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!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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!!!
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