Flynn

Yesterday, Flynn participated in his first-ever dressage show in the U.S.! Brittany Hebets Miller did a phenomenal job of keeping his nerves in check, and as a result, they won 1st place in both Training Level Test 3 and 1st Level Test 1. We are all extremely proud of Flynn, given that he is a sensitive horse, but he managed to handle all the distractions and keep his composure. Well done, Flynn! A big thank you to Brittany for her excellent training and handling of Flynn at the show.

Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Horse Trials

The Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Horse Trials turned out to be an excellent event for us last weekend! I catch rode Rough Heart (in BN), and we finished on a great dressage score of 26.2 💙. Mousse, on the other hand, had to battle through a very rainy dressage test. Although we decided to withdraw from the remaining events, we had a blast rooting for Jess!

I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to all the volunteers who showed up despite the rain. You all deserve a big hug and a heartfelt thank you for working hard to ensure that the event went smoothly. Your dedication made it possible for everyone to participate, and we truly appreciate it!

4/29-30: Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Horse Trials (Leesburg, VA)
  • 🏖 Jessica Sappenfield with Island Dancer: 1st in Beginner Novice Rider-A

Fair Hill International CCI & Horse Trials

This weekend ‘Stuck on Gold’ 🏅tackled his first CCI2*s and I couldn’t be more proud of him! 🥰 This quirky OTTB laid down his best dressage test to date, scoring a 24.9! He was not only top of the leaderboard but he also earned himself a 10!! A few rails in show jumping dropped us from the lead, we still need to work on nerves, but he was quick and confident on cross country and finished respectfully in a large competitive field!

I am beyond grateful for the chance to produce this big guy, and owe many thanks to so many people for the endless support and guidance that has gotten us to this point! It truly does take a village to do this and I couldn’t ask for a better one! Thank you to all my coaches, sponsors, and friends 💙 Exciting plans ahead!

MDHT Spring Starter #2

What a great weekend! Big thank you to all the volunteers who came out and helped this weekend at the MDHT Horse Trials! Way to go Jessica for bringing home first place in Novice 🎉

4/15-16: MDHT Spring Starter #2 (Adamstown, MD)
  • Brittany with Island Nominee (owned by Jessica Sappenfield): 3rd in Novice Combined Test 📸
  • 🏖 Jessica Sappenfield with Island Dancer: 1st in Novice Combined Test
  • 🍰 Catherine Ramsey on Cakewalk: 2nd in Elementary
📸 SDH Photography for Erin Gilmore Photography

CDCTA Spring Horse Trials

We spent Easter 🐰🌸 with some awesome horses, their fantastic people, and the wonderful staff and volunteers at CDCTA Horse Trials. I am so proud of all of these horses and riders!  

Tori Rosenblatt and ‘Paris Lady’ had a confident first outing in Open Novice- I can’t wait to see what this pair does in the future.  

4/9 CDCTA Spring Horse Trials (Berryville, VA) 

  • Brittany with…
    •   
    • 🏝Island Nominee (owned by Jessica Sappenfield): 9th in Open Novice-1  
    • 🌾Westwood (owned by Katherine Owens): 6th in Open Novice-2 
  • 🏖 Jessica Sappenfield with Island Dancer: 2nd in Open Beginner Novice 
Bonus point for anyone who can tell the chestnuts apart 😂 

Mousse at CDCTA Spring Horse Trials

All the pieces are slowly starting to come together for this cheeky baby horse! Mousse had a nice confident run at CDCTA’s novice where he had one of his best show jump rounds to date!! Dressage is still a work in progress as he has lots of opinions about the need to half halt 🙈😂 but couldn’t be happier with how grown up and mature he is this year!

Morven Park Horse Trials

‘Stuck on Gold’ had a ✨fantastic✨ run around Morven Park’s prelim track this past weekend! He really gained a lot of confidence in each phase, and landed with a 6th place finish in a large Open Preliminary-B!

Special thanks to all of the volunteers who braced the cold and windy weather- without you there is no event!

Thank you to my sponsors and everyone who came out this weekend to cheer us on!

4/1-2: Morven Park Horse Trials (Leesburg, VA) 

  • Brittany with Stuck on Gold: 6th in Open Preliminary-B

Loch Moy Starter Trials

The #HME team had a wonderful weekend at the Loch Moy Starter Trials!

Island Nominee and Westwood braved the stormy weather Saturday each having confident clear rounds in the Novice, the rest of the crew enjoyed the sun and fun atmosphere Sunday to kick on the show season here in VA!

Here’s our full results lineup: 3/25-26: MDHT Starter Horse Trials (Adamstown, MD)

  • Brittany with … Island Nominee (owned by Jessica Sappenfield): 5th in Novice-A
  • Westwood (owned by Kathy Owens): 1st in Novice-B
  • Julie McGuire with Mango: 4th in Intro-A
  • Jessica Sappenfield with Flat Creek: 4th in Novice-A
  • Catherine Ramsey with Cakewalk: 2nd in Elementary

Mousse braved the thunder and lightning on Saturday at Loch Moy

We capped off our NC trip with Carolina International HT! ‘Stuck on Gold’ tackled the green numbers in his first prelim! And while this quirky #OTTB has some homework to do, I’m BEYOND proud of how far he’s come! We also took the opportunity to get young ‘Island Nominee’ used to the bigger venue and lots of atmosphere; he handled it like a seasoned pro, and we are very excited for his future! Thank you to everyone for their continued support and belief in our team! Excited for the rest of the spring season! 3/15-19: Carolina International (Raeford, NC) Brittany with Stuck on Gold: 6th in Preliminary Rider