Silva's Horses are Stars in Lexington, Virginia

I had a good weekend showing at Dressage at Lexington, at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia riding Jeff, Concorde and Sea Lord in the Prix St. Georges Challenge. It was a huge class with 45 horses.

Jeff did a good test, finishing fourth, and he feels like he is ready for his first CDI in Saugerties, New York.

The PSG Challenge was the first PSG for Concorde and I am very impressed with his performance. He was a little green but he tried his heart out and only made a few little mistakes. He finished fifth.

The Challenge was also Sea Lord's (pictured at right with Caitlin Silliman) first PSG. He was a little excited and made lots of little mistakes, which hurt our score; but the good news is that I rode him on Sunday in the Open PSG and he was a star and we won on 69%! I am so exited about that win because I really think he is going to develop into a super star!!!

Concorde also went in the Open PSG on Sunday and he did a great test to finish third on 66%.

I am so proud of these two horses. They did better than I expected for their first time in FEI competition!

Jeff competed in the Intermediaire 1 Challenge on Sunday. I was a little worried about him getting tired in the test, so I pushed him in the warm up a little more. He can get a little lazy on the second day and I was not going to let him die on me in the ring again. I had to ride every step in the ring and I thought that the hard work paid off: it was a very expressive test and I thought we did very well. I was shocked to see that the judge hated it! But dressage is a subjective sport and that is just the way it goes sometimes, and that is okay. I am glad I rode him the way I did because now Jeff knows that he still has to work on the second day in the ring.

I also rode Sheelagh's horse Comet V, (pictured top of page), who was outstanding! He was a star both days and won with great scores in both his tests. I am very excited about riding him in more shows. He is very reliable and has the biggest heart! With Sheelagh keeping him going for me at home and Comet and I getting along the way we do, we have a great time together. Comet has won the last five tests that we did together, and we are looking forward to more success.

I also rode Fernhill Figaro in two second level tests on Saturday and Sunday. He is such a good boy, very easy to have around and always reliable in the ring. He finished fourth on Saturday in a big class and sixth on Sunday. He is ready to move up to third level soon.

I would like to thank Caitlin and Devon very very much for all their great help this weekend - I could have not done all that without them!

-Silva