2010

SPRING SHOWS
   Spring showing (May and June) this year has been interesting. For Cradilo, 6 months off is a little like starting over in the Grand Prix world. The good news is, it's much easier and less stressful this time around. I believe the problems that have always been there are being dissected in a way they never have been before. Given we moved back in to the upper level competition world, using the shows to attain fitness and motivation, and not doing much in terms of the lower warm up classes for preparation (and not being able to prepare much at home given the outdoor weather) ... I'm happy to be getting around in a reasonable fashion.
    It's the balance between control and collection necessary for strategic planning around a big course verses the freedom required to allow a horse to powerfully jump, feel confident, and to truly want to do the job. It's a very fine line with Cradilo, and more recently with the valued assistance of some top horseman (Andy and Kim Barone), our focus has been on collection. It's hard having the rails when attempting something new, but I know in the long run the resultant control we now have will be good for our overall growth.
   Seamore, our 4 year old Ramone gelding/irish sport horse has had a good Spring. In serious work for the first time this year, and debuting in his first jumping show in May, he finished June up with several high placings (two 2nds and a 3rd) in the Young Hunter classes at Mason City.
   Angel, a recently acquired Oldenburg mare, has been doing wonderfully in the lower jumper classes, having won several classes at Mason City as well.

BABY PICTURES
   We finally found time to snap some shots of K-C and Annie ... a picture is posted here on the offspring page, and several are posted on Cradilo's fan page.

THE MIDWEST HORSE FAIR - APRIL 2010
   Cradilo and I had an interesting weekend at the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison, WI. He felt good, and the atmosphere was fantastic (a sold out crowd of 7,000 with lots of friends and family). But after seeing the course I began to realize we were probably in over our heads for so early in the season, being far from peaking after such a long absence. It was frankly one of the most difficult courses I have ever seen, particularly for such a small ring with questionable footing.

    It was a bit of a shock as this was a first time event with many amateurs riding, but I still wanted to give it a go. We were there with a great deal of support, and Grand Prix is always challenging. We are definitely trained to rise and overcome the difficulty, and it's a fantastic feeling when you do.

    However, the horses capable of performing at this level are nearly impossible to find and can be easily ruined or shook up, regardless of their talent, when set up for failure. Tearing a willing horse's confidence down in my mind is not a smart strategy at the beginning of a long season. So in all honesty, knowing we weren't prepared, my heart really wasn't in it. And, I think Cradilo sensed this, as though he jumped great in the warm up, he felt tense and nervous to me; even in the walk over to the ring.

    Long story short, I actually jumped the wrong first fence, and had to pull up after the 2nd jump. In fairness, it was actually two jumps pushed together (we were suppose to jump the left side) and the one I jumped was the first of the jump-off on the right side, so it wasn't a completely ridiculous mistake, but certainly disappointing. Looking back on it though, I think I subconsciously I just didn't want to subject Cradilo and I to such a course at the wrong time. I know what my horse feels like when I've failed him, and he was perfectly pleased (perhaps relieved) to walk out of the ring and go back to his stall.

    More than anything, I would say it was a hard experience for my ego. But, in this sport, a good dose of humility and shoving the ego in to the back seat (where it belongs) is definitely something one needs to be comfortable with or even welcome. It's a regular experience for all of us in horses, and should be part of the attraction. It only makes the serious stronger, more focused and more committed.

    The applause we received when we walked in to the ring (apparently we're a local favorite) was fantastic, and I was so impressed with the area. I've always been a bit disappointed with the seeming lack of interest in my sport at home, so it was incredibly inspiring to see such excitement generated by a first time event. I mean, even the rodeo the night before didn't sell out (and this is Wisconsin after all!)

    And, though I know from an inside source the course designer felt bad, I'm not sure it was an inaccurate experience for the crowd to get a taste for just how incredibly difficult this world really is. Out of 38 entries, none were clean, and four fell off. I've personally never seen this in a Grand Prix.

    So lot's of excitement, and I think good education for many people. Thanks again to the Wisconsin Horse Council for putting it on. I hope you do it again, as it will certainly provide a tremendous service to what I believe is a great, but relatively unknown sport-performing art. Next time around, Cradilo and I will know what we're getting in to, and won't show up unless we've been at it hard all winter long!


