Jennie won! I am so happy for her. I really wanted the win this weekend but she and her lovely horse were super from start to finish.
Arthur was a class act today and show jumped better than ever. His technique has improved so much this year and despite not coming away with the placing I had hoped for I am absolutely thrilled by what he has become. I am so excited for next year.
I also want to make sure that everyone understands that I completely respect and think very highly of the officials at Galway this week (even more so after seeing them in the PRO golf cart races — which was complete mayhem!) I felt very strongly about my point of view and I know they contemplated a long time on it. It was a tough call to make and is a part of every sport. I do not want my disappointment to come across as unsportsmanlike in any way.
A huge thank you to Robert Kellerhouse and his staff for putting on a great event!!

So dressage was good. Arthur was very good and won by 5 points. I honestly had hoped to do better but the judges said that his trot work was too quick to score any better. This was disappointing to hear as I had intentionally tried to really go for it and have a forward test. I feel bad for Arthur as he did exactly as told. Sigh…

Cross country he was fantastic as well. At the third water complex — an Island bank to a “Shamu” skinny in the water set 3 1/2 strides from the bank — we had, what turned out to be, a very costly moment. On top of the bank dropping back into the water Arthur stifled the rails on top which pitched me forward for the first two strides on landing. I threw myself back in the saddle as I tried to pull right (without knowing where I was), and as soon as I sat up and knew where I was I pulled left hard as I knew I wasn’t on my line. The “shamu” was separately numbered so circling is allowed without penalty. I knew everything happened very quickly (as there were only 3 1/2 strides that all this happened in) so when I got done with the course I inquired immediately about the fence. I know we did not have a run out, to me the video supports what I felt happened, but the ground jury did not rule in my favor. I am very disappointed as I feel like when there is reasonable doubt it should fall in favor of the rider, I understand how it could have looked differently to someone else, but I thought it was not fair for them to have made up their minds prior to talking to me. It is very clear in the video that my horse never glanced off the fence or ran out, it is very clear to me that as soon as I could see where I was I pulled hard left. I have to respect the ground jury’s decision, but I am certain about what happened and am just saddened by it all.

I am here in beautiful Temecula, California for the first ever CCI*** on the West Coast. So far I am enjoying every minute of it here! Everyone is so friendly, the venue is fantastic, and it’s going to be a great competition! I am set to ride dressage at 2:40 pst today (so I need to get on in a little less than an hour… yikes better make this quick). Arthur is definitely feeling the California vibe — he has been so happy and relaxed here. He travelled fantastically well and once again is enjoying all of the attention from his  two girls (Libbi and I). The course is designed by Ian Stark and I really like it. There is plenty to do out there and there are many places where a silly mistake could catch out even the best horses and riders. I’m so excited to be here and thrilled that PRO has been able to help bring some East coasters to the West!!

Click on the link below to see me riding a reiner at WEG. I think this slide was better than Anky’s were at the WEG!!! I’m hooked!!!

ReiningQueen

I have decided that about 90% of the competitors would truly look so much better wearing their helmet in dressage. I have spent a lot of time watching riders at WEG and looking at photos. It was a big deal that Steffen Peters warmed up in his helmet at WEG despite the fact that he did change over to a top hat to compete. I maintain the fact that I believe it is a personal choice as to what one wears in the competition arena, but if someone’s argument is that the top hat looks better than the helmet, I personally think they are blind. The more I look at our outfits, the more elitist and ridiculous the top hat looks. I think it is merely a matter of what we are used to seeing, and in the dressage arena we are used to seeing a top hat, and frankly the top hat does not look better. Steffen Peters looked amazing in his helmet, I was disappointed to see him change into something that certainly did not look as good (although he always looks fabulous on a horse — I’m sure he could wear a native american head dress and still look good up there). I thought that the women riding sidesaddle in the opening ceremonies did their hair beautifully and had well shaped and sized top hats — they did look stunning! Most event riders look plain goofy in their top hats. I will say when I rode a reiner at WEG (which was an absolute blast) I did wear my helmet and it unfortunately will never be able to compete with the coolness that is the cowboy hat…. sigh.

A couple pictures to consider:

or

I will admit there was a time when I thought jelly sandals and jam shorts and crimped hair looked good too, and I am thankful that time has passed!!!

I am looking to hire a new groom! My wonderful groom, Sarah, who worked for me for many many years has moved onto the next stage in her life. We all miss her terribly!!!

If you are interested in this job please send your resume to me at info@as.mythiclanding.com

An incredibly responsible and competent individual with a delightful attitude is a must!!! Prior experience in managing a barn, grooming for competition horses, driving a horse trailer, baby sitting their rider (just kidding) are all important too.

