First Event for Path of Perfection

My young horse, Path of Perfection, went to his first event last Wednesday at Sporting Days Farm in Aiken, SC. He competed novice and I am so proud of his performance! He was very quiet and well-behaved in the dressage and jumped clean to finish sixth. There is still a lot of work to be done, but for his first event I was very happy. Even the little things like standing tied to the trailers, warming up with a big group of other horses, and the blaring loud speaker didn't upset him. I really think this is going to be a great horse.

On the road to our first four-star event at Rolex Kentucky in April, Macloud is competing advanced this weekend at Southern Pines, NC on our way home to Pennsylvania.

-Steph

Pine Top

Pine Top was a soggy event - it was raining the whole weekend! Macloud was very good considering he hasn't been out since the three-star at Fair Hill last fall, but I under-rode him on the flat and got a 42, which is pretty high for us. That is something I can easily fix about myself though, and I am still pleased with him. We jumped double clean in the show jumping and because of the extreme weather I wasn't sure about running cross-country on Sunday (they altered the schedule and swapped cross-country and show jumping), but they ended up canceling cross-country on Sunday except for the advanced divisions and we were competing in the open intermediate, so that was a non-issue.

-Steph

Thanks to Katie and Cuyler Walker

Great news on the sponsorship front!

I am deeply grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Cuyler Walker for their financial assistance in achieving my goal of competing at the Rolex Kentucky three-day event! The Walkers have agreed to become part-owners of Macloud for Kentucky, and their assistance tremendously eases the huge financial burden of preparing a horse for this major event.

Katie Walker commented, “We are happy to help Stephanie accomplish her dream and we are looking forward to seeing her and Macloud in action in Kentucky.”

The Walkers own Plantation Field in Unionville, Pennsylvania, home of the Plantation Field International CIC***. They are active in the horse world but have not been involved in eventing since they owned a horse that Buck Davidson, who is Cuyler’s cousin, competed in 2005.

Macloud and I continue our preparations for the big event, training hard from our current base in Aiken, South Carolina.

-Steph

Training in Aiken

As Macloud continues his preparation for Kentucky, my young horse is gearing up for his first event ever. He went schooling with Phillip at the Gibbes' Farm in St. Matthews, SC and was really good. I will probably start him out at some of the one-day events around Aiken to give him some mileage.

I'm also getting on some racehorses for Richard Valentine on my day off, and I'm riding some young horses for Julia Steinberg. I've got seven horses to ride as well as my own two, which are at Jose'e and Tiger Rievere's farm in Aiken.

Looking toward Rolex I am pursuing sponsors to assist in this big financial undertaking. It really takes a team to get a horse to a big event like Rolex. I also want to take this chance to mention my farrier, Dave Kumpf, who was here last week. He has been shoeing my horses for six years now and he is a big part of my program!

-Steph

Stephanie In the February 2009 Issue of Sidelines Magazine!

I just picked up my February copy of Sidelines magazine and there is a great article written by Amber Heintzberger about my horses and me. I am really proud of it and I hope that everyone will pick up a copy and check it out for themselves. If you can't find it at your local tack shop, have a look online at www.sidelinesnews.com.

Steph

Heading South

I am very excited to have my first blog as I start the 2009 competition season! Tomorrow, bright and early, I will be driving to Aiken, South Carolina to start the eventing year. This is my favorite time of year because I've had all winter to reflect on last season and how to improve myself and my horses.

This year I am aiming for the Rolex Kentucky three-day Event CCI**** in Lexington, Kentucky, my first four-star event. Macloud is in training for the big event and looking great! While I am in Aiken I will be taking lots of lessons from Phillip Dutton and my good friend and dressage coach Silva Martin to improve on my performance last fall at the Fair Hill International CCI***.

I am also looking forward to starting my new young off-the-track Thoroughbred, Path of Perfection. He is already showing lots of potential and his great temperament and personality make me this that he will turn out to be quite good. Aiken is great for the youngsters as there are plenty of events going on, and the Hitchcock Woods are fantastic for hacking and jogging. I am planning on making his eventing debut in March.

But first things first - I need to finish packing!

Steph

New Blog

Welcome to Stephanie Boyer Eventing! This blog will keep readers up to date on news, competitions and more. Stay tuned!