10/8/10 - Just wanted to pop in a quick note saying that the F.A.C.E. Team is having a great, and so far successful, time here at WEG! All of our training has been paying off - we are in the lead of the competition after compulsories (Score of 7.207)! Yay! Go USA! Second comes Germany, with a score of 6.996, and then Austria with a score of 6.990.
Today we will be competing our first round of team freestyle around 5:30pm (Eastern time). We are very excited, and of course a little nervous. This morning/ afternoon we will be preparing for our performance - hair, make-up, sports-psychology session with Katie, and warming up for our go. We'll also be supporting our fellow Team USAer's as they compete individually.
Taking lot's of pictures. The horse park is absolutely beautiful! I've gotten to watch some Stadium Jumping, but I've mostly been spending my time in the vaulting arena, the barn, walking around the shops, and trading pins! It's tons of fun!
Palatine is doing marvelously! He received the highest team horse score on Wednesday, and we are VERY proud of our beautiful, amazing boy! He's doing such a good job. He's happy to be here! We love you Pally! :-)
Keep us grounded! Wish us luck!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Quick note - Training update!
9/16/10 - Training Update - Week 2 -
Every day, we go to the barn between 8 and 10am. From then on, practice, walking horses, cleaning stalls, grooming horses, turning them out, working-out, washing horses, riding horses, having fun, going in the boat at the lake, etc... starts! It's so fun to be there all day! I've been able to ride Cheval around - Trails, road, arena, in the fields, we can do it all, and BAREBACK! He's so much fun to ride! And just want to say, a big THANK YOU to Tammy (barn owner) for her amazing hospitality. Thank you for opening your home and facility up to all of us crazy vaulters. Without you and your family, this would never be able to happen!
Ok, so for that training update, we've been working pretty hard in this hot, humid weather. Every day we've been working on the barrel, going for a short run, and doing lot's of stretching. Conditioning, too. It's like being in Europe, it feels like Germany, looks like Germany, and we're doing what we'd be doing if we were in Germany. It's great! The only thing that's different is that everyone here speaks English, and Cheval, Pally, Spike, Rubin, Phoenix, Hobie, and Hudson are here. All of out babies :-) They're such good ponies!
Our last freestyle training practice went quite well - I did all of my freestyle parts just about perfectly! The beginning of the freestyle is on it's way to WEG quality, and Devon't Pas de Deux is looking great with Rosey. It's really coming along well. Compulsories are proving a little more challenging, but tomorrow (Friday) we are only going to focus on them. We are also going to try a little different surcingle that proved to do us better before.
Today, we did a lot of compulsory drills, too. Mount, mill, scissors, and 1st half of Flank were the main focuses. And, I'm so excited, I FINALLY got a little sore on my belly button! Now, mine isn't bleeding (not that much) like the other girls were not to long ago, but hey, I finally earned my bruises! I'm so proud of myself! HA! The things I get excited about in this sport, gotta love vaulting!
Today we also did each of our freestyle mounts 6 times, and I did all of my parts 3+ times. That was fun. Devon, and Nanners, I have a nice little bruise on my arm from one of your vice-grips! I haven't figured out who this one is from.... hehehehe ;-)
So... I'll be waking up bright and early tomorrow to training my brain with homework, and then training my body for WEG! WHOOHOO! I had, yet again, another extreme realization that we are GOING TO THE WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES!!!!! YAY!
Talk soon! And don't worry, I'm taking some pictures!
Every day, we go to the barn between 8 and 10am. From then on, practice, walking horses, cleaning stalls, grooming horses, turning them out, working-out, washing horses, riding horses, having fun, going in the boat at the lake, etc... starts! It's so fun to be there all day! I've been able to ride Cheval around - Trails, road, arena, in the fields, we can do it all, and BAREBACK! He's so much fun to ride! And just want to say, a big THANK YOU to Tammy (barn owner) for her amazing hospitality. Thank you for opening your home and facility up to all of us crazy vaulters. Without you and your family, this would never be able to happen!
Ok, so for that training update, we've been working pretty hard in this hot, humid weather. Every day we've been working on the barrel, going for a short run, and doing lot's of stretching. Conditioning, too. It's like being in Europe, it feels like Germany, looks like Germany, and we're doing what we'd be doing if we were in Germany. It's great! The only thing that's different is that everyone here speaks English, and Cheval, Pally, Spike, Rubin, Phoenix, Hobie, and Hudson are here. All of out babies :-) They're such good ponies!
Our last freestyle training practice went quite well - I did all of my freestyle parts just about perfectly! The beginning of the freestyle is on it's way to WEG quality, and Devon't Pas de Deux is looking great with Rosey. It's really coming along well. Compulsories are proving a little more challenging, but tomorrow (Friday) we are only going to focus on them. We are also going to try a little different surcingle that proved to do us better before.
Today, we did a lot of compulsory drills, too. Mount, mill, scissors, and 1st half of Flank were the main focuses. And, I'm so excited, I FINALLY got a little sore on my belly button! Now, mine isn't bleeding (not that much) like the other girls were not to long ago, but hey, I finally earned my bruises! I'm so proud of myself! HA! The things I get excited about in this sport, gotta love vaulting!
Today we also did each of our freestyle mounts 6 times, and I did all of my parts 3+ times. That was fun. Devon, and Nanners, I have a nice little bruise on my arm from one of your vice-grips! I haven't figured out who this one is from.... hehehehe ;-)
So... I'll be waking up bright and early tomorrow to training my brain with homework, and then training my body for WEG! WHOOHOO! I had, yet again, another extreme realization that we are GOING TO THE WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES!!!!! YAY!
Talk soon! And don't worry, I'm taking some pictures!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
First Day of Training in TN -Compulsories
9/12/10 - On Sept. 10, the whole FACE team was reunited to each other after 10 days off of team training. While we are here prior to WEG, we will be training 6 days a week (Monday we have off). This was our first 3 day weekend "clinic." It went ok. It deffinatly proved to be a "LEARNING" weekend, really enabling us to set into WEG training mode.
Day 1 - Friday Compulsory Day - Today was the first time I'd ever been to the barn, and boy did (and do) I love it! It's so beautiful there - The horse facility is lovely, the grass is all green, and the environment refreshing and relaxing (well, when it's not pouring rain with thunder and lighteninr!). All of the horses are happy and healthy. Pally, Cheval, and Van Dyck made it to TN piece of cake! I helped Carolyn with some horse chores for the firt part of the day. Turned out the horses, took Pally on the walk, groomed Pally, cleaned his stall, etc... It was fun! Right in my element!
Training was ok, not perfect, but there were good qualities. Everyone was a little rusty from the time off of team training. Some of us had actually almost 10 days off of vaulting completely. Pally had some pent up energy from being in his stall, and is still recovering from the drive to TN. He was a little frisky at practice! We worked a lot on the first 3 comps, also a little scissors/ clicks and stand. With some more focus and "grounded" energy, it would have turned out 10 times better, but hey, first practice! :-)
Barrel training consisted of drills and compulsory run-throughs. Some strength training on the ground, stretching, and a short run.