NEW ARRIVAL!
   Huntington Farms welcomes it's newest addition, a bay colt by Cradilo out of Annie, born at 4:40 a.m.on April 9th (the only foal coming at Huntington Farms this year and one of only a handful Cradilo offspring throughout the country). He looks a lot like his full brother Grimes; though distictly larger. This guys is also notably people friendly, calm and confident ... important qualities we like to see in big jumper potentials. Though he isn't officially named yet, his barn name is K-C, i.e. 'Casey'.


LAKE ST. LOUIS - MARCH 2010
   Cradilo was 8th in the Saturday night Grand Prix in MO (the slowest with one rail, 3 went clean). Most certainly a respectable start to the new year.

   After a hard economic year and a long winter off of showing (6 months ... several months off of riding completely due to Amy having the flu!) Cradilo and I are back at it. Thanks to some sponsorship this year (Thank you, Grace Kennedy and Choice of Champions International!) we are Lake St. Louis this week, doing our first Grand Prix on Saturday. The show has started out well, as Cradilo was clean in the Welcome Stake and 7th (one rail in the jump off). His exuberance to be back in the ring was actually funny, as he wouldn't even consider a flat footed walk coming in to the ring. We basically flew around the course, leaping over the jumps, and it took everything I had to pull him up at the end. It's good to know he missed his job!

   Poseidon's Phantom (barn name Seamore), the 4 year old by Ramon (Dutch international Grand Prix jumper) out of Jesabel (Irish Sport horse) made his first debut in the horse show world as well. Given his just barely started status, I was very happy to successfully negotiate one under saddle class and the general chaos of the schooling area at Lake St. Louis.




2009

Trader's Point this year was interesting. New management and a course designer that I haven't personally seen before (Steve Stephens) led to a whole new, somewhat surprising feel for the show. It felt as if we were in Wellington, and quite honestly, we wound up kind of riding for our lives. Friday's Prix was a bit of a massacre for many teams, and did not go particularly well for us. And although Sunday's Prix felt much stronger and logistically solid, it took everything we had to get around given the extreme heat and Cradilo a bit tired from Friday's gruel. The good news, thanks to a practically identical liver pool built at home, the Trader's Point water no longer seems to be an issue.
   And, it was a tremendous learning experience. I suspect the rest of the year's courses in the midwest will look quite manageable in comparison.
It's always fun watching and competing against the top riders in the world, and I particularly enjoyed observing Margie Engle on her big, powerful warmbloods (it helps me greatly in attempting to fully understand Cradilo). Thanks also to Nancy Whitehead for help with schooling; another piece of the puzzle sorted out is deeply appreciated.

Cradilo has been nominated by the Irish Draught Society of North American to represent the Irish Draught at WEG 2010! This is an incredible honor and we are deeply appreciative. It's a been a dream to be present at this event, and nice to know there's a strong chance we'll be there!

July's Ledges and Lamplight have proven to be challenging warm ups for the season. Cradilo was (in my mind) just barely fit enough to tackle what are always difficult midwest courses, but we managed to get around in fairly decent fashion. I think these shows have us well primed for Trader's Point and Kentucky, both serious shows with intense competition; but only time will tell. Thanks to Andy Barone for some great instruction at Lamplight.

There is no rest for the weary! The evening I returned from Mason City in June, Glory decided to foal, and it was a very difficult birth. We came intensely close to losing both mare and foal, and feel extremely fortunate to have them (colts name is Junior) with us and healthy. To boot, Junior decided to jump a 4' gate from a stand still a few weeks later ... for no apparent reason. Call me sentimental, but because of the combination of what felt like a miracle birth and some interesting similarities to past horse loves, Junior will be staying in the family.

Cradilo won his first Grand Prix at Mason City in June! This was a pleasant surprise, considering he was given over a month off after Florida, and this was intended to be our warm up show. Not only did we get our first clean round at this level, but we won our first Grand Prix at the same time! Things seem to be finally coming together, thank God!

A handsome colt named Quinlan C (after Danny Quinlan, my mentor as a teenager) was born to Red Charisma, and the lovely Luna C was born to June's First Star in May. We our very happy about these two new additions. They look fantastic and both have wonderful personalities.

