From West Grove and Beyond by Jackson Roberts

Well this post is quite overdue so pace yourself because I have a lot to catch up on. The most notable event that has happened since my last blog post was the party of the century, Lillian Heard's going away celebration. This party was hosted by the WONDERFUL Cuyler and Katie Walker at their lovely Rolling Plains Farm. The night was highlighted by the surprise appearance of Ashley Adams. Myself and Steph smuggled Ashley in to the party via a plastic container on the back of a John Deere gator. I think Lil was very impressed with her present. The party ended up going on until about 2:30 a.m. by that time everyone had either been thrown in the pool or jumped in on their own terms, I was thrown in! One thing I did learn is that at 2:30 in the morning gas stations don't pump gas!! All in all it was awesome and it seems that Lil has already taken Ireland by storm!

Also since my last entry I competed at two events with Percy, Millbrook and Waredaca. At both events we competed in the training. I was extremely pleased with the way Percy went at Millbrook. He galloped around the cross country full of boldness, maybe too much at times. I wasn't quite sure how he would show jump after cross country as this was the first non one day event that we had done; however he jumped a superb round and we slid in to second place just behind the great Karen O'Connor in a very competitive field. The next weekend we were back out at Waradeca. I got a little neverous in the dressage ring and pushed him a little too much. I was very upset with myself and take full responsibility, my horse does not deserve to have that score on his record. I was able to put that poor performance behind me and jump an awesome clear show jumping round. I felt that at Millbrook he got a little too strong so I used a different bit that helped me elevate him to stay more uphill and soft. The new bit was awesome and he had a great trip around the cross country. This weekend we head to Senaca for our last training and then hopefully the big move up to prelim at Plantation Field in a few weeks time.

Speaking of Plantation Field, the event will be even bigger and better than before. This year Plantation will be unveiling there new state of the art arena with Tapeta footing and a new water jump sponsored by Dubarry boots. The footing this year should be great as I myself have aggregated the turf and we have been having lots of rain including a visit from Irene last night! Denis Glaccum and his team are preparing to truly put on a world class event. If you are interested in visiting Plantation in Unionville Pa, please check out their website at www.plantationfieldhorsetrials.com

Now for my last chapter I would like to step away from eventing and talk about Fox hunting. I have a had the great privilege to ride with Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Fox Hounds this summer. Katie Walker originally invited me to ride with her fabulous hunting trainer Dave Leinhauser. Dave is a wonderful horseman and I am trying to soak up as much of his knowledge as possible. Cheshire's season begins in July with hound exercise which is basically just hacking out with the hounds. The season now is just on the brink of cubbing, so the hounds are actually hunting the foxes a little bit and the pace of the hunt field has picked up and some jumping too! When I first started going out in July I had been riding some of Katie Walkers hunters, but she has since referred me to her friend Kate Martin. Over the past few weeks I have been riding Kate's wonderful young horse Hershey. Hershey is just a little baby at four years old but he is already showing off all his class by jumping some rather large three railers in front of the whole field. I have also been riding another young horse for the Martins who is coming along quite well in the flat work department. I feel so blessed to have this wonderful opportunity to ride in such beautiful country side on a great young horse with superb owners. I can't wait for the season to progress as the runs get longer, faster and more jumping to be had. I think I will be forever grateful to the wonderful Katie Walker for setting me up with the Martins and introducing me to the Cheshire hunt. There most definitely is no place more beautiful than the view from between a horse's ears looking over the hills of Unionville!

Kick on,
Jacko

Photo of Jackson jumping Kate Martin's Hershey

From the West Coast to Burghley and In Between by Natalia Gurmankin

Introductions ☺


Hello All!!! My name is Natalia Gurmankin and I am 22 years old. I have spent the last 3 and a ½ years based in Temecula California working for and riding with Hawley Bennett. I have 3 awesome horses, Tequesteris better known as Tex, Hail and Legate a.k.a Legs. It’s kind of hard to figure out where to start a blog, but I guess I will begin it with a recap of my summer so far because so far it’s been pretty awesome. And also let me start it by saying a huge THANK YOU to the man that makes this dream possible and that is my dad Jay. Without his support I would not be where I am today. Thanks Dad!

