Here's Your Sign!

I just received this pic from Stephen Palmer of Cambridge Metalsmiths in Lynden. His link is http://www.castsign.on.ca What a beautiful job he has done. Now to put it up before the ground freezes!

Website Up and Running!

Click on the title of this message to get to my new website!

The Royal was a Resounding Success!

Allie was the dancing queen at the Royal this week showing off her dressage moves to many people in the Spirit of the Horse Ring. A huge thanks to Zone 9 members for sponsoring the AHAEC booth, and to the OEF for organizing the whole event.
Miss Allie was a pro; she did up to 4 performances a day with about 2 minutes warm-up! I'm especially proud of her, as up to about 3 months ago, single flying changes were an issue, now we can do 2 tempis!
Well, that's the show season done until next year, where Allie will debut at Prix St.George and Intermediare 1 :)

Royal Demos

I have not yet received definite times for my rides Tuesday through Thursday, November 10-12th at the Royal, but should be around 10 and 2:45. I'll be riding Allie in the Spirit of the Horse Ring in the Trade Show building.

Late News, But Good News!

Pictured above: Mark and Kim Thomason from Tennessee, the owners of Almaz's sire Magic Domino AHS. and of course, Allie and Me!

I just got an e-mail from Bill Pennington the Commissioner for Sport Horse Nationals. Due to a scoring error, the placings for H/A Sport Horse Under Saddle were changed. I ended up Top 10, and $833.33 dollars richer from the Sport Horse Payback Program!

Arabian Sport Horse Nationals.... What a Show!

So, what a blast in Kentucky! Between the rain showers, torrential rain and sparce sunshine, it's kind of nice to be back to blustery plus 16 weather. I still have half of my stuff totally soaked from the monsoon conditions. My trailer has finally dried out, I thought Keira and I were going to contract some mold respiratory condition! Too rainy to keep the windows open as the rain storms were totally sporatic, and I did'nt bring my little heater to try to dry things up.
Well, I know a lot of you have been checking out things on Facebook with some pics I put on there. Glad I had the trusty IPhone to keep you all informed of the exciting activities that have unfolded this week.
It was an uneventful drive down, other than the torrential rains as we crossed the Ohio line into Kentucky. South of Covington there was 2 huge accidents on the North bound lanes of the I-75; glad we were going south! At one point there was about a 15 mile back up, and I could see a plethora of horse trailers that had come out of the Horse Park just sitting in traffic. I felt for them, as it's never fun in a traffic jam, never mind sitting there with a bunch of tired horses, trying to get home!
We had Monday to check out the facility, and all I can say is WOW! Although the whole Park is 1/2 torn apart due to the fact the World Equestrian Games is going to be there next year, if you looked at the big picture, well, there could not be a finer place to have this show. Literally world class, million dollar footing, a climate controlled indoor, and gorgeous stabling (that I would love to have in my back yard!)
Tuesday morning brought brilliant sunshine for our Fourth Level ride. Allie albeit a bit tight; she took a sh*t fit at the guy videoing the rides from the side of the ring, and decided to engage Trakehner brain on me. Well, I think she knew that she'd better deal with it, and after some careful coaxing decided that the guy perched up there with his camera was not going to eat her!
I was quite happy with out Fourth Level ride; probably one of the most mistake free rides I've had with her, although still a hair tense, it was good enough for a top 10 out of 24 competitors, and 6 percent behind the winner.

Medium Canter

The dreaded camera dude in the tower!

So we had the 3rd Level Championship ride on Tuesday afternoon. Thinking that the sky was looking a tad threatening, I donned my tacky top hat cover, and made the almost 10 minute ride to the dressage ring from our stabling. Not 5 minutes went by, and the heavens opened up, so bad that I stopped to ask one of the stewards if top hat covers were legal in the ring, and it started to rain harder. I let Allie put her rear end towards the rain, and let her lower her head. This did nothing for keeping my tack and show clothes dry, but we sat out the driving rain, shook ourselves off, and proceeded to the warm up.

