Getting Into The Groove

Here's an update on where I'm at right now with the horses that I have in full-training:

Paesano:
We had a buyer from Portland come out on Friday to take a look at him and she absolutely loved him (who wouldn't?). So, the buyer will be doing a pre-purchase vet exam on Wednesday, and if he checks out (should be no problem) then he should be sold!! If Paesano is sold, we'll then begin looking for a new horse for his owner, Virginia Rhoads.

Vienna:
Vienna is the 5 year old, owned by Deb Reinhart, that I've been riding for about 2 weeks now. Vienna is starting to understand more what her job is and one of those is not trying to buck me off. Actually, the bucking is not a big thing, as she only does it occasionally in the canter departs; and only when she is not confident in what her body is doing. The last two rides with her I've really gotten some consistent quality trot and canter work with her. When she is "on" it is quite remarkable. I'll try to get a short video posted of us together as she is a remarkable horse to watch.

We'll be debuting her at the Donida Farm show July 25-27. Our first objective is to have a clean, error free test and from there work on qualifying for the Regional Championships.

We will also be riding in the Heinrik Johansen clinic, at River Run Ranch, July 3rd. I'll post pictures and videos from that.


Falcon:
Falcon is a 6 year old who I have been working with for the past 2 weeks. He is owned by Alana Danna. Previously Falcon had been "roughed" up by a previous trainer and was sorely lacking in self-confidence. Over the past two weeks Falcon has turned into a completely new horse.
Previously, he would spook and bolt at anything. Now, through just simple, positive training, I have him working confidently and smoothly in the outdoor arena with no spooks.
I've also gotten Alana to do the same with him.
Falcon is a talented mover, so it will be interesting to see what he can do over the next 6-8 weeks.
This horse has (and will continue to be) been a very rewarding experience.


Other than that, I have another 4 horses that I work with part time and/or a couple of times a week with riding them and instructing their owners on them.

I have a couple of more prospects in the works that I'll be trying out next weekend.

Thanks for the support!

ITU World Championship (Race Day)

Today was an interesting day to say the least.

The day started off with no problems. However, Dave and Cedric's wave started at 8:55 when the race started at 6:30. During that time the wind kicked up a lot causing huge swells in the bay. Halfway through the race, the race organizers cancelled the swim for the remaining athletes. About 600 did the swim and 1000 didn't swim. Dave and Cedric were about 2-3 minutes from getting into the water when the word came out.

So, it turned into a 3K run instead of the swim and then the 40K bike and 10K run. I have no idea right now what they are going to do for the overall rankings.

Cedric came off the first run in the front group with Dave about 30 seconds behind. During the bike Cedric stayed in the top 5 of his division through the first 3 laps. On the 4th lap, Cedric had a minor bike crash (no injuries) and then while trying to catch up got caught in one of the big bike packs (there were so many it wasn't funny) and got a stop and go drafting penalty, where he lost another 45 seconds or so. Dave rode very strong throughout without the aid of any draft back coming in about 2 minutes behind the leaders.

On the run, Cedric started off about 8th and Dave in the 20's.

In the run, both Dave and Cedric ran strong with Cedric finishing 13th in the age group and Dave 33rd. Overall, I'm very happy with their races.

ITU World Age Group Championship

Today I drove up to Vancouver, BC with my athletes, Dave and Cedric, for the ITU World Championships. They will be racing in the age group race.

The race is on Saturday. Today we did a short run and a short swim. Dave and Cedric were indoctrinated to Pacific Northwest weather as it has been raining consistently since we crossed the boarder into Canada. This is no big deal, but the water temperature will be the issue, as right now the water temperature is around 55 degrees. There is talk of cutting the swim short, but nothing official yet.

So it may be a wet weekend for all.

Finally An Update

For all of you dedicated followers of the blog, I think that's three of you, here's an update.

I am training out of two barns River Run Ranch and Simpatico Stables. There's a short blurb about me in the news section on the Simpatico website. The pictures I posted are of River Run Ranch which is probably the nicest facility I have worked at.

I am pleased with where things are at right now. Yesterday, Deb Reinhart hired me to train her exceptionally talented 5 year old mare, Vienna at River Run. I rode Vienna last week and it was like riding on clouds. I am extremely excited about this and showing her as well.

Also at River Run, I am working with a 5 year old Andalusian/Quarter Horse cross, named Jobim. Jobim has the attitude of a 5 year old kid and is very pleasing to work with. Occasionally, I will be working with Claudius who is a 13 year old Dutch Warmblood who is schooling I2 and Grand Prix. Last week I was playing around with 3 and 2 tempi changes and that definitely brought a smile to my face working on those!

At Simpatico next week, I'll begin working full-time with Paesano a 10 year old Hanoverian/Thoroughbred gelding. I began riding him last week for a couple days last week. Paesano is a fun horse to ride with a fantastic personality. He is currently showing 2nd level and I will be working on schooling him at 3rd level here shortly. He is currently for sale ($25,000) if you're interested click here and/or contact me.

There are two other horses I will be starting next week, Sabu and Falcon. I have ridden Sabu (Oldenberg) twice already and will be schooling him (2nd and 3rd level) for his owner Sharron Himmell until she recovers from a hamstring injury. Sabu has great gaits and it will be fun to train him.

Falcon I have not ridden yet, but will post updates later.

The past few days I have received a bunch of inquiries about lessons, so things are starting to get busy!

Thanks for reading!