Back in Aiken after a great week at HITS!

Courage - 3rd Place - 10k HITS Prix - Jump off (Photo by Bill Wertman)

We headed down to Ocala late on Tuesday. It was a quick turn around from Pine Top and I wanted to make sure to get all of them ridden before leaving. We arrived down in Ocala around 11:30 that night at Bruce Davidson's place where the horses were to be stabled. It was a huge relief to have the temperatures finally on the rise after the weekend!

Wednesday was our first day of showing. We were at the barn by 6am to make sure we made it to the show with enough time to finish entering and be ready for our first class. Courage, owned by Sycamore Station LLC, was first up in the $2,500 Brookledge Welcome Stakes. I've been working hard to make corrections from a few weeks prior. After watching the videos over and over I realized I needed to be slightly more patient especially at the verticals not to push him through the top rail. I also needed to keep him a little bit sharper overall. All of the work paid off! He was one of a handful of double clear rounds finishing in 8th!

Llama, owned by Rosie DiMola, jumped a great round in the level 4's (3'9") just following Courage's class. He finished up in 6th. This little horse has a ton of potential and is so careful I can't wait to see where he'll end up in the coming years!

Courage - 3rd Place - 10k HITS Prix - First Round (Photo by Bill Wertman)

Friday brought Courage to the 10k HITS Prix (1.45m - 4'9") He was 18th to go out of the 27 showing. There was only 1 double clear as I entered the ring. Courage was a little green at points but jumped very, very well. It was a much more technical course than Wednesday or 2 weeks prior. He responded with class and finished leaving all of the rails in place! Upon completion of the class there was 1 more double clear placing us in 3rd!

It was a very exciting result and a huge step in gaining confidence for the future.

Llama and I then headed over to the $1,000 FarmVet Level 5 class where he jumped around like a star. This was his 2nd time competing in the 4' class and he too finished double clear and in 5th! He is without a doubt a talent for the future. He'll be out again soon at PSJ's March Madness in Aiken.

We have a quiet weekend with Pine Top Advanced weekend on the horizon.

The jumpers head to Ocala and Tribute dominates Pine Top!

Courage - 8th Place Brookledge Welcome Stakes - 1.40m

Courage, Llama, Larry and Running Order all made the trip down to Ocala last night. Courage jumped great today in the $2,500 Brookledge Welcome stakes. He jumped double clear, finishing 8th.

Llama also jumped very very well he finished up 6th in the level 4's (3'9"). Larry also jumped well. I just did some light flat with Running Order over at Bruce's today with more to come later in the week.

The latest podcast is up, it was recorded on our trip down last night. It covers Pine Top from last weekend, incidentally Tali was a star, Farley finished 8th, Socks 4th, Tribute 1st (who was up by 9pts after dressage!) and Hughie rocked his first prelim! The link to #10 is here.

The photo pic of the week goes to Hughie, click here to view.

I wish I could get some video up real time, but internet on the road has been difficult especially when it's all in HD. I'll get some up on Saturday when we return to Aiken. 

All I can say is hopefully this warm weather keeps up. In the upcoming week we have Pine Top Advanced horse trials. Running Order will be out as well as Tali and Hughie. I think there might be one or two more, but without a schedule in front of me I'm lost!

Check back Friday for results from the rest of HITS.

Courage's GP Helmet Cam!

Podcast #8 is required listening...Michelle's singing is stunning!

Courage - $15k 1.40m Mini Prix - HITS Ocala

This week we have results from HITS and the upcoming USEF training sessions, but Michelle absolutely steals the show!

The iTunes link is here. If that doesn't work or you would like to subscribe to the DPE podcast with an app like Instacast the podcast link is as follows: http://dpequestrian.com/podcast/podcast.xml

Regarding Instacast...I wrote an article a few weeks back which went live today on HJU it details a number of apps and tech tips which make the day both more productive and entertaining!

Rolex is coming!

I was lucky enough to be asked if I'd be interested in writing a blog leading up to Rolex this spring. The first of four parts has just gone live on Rolex's website. The link is found here.

HITS Ocala...so far so good!

It's been a busy few days. It all kicked off on Wednesday. We started at Sporting Days dressage and CT. Gus did 2nd level 1 and 2 scoring 61% and 65%. It was a solid start for the year for Gus. I also rode Shanon Baker's Landis and Farley Davidson. Landis is a very exciting young horse who has the upper levels in his sights! This was his first show jumping off the farm. We ended up trotting half of the course but what a jumper!

Melanie brought Larry along as well, he had a hiccup in the first round but made great strides in the second. Farley jumped very well also. As soon as we finished up. I headed back to the barn to switch horses and head down to Ocala.

With us to Ocala came Larry, Courage and Llama. They've taken HITS Ocala by storm. Larry finished 4th in the level 4's and 6th in the level 5's yesterday. Llama finished 2nd this morning in the level 5's.

Courage jumped like a rock star as seen below in the $15k 1.40m Mini Prix. He finished up on 6th. We're sticking around until Sunday for the $25k Grand Prix.

Unfortunately, I have limited Internet access down here. I'll try to get a video up as soon as possible.

Check back soon for updates!

-D

** We also have a working student position open for the winter in Aiken, come down and enjoy the sun for the winter! If you are interested send a resume and video to jess@dpequestrian.com **

Check out HJU today!

Click here to view

Podcast #6 is Live

In this episode we cover a number of results from the past week. Some good and some not so much! We also cover the final installment of Running Order's profile as well as the professional portion of my career.

Click Here to Listen!

We're exausted, but the truck is here!

