Millbrook is still one of my favorite events. This weekend we had perfect footing, which is why I keep it on my summer calendar. The courses were good and proved to be challenging enough. The questions strike the right balance of asking riders and horse to be both brave and accurate. We can also count on having the quality of show jumping track that we need to produce top riders and horses. Additionally, it is really good for the horses to have to come out and show jump in front of a large crowd with tents and flowers and the whole 9 yards.

I thought Andy and Brew, though green, were both very good in the preliminary. It was their most demanding preliminary event to date and they both handled it well. My goal with Brew is to continue his education getting him out to as many preliminaries as possible this fall. Timewise I was conservative cross country with him, but felt that he really learned a lot. In the show jumping, despite being somewhat overwhelmed by the setting, he demonstrated his usual flawless jumping form.

The best part of the weekend was competing Orion again. He missed the spring season, but hasn’t forgotten a thing about his job. The dressage, which has improved tremendously at home with the help of Libby and Jules Anderson, could be better yet in the ring. An explosive moment in the canter kept him from being as competitive as I would have liked. He made up for that Saturday with a perfect cross country round; he could not have better. Today he show jumped as carefully as ever, finishing with just 2 time faults. We were 3rd in a large competitive Gold Cup division. I can’t wait to take him to Richland.

We have been in Middleburg, VA since late May and are gearing up to go home.

Thanks to Kate Lokey, Miranda Nelson and Jody Romeo for all their hard work this summer. They have been phenomenal working students and we honestly could not have asked for a better group of girls. I hope we see them all when school is out next summer.

On another note, we have two nice sale horses at the moment. Shes High Intensity is a really solid training level horse. She has been competed by a junior and has a flawless jumping record. She is very good on the flat and would suit an amateur or young rider.

Clifton Senator has had a great summer. He has been in the ribbons in his last three novices. He is a good jumper and mover. I’ve had a good time developing him and he’ll be going to Full Gallop in a couple of weeks.

Tricia Tripp has been so helpful organizing lessons at her place in Dickerson, MD. It has been really fun for me to teach over there regularly. I’ll be back teaching in MD throughout the fall and will post my calendar at some point.

Congratulations to Paula Siegel on her new horse Milestone! It’s been a pleasure helping Paula get to know Miles and seeing her have so much fun with him.

Since I haven’t been very good about updating the blog, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on several recent accomplishments:

Surefire Horse Trials:
Shenanigans - 1st place Beginner Novice
Clifton Senator - 2nd place Novice
Lisa Malek and Finn - 2nd place Training
Smoke Signal - 3rd place Training
Paula Siegel and new horse Milestone - 4th place Beginner Novice

CDCTA Horse Trials:
Clifton Senator - 4th place Novice
Smoke Signal - 5th place Training

Rubicon Horse Trials:
Cashell Jacquish and Serafina - 3rd place Novice
Dueling Creeks Brew - 5th place Preliminary

Virginia Horse Trials:
Trout Walk Farm’s So Just Royal - 4th place Training
Lisa Malek and Finn - 6th place Training

Plantation Field Horse Trials
Dueling Creeks Brew - 1st place Training
Serafina - 2nd place Novice
Sara Siegel and Fernhill Ever Ready - 4th place Training

Even in the heat of an early summer it sure seems there is a lot going on in our sport! I was busy all winter and spring with the Professional Horsemen’s Council. Following the Red Hills Horse trials and Kentucky, I was very active in drafting the statements released by the PHC. The final products approved and published by the Council weren’t exactly my own sentiments, but they did incorporate the very well considered opinions of twenty top professionals. Getting twenty people to agree on anything is nearly impossible and I was proud of the work the Council did. I believe releasing the statements was a first in this country — to my knowledge no organized group of professional riders has ever composed and published an opinion statement following a major incident in eventing. For those who haven’t read the statements, I encourage you to do so. The statements can be found on the USEA website.

Earlier this spring I also worked with Boyd Martin, Allison Springer, Mara Dean and Laura VanderVliet to answer questions on the Chronicle of the Horse bulletin board. It was an interesting experience and, in conjunction with my work on the PHC, highlighted for me the growing gap between recreational and professional eventing. Over the spring Laura VanderVliet and I hosted four meetings of professional riders. At each we found unanimous support for the establishment of a group outside of the current organizations with the sole purpose of advocating on behalf of professional riders. The challenge now is how to make such a group a reality.

The big picture of eventing aside, we have moved Craig Thompson Eventing to summer quarters in Middleburg, Virginia. In addition to Sara Siegel and Lisa Malek, who have ridden with me for some time now, Jody Romeo, Kate Lokey and Miranda Nelson have joined us for varying lengths of time to train and compete. Middleburg in June is a lot like Aiken in February with an event every week. There’s plenty of riding to do if we don’t melt first!

