First Jog

This blog has been about Phillip's road to the WEG - now he is officially there! I will be writing on behalf of Phillip (mainly because he can't type) and more seriously because he has a lot to do!

The US team jogged this morning. Sadly, Kim Severson had to withdraw her horse. You can't underestimate how tough it is and our hearts go out to Kim and her team. All the other horses jogged well and now it is official - with Kim out it changes the team a bit and Karen will step into the team slot with Mandiba. We walked the course yesterday for the first time and it is BIG! You definitely know you are at a championship when you walk around the track. The head of the lake is quite daunting with a lot to do there. If you can get on to a website to see the pictures it is worthwhile.

Phillip will do his dressage test on Friday, which seems a long way off, but it will go by quickly. Will keep you updated each day on the team's progress.

Evie

Opening Ceremony

It is the day after the opening ceremonies for the World Equestrian Games. Our team was very patriotically attired in bluejeans, blazers, cowboy boots and hats! It was an amazing spectacle and really gets your blood going that you are at the biggest competition of your life! The Kentucky Horse Park looks amazing and the competitions are well underway with reining and the endurance horses in the midst of competition.

Our horses traveled well from Georgia and have all settled into their new home at the Kentucky Horse Park. It is good to get into a bit cooler temperatures for the horses. I have TruLuck here as well stabled off the show grounds, so had to ride him this morning before heading out to the horse park. Non competing horses are'nt allowed on the grounds so he is staying at Cathy Weishoffs barn down the road. Tomorrow we work the horses and then on Tuesday we have our briefing and are able to see the course for the first time. Wednesday we have the first trot up at 9:00. Once that starts, I know things will move very quickly, so I will try to keep you posted on how things are going. I hope everyone is crossing all appendages!

Phillip

Training Camp

I returned from my brief visit home on Monday morning. It was really nice to see my parents, see the kids and to attend the final day of the Plantation Field International Horse Trials. This event is our home event and Evie and I have been involved in the organization for the past three years. It is very exciting to see how the event has grown and all the effort put into it by Denis and Bambi Glaccum, Katie Walker, Amy Borun, Colby Saddington, Evie and all the volunteers. I was so pleased for Jennie Brannigan who won the CIC*** class with Nina Gardner's Cambalda. This is a super combination and Jennie has worked really hard bringing this young horse along. Since I was unable to ride, Jennie rode a few of my usual mounts, Vidalia, Paprika and Young Man, producing good scores in all phases.

Back to reality and training. Oded Shimoni and Katie Prudent arrived to work with all of us for the past few days. I am very pleased with our progress - there is a lot of detail to work on such as going through the test with fresh eyes to see where we can get an extra point or two. The horses are jumping well so that is positive.

We had a team dinner last night at our host's Carl Boukeart's home. It was a fun occasion with blindfolded canoe races before hand. I am happy to say that my teammate Karen and I prevailed. With Karen paddling and me shouting "left, now right, paddle harder!" it was a blast.

We leave tomorrow for Kentucky - so I will have more to post then.

Phillip

Selection!

It has been a fairly tough process and I am one of the few lucky ones to announce that I along with two of my horses, Woodburn and TruLuck, have been selected to represent the United States at the World Equestrian Games. You might say that I have been around for awhile, so I should be prepared for the process, but nonetheless it is pretty darn stressful. Woodburn has been named as my nuber one horse with TruLuck as my backup. I am sure everyone else knows the other team members, so I won't publish that here.
We are all in "camp" now at Carl Boukaert's beautiful farm outside of Atlanta where the final selection trial was held during the AECs. We are here until the end of the week to train until moving on to Kentucky. Oded Shimoni, our dressage coach, arrived and we are working on fine tuning the movements for our dressage test. At this stage, you really aren't trying to change too much, just get each movement the best you can for maximum points! This morning we will gallop to keep the horses in top condition before the test coming in less then two weeks.
I have to admit that blogging (or anything on the computer) is not my strong suit so, I apologize for the days in between my posting. I hope you will continue to follow and I will try to keep you posted on the goings on here in Georgia.

All the best,

Phillip

P.S. am going home later today to see my parents who have just arrived from Australia. They are in there 80s so this was a big trip for them. I haven't seen them since we went to Australia after the Hong Kong Olympics, so I am very excited. Will post after I return on Tuesday!

Showjumping at the AECs

Sunday was a bit hectic at the AECs but very successful. I jumped all five of mine first thing in the morning - the four listed horses I schooled with Katie Prudent to give them a little warm up. I had Connaught and Fernhill Eagle in the Advanced class with decent placings. Connaught was his usual exuberant self and jumped a beautiful clear round. I was super pleased with my young horse, Fernhill Eagle, who also jumped clear.

Then it was a mad rush to jump the other three who did not run cross country and therefore had to jump at the end of the division. But they were all superb! Woodburn was a little fiesty from not running the day before, but jumped well, The Foreman tried his heart out and also jumped a clear round as did TruLuck. Five clear showjumping rounds over a decent Advanced track. It is a nice confidence booster before the test that will come in a few weeks.

The team will be announced later today - so fingers crossed that all will go well.

Phillip

Dressage Day

I was really pleased with all of my horses during the dressage. It was a long hot day, but they all performed well with some room for improvement before the WEG. They are all a few points out of the lead of Allison Springer's Arthur who is on a good score of 35.

The ground here in Georgia is pretty hard so I'm not running The Foreman, TruLuck and Woodburn, who have had good runs cross country in the past few weeks.

Fingers crossed for Connaught and Fernhill Eagle.

Phillip

AECs here we come!

It was an early start at 2:00 am to head down to Chattahoochie Hills the site of this years' American Eventing Championships and the final selection trial for the US Eventing Team. I wanted to make sure that I gave my horses the best possible conditions for travel, so it meant an early start as the trip is about 14 hours.

We arrived safely and after waiting approximately 20 minutes in a queu of trailers we got our stable assignment and unloaded. There is an unprecidented 700 entries for this years' event, so it will be quite an event to see and to participate in.

Sadly, Kheops Du Quesnay did not make the trip, but he will have his day.

I will try to keep you posted over the week and weekend as things progress. Until then, good luck to everyone at the AECs.