Journal

Coatesville, PA
Apr 29, 2009 

Hello from Pennsylvania.  It’s been a long four days of driving, but we arrived yesterday afternoon at Bea Cassou’s farm in Coatesville, my home for the next month and a half.   My big brother, Jason, naively agreed to accompany me across the country and has been a real godsend.  Promise not to tell, but he’s been feeding, watering, and walking the horses for me. I even caught him in an intimate discussion with Kelso yesterday when we stopped for Diesel.  He’d hate for his surfer-dude persona to be marred, but he makes quite a good horseman!

Regan and Kelso traveled really well, and are in great form.  They are thoroughly enjoying the beautiful turn out and had a great time rolling and prancing around when we put them out yesterday.  Regan found it difficult to decide whether he’d rather roll or eat, and settled on the idea of eating while lying down.  He had a striking resemblance to a Greek aristocrat reclining at a banquet.

Finian got on a van yesterday in California, and is en-route as I write.  He should arrive on Saturday and have a few days to rest before we head to New Jersey for his first big event.

I’m off to take Jason to the airport and then I plan to spend the afternoon learning my way around the area. Fingers crossed I don’t get myself too lost!

Temecula, CA
Mar 28, 2009 

Galway Downs CIC***  Yesterday Finian came out wonderfully and continued to get better and better as we warmed up.  Since I am in the Developing Riders Program, Captain Mark Phillips was coaching me which added a little extra pressure to do well.  Mark had a few little comments about how exactly to ride a movement but otherwise told me not to change a thing.  He was very pleased with the homework we have been doing.  Finian went into the ring and stayed exactly the same as he had been in warm up.  There was no tension, no rushing.  He was relaxed, obedient and pretty near perfect.  He scored solid 8’s and 9’s.  It was hands down the best test of our lives and scored a 37.2!!!!!  I couldn’t believe it when they announced the score.  We ended up in the lead by a whole two points, ahead of Amy Tryon with Leland and many other excellent horse/ rider combinations.  The most important thing was that Captain Phillips was thrilled and said he’s so excited to see what we can do with another month of training.  That was confirmation enough for me that we’re on the right track. 

Today I set out on cross country with one and only one thing in mind.  I wanted to get a qualifying score (no jumping penalties) so that we can run the CCI*** at Jersey Fresh.  I knew that I had to sacrifice my place on the leaderboard for the sake of a slower, safer trip around cross country.   As Mark said, “don’t be a hero, just go slow and get qualified.”  Anyone who knows how competitive I am knows how much maturity that decision took!  In any case, I set out steady and took several longer routes at the option fences.  I wasn’t taking any chances of a silly mistake.  Finn was running and jumping really well all through the first half of the course and just started to get a little difficult to package as we made the turn to come home.  He jumped a little awkwardly into the infield of the racetrack, and on the way out got to a little bit of a bad stride.  It was an angled jump straight into a wall of trees that required an immediate turn to the right, but as you approached it looked like you were going to jump directly into the trees.  Because I didn’t have him quite where I wanted him, he just slipped down the face of the fence and ran out.  I circled him around and jumped it, but he still didn’t understand the question and jumped awkwardly again.  I went on to the next fence, a big oxer, and had a good bold jump there.  At that point, with Finn feeling confident about his job, I pulled up and retired.  Because of our run-out we did not get our qualifying score so I saw no reason to continue running him and potentially having something bad happen to him.

We made the very long walk back to the finish without a doubt in my mind that I had made the right decision.  I was greeted with praise for looking after my horse’s well being and how well the first half of the course had gone.  I am irritated with myself that I didn’t ride that combination at the racetrack better and hopefully will never make that mistake again…doubtful, but one can hope!  I am just looking at the fact that this horse is too good to take any chances with.  He is young and has a big future in front of him so I’d rather do right by him than kick on around the course.  Mark was pleased and said to keep doing what we’re doing, and Ian Stark came up to me to say that I was sitting on a “Team Horse” for the future.  That was pretty cool to hear, and again, confirmation that we’re on the right track.  We will go home and re-evaluate Finn’s competition schedule, hopefully still getting a CCI*** in sometime soon.

I also have Kelso and Regan here in the Training level and they are both going great.  On Friday they each had good tests putting them in 2nd and 4th respectively.  Today they both jumped clean rounds in Show Jumping.  Tomorrow I will go cross country on them early and then get on the road.

California
Feb 17, 2009

Feb 13-15 was our first event of the year at Ram Tap in Fresno.  It was Finian’s first Advanced event and my first since competing King Street (Danny) two years ago.  As luck would have it, we woke Friday morning to a major storm that dumped half an inch of rain in 2 hours.  For many of you that may not sound like a lot, but since the ground was already saturated from storms all week (and keep in mind this is California) puddles quickly became ponds and ponds turned to lakes.  The water jumps were more than three feet deep in some places, and the entire warm up area was one giant bog – great for mud wrestling, not so great for riding!  Despite the conditions, Finian put in a pretty good dressage test for a 33.3.  While it leaves room for improvement, I was plenty satisfied with the test.

