Ice Cream Cones and Stolen Horses: Pam Murphy's GAIG Finals Report from Williamston, NC

We had another stellar day here in the thriving metropolis of Williamston, NC. So far the highlight has been a trip to the Dairy Queen for dipped vanilla cones. We opted for Dairy Queen as we had heard some fairly disturbing statistics about Williamston and wanted to make sure Devon and Jerusha stayed in for the evening rather than heading out to the all night party bar!. We would be totally lost without these two girls - they make sure the horses are all taken care of and well presented.

Silva Schooling Zoran ("Zoom")

Despite all the fun stuff to do here, we have been very focused on GAIGs and competing. Silva, on Melinda and Larry's wonderful four-year-old, Danka Schoene RRS, scored a whopping 74.1 which put them third in the Training 3 Open Championship class but just by a smidgen as second place was a 74.2! 

Danka Schoene

 Then Silva and the stolen event horse,Trading Aces, aced the Third Level Test 1 with a 73.816 and walked away with First Place. The judge commented on what a talented pair they were and thought that Trading Aces was headed for a promising career as an upper level dressage horse! 

Rio Royale RRS, another one of Melinda and Larry's super babies, knocked it out of the park today with a 75.86 in Training 2 and a 71.3 in Training 3 to win both classes despite his newbie owner \ rider. In this regard, Devon's comment is worth noting - "not bad for somebody who hasn't ridden in 28 years" ... just goes to show that Silva can work wonders even with old people! 

Must be she's finally drinking enough water. A few pics to share the fun we're having...

-Pam Murphy

Pink 50 Poker Prance To Benefit Breast Cancer Awareness!!

Thanks to our friends and Purina Authorized Dealers at Oxford Feed and Lumber and Ace True Value for organizing this event for breast cancer awareness!!  Full details can be found on this Horse Nation Article or through our local feed stores.

This unique breast cancer awareness fundraiser takes place on Sunday, October 12, 2014 at Fair Hill in Elkton, Maryland.  Riders ride out between 9 - noon!

All proceeds go to the Pennsylvania and Delaware Breast Cancer Coalitions to advance their breast cancer awareness and research programs.

Riders should register early to be sure a tee-shirt in the proper size is reserved for them. To
register, stop in or call, Oxford Feed & Lumber, 112 Railroad Ave., Oxford, PA 19363, 610-932-8521 or Brandywine Ace Pet & Farm, 1150 Pocopson Rd., West Chester, PA 19382, 610-793-3080.

The registration form is also available on their website, www.oxfordfeedlumber.com and Facebook page.

Devon and Jerusha Blogging from NC

Zoom!

Team Silva is off to a great start at the Regional Championships and GAIG Finals down here in Williamston, NC! 

Zoom, owned by Bonnie Stedt, put in a stellar performance in his first show back since Silva's accident. He scored a 70.4 earning him reserve champion in the PSG finals! 

For us it's really inspiring to watch Silva continuing to make such a comeback. It's so clear that she hasn't missed a beat and is still the same competitor as always! 

Shoene, owned by Melinda and Larry Walton, was, as usual, as perfect as a 4 year old can get. His score of 70.6 but him in 2nd in the open training division! He competes in his Championship class tomorrow and we know this prodigy child will give us all he's got! 

Pam Murphy AKA our barn Mom has shown her prowess not only as she was schooling Rio today but also in the barn as she looked after all the equine and human needs! Special thank you for all the snacks, we will be rooting for you tomorrow! 

The fourth addition to our party came to us in the dark of night as we loaded him up at 3 am yesterday. Boyd's not aware of his great loss quite yet, however, Trading Aces will be returning to the dressage competition tomorrow at 3rd level. Hopefully we won't get caught for horse theft because he looked great schooling today. 

We are truly being immersed in the Southern culture this weekend! "Honey-child", "y'all", as well as "darlin" are  new top hits in our vocabulary! 

This Girl is on Fire, Y'all! 

-Jerusha and Devon

October 9th, Stadium Schooling at Windurra USA!

Windurra USA is going to be holding another fun stadium course schooling on Thursday October 9th, so please come out for another great day of jumping on our Attwood Equestrian surface!!  We will start the schedule in the morning with the Intro level for the young horses and progress up through Advanced towards the end of the day.

Devon Brown at our July 2014 Jumper Show
Photo Lisa Thomas, Mid-Atlantic Equestrian Services

Due to popular demand, we will end the day with a round at the Novice height for our young riders who are back in school during the day. 

