2012 Schedule

**This is TENTATIVE as always**

Jan. 13 Show Jump Schooling @ Lakeside

Feb. 4 Sporting Days

Mar 2-4 Sporting Days

April 7-8 Spring Bay

May 12-13 Winona

May 31-June 3 IEA

June 16-17 Lost Hounds

Aug 4-5 Penny Oaks

Sept. 1-2 KY Classique

Sept. 28-30 Jumpstart

Oct. 18-21 Midsouth 3Day 

22 1/2 days left....But Who's Counting?

I am.  Counting down the days left of Snoop's vacation that is.  I have to admit that as pathetic as it may sound, I'm having a hard time getting out of bed every morning since I don't have riding Snoopy to look forward to!  His vacation is well deserved and needed no doubt, but that doesn't mean I like it!  I just really look forward to getting on him everyday and can't wait to start putting the finishing touches on him for a successful move up to prelim in early 2012.  Lot's of homework to do and a great plan in place to make sure he's completely ready. 

As you can see he is enjoying himself thoroughly!  It took a lot of hard work to get that dirty and then evil mom goes and gives him a bath!  Don't worry he did the same thing the next day and no bath.  I have plenty of other horses to ride and keep me busy, but it's just not the same.  It's funny when you go to start a new one off the track and all of a sudden your difficult, half-crazy, opinioated upper- level -horse- in- the- making, but still green seems like a fine-tuned 4* horse in comparison!  Gave me a little perspective on just how far Snoop has come.  He is officially the new "big horse" in the barn!

On a totally unrelated note, I promised I would get that pic of my new friends from Midsouth posted and it seems I have finally figured it out.  My new smart phone makes me feel really stupid sometimes!

Well maybe not.  The above photo is from my phone and now I can't get the other one to upload.  AHHHHHH!!!!!  I will keep trying.  Until then GO EVENTING!

Super groom Maggy, Super pony Zena Warrior Princess, and Nicolette Merle-Smith

Oh wait, I just figured it out.  Had to publish the post and then go back in to edit and add the other picture. Oh technology!  

Midsouth Videos

Pics from Midsouth

****ALL photos courtesy of Xpress Foto!!****

Midsouth: The Best Weekend Ever....Almost

Wow, I can't believe Midsouth has already come and gone, but let me tell you as of last Wednesday and Thursday I thought it would never be over!  As I unloaded Snoopy at the Horse Park Tuesday night we got a hail storm and that was pretty much how it went for the next 2 1/2 days!  I've never been so cold, wet, and miserable in my whole life.  I think if we hadn't known the weather was going to improve several of us would've packed up and gone home!  The wind and rain were relentless and despite the fact that I wanted to be snuggled up in the bed, Snoop had to have his 25 walks per day plus 2 rides.  The weather didn't seem to bother him a bit and he could care less that his mother was turning into a human Popsicle.

Snoop handled the week very well, although he was definitely confused by the fact that after a few days away from home he hadn't really done anything.  He also didn't quite understand why he was walking around an indoor barn at the Alltech Arena waiting to jog with 25 other horses!  Pretty sure he thought that was all quite silly, as did my husband, Scott.  Neither one of them could really quite figure out what the fuss was all about!   He passed with flying colors.

By the time dressage rolled around he was nearly unmanageable.  Our warm-up was a bit of a catastrophe, but I have to say he really did settle down and listen to me in the show ring.  It wasn't the best test he's capable of, but close enough for a very respectable score of 40 to put us in 18th out of 36 horses, only 7 points off the lead.  Not too shabby Snoops!  Middle of the pack was my goal after dressage so I was happy.  The steeplechase school we did about 3 hours before the test certainly didn't help is relaxation any, but it was well worth it come Saturday.

All I can really say about the endurance phase is "what an awesome horse!"  He ate up the 'chase and xc like they were nothing and was ready for more at the finish.  He was so bold and his confidence was at an all-time high.  It was a very cool feeling!  My little horse is actually turning into the horse I know he can be!  We added nothing to our dressage score to move all the way up to 12th!  The icing on the cake was yet to come though.  As we were cooling Snoops out after xc, Samantha Clark asked if I would do an interview about Snoop for EN.  Of course!!  She'd had her eye on him all week, but I mean who wouldn't.  He's just that sexy and he knows it!  It was a very cool experience and I'm grateful to her for allowing me to share with the world how special I think my little munchkin really is!  You can see the interview at this link: http://eventingnation.com/samanthalclark/2011/10/lauren-snider-and-route-66.html

He passed the jog Sunday morning easily and then the LONG wait until show jumping.  I never thought 3:00 would ever come.  He warmed-up great and didn't feel tired at all.  He was jumping better than ever.  I rode the best sj ride on him that I ever have and he jumped fantastic, but got too bold to both combinations and pulled the B element of each simply because he ran out of room.  He used to be spooky at combos and now that he's so bold the tight distances are even tight for him.  We'll fix that over the winter.  While it was very disappointing to get that close to a ribbon (would've been 6th with a clean ride) he far exceeded my expectations.  I am beyond thrilled with the little guy.  I did the long format 3day to answer some questions about my horse and got the answers I was hoping for every time and then some.  Very exciting for his future.

I have to say thank you soooo much to everyone who helped us at the event including my wonderful husband Scott and student Tracy Stamper and everyone else who has helped get Snoop where he is today.  It hasn't been an easy road and it literally has taken a village to get him this far.  Also, a very special thanks to Dr. Laura Werner and Dr. Michele Frazer.  Without these two wonderful ladies we may still be going BN!  Thank you!!!!  Hopefully the journey has just begun.

