“Roo News”

Mighty Mangaroo “Roo” at the American Eventing Championships 2012.
Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Roo is about to wrap up 2012. After a very successful year in 2011, finishing with a fantastic top finish at Fair Hill International  in the CCI**, 2012 has been a training and transitioning year as he moved up and confirmed himself at the advanced level.

Roo started the spring competing at some intermediate level events and finished 4th in the CIC** at Poplar Place in March. He debuted in the advanced level at Millbrook Horse Trials in August and completed advanced divisions at Richland Park and the American Eventing Championships in order to qualify for the CIC*** level.

“Roo” at Fairhill International CIC** 2011.
Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Photo by Hoofpix

He competed at Poplar Place CIC*** in September.  A minor glance off at a corner combination added 20 penalties that kept him from gaining the clear round and qualifying score necessary to qualify for the CCI*** and will keep him out of Fair Hill this fall.

Although we don’t get to contest a three-star this year, I feel comfortable that we truly have a three-star horse. We have spent the last several years training to get to this point.  We can now spend the next several years perfecting it! We are spending the last few weeks of the season confirming the training from the past few months. We have been working on the nuances that differentiate between intermediate and advanced level dressage. Half pass, lead changes, collection, extensions and impulsion. We continue to work on our technique in the show jumping that is developing the strength, confidence and style that will produce clean rounds at the advanced level.

We continue to work with Buck Davidson and had the opportunity to take some dressage lessons with international judge Linda Zang. Becky Holder has been able to help with some lessons and coaching at events and her dressage expertise and competitive insight has been incredibly encouraging. We will finish next week with the opportunity to perform the dressage test ride for the CCI*** at Fair Hill which will at least give us the chance to put this work to practice and give us some invaluable insight as we go forward into next year.

Tailgate in Memory of Steve Gale

Where: Fair Hill International CCI

When: Saturday, October 15

We will have the tailgate food and beverages (bring your own too) at a spot out on the course to watch the action.

Come cheer them on!

CCI** (Roo) Starts at 9:30

CCI*** (Billy) Starts at 12:30

Follow the link to get information re directions, schedule, parking, and tickets. Lots of other fun things going on too!

See you there.

www.fairhillinternational.com

Searching for Normal

I have returned to Lafayette, LA and plan to spend the next few weeks here. With the hectic events of the past few months over, I feel like everyone’s lives are returning to normal around me.
I feel strong urges wishing I could go about my normal activities. I want to go back to all the normal things I use to do, at the normal places I would do them, with the people and friends I would normally do these things with. The realization sinks in that my normal no longer exists and will never be the same again.
Unable to go back, I find myself facing the tedious task of starting over.
Daily tasks, that at times seemed so simple, now are daunting and overwhelming in front of me. The long drives, quiet nights, hectic mornings, quiet Sunday afternoons sometimes found among the many adrenaline filled weekends are all things that bring back cherished memories but now loom ahead seemingly impossible to navigate.
There is a vacuum that exists around me now. Although I find myself pushing out of it for periods of time, just as I think everything feels okay, someone will say something familiar or a brief memory will come over me and send me back into it. This vacuum is not necessarily a sad place, just a place where my emotions, whatever they are at the time, can surface freely unaffecting to others around me.
The question surfaces, “Where is normal anyway?” Looking back, I may have always struggled with this, especially whenever attempting to define it in comparison to others standards. I don’t think normal should be a standard of which to adhere. It is something we define individually throughout the course of our lives. While some struggle to find it, others struggle to move beyond it. We all get comfortable within it. It is this comfort of normal that I strive to find again. How long this will take I have no idea. If I can’t go back, many times I wish I could skip ahead and be anywhere but here and now. I just want to feel normal again.
Lyrics to a great song claim that “the hardest part of ending is starting again”. Although I am still unsure where to start, I can only trust that as I move forward each day it will become more apparent.

Next Thoughts

Although a bit delayed, I am finally finding my thoughts about the past few weeks. Thoughts and emotions that are overwhelming, I find myself only able to deal with small pieces at a time.

What an amazing memorial service. No one could have arranged a more perfect day in a more perfect setting with the most amazing friends and family with which to share it. I remember taking a look around just before the service started and thinking once again, if anyone ever thought that Steve had nothing, just one look indicated how he had everything.

I know I didn’t have a chance to see everyone and never got to spend the time I wanted talking to those I did see, but each and every person there meant so much and gave more insight into precious memories and moments in Steve’s and my life.

These precious moments, family and friendships I am finding are incredible gifts that have been given to me that are helping me to get through the toughest moments of the past few weeks. I only hope I can find an adequate way to thank everyone and repay the thoughtfulness.

