World Equestrian Games Commercial to be aired on NBC w/ Member of the CW Event Team
On Wednesday July 21, Suzie and Frankie were part of the filming for a commercial for the World Equestrian Games. The commercial will be aired on NBC.
The setting for the commercial was at the Kentucky Horse Park but starts out as two people sitting in what looks like their living room flipping through the TV channels trying to figure out what is on TV. Suddenly, the screen pans out and Frankie and Suzie come into view and jump the couch with the people sitting on it.
I am still here in Montana and missed the filming but talked to Suzie before and after the shoot. Frankie was a star and handled the crowds and cameras very well. Neither the couch nor the crowds of people phased her and all the work we’ve done on jumping skinny’s and setting a line and sticking to it really paid off for this “exercise”.
It was all very safely done and I’m glad that a member of the CW Event Team got to be part of such a cool experience.
Cobblestone HT July 2010
Devon Gaines, Stacy Durham, Becky Carson, and Suzie Harrison were off at Cobblestone Farm HT in Dexter, MI last weekend.
Devon and Suzie both had a successful outing around the brand new preliminary course.
Devon and her mare Ginger scored a 34.6 in dressage and were tied for 6th. She had a great save on cross- country at the water complex where her mare jumped in really big over the log drop. Devon was able to stay on top and jump out over the C element before galloping away to finish the course. She accumulated 10.4 time faults but still moved up to 5th. On Sunday, Devon and Ginger put in a clean show jumping round to finish 5th for the weekend and qualify her for the CCI 1*.
Suzie and Frankie went to run the OP since the pair have not been out since the CCI 2* in April. Suzie and Frankie scored a 40.3 in dressage and were in 12th to begin the weekend. The pair jumped around clean on cross- country and moved into 4th to end the day. A clean show jumping round on Sunday left the pair to finish 4th for the weekend.
Stacy Durham and Hard Rock Harley (Harley) were on the OT division. The course was Harley’s toughest yet, but he jumped around really, really well and moved up to 4th. Stacy and Harley show jumped clean and finished 4th for the weekend. Stacy plans to move this horse up to preliminary in the fall after one more training outing to Richland Park.
Becky Carson and Poetic Justice (Pete) had an awesome weekend. Becky and Pete were 1st after dressage and picked up a few time faults on XC moving them into 2nd. A clean show jumping round left the pair to finish 2nd for the weekend. Great job Becky.
Devon heads to Richland next to run the OP to continue to prepare her for the CCI 1* this fall. Suzie and Frankie will also head to Richland to run the OI as she prepares for AEC and Fair Hill. Stacy will be at Richland as well to run one more training before deciding where to move up to preliminary. Becky and Pete go to Hunter’s Run next as a run before AEC’s.
Good luck to everyone!
VA HT and CCI 1*
Theresa Harcourt had a wonderful run at her first CCI w/o, 1* competition. The pair was top on the leader board almost all day before being placed 2nd over all by just 2 points. Theresa performed flawlessly on XC coming in at a great pace and being released in a timely manner from the vet box. Theresa and Bonza Twist of Fate, aka Skip, put in a clean showing jumping round to finish 2nd for the weekend.
Chelsea Martin and Bleakhouse went to VA for a preliminary run and to try out her brakes on XC. Chelsea had a great dressage test scoring a 33.9. House was listening much better on XC so Chelsea was pleased. She accomplished what she set out to do and had a great weekend.
Devon Gaines also competed in the preliminary division and had a respectable dressage and a clear cross country. The show jumping was great until after the triple combination where they both ran out of gas and unfortunately had two stops at the vertical after the triple. The learning curve there was having a fitter horse so that the jumps aren’t the biggest issue and also taking the time to represent smartly. We are always learning!!
Stacy Durham took Hard Rock Harley to his first Training this past weekend. She completed the competition for the weekend and we know what we need to do to make him more competitive at the level. Stacey and Harley went XC in the pouring down rain and even though they picked up 40 faults, I was thrilled that she finished.
Pam Kimmel had a wonderful weekend on Midnight Special in the Training division. Pam was 2nd after dressage with a 30.9 and moved into 1st after a wonderful XC round. Unfortunately they had an unlucky rail in the show jumping on Sunday but still had a fun weekend and finished 5th in a large division!
Kim Bradley was also in the training division this weekend on Rill’s Gulliver. She was in 7th after dressage with a 41.8. They had some time faults on XC as Kim wanted to take it slow due to the weather conditions. A clean show jumping round left the pair in 9th to finish the weekend.