By the time I was ready to enter the ring, there was brilliant sunshine again. I was a bit freaked out not being able to get Allie into this dressage ring......it's kinda funky with a plastic lattice work around the perimeter, but surprisingly she did'nt mind.
We went into our Third Level Championship ride with determination, and put out a smooth flawless test with definition of transitions and accuracy! The flying changes that I have struggled with came out with clarity and expression! Even if I did'nt place, I was very happy with the quality of this ride. I thought at the time this was one of our best efforts yet. Little did I know out outcome. With a record 32 competitors in the 3rd Level Open Championship from all over the US, and me being the lonely Canadian in the class, I was still sure I had a good shot at at least a Top 10 Honor for this quality of ride.
I returned back to the dressage area for presentations for the 4th Level Championship, very happy to receive a Top Ten award out of the 24 competitors. We'd kinda blown it at Canadians, and this was a sweet redemption. Technically we ended up in Eight Place! As I came back down the hill after receiving my awards, I still did not know the outcome of our Third Level ride. I asked the whipper-in if she knew the Top Ten numbers, and waited a few minutes until she got the numbers of the horses/riders for the Third Level Class. My number was on her sheet, and I proudly returned to the ring for a Top Ten Award! Little did I know the next outcome. I did'nt bother having Keira my groom run way over to the tower to check my score, as I did'nt see the point of finding where I had placed. I was really happy to get a Top Ten! After I received my Ribbon, the Champion and Reserve would receive their awards also. The Reserve Champion was named........no not me.....oh well, better luck next time I thought.......wait a minute......there is still the Champion to be crowned.....it was like sitting in a Bingo hall. Would my number be called next? Nah, I thought. Well was I wrong. The announcer kind of floundered the number, "the 2009 Champion Third Level Open is number 2..9...(oh the suspense was killing me)....8! with a 66.5% score. Bingo, that's me! I thought I was hearing things, until I heard my name officially called up to receive my trophy! Holy crap! Could this be a dream????? No Elaine, you just won a US National Championship!

US Nationals Update

Can't complain with Allie today. She
had the beat rides of the season! We got a top
10 in 4th level out of 24 horses and WON the 3rd
level championship out of 31 horses!!!! N

I Got the Invite!

So, just when I thought that all hopes were lost, I got an email from the Arabian Horse Association telling me some really important news! Mav and I are selected to compete in the US Arabian Sport Horse National Freestyle Invitational!
We'll be doing the ride on Saturday Sept 26th in Lexington Kentucky at the Championships.
I'll be leaving this Sunday with both Allie and Mav.
Tune into for a live feed for the show at http://www.equinevideo.net

The Show in Pics

Almost Home!

We are driving the 401 near Ingersoll right now, finally back into Ontario, so I thought
I should send out a quick recap.
For my readers not on Facebook, Allie won the H/A Sport Horse Under Saddle class on Saturday! So that puts us Champion in both Sport Horse classes at Nationals; Under Saddle and Show Hack! Allie
went Reserve Champion in Third level dressage by 1 mark with almost 68%. Mav won both his classes with 60 plus scores.
So it's definitely a few days off for the Champions to play and have some well deserved
R and R.
I'll get some pics up later.

Watch me Live

I am in class 774 H-A Sport Horse Under Saddle between 3 and 4 today on http://www.equinevideo.net click on the Canadian Nationals Live
feed from the Brandt Arena. I am number 306.

Champions!

Well, if this isn't the show of a lifetime,
I don't know what is!
After Mav's victory yesterday in the fourth level dressage, Allie totally rocked today! She went reserve champion in third level
by one point! Where Allie always shines on the ring in Show Hack, I had one of the best rides I have ever had one her. I was up against the Western Canadian champions. My mare
absolutely went perfect with some of
the most expressive gaits I have ever gotten out of her
in the show ring! I even had people assuring me
that I was definitely the winner in the audience while I was stopped against the rail
waiting to hear the Champion's name called out! Well it was very emotional to hear Allies name
called out. It was the icing on the cake to Allies
career; being undefeated in Eastern Canada
since 2005, US Sport Horse Nationals Top 10 in '05 and '07, Canadian Nationals
Reserve Champion in '07.
Mav was also amazing today. We took the championship with a 62.5 percent.
For those of you who watched the live feed today, you may have noticed that I had to restart my test.
The judge was given the wrong version of
the Prix St.George! At a glance, the test looks the same, but when I got
the for not doing the rein back at A, I knew what was
wrong! After a few minutes I was able to restart,
and had a pretty good trip.
So that's about it from Nationals; I still can't upload pics
from this iPhone, so until I figure this thing
out, the only pics I have are on Facebook.

