Southern Pines Wrap Up by Kathleen Overbaugh

Laura has been working with Mighty Mangaroo since late summer so they are beginning to form a real partnership. I think this competition at Southern Pines proved to Laura (and to those of us who watched) that this is a horse for the future – a horse that she can compete and win with. Roo is a fabulous mover so his flat work looks easy. Don’t get me wrong, Laura has worked hard with Missy Ransehousen, Phillip Dutton, even Scott Haussler, on the dressage, and it is paying off. The horse is really laid back most of the time, which means there’s no drama when he’s working. But it also means she had to learn to push this horse, after years of working with horses that have to be kept calm and quiet, so it’s taken her a while to get the feel of keeping him going forward.

Cross country, Roo is very businesslike. He has a lot of scope, so the intermediate fences are easy enough for him. There’s still a lot out there that he hasn’t seen, but we are not in a hurry to push him up to advanced until he’s really ready. Laura tells me he’s a bit “looky” on course, including in the stadium round, but once he focuses on the jump, he just does his job. As they approached the finish line, he shied away from a patch of footing repair on course, and got a bit too close to a southern pine tree!

The event was a real event for us owners. The Professional Riders Organization is a new organization whose goal is to promote the sport of eventing, and a big part of the focus is to keep the owners happy. Now, at last, the owners can come in under the tent with the sponsors during the cross country and stadium phases. Lunch is provided, along with water and coffee, and even wine and beer. It was special for me – I don’t just join groups of people I don’t know, and am happy to be off by myself. At first I thought this will never work. The ladies in the sponsor tent are dressed to the nines, with makeup, earrings and hats – I leave my bling at home, and spend the days in my barn clothes (I might occasionally pick a stall or walk a horse- can’t do that in heels!). My only decoration is my owner’s bracelet that comes in the entry packet, and usually that doesn’t match my barn outfit. But I think it’ll all work out and we will begin to make friends in both groups. Surely the events wouldn’t happen without the owners or the sponsors. Maybe next time, I’ll bring some dressier clothes for show jumping day.

I look forward when we syndicate owners can party down through the entire weekend!

Training Forum–Up and Running

After a year of promising to get this training forum started, I am finally finding the inspiration to get it off the ground. Although the days have been busy, and not always as warm as expected here in Aiken, I am finding some focused time to spend training the horses. My hope for this forum is to provide the opportunity for clients, owners, students and supporters to follow their horses on a regular basis as we set competition goals, determine conditioning and training programs and attend competitions. I hope you will enjoy joining us on our training adventures and maybe find some inspiration yourself through it.

Isaac

Isaac – Isaac is a DWB gelding owned and bred by Douglas Land of Trumansburg, NY. He came to my barn as a 2 year old and started his career eventing as a four year old. Isaac’s never-ending growth spurt left him close to 18 hands and although he loves jumping, his phenomenal movement and aptitude for dressage has inspired me to pursue the upper levels of dressage. He is an eight year old who is yet to grow up. He demands attention in the barn and loves to train. He is a show-stopper at the competitions. Isaac competed successfully at first level but has spent his time training rather than competing. Our hopes are to be back out soon competing at the third level and debut at the FEI levels in the next few years. I am very excited to have the opportunity to continue up the dressage levels with this horse.

Quick Jack

Quick Jack – Jack is the American Tb representative in the barn. He is a 13 year old, 16’2 hand gelding owned by myself and Kathleen Overbaugh. Jack spent the first six years of his life racing and then spent some time at a jumper barn before landing a career in eventing. His attractive movement and boldness over the cross-country course suit him well to the sport. He is also at the intermediate level this year.

Mighty Mangaroo

Mighty Mangaroo – Roo is the newest addition to the stable. Recently purchased from Phillip Dutton and Annie Jones he is currently nine years old and syndicated with several owners with high hopes. He is a 16’3 hand, Tb gelding imported from Australia. He is a gentleman to ride and he has the looks and talent to be very competitive through the upper levels. He is currently competing at the intermediate level.

King Billy

King Billy – Billy is a small statured, big-hearted, 16’0, 14 year old Tb gelding originally from New Zealand and currently owned by Kathleen Overbaugh from Trumansburg, NY. Billy has competed at the 3* level but due to some nagging injuries as been out of major competition the past year. He completed the 2* at Fair Hill International last fall and is preparing to get back to the advanced level this spring.