perfect, it is a huge loss to the eventing community as he was a horse to watch out for in the future. JB changed my life to, he taught me how to let go of everything else. sounds a little crazy but there was something about JB that had that effect on you. I was luck enough to be at JBs three star debut and it was beautiful to watch. he and jenn had the kind of relationship that every rider wants with their horse. Please keep Jenn and Sharon in your thoughts!

Sunday morning is always tense back in the barns. And this was no different. when I first arrived all the lights were out and it was mildly entertaining to walk into the tent and see all the other grooms with their cells out as flashlights and then start braiding in the dark... after the lighting mystery was solved everyone was focused on the jogs! we did lighten the mood in our aisle with some friendly contests. Who has the most braids?? I won with 23 but I was the brunt of a few jokes! Not that I wasn't making some of them. I really did try to have less but got 23 every time this weekend (maybe thats the lucky number???). O well. Morris did look beautiful. So on to the jog! The ground jury set a very high standard and quite a few horses were sent to the hold. Morris was not one of them. Accepted! Those words never sounded better. Then it was a speedy tack change Valerie walking course and on for the pre ride. Valerie watched some rounds and then got on for her round. Morris was jumping great. Karen was there to make sure Valerie and morris switched into show jumping mode after yesterdays big xc course. Karen has a lot of good things to say and I was very happy with how everything was going. Morris and Valerie had one rail and were easily inside the time. The rail was unfortunate but fixable. We have some homework for the winter but that will have to wait as morris is on vacay for a bit and then will have a lite few weeks before the hard work and showing begins in February. He is also happy that won't be attacking him with soap (well atleast not everyday.) The young horses have a few more outings before the end of the season so be sure to check back.

I have attached some pics from the weekend. I hope you enjoy them.

In barns and jogs

Morris and I headed up to fair hill yesterday to do in barns. The day started with an early ride on Sam. He was perfect. He is one seriously fancy dressage pony. After giving him lots of cookies and telling him I would see him in a few days, I was off to kaleidscape. Morris decided to get extra dirty! Just because someone told him he wouldn't get to roll in mud for a few days! After some bathing we were off! Upon arriving after taking some awesome narrow back roads (thank you gps!) We headed over for our in barns. They looked over morris gave us the thumbs up and our number. 45 out of 60. I settled morris in and got straight to unloading. I don't think I have ever been more thankful that Vals trunk is on wheels! Morris enjoyed his meal while I organized the pile. After that shennagins morris and I took a walk around the other side of the road. He thought that the xc jumps in the middle of the dressage arena were more interesting than anything else! This morning Valerie met me at the barn to ride morris before the riders meeting. Morris settled right in! Then it was up to me to braid bathe and get him looking in top form for the jog. We headed over to the jog and thank goodness walked away with the only word you want to hear ACCEPTED! Shortly after I had to head back to Alexandria for an economics class. I will be back at fairhill bright and early tomorrow with more updates! Morris does dressage Friday morning. So tomorrow I can walk course and stalk the competition. It looks like a tough group but I know morris is ready for the challenge!

better late than never.

the past month. give or take. has been a whirlwind. with many long trips, hours staring at homework. midterms. o ya. and almost no time on a horse.

I should start out by saying that the weekend of the area championships, I decided that it would be a grand idea to have a small accident. sadly this is the lamest story and the truth. I fell in a hole moving a bale of hay. a few hours later I was nonweight bearing. (small problem when you spend all your hours on your feet!) so off to see another ortho. thank goodness it was only a sprain and a strained tendon! (in the first set of xrays they saw a possible break!) It was a tad bit of a relief. but the doc said a boot, too which I replied. well I work at a horse farm I just dont see how that could possibly work. insert look of disbelief from doc here. needless to say I got a brace that basically only let me walk and not put to much stress on my ankle. but no riding(or running) until I could do a list of exersices. bummer!

Next thing I knew we were headed to Richland! for fred's first outing and Morris's first Intermediate back. Richland was so much fun! many thanks to all the people that pitched in to give me an extra hand! as certain things were quite limiting with being a one foot wonder. Morris put in a good dressage test, and was so amazing to watch xc! he just loves his job. every time I watch him go it makes me appreciate him more! Show jumping was not quite what we had planned but the course was quite tricky and jumps were falling down across all the levels. Fred was a little star! he was on a pro am team for PRO. (that ended up winning) but for his first go I dont think we could have asked for a better place or outcome! he finished fourth on his dressage score! you could tell he was green, but he is so cute about it, i love watching fred grow up! all in all the weekend was a huge success!

