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