This past weekend was the final horse trials of the year at Rubicon in Maryland. It was a successful finish for the USEA Preliminary Horse of the Year Minotaure du Passoir, who won the prelim on a 28. His owner Amy Lindgren was ecstatic to have her horse go out a champion.
Shatzi W had a nice easy prelim and finished fifth. She's basically had a good year and moved up to advanced level but after a fall at Richland she was a bit shaky so I decided to do a couple prelim runs with her to keep her happy and confident.
In Training level I rode Angela Hambrick's Legado de Rios, a seven-year-old Oldenburg sales horse by Riverman that we've had in training for a month or two. He had his best performance so far with me, placing second with 24.2. He's got all the tools to become a top horse: he's a good mover and a good jumper and he's a beautiful horse as well. At the first event I took him to he was a bit green and lacked concentration but he has improved a lot and now he does well at competitions and under pressure. It's been a lot of fun working with him and seeing him develop this way.
Melissa Studenberg's Muggle did his first training and found this event a bit overwhelming. He was injured earlier this year and hasn't had the best preparation but he is a high quality horse that just needs a bit more exposure to get the scores he deserves. He's been a catch ride for me most of the this year but I think he'll come to Aiken for a couple months of more intensive work.
I had two novice horses at Rubicon and they are two of my very favorite young horses. In second place was Laurie Cameron's mare Lillian Pink, a very well-bred horse that's out of the same mare as Kristin Bond's Are You Ready. Laurie bred her and is committed to keeping her as a competition horse for me. She really has it all and is only four years old. She scored a 27 in dressage from Olympic judge Brian Ross; I don't always put much weight on the dressage score but when Brian gives you good marks you know you've earned them.
Densey Juvonen's just bought a six-year-old mare named Charla that's a little French, a little Thoroughbred and a little Holsteiner. She's a firecracker and a very good jumper; she came from the jumper world out in California and basically all we've got to do is improve the dressage.
Both Charla and Lilly will move up to training level in Aiken and I'd like to think that by this time next year they'll both be real good quality prelim horses.
Two of the girls working here also had a very good weekend: Caitlin Silliman and her young mare Gabriella Rossellini, whom Caitlin purchased in Florida over the winter, placed second in the Training Horse division. This is a very classy horse and Caitlin has worked hard with her.
Emily Van Gemeren, from Connecticut and Berkley II came third in the JYOP. Emily has been working hard for us for the past couple of months and has improved herself and her horse into a competitive combination.
Next week I'll bring Neville and Remington out from their rest and start getting them ready for Rolex next year. We are looking at heading down to Aiken at the end of February and I'll be renting a farm next door to Phillip's down there. I'll also spend some time next week mapping out a plan for all the horses.
-Boyd