 

The last 72 hours have been crazy. As I had mentioned in the Podcast, we left around 2 pm on Monday to head back to NJ. That trip is a long one, we arrived making good time around 1:30 am. Promptly woke up to get all of the loose ends tied up. Turns out getting insurance for this truck was a challenge to say the least, one that took me until about 2 pm Tuesday afternoon. Once that was all set, Jess, my Dad and I headed up to the dealership to finish the deal.

We arrived at the Freightliner dealer with no troubles, and signed my life away. I did have one minor panic attack when the salesman informed me that the policy I finally found was not sufficient. Luckily, after a quick call to the insurance agent all was well and good.

Then off to the DMV. I'm not sure if this is a worldwide problem, or just one specific to the US. It is not an enviable place be, not a model of efficiency by any means. They know the power is in their hands. You just hope that the agent is not going to try to be a hero and give you a hard time. We got lucky, this might be a record being that we only spent 30 minutes!

Sounds like that should be enough for a day, but I still needed to sell my pickup. I had spoke to some wholesalers in NYC about buying it. Over the phone it sounded like no problem. Funny enough my dad who was following us wanted to make sure it wasn't a problem as well. He too called and was told bring it in. So 40 minutes later, just before closing we arrived. It's a tight fit to get in the door. I think the building was designed for honda's rather than a dually pick up.

"It's too big, we can't do anything with this..." is the first thing we hear. I'm thinking to myself what the @#%^ !! Long story short we drove into NYC for nothing. Back out to NJ we go...

We all met my Mom for dinner and then back to the barn. A few weeks back there were a few things we forgot and a few that simply couldn't fit. Kristin is heading down today and is going to grab those as well as a few more jumps on her trip to Aiken.

Wednesday morning came bright and early. We had to be at the Newark airport for a 7:30 flight meaning we left my place at 5:15 am. We met up at my parents place and my dad once again played chauffeur. We then flew to Atlanta and onto Gainesville, FL to meet the former owner of the truck. Luckily he lived just a few minutes north of the airport. We hopped into the truck and headed North to Aiken!

On our way back, I got a call from my Dad who had actually just sold the pickup. What a relief! Looks as if we have everything sorted.

I'll get some better pics posted soon, but these will give you an idea. I still need to spend a day or two setting up all of the cameras that are in the trailer etc...

I want to add special thanks to Larry and Amelia Ross and Kristen Burgers for their extraordinary help.

-D

Podcast #5 is up...

 Courage's Mini-Prix, YR days with Jimmy Wofford, Running Order and more... Click here to listen.

Courage Finishes 3rd at the PSJ $10k Mini-Prix

DPE Podcast #4 is live on itunes...

Today's podcast is live by clicking here. This week we cover everything from our trip down to NJ to this weeks news and my early childhood with horses.

Keep warm!
-D

New Year's Eve...Aiken and More...

It's hard to believe that it's nearly 2012, there's a very good chance it is by the time your reading this entry. The last few weeks have been hectic. I've been detailing the truck saga on the podcast, and it continues. I should be here in the next week or two.

We departed cold NJ for Aiken, SC 2 days ago (68 degrees today). It's always a bit of a cluster getting the entire barn packed and ready to pick up and move. We had my trailer with 5 horses and loaded to the ceiling with equipment as well as a 10 horse 18 wheeler.

Jess offering the horses water at the gas station - yes there are 5 horses in there too!

The trip is roughly 14 hrs and it seemed to take every bit of it just getting out of the driveway! You'll have to check Tuesday's podcast for details, but it involved removing the tailgate and extending the neck of the trailer in the middle of the road and this was within the first mile...

We finally arrived in Aiken on Thursday evening. We're at a new facility this year, it's owned by Taryn Hartnett and it's a beautiful 29 stall facility with ring and the best galloping hill I've seen in Aiken.

The Front of the Barn

Running Order is tentitivly headed for Rolex this spring. Being that we're down here through early April, I was a concerned about getting him fit enough on the flat terrain surrounding Aiken. No worries now, it's 1.1 miles long with a steady grade and good footing, couldn't ask for much more!

RO - Tribute - Trevor (Jess' horse High Society) on the Gallop

View from the Ring back to the Barn

I have to thank Jess, Michelle, Jenny (our fellow Canadian) and Melanie for all of their hard work. It's a monumental effort transporting the 16 horses down here. Taryn and Avery, the barn's owners showed up on day one to sign the lease etc and promptly asked us if we were hosting a tack sale. I should have grabbed a picture. Use your imagination and I assure you that's about half of the actual mess we had the morning after we arrived. Only a few days in, they've established order and it all seems completely under control.

I'll try to get some more pics up online, we do have some more on the facebook page here of the trip down and around the barn.

Coming up this week we have a jumper show at High Fields and with my fingers crossed I might be heading back to NJ to get my new truck.

Podcast #3 is up, like anything else it's a work in progress.

I think this podcast will be a great thing in the future, but like anything there is a steep learning curve. I had a call with Chris from Eventing Radio earlier in the week. She had a lot of great tips. This week we have an interview with our newest working student Jenny from our friends up north.

If you haven't yet downloaded Instacast yet, you should get right to it. Instacast will allow you do automatically download your podcasts directly onto your iPhone or Droid.

Again the podcast web address is http://www.dpequestrian.com/podcast/podcast.xml

Merry Christmas and Stay Warm!!

-D

The Podcast Live!

This has been in the works for a short while now. The podcast should be a very exciting broadcast which will introduce everyone to the horses, owners, sponsors, vets and farriers as well as current happenings.

Every tuesday by 9pm. Today's broadcast is live, we cover the happenings of the week and our first horse profile. This week we have Larry and Amelia Ross' Crown Talisman.

The direct link is http://www.dpequestrian.com/podcast/podcast.xml or search DPEquestrian in iTunes.

Stay warm!
-D