Cradilo and I spent 4 months this winter in Ocala, FL at Kimberden Farm training with Dennis Mitchel. This was the first time I've been surrounded by riders and horseman of this caliber with any serious consistency. It was a great experience, and though it felt at times as if we were Humpty Dumpty (falling apart and put back together), we walked away from this experience with a whole new take on training at the Grand Prix level and the hunter/jumper industry in general. We competed at Hits 8 weeks in a row, never quite achieving that illusive clean Grand Prix round, but being extremely consistent in that we were there, getting around difficult courses fairly comfortably, and generally in the 'couple of rails' category. Thanks Dennis for taking us in, and thanks also to assistant trainer Asthon, David Jennings, and Kim Mitchel for added instruction and help.

2008

**Trader's Point proved to be a challenging but interesting experience this year. The week started out well on Wednesday with a clear 1st round and decent jump off leading to an 8th out of 30 in the Level 6. We then attempted a shortened version of the Level 7 ... just to get a good look at the liverpool ... we didn't get enough momentum and he unfortunately landed pretty well into the water with his hind end. Though we jumped this water twice last year, I'm not sure he realized what was underneath him, as the Trader's Point Liverpool has the feel of attempting to jump a dark swamp, and is notorious for being the most difficult in the country.
   Unfortunately, as I would find out later, Cradilo now had, for the first time ever, a real fear of a jump. In Friday nights Grand Prix, unaware of the serious problem we had (I thought if I just rode a little harder we would be fine) he almost stopped and landed hard in the water again (and almost dumped me in it), and I was unable to pull it together for the next couple of fences, had rails, and needed to stop and reorganize to keep going. But we did get around well other than that one incident.
   So, realizing now I had a serious problem, we went out and found a black tarp and had a strong conversation about jumping scary, long dark liverpools. He responded well jumping fabulously in schooling, and I suspected (hoped) he would get the message and jump the liverpool well in Sunday's Grand Prix. What I didn't realize was, he had decided the best course of action would be to run like a freight train and jump everything in front of him and or near him, regardless of whether it was a part of the course, or whether I wanted him to stop.
   Cradilo always seems to be good entertainment for a crowd ... fortunately no small children were hurt and I managed to hang on. Watch the video under the stallion page and you'll see what I mean. Anyway, disappointing from a prize stand point, but a great show as far as learning and overcoming potential problems. And again, the support I had in terms of training and help was really good ... thanks guys!**

**We had a great time at Week III of Horse Shows by the Bay in Traverse City, Michigan. This was our first time at this show, and we were pleasantly surprised to find it was well run and an excellent location. Cradilo felt great all week. We had no rails and came away with a 7th in the Level 6 and had one rail and earned a 10th in the Welcome Stake. The Prix also went well, with one rail and a 11th place. Scott Lenkart (our coach, who won the Prix) was a huge help ... and we seem to have completely overcome our issues with triples. Video of these classes are on Cradilo's web page.
    Fatima, Cradilo's yearling filly, came to Michigan with us. This was her first horse show (only her 2nd time off of the farm) and she was fantastic. She was bathed, clipped, hauled and bridled all in the same week, and was amazingly easy. And, she was 2nd in the yearling hunter breeding in hand class (despite her jumper breeding).

**Annie (Akhal-Teke/Westfalen) had her first colt by Cradilo on Saturday, June 21st ... Grand Prix day in Iowa (it's a good sign!) This leggy colt, named Zin Krishna (barn name Grimes), represents a dream of crossing Tito Pontecorvo's imported Russian Akhal-Teke's and the Irish Draught, and looks to be very special.