Jane Beshear and her mare, Bigtime Magic were very consistent this weekend in the Novice division. Jane and Magic scored a 33.0 in dressage and added nothing to their score all weekend to finish 4th.
Alston Kerr and Charlie Brown kept themselves at the top of their Novice division this weekend as well. The pair was in 3rd after dressage with a 34.5. Charlie was great on XC adding zero penalties to their score. One rail in the show jumping move them to finish 4th for the weekend.
Marianne de Barbadillo and Myers Wonder had a very steady Novice test scoring a 35.0 and starting the weekend in 6th. Marianne had two rails and some time faults in the show jumping but was on the cross country course. Her goal of improving the dressage and being competitive there really showed this weekend.
Congrats to all who competed and good luck to all entered in the upcoming events.
FLORIDA CCI 1*/ CCI 2* April 15- 18
My groom, Amanda Volle entered her horse Lucky Teddy in the CCI 1* and Suzie Romej sent her mare, Lets’ Be Frank, down with us and she arrived late Thursday night, to run their first CCI 2*.
Amanda and Teddy had a wonderful dressage test and were in 11th after day one of competition with a 54.40. Amanda and I have really worked on keeping this horse calmed and focused in dressage and he is really becoming quite consistent.
The pair had a flawless round on XC Saturday jumping a double clear round and recovering quickly in the 10 minute box.
Sunday morning Amanda presented Teddy to the Ground Jury and he passed but several hours later when Amanda brought him up to warm-up for her final phase, Teddy did not feel quite right to her. Amanda decided not to take the risk since this horse shows such upper level potential. She and Cathy decided it best to be safe and withdraw him rather than complete the CCI 1*as this horse has already, successfully, completed a couple Intermediates. Amanda withdrew right before show jumping.
I took Suzie Romej’s mare, Let’s Be Frank, down with us. I was able to ride her on the flat Tuesday and worked on getting her shoulders up in the trot and canter. Amanda and I did Frankie’s In- Barns on Wednesday and I jogged Frankie for Suzie on Thursday. Suzie flew in Thursday night and took over the care of her horse.
The mare had a few days off due to moving onto the show grounds and the USEF rules about riding. It is my feeling that her mare should have been pre- ridden Friday morning. This is not Suzie and Frankie’s normal routine so Suzie made what proved to be a poor decision and not pre- ride her mare before her 2:00 dressage ride. Frankie was tight in her back for dressage and never really seemed to settle. The pair scored a disappointing 68.10 in dressage putting them in 31st to end day one of competition.
However, they had one of their best ever cross- country rounds around the CCI 2* course taking the direct route everywhere around the 9:00 course. The mare cooled quickly and was released from the 10 min box upon her second check. The pair moved up 10 spots after cross- country.
Sunday morning Frankie was accepted by the Ground Jury headed back to the barn to prepare to show jump at 10:30. Suzie and Frankie had 4 rails down in the show jumping but did manage to finish the weekend with a qualifying score.
The Fork Horse Trials
April 1st- 4th 2010
Amanda Volle, Theresa Harcourt, Chelsea Martin, and Kate Fitzgerald all made the trip to The Fork Horse Trials in North Carolina over the past weekend. This big course was great for all of them to test out some of the things they have been working on and also to see where they need to go in their training next.
Amanda and Ready Teddy competed in the OI division. They scored a 40.40 in the dressage on Thursday and were tied for 11th going into Saturday’s cross- country. Amanda and Teddy picked up 20 jump penalties and added 3.60 time faults to their dressage score but still move up to a 9th place tie. Amanda and Teddy put in a flawless show jumping round and finished the weekend in 8th.
Chelsea Martin and Bleakhouse put in a great dressage score on Thursday but Chelsea decided to run cross- country another day after having some time to work on the gallop.
Theresa Harcourt and her horse, Bonza Twist of Fate scored a 23.50 putting them in 1st after dressage. The pair show jumped on Saturday and had one rail down dropping them to 2nd. Theresa come out on Sunday ready to gallop and jump. Her excellent cross- country run moved her back in to 1st place to finish the weekend.
Kate Fitzgerald and I’ve Got a Star score a 37.40 in dressage. The two of them had a few rails down in show jumping but on Sunday had one of their best cross- country runs ever! Kate and Ivan finished 17th for the weekend.
Great job all of you!
