Catherine Haddad

This past weekend I got to ride with German-based dressage rider Catherine Haddad. She's in the US trying to qualify for the World Equestrian Games this summer, so my dressage trainer Patrick set up a clinic for the weekend. I couldn't afford two days of the clinic (it was REALLY expensive!), so we settled for Saturday only, which I think was better in the end! Saturday was about 100 degrees and Catherine worked us for 45 minutes straight with 2 walk breaks!!
She was an extremely good trainer. I would recommend her to anyone needing help with position and correctness. In the first 10 minutes, she had us warm up like usual and then push in to a very forward working trot. She decided that my leg position needed some improvement, so we switched out of my Passier dressage saddle in to a Stubben that she had designed. It had extremely flat panels but a very deep seat, allowing my leg to drop down and around the horse without being stuck in place by my saddle's big knee blocks. After we worked on changing saddles, we spent the next 30 minutes working on me being able to sit the trot (Wanda has a HUGE trot) and by the end I was sitting correct!! It was like, "learn to sit the trot in 40 minutes with Catherine Haddad". Fantastic!

If you're thinking about taking a lesson/clinic with her, I would definitely recommend it. No question. She will work your tail off, but it is worth it. Just make sure you're fit and the weather isn't ridiculous! She's also very nice, but stern. She takes her training very serious, and she expects you to feel the same about it. Hint: Do not ever ride with Catherine without spurs and a whip!! She loves weapons. Don't be caught without them!!

MDHT at Loch Moy

Today was the Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy I, and Wanda and I ended 8th! I had the opportunity to be accompanied by Cathy Fredrickson, who really helped out a TON during the event. It's so odd to actually travel to an event with your trainer and have them help you the entire time! I'm so used to a few encouraging words and then not seeing them again until the end (they usually have a bunch of horses to ride themselves!).


Our dressage went OK, even though we scored a 37. Definitely our worst score ever at novice, but I felt like she was much more together and correct. Just have to work on our softness a bit in the poll. I can definitely tell she is moving more underneath her back end, though! Unfortunately, that put us in like 6th after dressage, then we pulled two rails stadium (completely my fault, of course!). Cross country went clean, but we have a few things to work on!! It was also really crazy to run in to the TPF and Windurra crew! Phillip said hey to me and it totally boggled my mind. I'm so happy to have made such connections while in Pennsylvania!

The 66th Annual Judy Family Reunion

Today was the 66th annual Judy family reunion in Franklin, West Virginia. It's about a 2.5 hour drive over a very scary, very curvy mountain to get there. This was my mom's dad's family, so we represent his side with my mom's mom (my grandmother), my mom's brother Jerry, my mom, dad, Tristan, and I. It's always a good time, but also a very long day! This year was my Uncle Dick's 80th birthday, so we had a big cake with his face on it for him. We also do an egg toss every year, and I was dad's partner. Unfortunately, my eyes aren't quite as adjusted as I thought they were, so I took a few too many steps to get an egg smashed down my arms and shirt! It was good to see everyone this year!