Montana

Condi at the YEH Competition

Rebecca Farms is one of my most favorite competitions in the country and probably one of the nicest in the world. The trek out there and back is long and tiring but definitely worth it. This year I took two horses who are both new mounts for me; D.O.D Rockefeller who was purchased by the Garrets for me and Sportsfield Condi who is owned by the Sportsfield Condi Syndicate. Rockefeller competed in the CCI * where he put in a lovely dressage test to go into cross country sitting in fifth out of 50+ competitors. We had worked the week leading up to the competition with Team USA Coach David O Connor and his help on the flat really payed off. It is so much fun to have a horse that puts in a workmanlike test every time out. It’s been a long time coming for me to have that and I appreciate every minute of it. Cross country was your typical Ian Stark course and to be honest he is one of my favorite designers. It was big and bold and also asked all the appropriate technical questions. Rockefeller attacked the course in typical Irish fashion and came home feeling more confident then ever. We went into Show jumping in fourth place. Rockefeller is an amazing show jumper but unfortunately that Sunday was just not our day. He is naturally a bit of a spooky horse and if he loses his confidence he becomes more spooky.

Condi with his Second Place Ribbon

Rebecca Farms is known for their exuberant show jump course and with the combination of bad warm up and a spooky ring Rockefeller just lost his marbles a bit. At the time is was very disappointing but looking back on it I realize what an amazing jumper he is and really we are just getting to know each other. Another FEI event completed and finishing it with a sound and healthy horse was the most important part of it all. Condi had a fabulous weekend coming in as Reserve Champion of his first ever young event horse competition. It was a bit of a learning experience for both of us as I had never done a YEH competition either. It was exciting and fun and I was so proud of him seeing as how as only being five he just traveled 25 hours and showed up to win. The actual competition I competed him training and it was wonderful to have him end on his dressage score in his first ever event. He is such a fun horse to work with and I cant wait to see what the future holds for him. He reminds me so much of my old three star mount Chloe and I cant complain about that at all!

Katie Patton on Black Magic with Buckleigh

Flying Tail Farms also had Katie Patton there and she piloted her two mounts around the novice AND training three day. Ainsliegh Mitchell ran her second ever prelim here and had a beautiful round until the end of the course when she parted ways with her horse. She came away with some awesome battle wounds though! Also, a shout out to those two girls who were an awesome help all week.

The drive out took us about 24 hours and I could have not done it without my awesome boyfriend who drove out with me and helped me get all settled in once we arrived before having to fly home to get back to work . I would have had to do that drive alone if he hadn’t come, I cant tell you how thankful I am! My mom and I made the long drive home Sunday after show jumping and I had never been so excited to see signs for Hollister, Ca. Montana was a long educational week and I cant thank Sarah Broussard Kelly enough. Not only does she and her crew put on one of the nicest events she also gave out travel grants to help pay for gas. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of one of the grants and without that I could not have afforded the weekend. Thank you a million times over for this! Being a recipient of the Rebecca Broussard Travel Grant qualifies you for the “Big Becky” grant. This grant can be used for travel expenses to compete or for training purposes. Fingers crossed I get considered because what an amazing opportunity that would be!

Lastly I would like to thank my wonderful sponsors, supporters and owners.  RevitaVet, SmartPak, Buckeye Grain, Voltaire Saddles, APF and MR4 Activet Laser; without your guys’ continued support my horses and I would not have access to the top products in the world. SmartPak makes traveling 25 hours to a horse show easy. I don’t have to worry about a ton of different buckets of supplements, I know they are getting the accurate amounts and I know they are fresh. Not to mention easy to store and easy to grab. There really is no other way to go. RevitaVet makes sure my horses muscles are feeling good and ready to compete. It’s so important to have access to this especially after my horses had so much travel time! With my horses on APF I don’t worry nearly as much about them traveling. This keeps their immune systems strong and their bodies feeling good and ready to compete. Voltaire Saddles are truly the best saddle company out there. Not only are they comfortable, they fit my horses perfectly and the customer service is great! I don’t go anywhere without my MR4 Activet Laser and trust me when I say I used it daily on anything from cuts to my own bruised foot. I am incredibly lucky to have these companies believing in me and supporting me!

Also I need to thank my wonderful owners who make all of this possible; The Garrets are the most supportive people I know and I am having so much fun being on this journey with them. Next year they will have to make the trip out to Montana! To Condi’s wonderful owners, thank you for taking the chance on a young horse you hadn’t seen prior to his arrival. He is bound for great things and I am excited to have you all a part of his future! My parents are my driving force. Their support and commitment to me and my riding career is unreal and I definitely would not be where I am today without you. And to everyone at Flying Tail Farms, I love our family and am so happy to share a ring with you guys on daily basis Now onto Woodside!