Finally, did I mention that I also made some wonderful new friends and had a blast all the way around?  Well I did and it was awesome.  Spending the week with Nicolette Merle-Smith and her super pony Zena and super groom Maggy, as well as Sue Jellum and Grace made my week!  It was great to have such cool neighbors.  I have a great pic, but being as I am a very green iPhone user I haven't figured out how to upload it!  I will keep trying.  Until then GO EVENTING!

***ALL photos on this post courtesy of Xpress Foto!!!!******

Farewell Speedy!

Congratulations to Lauren Stiver of Kansas on her purchase of Speedy!  I think they will be a great match and wish them all the best in their eventing pursuits.  It should be the great home he deserves.  Good luck guys!

Perspective, Perseverance, and One TOUGH Horse!

We all know that eventing is a sport of the highest highs and lowest lows, sometimes all in the same weekend!  We took Cheddars and Snoopy to Jumpstart this past weekend to run Training and let me tell you there was never a dull moment.  We arrived at the horse park literally with a "bang!"  We were driving around the round about at the entrance of the KHP when an old man in a dually came around at us going the WRONG WAY!  I could not react fast enough with a 4 horse trailer and he crashed into the fender of the trailer!  The horses were fine and no real damage done to the trailer except a crinkled up fender, but the wheel well of his truck was pretty much done for.  It was just an annoyance having to wait for a police report to be completed and Snoopy and Cheds getting very restless in the trailer.  The horse park was mad chaos because of the Arabian Sport Horse Nationals.  You could barely get anywhere in the park all weekend.

We decided to stable in different barns to see if that would help Cheddars with his barn sour issues.  After a few hours of screaming and carrying on by both horses, it seemed to do the trick.  Cheds was much better behaved than usual!

It was freezing outside Friday and Saturday which made for some very fresh horses.  Snoopy is always a handful and he's fit for the 3day so I decided to forget the flat school Fri afternoon and go for a canter back by the Hollow.  He enjoyed it and it seemed to settle him.  After a quick tour around the dressage arenas he was put up for the night.  Cheds was wired for sound as well, but he needed to go down and behave at dressage warm up, which he did for the most part.

I decided it would be a good idea to go have another canter early Sat morning and it was definitely a smart choice.  Snoop is high maintenance, but it paid off for his best Training level dressage score to date of a 35!  That tied him for 8th out of 20 horses and I was very happy.  Bobby Stevenson's judging was very accurate and his comments on both horses were spot on.  Cheddars was much better for Scott than he has been lately and ended up 11th in the same division with a 39.  The horse is fabulous, but when he's strong it's hard to keep his poll up.

Snoopy was a very strong double clear on xc and moved up to 6th.  We still have some communication issues to work on, but he didn't throw any fits like he did last time out.  Scott and I rode 18 minutes apart so he was starting just as I was getting Snoop taken care of.  I was taking studs out when one of my friends' students came around the corner crying and telling me my husband was ok, but his horse was down.  I've never felt quite the way I did at that moment in my whole life.  I was relieved that Scott was ok, but as I was running out to xc, all I could do was cry, convinced that we were about to be putting our beloved horse down.  By the time I could see the fence Emily came running towards me telling me to go back to the stall.  They had gotten him in the ambulance on his own.  Dr. Chris Newton and the whole Rood+Riddle team were fantastic, as well as Dr. Werner from Hagyard who keeps Snoopy's back in good shape.  He was sore and cut up, but ultimately fine.  Apparently he got stuck in the bad footing on takeoff at fence 3 and couldn't quite make it so he tried to bank it and stuck both of his hind feet through the slats on the front of the table and went over backwards.  Scott probably saved him from a broken leg by quickly laying on his head so he wouldn't try to get up with his legs still stuck.  When help arrived they pulled him free, but he wouldn't get up.  We assume he was just stunned because he did finally get up on his own.  I thought for sure he'd be crippled Sun morning, but he was spinning his stall when we got there and walked out well.  What a tough, tough horse!!  If that had been Snoop he'd be laid up in the clinic right now!  He looks very good today and was very full of himself.  We love him dearly and look for him to be just fine and winning all the Novice in the spring!

Snoop and Cheds happily in their paddock Sunday afternoon!

This "incident" gave me a whole new perspective on several different things.  First of all, I now kind of get how my parents feel when I leave the start box and have told me all these years how much they worry bout me.  I've never had anyone to worry about, but now I have my husband and he's my whole world.  If anything happened to him I'd be lost.   I worry about my students as well, but it's not the same.  Second, I got to truly experience the closeness of the eventing community this weekend.  I got lots of hugs Saturday afternoon, some from people I don't even know that well, and a general outpouring of support and concern for Cheds and Scott.  It just reconfirmed why we do this crazy, difficult sport.  I also really just watched the way people care for their horses and each other this weekend and made some new friends.  It was inspiring and enlightening.  I can't thank Emily Palmus enough for all her help and concern this weekend.  What an amazing woman and true friend!

Snoop warming up for SJ Sunday.
  

Snoop jumped very well in the show jumping, but was very strong as usual and we had one rail because of it.  Despite the 4 faults we still moved up another place to finish 5th in a big division.  Could've been 3rd with a clean round, but I'm still figuring out all of his 973 quirks!  Once we iron out a few more wrinkles he will be unstoppable!   I was very happy with him overall and things seem to be right on track for the 3day.  Wish us luck!!!

See you at Midsouth and GO EVENTING!