Poplar Place CIC 2*, CIC 1*, and Horse Trials
March 19- 21 2010
I had eleven students competing this weekend at Poplar Place Farm. Some were successful and some not so successful but in the end we all know we still have to go back to basics and continue to do our homework no matter what the level. Congrats to all of you for your hard word that paid off. And to those of you that had tougher weekends, we will get all those kinks ironed out. Here is how my students ended up this past weekend.
Mandy Alexander ran her horse, 3 Sleets to the Wind, in the Advanced division. She scored a 42.4 in the dressage. Her clean cross country and only 15.6 time faults put her into 5th place. Mandy had one of her better show jumping rounds having only 2 down giving her a 7th place finish and a qualifying score to end the weekend.
Heather Johnston and Suzie Romej both ran their first CIC 2*’s. Heather got lost in her dressage test and scored a 78.4 but jumped clean adding 22 time faults to that score. Jogging sound Sunday morning and her clean show jumping round left her to finish 13th for the weekend.
Suzie Romej scored a 68.5 in dressage and did not ride strong enough through the Sunken Road late in the course and had a stop and element D. She pick up 20 jump penalties and 21.2 time but still moved her up to 14th. Let’s Be Frank jogged sound on Sunday and had two down in the show jumping but still finished in 14th for the weekend.
Kelsey Hamilton went down this weekend to do the CIC 1* and unfortunately had 3 errors in dressage so she went home on Saturday.
My groom, Amanda Volle, had a great first Open Intermediate run on her horse Lucky Teddy. Teddy was tied for 5th after dressage with a 34.4. She jumped clean and added 50.8 time faults to her score as she galloped carefully around the wet course. Amanda show jumped clean to finish 7th overall!
Teresa Harcourt and her horse Bonza Twist of Fate competed in the JYOP division this weekend. Teresa was 4th after dressage with a 35.0 and added only 2.2 time to her clean cross country and show jumping rounds to finish 2nd overall!
Kate Fitzgerald had a good dressage competing I’ve Got a Star in the Preliminary division and was going great x-c when two from home galloping through the Mulberry Pond to jump the Armadillo, Ivan tripped in the pond and fell down, Bad luck there but Kate rallied, got permission to show jump and had a great practice round.
Anna Kejellstrom took four horses to run in Training division and due to a miscommunication and a mix up of ride times, only one of her horses finished the weekend. Copernicus scored a 39.1 in dressage and was clean on cross country and show jumping to end on that score and finish 7th. Blue Stockings, Snickers, and, Added Money all scored well in dressage and were allowed to go cross country which they all did well. This was the first training course for them and she had great runs on all three.
Madison Close made the trip up from Tallahassee to also compete in the training division, I am very proud that she and her horse Mystical Essence jumped clear in show jumping, She has been working hard on that. One stop on cross country left them out of the awards but still a good weekend for her.
Alston Kerr and Jane Beshear rode in the Novice division. Alston was in first scoring a 33.5 in dressage. One rail in show jumping caused her to drop to 6th. She jumped clean on cross country and added 10.4 time faults to her score. She finished 8th for the weekend.
Jane Beshear and her mare, Bigtime Magic, scored a 40.9 in dressage and were clean everywhere else all weekend to move them from 10th after dressage to 5th overall for the weekend.
Rocking Horse Spring Horse Trials
March 12th- 14th
Several students competed at the Spring Rocking Horse show this past weekend. All of my students had top 10 finishes! Way to go guys! Keep an eye out for many of them as several of us head to Poplar Place this coming weekend.
Chelsea Martin had one of her best outings yet with a 5th place finish in the Intermediate Rider division. She was tied for 4th after dressage with a 34.8, no jumping penalties on cross country, and two rails down in show jumping, left her smiling with her horses performance for the weekend.
Madison Close and her horse Mystical Essence had a 10th place over all finish in the Training Rider division. “Mystic” only had one down in the show jumping and added no other faults to his score.
Kate Fitzgerald ran her horse, I’ve Got a Star, in one of the many Training divisions and finished 10th overall as well. “Ivan” scored a 40.50 in dressage and added only 4 faults with one rail down in show jumping and double clean on cross country.
Anna Kjellstrom was very busy riding three horses this weekend. Snickers had an 11th place finish in the Novice Horse division. Blue Stocking finished the weekend on his dressage score and placing 5th. Added Money scored a 32.5 in dressage and was tied for 7th. The pair had one rail in show jumping, but her double clean round on cross country won her an 8th place finish for the weekend.
Alston Kerr and her horse Charlie Brown were sixth after dressage with a 37.50. They had one down in show jumping, and added only 1.20 time faults on cross country, jumping clean to earn them a 6th place finish for the weekend.
