The End is Really Just the Beginning Isn't It?

Last week I did something that nobody ever thought I would do. I swept the aisle, cleaned the tack, unloaded the trailer, and worked for Kate the last time. Many of you who do not avidly follow my personal life (which I don't blame you for- it is quite dull to be honest.) will be scratching their head in awe at the moment... I know it's a confusing time for all of us.
Now might be a good time to let you in on the reason. Yeah, maybe I should have started with that but better late than never I always say. In two days I'm moving into campus at Notre Dame of Maryland University. A lot of people took my anti- collegiate monologues to heart; but my parents sure didn't. So if college is what I have to do to keep my horses, college is what I will do (and hopefully be damn good at it) .
The next big question is probably- "Why Notre Dame?" or "There's a Notre Dame in Maryland?". Yes, there is a Notre Dame in Maryland, non affiliated with the school with all the football- you could really see me fitting in with the Fighting Irish right? Wrong. Since I was a little girl I always wanted to go to college in Baltimore. My parents would take me out to the harbor, or shopping, or to John's Hopkins. I was just so enchanted with the rich history and culture of the town. So when it came time to applied to colleges, I honestly just applied to schools in Baltimore. I was in Aiken competing horses for the winter, I hadn't been to any of them. The first acceptance letter I got was from Notre Dame pretty quickly after applying, and yes I did get into other schools, but I never felt the need to visit them. The first thing we did when I got home from Aiken was visit NDMU, and I was encapsulated in exactly what I wanted in a school. It was small, and all the buildings were old, it was liberal arts, and they actually cared. So next thing you know- a whole summer has passed by and I'm moving in. It's crazy to think about it.
Yes, I will still be riding, competing, and keeping my horses at Sunset Hill. Honestly, people's amazement at that really catches me off guard. I'm just viewing my time as Notre Dame while not working for Kate a time to concentrate on me and my horses specifically.
Kate helped shape me into the person, and most certainly the rider I am today. I'm ever thankful for the opportunity to be her right hand girl these past couple of years.
Don't worry I'll be back soon
xx
Little One

Let Them Eat Cake is now qualified for YEH championships!

It is with great honor that I can announce that Marie has qualified for YEH championships within her first two Young Event Horse competitions. These judge her on her aptitude on becoming a competitive upper level event horse. The program is such an exciting move because it gives a great base for young horses and their owners!
I'm so excited to compete Marie at the Championships this fall and hopefully the judges will think she is just as amazing as I do!
Many thanks to my many supporters who believed me when Marie was just a scraggly off the track with a long mane- including but not limited to my awesome parents,  Phyllis Stein, C4, and my trainer Kate Chadderton
Emily

So Far So Good: Aiken Off To A Great Start

The first couple of weeks of Aiken are already over and everything has been going great! Marie has taken the additional training, learning cross country, and her first few shows totally in stride and is gearing up for her first event as Sporting Days at the end of the week.

Marie at her first combined test 

She placed 2nd at her first combined test, and third in both the intro and the beginner novice division of her first Derby cross. She is starting to develop a brave and careful form over fences and her muscles are starting to develop very well (she may have even grown!).

Marie cross country schooling for the first time 

I'm looking forward to her gaining more experience and confidence so that it matches her incredible natural jump with the hopes of competing her in the Young Event Horse Series later this year.

Marie cross country schooling for the first time

I look forward to a bright future with my incredible baby horse!
Until next time!
Emily

Preparing for Aiken

Over the last month and a half I've had the pleasure of getting to know the most amazing little horse ever. The new addition to the team "Let Them Eat Cake" aka Marie joined us on my 17th birthday. She's just a lanky dark bay mare but I can already tell she's something really special. She picks everything up so quickly, her dressage is excelling at an almost alarming rate and her jumping is spectacular.

We're looking forward to the great trek to South Carolina a week from today with the goals of Marie competing at Paradise, Sporting Days and Pine Top Spring. Hopefully this time next year little Marie will be preparing for her first prelim.

Thanks go out to my awesome parents, trainer and the whole team at After The Races.  Marie is the most wonderful four year old and I'm so excited for her bright future.

A Step In The Right Direction

Today Sasha and I competed at Waredaca August HT. Things didn't end exactly as planned- but I feel that we improved greatly on our previous runs!
In dressage we scored a 37, after putting in a decent test- both preforming the movements and slowing down. I was so happy with her!
We had a foot perfect show jump round (That caused a lot of others some problems!) to add no points on  to our dressage score. Kate and I both felt we had a much more mature round than in the past.
The first half of cross country was awesome and Sasha sailed over all the jumps and combinations. Unfortunately at jump 11, I was alerted to the fact that I had actually forgotten fence 8, so I received a technical elimination. Happens to the best of us I guess!

Success At Fair Hill!

This past weekend at Fair Hill was a success!
Sasha and I warmed up wonderfully for the dressage- but sadly we warmed up for too long so she got a bit tense and went in and did not preform to the best of her ability! We still scored a 43!
We had an awesome clear show jump round! and a clear xc adding five time penalties!
Bonus is that we finished fourth! And second as a junior!
We head to Waredaca this weekend!
Thanks to everyone that came to support us!

Here We Go

So sorry everyone for the lack of blogs! But lately I have been working my fingers to the bone and spending all my free time watching youtube videos of horses.
Why? You may ask?
Well! It's official Sasha and I did our first prelim! After our two awesome runs at Fair Hill, we competed at Seneca, Sure Fire, and Waredaca. We had awesome runs at all three and were feeling plenty pumped up, after some schooling, for the big day last saturday at Loch Moy #2.

We had a minor melt down in the dressage, but still ended with a good 40 in the dressage.

Our show jumping was surprisingly clear, Sasha and I's trouble area showed tons of improvement!

And then we had an awesome cross country round!

Our next event is Fair Hill International! See you guys there!

Emily






Photo Credit: Sarah Jeffrey