Blake and I trained on Cheval in the early afternoon, just for fun, but it was actually really good training. We only worked on first 3 comps and stand. Cheval is perfect for that kind of training! I am focusing more and more on my riding seat - Conciously trying to do it like I am riding in the perfect dressage seat, totally in flow with the horse. Let me tell you though, it's much more difficult when you have short legs! hehehehe ;-) My flag seems to be getting stronger. And my mill is on it's way.
Day 1 - Friday Compulsory Day - Today was the first time I'd ever been to the barn, and boy did (and do) I love it! It's so beautiful there - The horse facility is lovely, the grass is all green, and the environment refreshing and relaxing (well, when it's not pouring rain with thunder and lighteninr!). All of the horses are happy and healthy. Pally, Cheval, and Van Dyck made it to TN piece of cake! I helped Carolyn with some horse chores for the firt part of the day. Turned out the horses, took Pally on the walk, groomed Pally, cleaned his stall, etc... It was fun! Right in my element!
Training was ok, not perfect, but there were good qualities. Everyone was a little rusty from the time off of team training. Some of us had actually almost 10 days off of vaulting completely. Pally had some pent up energy from being in his stall, and is still recovering from the drive to TN. He was a little frisky at practice! We worked a lot on the first 3 comps, also a little scissors/ clicks and stand. With some more focus and "grounded" energy, it would have turned out 10 times better, but hey, first practice! :-)
Barrel training consisted of drills and compulsory run-throughs. Some strength training on the ground, stretching, and a short run.
Blake and I trained on Cheval in the early afternoon, just for fun, but it was actually really good training. We only worked on first 3 comps and stand. Cheval is perfect for that kind of training! I am focusing more and more on my riding seat - Conciously trying to do it like I am riding in the perfect dressage seat, totally in flow with the horse. Let me tell you though, it's much more difficult when you have short legs! hehehehe ;-) My flag seems to be getting stronger. And my mill is on it's way.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday - Team USA Clinic - 8/21, 22/10
Sunday - Team USA Clinic -
More vaulting on Sunday. At 8am, we had an hour follow up Sports Psychology session with Katie Purvelle, doing a couple communication exercises and learning a couple more tools for focusing, concentration, preparation, and all that good stuff! Also going over some of the tools we learned the day before, settling into the ones that we all agreed would really be beneficial to us.
For the next hour, we had a session with Isabelle Bibbler. With Isabelle, we watched our freestyle on the computer and took notes on things that we needed to work on. Things like where we were looking, straight legs, pointed toes, making things exact... Mostly fine details. Then, Isabelle took her notes to the barrel and worked through our freestyle with us. It was very helpful. I am working extra hard on my straight legs and pointed toes after all of the critiqueing that Isabelle gave me!
The team continued to work on the freestyle with Emma Seely after our time with Isabelle. Emma continued the critique of our freestyle - little details, finess, and pin-points. We made a simple change to my flying part, which made it much more steadier. We were also made very clear that we need to have our freestyle set, and stick with it. I think that this was one of the last changes to be made.
After Lunch, we went back to the barrel to prepare for our photo-shoot with Lynne Owen, and Compulsory training with Craig Coburn. Pally was washed and braided and in all of his beautiful clean tack, and we were dressed in our freestyle uniforms with our hair up and makeup on, just like competition. One of the photos that Lynne took will be used for the cover of the Equestrian Vaulting Magazine. Can't wait to see which one!
Finally, after the photo-shoot, we got back into our training clothes, and got back on the horse. We all worked on flight and scissor turns with Craig on the horse. Craig also gave me some helpful tips on making my mount better. By the way, my mount has improved! YAY! Craig told us alot about the scoring of the scissors. A lot is based on the scissor turn - 1/4 turn at the top. Even in a complete handstand, if you aren't turned at the top, you could still get a 5 on you scissors!
TEAM USA BONDING - All of the girls, all of the guys, and the team joined together after the vaulting part of the day to have a group bonding/ sports psychology session with Katie. Katie led us through visualization, focus/ preparation tools, and she had us list our personal, team USA, and the sport of vaulting goals for WEG. It was great to see all of the ideas from ALL of the vaulters. I think that especially after this session, we are ALL going to be working as a WHOLE TEAM at the games. CAN"T WAIT!!!!! :-)
Last part of the day - more vaulting! Blake, Rosey, Mary, Mary, and I did a jumping workout. Following that, we worked lots on mounts, clicks, scissor clicks, 2nd half of flank clicks, and just flat out compulsories! Mary McCormick coached me as I did a runthrough of my compulsories. I learned an important factor of the mill, and a technique that I think is really going to be helping me get into a handstand in my flight more often. Thanks Mary!
HOME - Rode Okie down the road. Fed the horses and said "Good Night!" to a great weekend!
More vaulting on Sunday. At 8am, we had an hour follow up Sports Psychology session with Katie Purvelle, doing a couple communication exercises and learning a couple more tools for focusing, concentration, preparation, and all that good stuff! Also going over some of the tools we learned the day before, settling into the ones that we all agreed would really be beneficial to us.
For the next hour, we had a session with Isabelle Bibbler. With Isabelle, we watched our freestyle on the computer and took notes on things that we needed to work on. Things like where we were looking, straight legs, pointed toes, making things exact... Mostly fine details. Then, Isabelle took her notes to the barrel and worked through our freestyle with us. It was very helpful. I am working extra hard on my straight legs and pointed toes after all of the critiqueing that Isabelle gave me!
The team continued to work on the freestyle with Emma Seely after our time with Isabelle. Emma continued the critique of our freestyle - little details, finess, and pin-points. We made a simple change to my flying part, which made it much more steadier. We were also made very clear that we need to have our freestyle set, and stick with it. I think that this was one of the last changes to be made.
After Lunch, we went back to the barrel to prepare for our photo-shoot with Lynne Owen, and Compulsory training with Craig Coburn. Pally was washed and braided and in all of his beautiful clean tack, and we were dressed in our freestyle uniforms with our hair up and makeup on, just like competition. One of the photos that Lynne took will be used for the cover of the Equestrian Vaulting Magazine. Can't wait to see which one!
Finally, after the photo-shoot, we got back into our training clothes, and got back on the horse. We all worked on flight and scissor turns with Craig on the horse. Craig also gave me some helpful tips on making my mount better. By the way, my mount has improved! YAY! Craig told us alot about the scoring of the scissors. A lot is based on the scissor turn - 1/4 turn at the top. Even in a complete handstand, if you aren't turned at the top, you could still get a 5 on you scissors!
TEAM USA BONDING - All of the girls, all of the guys, and the team joined together after the vaulting part of the day to have a group bonding/ sports psychology session with Katie. Katie led us through visualization, focus/ preparation tools, and she had us list our personal, team USA, and the sport of vaulting goals for WEG. It was great to see all of the ideas from ALL of the vaulters. I think that especially after this session, we are ALL going to be working as a WHOLE TEAM at the games. CAN"T WAIT!!!!! :-)
Last part of the day - more vaulting! Blake, Rosey, Mary, Mary, and I did a jumping workout. Following that, we worked lots on mounts, clicks, scissor clicks, 2nd half of flank clicks, and just flat out compulsories! Mary McCormick coached me as I did a runthrough of my compulsories. I learned an important factor of the mill, and a technique that I think is really going to be helping me get into a handstand in my flight more often. Thanks Mary!
HOME - Rode Okie down the road. Fed the horses and said "Good Night!" to a great weekend!
