Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Miles, and Miles Before We Sleep & Olympic Tidbits by Kadi Eykamp


I’m writing this from the quiet of my apartment in uptown Dallas,  now back from Ocala and back to the long roads that eventing in Texas is all about. I’m barely over the long drive out of Red Hills and next week head back up to a fabulous event, The Fork. What made the drive from Red Hills more strenuous was flooding rains that also caused an accident that held us for an hour in stopped traffic then having a major highway cut making us go via Houston. That really hurt, days of little sleep and having to drive further really sucked.

Dillon on the treadmill
This last weekend was spent at a dressage show coaching my dressage students that couldn’t make the Ocala pilgrimage. I worried they felt a bit stranded without tuition while I had been eventing in Ocala. So I left Dillon under the care of my husband Mark who happily took Dillon to the underwater treadmill facility, Selway, and he also did a  trot set the following day! The dressage show was at the venue where the AEC’s will be next year- the Texas Rose Horse Park. It’s a wonderful facility that is used to host eventing, dressage, jumper shows and Western.  I had a moment to chat to the owner Kim, who is quietly excited with this fantastic opportunity on behalf of Texas to host this massive event. The venue is a super choice with terrain and footing that are simply fabulous even before any work goes in. Kim is a wonderfully modest lady who I can tell is going to work her resources to make this already great facility perfect for everyone.

With a month till Rolex Dillon had a couple of days off after Red Hills. I was happy with is jumping, having no faults and reading all the jumps well. I was able to train x/c with the master, Bruce Davidson a couple of times in Ocala and took a course drive, (not walk!) around the Red Hills course under his direction. My biggest moment with his help was the talk he had with me after, when he came back to the stalls and found me to say how he drove around after me while I was on course and was pleased with everything! What a great confidence boost!


All my horses back at Normandy Farms that I have to event this year and are a bit fresher than fit but are getting back into routine, they are aiming to start in May at Feather Creek. Otherwise my time has also been spent in finalizing the requirements for the Australian Olympic lists. We are required to get both Medical and Physical Therapy screenings.  Fitting in the PT this last week was a fun experience. Jeff Rau, the PT was such a nice person and really interested in helping complete my forms in time for the April deadline. I found I wasn’t as supple as I was leading up to Athens but apparently I’m still fully capable of my job! So now I know! At the doctor screening I had an ECG that showed I have an abnormal heart. The doctor re assured that my heart beat is slower than average  due to being fit, and this caused the machine to flag me as out of the normal range!!! Nice!   Dr. Jo Bailey did my screening, the owner of Normandy Farms, where I have my horses and I owe her a big Thank You.

Have a great month with your horses!
Kadi

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