Please be patient with me as I take the time to figure out where and how my life will continue. At the moment I have returned to Louisiana. The horses are doing well and although any plans for the fall competition season have been put on hold, the spring season is not very far away and I will take the time necessary to get ready for it.

Meanwhile, please stay in touch. Keep sharing your thoughts, photos and making phone calls. I know that life is continuing on around me, and it will take me awhile to figure out where and how to continue mine. But wherever and however, I know I have a special network of clients, friends and family that will make it happen and make it fantastic again.

Thoughts From Laura

Steven had a rare passion for life that most never take time to experience. While everyone is busy trying to get ahead in life, Steve spent time making the most of it. At times it may have seemed that he had very little but in retrospect he owned an eternal wealth gained by investing in friendship and helping others, evident by the outpouring of thoughts and prayers of others at this time.

He never needed more than that and was always content with what he had. He had the natural ability to find humor in situations that seemingly went wrong. It was a rarity for him to get angry or impatient. Although I know I managed to provoke it at times, it would always be short lived and quickly forgiven.

Steven knew what was important in life – people, family and friends. It was important to him to spend time with his family and friends. He made time to enjoy the simple things and encouraged others to not complicate them.

I have often thought that many times we were trying to make Steve more like us while in retrospect we should be trying to be more like him. I always admired his sincere confidence in where he would go after death. He never hesitated, when asked to say, that he believed in God and in heaven.

Many people have asked why things like this always seem to happen to the good people. Maybe it is because they are already good enough to get to heaven and deserve better than life on this earth.

Steve always provided a calm strength that pulled us through the tough times and a simple passion for life that allowed us to enjoy the good times. I know he will still encourage us to find the same.

Laura VanderVliet Eventing Relocates to Louisiana

Maurice, LA - Aug. 5, 2010 - Jennifer Mosing, Maurice, Louisiana and Laura VanderVliet Eventing, Nottingham, Pennsylvania are pleased to announce that, effective August 1, 2010. VanderVliet's eventing operations will be based at Mosing's Sterling Silver Stables in Maurice.

Mosing owns several top event horses, including Pawlow, an 11-year-old gelding competed by Will Faudree and short-listed for the U.S. squad for the World Equestrian Games this fall. She was one of the first patron and owner members of the Professional Riders Organization. With the establishment of Sterling Silver Stables, Mosing began pursuing the development of a world-class equestrian center in Louisiana. The completely renovated facility that resulted has set the stage for bringing a top professional into her operation.

VanderVliet, who currently competes at the advanced level with the syndicated Mighty Mangaroo and Kathleen Overbaugh's King Billy, has moved all her competition horses to Sterling Silver Stables and will pursue her competitive career from there. A former assistant trainer for Scott Hassler at Hilltop Farm and Phillip Dutton at True Prospect Farm, VanderVliet has operated her own eventing business since 1998. During this period she successfully competed such upper-level horses as Irish Fling, Topspin, and Warrie Hill. In her work with Mosing, VanderVliet will be responsible for the stable's instruction and coaching program and for the training and development of horses owned by Sterling Silver Stables and its clients.

"I won't change much about my competition plans this year," said VanderVliet. "Keep an eye out for me, some Cajun food, and some fun at the big East Coast events this fall."

Mighty Mangaroo – Bromont 2010 – The Roller Coaster Ride

I always forget what a Roller Coaster ride a Three-Day Event is. But if you like Roller Coasters, it can sure beat some of the best ones in the country!
I love the excitement of finally arriving at the event and joining all the hustle of everyone unpacking, checking in, schooling, cleaning their horses and catching a first glimpse of the cross-country course. I love checking out how everyone organizes their trunks, tack and equipment to provide the most efficient use of space and time. I love the pre-game anticipation at the first rider's briefing and how everyone wraps up their morning schooling sessions in order to walk around the course for the first time just after it opens. Then there is the quiet lull as grooms primp the horses for the first inspection and riders disappear to find the most appropriate outfit in which to present their horse.
They say eventing has three phases but they forget to count the jog-ups. No matter how confident you are in your horse's soundness to that point, there is no relief like the voice of the announcer saying that your horse has been accepted.
From this point on you are on an up-swing of the Roller Coaster. A slow steady climb gauging schooling sessions, hand-walking and grazing, bathing, tack cleaning, braiding and orchestrating your warm-up to perfectly time your horse's peak interest in performing the best dressage test he will do this year to date. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. One thing for sure is that with a horse like Mighty Mangaroo, it keeps things quite simple and greatly increases your chances of making it work. As Kathleen Overbaugh (one of Roo's owners) put so well after Southern Pines, there is no drama involved in warming Roo up.
Once you have completed your dressage test, a small downhill swing, there is again a pensive lull while you wait to hear your score and whether the judges agreed with your summation of the performance. I was very happy with Roo's performance. I think it was a good performance at this stage of his training. I was a bit unhappy with the error I made and halting too late on the final center line. I knew where I was to halt but I got disoriented and it ended up being quite beyond the letter. The judges seemed to agree!

