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Tater in the field
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The Gang

Tate is on great form and in the field till December and will be on the road to ROLEX!

King is getting better and better.. working off the baby chubb he should be set to go training in Febuary

Stella is working hard trying to get an education in the dressage but there should be no problem jumping! She should be going novice/training quite quickly.

Classic Garden is for sale if anyone know anyone looking for a nice lesson/ponyclub horse( more info on my website)

Swing a Little is for sale as a Foxhunting/dressage/ponyclub pony (more info on my website)

Rocket is back in action and chrissy is legging him up and he will be aimed toward competing at 3 DerbyCross's in the spring ( see Inside info )

Sobe Dazzeled is preparing for her first competiton season in the winter/spring in aiken

Bing and Rhiannon are doing well and getting the basics sorted so that they can be wicked competitve in the spring

Inside 411

PRO and DerbyCross Pro has teamed up with 3 venues to create a DerbyCross series. Wellington in late january, North Carolina in March and yes yes ROLEX in April!! This is VERY NEW INFO and we are still working out the details so stay tuned to the PRO website and mine but it looks as if we are a go. Idea is 5 teams,4 horses and riders competing for top money and prizes ... this is a blast of an event and will have loud music, exciting rides and top professionals matched with a guest rider at each venue! Rocket is aimed is to be my DX horse for 2011 and I may be a bit excited but I have been doing DX's for years and Rocket IS what a Derby Horse should be!! I hear Leslie Law is already legging up his Derby horse and I just talked to Macia Kulack in Wellington and she has got her eye on a competitve horse as well!

USET High Perfomance Grants - Fingers crossed I am really hoping Tate and I get moved up from the Developing Rider list to the High Perfomace B list. This makes us eligible for all sorts of lessons and grants. Word on the street is that there will be grants available for training in Wellington,FL this winter. I am hoping to head that way in the middle of January if we get a grant. I will hopefully work with Anne K and Katie P as well as get some Dressage help.

PRO/LR Equestrian Signature Line and Launch I am working closely with PRO and LR Equestrian to develop a PRO Clothing Line( tons of fun!) Our first line, the Signature Series will most likley involve a vest, polo shirt and Jacket/Windbreaker. We are going for a Professional look that you could get off of schooling your horse and go straight to a meeting with sponsors/clients and look good! We are trying to do a fashion show with riders being the models at the launch at ROLEX! what fun :)

None of this information is finalized but it is some of what is in the works for 2011!

Hope you find this information useful or just entertaining! Thanks again for being involved and hope your enjoying the ride !

-Sinead

PS... I am headed to The Royal Agricultural Fair in Toronto to Compete in the Indoor Eventing next weekend .. so much fun! I am catch riding a horse so hopefully that all goes well ;) you can watch it live on the Royals website we are on in the Friday and Sat evening.

The Gang

Tate

is on great form and in the field till December and will be on the road to ROLEX!

King

is getting better and better.. working off the baby chubb he should be set to go training in Febuary

Stella

is working hard trying to get an education in the dressage but there should be no problem jumping! She should be going novice/training quite quickly.

Classic Garden

is for sale if anyone know anyone looking for a nice lesson/ponyclub horse( more info on my website)

Swing a Little

is for sale as a Foxhunting/dressage/ponyclub pony (more info on my website)

Rocket

is back in action and chrissy is legging him up and he will be aimed toward competing at 3 DerbyCross's in the spring ( see Inside info )

Sobe Dazzeled

is preparing for her first competiton season in the winter/spring in aiken

Bing

and Rhiannon are doing well and getting the basics sorted so that they can be wicked competitve in the spring

Inside 411

PRO and DerbyCross

Pro has teamed up with 3 venues to create a DerbyCross series. Wellington in late january, North Carolina in March and yes yes ROLEX in April!! This is VERY NEW INFO and we are still working out the details so stay tuned to the PRO website and mine but it looks as if we are a go. Idea is 5 teams,4 horses and riders competing for top money and prizes ... this is a blast of an event and will have loud music, exciting rides and top professionals matched with a guest rider at each venue! Rocket is aimed is to be my DX horse for 2011 and I may be a bit excited but I have been doing DX's for years and Rocket IS what a Derby Horse should be!! I hear Leslie Law is already legging up his Derby horse and I just talked to Macia Kulack in Wellington and she has got her eye on a competitve horse as well!

USET High Perfomance Grants

- Fingers crossed I am really hoping Tate and I get moved up from the Developing Rider list to the High Perfomace B list. This makes us eligible for all sorts of lessons and grants. Word on the street is that there will be grants available for training in Wellington,FL this winter. I am hoping to head that way in the middle of January if we get a grant. I will hopefully work with Anne K and Katie P as well as get some Dressage help.

PRO/LR Equestrian Signature Line and Launch

I am working closely with PRO and LR Equestrian to develop a PRO Clothing Line( tons of fun!) Our first line, the Signature Series will most likley involve a vest, polo shirt and Jacket/Windbreaker. We are going for a Professional look that you could get off of schooling your horse and go straight to a meeting with sponsors/clients and look good! We are trying to do a fashion show with riders being the models at the launch at ROLEX! what fun :)

None of this information is finalized but it is some of what is in the works for 2011!

