Hannah Burnett, by far one of the best guest bloggers we’ve had to date, competed at Rolex last weekend and definitely had the weekend she deserved with an impressive eighth place finish in her horse’s first four star. Hannah’s cross country round was phenomenal, and I don’t say that lightly. She was right on from the start and rode a round that was both fast, effective, and really demonstrative, to all of us watching, of what good riding should look like. Hopefully we’ll get Hannah to blog again for us in the future because I have a feeling she and St. Barths will be going to some pretty cool places!
Photo via Samantha Clark
From Hannah:
Phew! Where to start?! Everyone will have to excuse any typos etc. because I am exhausted. We just arrived in The Plains, VA about 3 hours ago from Ocala, FL. It’s been a whirlwind the last few weeks and I’m excited for a little bit of down-time before heading off to my next event at Virginia Horse Center in a few weeks.
Rolex started out with a big caravan down to Kentucky from Ocala. Shannon Kinsley was grooming for me and she drove to the Horse Park in the now infamous, “Nate-Mobile.” Thanks to Nate Chambers for letting us use his car! We arrived Monday afternoon and were greeted by the awesome Kentucky weather that everyone comes to expect during Rolex….plus the tornado warnings we had to deal through Wednesday. Luckily, nothing came of the loud sirens and warnings, except for one trip to the Alltech Arena with all of the horses. I was stuck in the campground bathrooms hiding out from the weather (or being forced to stay by all the freaked out campers), but Shannon handled Nike’s acrobatic moves and amazingly everyone made it back to the stables unharmed once the weather subsided. Soon after, we had our First Horse Inspection and despite a nice big cough at the end of the jog strip (right by all of the photographers, might I add), Nike jogged up well and was accepted.
Throughout Wednesday and Thursday Nike and I had plenty of quality time working on our flatwork and trying to expend some of his extra energy. I was the first ride of the day on Friday, at 10am. We had arena-familiarization from 7:30-8:30 and then had to rush back for Shannon to put the shine on Nike and my mom to put the shine on my boots while I got into a fight with the KY State Police about being able to ride dirt bikes back and forth to the campground…let’s just say they won that round.
Dressage went relatively well. I had a good warm-up with David and I am thrilled with Nike’s trot work. I’ve been trying to be able to show off his big trot while still being accurate this whole spring, and we finally nailed it. As far as the canter work, we had a little extra-exuberance that the judges weren’t exactly looking for. We had a few mistakes, including but not limited to leaping through the changes that unfortunately brought our score up to a 53.3. I’m still happy that although we can make a lot of improvements for next time, he still tried and we had a respectable score.
I was the last ride before the lunch break on cross-country, which allowed me to watch a few rides before I had to get ready to ride. The Hallow was causing more trouble than expected, with a log on the top of the hill and a direct 4 strides to a skinny tooth-brush and then a steady 5 strides up the mound out over a skinny table. If you got off the line to the toothbrush, the horses didn’t read it and ran-out.
I was really excited to see a lot of friends and family around the “D” Box before I went out on course, and my last thought before I went in the start box was something like, “I want to be in that finish box with a clear round ASAP.”
Nike went around the course like the little genius that he is. Although the ground was extremely holding and sticky, he skipped around like it was nothing. We both gained confidence as we went and everything was riding to plan. After he jumped through the Hallow really well, I was headed to the double corners and was pulled up because one of the corners was needing repair. I hadn’t ever been held before but I had watched Karen O’Connor be held a few times and asked the timers where they were going to restart my time and how long we would be held etc. They were very helpful and Nike and I had a few minute break and then picked right back up on the course. He did lose focus over the first corner and we took out the right handed flag but he drew right to the second and did the 5 strides in between right to plan. The rest of the course rode well and we were inside the time. Nike was still full of running by the end and probably could have gone another few minutes. He pulled up and recovered extremely well and I was greeted by all my family and friends. It will be one of my fondest memories. I was very sad that Dick Thompson, Nike’s owner, couldn’t be there, but thanks to the USEF Network, he was able to watch live and we spoke soon after. He was so proud of his little red-head. My favorite part of the course was the first water and the Hallow. It’s such a cool feeling when your horse reads and draws to a combination and pulls you to it.
Shannon, Randy Pawlak our farrier, Dr. Christiana Ober, and Angie Cooney our Massage Therapist, took great care of Nike Saturday night and he jogged up like a champ on Sunday morning. It’s great to be a part of a team that all works together and you can count on to take care of our horses and not only that, but genuinely care about them. It’s not just about the day or the event, it’s about our horses. I’m proud to be apart of such an awesome team.
Soon after the jog, we had the official course walk with David and Karen.
My warm-up wasn’t exactly how I would have done it if I had another chance. I felt too fast in my head and I let my nerves get the best of me. It might have had something to do with the fact that Mark Todd was standing right in the arena…and I had to canter past him every time I wanted to jump something. Next time I plan to be more focused on giving my horse a great warm-up and not on the living legend standing in the arena or the NBC cameras all over the place. Lesson learned.
In order for me to have a good round, I have to have the rhythm I need for the course mapped out in my head. I was struggling to find that rhythm during the first half of the course. Once I found it, Nike jumped great. Unfortunately I had 2 rails. Overall, I can’t be anything but happy with my weekend. My horse is happy and healthy and we were top 10 at his first four-star.
I want to thank everyone who supported me leading up to and throughout Rolex. It was such a great experience and I hope I can support and cheer all of you on at some point in your lives also. Big thanks to my Mom and Dad and whole family, the human groom and great friend Erin, Dick Thompson, Karen and David, Shannon, Kyra Stuart, the Kieffers for letting us use their camper all week, Jess Montgomery for all the beautiful borrowed clothes, my awesome sponsors: Devoucoux, Omega Alpha, EcoGold, Red Horse Media, and Jenny Sutton. Also everyone who was stuck at home holding down the fort, and everyone who came out to cheer us on!! I can’t express my gratitude for the individual and special ways all of you have helped me.
-HSB
