2011 Wrap Up

2011 turned out to be a great year. After retiring both of my Advanced horses at the end of 2010 I was quite low at the beginning of the year, but once I started focusing on the horses I had I realized that most of them were better horses than any of my past upper level horses and I got really excited.
The horses really proved there is something to be excited about with consistent top finishes all year.
But without the owners I wouldn't have the opportunity to ride these horses, so take a seat folks because this is a long blog but I firmly believe that everyone should be individually recognized for their support.
Ms Jacqueline Mars, who owns Landmark's Legendary Affaire, L's Legendary Romance, L's Monte Carlo, L's Monaco, and L's Ginger Rogers. It's only right that she is being awarded the PRO As You Like It Owner's award for all the horses she has owned and continues to own and the huge contributions she has made to this sport in the US.
Court and Kylie Ramsay, who own Czechmate. The Ramsay's really stepped up to take a chance on me as a young rider a couple years ago and now own this really exciting 5 year old. We got Czechy at the beginning of this year and he just gets more exciting all the time.
Charles Akre, who owns Take Two. Mr Akre became my first owner and has been hugely supportive through all the ups and downs of my early career.
Shannon O'Roark, who owns Lucky Devil. Although Shannon would much rather be riding Taz herself, she was generous enough to let me ride him after she injured her ACL this summer.
Marie le Menestrel, who owns Meadowbrook's Scarlett and previously Meadowbrook's Pollyanna. Marie has a fantastic breeding program and I'm so pleased to be competing these talented horses.
Maria Brazil, who owns Pas de Panique and Lavigna. Although Maria isn't an owner, per se, I appreciate the fact that when she is too busy to compete her lovely horses herself she let's me ride them.
At the end of the day the owners can't be thanked enough. This is an expensive sport we do and it's hugely generous what they do by owning these horses.

I want to thank my sponsors for their support of me and my horses.
Heritage Gloves has been my longest sponsor and even if they didn't I would still only wear their gloves. They are stylish, functional, and durable. They can't be beat.
Omega Alpha has kept my horses at their healthiest and happiest. They have a supplement combination for any type of horse or situation and I can feel confident in the consistency and effectiveness of every product.
Ecolicious Equestrian has done wonders for my horses looks! My farrier has commented on the improvement of my horses foot health thanks to their hoof treatment, their coats are shiny, their tails are thick and smooth, and I can be confident that my horses aren't breathing in horrible toxins when I spritz them with fly spray.
Eventing Market is the best website to advertise on or find what you are looking for whether it is a horse, tack, or your business, hands down.
Peggy Ingles and Pegasus Designs for my beautiful websites.
And my newest sponsor Kentucky Horsewear, their d3o technology has set a completely new standard for boots and leg protection and I'm so happy to be using them on my horses.

I also want to thank Karen and David, without them taking a chance on a goofy kid from the Midwest and putting all of these opportunities in front of me I wouldn't be where I am now.

And I can't finish this without shout outs to Jax Janes, Max Corcoran, and Rachel Goff for putting up with me every day :) Randy Pawlak and Dr Christiana Ober for being the best farrier and vet in the universe, and my parents for always knowing when we need some bang bang shrimp.

I'm excited for 2012 and all the talented horses I will be competing. Things will be getting busy right after Christmas with O'Connor Winter Camp and then the first event Jan 7. Follow Lauren Kieffer Eventing on Facebook, @laurenkieffer on Twitter, or the website www.laurenkieffer.com for updates!

