Featured Rider - Karen O'Connor |
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Red Hills was another stepping-stone towards our quest. Or maybe a step back? I was really disappointed with my results with Teddy; the dressage was tense and impulsive and we had a run out on the cross-country. The after-effects of the Derby Cross that I was not anticipating had crept up to bite me! Woody, however, stepped up to the plate over a big and technical track to finish 6th. Back home, back to the drawing board.
Check-ups from vet Dr. Ober and a visit from Paul Goodness our farrier concluded that both horses (or horse and pony) were feeling great and ready to press on. Lessons with David that week went very well and Teddy finally took a deep breath and stopped squealing over every jump. I talked again with David and my groom, Max, that possibly Jersey Fresh would be the right place for Ted to go and tackle Rolex next year. Both agreed that the Three Star would be fine, he could really shine there too….. but I think both really hoped for Rolex.
Teddy was such the professional all weekend and got a Gold Star along with my Two Star horse Mandiba; they were outstanding in all three phases! He was quiet and ridable in the dressage, which allowed me to push on his trot work a bit more – the mediums are coming, I promise! He was fourth after the dressage, his best placing at the advanced level to date. He set out on the cross country and gave me such an amazing ride, his training was paying off and made the course seam easy – and was the first in for the show jumping and jumped clear!
Woody did forget that you were supposed to walk until you got to C and then canter. He thought it would be way more fun to canter from the corner…. He did redeem himself on Saturday with a foot perfect round. I did go a bit slow with both horses due to the footing, so with time penalties they both finished 6th.
Back home – Another check-up from Dr. Ober and another visit from Paul – all looks great – press on. On to where? I had called my mother on the way home from Georgia and told her to get the entry in to Rolex – the closing date was Tuesday, don’t you know?! I hadn’t told David or Max yet – I wanted to make sure he was physically ready to go on… With all that cleared – their response was – “Okay, lets do it!”.
Teddy is in process of being syndicated to help this special horse realize his potential. He has a great fan club, but he cannot go it alone! It is really amazing to have this horse be a part of my life!
Off to the Fork Stables’ horse trials in a week; CIC*** with Teddy and the World Cup with Woody. Lets keep our fingers crossed that they both get gold stars, both trot up well, and Woody remembers where C is!