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.

Richland Horse Trials

I just arrived back from a long but successful weekend at Richland Park in Michigan. Those of you that followed this event would have noticed that most of the potential combinations for the US team ran here. Overall it was a great weekend for everyone.

Three of my short listed horses ran at Richland, The Foreman, Woodburn and Kheops du Quesnay. All three were placed high up, so I was very pleased. I have to say I am very excited by the way The Foreman and Woodburn are going and went this past weekend. They each had three solid phases.

So now we just have the AECs left to compete. This is a compulsory event for all the horses on the short list, so everyone will be there. The team is then named two days after the conclusion of the event, so fingers crossed until then!

Phillip

Culpepper Show

Just a quick blog to keep you posted on what the horses have been doing in between comps. Last week I took TruLuck, Woodburn and The Foreman to the Culpepper show to work with Katie Prudent on their showjumping. It was a great experience for all of us and I think we made some good progress. Katie is a great technician and it is always helpful to focus on the details of showjumping. Next, is Richland ... will post more after that event.

Phillip

Millbrook

I just returned from Millbrook where my long time partner, Connaught, started in the Advanced division. He was so glad to be back competing - you could see it in his eye and the way he carried himself! He was good in all phases and ended up 6th.
This event was part of the PRO Tour. These are events throughout the country that the organizers and the Professional Riders Organization (PRO) join together to run. Our idea is to bring in more spectators and fans to the sport by adding to the entertainment for the weekend, such as a pony club gymkana and course walks for the show jumping and cross country like they did at Millbrook. This seems to be working with a nice crowd and an overall successful event. The next event on the PRO tour is the Plantation Field International Horse Trials in Unvionville, PA September 17-19.
The next two weeks of my WEG preparation entails jump lessons with Katie Prudent in Middleburg, VA. I will have Woodburn, TruLuck and The Foreman there this week and then next week possibly a jumper class or two. Hopefully, I will have good things to report next time.
Phillip