January ~ Poplar Place ~ Ryan was very good this weekend. Our dressage was pretty good, but he still needs to get stronger physically to improve more. His stadium round was solid. I was a little tense during warmup, but we went in and completed the course with just one rail down and I felt like he was using his body and jumping well. I think that this was a pretty big accomplishment because I haven't competed him in eight months because of a severe quarter crack on his hoof and I was pretty nervous about how he was going to be. Ryan proved that he is up to the job and really wants to go! He was in third place after the first two phases. We didn't get to compete cross country because I made the decision to withdraw both horses due to the frozen and icy ground that was a result of all the rain and low overnight temperatures. I will be working very hard with Ryan over the next few months to help him get stronger and improve his dressage. Oxley was absolutely spectacular for dressage. I need to work on taking more time in my transitions with him. He is so smooth that I have to remember that at this level the judges would like to see slower transitions. We jumped our first double clear stadium round in preliminary together and he was making it look easy. Oxley just seems to be jumping better and better. Oxely was in second place before we withdrew. I really didn't want to risk any injuries to my horses by running them on the hard and icy ground. Our next competition is going to be at Rocking Horse in February. I am really looking forward to it because we didn't get to go cross country at Poplar.

February ~ Rocking Horse ~ This was a very good show for me and my horses. It was definitely a good learning experience. Ryan was better in dressage, but we had some difficulties in stadium; however, we worked out our problems before cross country and he was amazing. I can definitely tell that we are not as strong of a team yet as Oxley and I since I haven't competed him in a while, but overall I was very happy with him. Oxley was really good too! We had a good dressage test and one rail in stadium. I was most pleased with our cross country because we felt really in sync with each other, and he was listening very well. I was happy with both of my boys at the end of the day but definitely knew the things that I needed to work on.

March ~ Red Hills ~ Oxley was amazing in dressage at Red Hills. He couldn't have been better, but I need to work on being a little more accurate in my tests. We had an amazing cross country ride and went clean within the time allowed. Our stadium was great as well, and it was the first time that he hasn't even tapped a jump on course. We jumped a double clear to win the event! This was my first win at preliminary so it was really exciting! Ryan was very good for dressage. He is definitely improving at each show and I was very happy with him. He was also really good cross country, but I took the water jump for granted not realizing that he is still a green horse. Once he understood the question, he jumped it. We also had our first double clear preliminary stadium round. I couldn't have been happier with him. I know now that I need to ride every jump strongly with Ryan because he is still green and needs my support. Our next competition is the March Poplar Place CIC*. I am really excited and can't wait to compete! 

April ~ The Florida Three Day Event was the final mandatory selection trial.  Both of my horses felt good coming into this.  I had good dressage tests on both horses and for the first time Ryan beat Oxley in dressage!  Oxley put in another great day cross country while Ryan made it through with one stop.  As great as things went for us at Red Hills, Sunday at Ocala was really hard.  Oxley didn’t jog sound for the final veterinary inspection, and I decided to withdraw him from the competition.  Ryan finished and we were the second highest placing Young Rider pair for Area 3. I was really proud of Ryan overall with such a good finish in his very first CCI*. I think that he is really getting stronger and coming along. With tremendous highs come tremendous lows and Ocala proved to be a turning point for me.  We decided that it would be in Oxley’s best interest to retire him from competition.  My great friend, partner and teacher is going home to Kiira Troth’s  Montana farm where he will be loved and spoiled.  I can’t thank him enough for generous spirit and all the gifts he gave to me.

May ~ I went to the May Poplar Place Farm Horse Trial with only Ryan to compete at Preliminary and I also took my sister's pony Bunowen to compete at the Beginner Novice level so that he could gain some more experience for her because he hasn't done a recognized horse trial in a long time. Ryan was great this weekend. His dressage continues to get stronger and he was phenomenal cross country. We had a couple of rails in stadium to finish 3rd. Bunowen also did very well, was super in dressage and we finished 2nd. It was strange to be there without Oxley, but Ryan rose to the occasion and tried very hard to fill Oxley's shoes! Oxley arrived home in Montana, where he is once again ruling the roost and the Troth's are spoiling our big boy with peppermints and lots of love!

June ~ The Area 3 Championships were held at Poplar Place. Ryan competed in the Preliminary Rider Championship and finished in 6th place. I was not totally thrilled with my dressage score because I felt like we had put in a good test, but all the scores seemed to be high. He was super cross country and jumped quite well in stadium. Unfortunately the rails he touched lightly just seemed to come down, but I was really happy with the way he jumped. Ryan has gotten so much stronger physically since January. His body has really changed dramatically and I'm looking forward to seeing him progress even more over the next year. I took Bunowen to get more miles at the Novice level for my little sister Nikki, who got to watch and was very proud of her horse as he was really good and we won! The final selection clinic for the Area 3 NAJYRC CCI* Team is at the end of June. I am taking Ryan to it, and they will name the Team by the end of the first week of July!

July-August ~ Young Riders was a blast! Ryan was a really good sport and tried very hard during the competition. It was a long road to get there on everybody's part, and I think we all worked hard to pull it off. Ryan was in the top twenty after dressage at the one star, and he posted a double clear cross country round on a challenging championship course. I am very proud of him! He jogged up very well the next morning. We had a few rails in stadium, on my part, but overall I think we are becoming a stronger team and really learning to understand each other a lot better. We finished seventeenth in the individual standings and Area 3 finished sixth in the team standings. Ryan and I had the second lowest overall penalty score on our team which was very cool! Ryan is now enjoying some much deserved time off after his heavy competition schedule this year. He will begin competing again in November.

We also have a new edition to the team: Kosmo. Kosmo is a 10 year old Thoroughbred who was previously ridden by Courtney Olmstead. He has successfully completed two intermediates, but has only been eventing for about eighteen months. Kosmo and I are starting to build a parternship together. We did our first little schooling show in August, and he won the novice combined test! I am going to do a training combined test with him soon. Our first horse trials will be in Georgia at Chattahoochee Hills where we will do training level. If everything goes well there, we are going to aim for preliminary level at Poplar Place Farm's September horse Trial. I am looking forward to getting to know Kosmo better!

I also would like to thank all the people who helped me reach my goals this year very much. Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to make it to the NAJYRC. I really appreciate everything that you have done for me and hope that we can continue to make you proud!

September ~ Chattahoochee Hills ~ Kosmo was good at our first competition together. Of course there were some road bumps because we haven't known each other that long. He was ok in dressage. This is the area where he needs the most improvement, but he's willing to learn and was very good show jumping and awesome cross country. I was very happy about the outcome, realizing that it is still going to take a while for us to become a complete team!

Poplar Place ~ Kosmo was awesome at Poplar. He improved his dressage score by 12 points, which was something that I was very happy about. He jumped double clear cross country and had a rail in stadium, which gave us a seventh place finish. During the competition I felt that we had definitely started to understand one another and become more of a team. My next competition will be at Paradise Farm in Aiken, South Carolina. I'll be taking both Ryan and Kosmo to run the preliminary level. After that we'll be heading to Florida for the horse trials at Rocking Horse, which is first weekend in November. If all goes well, I'm going to take Kosmo to run the Ocala CCI* so I can begin to get him qualified for the selection trials for the 2009 NAJYRC!