Results from Canadians

Well Mav pulled our the stops in 4th level yesterday and won the National Championship! Allie was
3rd by 4 marks.
Allie got reserve champion with 67.9 percent, missing the championship by one single point!
Will send more results later.
There is a live feed at http://www.equinevideo.net. Go to Canadian Narionals ring 2
Mav does his Prix St.George at 12:26 Ontario
time and Allies sport horse show hack is about 1 hour after
that.

Hello from Canadian Nationals

Hey all! We arrived intact after a 30 hour journey that took us across through the great lake states, through Minnesota, North Dakota, then up through Manitoba, into Winnipeg. Then due west into Regina.
Allie and Mav hauled great, considering the plus 33 heat in North Dakota.
Friday was spent setting up and picking up things I forgot or needed. I found a great farm store called Peavy Mart; it puts TSC
to shame.
I took Les to the airport yesterday to fly back home to look after the horses
at home. A big thankyou to my Mom and Dad for holding the fort while Les
drove out with me.
The weather is cool; around plus 13 and a bit rainy. Perfect weather!
Anyways, the ponies are well, and have had one good school yesterday. The
warm up rings are packed! You have to know where you are going! Amazing people don't know
the left to left rule, or they care to ignore it!
Anyways, I'm in the process of trying to figure out how to upload pics on here, so please be patient!

Region 18 Championships

Well another good Regionals, considering "Madam" is in heat, letting the world know about it. Mav and Allie were pretty good; Mav especially attaining yet another 64.21% in the Prix St.George from judge Leslie Kennedy. Mav also was over the 61% range in the Intermediare 1. Not bad considering his rides were less than an hour apart.

Allie had a really decent Third Level ride for 64%, but messed up the Fourth Level; (hence why I am calling her "Madam") She did'nt like the flying change aids today; it was pissing her off big time. The hormonal mare that she is took offense to me even suggesting a flying change!. We ended up with 58% which her 4's for the tempi changes and the break in the canter pirouette really took her score down.

In the Show Hack class, Allie was her stupendous self; albeit still a bit hot, we wowed the judge with flawless gaits. She won the Show Hack Sport Horse Class; and this is the 5th consecutive year we have won this title!

Click on the title of this post to see the official results.

Milestone Arabian Dressage and Sport Horse

I was really pleased with my two ponies today!
Mav got a 64.21% in the Prix St.George and 63.68% in Int. 1.
Allie got 61.86% in 3rd Level, and 63.68% in 4th Level.
I can't beleive I rode this well, as my back went into spasm before my first ride on Mav in the Intermediare 1.
I sucked it up, took some pain meds, and soldiered on to some of the best rides I've ever had on Mav!
I'm still hurting, but it was worth it!

Paddocks Finally Finished!

Finally, we got the paddocks are done, and the horses are happy! Eisenstein and Sydney are happy together in the top photo, and Eisenstein is looking at Nova on the other side of the fence (next pic down). Annie is carefully watching the going's on with Nova!

The bottom pictures are the new paddock behind the house. Mav and Allie are chowing down in there. Still a few "tweaks" to do, but all the horses are now safely behind the 1 1/2" Electric tape.
I'm never ever renting a 2 man auger to dig post holes ever again! I don't even think 2 men could hold onto the thing go through the clay we have here. I still need a couple of more bracing posts, but things are still safe and secure, I just have to resurrect my post hole auger for the tractor.

Congrats Cathy! It's a Girl!

Congrats to Kirkridge friend, neighbour, and horse owner Cathy Martin. She had a baby girl this afternoon at McMaster Hospital in Hamilton. Audrey Anita (I hope I got this right) weighing in at a healthy 7lbs 4oz. A little sister for Tate.
Mom, Dad (Stephen), and Baby are doing fine!