The event officials decided that the footing was not good enough to run cross country on Saturday, and so switched the schedule and ran show jumping instead.  We jumped one of only two clear rounds in the ankle deep muck and slop which moved us into first place.  By Sunday morning enough water had been pumped off of the cross country course and it had dried out enough that we could safely run.  Finian blasted out of the box, guns a’blazing, and any plans I had to run slow and conservatively were forgone as it was clear I had little say in the matter.  He absolutely ate up the course, clipping through the toughest combination like child’s play and skipping over the biggest jumps.  We finished with just 2.8 time penalties which meant we held on to first place, winning by 9.6 points.
In the Training division, my young horse, Regan, was placed first after dressage with a 29.0 and jumped double clear across country, but moved down to 5th when he dropped two rails in show jumping.

We have two weeks to dry out and scrape all the mud off before our next event at Twin Rivers in Paso Robles.

California
Oct 23, 2008   

Kristi and I set out Sunday afternoon driving the horses home.  We hit a bit of a blizzard in Wyoming on Tuesday, and it was so cold Wednesday morning, we had a heck of a time starting the engine.  Nearly an hour later, and colder than I think I’ve ever been in my life, we got it going, and loaded the horses up wearing every blanket they had.  It was so cold, everything that got kicked up from the road, immediately froze on to the sides of the trailer, in a sort of cryogenically preserved collage of our trip.  We got to Kristi’s house in Auburn on Wednesday night, and Bea drove up to get me and Finn today.

It’s back to work at home, getting the young horses going for their final events of the year, and catching up on nearly a month’s worth of life.  Finian will get a well deserved rest after a big year, and then we’ll spend the winter doing our homework, looking to come out bigger and better in the spring.

Elkton, MD
Oct 19, 2008   

Sunday was an early morning because of the 8:00 trot-up.  It was also exceptionally cold, with frost on the ground and a bitter wind that cut right through you, regardless of how many layers you were wearing.  Finian was feeling pretty good, and just needed to be kept warm and walked a bit to loosen up.  He easily passed the trot-up and then got bundled up in his blankets again and went back in his stall while we waited to show jump. 

The course was nice, although fairly difficult, with a tricky oxer, bending line to a two stride oxer combination, and a tight rollback turn to a vertical. The final line was a one stride of verticals to a bending line of six strides to an oxer over a Liverpool.  There were very few clear rounds, and many of those that did jump clear picked up time penalties.  Finian came out feeling wonderful and hardly rubbed one warm up jump.  He was equally calm and rideable as the day before, but still feeling plenty fresh.  In the ring he was fantastic and very quick between the fences.  He jumped a picture perfect round until the last line when he just ticked the last oxer and it came down.  It was heartbreaking, both for me, and his many new fans.  So many people wanted to see this wonderful horse lay down a clean round.  When we came out of the ring, we posed for some photos, and Finn happily poked, nudged, and slimed a few eager victims.  One person told me “he was jumping so well, it must have been the wind that took down the rail, because he certainly didn’t touch one.”

With the four faults added for the rail, we ended up on a score of 65.8.  I keep thinking about where I could have gone faster on cross country, how I could have grabbed a few more points in dressage, or how I should have ridden the last line in show jumping so that we could have left the oxer up.  So goes the curse of always wanting to be better.  Finian won the national championship for highest placed young horse and will get his name engraved on a perpetual trophy.  We were also 14th overall, and against a class of older, more experienced horses, I couldn’t be more proud of the kid. 

Elkton, MD
Oct 18, 2008   

Saturday morning was clear and very crisp, enough so that we put blankets on the horses between warm up and setting out on course.  Finian warmed up more relaxed and focused than he usually does, and maintained his cool all the way into the start box.  It was such a pleasant change from the adrenalin induced fits that we are typically overcome by.  My biggest concern about the course was an A/B combination at fence 6.  It was two corners on a downhill and I knew, being so early in the course, if he wasn’t settled in at that point, we would likely run past the B element.  When we did set out on course, he immediately found his rhythm and was jumping everything out of stride.  He came to the corners and locked on to the question like a well seasoned horse.  All the way around he was galloping and jumping wonderfully, looking for the next fence, and maturely sorting out the combinations on his own. 

I knew that the time was very hard to make, since no one in the first group out had come home inside the optimum time of 9:00 minutes.  I also knew that we would be a little bit behind the time for the first half of the course since it was all up hill, but I planned to try to make it up in the second half which was more down hill.  By the time I got to my 7th minute marker I knew we were further down on the clock than I wanted to be, and we were never quite able to make it up, finishing with 8.6 time penalties.  As many people were picking up jump and time penalties, in a class of 82, there were enough horses and riders that went around double clear to move up the leader board, and shift us down into 19th place.  It was a bit disappointing to move down so far after such a great round, but I was no less thrilled with how well my horse had gone.

