Whidbey was a great experience for all who attended. Maris and I left our ponies at home and just went to coach, which was a nice change of pace. All of our riders rode incredibly well and clearly learned from their mistakes at Inavale. Hannah McNamara ended the weekend first in Novice on Loughnatousa Dublin! He is a new horse to their family and we are more and more thrilled with how he does his job. Hannah also came in 5th on PL’s Lucky Regina, which she was just as happy about, as she has put in a lot of hard work on that mare. Lilli Thiel ended 9th on Java, with a very respectable dressage test and double clear rounds for both SJ and XC. Braiden Ludtka rode well in the Novice division on Chance, and besides him locking onto the Training option and missing his intended Novice fence, they both had a wonderful show. Joanna Frazier completed her first Novice event on Truly Cruisin’, making the SJ and XC look effortless for the both of them. 🙂 Finally, Sarah Pazkill completed her first recognized event on Nautical Ridge. In a large class with professionals mixed in, they held their own with a beautiful dressage test and two clean rounds!
Both Maris and I have taken the last week off to recoup from Whidbey before gearing up for Next Phase Eventing Camp. We are more than thrilled to be holding camp at Aspen Farms this year. While we loved Elk Haven and will miss our time there, many of our regular campers were ready for a new challenge. I know Aspen will not let anyone down with all that it has to offer! We have 37 campers coming this year and unfortunately had to leave a handful of people on the waitlist. We wish we could have accommodated more campers but neither Maris or I had the space in our summer to hold another camp.
We are also in the midst of prepping for our first Next Phase Eventing Derby! The derby will be held at Two Mountains Farm on August 5th. We will be running divisions from Grasshopper – Training with schooling rounds mixed in. We will be using some of the portables we purchased from Camas Meadows about 10 years ago and will be mixing them in with some of our own XC fences and show jumps. Cascade Reins Pony Club will be running concessions, so it is bound to be a fun day.
Will give you all an update after camp and let you know how our derby course is looking!!!