Catching Up

Sorry I haven't written in so long! Let's do some catching up, we have been doing a lot of competing and have had some new arrivals. The horses have all been very successful at their horse trials and we took seven for a big outing at the American Eventing Championships at the beginning of September where most ran well aside from my tumble off of Ron Reagan in the water, it was a soggy walk home.
The highlight of the weekend was the Ramsay's Czechmate winning his division from start to finish and then their son Calvin won his division on Landmark's Miss Liberty, a homebred of Ms Mars.
We headed back north and went to Middleburg HT where I rode Meadowbrook's Scarlett and Meadowbrook's Pollyanna, owned and bred by Marie Le Menestrel, in their very first event. They are two beautiful, talented mares and went on to be 1st and 3rd in their first outing! Very promising for the future.
After that we were off to Morven the following weekend with six. On Saturday I had Ron Reagan and Lucky Devil in the prelim and Czechy in the training. The day was so miserably cold and wet I didn't run cross country but Ron and Taz were 1st and 2nd after the dressage and sj and Czechy just did dressage and was in 1st.
Jax and I attempted to go on Sunday with Scarlett, Polly, and Tux(Landmark's Legendary Affaire), but promptly got stuck in the mud pulling out of the barn at 5:00 am. After spending an hour trying to get ourselves out, we finally realized we needed some large machinery, which meant we needed Dennis, the keeper of all things mechanical on the farm. We all joke that he is really just a big ol' teddy bear, but he mostly scares the crap out of me, but that might be because I'm always breaking things...., so I made Jax go fetch him.
She returns with him, Gary, and a large tractor with chains. There was some grumbling under their breath about "damn women" or something along those lines, but we were promptly unstuck and with some thank you's and batted eye lashes we coaxed a smile out of them. But by then we were way too late to make it to the show.
We used the extra day to pack and left a day early to head to warm and sunny Florida. Max and Karen are toughing it out till after Fairhill.
We left around 2 am, me and Boozer in my truck and trailer, Hannah, Sara, and Jackson in Hannah's rig, and Jax and her giant German Shepherd Libby in Jax's POS Durango. Well don't you know about an hour into the trip we pull up behind Jax on the side of the road with smoke pouring out of her hood. After some convincing, we leave Jax's green machine in a Walmart parking lot, transfer her trash bags full of possessions to whatever space was left in our rigs, load Libby into Hannah's backseat, Jax squeezes into my truck, and off we go.
As I mentioned earlier, Libby is a very large dog, and tends to be a worrier. Well being separated from her momma Jax was causing her some worry and obviously making her stomach hurt, which resulted in her shatting all over Hannah's backseat. Somewhere on the side of I-95 is a massive pile of poop covered towels and candy. Some prisoner is going to think he hit the jackpot and will be sorely mistaken when he grabs that candy bag....
BUT we have made it South safe and sound, the farm and weather is gorgeous, the ponies are happy, and we are off to Rocking Horse in a few weeks with eight, check in here and on Facebook for more updates.

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O'Connor Camp

So any of us under the age of 30 have been told by someone over the age of 30 that they "are too old for this". Maybe after a "rambunctious" late night or something else along those lines. But let me tell you, after this week, I've decided I am too YOUNG for this.
This week was O'Connor Camp with Karen, David, and Cathy, and my first time teaching at the camp. I have never been more exhausted in my life. We "youngn's" may be able to kick it till 4:00 in the morning and show up for work at 6:00, but the "more mature" folk can go to bed late, get up early, and work all day long 7 days in a row. I have never hit the snooze button so much in my life.
Aside from exhaustion camp went fantastically. The students were excellent, the horses great, and the weather perfect. It is very different to attend camp as an instructor rather than a student (I went in 2005), but I got as much if not more out of it. On the educational side it was a huge opportunity to hone my skills as a clinician and instructor. Watching three extremely accomplished professionals, Karen, Cathy, and David, teach in their different styles but all achieving the same end goal was really interesting.
The one common thread between them all and the whole camp is the step by step way that everything is taught which inevitably leads to success. Everything is explained and taught in such a way that every one of the students can go home and recreate it. Isn't that what all clinics should be like? But they aren't, and that's what makes this camp stand alone.

One Hell of a Weekend (no pun intended)

The Virginia Horse Trials went about as well as a horse show could. I'll just go one by one.
Chuck Akre's Take Two won her preliminary division from start to finish which has been a long time coming for this mare and Mr. Akre. She has always been one of my favorites and Mr Akre was my first owner and a huge supporter. 
I rode Annie Yeager's Quick Proposal in the preliminary while she was busy graduating. He is a steady Irish type and improved throughout the weekend finishing 2nd behind Lillian Heards lovely mare. 
Courtney and Kylie Ramsays Czechmate won his training division by a whopping 9.9 points.
Ron Reagan led his Novice division from start to finish at our first event together and Jacqueline Mars Landmark's Monte Carlo, Landmark's Ginger Rogers, and Landmark's Legendary Romance were first, first, and third in their divisions.
I don't think I have ever had this much talent to sit on and it's hugely exciting. These horses are young but each one of them has more natural ability then any other horse I've competed (sorry Maggot ;)) and now its my job to nurture that talent and the hardest part will be to not let my ambition push them too quickly, but in the long run it will pay off.  
One thing that everyone should sit up and take notice of is the talent that is coming out of Ms Mars breeding program, it is only going to get bigger and better and it's an honor to be involved in that program. 
I can't thank Jax, Shannon, Max, and Barry enough for their help this weekend, they kept everything running like clockwork in the barns and Karen and David showing up for my rides even though Karen had her own horses to compete and David keeping up with his course designing responsibilities. And of course Mama and Papa Kieffs for keeping us fed and truck tires inflated!