Finian cooled out beautifully in the cold weather, and was released from the veterinary box within minutes.  Kristi also jumped clear, but picked up 20 time penalties.  Weslee had 20 jump penalties for a run out at the second corner of 6B and some time penalties. Back at the barn we got to work icing their legs and running IV fluids.  Other than catching one stifle and having an abrasion there, Finn looked great and only took one round of icing.  He happily napped and grazed for the rest of the day. 

Elkton, MD
Oct 17, 2008
   
Yesterday was another beautifully hot and humid day, although we did get a sprinkle here and there to temporarily cool it down.  Finian came out to warm-up in fine form, and was spot on for everything I asked of him, quiet, relaxed, but still prompt and attentive.  But when we trotted into the main ring to circle our arena, I felt that horrible feeling of the horse getting taller and tighter, with every muscle in his body coiled up and ready to spring off in one very disobedient moment.  It was all I could do to walk him around the ring and keep myself dead calm.  When the judge blew the whistle and I picked back up the trot he was a little more focused, but still very on the muscle.  The whole first part of the test was fairly good, and as well as we could do on the day.  He maintained the extended walk well, and most of the medium walk, but the tension was just too much and he jigged a few strides before the canter transition.  We were so close.  Then he got really playful in the medium canter, changed leads and shook his head around, before getting back to business.  The remainder of his canter work was pretty good, and overall the test was respectable.  I couldn’t help but be disappointed for knowing what could have been, but at the end of the day, he is just younger and less experienced than most of the horses out there.  We were given a 53.1 and are sitting in 6th for the moment, but there are many more, wonderful horses on the schedule today, so expect that position to move.  Regardless of where we end up going into cross country, it will still be a very competitive score, and well within striking distance of the top.

Today I’ve got much course walking to do, and a jump school to get Finn back in the groove, while Kristi and Weslee still have to ride dressage.  The course is beautiful, though certainly not easy, and the footing is possibly the best I’ve ever seen.  I’m eager to get out there and try our hand against the big guys.

Thank you everyone for all the good luck wishes.  We can hear the rooting from the other coast.

Elkton, MD
Oct 15, 2008   

Monday afternoon we packed up at Kate’s and moved the horses down to Fair Hill.  We had the barn set up and the “in-barn” veterinary inspections finished rather quickly and the rest of the evening was left to grazing, walking, and otherwise fussing over our horses. 

Tuesday most of the competitors arrived and the peaceful barns and grassy fields turned into a hustling, bustling, sea of people and trailers.  As is often the case, much was unfinished when it comes to the event organization and we just today were able to get our competitor numbers and barn credentials.

This afternoon we had the first jog out.  Finian trotted up very well and earned a few admirers for his looks too.  I’m off to walk the course for the first time, and then we have the grooms party this evening.  My mom is still in denial that she’s grooming for me, which I don’t understand since she does a pretty good job.  Maybe she’ll admit it by the end of the week.

Amid her many other talents and projects, my mother has been working busily on a website, www.tianacoudrayeventing.com   Not many are so lucky as to have a groom, secretary, web designer and mom all in one.

Finian got a fairly early number draw, 29 out of 82 entries, so we’ll be doing dressage tomorrow.  Then we have Friday off before cross country on Saturday.

Let’s hope for a relaxed and supple test tomorrow.

Cochranville, PA
Oct 11, 2008   

Today I took Finn out hacking with Kristi and planned to just see how he was feeling.  One of the pasture horses got excited as we walked by and galloped over to see us.  This was all the enticement Finn needed to be off like a kite, leaping and prancing and snorting like an Arabian.  At that point I decided that Dougie had done his job well and Finn was fit to do a little work in the ring.  He felt the best he has since he arrived here, much stronger, straighter, and more adjustable.  I’m thrilled that we were able to sort that out with such a quick fix.  Tomorrow I think we’re planning to do another breeze up the hill and then Monday we will move the horses down to Fair Hill.  The weather has been exquisite the entire time I’ve been here, so I’m hoping it will hold out through next weekend.  That may be asking too much of an East-coast October.

Cochranville, PA    
Oct 10, 2008

This morning Finian seemed a bit bothered by life and was in quite a bad mood, which for mister congeniality, means something is wrong.  I had a little jump school out in the field and he was jumping fine, but with none of his usual brilliance.  Dougie Hannum (Equine Physio-therapist) came out to the farm later in the afternoon and worked on him.  Immediately Finn became more pleasant and back to his curious, goofy self.  I think all the traveling stress had finally caught up with him and he was extremely tight.  Last night Weslee arrived from Texas with her horse, Oliver, and Kristi Nunnink came in from California with her mare, Rosie.  Both seem to have traveled well and were happy to be on solid ground.