Dressage Day- NAJYRC Kentucky 2014

What a day!  Today was dressage day the stress level was definitely high.  Everybody dealt with the atmosphere like a pro!

 Elle and Pacino were first in the ring at 7:40  and had a few hiccups but held it together for a strong finish of 61.2.  Next was Kaylawna and Metro and they’re ride was GORGEOUS!  She finished with a 45.6 to win the dressage phase!  

Lulu was next and she took to the ring like she owned it!  Maize was strong and confident throughout the entire test and she pulled a 50.0 to tie herself in 6^th position.  After that we all enjoyed some lunch provided by the Kentucky Horse Park and walked our horses in our beautiful white Professional Choice brushing boots!  

We are so thankful to all of our supporters and know we could not make this journey run as smoothly without them. 

After our little break, Kiera  and X entered the very large and intimidating Rolex Stadium for her dressage test.  X was a big excited about the atmosphere but she handled it beautifully and finished on a score of 60.2.  After Kiera we went back to the barn for a bit of cleaning.  

We mucked the stalls, raked the barn aisle, cleaning out the tack stalls and polished up our tack.  Once everything was shiny and new, we headed back down to the stadium to watch Kate and Tessa take on the Rolex Rings.  Tessa was also a bit overwhelmed with her surroundings but they held it together to finish on a 59.6.

We all walked our cross country course again to get a better lay of the land and then went back to the barns to support Alex and Tiki for their CCI** premiere.  They were wonderful and she finished on a score of 56.3 and is currently sitting in 5^th.  They are a great pair!

Overall it was a high-pressure day and the turnout was nothing but positive.  We could not be prouder of everyone and all they have accomplished so far.  Thank you to our coach, Hawley Bennett, and our Chef, Lauren Billys!  We couldn’t do it without them!  Now onto cross country!

      It's been quit a journey to get everyone here but everyone is happy and healthy!
The horses arrived yesterday afternoon and luckily we got everything unloaded and the horses settled in before the storm hit us. What's a trip to Kentucky without thunderstorms.....right? All of the horses traveled great which is fantastic. After all of them were settled in we went back to the house to eat a great meal the Carter family provided! I can't believe the difference in BBQ from California to Kentucky. The food was great!
Kiera Carter, Elle de Recat, Kate Lathrop, Lulu Shamberg and myself are representing Area VI in the 1* and
Alex Willoughby is our 2* rider. The best experience so far has been getting to know everyone and their families. Becoming a tight knit family in a way and bringing us all together for one cause.......to represent our Area and make them proud!!
Today is Monday before the biggest competition of our lives. We have been anxious to get on the horses and take them out on a walk hack around the Rolex Kentucky Horse Park. Here is a picture of all of us in our matching Professional's Choice brushing boots! It is so cool that we have been supported by several companies helping us here at Championships.
We were all tempted to gallop in the big grass polo fields we had passed but that probably wouldn't have ended well, so we continued to walk enjoying how beautiful the horse park really is. I couldn't think of a better opportunity than being able to ride where so many other amazing professionals have competed. It is a real privilege to be here.
Later we went back to the house to have another meal prepared by the Lathrop family which was delicious. Hawley Bennett-Awad our coach, Lauren Billy's our Chef d'Quipe, and our grooms Madison Temkin, Blair Paul, & Mia Slaughter flew in tonight and joined us for dinner which was fun!
Tomorrow is opening ceremony and the golf cart race so watch out to the other areas !! #westcoastisthebestcoast

One Last Thing

Looking back 2013 was a hard year for all Area 6 young riders. We had unfortunately low levels of participation in all of our events. Well, we want to change that!

From Kelly Loria:
This was my third year returning to the horse park for NAJYRC and I have to say it was my favorite. The camaraderie between all of the Area 6 Event Team was impressive. The combined Areas of California and Hawaii are extremely large and we have struggled to raise enthusiasm for the Young Rider Program in recent years.

Not only is NAJYRC one of the most fun times you will ever have it is one of the few competitions that gives young event riders a taste of how it feels to represent something greater than yourself and ride on a team. Olympic coach, David O'Connor, has spent a lot of time working to improve the quality of American riders. This weekend DOC held a conference along with Show Jumping's Robert Ridland and Dressage's Robert Dover and emphasized the importance of fostering young talent in structured programs. (Link to Conference Coverage) He stressed the importance of increasing the expectations on young riders to use competitions like NAJYRC to prepare them for careers as professional athletes. He highlighted some of his new programs such as the U25 and 18/ Advancing Athletes Program, however all the competitors at NAJTYC were already working towards those goals. 

