Devon Recap

Photo of Silva riding Sea Lord with owner Shannon Stimson

Sea Lord did especially well at Dressage at Devon: he is a real competitor and very reliable, always the same in the show ring as he is in the warm-up ring. The second day is when you really need a Thoroughbred and Sea Lord's bloodlines paid off when the ring got muddy from the rain and he was tired, but he was still fantastic and placed second and third in Fourth level.

Jeff had a disappointing weekend. I guess he gets nervous in the big atmosphere because it was the same as at Saugerties. If he'd go like he does in the warm-up it would be awesome. I'm planning to do the I-2 with him at Morven and then move him up to Grand Prix next year. The problems in the show ring are not about what he knows; he's got the movements down, he just gets too worked up. I saw the scoreboard after the trot work and we were scoring 71% but it all went downhill after that. It's always disappointing when your best horse has a terrible show.

Concorde still needs to be more supple and forward but he is very reliable and placed ninth in 4th level 2 on Saturday and third on Sunday. He was doing Third level only two months ago so he has come a long way and it's very exciting.

All three of these horses are going to the BLM's in a couple of weeks and then they'll have a break until next year. I decided yesterday that I am not going to go to Florida for the winter. I looked at the calendar and there are not that many big shows, except for the CDI, and I have so many horses here at home, so I may as well stay at home and save some money.

In the breeds show at Devon Fendi was fourth and Uma was third. I was pleased with both of them. Fendi is still for sale and a video is posted on YouTube: click here to check it out.

Silva