Saturday - Team USA Clinic - 8/21, 22/10
8/21, 22/10 - Team USA Clinic - Saturday
Congrats to all of the vaulters (and other equestrians) who have qualified for the World Equestrian Games! Now, it's all of matter of perfect practice and preparation this month, really getting into gear for the next! It's going to be so exciting! For vaulting, the qualified athletes are:
Womens:
Megan Benjamin
Mary McCormick
Ali Divita
Katherine Wick (Alternate)
Mens:
Kenny Giesler
Todd Griffiths
Kristian Roberts
Patrick Stevens (Alternate)
Team:
F.A.C.E. Vaulting Team (WHOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!)
All of the qualified vaulters participated in the Team USA Training Clinics.
Following the session with Sarah Ike, our team a 3 hour Sports Psychology session with Katie Purvelle. We worked through lots of communication and bonding exercises, learned tools for "grounding" ourselves, focusing, communicating, preparing, etc... It was very interesting, and very helpful to learn all of the valuable tools that Katie had to teach us. I really think that they are going to help us make the most of our training to come, and make the best, most enjoyable experience out of WEG.
During lunch break, we learned to be models for our professional headshots, taken by Lynne Owen (for press releases), and we were custom fitted into Ariat Clothing for opening ceremonies. During the fitting, I found out that Ariat was going to make a custom sized outfit for me, because the picked out outfit didn't come in my size. So, I'll be the only 4'6, 14 year old girl in an Ariat adult outfit that's her size! COOL!
Our last class of the day was a session with the USEF Media Trainer. Our 3 hour session consisted of learning all the little hints and tricks of interviews, how to present ourselves during an interview, how to speak properly during an interview, how to get YOUR point across no matter what kinds of questions are asked, etc... We were also interviewed by the media trainer as testers so that the trainer could pin-point little things that we need to work on for our real interviews. My mom was very excited to hear that we got media trained, she now has no doubt that come an interview at the games, I'll do just fine!
Lastly on Saturday, we vaulted on the barrels for a couple hours. I worked on compulsory exercises, drills, stretching, and runthroughs of my compulsories. Then the whole team worked on the freestyle on the barrel. Lynne Owen took some really nice pictures of our freestyle on the barrel, which next day lead to her taking some outstanding pictures on the horse!......... :-)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Training Weekend - 8/12, 13, 14, 15/ 10
8/17/10 - Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, few! What a few days. Very accomplishing weekend. Got lots of good work done, on the horse and barrel. Thursday, was compulsory and freestyle based - the typical weekday practice. Friday, same thing, but no horse. Saturday, C O M P U L S O R I E S, followed by a choreography clinic with Katie Puevrelle. Sunday - Compulsories and freestyle - Big time!
This month and the next, the team is really working on all of the fine details - Perfecting each and every motion, move, finger, toe, arm, leg, face, etc..., in the freestyle. We did so many runthroughs. We are really focusing on boosting our composition and performance scores. We did lots of good composition boosting work this weekend, now it's just gonna be building on that and adding in all of the work to benefit our performance score. We have to become sooo steady - there can't be a single bobble in our freestyle, nor compulsories! Devon, Mary, and I have added in a pretty cool move to our first part. I think it's going to be a pretty amazing surprise! It's a little scary for me, but I have 100% trust in my base, so we're gonna rock it. I have a pretty good feeling that this year, the WEG audience is going to get the performance of their life! Knock on wood!!!
Compulsories are coming along. We'll have to do lots of work to accomplish gold medal compulsories. It ain't easy! On Saturday, we did compulsory work upon compulsory work. Everyone hit a handstand on the horse that day, but the whole team needs to put so much effort into gaining the perfection consistency. It takes more than just repeating compulsory moves, too. We have to be physically strong in so many ways. Core, arms, legs, back, push, pull, sprint, jump, coordination, all that good stuff. On our clinic weekends especially, the whole team does all kinds of exercises to improve our comps. This weekend, on Saturday, the team went on a good, 2 mile run in Woodside. We all have to keep up on our cardio fitness as well as strength, and FLEXIBILITY, which I need to do some more work on...
Palatine is doing very well. He is getting stronger and stronger, more aerobically fit, and supple, and gaining more dressage skills, which makes for the perfect vaulting horse. We are all very proud of him. He is the horse to be representing Team USA! Pally's one of those horses who you just never doubt. He's so good for us, and he knows his job. I love him so much. When I run out to him, I look him in the eye, and just think, "We got this, Pal," and he just knows. I've got a pretty good bond with that amazing horse, and I feel so lucky, so fortunate to have it.
Can't wait to write again about next weekend's training, and USEF camp. Talk soon!
P.S. Thank you everyone for your support so far, it's been such a huge help! I hope that you will be able to continue to help me - you can click the link to my website, and then from there, click the "MAKE A DONATION!!!" link. I could use all the help I could get. Please, please help support me, and the F.A.C.E. Team in Tennessee and Kentucky this Fall! GO USA!
This month and the next, the team is really working on all of the fine details - Perfecting each and every motion, move, finger, toe, arm, leg, face, etc..., in the freestyle. We did so many runthroughs. We are really focusing on boosting our composition and performance scores. We did lots of good composition boosting work this weekend, now it's just gonna be building on that and adding in all of the work to benefit our performance score. We have to become sooo steady - there can't be a single bobble in our freestyle, nor compulsories! Devon, Mary, and I have added in a pretty cool move to our first part. I think it's going to be a pretty amazing surprise! It's a little scary for me, but I have 100% trust in my base, so we're gonna rock it. I have a pretty good feeling that this year, the WEG audience is going to get the performance of their life! Knock on wood!!!
Compulsories are coming along. We'll have to do lots of work to accomplish gold medal compulsories. It ain't easy! On Saturday, we did compulsory work upon compulsory work. Everyone hit a handstand on the horse that day, but the whole team needs to put so much effort into gaining the perfection consistency. It takes more than just repeating compulsory moves, too. We have to be physically strong in so many ways. Core, arms, legs, back, push, pull, sprint, jump, coordination, all that good stuff. On our clinic weekends especially, the whole team does all kinds of exercises to improve our comps. This weekend, on Saturday, the team went on a good, 2 mile run in Woodside. We all have to keep up on our cardio fitness as well as strength, and FLEXIBILITY, which I need to do some more work on...
Palatine is doing very well. He is getting stronger and stronger, more aerobically fit, and supple, and gaining more dressage skills, which makes for the perfect vaulting horse. We are all very proud of him. He is the horse to be representing Team USA! Pally's one of those horses who you just never doubt. He's so good for us, and he knows his job. I love him so much. When I run out to him, I look him in the eye, and just think, "We got this, Pal," and he just knows. I've got a pretty good bond with that amazing horse, and I feel so lucky, so fortunate to have it.
Can't wait to write again about next weekend's training, and USEF camp. Talk soon!
P.S. Thank you everyone for your support so far, it's been such a huge help! I hope that you will be able to continue to help me - you can click the link to my website, and then from there, click the "MAKE A DONATION!!!" link. I could use all the help I could get. Please, please help support me, and the F.A.C.E. Team in Tennessee and Kentucky this Fall! GO USA!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Goal #1 - Accomplished.
