What an incredible weekend at The Maryland Horse Trials! All of my horses, and my students, brought their A-game!  

This past weekend I was lucky enough to pilot Francesca Broggini’s Cooley High Flyer to a win in the Open Training-A, as well as Business Ben, who secured 4th in Open Intermediate, and Natalie Epstein’s Mill Run Millicent, who impressed in the 4-Year Old Young Event Horse. I also want to give a big shout-out to my talented students, Katie Lichten and Martha Wunder, who both ended up with top-ten finishes in Open Novice-B and Open Beginner Novice-A, respectively.  

Huge thank you to all of the officials, judges, and volunteers who made The Maryland Horse Trials possible. Your hard work creates an incredible event for all of us to enjoy, and we could not do it without you.  

And last but certainly not least, I want to acknowledge Emma Whitaker, who recently purchased HSH Golden Boy from us. Their partnership is already shining brightly and earned them 3rd place in Junior Open Beginner Novice this past weekend!! We cannot wait to see what they do next!  

Photo: Cooley High Flyer owned by Francesa Broggini  

7/15-16: The Maryland Horse Trials (Adamstown, MD) 

Allison with … 
Business Ben (owned by Business Ben Syndicate): 4th in Open Intermediate  
Cooley High Flyer (owned by Francesca Broggini): 1st in Open Training-A 
Mill Run Millicent (owned by Natalie Epstein): 7th in 4-year-old Young Event Horse 
Katie Lichten with Tullibards Excellence: 7th in Open Novice-B 
Emma Whitaker with former ASE sale horse HSH Golden Boy: 3rd in Jr. Open Beginner Novice 
Martha Wunder with Kaitlin Garvie’s Silver and Blues: 8th in Open Beginner Novice-A 

It was wonderful reading this update from Claire about her training journey! (I wish she had added a before picture as it certainly did not look like this!) I love helping my students to become better trainers of their horses — this path takes a lot of patience and dedication. Hearing about this sort of real progress makes me so very happy!

From Claire-Cumbee

Swatch and I have been able to put down some of the more competitive dressage tests, over the past few months. But, if you look at our first events this was not the case. Add 10-12 points.
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We spent three days with one of my first coaches, @allisonspringereventing in March which was a bit of a turning point.
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Up until this point, the way in which I was seeking connection was a little backwards. Riding front to back, not so much back to front. Meaning- I was just squeezing the bit until he tucked his little head underneath himself, not so much riding him into the bridle. I’m not certain, he had a tendency to tuck his nose into his chest as if he’d been ridden in draw reins, which I’m not always so against, but for his sake he had no knowledge that taking his nose out, lifting his body up and out, putting some weight in my reins was a good thing. You could throw the reins at him, and he’d stay in the same frame, never stretching out to the contact.
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In those three lessons, we painfully worked on the most simple exercises to improve the connection. (We may have spent 20 minutes at the halt)
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Back home, I kept riding those same exercises.
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Could I fully descend Swatch’s frame from the ground, up to competition frame. Picking him back up from my leg, not my hand. Halt, walk, trot, canter.
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Turn on the forehand.
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Turn on the haunches.
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I do these exercises every warm-up. At competitions, horses trotting around, I start with the above.
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I feel like it took me a little longer, finance wise I can’t afford more than one lesson a week, so prioritize jump lessons at home. So working on these dressage exercises alone, I’ve just tried to stay consistent, really study how I was training him, make sure I can do these fundamental exercises, then proceed.
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Who knows, maybe the wind was just blowing right.

What a fantastic weekend of eventing at The Maryland International! I was able to take two horses out in the Open Preliminary and had a blast tackling all the new questions on cross country!

 

Congratulations to my student Katie Lichten, who took two horses out in the CCI2*-S. Her determination and skill were both evident as both of her horses secured top-five finishes!
Thank you to the show officials and volunteers who made this wonderful event possible. The grounds were impeccably maintained, and the atmosphere definitely set horses and riders up to perform their best.  

And finally, thank you to my sponsors for their continued support!  

Photo: Crystal Crescent Moon owned by Nancy Winter 

7/8-9: The Maryland International (Adamstown, MD)  

• Allison with …
  • Crystal Crescent Moon (owned by Nancy Winter): 4th in Open Preliminary  
  • Monbeg Zebedee (owned by Zebedee Group): 14th in Open Preliminary  

• Katie Lichten with … 
  • HTS Jensen R: 3rd in CCI2*-S 
  • Romans Code Red: 5th in CCI2*-S 

It’s a shame that our beautiful property in Upperville, VA is so quiet while we’re out at shows. With indoor and outdoor arenas, and a cross- country schooling course, it is the perfect place to test your work before paying entry fees! We love being able to provide year-round ship-in schooling.

Book your space online!

Exciting news from the farm – we’ve set a new course! This weekend and Monday, there are many available time slots to sign up here. If you’d like to visit during the week, please feel free to send me a private message with your preferred time. Enjoy!

I am so honored and grateful to receive this special grant from SCES!!!! I work really hard at my sport and try to give back to it as much as I possibly can. This recognition is so very nice and incredibly helpful!!!! Thank you!!!!!

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