How can you say no?! 

Times flies when you're having fun!

SPORTING DAYS-RECOGNIZED
Susannah stayed through the week last week and competed at Full Gallop I and Sporting Days on Saturday. Katie flew in on Friday to compete March for the first time at Sporting Days. After a rough-ish start in the dressage ring, both girls put in well-ridden albeit slightly forward SJ rounds followed by double clean XC rounds. Katie finished 7th and Susannah finished 10th. It's amazing the level of competition out here. What would easily put you in the ribbons in Texas just ins't quite good enough out here...which is exactly why we come! Both girls handled the new surroundings, new level, new horses, and new format(one day) with style. 

Beth is really coming along with her progress on Strider. Teaching a young horse is never easy and sometimes you have to sacrifice your score for the education of the horse. After a better, but unappreciated, dressage test, she had 1 rail and a stop on XC. Much was learned and certainly will help for the future. 

Luna is really coming along. After a tough go at Full Gallop(trakheners are scarrrrry), she dropped her dressage score by 8 points and went double clear in SJ and XC to finish 4th.

SPORTING DAYS-UNRECOGNIZED
Goooooo Harry!! Sporting Days held an unrecognized CT on Sunday, the day after their recognized show, and it was Harry's turn. For future reference, his nicknames are, but not limited to, Senor Hot Stuff, Studly, Mr. Pony, Stinky Pony, Harry Pony, etc. etc.- just so you know who we are talking about. Anyways, Harry was entered in the BN CT and he did not disappoint. After winning the dressage with a 28.5(best of both divisions), he did two very good SJ rounds. In his first round, he had a few green moments but came back and jumped everything perfect and without hesitation. While he's been here, he has also been XC schooling alot. I can't wait to debut him at recognized shows with the intent of qualifying him for Novice at the AEC's. 

FULL GALLOP
Gold star of the day goes to Bethany...she was able to see the bigger picture of using Sporting Days as a needed learning experience and it paid off by placing 3rd at Full Gallop and qualifying herself for the AEC's at Novice. She got a 36 in dressage and went double clean in both jumping phases.

Due to Luna's bad experience with the trakhener, we decided to take it easy and just do a combined test at this show to prepare her for Pine Top this weekend. After placing 2nd after dressage she went double clean in SJ. All the comments from the dressage judges have been very positive- listing her as "athletic" and "full of potential." I'm excited to finish this trip strong and had over the reins to her owner, Kelly Carter. The mare is so smart and has learned a ton. Really exciting.

Viv had a rare but off day today. Last week, following Tuesday's sad events, she really fended for herself and it showed in all phases but the cross country. Today, I was her partner again- scoring a 36 in dressage and dropping only 1 rail in a very difficult SJ course. XC proved to be more demanding and after a few turning problems we called it a day early on and will regroup for Pine Top this weekend. You can't win them all and Viv's confidence is her biggest asset; I aim to preserve it.

That's all for now. Friday we leave for Pine Top in GA with all the horses except Harry showing and will make our way home from there. Looking forward to seeing everyone!!

We made it...

Late Monday night we arrived in Aiken at the beautiful Hilltop Polo. We are so lucky to have found this beautiful place, especially after our original stabling fell through last minute. It's literally located about 10 minutes away from the biggest events in Aiken. So convenient. And did I mention it's beautiful??


Wednesday marked the start of the competition season for the RB Riding gang. The horses received a well-deserved light day on Tuesday to keep them fresh for Wednesday. At Full Gallop HT, we had Susannah doing her first Training level, Beth doing Novice on Strider, Luna doing her first show at Novice, and Vivian moving up to Prelim. We didn't bring home any ribbons but, in the grand scheme of things, it was a good show and we knocked some rust off. After a good dressage test, Susannah had one rail and would have been double clean on XC until she took a wrong turn; she finished 8th. Beth won the warm-up in dressage on Strider but went double clean in all of her jumping phases. Being a little preoccupied from the previous day's tragic events, Viv did most of the show with a space case on her back. She was feeling very excited about being back in competition in the dressage. It's too bad you don't get extra points for your horse's love of life...I had too much bit for SJ and had a few rails and then she rocketed around a substantial Prelim course with one of the fastest times of the day. Luna had a very steady dressage test, a double clean SJ round, and then decided that the Trakehner was too scary- frog leaped it and proceeded to call it a day. Oh well, there are always bumps along the way and she will XC school and head to Sporting Days on Saturday. That's why we are here after all- to practice, practice, practice.

Harry is also here in Aiken with us. He's enjoying life and seeing the world. Today he showed what hot stuff he is to some potential breeders..hopefully he can help pay for his trip by selling a breeding. He also XC schooled. He will show in a CT this weekend and XC school some more next week to have a jump start on the show season in TX. 

Check out the video and pictures from our trip so far. Sporting Days in Saturday so check back....

On January 21st and 22nd, we were lucky enough to have the all-mighty God of eventing, Jimmy Wofford come to Buckbranch! People came from hours away to audit, and ride in the two day clinic, which featured stadium jumping. Here is a recap of both days!


Day 1: Riders arrived as early as 6 o’clock in the morning preparing for Jimmy to come. All the horses were spotless, and I have never seen more sparkling clean tack in my entire life! Everyone was dressed to impress and looked very respectful, because Jimmy firmly believes that your presentation says just as much about your riding as your actual riding does. At about 7:30, before our short Q & A with Jimmy, a group of both auditors and riders went to sit outside in the picnic area. It was a little chilly, but everybody could only grin and bear it. When Jimmy arrived, we were told to “Just act normal.” The session lasted about an hour, with people asking questions that would help them with their horses, position, etc. Thirty minutes later, Group 1 tacked up and was ready for their first day of the clinic, Gymnastics. Each group had eight people, and was two hours long. Group 2 was next, finishing the day with Group 3. Jimmy gave great instruction and individualized it very well according to the rider. Once your lesson was finished, most people would go jump crew for the next group. Not only was it fun, but you would have a front seat for auditing, which also is a big help to improving your own riding. After everyone was done, it was back to tack cleaning and making your horse look absolutely spotless for the second day of the clinic. 