8/11/10 - Ok, so it's been a really long time since I've written... Sorry readers. I've been so busy training (vaulting), riding, and playing in the Summer sun, that the days have just been flying by and I have missed so much writing time! So, I'll do a quick fill in before I get to the real deal!
In these few months (May - August), the team has been extremely successful. We won all of our selection trials after Garrods - Woodside Fest and FACE-Off. We also ventured to Koln, Germany, to train for the Aachen CHIO**, where we placed 5th. That was quite the experience! Then, just less than two weeks ago, our team became the 2010 USEF/ AVA National Champions, and I became the 3rd place Silver Womens Champion. Now - you know what that means......
...The F.A.C.E. Team is going to be representing the USA at the World Equestrian Games, September 25 - October 10, 2010!!! This month, and the month of September, we will be training very hard, with immense amounts of focus, concentration, and drive. We will do our country proud! In August we will be training every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Saturday and Sunday, all day. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, half days. The first week of September, the team, and Palatine, are off to Tennessee, where we will be training for the month of September for WEG. On October 3 or 4, we will head on down to Kentucky for final pre-WEG training at the horsepark, while being housed in athlete housing. It's going to be great! I'm very excited for the rest of this year. I can't wait to fly for the USA!
You all know that I've said this a million times, but I'm gonna say it again - This endeavour is going to be extraordinarily expensive. My housing in Tennessee/ Kentucky will be quite pricey per day, and for over 30 days. That will add up to well over $1,000! And that's just the housing, just a bed and a bathroom! I really could use your help. If you could donate just $5 or $10, it would be soooo helpful. Let's make this happen for Team USA! To donate, just click on the link to my website (on the upper right-hand corner of the blog), and click the make a donation link. It's very simple from there. Thank you sooo much for considering supporting me and the F.A.C.E. Team, and thank you a million times to the people who have been supporting me along the way.
GO USA! Go F.A.C.E.!!!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Garrods May Fest - Selection Trial #1
5/15/10 - Garrods May Fest, Selection Trail #1, First Place!
All of our long, hard training has payed off! The F.A.C.E. Team had a very successful competition this past weekend, winning compulsories and freestyle. Palatine was absolutely amazing! He held a beautiful canter for each of our goes and recieved 7.0's as his horse scores. His stride was floaty and easy to vault on! We are so very proud of our horse! Thank you to Carolyn for longing us, we could never have done this without you! Also, thank you to all of the people who have supported us so far this year!
The day before -
On Friday morning, I met Rosey at the workshop where our uniforms were made. We were the first ones to see them :-) Rosey and I drove to Woodside, where we spent the whole day with Anna, Devon, Sarah, Anna D., Mari, and Mary getting ready for Saturday. We washed Pally, cleaned tack, loaded the trailer, fitted our uniforms, got our numbers sown on, and ran through comps and freestyle on the barrel. Pally got a break from vaulting and was ridden by Carolyn. Then, we all went home, ate well, packed, and went to bed. I fell asleep visualizing on Friday night, it was an amazing feeling!
Competition day -
We all arrived at Garrods around 10am on Saturday morning to get our hair and makeup done. Our compulsory go wasn't until 1:50pm. Around 12:45pm, we ran, stretched, and started preparing for our compulsories. We had an early lunch, relaxed, and visualized. We were in the warm up arena at 1:40pm, ran in to compete, and came with extreme happiness! Multiple people on our team his handstands and held perfect stands (Devon got a 10!), along with showing ease and finesse throughout all of our other compulsories. It was successful. After comps, we immediatly went into freestyle mode. Now, it was REALLY time to FOCUS. We stretched more, worked on things on the barrel, did runthroughs with music, and went to the warm up arena at 3:50pm for our 4pm go. We lined up in our creative "clump," and raised our hand for our music. O yea, we were pumped. Our music is amazing! Intense! Inspiring! I was ready to rock, and so was everyone else. Our freestyle was almost flawless. My flying parts were very solid. Every one was in awe of the ceiling fan! Then, as Devon landed his last backflip (soon to be a layout), we all realized that we just completed our first selection trial, and that we very well could have won. All we could think of is what was next to come when they would post the scores. About an hour after our freestyle, it was announced that we won the first competition, the first selection trail. The F.A.C.E. Team is a huge step closer to the World Equestrian Games! WHOOHOOOOO!!!!
Please continue to follow my blog and support the F.A.C.E. Team throughout the year! We need your help! Next competition - Woodside Spring Fest, June 5th and 6th.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Week + Weekend #2
4/20/10 - 4/25/10 Team Training.
This week/ weekend we successfully completed runthroughs at the canter multiple times. It was very pleasing. Of course, there were imperfections throughout, but only small details. It was tons of fun! Pally was so good, especially on Sunday for our last runthrough. He was so easy to vault on! I am so proud of that horse, I love him!
First, I'll tell you a little bit about our week... Tuesday was a compulsory day - Serious concentrated work on the horse and barrel. We really worked on our flight (handstands during the scissor exercise) and on our stands. We've got to be very concentrated and steady during our compulsories - we take time to visualize what we need to work on before we get on the horse, and then really focus on certain things once we're on. Comps have to be sooo perfect! Perfect practice makes perfect! All the same for freestyle! Wednesday, we only worked on the barrel, pin-pointing our choreography. Thursday was the first of our multiple run-throughs. We worked on the freestyle a lot on the barrel, did a lot of run-throughs, and then took it to the horse. SUCCESS!!! After the horse, we returned to the barrel and worked on the things that needed to be addressed. After practice, I went home to celebrate my dad's birthday - Happy (belated) Birthday Dad! Friday, just like Thursday, except the horse work was spot cleaning - work on certain parts rather than a run-through. We went good run on Friday afternoon, followed by some intense stretching! Now for Saturday and Sunday...
The focus of the weekend was freestyle, freestyle, freestyle. It was tiring, but very successful! We listened to our music, let it seep inside of us, and we vaulted to it with expression and passion. I love the strong dance influence that we have on the team! It gives vaulting so much more feeling! On Saturday, we went straight to the barrel in the morning and started to spot clean and choreograph EVEN MORE of the freestyle. Then, we did freestyle, after, freestyle, after freestyle! Lunch, and then more work on the barrel and freestyle parts on the horse. Sunday, DRESS-REHEARSAL! We did a very successful run-through on Palatine. I really think that the audience is going to enjoy our performance!
Speaking of performance, we will be having a F.A.C.E. Team Benefit Performance on May 9th at 5:00pm, at the Stanford Red Barn. If you would like to find out even more about our event, please e-mail me at horsetrayner@sbcglobal.net and/or find our event page on facebook. You can search "Equestrian Performance at Stanford Red Barn." I hope that you will be able to attend and be one of the first to see the F.A.C.E. Team perform in 2010!
This week/ weekend we successfully completed runthroughs at the canter multiple times. It was very pleasing. Of course, there were imperfections throughout, but only small details. It was tons of fun! Pally was so good, especially on Sunday for our last runthrough. He was so easy to vault on! I am so proud of that horse, I love him!
