Where did July Go?

How time flies! It was a busy month for Aspen Farms with Whidbey Island as well as Rebecca Farms on the agenda.  Highlights of Whidbey were Lexi Funk and R Dashing Surprise moving up to Training and winning a large division, finishing on their dressage score. Also claiming the blue ribbon was Ideal Life, Ellen Guthries lovely 4yr old that I rode in his first Novice. With the highs come the lows; Chelsey Sevigny and Taos jumped a great, clean, xc round only to discover they had missed a fence thus eliminating. In show jumping Laura Johnson discovered Simon Says dislike of canoes after a fabulous xc ride the day before. The roller coaster continued to Montana; Lexi Funk scored the lowest dressage of the event (22!) only to have a silly fall on xc. She hopped back on and finished and though we know how disappointed she must have been she was a great sport and didn't let it show. Laura Johnson showed determination by getting back on after a refreshing dip in the water jump to finish the rest of the course in great form. Chelsey Sevigny rode Taos to his best ever dressage mark of 32, and finished the weekend in 6th place in a large division of young riders. Her own horse I Know I'm Right continues to live up to his name and managed to sneak in a run out at the angled cabins. Chelsey's young mare, Independence was 4th in the 5y old division of the young horse competition. I was thrilled with all three of my horses. Ideal Life finished 3rd in the 4y old young horse division and 3rd in the open novice. He was leading going into SJ where we had an unfortunate rail to keep him from claiming two blues in a row! Ogopogo was 2nd after dressage in OP and added just a few time penalties after a fantastic xc to finish in 4th at the end of the weekend.  Chauncy also had a great xc but was a little too playful in the dressage! With a clean SJ he moved up to 7th in the OT. Dawn White rode better than I have ever seen her on xc with Vapor Trail. She rode the tough line from the mound to the corner better than anyone else in the CIC***. Unfortunately, it was not to be her weekend. Two heartbreaking stops in the SJ ring eliminated her from competition. Lauren Benge moved up to Novice and had her best ever xc, and a nice positive SJ round. Josh Lacey found himself in the ribbons after a much improved dressage test. He jumped easily around the xc and with one rail in SJ finished in 7th place in ON. Jon was busy as usual with the adult riders camp just before Rebecca. He was in warm up all day every day, braving the heat. It paid off though, with most of his students having a fun, successful weekend. Luckily our horses came through the weekend better than our vehicles. Anyone notice a truck and trailer being towed into Rebecca Farm? Yes, that was me. The truck is still in MT being repaired. I'm just glad it had the decency to get me 1/2 mile from the show and grateful to Cathy from Rebecca Farm for towing me! To top it off my car died on my way home from Tacoma last night! Luckily it is a minor fix unlike the truck. Oh well, better vehicles breaking down than horses. The horses are enjoying a well deserved easy week before gearing back up for Young Rider Benefit Horse Trials. See you there!
Suzy Elliott