Summer Sizzler Results

Allie and Porshah had a great show at Milestone for the Summer Sizzler.
CCF Porshah:
2nd H/A Sport Horse Mares in Hand
1st H/A Sport Horse Under Saddle ATR
3rd H/A Sport Horse Show Hack

KF Almaz++//
3rd H/A Sport Horse Mares in Hand (Megan)
1st H/A Sport Horse Show Hack
1st H/A Sport Horse Under Saddle Open

Team Kirkridge Show Updates

Well, the month of May and the beginning of June has been pretty busy with shows with our Kirkridge horses.
Megan and Po have attended 3 shows so far, beginning with the Milestone Arabian on May 5th. This was Porshah's first Arabian Sport Horse Show with Megan, and she did quite well, placing in all of her classes.
The next show for Megan was the Niagara Dressage Show on May 31 in Welland. Some top shelf scores ranging from 60 to 63%! Well done.
This past weekend Megan again competed at the Eastern Canadian Arabian Breeders Championships near Peterborough. Po is the Reserve Champion in both the Half Arabian Sport Horse Under Saddle Amateur and Open Divisions! Her dressage is getting better every show with scores ranging from 60 to 70%!. Some lovely rides Megan! I'm proud of you!
Allie and Porshah receiving our Champion and Reserve Eastern Canadian Arabian Championship awards with judge Nancy McMahon on the left.



















Lukas (far left) debuted at his first dressage show at Niagara in May, with scores of 67.9% at Training Level and 65% at first level. He was a perfect gentleman and received many positive comments from the judge.
Mav (middle pic) qualified again for Sport Horse Nationals at Prix St.George and Intermediare 1 at the Milestone Spring Arabian Dressage Show. Scores up to 62%.
Allie (far right) had a good show at Milestone winning H/A Sport Horse Show Hack (undefeated since 2004 in Eastern Canada), and scored 63% in Third and Fourth Level Dressage. Allie was also the Eastern Canadian Arabian Breeders H/A Sport Horse Under Saddle and Show Hack Champion!
Kahlua has been going better and better for Megan, and competed at the Niagara Dressage Show at Training and First Level and achieved scores over 60%.








Megan and Porshah at the Milestone show while as judge Peta Christen watches closely!





Eisenstein won the H/A Sport Horse Geldings in hand at Milestone with a score of 77.3% giving him the highest in-hand score of the show by over 5%!

Milestone Ride Times

Ok, sorry this is late! But, I ride Mav at 9:48 in the Prix St.George. Allie and Eisenstein will follow between then and 2:00. Then I do Sport Horse with Eisenstein and Allie starting at 3:00.

It's Spring!

Check out this slide show. What a fabulous day to play outside with the youngster!
For some silly reason it's cutting off pics, so if you see a nose missing here or there, it's the slide show. If you click on view images on the right hand side below the pics, you can see them in their entirety.

EAI Sola Imeena and Eisenstein in 2005

Check out this page that I scanned. It came from the Canadian Trakehner Magazine 2005 when Allie made her "Cover Girl" debut!
It's Eisenstein and his mom at their approvals. If you click on the picture, you will see the full version........a lot easier to read. :)

Eisenstein Slide Show April4/09

Eisenstein Bronte Creek April 4/09 Video Added

The boy was good again. Our second test had some not so good canter portions, but all in all, I could not ask for a better horse! Eisenstein won Training Level 2 against some pretty nice horses! Our score when we left at 2:45 was the second highest of the day in the entire show that started at 8am; 62.50%. The scores were a bit of a lunch bag letdown from the last show, but his performance was WAY better! The photos are the proof.

Austin and Judy

I just don't train Ay-Rabs!
Here is a cute video of Austin, the off the track Thoroughbred. I've had Judy and Austin in training for the past month. From being an above the bit horse, to a happy swinging boy in 1 month. Kudos to Judy for enduring a 5 lesson per week training schedule! They both did awesome!
Hopefully the next video will be of Judy in the irons instead of me!

It's Official!

After of few months of paper chasing, I got Eisensteins' Half-Arabian papers in the mail today.
Our first Arabian competition will be May 4 at the Milestone Spring Arabian show in Campbellville. Team Kirkridge hopes to bring at least 5 horses to this show. We will compete in both Dressage and Sport Horse.
CCF Porshah, MEL Kahlua, KF Almaz++//, Gen Custer, and Eisenstein.
Hmm I think I need a bigger trailer!