(http://eventingnation.com/home/new-eventing-18advancing-athletes-program.html)

Area 6 is very lucky to have many gifted horse and rider combinations, however it seems that lately we have had trouble pushing these riders to dream bigger and strive to represent their homes at this prestigious championship competition. Being a young rider, I understand all to well all the difficulties associated with qualifying and actually getting to NAJYRC. However, as the current young rider representative I also realize that we are the only ones who can make it easier and more accessible. 2013 was a great year and I am very proud of both Brynn and Natalie but I am disappointed that we lacked a full team. 

We are determined to make 2014 even better! But we need some help! 

Area 6 will be increasing its fundraising activities and we urge all you riders out there to share any of your ideas! (Facebook) (email: area6youngriders@gmail.com) It is our wish to not only have bigger team for 2014 NAJYC but a closer knit area which helps riders of all levels improve and hopefully achieve their goals of competing in NAJYRC.

And again ALL of us here in Area 6 owe a huge thank you to all our show organizers that not only tolerate our social events but donate event entries and so much more!

Teran and James Atkinson of Copper Meadows 

Robert Kellerhouse of Galway Downs and Woodside 

John Marshall of Fresno County Horse Park

The Baxer Family of Twin Rivers Ranch

The Sexton Family of Shepard Ranch


Tammy and Randee Hallinan of Meadows of Moorpark


Flintridge Riding Club and Wendy Wergeles

The Hisken Family of Eventful Acres

All our other Sponsors THANK YOU

Western Saddlery

Professional's Choice Sports

Grand Meadows

Kerrits Equestrian Apparel

Dover Saddlery

Ariat

Scoring Chix


Capstone Farms


Southern California Equestrian Sports Inc.

Ride on Video

Horse Lovers Jewelry

Show Jumping!

Sunday really rolled around faster than any of us could have expected. Eventing is such an addicting sport because the ending is always bitter sweet. Though all sports require hard work and determination, Three Day Eventing pushes us by relying on that one score to received on the first day of dressage, then testing our determination for two more nail-biting phases. 

Luckily the show ended very well for Area 6, both riders jumped lovely rounds with Brynn and Michael successfully completing their third one star on their dressage score!

Brynn and Michael:

Today was  surreal. We woke up bright and early to be at the barn by 5:30 to start getting the boys ready for the final jog. Natalie and I were on our way to the Rolex Jog Lane when we felt a rain drop and then another...before we knew it we were drenched and no one could tell that we groomed our horses. Michael passed the jog with flying colors and even though Michael has been looking great, the relief one feels when the ground jury says accepted. We then rushed back to the barns to change into our show jumping outfits, including our gorgeous Ariat Monaco jackets. Natalie and I met Dayna to walk the course. 

Brynn is clearly very excited about her Ariat Jacket

The course was beautiful including a brick wall, liverpool, and triple combination. As I watched a few rounds, the butterflies slowly crept into my stomach. I felt much better once I was on Michael. Michael felt surprisingly full of himself and I am so glad I increased my fitness program in preparation for this event. Walking down the tunnel to the Rolex stadium Michael jigged the whole way, between the two of us there was probably enough excitement and nerves to power a city. I rode in to the stadium, took a look around and a deep breath and just started working my way through the course. 

It was a lovely ride! Michael was very responsive and everything seemed to flow out of stride. We jumped double clean to finish on our dressage score and 7th individually! I cannot express what an amazing experience this was and I hope to come back next year. 

Thank you so much to Dayna Lynd Pugh and Shannon Lilley I would not have made it here without you guys. I am extremely grateful to my parents and friends for all of there support. Michael is heading home tomorrow morning for a well deserved break, but we will hopefully be back out soon. 

Shannon giving Michael a last minute pep talk.

Once again thank you so much, we really enjoyed this adventure. Goooo Michael and Area 6!!!