Day 2: Everyone arrived early again for the second day of the clinic, featuring courses. Group 1, 2, and 3 were right on schedule and having a great time! The courses were fun, yet tricky, and the dressage circles in between each line of fences really helped the horses settle down, because like yesterday, it was cold! A ton of people got pictures with Jimmy before he left, but below are pics of some of the Buck Branch gang from the clinic. I think I speak for all when we say a huge thank you to Jimmy for coming and we hope that he’ll come back soon! 

Here is the schedule for the Jimmy Wofford clinic for next weekend(Jan 21/22) at Buckbranch. Auditing is free so please feel free to come!

SATURDAY
8:00-9:00a Q&A/Lecture
9:30-11:30a Group 1
12:00p-2:00 Group 2
2:30-4:30 Group 3

SUNDAY
8:00-10:00a Group 1
10:00a-12:00p Group 2
12:00-2:00 Group 3

GROUP 1
Susan Cooper
Erica Beadle
Bethany Quine
Sheyenne Boone
Kristen Wertz
Martha Thomas
Leah Farrier
Hannah Louis

GROUP 2
Rebecca Brown
Liz Haley
Katie Resnick
Susannah Rodrigue
Rachel Birkes
Becky Rickly
Lauren Hoover
Emily Oakes

GROUP 3
Cathy Jennings
Courtney Cooper
Harley Cozewith
Kristen Turner
Carly Cooper
Maria Granello
Devon Skinner

I can't believe it is already November...where did the fall go? With 3 shows in one month, October was a whirlwind!

At the end of October, we traveled to Holly Hill where a lot of the riders upgraded a level. Lauren Hoover completed her first Training after scoring a 21 in the dressage, Katie Resnick placed 3rd in her Training division, and Vivian finished 3rd in Open Training and qualified herself for the 2012 AEC's! Carly Cooper finished her first Novice on her dressage score, Bethany and Strider added only one rail to their dressage score in their first Novice, Hannah Louis added two rail in her first Novice, and Martha Thomas was 6th after dressage and added some time faults on XC at her second novice. Leah Farrier had an equally impressive weekend in her third Novice but unfortunately jumped the wrong jump on XC. Regardless of placings, we had a blast!!

Our season is wrapping up with one more HT at Texas Rose before Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to finishing out the year strong!! 

Pictures and more info about Holly Hill and the fall show season can be found at our Facebook page. Don't forget to "like" us!

To say that the last couple of weeks have been crazy is an understatement. I have literally not been home one weekend this month and won't be until Thanksgiving! Between horse shows/horse shopping/picking up my new trailer, I'm never home and poor Bethany can't believe how dingy I've gotten.

Competition got underway for us today and the girls did not disappoint! They both rode lovely, championship level tests and the judges agreed. Lauren and Joey were first to go for us and they finished with a 30 in 6th place. Katie went next and scored a 30.8, which ties her in 9th place with two other riders. Being in the top 10 is exactly where we wanted to be, espe One of the fun things(among so many others) about these championships is that you are scored by two dressage judges- one at C and one at E. The girls' scores were averages. For instance, one of Katie's judges scored her in 2nd and the other scored her in 16th..which ended up with a 30.8 for 9th place. 

Anyways, tomorrow is XC day. Lauren rides at 10:46am and Katie is right after her. We've walked the course plenty of times and are feeling good about it. It's definitely championship level but looks like a blast. 

Below are videos of the girls' dressage rides and some pictures. Shout out to our friend, new SMU student Collin Reynolds, who is in first place after XC in the JrYr Prelim division. She rode Spencer and Lotus last week as her final prep. SHe showjumps tomorrow and we will be rooting for her!

Results are kept updated here: http://livescore.useventing.com/index.php

...I'm not sure what it is about the Flip camera but it makes the tests look faster than they are..just FYI

We have arrived! The girls and I flew into ATL last night, landing around 8pm. By 845 we were in our car and on our way to Chatt Hills to check on the horses. The girls start competing tomorrow so we spent today settling in and, of course, wandering around. Among other things (like naming our golf cart Bucky- short for Buckbranch!), here is a photoblog of what we did today:

Per usual, I've gotten behind on the blog. Since we got back from Chatt Hills, things around the barn have been relatively calm. At 105-110 degrees, everyone has felt the need to lay low. We've been training plenty to get ready for the season but we haven't done any outings until this weekend. 

First of all, big time congrats to Susannah Rogrigue on the lease of Weslee Wroe-Houston's previous Advanced partner, Oliver. Also, congrats to Martha Thomas on the purchase of Cavalino Conquest(aka Shawn the Prawn). I am so excited to see what these guys can do with their new talented horses!

Last weekend we went to Quail Run to see how our dressage and showjumping was going. We brought back plenty of ribbons! Vivian was 2nd in the Training Level. In Novice, Lauren was 1st on a 25(AEC's here we come!!), Susannah was 3rd on a 30, Leah was 4th on a 31, and Lea Dearing finished on her dressage score on Ozzie. In BN, Bethany finished on a 33 on Strider, Carly finished on her best dressage score yet as did Hannah Louis on Atti! Kristen Turner did a great job catchriding Farley in the 2'3! 
This weekend we will XC school at Meadowcreek and then it's next stop AEC's!!!!!