Sixteen-year-old Mikaela has been spending her summer as a working student for Jan Byyny at Surefire Farm. This past week, she was a groom for the Area II Young Rider Team. Area II won the CH-Y** individual gold (Connor Husain and Piece of Hope) and the CH-J* individual silver (Hanna Krueger and Pinney North). Congrats to Area II and thanks to Mikaela for writing. If you have something to share with EN, send it to [email protected]. Thanks for reading!
*****************
Woodge enjoying Young Riders
From Mikaela:
A weeks worth of amazing memories at this years NAJYRC’s is hard to fit into one blog but here it goes. Wednesday started off competition with the first jogs. Our horses looked great and it was pretty cool to see them trot up the jog strip with their pretty 2’s on their butts and I think we were all very proud of the team we were able to put together.
We quickly had to change direction as early the next morning dressage day started and as things would have it Connor Husain and Piece of Hope (Bruno) were the first riders in the ring at 8 AM. This meant an early morning of shining, grooming and cleaning but well worth it when they put in the best test of their careers so far and received a 53.9. A good score to start off the weekend and the day for the rest of the team. Molly Curtiss was next in the ring with her wonderful mare Savannah IX. Molly rode amazingly well and although they didn’t receive the best score it was still a really good test.
Onto the one star. Savannah Fulton (“Woodge”) started off the day there with a very nice test, judged a little harshly for a 57.1. She and Ringfort Tinkatoo (Tinks) looked super and really set a high standard for our team to come. Morgan rode next and as usual put in a fabulous test for a score of 52! Caroline Quanbeck put in another good test for a 51! The team was on a roll and Andi Lawrence was able to carry the momentum and score a 57. And then Hanna came in after the rain delay and got a 52! Seeing them all sparkle in the arena and all the silver and brass shine definitely can make a groom proud.
On Friday everyone had a light jump school in preparation for Saturday’s XC. I walked the one star course once with the coaches and riders and wheeled it with Grace Fulton. The course looked a bit more challenging than the year before but defiantly doable. Friday involved running around trying to get the vet box organized before we sent our riders out. I think I was probably more nervous watching them go out than when I’m riding myself! Connor went out and we waited at the finish line praying he would have a good round–and he did just that, coming home clean and clear! We got into our system right away and Bruno cooled out fantastically. I was on stud duty so I was already soaked by the time Bruno was released but it was okay because we were all smiles. Molly was able to emulate what Connor had done before her and had another foot perfect round and the mare came back so well it made our job in the vet box so much easier. It amazed me how well behaved the horses were even after running XC.
Savannah in the vet box
Woodge put on a show and blazed around the one star track and after that we had a horse in the box every 20 minutes so I was either at warm up or at the finish. Whether it be greasing or just offering a “Go kill it!” I tried to do whatever I could. Morgan rode perfectly but unfortunately had one run by, silly horse, and then Caroline took a spill at the coffin but Blacky thought he still had to run so the only semi crazy part of our day was when we had two horses in the box at one time. Luckily everyone was super fit and the horses were all released after the first ten minutes. We had so many people helping that it ran quite smoothly. Andi took a very unlucky fall early on so her horse came back and was very quickly released, as both were OK thank God. Hanna was our last rider and just flew around. Her horse Pinney North (Jones) was perfect and cooled out well just like the others.
Despite the ups and downs everyone had such good sportsmanship and I was so proud to be able to be apart of that team. All the horses looked great the next morning for the 7 AM jogs. All horses passed with flying colors and we were all on time to both jogs! I think we should have won Best Turned Out but they didn’t have that award this year.
Show Jumping looked huge but those guys made it look easy. Walking down the Rolex ramp with each horse was so surreal. Morgan jumped clear, Woodge rubbed the last, and Hanna jumped clear to win the individual silver!! Just to know that I had a small part in that team and to witness everyone’s elation and joy was a memory ill never forget. Molly jumped a great round and to see her last round together with Savannah IX was priceless. And then Connor, wow what a ride. I was so nervous but to see him come over that last jump and then running up the ramp after he won was another moment that I wish one day I can experience. Getting to lead Savannah IX into the awards ceremony was very special. It was her last victory gallop as she is retiring and I was thankful to be able to be a part of that. When all was said and done, grooming for such an amazing team was an experience I will never forget.
Until Next Time! Go Area II and Go Young Riders!