Here are Natalie's thoughts on how the day went:

I couldn't be happier with Casey's stadium round today. Riding in the Rolex Arena is an absolutely amazing experience and will leave an everlasting impression in my mind. Just being in that legendary atmosphere gives you a feeling of accomplishment and pride. Casey was such a good boy today, and had a picture perfect round. It was like riding on a cloud! He was soft, supple, and round to every fence. He was very tuned in to all of my signals and was absolutely amazing. It was a great way to end the weekend.

This past week here at the Kentucky Horse Park has been like a dream. Everything seems so surreal, and I can't believe it is already over. While grazing the horses tonight, Brynn and I commented on how it felt like we had just arrived again. At the same time, it will be nice to return to a less humid climate in California. Anyway, I couldn't be more proud of Casey. We have made so much progress since our recent move to Flying Tail Farms and we can only get better from here.

 This week has really inspired me to push myself, and go out there and give it everything I've got. Thank you so much to the officials and everyone who has put so much effort into putting the show together. David O'Connor, you designed an amazing course that pushed us to do our best, but also have fun. Thank you to Dayna for being such an amazing coach and putting up with us all week. I am so glad that I took a chance and tried out for the team, and I will definitely be back in the future!

All the Area 6 stuff getting ready to go!

Kelly making sure we have all the stuff we need for next year, or "Da Boom Bucket"

Good old NAJYRC fun!

Cross Country Day!

5...4...3...2...1 Have a Good Ride!

Brynn and Michael over the first fence

Thankfully our Area 6 Young Riders had very good cross country rides today! Natalie rode beautifully came in with some time faults and Brynn managed to finish on a amazing double clear ride! Natalie is currently in 24th place going in to show jumping and Brynn is in 12th, however the scores are so close we are extremely excited!

Brynn look pretty professional in her Professional's Choice Jump Pad

Bob casually photo bombing

Brynn in warm up

Brynn walking to the start box

Brynn over the last jump!

Brynn and Michael:

WOW! Today was just an absolute blast for me. It is such a joy to ride Michael cross country. He has this huge gallop that makes time seem irrelevant and is scopey that the jumps seem easy. I woke up this morning feeling really good about the course and not as nervous as I thought I would be. Because my nerves were in check my head was really there today, I could process my course as it came. I was able to change my lines depending on how Michael was riding, which is a huge step forward in my education.  Its amazing to think your galloping the same lanes that so many of the greatest riders in the world have. I aspire to someday ride at Rolex and once again enter the Head of the Lake, just maybe over a larger jump. A huge shout out to my vet box crew that were so efficient in getting Michael cooled off and understanding of his special traits (lets just say you must keep a carrot in the mouth at all times). Michael iced all afternoon and got his share of IV fluids along with carrots of course! We jogged for our vet Laura Werner and he looked great--knock on wood. Michael is now getting some well deserved rest while we head off to celebrate with some unorthodox dancing at the competitors party. Thank you for all the support! We will jump our hearts out tomorrow hopefully leaving all the colorful poles up.

Natalie doing some last minute adjustments

Natalie and Casey:

Today was absolutely amazing! I am so proud of Casey! He was an absolute rock star. The course rode very nicely and David O'Connor did not design a course for the weak hearted. Luckily, Casey is extremely fit from his months of conditioning at Gilroy's local county park. Although we lost a shoe somewhere in the course, the farrier did an amazing job on the new one. I never did get the old one back....the stewardess seems to think someone might have seen it as an interesting souvenir.  Despite this fact, Casey galloped around the course like a champ. His mom might have interfered a little more than necessary, but Casey did a fantastic job. The vets even complimented his amazing fitness. Personally, I loved jumping into the "Rolex Head of the Lake". There is something special about jumping into it and thinking about how many great riders have ridden in this same place. What made the experience even more Rolex-like was the little crowd that cheered you on once you had completed the area's obstacles. It was truly a memorable experience. I also especially loved the water combination farther back in the course. It was a half round brush to a skinny in the water. The jumps rode especially well and the splash was a cooling relief. All in all, the course was expertly designed and beautifully constructed. Today has really inspired me to try even harder in future events. It really was an amazing experience to ride on the Kentucky Horse Park course and I would definitely jump at the chance to do it again!

Natalie and Casey in warm up!

The mobile Area VI cheering squad

Thanks for the flowers Hawley! 

Casey getting fluid treatment after cross country