On the road again!!.. KATYDID PICTURES!

[Ashemont]

Again congrats to Sami and AJ! Just for remembering the right way thru the hazards is a win in my book Would’ve loved to have seen the scary spider stop. But hey, if driving ever gets boring AJ can always have a second career. Ummmm - but then again maybe not if he equates cows to spiders :lol:

I’ve seen Cindy do some amazing things with that team. I once saw the harness come undone. She stopped, the groom fixed it, and they were off again in a hurry. I wonder if they PRACTICE getting out of bad situations - Cindy makes it look easy :winkgrin: So glad no one - horse or human - was hurt in either incident.

Good luck to all on cones!

[MySparrow]

Go Sami Go!

[Thomas_1]

Sounds like Sami is doing REALLY well. Congratulations to team Sami

We have had a “spider” hazard just like you describe and at Lowther Horse Trials for many years. I’m thinking someone must have seen it there and taken the idea back.

I’ve a totally phobic wife and yard manager and they won’t even walk near the hazard to watch others competing! Fortunately when I was competing I had a different yard manager then and my horses weren’t so “wimpy” and I knew for certainty that my wife was never anywhere near that one watching out and cheering me on !

[friesian4me]

We so enjoy hearing about Sam’s CDE adventures. Congrats!!!

[horseyfolks]

Katydid CDE '07 is over. It’s now just another page in the “been there, done that” file. At the same time, it gave us some nice new memories of friends, exciting driving, a good course, and an overall great time.

I know there were things that I will remember… Lisa Stroud driving her Connemara Tandem through every hazard faster then any of the single horses or ponies in her division… Cindy O’Reily backing her 4 in hand off of a post in the water hazard… Scott Parkman driving his Connemara Mare through a perfect cones run and then dropping the last ball before the exit gate… Sherrie Lower coming out of nowhere with her gorgeous perfect turnout and beautiful warmblood winning the Inter single horse dressage phase… There are more memories but that is how it goes at a good show.

After the Marathon Sam had stretched her lead over 3rd place (Megan Benge) to 13 points and shortened The lead Jennifer Matheson had to 12 points (I think thats right). That is how it stayed through the cones phase. Sam, Joanne, and AJ ended up in second place overall in Advanced Single Pony. They also won the silver plate and a years subscription to Carriage Driving Digest Magazine for fastest marathon in the Advanced division and the Advanced Division Reserve Champion.

We will be pulling out of Aiken about 3 AM. We will be home before noon. I have to go up to Georgia (Newnan) on Wednesday and then on Thursday Sam is back in lessons at Charlotte Trentleman’s with Brondo. Our next show is the Sunshine State Schooling HDT at the Florida Horse Park next weekend. Sam will be showing Brondo.

I will post pics of Katydid tomorrow evening (from home). Thanks to all of you for your supportive posts and I’m glad that y’all take the time to read about our show adventures…

Don

[pricestory]

Great job. 2nd in her 2nd advanced is a wonderful achievement. She, and all of you can be very proud.
Have a safe trip home. I’ll look forward to the pictures.

[Cartfall]

well done, gang. We are proud of ya. See ya there next week. I have a new gator as hubby wants the weekend off to go do car stuff.

[Jetiki]

Congrats to Sam and AJ. I’m sure Aj will enjoy going home where its warm and he’s not the popcicle anymore. Have a safe and uneventful trip home and we’ll be waiting for the pictures.

Karen

[Gestalt]

Awesome! Sounds like it was a lot of fun. Congratulations to Sam, AJ and Joanne.

[Happy_Feet]

Great job! Can’t wait to see the pictures! And video!!! Hopefully we’ll see you at the FL HP - we are hoping to get in - waiting for scratches!

[MySparrow]

Yay!!! There’s nothing at all to be sad about in winning the red ribbon instead of the blue! We’re really proud of you all!

Dale

[justslide]

That is excellent news! Congrats to Sam, AJ, and Joanne! And can’t wait to see pics!

Pam

[system]

Horseyfolk

I was so intrigued by your report I went to the web site. www.katydidfarm.com. To look at the results. What a great show it must have been. Jennifer Matheson to be 18 points in the lead after Dressage is unheard of. Her test of 44.27 must have been beautiful. I guess Sam was a distant second with a 61.87. Jennifer was just behind Sam on the marathon. With a 60.64 Sam was less than 4 points ahead with a 56.86. With an 18 point lead I guess all Jennifer needed to do is get all of the gates in the hazzards. Jennifer Matheson had to be working very hard to run the show and compete. To go into cones with a 14 point lead. The Final score for Jennifer was a 107.91. To win the advanced division with the closest competitor 18.84 points behind. Hats off to Jennifer Matheson. :winkgrin: I hope one day I can make to trip to Katydid. It seems like everyone had a great time.