First, I'll tell you a little bit about our week... Tuesday was a compulsory day - Serious concentrated work on the horse and barrel. We really worked on our flight (handstands during the scissor exercise) and on our stands. We've got to be very concentrated and steady during our compulsories - we take time to visualize what we need to work on before we get on the horse, and then really focus on certain things once we're on. Comps have to be sooo perfect! Perfect practice makes perfect! All the same for freestyle! Wednesday, we only worked on the barrel, pin-pointing our choreography. Thursday was the first of our multiple run-throughs. We worked on the freestyle a lot on the barrel, did a lot of run-throughs, and then took it to the horse. SUCCESS!!! After the horse, we returned to the barrel and worked on the things that needed to be addressed. After practice, I went home to celebrate my dad's birthday - Happy (belated) Birthday Dad! Friday, just like Thursday, except the horse work was spot cleaning - work on certain parts rather than a run-through. We went good run on Friday afternoon, followed by some intense stretching! Now for Saturday and Sunday...
The focus of the weekend was freestyle, freestyle, freestyle. It was tiring, but very successful! We listened to our music, let it seep inside of us, and we vaulted to it with expression and passion. I love the strong dance influence that we have on the team! It gives vaulting so much more feeling! On Saturday, we went straight to the barrel in the morning and started to spot clean and choreograph EVEN MORE of the freestyle. Then, we did freestyle, after, freestyle, after freestyle! Lunch, and then more work on the barrel and freestyle parts on the horse. Sunday, DRESS-REHEARSAL! We did a very successful run-through on Palatine. I really think that the audience is going to enjoy our performance!
Speaking of performance, we will be having a F.A.C.E. Team Benefit Performance on May 9th at 5:00pm, at the Stanford Red Barn. If you would like to find out even more about our event, please e-mail me at horsetrayner@sbcglobal.net and/or find our event page on facebook. You can search "Equestrian Performance at Stanford Red Barn." I hope that you will be able to attend and be one of the first to see the F.A.C.E. Team perform in 2010!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Weekend #1 of 10 day training
4/15/10 - 4/18/10. Weekend #1 out of 10 day training camp. Just a short note -
Wow. Yawn. Ouch. Yay! Cool. Good boy Pally! Along with many more little comments like those... Successful weekend, very progressive. We did so so so sooooo much freestyle, on the horse and on the barrel. It was tiring, but defiantly fun, exciting, and enjoyable. I love this team to death! Palatine never ceases to amaze me. The increase in his abilities from last month to this month are huge! He is doing so well! In 2008, the last thing that came to my mind when I saw Pally was "freestyle horse," now, it's the first! He's an amazing freestyle horse! His canter flows so fluently and swiftly, he has such great movement. I can't wait to compete on him, he completely completes the performance! I love you, Pally!
Anna (banana waffles) and I got a lot of practice in on our part. It was really nice to be able to practice it over and over and over again. Although, it was pretty hard-core! Speaking of hard-core, we all went on the coolest bike ride around Woodside on Saturday. I got to ride my Bertin Racer bike for the first time. I was a little bit proud of myself for making it all the way up the hill on my bike, even around the "curve of death!" I've never been able to pedal all the way up! The nice sunny weather was inspiring this past weekend, it is so much better to vault in the warm, beautiful sunshine. I feel so much stronger, and much more fresh when it's nice out. I'm sure that is the same for the rest of the team, too! I hope that the weather stays on our side for the next weekend, crossing my fingers!
We'll be practicing all week and weekend long, so I'll write more in just a short while! I hope that you enjoy reading my blog!
Wow. Yawn. Ouch. Yay! Cool. Good boy Pally! Along with many more little comments like those... Successful weekend, very progressive. We did so so so sooooo much freestyle, on the horse and on the barrel. It was tiring, but defiantly fun, exciting, and enjoyable. I love this team to death! Palatine never ceases to amaze me. The increase in his abilities from last month to this month are huge! He is doing so well! In 2008, the last thing that came to my mind when I saw Pally was "freestyle horse," now, it's the first! He's an amazing freestyle horse! His canter flows so fluently and swiftly, he has such great movement. I can't wait to compete on him, he completely completes the performance! I love you, Pally!
Anna (banana waffles) and I got a lot of practice in on our part. It was really nice to be able to practice it over and over and over again. Although, it was pretty hard-core! Speaking of hard-core, we all went on the coolest bike ride around Woodside on Saturday. I got to ride my Bertin Racer bike for the first time. I was a little bit proud of myself for making it all the way up the hill on my bike, even around the "curve of death!" I've never been able to pedal all the way up! The nice sunny weather was inspiring this past weekend, it is so much better to vault in the warm, beautiful sunshine. I feel so much stronger, and much more fresh when it's nice out. I'm sure that is the same for the rest of the team, too! I hope that the weather stays on our side for the next weekend, crossing my fingers!
We'll be practicing all week and weekend long, so I'll write more in just a short while! I hope that you enjoy reading my blog!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Easter Weekend Training
4/1/10 - 4/4/10 - Our training weekend was a little different from the past weekends. We worked a lot on compulsories, horse and barrel, and a lot on stretching and strengthening. On Thursday, our team was moved from the gym that we were in, to a different room with a much lower ceiling, which made us hate the rain even more. Lot's of rain this weekend....
Thursday brought most of us sore arms. I wasn't sore, but I could tell that I used my arms a lot the next day! Compulsory drills on the ground, torcher stretching, workout, coping with low ceiling day. Friday, the sun came out and let us vault on the horse and outside in the sun for most of our practice. That was nice!
On Saturday, we drove out to Half Moon Bay and used the Palmer's wonderful gym (with a high ceiling) to vault on the barrel and work out. Thank you to the Palmer family for opening up their place for our team's use! When we went back to Woodside, the sun had stayed out since Friday, the arena had drained, and we got to work on Palatine. We worked on compulsories, followed by my flying parts at the canter, and some other freestyle work. I stayed at practice for about an hour longer so that Devon and I could work on our second flying part. Now, I'm not going to tell you anymore about my flying parts, they are surprises and you'll have to come to the competitions and watch our team to see them! I will tell you one more thing though, they are pretty cool!
For me, Easter Sunday meant church and Easter stuff with my family in the morning, so I was a little late to practice. The day was short, and packed with lots of compulsory drills, and jumping drills, and handstand/ scissor exercises. O yea, and we had a major meeting about the uniforms, which I think people will really get excited about this year! Devon and I carried on the smoothing process of my flying parts, and although we didn't get to go on the horse, we watched it rain and made the best of what we had. Simple weekend. Not everyone was there and the sky was against us, so please, come back and read more within the next couple weeks, for an exciting dose of our team's training! We have a 10 day training period starting Thursday, April 15, and I might even get my dad to take some pictures!
See ya!
P.S. Please visit this website - www.facevaulting.com and if you can, please make a donation! Anything is extremely helpful, even $5. Our team is in the hopes of going to Aachen, Germany, in June to compete in the Aachen CHIO*,**, The World Equestrian Festival. Please help us get to Aachen, and Kentucky, we need YOU!!!
Thursday brought most of us sore arms. I wasn't sore, but I could tell that I used my arms a lot the next day! Compulsory drills on the ground, torcher stretching, workout, coping with low ceiling day. Friday, the sun came out and let us vault on the horse and outside in the sun for most of our practice. That was nice!