** We've had an intense two weeks in June at the A rated show in Mason City, Iowa. Cradilo and I experienced a major learning curve ... we were doing great in the Level 6 and 7 Jumpers during the week (2nd and 3rd) but I had my first in show ring fall at the triple in the first weeks Grand Prix. The triples in the big Prix have been our achilles heel, so it seemed this was the time to face that issue head on. The 2nd weeks Prix had a line of 4 and the same big oxer bending to a triple ... we managed to get around with one rail (not at the triple!) and time faults ... it felt like a major victory. Thanks to Sue Kyllonen and Andy Barone for helping us out!
   Genieva, Rachel Miller and Nigel Wallbanks 4 year old Hanovarian mare, who has been in training since last Spring, was incredible. She was Young Hunter Champion the first week and Young Hunter Reserve Champion and 3rd in the overall points in the Baby Green division the 2nd week, winning several classes and almost always in the top ribbons. These were huge classes with tough and serious competition, so we were thrilled.
   Mary Jo Welsh's Irish Sport Horse mare, Roisin (Book of Secrets), won 3 hunter under saddle classes and allowed me to debut in my first Hunter Derby and ride in the pro equitation class. Considering she just moved up to the Pre-Greens, we were very happy to get around in decent style. This mare has it all ... she's bold, intelligent, has the movement, the jump, is extremely ridable and is proof that the Irish Sport Horse can compete and beat the best, even in the rated hunters.
   Susan Jenson's RID Celtic Moon, the imported 5 year old Irish Draught stallion, who has been in training since last fall, made his first rated show debut doing the Level 0 and Level 1 jumpers. He was extremely manageable at his first big show, and cruised around clean several times (pulling ribbons in all of his classes), or with a rail here or there. Susan's Irish Draught stallion Aston (Rakkish Ladd), who has also been in training since the fall, made his debut as well at his first rated show in the Baby Green Hunters. Aston is a 4 year old not yet graded ... and was a little greener than Moon on the ground. But, he performed wonderfully once in the ring and made a strong positive impression, especially on the judge the first day, who came out to meet him (being a fan of the Irish Draughts!)

**Charm delivered her second foal by Cradilo, a lovely and extremely friendly chestnut filly (that looks to be turning grey) named Chanel on April 17th.

2007

**Cradilo had another good showing at Mason City in September, finishing 8th in the Grand Prix with one rail. Gevieva also had a great showing ... pulling ribbons in almost all of her classes, and winning a Baby Green over fences class.**

**We've had an amazing time at Trader's Point, ranked one of the top 5 horse shows in the US. We got around our first very difficult Grand Prix (there were a lot of stops and rails) with only one unfortunate rail at the end (only 6 rides were clean). I got a little overly excited at the end (frankly, I couldn't believe we were clean) and stopped counting strides to the last line! We were competing against the most accomplished riders in the world (Margie Goldstein, Bezzie Madden) and ended up in the top half of a field of 30 horses. After and since the class, strangers have been coming up to us and telling us they have never seen a horse jump like Cradilo (one person even came up to me and gave me a big hug!) ... it has been very exciting. Genieva, Rachel Miller's just started 3 year old warmblood hunter mare in training also had an amazing showing, getting ribbons in both the Baby Green and Hopeful Hunter hack against very tough competition. Seattle did well also, with only one rail in each of her Level 3 jumping classes.***

** Cradilo received a 5th and 4th in Level 6 and Level 8 jumpers respectively at Equifest I, Lamplight, Wayne, IL.

**Cradilo received a 1st and a 3rd in the Modified Jumper and an 11th place (with one rail) in the $10K Open Welcome Stake at Showplace Summertime in Roscoe, IL.

**Cradilo had a another great showing at Midstates Horse Shows in Mason City, Iowa. We did 3 days of serious jumping, and walked away with three 3rds and a 5th in the Open Jumper Level 6 and 7, and a 7th in our first Grand Prix! For videos see the stallion page.

**Cradilo had a great weekend at Canterbury Farms. It was a surprisingly difficult course, the competition was tough (two world cup horses) and we managed to get around with only two rails and pull a 7th place. To see the video go to the stallion page.

**Huntington Farms 2007 Classic Horse Show has been moved to July 22nd (from June 24th due to a rated show conflict) ... sorry for any inconvenience, prize list and entry form will be available shortly.

** Fatima (CradiloXJune) and Temujin Gage (D'artagnanXGlory) were born May 20th and 21st ... we're very excited about these two new additions!**

**Larry Gage of Glad Farms Morgans has created and is heading up the Amy Hunter Sponsorship Committee ... thanks Larry for this valiant effort!! If anyone is interested in getting involved, please contact Larry or Adrienne at (608) 624-3446.

**Amy will be holding a clinic at Endless Valley Stables on April 1st, 2007 ... sign up form will be available shortly.