Hope you find this information useful or just entertaining! Thanks again for being involved and hope your enjoying the ride !

-Sinead

PS... I am headed to The Royal Agricultural Fair in Toronto to Compete in the Indoor Eventing next weekend .. so much fun! I am catch riding a horse so hopefully that all goes well ;) you can watch it live on the Royals website we are on in the Friday and Sat evening.

　

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Ponies look skinny but nothing a little turnout in the field won't fix!! Yay they r home ;)!
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back to nj

we all survived and arrived back in NJ yesterday!.. till the bitter end it was an adventure and the final picture in my head from the trip will be Will in his new completly wooden clogs trying to walk, talk and drag his luggage from the baggage claim while letting everyone in the airport know he sat next to Eddie Murphy on the plane! That was the kind of trip it was :) I pick up Tate tomorrow from quarentine and I can not wait to get him out in the field and rolling in the dirt! Please check out Eventing Nation for my final Boekelo wrap up but all in all I fell so lucky to have the horse I have, the support I have and to have had the experience I just had. I have so much to work on this winter to prepare for Kentucky in the spring and have been so inspired Its going to be hard to leave tate in the field for a few months but he has earned it!.. I rode the other slew at home yesterday and thanks to sara and anna for keeping things rolling all the horses seem great. I am trying to sort out plans now for how long to be in Aiken and to see if I can swing some time in Palm Beach. I also am looking for a working student who might want to come along if anyone has anyone in mind. Ill take some pictures when i pick up tater! xx

pictures

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We are here!!! We landed in amsterdam yesterday am and headed straight to the horse hotel to see tiana and wait for our horses to arrive. 5 hours later they all arrived looking like they traveled fantastic! We arrived to Boekelo and were greeted with more than 5 people to help us unload, coffee,tea, and cookies! The horses got out for grass and settled in easily. We then headed over to the "bar" on the property which was already filled with people, several beers on tap, music blaring! Franz ( who basically runs everything) told us they normally have over 40,000 spectators!! We hacked out this am and the ponies were wild but can't blame them its all so exciting! Ill blog some more this afternoon when I get on my computer just wanted to let everyone know we made it!! X

We are here!!

Sorry about not posting for the last day but it has taken me a little bit to make sure that I have a the right charger for my computer, my american phone, my new dutch phone, to find internet access and to find who's car I left what phone, computer, charger and converters in!.... So with that out of the way.. The horses and all of us are doing GREAT! Will, Doug, Sara,Chrissy and I arrived into Amsterdam yesterday morning and after losing my wallet( fortunatly I had my passport and credit card) and headed over to the horse hotel to meet Tiana and wait for the horses to arrive. 5 hours later the horses and Nat arrived. The horses looked great when they arrived. We unloaded them and walked them around while Tiana loaded her gear and then we put the ponies on and headed to Boekelo which was another 2 hours down the road. We arrived to more than 5 people to help us unload, tea and coffee, cookies and after the horses got settled a few rounds of beer at the bar on grounds! We have all decided this is our new favorite event and it has not even started!.. We went for a hack this am and all the horses were a bit fresh but we all are a bit fresh and excited!! The other competitors should arrive tomorrow and things should get crackin so ill let ya know the schedule when I know it! xx

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Boarding

Horses got to jfk an we are getting on a plane in newark next blog will be from amsterdam! Xx
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Tate and everything I own!!
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Horses on the way!!
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final countdown!

Sorry I did not post yesterday things got a little crazy(as you can imagine).. but lessons went great. We all had our final flat school in the USA and all the horses looked and felt on top form. I originally thought we could get all our packing done in 2 trunks but around 3:30 when 2 trunks were full and the floor of the barn was more full chrissy and I realized we were being a bit optimistic.... so 4 trunks, 1 haysteamer, a muck bucket filled to the brim with other buckets, 3 haynets and 5 bags of grain.. I think tate might have everything one little french pony could need! Nat has been fantastic in making sure we all are organized and made a point to come down and make sure chrissy was feeling good and prepared. Its 5:30 am now and I am headed to the barn. Will and I have a sunrise ride at 6:30 ( we have decided to hold hands and sing songs while the sun rises ill try and get a picture ;) ..then the horses will leave at 8:30 with Dick Payne and Nat to JFK. We all then have a bit of time for last minute packing and are meeting at Sara Ike's at 3:00 to get to Newark for our 6pm flight. I will update hopefully from the Airport on how the packing, horses and Will and my trail ride :) all goes!
sinead

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JUMPPPPPPIN!!

Today was a great day at "team boekelo" camp!.. Doug, Will and I met at 7 am to set jumps. With Mark in these types of sessions he really leaves it up to us to decide what the best exercises are for our horses. Doug looked a little sleepy but Will and I had been buzzing since the early hours with minds running 1000 miles an hour. I personally got up at 3 am bc I couldn't sleep due to one hundred and one things running through my head.