On Saturday, we drove out to Half Moon Bay and used the Palmer's wonderful gym (with a high ceiling) to vault on the barrel and work out. Thank you to the Palmer family for opening up their place for our team's use! When we went back to Woodside, the sun had stayed out since Friday, the arena had drained, and we got to work on Palatine. We worked on compulsories, followed by my flying parts at the canter, and some other freestyle work. I stayed at practice for about an hour longer so that Devon and I could work on our second flying part. Now, I'm not going to tell you anymore about my flying parts, they are surprises and you'll have to come to the competitions and watch our team to see them! I will tell you one more thing though, they are pretty cool!
For me, Easter Sunday meant church and Easter stuff with my family in the morning, so I was a little late to practice. The day was short, and packed with lots of compulsory drills, and jumping drills, and handstand/ scissor exercises. O yea, and we had a major meeting about the uniforms, which I think people will really get excited about this year! Devon and I carried on the smoothing process of my flying parts, and although we didn't get to go on the horse, we watched it rain and made the best of what we had. Simple weekend. Not everyone was there and the sky was against us, so please, come back and read more within the next couple weeks, for an exciting dose of our team's training! We have a 10 day training period starting Thursday, April 15, and I might even get my dad to take some pictures!
See ya!
P.S. Please visit this website - www.facevaulting.com and if you can, please make a donation! Anything is extremely helpful, even $5. Our team is in the hopes of going to Aachen, Germany, in June to compete in the Aachen CHIO*,**, The World Equestrian Festival. Please help us get to Aachen, and Kentucky, we need YOU!!!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Team Training Weekend of 3/5/10
This weekend was major progress - Everything is flowing so smoothly, and working so well! This weekend was long, and packed with hard work, both barrel and horse. We can all be proud of ourselves. On Friday we put almost all of the freestyle (only one part left out) on the horse at the canter, and each of them worked successfully! I did all 3 of my flying parts a lot on the horse this weekend. With some edits and new ideas, we put a few things on the horse on Saturday, and met success once again! On Sunday, we were all tired but we managed even more freestyle success. YAY! Many thanks to Carolyn for longing us, and many more thanks to Palatine - the BOMB freestyle horse!
Palatine pushed past all of his little problems this weekend and gave our team an exquisite freestyle canter. He was such a good boy, I mean really, this weekend he was absolutely amazing! I love that horse, I'm sure I've said this a million times, but Palatine has so much expression, attitude, and determination to please. He really stands out.
Compulsory wise, we did ok this weeknd. We were focused a lot more on our freestyle so the compulsory quality didn't shine as much.... Although, Rosey, Mari, Nicole, and Anna (Banana) were all hitting handstands! It's so weird that I have to do my compulsories internationally this year. It's an odd thought when I really think about it.
The team will be training through this whole week and through this next weekend. Half day's on Tuesday and Thursday and all day (9am 'til 6:30pm) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I'll be writing again soon! I'm going to ask my dad to come and be our team photographer/ video guy for this weekend. I miss him taking lots of pictures - In 2008, my dad was the team's constant, personal papparazzi!
Talk to ya later!
Palatine pushed past all of his little problems this weekend and gave our team an exquisite freestyle canter. He was such a good boy, I mean really, this weekend he was absolutely amazing! I love that horse, I'm sure I've said this a million times, but Palatine has so much expression, attitude, and determination to please. He really stands out.
Compulsory wise, we did ok this weeknd. We were focused a lot more on our freestyle so the compulsory quality didn't shine as much.... Although, Rosey, Mari, Nicole, and Anna (Banana) were all hitting handstands! It's so weird that I have to do my compulsories internationally this year. It's an odd thought when I really think about it.
The team will be training through this whole week and through this next weekend. Half day's on Tuesday and Thursday and all day (9am 'til 6:30pm) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I'll be writing again soon! I'm going to ask my dad to come and be our team photographer/ video guy for this weekend. I miss him taking lots of pictures - In 2008, my dad was the team's constant, personal papparazzi!
Talk to ya later!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Training and Adventures - Weekend of 2/20/10
Hi readers! This past training weekend was far different from any other we have had so far. It was fun, and we got very dirty! Friday was usual training - Running, conditioning, stretching, freestyle, and compulsory work. We got Pally out to find that he was going to be the farthest thing from naughty, or stiff, or tired, or slow. He was SOOOOO good! Pally was light and floaty under saddle, and he gave us the greatest compulsory canter. I love vaulting on Pally, we just have one conflict - my height vs. his height/ the handles.... Blah..... I canter on the ground just barely enough to get a jump, and where I ideally want to reach is just out of range... I'm drinking lots of milk, maybe a half more inch will get me there! Ok now, back to this weekend.....
So as I said, Friday was normal training, good hard work, but we get to Saturday and it's a whole different story - we went on a team adventure, a real adventure. Due to the USEF High Performance Camp being at the Frankel's on Saturday, we couldn't be in our club house, or use the arena. Really, there was no where for us to train, so, we all piled into my mom's truck and drove to Hallmark Park for out first adventure - a 3 mile cross country run. Devon and Mary finished in 27 minuets, while Karly, Nicole, and I (Mari went on a bike ride while we ran because of her ankle.) finished in 29. For 3.1 miles, that's not bad! The whole time I was looking down at animal tracks, and grabbing twigs and tall grass along the way. I like to do funny things like that when I run :-P We saw some jack rabbits, but nothing else. It was a good run.
After the run we piled back into the truck and drove to the Santa Cruz mountains where we went on a hike to a "secret" cave entrance where Devon took us spelunking, or "cave diving," in Hell Hole (also called the Face's Cave). Let me tell you, it was very intense. We had to fit through little holes and spaces, up and down, and squeeze through the treacherous "birth canal." Ok, so it wasn't treacherous, but Devon admitted that he was a little scared and that his butt must have grown a little since college. Sorry Devon, I just had to say that! It was easier for me to go through all of the little spaces but I thought that I was going to die at one point when I couldn't reach any of the hand or foot holds climbing up a rock, and not just any rock, but the side of a wet, muddy rock, with 50 foot holes on either side and a little rope to hold onto.... I was sincerely scared! Without Devon and Nicole I would not have made it out. FINALLY, we emerged into the sunlight, caked with mud and sopping with wet, muddy sloshed clothing, after 2 hours in the cave and hiked back to the truck, drove to lunch, and drove back to Woodside.
So as I said, Friday was normal training, good hard work, but we get to Saturday and it's a whole different story - we went on a team adventure, a real adventure. Due to the USEF High Performance Camp being at the Frankel's on Saturday, we couldn't be in our club house, or use the arena. Really, there was no where for us to train, so, we all piled into my mom's truck and drove to Hallmark Park for out first adventure - a 3 mile cross country run. Devon and Mary finished in 27 minuets, while Karly, Nicole, and I (Mari went on a bike ride while we ran because of her ankle.) finished in 29. For 3.1 miles, that's not bad! The whole time I was looking down at animal tracks, and grabbing twigs and tall grass along the way. I like to do funny things like that when I run :-P We saw some jack rabbits, but nothing else. It was a good run.