Congrats to all of you and thanks for a great weekend!
Rocking Horse Feb 16th 2010
Amanda Volle, my groom, and Melissa Miller competed on Tuesday Feb 16th in the One Day Horse Trial held at Rocking Horse.
Amanda was tied for 1st after dressage with a 38.6. She show jumped clear, and jumped clear on the cross- country, adding a few time faults to finish 1st in the Preliminary Rider Division. We are very pleased with her first run on the east coast.
Melissa Miller ran her first Advanced today on her horse, Detail Specialist. She was in 10th after dressage with a 44.10 and only added 4 penalties to her score with one rail down in show jumping moving her up to 9th. Melissa jumped clean on cross- country adding only 8.80 time faults to her score moving her up to finish 3rd for the day.
Congrats to both students on a very successful day.
Feb Poplar Place HT-
Suzie Romej and Kelsey Hamilton both went to Poplar Place this weekend. Kelsey ran her first IP and had only one rail down in the Show Jumping finishing 4th for the weekend. Kelsey and Dylan will return to Poplar to run the CIC 1* in March.
Suzie ran the OI and was tied for 3rd after dressage with a 36. After scoring a 52 there in dressage last year, she was very please that all the flat work is starting to pay off. She had a great run on XC and a good show jumping that moved her and Frankie up to finish 2nd for the weekend. This pair heads back to Poplar in March to run their first CIC 2* before running the CCI 2* in Ocala in April.
Some of the CW Event Team students and horses did very well at the MSEDA year end awards. Here are the 2009 year end standings! Great job everyone!!
Anna Kjellström 1st Place BN CT
Pam Kimmel 2nd Place BN CT
Anna Kjellström 5th Place BN HT
Anna Kjellström 1st Place N HT
Pam Kimmel 3rd Place N HT
Suzie Romej 4th Place Prelim HT
Suzie Romej 3rd Place Intermediate HT
Suzie Romej Hall of Distinction for Completing FEI competition
Jan Poplar Place HT-
Chelsea Martin and Suzie Romej started their seasons last weekend running the IP at Poplar Place.
“House” was excited to be back out and preformed well all weekend. Scoring a 37.6 in dressage put him into 3rd place after dressage. Both students decided to take it fairly slow on XC due to the footing and it being their first run. Even with taking her time, Chelsea and House moved into 2nd after XC. On Sunday, they were both ready to show jump at 8:00. The course was big and twisty but with only one down, the pair finished 2nd for the weekend.
Suzie was thrilled to be in 2nd after dressage with a 35.6. Frankie was really quiet on XC and time faults moved them to 3rd but Suzie was very happy with the control she had. Show jumping started out very well until after fence 4 when her rein buckle came off the bit. She was able to reconnect the rein to the bit and finish the course with only one second to spare before being eliminated. She did have two rails down after the rein issue but all in all was very pleased with the round.
Suzie heads back to Poplar in two weeks to run the OI then she, Chelsea, and Heather Johnston all travel to Pine Top to run the OI at the end of Feb. Check back for updates and remember to send us your show results so we can post them here!
December 15, 2009. I wanted to have a student section on my web site because I am very dedicated to my students and their horses. I strive to make my students successful at all levels. From my adult amateurs that are getting ready for their first horse trial to my upper level riders that have their sights set on Rolex, I enjoy being involved in every faucet of their training both on and off their horses. I will maintain the text and if you want your picture up send it to Suzie Romej letsbefrank01@gmail.com
2009 was a great year for my students and everyone learned a lot. Some of them suffered a few bumps in the road but in the end it is those bumps, that we know are unavoidable, and dealing with them that make us all better riders. Check back here for updates after horse shows, clinics, etc, to see how my students are doing. I know they are all working very hard this winter and have already set goals and sketched out their spring schedules with me. Heather Johnston, Chelsea Martin and Suzie Romej all plan to kick off the year early and run January Poplar Place in the IP division to begin their seasons. These ladies have their sights set on the CIC 2* in March. Many of you will begin your seasons a little later in the year with Spring Bay but don’t forget to schedule your lessons now. Remember that although I go to Florida in Mid January and return in Mid March, I do come back every two to three weeks and those dates can be found on my calendar. April will be here before we know it! Happy Holidays everyone!
CW
December 14, 2009. This section of Cathy’s blog will be up and running soon. Please check back to see how Cathy’s students and their horses are doing.
This section of the CW Blog is dedicated to our students and their accomplishments. We invite you to take read further to see how these young riders are progressing in the world of three-day eventing.