[lorilu]

Free Westy, I guess it’s all avout perspective. As a friend of Sam’s, I take exception to the tone of your post. Do you realize she is a JUNIOR, this is her SECOND advanced level show, and she has ALREADY been long listed for pony world’s?

Yes, Jennifer did a fabulous job. Her pony has been to worlds, and they are a very experienced ADULT pair. She did a great job, and obviously deserved to win, and she won by a good margin.

Don’t forget Sam took second by a 10 point margin over the third place driver.

Sam makes all her friends proud with HER hard work, keeping an Honor-roll GPA at school (unlike many other upper-eschelon juniors in the equine world, she is not home schooled), travelling to shows, and generally whipping adult bu** with her halflinger. On top of it all, she is a fabulous person who regularly volunteers her time for her GMO and at various clinics.

It’s not (always) all about winning the Blue.
Loretta.

[horseyfolks]

Here are some pictures of Katydid as promised.

First let me make a correction… for having the fastest marathon time in the Advanced Division the team was awarded a beautiful ribbon, an engraved silver plate, and a one year subscription to Carriage Driving World Magazine. I had mistakenly posted that it was Carriage Driving Digest Magazine.

Back to the pictures… I never really know which pics to post. I usually have 125 to 150 pics of any single CDE and picking out the best can be really time consuming. I’m trying something new this time. I an going to post a series of pics of driving through hazard 2. The series shows how tight some of the gates in a hazard can be, especially when being driven at speed and on a diagional instead of straight on the gate. This whole line through the hazard was done at a canter. It also gives an idea of how much the pony twists and turns to accomodate the drivers commands. The last picture in this series shows how far the pony bends as he leans into the sharp turn while maintaining the canter. AJ was wearing screw in studs because the dry grass was very slippery…

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/haz201.JPG

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/haz202.JPG

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/haz203.JPG

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/haz204.JPG

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/haz205.JPG

Here are a couple pics of the cones course. To make advanced times the entire course was done at a canter on the long lines and a trot on the turns and zig zags…

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/cone01.JPG

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/cone02.JPG

Dressage pics…

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/dress01.JPG

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/dress02.JPG

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/dress03.JPG

Finally, here are a couple pics of hazard 6. There were 7 hazards in total. I know some of y’all are going to ask what is the gray piece on his nose band (It has already been asked on another board, I’m really not psychic)? It is a nasal strip. Just like the small strips they sell for human use to ease breathing and help stop snoring. Yes, in AJ’s case it does work. The strip helps keep his nasal passage open and makes a huge difference in his respiration at the vet check. His resp. numbers are almost as low at the end as they were when he started…

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/haz601.JPG

http://www.floridafatboy.com/Katydid/haz602.JPG

I hope y’all enjoy the pictures and thanks again for your support and encouragement for Sam.

Don

[Ashemont]

Ditto lorllu! Sami is an amazing young lady. She works hard and always has the time to lend a hand. Her devotion to her pony and sport is an inspiration. And to accomplish what she has as such a young age… well I think if this is the future of driving then it is in very good hands

Thanks for the photos, Don. Any chance you could post one of each hazard?

[Happy_Feet]

Super pictures! I like the series of the pictures - you get a great sense of what is going on! Like several stated above - Sammie does a super super job, and is an inpiration to all horsepeople - what ever sport. Dedication, hard work and a great attitude can take people a long way! Sammie is a testiment to that. It’s all about what’s inside - the person and the horse - heart!

[mares_tails]

Tone ?

[QUOTE=lorilu;2800146]
Free Westy, I guess it’s all avout perspective. As a friend of Sam’s, I take exception to the tone of your post. …
Loretta.[/QUOTE]

tone ???

“What a great show it must have been.”
“It seems like everyone had a great time.”

I don’t get it.

BTW, the katydid website has pix of the hazards, including the spiderweb
.

[Ashemont]

Thanks! I really enjoy looking at hazards and visualizing running them with my ponye:)

I think lorilu was referring to "I guess Sam was a distant second with a 61.87. Jennifer was just behind Sam on the marathon. With a 60.64 Sam was less than 4 points ahead with a 56.86. With an 18 point lead I guess all Jennifer needed to do is get all of the gates in the hazzards. " It also gave me the impression she was putting Sami down rather than lifting Jennifer up. The comparison was unnecessary and not what we’ve come to expect on this forum.

[lorilu]

Thanks, Ashemont. You got exactly what I meant. Maybe I could have worded it better…
L