Our next outing was the AECs, but we had a quick stop at a PVDA dressage show before hand. Morris keeps getting better and better! he was the high score at 2nd level for the show! and won both his classes! go morris go!!! and off to the AECs we went. I was so excited to go, I use to live in GA, and my rents still do. Morris was super in the dressage! and then had an unfortunate moment xc and put in a solid sj. it was a great weekend, filled with lots of hanging out with old friends! lunch with my family, and lots of great riding. I love watching it is a mini education. and i almost forgot... we debuted the new quartermark! courtesy of arts and crafts night! check out the blue clover eventing facebook page for pics

The next weekend we headed to a local show with Fred! He won the dressage! which was pretty amazing, because there was a horse galloping around in warm up! Fred kept his cool the whole time ( huge thing for such a baby! ) Fred was awesome in the show jumping, because he seemed to just get the whole o were jumping a course thing! go fred go! he had a green moment xc which I didnt see which kept him from claiming the blue. (thats okay he told me back at the trailer that hes got his sights on it for morven) Freddie's owners the Ellis family came to see him go, (and feed him cookies (he told me to say that too!) ) The girls got there first rides on Foxy, (the mini bike) which looked like a blast. We are all looking forward to Fred and Morris having great rides at morven.

Whew what a past few weeks! I have to give a big huge THANKS!!! to valerie for keeping sam going for me I started riding about a week ago. I rode the first time on a friday and then headed to a dressage show on saturday. We took fred and morris too! It was fun and between not being able to ride coming up to it and having the virus I was pretty pleased with Sams performance. He got a 71. something! and won the training level division! I was so proud of him. He even got an 8 on gaits. ( I think I should stop bragging about how awesome my pony is. he might start to get a complex!) Fred gets better and better every time he goes in ring. I cant say I blame him i think it would be hard to get 17+ hands all together in a small arena to! and morris was great as well winning the first level division! It was a fun filled day with the boys! and I finally felt back at home in the saddle. Now on to fixing all those bad habits I thought I had curbed that snuck back up on me during the break! o and finish some homework too.

area championships. take one.

So this post has been a bit delayed! It has been a long past few weeks. with work work work.. o yeah and school. i have been a bit behind in getting this up! I can honestly say that the drive home saturday was a long one. but my horse is the best! There is no horse that I would rather be sitting on. sam is just such an honest horse.. and he tries. his ears are always up and he just goes.! well so for the dirty details!

I got to the barn at an unreasonably early hour, since I had to finish packing! (had to close the night before) and then braid bath. beautify! Sam looked awesome and we got to the show a bit ahead of time, which worked out well. I got on sam and had the most perfect dressage warmup. He just went straight to work. not caring about the trailer parking that was going on or the horses dodging out of the way. When he went in the ring he stayed so rideable. (which has certainly been an issue in the past, hes not bad just distracted by the judge. cars. flowers. etc) after dressage valerie walked xc with me and then sent me out on my own. The championship course had 3 jumps that I thought would be quite hard. the first was a water trough. it was pretty verticle and the top had a black tarp filled with water. complete with floating ducks. The second was the novice ditch. I had a pretty good plan on how I needed to ride it and the third was the water. not because sam is bad about it only because you had to wind around in between jumps to get in and out of it. when I was done I could not resist and atleast take a peek at my score. it was a 31.9! and the lowest score was a 30.5 so far. only about half the division was posted at that point.

As I was getting on for cross country I pictured my course and how every fence would ride about 10 times.(i have a habit of forgetting jumps!) and i can honestly say I was so happy to be sitting on sam. his ears pricked right up as a we walked into the warm up. he just knows i swear! You had to hack to the start box and sort of stroll around for a few. and sam can be pretty attempting to fall asleep in the box type of guy. but he was all business straight out of the start box and over the first jump. he was certainly moving along after the jumps. and after fence 3 we had a gallop through the woods with rocks sprayed orange so you could see them. sam thought we need to look more closely and after a bit of kicking on I had to seriously sit up and wait to the 2 jumps going out of the woods! he was like a little rocket. after that we had a gallop to a chevron. which sam spooked at! but jumped so boldly over. it really reminded me that I need to slow his foot work down to the trough and the ditch! and wow he was so good! I could go on and on about how perfect he was but I cantered through the finish all smiles and pats for the super pony.

