2012 is off to a great start!

Angelica Run Eventing has had an amazing start to 2012! I like to think that we are making an “Angelica” RUN at 2012. Connor began his season with a win at Poplar on his new mount, Bruno (Piece of Hope). Tika used Poplar as a warm-up for the Pine Tops, and looked in top form.

The debuts continued with Full Gallop on Feb. 1. My horse, Trance, came out at Prelim. It was his first show since the AECs in September, so we really wanted to get an idea of where he was with his performance and fitness. Our dressage boot camp with Sallie paid off, as he was second after dressage in the open division. Skyeler kept me on track and riding well in showjumping, and Trance jumped around clean. He could not possibly have been happier to be back in the ring, or more rideable, and jumped himself right into the lead. The ground was rather hard for cross-country, and our main goal with Trance is preserving him for when it matters, so I decided to take it very slow out on course. He was thrilled to head out the box, and foot perfect on course, so our day could not have gone better. Despite taking it so slow on xc and getting time, we finished 3rd. Not a bad start!

The rest of the crew began their season at Sporting Days this past Saturday. It was Natalie’s first time out on Erin Murphy’s old ride, “Say Wat.” They made quite the start together by getting a 23 in dressage and jumping double clear to bring home blue in Novice Rider. Connor continued his winning streak (we are at 3 now..,.) by leading the Open Prelim from start to finish and jumping another double clear. Skyeler brought out “Accolade” (Cody) in the Open Training, and despite just wanting to knock the rust off – she got 2nd! Cody is, by wide consensus, one of the most special horses any of us have seen in a long time. It is great to see Skye taking him slow, and him being so competitive early in his career. Last but not least, Erin Murphy rode in the Open Novice. Her planned mount had a foot bruise, so she had to make a last minute swap and bring my dressage horse, Finnegan’s Wake. When we say last minute, we mean it! She rode him for the first time in dressage warm up! Despite him only jumping a few times since the summer (when he transitioned from potential eventer to dressage horse), Erin piloted him beautifully around show jumping and cross country, and rode her catch-ride to 7th place!

So far, 2012 could not be going better. One thing I am personally working on is embracing the horse I have today, and leaving all my baggage behind in 2011. Trance has not notoriously been strong in dressage, but after a year and a half with Angelica Run, he is truly a different horse. He is actually NICE in dressage. So where fear used to creep in during dressage warm up and mix itself with massive waves of insecurity, now there is only focus on performing with the horse I have today (and complaining loudly about how hot I am in my show coat…sorry Sallie!). It is so hard sometimes to ride forward mentally, and not get trapped with tension over all the movements that used to spell doom. I think, thus far at least, that I am doing better, holding my head higher, and riding the Trance of 2012. Clearly, as I don’t think in our lives we have ever been in the ribbons after dressage, and this past outing he was in 2nd, only .5 off the lead. For every horse and rider at Angelica Run, we are leaving the baggage behind and enjoying the strength our team has come out with. There are new challenges, which keep it exciting enough to keep us motivated and focused.

Next up we have Pine Top this weekend with Trance and Tika in Intermediate, then Paradise, then Pine Top Advanced. We will keep training and hoping for happy and sound horses, and that everyone else is having a great start to the year!