Featured Rider - Laine Ashker

This brings me to the first, most important topic of interest. As most of you have seen on the entry list I am riding not only Frodo Baggins but also Mazetto, who is a new mount for me this year. "Eric" is a 16.3 Cleveland Bay/NZ TB 13 year old bay gelding who I recently was given the honor to ride. Eric was owned and ridden by my dear friend, Eleanor Brennan, who died this past year while competing at the Florida Horse Park. Her mother, Christine, had asked me in early January if I would ever be interested in riding Eric for their family in order to campaign him and reignite his eventing career. I gladly agreed, and so our partnership began. What makes this relationship so interesting is the fact that Eric is more of a teacher for me, rather than the opposite. Before Eleanor bought Eric, he had been to many four stars (Badminton twice, Burghley, and Luhmuelen) in addition to being an alternate member of the New Zealand team in Athens with his previous owner/rider Jonelle Richards. With a little advice from Jonelle via email, and of course the ever-watchful eye of my coach Buck Davidson, the decision was made to take Eric to Rolex. This trip is especially meaningful to the Brennan family as it was Eleanor’s dream to ride at Rolex and although she had ridden over the largest tracks in Europe such as Badminton and Blenheim with huge success, she never had the chance to show her unceasing ability in her native land. Needless to say, I will be riding in my dear friend’s honor and Eric will be seen in her characteristic green and yellow cross country colors when speeding through the galloping lanes.

The show schedule has been relentless for the horses as well. At the end of March I took all of my boys to Poplar Place in Hamilton, Georgia. Bronwyn and I had to arrive early with the horses as I had another Winter Training Session with Mark on that Tuesday and Wednesday before the start of the show. Frodo was a bit tense in my dressage lesson on the first day, which I attributed to the endless travel and stress of his schedule. However, with a little help from Ulcergard and some much needed grazing time, Frodo settled in for the second day of lessons and proved to be a perfect gentleman which put both Mark and I at ease. After a hack and some stretching, the boys were poised to perform relaxed and happy in the show. Eric and Frodo were both entered in the Advanced division but because of Frodo’s flawless performance at Red Hills, I opted to do just the dressage and the show jumping phases and forgo the cross country. Eric needed to do the whole event because he needed his last qualification for the upcoming spring three days. Frodo put in a good dressage test to finish fourth in the division while Eric performed at his best to put in a solid test which earned him a respectable sixth place. Eric really showed his experience as he galloped over the cross country course making it seem effortless, similar to his Red Hills outing. Because he was the fastest time of the day, he moved up to second place after cross country. The final show jumping day was a bit frenzied because I had three horses to jump in the Advanced class which was only made up of fifteen competitors. Needless to say my warm up on each horse was less that desirable. However, our hard work showed off as all my horses jumped great and Eric even took home the blue ribbon, making my decision to enter Rolex even easier!

The week following Poplar was one of re-tuning and adjustment. Because I was going to be away at the Fork with my younger mount, Anthony Patch, in his second CIC***, both Frodo and Eric were going to have a week of relaxation and spa treatments. Dr. Ober of Brendan Furlong and Associates, swung by the farm to check on the boy’s soundness and strength in their path to Rolex. I was very happy to hear that she was pleased with their fitness and soundness and aside from a few injections, they were both ready and willing to progress forward. Also, my young advanced horse performed at his best to place third in the CIC*** at the Fork gaining himself a qualification for the upcoming Jersey Fresh CCI*** later this spring.

With all of that in mind, everything has pretty much been going as planned with a few positive surprises along the way. Today, my mother, Bronwyn, Buck and I were interviewed by NBC for an upcoming segment on young Olympic hopefuls, which added a little electricity in the air. It is really neat to have someone from outside the horse world be interested in your dreams and to share it with the world makes it all the more rewarding. Make sure to look out for Team Ashker on your local NBC news channel! As far as competitions go, I plan on taking both Frodo and Eric to the Advanced combined test at the Florida Horse Park for some last minute practice and adjustments in preparation for the big day nearly a week later. My young homebred Seajack will be debuting in his first one star, and along with one more training session with Mark as well as the combined test, the days counting down to Rolex should go by unwittingly fast.

And now I come to the last but certainly not the least part of my installment: my "Thank You"s. First off I must start with my family. My mother, who never leaves my side, for maintaining belief in my horses and my talents even when I questioned them. She is my mentor, my best friend, but most of all, my motivation to achieve greatness. My father and my grandparents who have been unceasingly supportive in the pursuit of my dreams no matter how far fetched they ever seem. To my amazingly patient and talented groom Bronwyn Watts, who has had to be my secretary, my mother, my trainer, and my friend when all of the above seem absent in my life. She loves my  horses as much as I and it is because of her time, effort, and care that I will have made it through the finish lines in Kentucky. To my long-time coach, Buck Davidson,  for teaching me life’s lessons in addition to the horsey ones. To my sponsors, Thinline,  County Saddles, Flair Strips, Heritage Gloves, Ulcergard and Gastrogard: thank you for being so generous to my horses and I. To Janie Atkinson, for running the most incredible event that most riders only dream of having the chance to compete in. Most of all, I would like to thank my horses for being so patient and taking care of me through my mistakes and emotions. They are the reason for my happiness, my ambition, my disappointment, but most of all, my being. I love each and every one of them for showing me what it’s like to strive for perfection. I look forward to hearing each and every one of you cheer us on! Until then, heels down, sit back, and kick on.