With Young Riders just a week away, former young riders champions Kelly Pugh and her mare CopyCat Chloe are competing in the CIC3* at Rebecca Farm this weekend. Kelly has kindly offered to keep us posted on her weekend and all the fun at Rebecca Farm. Be sure to check out Kelly’s great blog for updates on her season. [Kelly’s blog] As we say, thanks for writing this Kelly and thank you for reading.
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From Kelly Pugh:
Hi Eventing Nation!!
I am writing to you from beautiful Rebecca Farms and I am really excited to be sharing this experience with you guys. It has been a few years since I have been here and if it’s possible this event has only gotten more and more incredible. Our barn, Flying Tail Farms, started our journey last Saturday and 24 hours later we found ourselves pulling into Rebecca Farms. All ten horses traveled well and, being from California, loved to be greeted with endless amounts of green grass. The horses had a day of walking to recover and the humans had a day of go-cart racing and bumper water boats. Let me tell you, a group of competitive eventers all on the same go-cart track is a sure way to get you kicked out of a family fun place.
I am riding two horses this weekend. My three star mare CopyCat Chloe and an OTTB going training. He is owned by my mom Dayna Lynd Pugh and named after her favorite vodka (no surprise there), Titos. Chloe has settled quite nicely and we are taking advantage of the miles of walk hacking offered. We were able to go around our ring on Thursday for a FEI ring familiarization and she was really great. I practically cantered her over the scary letters to assure her that she is bigger then any monsters living in them. She also had her jog today and we proudly wore our pink ribbon to support Rebecca Farms Halt Cancer at X fundraiser. My dog also supported the fundraiser with pink glitter but i’m not so sure he did it proudly. Poor pup, I shouldn’t be allowed to have glitter, or maybe a dog for that matter.
Tito did his dressage test today and working with him has reminded me how difficult, and yet rewarding the young horses can be. Every show he has been getting better and better and I am so excited for his future! The courses all look fantastic and I know both horses are going to love the galloping, forward design. I will walk the three star course with Ian Stark tomorrow and will report on his take of it all. Fingers crossed the weather cools before then. Luckily Rebecca Farms has a surplus of ice for our margaritas, I mean horses!
Lastly, I want to mention that Chloe and I are were lucky enough to have received the Rebecca Farm travel grant. Driving the distance we went is expensive and the grant is a huge help to getting us here. I want to thank Rebecca Farm for this wonderful opportunity. They are huge ambassadors of this sport and we are lucky to have them.
We have an exciting three days ahead of us and I will be sure to keep you all posted.
Go Rebecca Farms and Go eventing!