On July 14th Hawley and I loaded up the crew and drove 24 hours to the amazing Rebecca Farm! Rebecca Farm never fails to blow it out of the water, leaving no detail unfinished. The courses were beautiful, the footing was perfect and the staff is unbelievable. The event started off with a real bang for me because my boyfriend of 4 years proposed the day after we got there! Tommy is a course builder helps to build most of the courses on the West Coast. We are planning to get married November 17th 2012 ☺. From there great things kept happening, I was doing my first Advanced with Tex and he was a total rock star and made easy work of the cross country and Legs was 3rd in the Training 3 day! To top it off Gin and Juice and Hawley won the 3*** which was so exciting. Needless to say it was a great week for all those involved in Hawley Bennett Eventing and a great trip with great friends. Of course with things going so well, inevitably one bad thing had to happen, so our truck decided it needed new fuel injectors in Utah. However, it was a super convenient “breakdown” if there is such a thing seeing as we had a place to overnight the ponies and luckily I am originally from Utah so my mom came down and took Hawley and I to dinner, and my future in laws Tom and Carol lent us a car to get around town while the truck was getting fixed. We finally got home safe and sound the next day and all of us got some much-needed rest! All in all it was a kick ass trip!

2 weeks later it was off to Woodside, between Hawley and I we were riding 9 horses but with the help of Tessa Beckett, Sarah Braun and Hayley Sullivan things ran super smooth and the horses were all fantastic. Tex was 3rd in the Advanced and Hail was 2nd in the prelim. And Legs jumped so big in Show Jumping I lost my balance and slid off. OOPS!!!!! That will teach me to duck to the left ☺ Ginny ran the combined test and is looking better than ever as we prepare to venture across the pond again for Burghley!!!

This last week Buck came out for a clinic, which are always super fun. The horses all went fantastic and I have lots of homework for the fall as we prepare for the fall 3 days at Woodside and Galway where I hope to be doing my first 3 star on Tex. Hail is aiming for the 2 star and Legs the 1 star. Those are the goals but we’ll see how things go, everyone knows how hard it is to make plans in this world ;)

But for now, I have been busy packing all of Gin and Juices things ☺ Hawley, Ginny, and I fly out Thursday. We will arrive in Amsterdam, and take a Lorry over to Maizey Manor Farm where we will hang with the other Canadians and then off to Burghley we go ☺ Packing is always interesting seeing as you try to fit your entire tackroom into 3 little trunks….IMPOSSIBLE! But I think we have pretty much everything we need and I can’t wait to get over there!!! Go Hawley and Ginny!

Until Next Time!!

Natalia

Keeping Up with James Alliston

It has been a while since my last blog, but a lot has happened since then. Most recently, India McEvoy’s Jumbo’s Jake has made his return to the barn from his break post Rolex, and I am eager and excited to resume training with this delightful animal once again. Last weekend Woodside was a fun event, with Mojo taking second place in the preliminary class; with performances like this past weekend, it gives me hope for great things from this horse in the future. A special thanks to India McEvoy for her stellar training and her ability to work wonders with this talented but sometimes challenging horse. Best of luck to India as she continues riding and competing with Mojo this upcoming fall. Elsewhere at Woodside, the rest of the horses and students performed admirably, although I did take an unscheduled dismount from Tivoli when he pecked on landing in the water. He was going beautifully and I was more surprised than anyone, but luckily my Hit-Air vest kept me afloat. A special thanks to Shane for taking excellent care of Parker whist I was away at the show as well.

Also at Woodside at the competitor’s dinner it was brought to my attention the vast number of California based eventers representing the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico on the list of potential competitors for the Pan Am Games. Brian Sabo and Robert Kellerhouse presented the Pan –Am hopefuls with flowers in acknowledgement of the hardwork and dedication it takes to get to that level of success. I wish the very best of luck to all those making the trip east to the final trial at Richland Park, and I am sure they will represent their respective countries with pride.

The rest of the season will continue on with Twin Rivers in a few weeks, amongst those I will be riding, Jumbo’s Jake and Parker making their comeback post Rolex, as well as Wimbledon making his US Eventing debut in the Young Event Horse Finals, which should be an eye-opening experience for him. The show season will continue to build, culminating with the Galway Downs CCI*** in November.

Until next time,

James

The photo is of the newly arrived Jumbo’s Jake

Life is Good by Danny Warrington

Ok so my horses are going well! My job is going very well, having just signed to a big facility in Fulshear, Texas. Yee-ha! I have changed my plans a bit for the fall; well maybe.... I think I am going to give Will Smith an easy fall season to gain his confidence and strength back. However if he tells me he is ready we may head for the ** in Georgia. But that is not what I am writing about this time, I am going to tell you about how I spend my free time .

