Aiken Plague!!

We've been hit! Jennie was the first to get it, and now I have been brought down by the plague. It's a pretty weird illness which starts as a headache at night and gives you a horrible achy feeling in the morning. Unfortunately my day off wasn't until Friday, so I was pretty down-under this morning. Today at work Susanna graciously offered to switch days with me, so now I have tomorrow :)

This past weekend was pretty amazing. Wanda and I competed in our very first event at Sporting Days Farm going Open Beginner Novice. She was a bit tense in the dressage, but was able to crank out a 30.5% which is so much better than tests I had with Sully!! We had one rail in stadium but jumped around cross-country clean. I was so proud of her!! We ended up 2nd :)

Jennie had a very successful event as well. She ended 1st at Training with her new project, Walkabout, 1st at Novice with a young sale horse named Chase, and 3rd at Novice with a young sale horse named Roosevelt. Kali had a frustrating day, but still ended 7th going Training with her horse Arvy. And, Amy Ruth competed Santa at Prelim, and ended 5th!! All-in-all, a very good weekend for all :)

Phillip's barn in Aiken


The inside courtyard of Kevin Keane's barn (where Wanda lives!)



Kevin Keane's barn

Ohhh Aiken!

So we've relocated to Aiken, SC for the winter, and things are going pretty well! The work here is definitely more tough and the days are longer. I'm actually running out the door but wanted to give a brief update.. will do more later!!


What happens when you get in hot sun with no lotion after being in cold weather for a long time?

Burn blisters!

10 days till Aiken!

There are 10 days until the official move to Aiken! Emma's been crazy trying to get all the horses clipped and all the stuff together to take down with us. I'm actually heading home to northern VA this weekend (Friday to Sunday) to attend an HA Rating retreat at Millwood. This is totally unrelated to TPF, but the knowledge I gain from this weekend should definitely help my work with the horses here. When I get back from that, I'll be making the first trip with Emma down to Aiken on Monday, setting up the barn on Tuesday, then driving back to PA on Wednesday. One day of work, then back to Aiken for the move on Friday. Busy week ahead!! All in all, it's about 35 hours of driving for me!

The other news, is that I may have finally found a horse! I recently tried and vetted a very talented dutch warmblood mare, so I am just waiting on the word from the big man to find out if she should be bought! Pretty exciting....

Requiem for my eye...

What do you get when you mix working in a barn and running out of contact lenses?

The short story:
A very unattractive infected eye.


The long story:
A week ago I ran out of contact lenses. I called the optometrist and they said they would only order me new lenses if I came in for a re-check (since the prescription I've had for the last two years may have changed drastically since my last check), so instead they ordered me one pair of "trial" lenses, which would come in a week. Of course, the next day I put a tiny rip in the only pair of contacts I had. Since I work in a barn and ride about four crazy horses every day, glasses are not exactly the choice vision aid. So, I decided to wear my ripped contact until my new lenses came. Smart, I know. Two days ago, while tearing up at the end of "Requiem for a Dream," I got a horrible pain in my eye followed by lots of swelling and more tears. I looked in the mirror and about passed out when I saw what it looked like! I made it to the Premier Immediate Medical Care center in Exton, PA (http://www.premierimc.com), and was diagnosed with a pretty bad eye infection. Awesome. Now I have to take antibiotics and I can't wear my contacts for a week!

A Very Turkey Vacation!

A TON has gone on in the past two months! Firstly, I would like to share the good news that I was asked by Phillip and Evie to join them when Phillip moves the competition horses down south to Aiken, South Carolina mid-January to late March. It is a pretty huge deal to have them ask me to continue working with them, so I've got to step it up to keep things going as well as they have!

The barn has been bustling trying to send horses home for vacation (they get a few weeks off in the winter) and bring in the babies to break for the spring. PD had a fall a few weeks ago on a young horse in the jumping arena which gave us all a reality shock as to how easy something can go wrong with horses. He and the horse he was riding were both bruised a bit but are just fine.

Unfortunately, the horse I wrote about in my last blog (O.D.), had to be humanely euthanized this past week. He was found to have a serious neurological condition which would cause his legs to disconnect from his brain, so it was not safe for him to continue. The entire barn was very upset, but I was glad to see how well the situation was handled. This was my first experience with putting a horse down at TPF and it was extremely hard. We all have had a lot of time working with every horse here, so every one has an impact! Hopefully this one was my last!