I brought So Just Royal and Dueling Creeks Brew up from Aiken to compete in the training this weekend. Both have been improving daily, jumping exceptionally well earlier this week in my lessons with Phillip. Hopefully, the flat work will continue to improve at the show as it has at home. Both these horses will ultimately be competitive in the dressage, but it is a bit of a work in progress at this point. I’m really looking for these guys to have a good confident weekend as I plan to move them to Preliminary in June.

Will keep you posted, though this event is not nearly as exciting as what is happening at New Jersey. Hope to have these two training horses entered in the CCI** at Jersey Fresh next spring! Best wishes to all competitors at Jersey for a safe and successful cross-country day.

May is a very busy month for Craig Thompson Eventing!

To start Lisa and Craig drove up to Unionville, PA this morning. Craig will be getting help with his own horses from Silva Martin and Phillip Dutton this week. He will also have the opportunity to help several of his students at Fair Hill and late in the week at Tricia Tripp’s Fox Hollow Farm in Dickerson, MD.

Craig teaches at Fox Hollow on a regular basis. Contact Tricia at 301-332-4484 for more information regarding lessons.

May Calendar:

6th - Cross-country lessons at Fair Hill
8th - Lessons at Fox Hollow Farm

10-11th Plantation Field Horse Trials
12th - Cross-country lessons at MCTA

22nd - Lessons at Fox Hollow Farm
24-25 Virginia Horse Trials

In South Carolina, our new permanent home is nearly done! We have posted several pictures here so you can see how far it has come. Also a great new addition to the farm is barn manager Heather Carberry. Heather brings a range of experience in the horse world. She is absolutely amazing and we are so lucky to have her!

Craig will be spending June in Middleburg, VA. Call or email now to discuss lessons/coaching. Looking forward to seeing you!

Where did the winter go? Already Spring is here, the dogwoods are blooming and the grass is growing. But what a winter it was! Though I didn’t do much competing, we were plenty busy. The first ever Aiken Event Horse Sale was bigger than we’d ever planned — 75 horses entered and countless people over each day. Already we are planning on making it bigger and better next year!

It was also fun to help so many students over extended periods this winter, particularly since they all showed so much development in their riding and had such good outings at the events. I wish I could help all of them even more. In June I’ll get to do just that, as I’m planning on spending the month near my old stomping grounds in Middleburg, Virginia, as well as teaching a couple clinics in New England. Being in Middleburg for the month will not only give me a chance to teach everyone in that area even more, it will give me a chance to get some ongoing help with my own horses on the flat and over jumps.

Though Orion has missed the entire Spring season, and most heart-breakingly Kentucky, he is back to work. I hope to take him to England in the fall for the Blenhiem CCI***, though that sure seems a long way off at the moment.

Ready or not, it’s time to start eventing again! And I feel so busy already. It’s been nice to have Tricia Tripp and the Siegels here from Maryland for training; I’m looking forward to them being back over the course of the winter. And it’s nice to have some quality horses in training. Susan Pope’s young horse reminds me everyday why I enjoy thoroughbreds and Deana Miles NZ-bred continues to show talent.

I’ve been cross-country schooling twice in the last two weeks, both on my own horses and teaching. Bonnie Mosser asked me to do a half day clinic during her eventing camp, which was good fun. My hat is off to Bonnie for making the camp such a useful training tool. My hat is also off to everyone who is willing to make the effort to get the training they need. I’m not sure many amateurs understand the effort required to improve or how hard it is to make positive changes in our riding.

We have moved into our new home at Shadow Lane Farm, which though it’s still a bit of a construction site, is awfully nice. The footing in the sand ring is great, the water jump is in place, and the rest of the cross-country jumps are under construction. We should be ready just in time to host the Aiken Event Horse Sale!

This weekend is the first outing in this area, the novice and training at Pine Top. I have first timers in the novice and Lisa Malek has two as well. I can’t wait to get started!

November and December are usually quiet months, but January, February
and March make up for that. We are busy building our new barn at Shadowlane. The four stall barn is nearly complete and the eight stall barn is underway.

Planning the Aiken Event Horse Sale for February 20-21, 2008 is also keeping us busy. We have had a great response to the sale so far and are very excited. Hope you will join us!

Congratulations to Heather Sinclair on the purchase of Merciful Judge.
We hope she enjoys Judge as much as we have!

I’m wishing the show season were upon us already and apparently plenty of others feel the same way. The barn is quickly filling for the winter/spring season. If you are interested in boarding or training, please contact us now to reserve a space. Happy Holidays!

In the process of jumping around the cross-country Saturday Orion bruised his right stifle. Though there was only a minor abrasion on the stifle itself, there was enough bruising to make him quite sore Sunday morning. As a result I withdrew him from the competition. He is now back in Aiken and I look forward to preparing him for Kentucky in the 2008 season.