Northern Migration and Difficult Run

The Great Migration North has finally concluded with the first load coming up on Monday and the last arriving last night. I absolutely love the farm up here and my wonderful house on top of the mountain. All the horses settled in great and are mowing down the thick grass.
I had 4 horses at Difficult Run this weekend, Take Two in the preliminary, Czechmate in the training, and Landmark's Legendary Romance and Landmark's Ginger Rogers in the beginner novice for their very first event. I was very disappointed with the footing on the preliminary and training courses so I just ended up doing the combined test with Take Two and Czechmate. They both did good dressage tests and were third and first in their divisions and left all the rails up. There was an incident with screaming children at the end of the ring during Czechy's round, and although he has the same instinct as me at the sight of small children (turn and run) I made him deal with it and circle by them during our round.
Roma and Ginger were exceptional for their first event and finished 3rd and 4th with very brave clean rounds.
I have to give a shout out for OCETs great showing at Rolex with Hannah and Olivias fantastic cross country rounds and Karens great weekend on one of my favorite horses, Quintus 54.
I am competing Rocket in a dressage show this weekend and then Jax and I are off to Virginia Horse Trials with a bunch the next week. I hope everyone had a great Mothers Day weekend and check back in soon!

Comeback Weekend

Sorry it has taken so long to post, things are quite busy at the farm with Karen, David, and Max off at Badminton.
Florida Horse Trials went really well. I had Maria Brazil's lovely horse Pas de Panique in his first Preliminary and he really showed his class by winning the big division. I also had Chuck Akre's Take Two in the preliminary combined test and she was a wild child in the dressage but show jumped a beautiful clear round. The Ramsays Czechmate and Rowdie Adams Hector were both in the training and finished 3rd and 4th respectively. Czechy is becoming a really exciting horse and I can't help but giggle with delight over every jump. I also had Ms Jacqueline Mars' Smilla and Landmark's Dam Gypsy in the novice. Smilla is a very talented mare from Ireland that I am riding for Karen while she's gone.
All the horses were in top form and Jacqueline Janes is to thank for that. She did a fantastic job keeping all my horses going while I was hurt and you will be seeing her competing Snooze this summer :)
It's going to be a very busy week packing up and getting ready to head north to Virginia and quickly unpacking and getting set up before taking 5 to Difficult Run May 7-8.
It's great to be back and check in often for updates!

It has been 5 weeks today since I broke my arm. What I have I learned in these 36 days? (not that I have been counting)
1. I am a horrible patient
2. I am a really good "fibber", my doctors have actually believed me when I said I haven't been riding
3. I do not like being a spectator, or watching other people ride my horses, even if those "other" people are Karen & David O'Connor. By the way, thanks guys! :)
4. But most importantly I learned that I really REALLY love what I do. Not just the competing but the whole day to day process.
We all go through lows and say to each other "why in the world do we do this sport?!" and I think there was probably a lot of people asking that question after the tragic losses of Mandar and Dekorum this past weekend, but I don't think any of us could quit even if we wanted to.
Personally, I can't nail it down to one specific reason, I suppose it is a bit of it all. You can go with the obvious highs- winning, a great cross country round, a 20's dressage test; but there is a lot more than that, the little things of day to day training, when you have a breakthrough lesson or a great jump school. It's the people we get to know and the friendships that are formed, and most importantly it's the bond we create with our horses.

It's refreshing and motivating to come to this realization and in some ways this forced hiatus may have been beneficial mentally, or I am desperately looking for a cup half full attitude :).
This year will without a doubt be a rebuilding year after having to retire both of my Advanced horses, but I think I have stopped feeling sorry for myself and can really be excited about the classy and talented young horses I have in the pipeline.
Poplar went well for OCET this weekend and I will be competing at the Florida Horse Park in April with Reba, Patrick, Czechy, Tinker, and Maria Brazil's Pas de Panique. The 4 year olds Ginger and Roma will also come along for their first competition exposure.
Until next time,
Lauren

Starting 2011 with a bang! In more ways than one....

We started 2011 strong with the horses coming out great and top placings in the first few events. That's the good bang, the bad bang is that I got thrown from a young horse and broke my arm and wrist. I had surgery last Thursday and they got everything plated and screwed back together so me and my bionic arm will be back in no time! In the mean time Karen and David are riding my horses(not bad jockeys ;)) and Karen is going to compete my new ride Veronica, owned by Sharn Wordley and previously competed by Scott Keach, in the Intermediate at Red Hills and CIC** at Poplar. David will compete Pacific, owned by The Ramsays, and Landmark's Monte Carlo, owned by Jackie Mars, at Poplar and I will run only Take Two just to get back in the swing of things. I will be back and running by The Fork in April.
I want to congratulate April Simmonds on her purchase of Impressively Done and their 2nd place finish at their first event together this weekend, and Mary Bruenig on her purchase of DipNSnuff!
I am starting a syndicate for Snooze's only full brother Vermiculus so please check my website www.laurenkieffer.com for more information and a view of the proposal.