Cost is $25 per round and it's a great way to get exposure for a young horse or polish up your stadium for your next event, all in a fun laid back atmosphere!  Please see schedule below.

Ride Times:

Intro 8:30 - 9:45
Beginner Novice 9:45 - 11
Novice 11 - 12:15
Training 12:15 - 1:30
Prelim 1:30 - 2:45
Intermediate 2:45 - 3:45
Advanced 3:45 - 4:45
Novice (For After School Crew) 4:45 - 6

GPS Directions:
2027 Gap Newport Pike
Cochranville, Pa  19330

Windurra Eventers Gearing Up for Fair Hill

I'll be taking a few horses to Morven Park (VA) this weekend as their final outing before the Fair Hill International Three-Day Event. I have six potential horses entered at Fair Hill; all of them had brilliant outings in the CIC divisions at Plantation Field, and Morven Park will help me determine the game plan for them going forward.

In the CIC2* I have SBF Cortez, owned by Denise Lahey and Pierre Colin, as well as Welcome Shadow, owned by Craig and Gloria Callen. I plan to run both of these horses conservatively in all three phases, as they need this event to qualify for the CCI** at Fair Hill. Both horses are still relatively green at this level, so I'm up in the air as to whether they will run at Fair Hill or wait until spring for their CCI debut. They are both good quality, talented horses, so I don't want to move them up too fast.

My four three-star entries for Fair Hill are Pancho Villa, owned by the Pancho Villa Syndicate; Steady Eddie, owned by George and Gretchen Wintersteen and Denish Lahey and Pierre Colin; Crackerjack, owned by Lucy Boynton; and Master Frisky, owned by Stephen Blauner.

All of these horses were fantastic in the CIC3* at Plantation Field and I entered a few of them in the Intermediate at Morven Park this weekend to give them a nice run. I'm not sure if I'll run this group in all three phases at Morven, since they did so well at Plantation. In all likelihood I will do the dressage and show jumping but skip the cross-country, then give them a good hard gallop at home in Pennsylvania on Sunday.

I had a fall last Saturday when Trading Aces slipped on the wet grass, but I've been checked out by the doctors and feel sharp and ready for action. Speaking of Oscar, he is currently prepping for our California debut at Galway Downs in the beginning of November. He ran beautifully at Plantation Field and Silva has him down in North Carolina right now, where she's competing at the GAIG finals, and she plans to show him in third level dressage this weekend to polish up his skills. Any young, aspiring eventers out there, take note of the huge advantage of being married to a dressage rider....

-Boyd

The Nadeem Noon Support Fund

Nadeem Noon

Nadeem Noon is a popular eventing trainer/coach from Area VIII who competed through CIC*** and trained with Phillip Dutton for several years. Unfortunately, Nadeem is battling a very rare and devastating disease called Amyloidosis, which is severely affecting his heart, his lungs and several other organs in his body. Nadeem is currently undergoing chemotherapy to hopefully slow this disease and he and his medical team are attempting to get him placed on the heart transplant list. Friends are organizing several fundraising efforts to aid Nadeem and his family as he battles this terrible disease.

They are holding a silent auction at Haygard 3-Day Event and Team Challenge Horse Trials at The Kentucky Horse Park on October 18. In an effort to reach the largest audience and raise the most funds possible, they have also decided to run an online auction that will be open to everyone in all USEA Areas, not just Area VIII. 

They are getting some great donations from around the country; Boyd donated one free lesson or clinic entry and some of the other amazing donations we have so far include 5 days free stabling/lessons with Phillip Dutton, 2 days free stabling and lessons with Leslie Law, one clinic entry anytime/anywhere in 2015 or 2 private lessons with Dom and Jimmie Schramm,  free stabling for a month at the amazing Sandy Hills Farm facility in Aiken SC, just to name a few!  Donations also include numerous horse trial entries, cross-country schooling passes, goods and services. 

Please visit the Facebook page for the Nadeem Noon Support Fund for information on Nadeem as well as various fundraising efforts including the silent/online auction, where and how people can donate, as well as space to leave messages, photos, stories, and all things supportive for Nadeem.

Thank you for your support!

Windurra Dressage En Route to Regionals!

The dust has barely settled after our busy weekend at Dressage at Devon, and  Jerusha, Devon, Pam and I are on the way to Williamston, NC for the Regional Championships. 

Jerusha is very exited for our trip!! :-) 

I have Danka Shoene entered in the Training level Championships and Zoran in the PSG Championships, and Pam will ride her wonderful Rio Royale in the Training Level Amateur Championships . I also brought Trading Aces along to school; perhaps I can get him into a third level class.  

-Silva