I mentioned that there was a small downhill swing of the Roller Coaster at this point. That is because the steady climb begins again as you start walking the cross-country course, getting minute markers, checking equipment, organizing stuff to take over to the vet box and obsessively going over your routes through combinations and lines to your jumps. You check with everyone about the lines they are taking and the number of strides they think will give you the best ride through specific combinations on course. In the end, you have to decide what you feel is the best ride for you and your horse.
I have really enjoyed reading a book my sister Kathy gave me called Mind Gym – An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence by Gary Mack with David Casstevens. It is a book about sports psychology and the power of your mental game while competing. It has unbelievable examples of how mental preparation has increased athletes' performances. Riding and preparing for cross-country is a huge mental game. Your mind can race in uncontrollable negative directions that will completely undermine your ability to ride well. I always feel that Saturday morning of a three-day is the one time that I am sure I would be fine riding dressage the rest of my life!
Mind Gym offers great ideas of how to understand these thoughts, control them and send them into a positive and confident direction that helps you perform at your peak ability. I will add once again, that having a great horse helps! Roo is such a perfect gentleman. He was so confident and rideable that my only job was to show him the fences and the pace we needed. He jumped the fences with ease and galloped easily within the time allowed.
Wow! That was a steep hill down. What a rush with it. Once you have cooled your horse and received clearance to leave the vet box and return to the barn there is some time to bask in the elation of successfully completing. The horses are calm again, relaxing, munching on hay and standing in ice. The quiet mood in the barn has once again turned to laughing and chatter of riders recapping the perfect or not-so-perfect moments on course.
Roo recovered from the cross-country easily and without issue. It made for a very relaxing evening where Steve and I were able to enjoy grilling with my Mom and Kathleen who were able to join us for the weekend.


No matter how good your horse looks or how confident you feel, the Coaster turns quickly upward again Sunday morning. Everyone is up early, jogging horses, braiding and dressing to the nines to present their horse at his best to the ground jury at the final inspection. As you are waiting for your turn, you ask everyone you know and whose opinion you value to watch your horse jog in hopes they will convince you he looks fine and that the ground jury will agree. Mighty Mangaroo accepted. Thank God!!
Now for a very short period of time you actually feel like eating breakfast. Something you have not done for several days! It is a fun time to catch up with parents, owners or other riders and maybe even watch a bit of the earlier divisions. We were able to watch the end of the training division and the start of the CCI* before the Roller Coaster took off again.
Since you are required to be dressed for the stadium coursewalk at a CCI, riders start appearing in their attire. Once again you start to plan the timing of your warm-up and repeatedly attempt to calculate when you should begin. I was quite confident in my warm-up plan with Roo and the fact that he would not need a lot. Of course I had a crew of people helping me time it perfectly. Arianna was grooming for me. Steve was keeping track of the order and helping set fences and Buck was there to help determine the exact jumps and exercises. Roo felt fantastic and I was looking forward to our round.
Just as the Roller Coaster turns quickly upward, whoosh, down it comes. Those of you who compete, will know how this feels. For those of you who don't, it is amazing that you can feel so high walking into an arena and so low walking out. Even though Roo was steady and rideable throughout his round, the rails kept falling down. We went from a top three finish to out of the ribbons with each rail that fell.
All kinds of questions and doubts fill your mind but I know one thing for sure. I have had better finishes with horses that I have felt worse about. Roo was fantastic to ride all weekend. He is a young horse competing at his first CCI** and it is a lot to ask them to perform at that level for so many days in a row. When I mentioned to a fellow rider that our stadium round was a bit of a disaster, that rider, Will Coleman the winner of the three star division, stated back that he would hardly call it a disaster and that Roo had looked great all weekend.
As everyone heads back to the barn, some with ribbons and some without, the efforts turn toward packing and heading home. It is like the cars of the Roller Coaster have slowed enough that everyone starts to step off and go their separate ways.
I had ten hours driving home to go over everything I will try to improve for our stadium round at the next event. But most of the thoughts were of how great Roo was to ride and how fun it was to be competitive throughout the weekend. Kathleen commented that while we didn't win, we had our moments. What a Roller Coaster. I hope the other owners and riders that were there were able to enjoy the ride as much as I did.