After the run we piled back into the truck and drove to the Santa Cruz mountains where we went on a hike to a "secret" cave entrance where Devon took us spelunking, or "cave diving," in Hell Hole (also called the Face's Cave). Let me tell you, it was very intense. We had to fit through little holes and spaces, up and down, and squeeze through the treacherous "birth canal." Ok, so it wasn't treacherous, but Devon admitted that he was a little scared and that his butt must have grown a little since college. Sorry Devon, I just had to say that! It was easier for me to go through all of the little spaces but I thought that I was going to die at one point when I couldn't reach any of the hand or foot holds climbing up a rock, and not just any rock, but the side of a wet, muddy rock, with 50 foot holes on either side and a little rope to hold onto.... I was sincerely scared! Without Devon and Nicole I would not have made it out. FINALLY, we emerged into the sunlight, caked with mud and sopping with wet, muddy sloshed clothing, after 2 hours in the cave and hiked back to the truck, drove to lunch, and drove back to Woodside.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sun and Vaulting
O my gosh, thank you God for a beautiful, warm, sunny week! I'm able to go outside without a snow or rain suit on (we don't get snow, but it does get cold and icy...) and do something rather than slosh around in puddles and watch all of the sand in the arena flow as a river into the road. Yay! This time, I'm going to tell you a little more about my individual vaulting -
I'm training a new horse, my mom's horse, Bosco Allegro, for vaulting. He is learning very fast. So far, I can do anything I want at the walk, a bunch of moves and all of the compulsories at the trot, along with mount, and a few moves at the canter. I love his canter, it has a very flowing rhythm! I can't wait 'til I can canter my whole freestyle on him. I'm hoping he'll be ready for Ca. Gold at the Garrods Spring Fest. That would be nice... In the mean time, I'm getting Buddy back in vaulting shape. He takes a little more work than the other horses, actually, a lot. Buddy gets fat just looking at the hay barn!
I'm training a new horse, my mom's horse, Bosco Allegro, for vaulting. He is learning very fast. So far, I can do anything I want at the walk, a bunch of moves and all of the compulsories at the trot, along with mount, and a few moves at the canter. I love his canter, it has a very flowing rhythm! I can't wait 'til I can canter my whole freestyle on him. I'm hoping he'll be ready for Ca. Gold at the Garrods Spring Fest. That would be nice... In the mean time, I'm getting Buddy back in vaulting shape. He takes a little more work than the other horses, actually, a lot. Buddy gets fat just looking at the hay barn! 
A day of training with my horses usually includes hand walking or riding them up El Solyo (a very large hill just down the road) to warm up and strengthen their hind ends, then I ride Buddy and Handsome to warm them up, mom longes Bosco, and THEN, we vault on one horse after the other. My mom makes all of this happen. She does so much for me and the horses - longing, coaching, all kinds of things! I love her. My mom is a brilliant horse person - she has had horses for her whole life. Thank you mom for all you are doing for me, and what have already done!
Since we didn't have a team clinic this week, I was really able to focus on all of my training with Bosco, Handsome (my other vaulting horse), Buddy, and my individual vaulting. Riding Okie, too! I've been getting in some really good workouts and real time to isolate my freestyle and drill it to music. You must know about my vaulting, that my arm movements are never the same - I let the music influence them so that I can dance during my freestyle. I can't wait to compete/ perform my freestyle this year. It's going to be fun! I really would like to do some performances at big horse shows.......! It would be so so so much fun!
Well, that's it for this time. I've got a team clinic this weekend (Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun) so i'll be writing soon again!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Training Weekend 2/5/10
Training week of 2/5/10 - This weekend's training was good, hard work, exploding with artistry, emotion, and sweat. It was very productive, and fun. This weekend, we definitely pin pointed the performance aspect and the little things that we really need to focus on, like hand holds, foot placements, etc... Lot's of little exact things... On Saturday, we sat down for hours, and HOURS talking and focusing on the freestyle, move by move. Refining, editing, cutting, and redoing our "old freestyle" into the real thing that is going to make you shiver. The same process on Sunday, except the sky was blue and we took a lot of it to the horse. I'm feeling very successful after that horse practice, and I'm sure the whole team is as well. Thank you to the Palmer's for letting us use their wonderful gym on our rainy Saturday! It really helped us out!
I think that the audience will enjoy our freestyle, and possibly even find the beautiful story within. It's so interesting to make up a freestyle with this team. The funny things we do, say, and act out... It's so fun. The whole process of going through the year and editing, practicing and performing the freestyle is great. I love it, and I always will! I can't wait until Garrods... and everything else ahead this year!
I am feeling very good about my vaulting this year. Probably more than last year. I keep excelling - reaching my higher goals, like flexibility, stamina, and strength (I've just about gotten that perfectly perfect needle on my right as well as my left getting close!). The same is happening with the rest of the team. We are all becoming stronger, more flexible, and can run a lot farther that we could when we started! And, the best part is, we all seem to have a lot of fun when we workout and train for those long, long clinic days! This weekend was a good example.
Now, the most important part of this weekend our horse, Palatine. He was such a good boy. He carried us very well. Palatine definitely felt better than he did during our last training weekend. He's all recovered from his shots and has a, clean, fixed up, happy mouth! "Pally" has his little ups and downs every now and again, but doesn't every horse? He's such a cool horse because he is aware of his job, and he knows what he needs to do. When he has a tough time, you can tell that he is trying really hard to push through it. Pally has an amazing mind set. I love him!
I think that the audience will enjoy our freestyle, and possibly even find the beautiful story within. It's so interesting to make up a freestyle with this team. The funny things we do, say, and act out... It's so fun. The whole process of going through the year and editing, practicing and performing the freestyle is great. I love it, and I always will! I can't wait until Garrods... and everything else ahead this year!
I am feeling very good about my vaulting this year. Probably more than last year. I keep excelling - reaching my higher goals, like flexibility, stamina, and strength (I've just about gotten that perfectly perfect needle on my right as well as my left getting close!). The same is happening with the rest of the team. We are all becoming stronger, more flexible, and can run a lot farther that we could when we started! And, the best part is, we all seem to have a lot of fun when we workout and train for those long, long clinic days! This weekend was a good example.
Now, the most important part of this weekend our horse, Palatine. He was such a good boy. He carried us very well. Palatine definitely felt better than he did during our last training weekend. He's all recovered from his shots and has a, clean, fixed up, happy mouth! "Pally" has his little ups and downs every now and again, but doesn't every horse? He's such a cool horse because he is aware of his job, and he knows what he needs to do. When he has a tough time, you can tell that he is trying really hard to push through it. Pally has an amazing mind set. I love him!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Training Weekend of 1/30/10
Well, training this weekend will be called successful. Lot's of little things accomplished, big things to. Most importantly it was "fun with a challenge." The weather was nice, though almost every time we got on the horse it rained... That's ok, we're hard core, we vault anyways! Palatine has nice, floated teeth, and is all healthied up on his new vaccines. He was a little under the weather from the shot's but he is such a trooper, he did a great job carrying us. I love Palatine. He's an amazing horse.
This year I am feeling more and more fit by every practice. My energy, my flexibility, and my strength is lasting longer, and growing stronger. Im eating tons and tons of food to power me and drinking lot's of water. This weekend we emphasized running a little more - a good run to Woodside Rd on Saturday, and a run to Robert's Market on Sunday. Quite fun! This week I've got Monday off (although I do have a modern dance class) then team practice on Tuesday, individual practice on Wednesday, and team again Thursday through Sunday. What a life. Life without vaulting? I don't think so!