Everyone has their thing. Some garden, some paint, or draw, some read books and others facebook or surf the net. I boat! And all the things water entails, water skiing, wakeboarding, then there is scuba diving and fishing. Now as for fishing some people think; a rod a bucket of worms a bobber in a pond, or……….some people think 500 pound marlin of the coast of Panama others might picture a quiet mountain stream with a fly rod in Montana or Wyoming. I think of a center console between 25-36 feet long with twin outboards burning about 25 gallons an hour out in the ocean chasing breaking fish! Or I think shallow water like the Bahamas or Belize sight casting to bonez! To those who don’t know , the short of it is, bonefish are a saltwater fish that basically you stalk/hunt , sneak up on, you cast only when you see them and they accelerate from 0-40 miles an hour!!! like leaving the start box, for a fish.

Then there is scuba diving! If you have never done this …………………why not! It is by far one of the best sightseeing experiences you can have. Once you have been underwater for 20 minutes to about an hour swimming with the fish, you will only then understand why I love it so much. If you go hiking to see a moose, elk or bear or something cool like that you spend all day and hope. When you dive you are with the fish, turtles, sharks, if your real lucky a whale or dolphin. Pretty cool!

I plan two trips a year; one is to Montauk, NY where we chase breaking fish. This trip we leave for the Sunday after fair hill for a few days. Montauk is the end of Long Island New York. I mean the end... as far as you can go. The marina is called Snug Harbor, if there are any Jaws fans out there this is the original harbor of Orca, that’s the boat in the movie. I want to share this with you……… In the bar/restaurant( where they have great sushi by the way ) is a picture of a man ….now get this……standing on a dead whale (no joke) in one hand he has a giant hook with a piece of the whale as bait (by giant it’s about the size of a saddle flap)big! So he is standing on a dead whale with a hook in his hand (are you ready) throwing it into the mouth of a great white shark!!!!! That’s right standing on a dead whale throwing a hook in to the mouth of a great white shark! If you are ever in Montauk you gotta see it. Just to mention it was in the 70’s so not too much animal rights then, but a cool picture none the less.

The other trip is where we (Keli &I) charter a boat in the Caribbean somewhere. This is what I do in my free time plan this trip! This year we are going to Abaco, Bahamas. I start to plan this trip about six months out to save on airfare, get the boat I want and basically keep my sanity. I find that as soon as I start to plan our trip I feel like the corona adds. I look on-line at destinations, boats, power or sail, then at the ones I can actually afford to charter. Then there is the guest list, who do we invite? Arranging where to meet, who’s bringing what (mostly what fishing gear). This year we have chartered a 47 foot power cat with two other couples as I said in the Bahamas. Bonefish capitol of the world, a scuba diving meca, good friends, the food is always great, and oh yeah the rum!

Now you know what I am thinking about when I am not riding!

Bittersweet Ending by Kate Berta

Well as much as I would like to say my summer ended according to my plan, I am constantly reminded that in fact, it didn’t end according to my plan. Horses can be the most beautiful elegant animals on this plant. They have the power to capture your heart and steal your sole but they are still 1,200 pounds of pure muscle and power.

On July 14, I was washing one of Stephen’s horses off after I had a fantastic ride on him, I went to set the hose down and look to see if his tail needed washing. As soon as I was behind him something must have stung or scared him because he went flying forward and kicked out with both hind feet, nailing me in my left side with full force. Boomer, the horse, is the sweetest horse in Stephen’s barn, so for this to happen is completely out of character. Anyways, long story short I went to the ER room and found out I had a grade 3 spleen injury in not just one but two places. I was then required to stay in the ICU for 3 nights and a regular room for 2 nights. Thank God I did not have to have my spleen removed but it was required that I do no physical activity for 6 weeks.

So after I was out of the hospital we packed up my horses and myself and made the trip back to Lexington where we dropped
the horses off to stay in training and then migrated back to my hometown of Bowling Green where I rested and was allowed to do absolutely nothing. So its been 5 weeks into the 6 weeks and I have just about gone insane from not being on a horse. I am recovering just fine and have done exactly what the doctors have said, for the first time in my life. I will be able to go back into full riding August 24th and then will compete both of my horses at the training level at Ky classic. I am hoping to move Bailey back up to preliminary at Jumpstart and my goal is to run Bourbon in the Hagyard Team Challenge training three day. I wish I had a better story to tell but overall minus the spleen part, I had a absolute blast working for Stephen. He taught me so much in the 6 weeks I was there and I am looking forward to riding and working for him again. Hope to see everyone soon!

