April 2, 2007 continued...

Smarty has a lot of good miles at the Preliminary level and I look forward to moving him up to Intermediate in the next few seasons.

I decided to give Poggio some extra time to recover from his splint and he is now, hopefully, going to be aimed at Luhmuhlen CCI**** in June. From what I hear he is enjoying being the king of the roost while mom is gone. Coal Creek, a.k.a "Devon", continues to show promise. I have received some invaluable help from Mark Phillips this spring. Devon seems to be maturing each day and is now ready for the April two-star in Florida. Leyland has made great progress all winter and went very well in the Intermediate at Red Hills. However, on the following Tuesday we found he fractured the side of his coffin bone behind and will now need a month off before resuming work. Bad timing! However, because he did his two-star last fall, I was planning on aiming him at Fair Hill in October, but I will just have to see how things progress.

Sparky has really settled into his work and I feel I have made a lot of progress with Mark’s help. His first Advanced run at Red Hills went better than I expected. At Poplar, where Sparky ran his second Advanced, he did his best dressage so far. His cross country round was definitely the best we have produced together and it is the first time I have felt him be able to go quickly and maintain his relaxation. In show jumping I still continue to feel that our communication isn’t 100% all the time. However, the rail we did have, had my name written all over it, oops.

Next on the agenda is the Fork Horse Trials in Norwood, North Carolina. Yes, that is Kelly Pickler territory (hint: American Idol ‘06 blond country singer). Devon will do the Intermediate and Sparky will do the Advanced. Then it is off to the two-star in Florida, where Devon will compete. And finally, baring any unforeseen problems, Sparky will do Rolex.

I am looking forward to getting home on the first of May to play with Smarty and Poggio. The trip and spring season would not be nearly as fun and/or successful without friends and helpers. Traveling along for the annual trip is Leigh Mesher who has made some great progress with her young horse, Deniro. Allyson Green who is retraining Jordan Murphy’s new purchase, Stormy. Elisabeth Nicholson who is making great progress with Reveille at Training level and Dani Sussman whose new horse sustained an unfortunate minor hind-leg injury so he is unable to finish the spring season. I am ever grateful to my helper Katrina Neilson for all her expert care and hard work when it comes to looking after my horses. Oh, and I could never forget my faithful companion, Razzle Dazzle, the Border Terrier. Cheers ‘till next time.

Kick on,
Amy