Last night we had a low key dinner at Sara Ike's house and it was a really funny and interesting evening. I spend a lot of time at competitions with everyone but it was nice to all just hang out and we really get on as a group. Back to this morning... Will started the day off with his mare "Missy" .. well actually Nat started the day off with her not so shy comments on everything from WEG's to Marks "fit shoes" ( you know the ones that with every step are supposed to firm up.. well everything, ya the Captain is wearing them.. ill snap a shot soon when he isnt looking ) Before Will jumped his first jump all of us including Mark were in hysterics which was a great way to start the morning.

Missy and Will jumped great. He jumped through some grid type exercises then put a course together and she was jumping great so not to much more was needed. Doug was next on Skinny. He started out fantastic but Mark and Doug both wanted to get a bit more technical with some sharp angles to make sure skinny is prepared for his trip. After a few green times through a large bounce and two verticals on a wicked angle, skinny look full of confidence and that he may have just learned a lesson that might be needed next weekend. Tate and I were next and I am thrilled with the jump school. Mark quickly adjusted some of the square oxers to ascending which really helped Tate jump up and around instead of his style which sometimes can be a bit weak upfront. A few times over the ascending oxers Tate started jumping with heaps of scope. This is a good feeling bc he is a careful horse but does not always leave a lot of room between him and the poles.

The attitude during the lessons has been fantastic. Yesterday Mark was certainly still feeling the aftershock of WEG's but by today the excitement is running through all of us even Mark was all smiles. In the afternoon we got to go to USET and pick up our official gear ( which I didn't even know we were getting!) It was a really fun experience picking up USA gear this is what it is all about. I know there is conversation around town about grant money and who deserves it and there is a lot of finger pointing going on and negativity. But I speak for all of us lucky enough to go on this trip that we are excited, appreciative, hard working and enjoying this experience. We are not in this sport to make money, we need enough money to eat and fill the truck with diesel. We are in this great sport to represent our country and do a good job with our horses,friends,sponsors,coaches,selectors and ourselves. I am young and don't know the exact equation of why Americans have not been competing very well internationally. But I do know in order for us to have a chance we need to be focused, be honest and enjoy the times when opportunity allows us to participate in something great. So that will be our formula for the next week and we are all excited to represent the USA in Holland!

Training Sessions day 1

Will and Nat arrived yesterday afternoon and the subject went quickly from being super excited to then the same conversation on most eventers minds, what happened at WEG's. Now we all have our opinions and we will save that for another day but what was first and foremost on our minds was "what are we gonna say to Mark?" .. um sorry for your bad luck?... better luck next time... Well Mark what went right at the WEG's...its literally 48 hours after giving away the silver medal, can we ignore the elephant in the room.. probley not. Guess who gets the first lesson of the day and the "breaking the ice"duty, yes yours truly. So I do what I always do when im nervous just start talking and don't stop. When I gave Mark a second to talk it obviously was in the front of his mind as well and let me tell you he is as pissed as everyone else. I then did the second thing I do when im nervous.. smile,nod and agree. Fortunately Marks frustrations did not flow into my flat lesson and it went very well. I have alot of work to do on my half-pass but it certainly got a lot better.
The rest of the horses looked well dougs horse is looking like it is showing some more flash but is still having green moments in the changes and counter canters. Will's mare has a very workman like attitude and looks like she should be very accurate. Mark is not being shy at all about the fact that we "will preform well" and he is expecting quite a lot from us. I do think there is more pressure especially due to the poor performances on a whole as Americans in international competition lately. But with youth comes eagerness and we all are saying to each other we better pull this off, but we are saying this with a smile on our faces ready and excited for this opportunity.
Tomorrow we are all having a jump and Mark is being kind enough to help Doug and I on some of our younger up and coming horses since we are local. I will have pictures a bit later!
Stay tuned

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At ther dentist .. Way scarier than any advanced track!!

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5 day countdown!

Its 7:30 and instead of heading to the barn I am headed to the oral surgeon for a dental consult... seems that I have fractured a tooth and it needs to come out ... now! But if that is the only inconvenience on the way to Holland thats cool (painful but no big deal).. The Captain and Will Faudree get here tonight. Im interested in Marks ideas and attitude after the big US disappointment at WEG's. Seems to that the chat around the campfire is that the US has invested to much in the "old school team" and has maybe looked passed some of their obvious flaws due to them being veterans of the sport. Well this week starts the US's new movement toward supporting young and upcoming riders by sending the 4 of us to Boekelo.... No Pressure !
Tate feels great and I feel very prepared. Tate and I combined have the most experience in the group in our Advanced competitions together. Will has the most experience as a rider with his numerous 4 star and team competitions on his former advanced ride Antigua. His mare is absolutely amazing and has been completely solid in the past year or so that Will has had her. Doug and Running Order are new to the Advanced level but Doug has more time in the tack than most and has proven on countless horses that he can be competitive. This will be a big step for both "skinny" and Doug but worth the investment. Tiana and her beautiful grey horse have both won at the 3 star level and had some spotty competitions. She knows her horse very well and has every capability to win the thing if things go her way.... Im late to the dentist!! more updates later :)
s