Thursday, April 25, 2013

Starr Vaughn Recap

Hi all, thought you'd love a full recount of our fabulous week at Starr Vaughn!  It truly was a great week full of top ribbons, fabulous horses, gorgeous facility and fun company.  This event was held at a favourite of ours: Leone Equestrians.  The footing was great, the rings beautiful, jumps and courses amazing (Heiko Wahlers flown in from Germany) and lovely sunshine helped to make our week even better.  For the easiest (and possibly least winded) description of the week I thought I'd do it by horse!

1. Bacantos:  This amazing boy had a super and somewhat easy week.  Only competing in 2 classes, he definitely made them count.  The winner of a 1.35m class and an 8th place finish in the Open Welcome, he wowed the crowd with his unbelievable talent.  Check out a couple of his rounds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5UbWT5b2OI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaVMUX2OurE

2. Cochese:  Starr Vaughn was the first outing of the year for our fearless leaders mighty steed.  And what a start it was, with 2 wins and a 2nd place finish in their division, the dynamic duo were Champion.  This amazing horse is quite the force to be reckoned with.

3.  Peter Pan:  First off, welcome to our newest FCF member, Peter Pan!  Fresh of the truck from Florida, Peter is stepping into the role of our resident Grand Prix horse and FCF rider Chelsea Jones' #1 boy.  He sure showed us what a boy he is too, walking into the ring and winning the 1.30m class, placing 3rd in the Open Welcome (missing the win by 3/10ths of a second and 2nd by 1/10th of a second), and 5th in the $20,000 Grand Prix!!  Prior to this week, Chelsea had only ridden Peter 1 time!!  Big things can be expected from this duo.
Welcome Peter!

4.  Cielo:  We love this girl.  She never lets us down, producing 2 wins out on the grass field, high placings in the Adult Amateur jumpers and a 4th place in the ever-difficult Spruce Meadows qualifier.  We are so lucky to have this mare in our barn and cannot wait for the final Spruce Qualifier.  Go Lynne and Cielo!!!

5.  Chicago 83:  One of the loveliest horses to come through our sales program.  This man is everything you could want and more.  Handsome, scopey, beautifully broke and sweet as all get out, anyone would be lucky to have a horse like this.  He earned a 2nd and 3rd in his warm up classes and jumped a  gorgeous clean round in the Open Welcome.  Looking for an incredible jumper? This is it.

6.  Journey:  Another one that never lets us down.  He was a double Champion at this show, earning the first one with Chelsea in the Low Hunters and the 2nd with owner Sharon Mackenzie in the Modified Ch/AA Hunters.  Mr. Journey competed in the USHJA Hunter Derby, as well, with Chelsea, where an unlucky rail over one of the higher options unfortunately kept them out of contention, but redemption was theirs when they returned for the handy and earned the highest score of the night (87!).  This show marked Sharon's return to the 3' Adult hunters, and what a return it was when they walked in and won!  Way to go Sharon and Journey!
You rock, Sharon!

7. Scotch and Soda:  Barn favourite Scottie was added to the roster at the last minute, just for a little off-campus fun with Chelsea.  Our horses tend to get quite bored (not so different from us) when in one place for too long, so owner Ann Kottler made the decision to send her boy for a field trip with the rest of the crew.  What a fun week this horse had too!  Showing he hasn't lost his edge, he walked in to his division and dominated, winning 4 classes and placing 2nd in the other.  Winner winner chicken dinner!!

8.  Conamour:  Giana Roberge and the wonderful Conamour joined us for a day of fun in the Open Welcome.  Always the busy bee, Giana managed to escape on Thursday, hauling in that afternoon to show.  She and Conamour had a great day, jumping a gorgeous round in the challenging and competitive Welcome, meeting with some hard luck when the slightest of rubs tipped 1 rail out of the cups on the 2nd to last jump.  Have no fear, they will undoubtedly get 'em next time!!

Ok, so clearly I lied about the long-winded part, my apologies!  There was just so much great stuff to report!!!  I will try super hard to keep it short and sweet next time, promise!




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