Eventing rocks at Galway - and the weather didn't hurt

I made plans to go to Galway with the thought of watching/helping Caitlin.  As reported in the last post, that part didn't happen (although Caitlin had a bang up weekend at VAHT), but I had a great time nonetheless.  I ended up volunteering all three days.  Friday was showjumping warmup and in gate from 8-3, Saturday the T3DE jog from 8-9:30 then spectating on the CCI xc.  Sunday, back to the warm-up ring for the Novice and Training cross country, which finished just in time for me to see Hank's (Livingston's) retirement ceremony and the final 10 jump in the CCI***.  It was a typical Marc Donovan course, tough, but rewarding a forward, flowing ride.  Buck had one rail down, but had it in hand to win on Petite Flower.  See the full scores here.  It was great to see Emilee Libby out and finishing 4th.  I remember being very impressed with her riding and demeanor when she won the Markham trophy at Fair Hill in 2006.  She spent a few years away from eventing, but has come back strong.  Her horse is an OTTB who was a winning race horse prior to his eventing career.  Petite Flower is also a TB, one of Bruce Davidson's lovely homebreds.  In addition to volunteering and spectating, I got to meet some people I know through Facebook or COTH and had the opportunity to catch up with Kat Drake, who has finished her PhD in pharmacogenomics and is working in the diagnostics industry in the San Diego area.  Galway had its share of people riding many horses, most notably Tami Smith and Matthew Brown.  The weather was really great all weekend and in addition to volunteering, I had the opportunity to spend time with my Dad, his housemates, and their very handsome dog - Wilson.

Back in the east, VAHT was in full swing.  Sally, Ryan, Caitlin and Kate were all competing.  Sally and Sue finished 2nd in the CIC** while Ryan and Woodstock Bennett won the CCI*. Caitlin was riding some of the youngsters and had a great 3rd place finish on Finn McCoul.  VAHT results are here.  Even closer to home, the Plantation Fall Starter Trial took place on Sunday, complete with many costumes. The Blue Hill contingent was out. David Ziegler finished second on Taja.  Brigitte took her own Harper to his first event ever and finished 5th on their dressage score.  Veronique St. Maurice also rode - one of the TBs that Melissa Stubenberg bailed out of a bad place last winter.  He not only finished third on his dressage score at Novice, he also tolerated his pirate costume with no fuss.  The rest of the results are here.  The event also featured Boyd Martin in what I must assume is his debut as a dressage judge.  He was generous with the scores in the spirit of the starter, but I heard the comments were excellent and informative.  Good on Boyd for helping out while kept out of the saddle (mostly) by the broken arm.

Further south, Jordan and Keebler rode in a competitive open novice division at Rocking Horse.  They finished 5th on their dressage score.  Leslie Law won the class, the 2nd and 4th place riders are both professionals and the 3rd place rider has substantial experience at preliminary, so Jordan should be doubly proud of herself. . Keebler was only a little naughty in the dressage from Cyndi's report and while a little excited jumped very well in both the sj and the xc.  The partnership is really developing well.  I believe their next appearance will be at the Ocala Fall horse trials.

I'm ready to get some riding in this week as well as a bit of running with less than 2 weeks to go until I attempt another 50 miler http://www.wildsebastian100.com/2.html