September 25, 2006 continued
The Horses, Poggio and Sparky, traveled to England at the end of
June to start the build up to the WEG; and for Sparky the Blenheim
CCI***. It was fantastic to have the help of Mark and Sandy Phillips
during our stay. I also started riding a horse of theirs named
Bubbles. All the horses had their first outing at Barbury Castle –
this being Pogi’s "mandatory outing" (a.k.a. a stressful "don't mess
up if you want a ticket to Aachen" horse show). My goal with Bubbles
and Sparky was just to get to know them better. The horses went
fantastic, and although I was well out of the placing (due to x-c
time faults) it was a good weekend. This is the tough part of
tracking results on the internet, final placings don't necessarily
tell the "whole story", as they say. Pogi looked great the next day
when the vets examined him for the USEF WEG evaluation, so I
breathed a huge sigh of relief.
In July, I flew to Montana for the event at Rebecca Farm and to
teach a clinic. It ended up being well worth the trip when Leyland
and Coal Creek (the two talented 6 year olds who I ride for
Elisabeth Nicholson, and Tim and Kathryn Sullivan) ended up 3rd and
4th in the CIC**. Getting back to England was an adventure in and of
itself. As always, things are never as easy as they could be, or
certainly as I would want them to be. New plans, new tickets and
lots of patience finally got me on a plane (yes this means I missed
my original flight, guess I should have been a little less
optimistic about when I would show jump…). A big "thank you"
to all who helped me return to the UK in a timely fashion!
By the time I got back to England, the rest of the US riders had
arrived. Not only was it great to catch up with everyone, I also had
9 of the best ground persons available every time I rode. Yes, this
is a nice way to say you get critiqued every time you ride! Next on
the calendar was Gatcombe Park Horse Trials, the home of Princess
Anne, the daughter of the Queen of England. We had the option of
running the horses there. I chose to do the dressage and show
jumping with Pogi and the whole event with Sparky. Pogi's test was
good, and after a clear jumping round, he was 4th in the advanced
championship class. Sparky was on his best behavior and finished
10th in the regular advanced class. A very good prep for the
upcoming events.
On the Saturday before the games, the team was named and with a huge
sigh of relief, Pogi was one of its 6 members. The next day,
however, was very sad as Stephen Bradley's horse was not sound and
had to be withdrawn. All of us felt awful for Stephen, who is a
first class horseman, and an even better person. However, Karen
O'Connor, Stephen's replacement, was an incredible backup; she and
Woody (a.k.a. Upstage) would definitely be an asset to the team. We
all loaded the amazing pile of gear into a huge truck, went to bed
for a couple of hours, then woke at 3:00 am to see the horses and
grooms off. The riders left at noon the next day from Heathrow
Airport.
Aachen was everything that we heard it would be... and more. Huge
crowds, endless shopping, and horses everywhere. Let me tell you
about the Vaulting folks, they like their Rock music! The downside
of everything being so close is that the horses were a bit
overwhelmed by the Black-eyed Peas at 100 decibels coming from the
Vaulting Arena. The competition itself couldn't have been run better
- everything ran on time, the course was extremely well built, and
the footing remained good even with the heavy rains each day.
Despite the quite stimulating atmosphere, the horses seemed very
relaxed and settled in their new surroundings. I think even Pogi
started to like the Black-eyed Peas by the end of the week.
With Poggio, it's always a tough balance to give him enough work
without too much drilling. Mark is fantastic at allowing me lots of
latitude during this very stressful time. He always watches my work,
but keeps things relaxed and positive, knowing that the goal was
Thursday – the morning of the test. Now I am sure if you asked Mark
or my husband Greg, they may have a different take on this.
This is the section I never know anything about, what happens to
everyone else at these events! My Mother, who is amazing, created
her own adventures in and around the City of Aachen. Allyson Green
who lived the secret life of a groom constantly busy yet able to
wander here and there finding the best shopping booths with Mark
Hart who co-owns Poggio. My husband Greg, thanks to my Mother, has
developed a new talent apparently, that of giving course walks. I
was very impressed to see Greg leading about thirty people on the
course, giving expert advice on riding the fences - the fast and
slow routes at each jump, as well as the minute markers thru the
whole course that he and Shelly Lambert had wheeled earlier in the
day.
A lot has been written about the competition itself so I won't bore
you with the details. Needless to say, I was so thrilled for Pogi
and all of his supporters that the competition went well for us. An
individual medal was never something that I thought possible;
however, I was absolutely gutted for the Team, I felt that we let
down Mark, and the whole back-up crew. I know each of us did the
very best we could do on the day; however, I know we all made small
mistakes that made the difference in the final tally. I know each of
us will come out next time hungrier and more determined than ever to
fix the things that need to be fixed. This was truly a fantastic
Team and we had great chemistry, all of us will be back. Watch out
world!
I need to write a very special “thank you” to all the people
behind the scenes: Brenden and Wendy Ferlong and P.J. McMahan our
fantastic veterinary team; Steve Teichman, the most amazing farrier
arround; Doug Hannum, the stable manager who kept the barn organized
and running smoothly; and Tori Nahorniak (try spelling that quickly)
who is the most organized and even tempered human being I know (she
was responsible for everything from airplane tickets, to daily
schedules, to hemming pants). Tori’s official title is USEF eventing
coordinator, but we started calling her mom.
A flight back to England and on Monday it was back to Sparky. With a
quick unpack and repack by Allyson and Tabby Barns, my two helpers,
we were off to Blenheim. Sparky was fantastic all week, credit to
Tabby and Bonnie Mosser who rode him in my absence. His dressage was
the best test we have done together (except for me forgetting the
halt and rein back, blond moment!) His cross-country round was foot
perfect, and show-jumping, despite my best effort to make a mess of
the triple, was fantastic. Sparky was the first horse to jump a
clear round inside the time. Sparks exceeded my expectations, and I
was just thrilled with his performance. He finished a wonderful 5th,
the highest placed American.
Both Sparky and Pogi are now getting a well deserved holiday after
safely arriving back in Duvall nearly two weeks ago. They both
wasted very little time getting filthy dirty - they are really
enjoying their play time!
Kick on,
- Amy