Fairwind Stables Blog

This part of Ohio, like much of the country, has been pounded by Old Man Winter but that hasn’t prevented plans being made for spring events. Area VIII’s first event, Spring Bay, opens in less than a week. If you are considering any of our services, please see our 2010 prices here.

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Last weekend, Podge and I returned to eventing after a year hiatus. I loaded up in Dayton with all my normal eventing gear and just as much baby gear as 6-week-old Claire was making her debut on the eventing scene (although a bit young yet to be riding!) Podge and I were on a team with Brooke Lundberg and her mare, Sierra’s Sexy Model, and Taylor Reynolds with Paloma Bella. We were disappointed to have lost Jayne Whitton due to Sadie’s absess the week before the event but Jayne was kind enough to drive down and support the team. My boy was feeling like quite the stud with our team name, “Podge and the Girls”!
The weather was cold and windy all weekend and Podge was definitely feeling frisky before the dressage. For a horse that is usually pretty sedate, I was shocked that he was still very much on the muscle after 30-40 of warmup. I thought the judge was very generous giving us a score in the low 40s! He was still feeling pretty fresh going into stadium that afternoon but was focused on the jumps and we ended up w/ a double clear round. He was great, albeit a bit strong, on XC Sunday morning and we ended up in 9th place.
Taylor and Brooke also finished on their dressage scores and our team ended up in 18th. It was great to see what a great job Taylor has been doing with Paloma in the nearly 4 years since she bought her from me.
I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents who helped babysit in the weeks leading up to the event as well as at the event. There is no way I would have been able to prepare and compete without them.

At 3:47pm on September 1st, Ryan and I became parents to a beautiful little girl named Claire. She weighed in at 8lbs 8oz and captured our hearts immediately.

Gemwood is always a fun event for everyone since it’s very close to home (less than 10 min from Fairwind Stables) so it’s the “home course” and everyone comes out to cheer the riders on. Saturday’s weather was less than ideal with heavy showers and storms rolling through during the day but it did little to squash the enthusiasm of the riders. Becca Gentry very kindly took lots of pictures which have been loaded onto the Fairwind Stables group page on Facebook.
Susie Gertz and Practical Magic (Elvis) had a really nice dressage test to start the day. Their warm-up was one of the best I’ve seen from this pair and I thought the test was consistent and steady. As they were preparing to head to stadium, a huge storm blew through and put the event on hold for a short time. Being one of the first few riders back into the ring after the break, I thought Susie and Elvis handled the wet, sloppy footing really well but had one unfortunate stop at a triple bar oxer. Sunday dawned sunny and breezy so the footing for XC was perfect. The pair headed out confident and forward – the latter being a big goal for Elvis this year – and ate up the course. Sadly, another goal with Elvis is to get him to stop looking at changes in footing so when he hopped over the ditch to find fresh gravel spread before the “B” element, he wasn’t as focused as he needed to be to continue his forward attitude! Susie did a great job of bringing him right over it the 2nd time and the pair finished the course.
Brooke Lundberg and Sierra’s Sexy Model (”Cici”) competed in their first novice event at Gemwood. This pair has been working very hard on their dressage this season and it paid off with one of the nicest tests I’ve seen from them. They also had to ride stadium after the heavy rain but rode positive and forward to a clean round in the wet footing. On Sunday, Brooke and Cici had their game faces on for cross country. They had a fantastic warm-up and set out over the bigger course with confidence. They finished the weekend on their dressage score in 6th place in a big division! Not bad for a move-up!
Jayne Whitton and Grace’s Star (”Sadie”) also moved up to novice this weekend and didn’t disappoint. They had a really solid, flowing test in dressage which was awarded with a good score. On to stadium in the wet grass ring where Jayne and Sadie jumped better than I’ve ever seen them. I think both were ready for the challenge of moving up! A clean round had them up in the scores going into XC on Sunday. Sadie is a young mare who Jayne has done a fantastic job of bringing along and teaching to focus on the job. All the hard work paid off with a forward, confident ride around the solid novice course and Jayne and Sadie ended the event in 3rd place! Way to go!
Finally, Susie Gertz and Zooby-Do competed in beginner novice. In spite of a couple of greenie moments from the young mare in the warm-up and one in the dressage ring when another rider rode very close during the their test, the pair had a really outstanding dressage test. The judge awarded them with a 30.0 penalty! This young mare has been going through some growing pains with her jumping the last couple of weeks and while she warmed up fairly well for stadium, they were unfortunately eliminated when Zooby decided she just didn’t want to play that day. I have no doubt that this pair will work it out and come back as even stronger competitors this fall.
Great job everyone!