Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Sara Gumbiner's Update from Maryland Horse Trials

 
While Boyd and Lindsey are in England, Caitlin, Beau, Jen and I are holding down the fort. This past weekend Caitlin and I traveled to Maryland HT at Loch Moy Farm and it was HOT! The only saving grace was the ingenious cooling tent for the horses after cross-country. Not only was it the only reason our horses didn't pass out from heat stroke but it gave the event a 3-day feel with huge troughs of ice water and multiple industrial-sized fans. So a big thanks to everybody at Loch Moy!!

Caitlin and Jen endured the hottest of the two days on Saturday with Fernanda's Partyboy and Denise and Pierre's SBF Cortez in the Open Training division. It was the first time Caitlin competed Partyboy and placed in 5th, finishing on his dressage score. She looks in good form to move up to Prelim at her next competition. SBF Cortez made a good effort finishing in 9th with a double clear XC round in the overwhelming heat. Both horses are impeccably fit and cooled off quickly after their stellar rounds.

Sunday was an important outing for Polaris and me. It seems that the second Prelim for a horse really does prove if a horse can officially be considered a Prelim contender...well he rocked around that course like he's been doing it for years. He was sooo good! We started with a 32.7 despite a small bobble in our right counter canter loop which landed me tied for third. We took the lead after show jumping with 1 time penalty - due to the hard ground, I decided to take it easy on Larry and came in a little slow, costing us the lead by .5 penalties. A big thank you to Ann Nawn, (owner of Polaris) for all of the support from her and her team. I can't wait to see how far we will go!

At 95 degrees, Caitlin found Sunday's weather a relief compared to the 104 degrees that she endured on Saturday. Saturday was a big day for her because she was able to bring out her young Irish horse, Lux Like Fernhill, for the first time since Aiken. With an impressive show jumping round and a perfect cross-country run, Lux finished in 3rd in a competitive Open Novice division.

If you are looking for an upper level prospect, Waranga is a MUST SEE! Caitlin and Waranga finished on a beautiful dressage test of 26.5 placing 2nd in a large Open Novice division. His show jump round was flawless and he showed unlimited scope through the course. Waranga looked bold as he skipped around the Novice XC course. There is no doubt that he will be someone's horse of a lifetime!


-Sara

3 comments:

  1. Nice that Boyd can know his horses are being properly worked and showed in the US--while he prepares for the Olympics-In England--Good article and great to hear what is happening with the horses here in the states!

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  2. Thanks for the update! We love to hear all of your progress!

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  3. GO SARA! No one is more deserving of that success than you.

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