Im really excited for this year and I hope that you are excited for my team and I, to! I rode Okie around my neighborhood with 55 sponsor letters, potentially motivating people to help me out. Maybe you could help me out! You know, if you visit my website (there is a link located at the top of this blog site) you can make a donation to help me make it to the World Equestrian Games! And donation would be EXTREMELY appreciated!!!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
1/24/10 - It's so odd to be writing "10" at the end of the date! But that's not the point... The point is looking at that date and realizing that this is the year of the World Equestrian Games, and that I am going to be a part of it. Wow!
Training has been going very well. I am vaulting 4 or 5 days a week right now, and soon to be more with Spring and Summer close ahead. I am working very as hard on my Silver Individual compulsories and freestyle, hoping to give the Silver vaulting level something new and beautiful. The rain has really been in the way of my horse time, blah..., but im really happy that I got a sliver of rainless time yesterday to work on Buddy. Yay!
Just a minor, but major, goal for this year is to become uberly flexible and I think im off to a good start. Needle, check. Over needle on both legs, working on it. Another goal is to create a magnificent vaulting horse out of Bosco, Bosco Allegro. We'll see what kind of weather this week brings, and what kind of vaulting "adventures" I will explore!
Training has been going very well. I am vaulting 4 or 5 days a week right now, and soon to be more with Spring and Summer close ahead. I am working very as hard on my Silver Individual compulsories and freestyle, hoping to give the Silver vaulting level something new and beautiful. The rain has really been in the way of my horse time, blah..., but im really happy that I got a sliver of rainless time yesterday to work on Buddy. Yay!
Just a minor, but major, goal for this year is to become uberly flexible and I think im off to a good start. Needle, check. Over needle on both legs, working on it. Another goal is to create a magnificent vaulting horse out of Bosco, Bosco Allegro. We'll see what kind of weather this week brings, and what kind of vaulting "adventures" I will explore!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Horses and Dance.....
So, horses and dance. How do they possible fit together? It's called vaulting. This year, well, the end of 2009, I started modern dance. I love the movement and expression in dance, and I love to carry it to my vaulting. I've been wanting to dance for a long time and Im so happy to finally be doing it. I know that some of the people reading this are horsey people, and maybe even have some dressage experiance. This is another point where horses and dance truly combine.
Dressage is a combination of movements, flexibiliy, speeds, and turns for the horse. Hmmm, sounds kind of framiliar.... DANCE! Dressage is the horse's dance. I love the grace that flows into dressage, and the connection that makes the horse and rider one. When you pick up the piaffe and the rider simply floats on top of the horse, rather than bouncing, you see that the dance has started. And when the movement of the rider's hips create the fluttering tempi-changes, wow! Dressage and vaulting, the dance of the horse and rider - vaulting, the horse becomes the dancing partner. Dressage- the horse and rider become one dancer.
My goal in individual vaulting is to combine the dressage when I vault. To make the vaulter and the horse one partner, to flow, to connect, and to dance on the horse, but at the same with the horse. To introduce my vaulting horses to the music, and let them feel it as much as I do. This would truly be a beautiful thing, wouldn't it?
I love dressage, I love dance, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE vaulting!!!
Dressage is a combination of movements, flexibiliy, speeds, and turns for the horse. Hmmm, sounds kind of framiliar.... DANCE! Dressage is the horse's dance. I love the grace that flows into dressage, and the connection that makes the horse and rider one. When you pick up the piaffe and the rider simply floats on top of the horse, rather than bouncing, you see that the dance has started. And when the movement of the rider's hips create the fluttering tempi-changes, wow! Dressage and vaulting, the dance of the horse and rider - vaulting, the horse becomes the dancing partner. Dressage- the horse and rider become one dancer.
My goal in individual vaulting is to combine the dressage when I vault. To make the vaulter and the horse one partner, to flow, to connect, and to dance on the horse, but at the same with the horse. To introduce my vaulting horses to the music, and let them feel it as much as I do. This would truly be a beautiful thing, wouldn't it?
I love dressage, I love dance, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE vaulting!!!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Team training so far......
1/17/10 - Well, now that it's raining, I can have some relaxation time to write. This year, team training has gotten off to a good start. Our horse, Palatine, is learning how to carry our team freestyle very fast, as well as us learning to accomodate our performance to him. Palatine is such a good boy and we love him.
The FACE team is in the midst of the "almost never ending" creation process. The team's goal is to wow the audiance with more than just vaulting moves, but give them a performance that will drill right into their emotions and make them ooze for more. Not an easy process, but it is fun! With the music in our souls, we can work as hard as possible to express our unique vaulting skills into one dance on the horse.
One of the things I love most about the team is that we all get along so well. We love being with eachother, and love working together. Practices are full of laughter and good karma. Our team is like a family, which makes it all the more better to be a part of!
Go to my website! http://sites.google.com/site/facetheroadtoweg/ . About the F.A.C.E. team, biographies of me and my team mates, coach, and horse, competition information, "MAKE A DONATION" link, etc....
Thank you to all of the people who are following my blog and to the people who have made donations! Your donations are helping me and the FACE team get to the World Equestrian Games! Is anyone coming to Kentucky to watch? If you want to know more about the World Equestrian Games, you can go to - http://alltechfeigames.com. Maybe i'll see you there!
~Emily Hogye
The FACE team is in the midst of the "almost never ending" creation process. The team's goal is to wow the audiance with more than just vaulting moves, but give them a performance that will drill right into their emotions and make them ooze for more. Not an easy process, but it is fun! With the music in our souls, we can work as hard as possible to express our unique vaulting skills into one dance on the horse.
One of the things I love most about the team is that we all get along so well. We love being with eachother, and love working together. Practices are full of laughter and good karma. Our team is like a family, which makes it all the more better to be a part of!
Go to my website! http://sites.google.com/site/facetheroadtoweg/ . About the F.A.C.E. team, biographies of me and my team mates, coach, and horse, competition information, "MAKE A DONATION" link, etc....
Thank you to all of the people who are following my blog and to the people who have made donations! Your donations are helping me and the FACE team get to the World Equestrian Games! Is anyone coming to Kentucky to watch? If you want to know more about the World Equestrian Games, you can go to - http://alltechfeigames.com. Maybe i'll see you there!
~Emily Hogye
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The introduction to my blog
Hi, my name is Emily Hogye. I am 13 years old and I am an equestrian vaulter and a rider (I am the girl in the silver being held at the top in the picture.). I am at the silver level and on and "A" or "Senior" vaulting team. I was the flyer on The Dark Side of the Moon Team USA in 2007/ 2008 and I am again on the team, though now it is called F.A.C.E. Team USA. We will be training to qualify for the FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, Fall 2010.This blog is going to be about my team training, team competitions, adventures with the team, riding, and more! I hope that you will be interested in following me!
In 2008, The Dark Side of the Moon Team went to the World Vaulting Championships, Czech Republic, and won the bronze medal. During our 2 months in Europe, we competed in CVI*,** Krumke and won. My team also competed at the olympic qualificant Aachen CHIO*,** which we won the gold medal at. It was tons of fun! I love vaulting, team and individual. Go to my website!!! http://sites.google.com/site/facetheroadtoweg/. You'll find information about the horse, the team, the coaches, individual biographies of my team members and myself, the "MAKE A DONATION" link, competition information, etc...
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