A Prelim Photo Montage

I HAVE PHOTOS!! I LOVE PHOTOS!! My package from GRC Photo arrived today with their new very cool thumbdrives in a wooden case engraved with my name, Katchi's name, and Maryland Horse Trials - and on that wooden thumbdrive are 113 pieces of photographic evidence that Katchi completed his first Prelim horse trial! So, here's a mini-montage of some of my favorite moments captured on film! It is sort of sad though how pictures just don't do the jumps justice. I keep wondering at what point I'll feel like the jumps in the pictures actually look as HUGE as they seem in person?? Cuz let me tell you, some of these jumps are BIG - I was just sure they'd look like Rolex jumps in the photos! Oh well, they aren't exactly twigs on the ground!

Katchi in his winning dressage test!


Um, yea, this one wasn't part of the plan. That might be "SHIT" coming out of my mouth! Poor Katchi, I put him where he just couldn't do it for me.


That's okay - I got it right the next time around, and Katchi soared! And it wasn't even a helicopter - it was just huge!!

AND THEN IT WAS CROSS COUNTRY TIME - YEE HAA!!

Run Katchi Run!

Take note of the red number above the green number - that's means we shared this HUGE table with the Intermediate course! I think Katchi might be looking down, thinking "how freaking far out does this thing go, mom?!?"

Big Freakin' Table!

Outta da' water!


And over da' house!

And even a water to water!

Oh, I love these pictures!!! Thanks so much to GRC for capturing my memories forever!

In other news... last weekend was full of dressage! Katchi and I were able to get our first dressage lesson with Silva Martin in ages, and Katchi was a star! Silva rode him for quite a while, and he was dead pooped by the time she turned him over to me! But, oh, didn't he feel lovely after she worked her magic! Kerry and Atticus also came along and had a stunning lesson - I'm still in awe with how much they have improved in the brief 1.5 years since we first met. Last weekend, I also had the great privilege of sitting on my good friend Eeyore for the first time! I think one of the most rewarding parts about riding is helping a horse to see that first glimmer of light about connection, forward, and relaxation - I think Eeyore got a good glimpse of his future, and he felt stunning! Watch out folks - he's gonna knock your socks off very soon! AND, lastly, a HUGE congrats to Karrie and Baggio who survived their first dressage show together (PVDA at CDI) - they scored in the 60s in both their tests, with Karrie making a solid 5 point improvement between tests. As a coach, it's absolutely fabulous when a student listens carefully to your thoughts, makes the changes, and reaps the benefits!

August continues to be a month of refocus and re-invigoration for me - Katchi has enjoyed 4 days vacation (part of a promised week-long vacation that will end prematurely tomorrow as he's getting into WAY too much trouble being too fit and too bored) - and I've been taking some time to ramp up my fitness work and refocus my mind in hope of taking on the fall season with full power. If anyone is looking for a rider-focused fitness regime, give Debbie Rodriquez' DVDs a go - she'll hurt you - seriously!