Sully and I have been continuing the struggle to work well with each other. I've been lucky to receive help from Jennie Brannigan, who I respect for how well she's been able to handle him. I've been told he's a very difficult horse to ride, so I'm glad it hasn't been just me! I am also still in the search for a new horse that will be able to teach me again instead of the opposite. Hopefully I can find Sully a home that will do well with him while I continue my search for my next champion :)

This past Thursday I was given the opportunity to be home for Thanksgiving with my family in Northern Virginia. It was a great time and I was able to reconnect with everyone. My brother Tristan and I briefly considered going to the Leesburg Outlets at midnight on Black Friday, but were glad we didn't go after watching the news this morning!! Maybe next year...


Mom cooking the Thanksgiving feast!


Tristan adding a little "spice" to his egg nog :)


Keana passed out from all the excitement!!

Another Day at TPF!

Today was a bit crazy at the farm. We had an incident this morning where a horse Ryan was riding wasn't jumping well, so Phillip got on to work out the kinks and the horse's back legs just started buckling underneath it. I was helping set fences, so I had to run back to the barn and grab everyone to come help. Kevin, our vet, looked at him and said it was probably something neurological.. hopefully not EPM! He did blood work, so we're waiting to see.

I got to ride a horse Phillip owns named Houston, and may be looking to buy. Everyone here thinks I'm crazy because he's definitely not the easiest horse to ride, but I did flat work with him today and actually felt pretty good. I'm supposed to have a jump lesson on him with Phillip tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes. I'm also trying one of Chip's young horses, which Ryan rode today and thought it was quite fancy for the price.

Tomorrow after work I'm heading home to VA to prepare for the Carolina Communication Association Conference. I'm on two panels for a paper I wrote senior year at Salem about ESPN's portrayal of female athletes. I haven't done academic work since May.. it will be so nerve-racking! I'm trying horses at Jan Simmons', heading to Wilmington, NC on Friday morning, presenting Friday afternoon for Salem and Saturday morning for competition, flying back to DC Saturday, and driving back to PA Sunday afternoon. Going to be a very busy weekend!

Also, Nate gave me a lesson with Silva Martin, a German-born AMAZING dressage rider and instructor at the farm (she's married to Boyd), so I'm super excited to see what she thinks about Sully next week. I am trying to sell him as a dressage horse, so this will tell!!

Plantation Bareback Puissance?!

Phillip & Jacob Two Two (he went to the Athens Olympics in 2004!) gearing up for the Puissance wall!!

Last day of Plantation Horse Trials and a crazy one it was! Phillip gave us the opportunity to take a break from work and watch the CIC*** at 11:30, so we rode some of our assigned horses and headed over. When we got there, they were finishing up the CIC**, so I got to see Skyeler go (she was in my Pony Club years ago!) and she ended 3rd with Tika. Then they did a dedication ceremony, which was really cool. This was Plantation's very first CIC, and it was a HUGE success! There are 7 Olympic riders in Chester County and 9 were at the show (David and Karen O'Connor came, too). Pretty crazy! After the ceremony they did a bareback puissance, which consisted of riders like Bobby Costello, Phillip Dutton, Ryan Wood, our Irish foxhunt friend Nile, the Chester County huntmaster, and a few others. They set up the wall to 5 foot 3 inches! It was awesome.

Phillip & Jacob clearing the wall!

Following the puissance was the CIC*** showjumping. Luckily Phillip had all the help he needed, so Susanna and I were able to watch pretty much the entire group. I got to see my trainer from NC, Susan Beebee, and her amazing horse Prowler jump around. They had a beautiful round! Phillip did really well with Danny (he can have his spaz out moments), and jumped around clean with 3 out of his 4 horses (2 were Jan Byyny's, but she has a broken leg!).

When we got back to the farm, I had to ride Sully and then took off to look at some horses at Jane Sleeper's farm at 4:30. Saw a few good youngsters and headed back to the farm for some good rest. All in all, another great event for TPF!

Phillip & Che Italica jumping around the CIC*** Show Jumping.