Photo of Kate, Bailey and Bourbon courtesy of Team Shamrock

Millbrook Horse Trials Update

Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos and Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM lead the PRO Tour Advanced divisions at the Millbrook Horse Trials


Two days of perfect weather at the Millbrook Horse Trials helped riders produce some spectacular dressage tests in the PRO Tour Advanced division.  Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos, continue to show what a special horse he is by scoring a 27.80 in his first Advanced horse trial since his recovery from the tragic fire at True Prospect Farm. They hold the lead in the Advanced - A division over Densey Juvonen's Remington XXV also ridden by Boyd. Leslie Law with Troy Glaus' Rehy Lux continues to show that this horse is one to watch as they scored a 31.60 to sit in third place. Phillip Dutton and Ben owned by Team Rebecca sits in 4th on a 33.40 and Clark Montgemery and Loughen Glen is tied for fifth with Colleen Rutledge's Dillon.

In the Advanced - B division, Buck Davidson put in a beautiful test with Carl and Cassandra Segal's Ballynoecastle RM and Bruce Duchossois' Mighty Nice lived up to his moniker with Phillip Dutton giving him a lovely ride to score a 33.4. Joe Meyer showcased his nineteen-year-old New Zealand legend, Snip, scoring a 36.60 to sit in third place. Michael Pollard and DV8 and Kevin Keene and his own Fernhill Flutter are currently tied for fourth place in the division on a 37.20.

The cross country course looks beautiful and the ground nearly foot perfect. Saturday's Advanced course, designed by Tremaine Cooper, is sure to be a strong test for all riders in the Advanced division.  Saturday's cross country will is bring out the crowds who continue to show strong support of the Millbrook Horse Trials, which benefits Dutchess Land Conservancy.

Life is Good by Jackson Roberts

As this is my first blog entry for PRO, I will start with a proper introduction. My real name is Jackson Roberts, although I seem to be referred to by nicknames more often. These nicknames are as fallows but not limited to: Jacko, Jax, Action Jackson, The Tennessee Tornado, Baby Jackson, B Jacks and Young Blood. I would say that 80% of those names were created by good friend Boyd Martin.

As for my background I am 19 years-old from Nashville Tennessee, son of two non horsey parents. I caught the horse bug from my parents renting two ponies for my fourth birthday party, I think my parents would say that was the worst finical decision they ever made! I found eventing through pony club at age 11 and knew right away that is what I wanted to do. One thing led to another and I wound up as a working student for Phillip Dutton three days after my high school graduation. I have been with the True Prospect team now since May of 2010. Within the first year of being with Phillip, I feel that my riding has dramatically improved and brought me to my Intermediate debut at Morven earlier this year.

Currently I have wonderful new horse named Percy Warner who is owned by my parents, Fred and Leigh. Phillip and Julie Richards found Percy for me at the beginning of June of this year. He had mostly just show jumped prior to me getting him and he is at training level currently. We had a very educational run at Surefire in June where he was leading his training section prior to the cross country but we had a run out about 3/4 of the way around. He was quite green at all the flowers and decorations around the jumps, but I think we might have been a bit too lucky had we pulled off the win with just 12 days of our partnership together. Two weeks later we were back out again at the Maryland horse trials. This time around I rode much more forward around the cross country and we had a nice confidence building run. As a side note I would like to commend the event staff at both Surefire and Maryland for putting a lot of effort into the footing for the cross country, which I greatly appreciated as did Percy's legs! Next up for us is Millbrook in New York and then to Waradeca the next week.

As for my day to day life at home in Unionville, Pa every day is different. On a my most busy days I will get up at 3:30 AM and do the barn for Silva Martin and then start work at True Prospect at 7, then we normally finish around 5 and I will either ride some extra horses or go back to Silva and Boyd's farm to mow. This summer I feel like I some times work more for Boyd than Phillip, but both Silva and Boyd have been so kind since my arrival and let me work off my lessons with Silva. When I am not working, I'm generally with my best friend/partner in crime Steph Boyer. She has been so helpful to me as far as someone to talk to as she previously worked for True Prospect and as young professional event rider. In this business you can never have too many friends, but I think I will be hard pressed to find one as good as Steph.

I hope you know a little more about me now, and I should be blogging on a monthly basis for PRO. Until next time keep kicking on!

Jackson