Amelia Lowe and Claire de Lune tackle Fence 1 on the BN course.
Since Morven was oversubscribed, I changed my plans and headed off to WindRidge Farm HT as my last event before Fair Hill. I am so happy that I did! I’m so sorry for all of those who got soaked with rain up at Morven this weekend. Down in Mooresboro, NC, we had some pretty lovely weather. I was a little worried yesterday morning when there was torrential rain on my way to the event, but the skies cleared and there were only a few sprinkles here and there during the XC.
WindRidge Farm is a new recognized event located in the beautiful foothills of NC. The farm is owned by Alicia Henderson, secretary extraordinaire. Many of you will recognize her as the secretary for a lot of events in Area 2 and 3. She has always done an amazing job organizing things at the big shows, and she has now undertaken a show of her own. I must say that her experience in running events definitely shines through at WindRidge.
The layout of the place is really quite nice. There is a hack to the dressage arena, which is down in the woods. The footing is excellent, and honestly, I think the horses did well with a nice walk before their warm-up. The walk for the spectators may have gotten a bit tiresome, but it made it easy to work off the amazing food that they had on site. The show jumping and xc were both very close to the stabling and trailer parking, so getting to those with multiple horses was quite easy. The stabling is temporary at the moment, but since the event is so new, I would expect that. The show jump course was on grass with a good bit of terrain that proved challenging in all levels. I think the course was a great test for each level without being too difficult or unreasonable. The cross country course is so lovely. Very natural jumps but they all asked the perfect questions for each level. Jon Wells, the designer, did a great job of using the lovely rolling terrain to ask just the right things without making it look like a bunch of jumps scattered around the field.
The show ran recognized BN thru OP and also ran an unrecognized Starter division. Winners included: myself and the amazing Bug won the OP, Tatyana Prueter and Aberjoy won Training A, Chimene Evans and Fernhill Sam won Training B, Kelsey Briggs and Cutter’s Southern Jaz won Novice A, Anne Baskett and Jacamo won Novice B, Kelsey Briggs and Malibu Will won the BN A as well as winning BN B on Three Days Grace and Hunter Metcalf and Cayenne Lily won the Starter divison. Entries were a bit low overall, but I was surprised to see that the Prelim was the biggest division. Once word gets out about this great event, I think their entries will really pick up.
Remember, Eventing Nation, it is so very important that we fill out our event evaluation forms! New little events like this need our support and to know what we loved and what we would like to change. I think WindRidge is a great place, and I would love to see it prosper, but the power is in your hands!
I must send a shout out to Amelia Lowe and Clark Curry. Both competed in their first recognized BN event this weekend! Amelia was 5th in her division and Clark was 6th in his division! It is combinations like these that make this sport so fun.
Also, next Saturday, WindRidge is hosting a cross country schooling day through the USEA. If you missed the show, this would be a great chance to check out the place.
Go Eventing!
