The Fair Hill International guest blogging series presented by SmartPak gave riders who are entered to compete at FHI the opportunity to tell their tale and lay all their hard work on the table prior to the event. Justine Dutton and her mount Abecca will compete in the CCI** this year.
Originally from the UK, Justine now resides in Malvern PA and is the one-woman-show behind Sport Ponies UK. She not only works to solidify her place in the U.S. eventing scene, but caters specifically to juniors/young riders/adult amateurs that compete in eventing to further their careers as well.
———————————-
From Justine:
Hello Eventing Nation! As I sit on the train on my way into NYC for a completely non horse related activity (yes I’m a closet rock star, many of you know this), I’m contemplating how quickly this year has flown by and how much has changed.
My name is Justine Dutton and I have the pleasure of riding a wonderful Trakhener mare named Abecca. Or Princess to her friends. When I saw a call for guest bloggers on EN about sharing our journey to Fair Hill, I was very excited, but also a little sad as this is bittersweet for me. As most of us in the horse world know or have experienced, situations change and unfortunately Fair Hill will be the last event Becca and I will compete in together as she will be for sale. That being said, I now have even more reason to make this our best event yet!
Justine and Abecca flying around the Plantation CIC** cross country. Photo courtesy of Samantha Clark.
I met Becca about 3.5 yrs ago when I found her through my good friend Liza Horan as an amateur mount for a lady client of mine. Becca was the perfect novice/training level packer until my client started suffering back issues to the point that riding became painful and she asked me to ride the horse. Becca had had some prelim experience at her previous home which I was able to build on. We were very successful at that level and made the jump to intermediate where we also started to do quite well. We also dabbled in the jumper ring and did very well in the 1m20s and even a couple of mini prixs!
At around this time, the owner’s back began to improve and she decided she was able to ride again which meant I had to hand the reins back over. Becca spent the next two years being a lower level dressage horse…her favorite thing… (note sarcasm here!)
Fast forward to November 2011. As luck would have it, Becca’s owner decided that she wanted a “real” dressage horse so offered me first right of refusal on her. I found some very kind clients willing to purchase her and so began our amazing year. We did three prelims in Florida this past winter to start, finishing in the top 3 each time out. I decided, with a little coaxing that I’d make the jump back up to intermediate at Rocking Horse – my first time since suffering a horrific fall at that level on a different horse 2 years before which had shattered my confidence. Well it was obviously the right choice as we won!
This year for me has been a fairy tale. With some amazing coaching from Buck Davidson, Callan Solem and Missy Ransenhausen, Becca and I have managed to finish in the top 4 in pretty much all our intermediates this year. Personal highlights for me were a 3rd place at the Virginia CIC**, 5th place at the American Eventing Championships (and being the only pair to finish on our dressage score!) and most recently a 10th place finish in the hugely competitive CIC** at Plantation.
Justine and Becca easily completing the final phase at Plantation in the CIC** to finish 10th. Photo courtesy of Samantha Clark.
Now as Fair Hill fast approaches, as well as the end of our time together, we have one more horse trials (Intermediate Championships at Morven Park) and then a lot of homework in the form of lessons from Buck, Callan and Missy.
Until next time, Eventing Nation, here’s to hoping for that happy ending to my fairy tale.
SmartPak is proud to power healthy horses and happy riders who are working to achieve their goals (whether aiming for Fair Hill, simply hoping to back their youngster this year, and everything in between). Visit SmartPak.com today to see how our smarts can support your goals!
