We had a great 2017 Show Season! Some highlights:

Brio made his Third Level debut and did his first freestyle ever! He qualified for Regionals at Third Level and Third Level Freestyle and qualified for US Dressage Finals with his freestyle. 

Ava and Teresa showed their very first freestyle (which Teresa designed and did the music for) and qualified for Regionals, placing 5th out of the Adult Amateurs at Regional Championships. Ava was a seasoned professional at her very first Regional Championships! 

Brigid and Rhumba earned 2/3 of her USDF Bronze Medal in just three shows (Brigid's first three shows ever!) Brigid also took her mare, Tare to her first dressage show. They performed beautiful tests at Training Level. 

Leah rode Eliot ("Time Square") in his very first horse show ever, just a few months after arriving. He did Training Level for 70-74%, showing his exemplary character and super work ethic through rain, storms, puddles, wind and cold at Silverwood Farm. 

Sarah and Rhumba rode in a clinic with Lendon Gray, and learned a lot out at First Level, earning her First Level scores towards her Bronze Medal. 

Kate Hinz had a great year on Finley, who has grown up tremendously. Her other horse Ali, was well ridden by Jess Amundson, becoming a very steady little mare! Jess also had a great year with MHARF foster horse project, Nash. 

​Alex had a great year, getting Ciacci fit and show-ready and taking him to his first show in years! They did great at First Level. She also rode USA, owned by Spring Hill Farm in his first show in years. They did great and completed her First Level scores towards her USDF Bronze Medal. 

USA did his FEI debut with Leah at Prix St. George, settling back into the show ring with a 68% at PSG! 

Congratulations to everyone on a successful and hard working summer. Onward to a winter of homework and training. I can't wait for 2018! 

Leah had a fantastic time at Starwest Stables owned by Martin and Kate Kuhn for a Education Day for Certified Instructors led by Susanne von Dietze. Susanne is an internationally celebrated author, human physiotherapist, and FEI dressage rider and trainer. She is an absolute genius when it comes to rider seat and position. This was an immensely valuable educational opportunity. Thank you to Martin and Kate for hosting, Susanne for all the insight and to USDF for creating these special educational opportunities especially for Certified Instructors. 

Leah and Rhumba were the 2016 The Dressage Foundation Two Tempi Challenge Regional Reserve Champions! Thanks to all who contributed! 

Read the press release here: 
​http://www.dressagefoundation.org/newsroom/newsroom.html/article/2017/01/17/tdf-announces-winners-of-2016-two-tempi-challenge-sponsored-by-the-horse-of-course

I'm so excited to announce my new relationships with Custom Saddlery and Coach House Equestrian!
​I can't wait for my new Custom saddle to arrive. Stay tuned for exciting gear updates and please ask me about these excellent companies anytime! Many thanks to both Custom Saddlery and Coach House Equestiran. My horses and I will greatly appreciate your support into the future! 

What an amazing time at the USDF Convention with all these ladies! Huge Congratulations to Teresa Kolar and her Ava, and Amy Miller and her Sebastian on their USDF BRONZE MEDALS! Each of them have their own very special stories and journeys to this achievement and each deserves every moment of this celebration! Glad Sarah Chiodi could be here to experience this with us, and of course John and Steve. It's their medal too.

Leah and Rubinstar had a great time riding with Paul Belasik at the Leatherdale Equine Center. We got some really useful help improving the piaffe and canter pirouettes for the Grand Prix. Mr. Belasik is a master, and Rubinstar is a wonder horse! Thanks to CSDEA for hosting, and to Sarah Chiodi for grooming! 

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We did it! I'm so proud of this group of trainers who have gone through the USDF Instructor/Trainer Workshops and Pre-Certification together in Utah over the past year. We all passed our final testing! I owe the local Utah trainers an enormous "Thank You!" for helping to arrange facilities, horses and demo riders - even coming to my rescue when there were bumps in the road. What a supportive group. I literally could not have done it without all of you. The USDF faculty, examiners and organizers were amazing throughout the whole process. Special thanks also to Haley Johnson, who I met last year in Utah and who graciously agreed to be my groom and moral support for testing weekend! Thanks to Jennifer Baumert for encouraging me to go through the program in the first place. Of course thanks to my students and horses here at home that have helped me develop the skills and experience to get through this successfully and who endured a few extra lunge line lessons to help me practice for testing! As always, the staff back home at Spring Hill was amazing - the last thing you want is a sick horse at home when you're travelling, but all was well thanks to them and I only freaked out a little. I'm excited and proud to call myself a USDF Certified Instructor through Second Level! This program was rigorous and challenging, but I truly believe in it and I encourage all my fellow instructors to participate. You'll be better for it! 

Sweet Water Equestrian had a great time at Regionals! Rhumba and Leah were Reserve Champion in the Open Grand Prix Freestyle, and 7th in the Grand Prix Championship. Brio Tanzen, owned by Dale Lewis and Holly Sampson of Himmel Tanzen Farm was 3rd in his Second Level warm up class with a 69% and 9th in his Second Level Championship with a 64%. I'm so proud of Alexandra LaFleur and her young horse Hubert who earned a 65% in their Jr/Yr Training Level Championship. He had some young horse stunts over the weekend but they've gone from green-broke to Regionals in the last year and I'm so happy for them! Thank you so much to Sarah Chiodi (super-groom) who took photos and video, made the horses beautiful and kept them happy and comfy all week and provided quite a few laughs to boot. Always a good time! 

Thanks to everyone who makes these shows happen. It's no easy feat. Thanks to all the competitors who kept it classy, fun and competitive in literally every type of weather! We are a hard core bunch! 

A special thanks to my amazing family who all showed up the day after my grandma's belated memorial service to watch my freestyle that I created in honor of my grandparents. I think they would have like the Glenn Miller Orchestra inspiration! It all seemed perfect. 

I had a blast showing my two red-headed boys. They are such good horses - so much fun to ride and so sweet to be around. They are generous beyond measure and I love them dearly! 

More photos here: ​https://goo.gl/photos/nqfZzrkomeap3AFM6 

Had such a blast showing Rubinstar this weekend at beautiful Otter Creek Farm! This was his first time in the show ring in several years and his first time out at Grand Prix. We had a nice test with some mistakes on Saturday for a 59%, much better today to end on a 64%! He's an amazing horse, and so much fun to show. Thanks to Deanna Landwehr for all your work with him a while back, and to Anoka Equine Veterinary Services for taking such good care of him when he got sick in 2014. I wasn't sure if he'd ever make a full recovery but he feels better than ever at the age of 18! What a horse!

Congratulations to my students Erin Paul, Kate Hinz, Alex LaFleur and Amy Miller on successful shows also! Everyone had at least one blue ribbon on their stall and scores to be proud of! Thanks always to super groom Sarah Chiodi and my parents for helping out, feeding us, cheering us on and taking photos and video! Otter Creek Farm put on an excellent show as usual!