We went to watch a few show jumping rounds and checked the score board and I saw that I was in 2nd after dressage. wow! and that I had a 20 on cross country. This totally blew my mind. SO straight to the show office I went and started the inquiry process. I asked about my stop and which jump it was and how to find the TD. so after they told me off to xc to find the TD I went. I said my horse spooked and was going a bit out through his right shoulder and jumped the fence on a angle. but never for a single second did the horse stop. TD talked to jump judges. no dice said that I had stopped and then jumped from a stand still. at this point I was crying and totally upset. I was shocked and asked what you do after an inquiry because I could not stand by and let a stop that did not happen be counted. I was told I could protest for 200$ yikes! okay I said. so I went and wrote my statement and brought my check to the show office. where the secretary tried to talk me out of protesting. I was informed that no one ever won and it was just a waste of my time and money. I kindly said okay, but I have to do this. if I loose atleast I know I tried. at this point he asked me to see if they had pictures and to talk to the photographer. I also told them valerie had seen the jump and was willing to talk to them. I turned in my form and was now waiting for the president of the ground jury to preform an investigation, after they told me whoops it was only 100$ to protest but it was 200$ to appeal. While this started I looked at the pictures (which they had of me in the air but not before.) and talked to the photographer who said he remembered me and did not remember a stop. So I tried to tell the secretary what the photographer had said, who tried to tell the TD, who flipped out! and just said I needed to leave everything alone and stay out of it. I think I spent the majority of the day crying.

but I still had to show jump and I was determined to put this out of my mind and have a good round. I started in the warm up not riding very well and being a bit to casual with my canter. then the last 2 jumps were awesome! I was ready to go.... until o wait theres the show secrtary coming up to me while im standing in the in gate and the next horse to go in. O Lara we need to talk about your protest after your round. It rattled me alot. at this point I just wanted to get out of the show jump ring and find out what happened. I lost my focus and had my worst show jumping round to date. I have never had more than one rail. I pulled 3 and they were all mine. I ran sam off his feet and past all his distances. yikes. finally on the turn to fence 7 I was like LARA pull it TOGETHER!!! sam deserves a better ride. and the last 4 were perfect.
Right as we walked out it was straight to business. I was informed that my protest had be denied. my check would be cashed. and not that it mattered anyway because I had just pulled 3 rails. (and yes he actually told me that). I was devistated. It was all I could do not to cry at that point. They showed me the statement from the jump judges which basically said my horse was cantering reared up stopped then jumped. I had no idea what to even say to that. I walked back to the trailer and packed and started to think. and this is what I came up with. (well and after consulting the rules) first an appeal is free, if I had known this I would have appealed. second the president of the ground jury never talked to me, or the photographer, or valerie, how can it be an investigation, if you only talk to the jump judge??? I honestly did not even know the name of the president of the ground jury, third they never looked at the picture. sam is up over the jump with square knees and I was in a solid jumping position which could not have happened had my horse stopped. fourth. as a competitor you should never be treated as badly as I was. and last the officals should not lie to you about the rules. (though we should all be familiar with them when you ask them they shouldn't tell you something that is not there)

Saturday was by far my longest drive home. I cried alot. and then realized that I would not be one of those people that just sat by, first thing monday I contacted the USEF and filled out all the proper forms. while my horse was perfect he did not get to show it, sadly for once through no fault of mine. I was very impressed with the USEFs fast response. The only thing that I hope to gain from this experience is that I can at the very least make sure this never happens to anyone else. Sam still got a bag of treats. some extra grain and a few days off! he doesn't know that he was anything but perfect. and while the score board might not agree. he was.

heres a link to the pictures. I will be the first to admit the show jump ones arent the greatest. but he looks super over the water trough and the chevrons. (where we "stopped"). and he shows off his awesome trot in the dressage! hope you enjoy them. http://www.photoreflect.com/store/Orderpage.aspx?pi=0EBK00D50N0000&po=0&pc=71

and now I really should get back to homework.