If you or anyone you know are interested in hosting a clinic by me please contact me!! I am a great clinician and have had amazing feedback from people that have attended my clinics. info@as.mythiclanding.com

If you are linking to my blog from Eventing Nations Website about the US not giving the alternates tickets, I have been asked by Sara Ike to clarify things for you all. As alternates we were never going to be credentialed — athlete credentials are very different than having tickets to watch competition at WEG. Our job was technically over on Monday when we knew we were not going to compete. Yes it was my decision to stay and cheer on the team that I had trained with and at one point felt a part of. For me to go to opening ceremonies and to be on grounds at WEG up until Wednesday (when I was first asked by the team if I needed tickets for eventing) I did need to rely on the generosity of my friends for tickets. I am very grateful that the team paid for my hotel room. And I am grateful that they did eventually offer me tickets, but I honestly didn’t think that they were going to. I wasn’t expecting them to. There wasn’t a lot of communication, I did feel like I was in the dark about things, but I certainly was not complaining about it either. I have wonderful friends that were just as excited about me to cheer on the US Eventers. The point of my statements in my earlier post was to thank my friends for amazing tickets and a great week with them. I certainly did not intend to throw anyone at the team under the bus.  It has been an honor to be a part of this group of people.

I know that I should have been blogging all week, and I apologize for not doing so!!!

What a week…. where to begin…

The US Event team finished their final training in Georgia on Friday Sept 24th with a fitness gallop followed a few hours later by a veterinary inspection to be certain the 6 horses entering the KY Horse Park the next day were in tip top shape ready to go. At the time the selectors felt that everything was still manageable with the horses, so there was no change made to the shipping plan for Kentucky — the team and individual horses would proceed to the Horse Park and the alternate horses would be stabled nearby at Cathy Weichoff’s farm. We (the alternates) were instructed to remain prepared to compete until the final hour. It was wonderful for Arthur to be at Cathy’s. The temperature was lovely and he had a wonderful grass paddock to chill out in all day. Had we been called in to compete, it would have been the perfect relaxing couple of days for him prior to WEG. He was so amazingly prepared to compete. I was interviewed about what it felt like to be an alternate. Throughout the training camp and those first couple of days in Kentucky it was a feeling hard to describe. I was very anxious. Knowing that there was still a chance (even if only the slimmest of chances) to compete was what kept me going. I wanted so badly to win a medal for my country. The real disappointment and confusion set in when the US didn’t present Kim’s horse in Wednesday’s jog. I have been asked a lot of questions about it, and I have a lot of questions myself about it. I am really not sure of everything that went on in those days prior to the jog and I’m not sure how the US could manage to not field a full team on their own soil when there were good sound horses waiting in the wings. Hopefully it will all be explained to me someday. I’m sorry I have  nothing better to offer than my own confusion and disappointment.

So I went from the bench to the couch. And when I say couch I mean the comfy leather couch in the Makers Mark Bourbon Village Hospitality Tent. I was a bit stuck in Lexington not having credentials or tickets for the games. Thankfully for the kindness of my wonderful friends (Shannon Crocker, Nancy Winter and Colby Balazs) I got hooked up in a serious way! The Makers Mark Tent was the best thing at WEG!!!! Excellent food and atmosphere. A wonderful warm place to be when it felt like it was going to snow here in Kentucky!!!

OK, so the competition. It was really hard for me to make the transition from competitor to spectator. The dressage was especially difficult as I know I could have won it. The cross country was beautiful — something I thought Arthur would have loved. I think that designing for WEG xc has to be one of the most challenging jobs ever and I think Mike E Smith did a masterful job. It was a fairly straightforward 4 star track. It was definitely a 4 star track which means even a 4 star horse could get caught out on a silly mistake (ie getting through the tough stuff on the course than doing something stupid coming home over the easy stuff etc) but a good three star horse ready for the challenge would find success as well. The US riders were terrific (bar Buck’s uncharacteristic stop) — leaving the team in silver medal position going into show jumping and Becky in third individually. A great spot to be especially with how masterfully we have all been show jumping under Katie Prudent’s guidance.

Unfortunately Sunday didn’t go as planned. Becky’s horse, Comet, was withdrawn at the jog. He had thrown a shoe early in the cross country the day before and his foot was probably stinging bad because of that. Boyd was the only one who show jumped clear amongst the Americans. Karen and Phillip added 17 points dropping the team to fourth. It was so shocking as I was certain everyone would go clear. I haven’t talked to anyone on the team about it as I’m sure they are all so disappointed. I guess the upside is that because the team still finished in the top 5 the US is qualified for the Olympics. Hopefully this means the US will start focusing more on the next crop of horses and give some international team experience to some other riders at the Pan American games next year.

It was wonderful to see Canada do so well. David O’Connor has done a masterful job producing his young team. They absolutely rocked it all weekend and I bet they are rocking the town tonight!!!!

I typically feed Arthur at 7:00 am and then walk him up to the main barn for turnout (about a 15 minute walk). He likes going out in the morning when it’s cooler and the flies aren’t biting yet. He generally has a canter around then a good roll, he loves standing under the little shelter (open on all four sides) in the shade. I do my yoga for about 30 minutes, read my book for a while (I am currently reading The Last Lecture which I highly recommend), and then go for a 30 minute run. I still haven’t dedicated any extra time to training my dog — I really do think he’s perfect as  is (I think many might disagree with me, but he’s just so entertaining I really wouldn’t know what to do with myself if he wasn’t here). Oded arrives today and we have lessons with him this afternoon and tomorrow morning. Katie Prudent arrives tomorrow and we have lessons with her tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday morning. A light day on Thursday then the final gallop on Friday morning. The final veterinary inspection will be approximately 6 hours after we gallop and then onto Kentucky. All the horses continue to look really great here!!