A Little Bump in the Road

Here it is March and we’ve been gearing up for a successful road to Rolex.  As any athlete knows, preparation for a big competition is always punctuated by unpredictability.  In our sport, if you’re afraid to break a finger nail, then you don’t show up to the start box.  In my case, I’ve shown up to the start box on multiple occasions & have had a few bumps & bruises over the years.  

This past month has been a bit challenging.   As someone who has competed in this sport for several years, (or decades) I’ve had my share of physical setbacks.  Fortunately I have always bounced back, and I expect this time to be no different.  Unfortunately, my back decided not to wait until after Rolex to remind me that I’ve logged some time in the saddle. 

Last week I went into the hospital for surgery on my back from herniated discs, which are the result of years of wear and tear.  The condition is degenerative & not the result of a fall or a recent accident on a horse.  Both Jam and Cruise are fit and ready for Rolex, but I am not going to be in the tack. 

While recuperating from surgery (as pictured above), I’ve had several days to sit & think.  What is certain is that I’m not going to Kentucky as a rider.  At this point we have not made any decisions about Jam or Cruise.  Boyd will clearly keep the ride on Lusty (Rock on Rose) and I am eternally grateful that I will get to cheer on both Boyd and Buck.  My plans are for a full recovery, and my hopes are to be back in the tack by this summer.  As Susie says, “Don’t rule out this old dog quite yet”!

Back in the Saddle!

It was an exciting day when Susie got her first leg up since her accident over a year ago.  Many thanks to Sue Moffit, a friend & client from Michigan, who brought "Talking Some Trash", a Quarter Horse from a famous cutting horse line, down to Florida for Susie to ride.  

Kick on Susie!!

There's Plenty of Talent in the Barn!

Our focus is not only on our 3 top horses that we're taking to Rolex.  We also have a string of talented homebreds and sales horses with us down in Ocala.  Over the past few weekends, we have taken these horses to Rocking Horse and the Ocala Horse park.  All of them have performed very well respectively, with  Sal securing a 5th place prize in the Open Prelim A, and Petite Flower taking a 4th in the Open Intermediate B section of Rocking Horse.  (Pictured up top is Sal & Petite Flower on XC at Rocking Horse)

As listed on our website, we also have several other horses who are just starting to move up the levels.  Hector, Sal & Expensive Playmate all were in the top 10, with Sal & Expensive Playmate coming in 7th in their Prelim divisions.  They are all very talented prospects.  We also have a lovely homebred mare, Roll-X, who would be a dreamhorse for any Junior or Amatuer rider.  She is so quiet and easy to ride, being a perfect Training/Prelim mount, and she also foxhunts!  We'd love to see her placed with an ambitious Jr or Amatuer rider who wants a fabulous all-around horse...and she's priced very appropriately.

Pictured below is: 
1.  Roll-X with Ciarron in the irons & Bruce following aboard Expensive Playmate.
2.  Hector taking on the water complex.
For a full list of our Sales Horses, please visit our website!

Advanced Results from Rocking Horse II

We're off to a busy beginning of our season.  We took all of our advanced horses to the Rocking Horse II Horse Trials to kick off our season, and with great success and some areas for improvement.

Cruise Lion was a star, winning the Advanced Test A division, with a solid 36.30 dressage score and 15.6 XC time faults, to finish on a 51.90 .  Bruce didn't want to press Cruise too hard, as it was his first event out since August.

Jam put down a respectable dressage test, but had an uncharacteristic rail in stadium and felt back sore on XC.  The goal this week is to determine the source of her soreness and to get her back on track.

Rock on Rose, with Boyd Martin in the irons, had a fabulous stadium course, but missed a stride into the narrow on XC and Boyd was bounced out of the tack.  Thankfully both horse & rider are fine!

Fanny Lee, on a horse she purchased from us, Hadley Harbour, competed in their first Advanced test & finished in 6th!  To round out the Advanced Test B division, Buck took top honors on Ballynoecastle RM, finishing with the top score of the day, a 37.30.

We also took all of our youngsters & will have those results for you shortly.  We're off to a great start!