What A Day!!

It was a successful day at the Ky Horse Park for Missy and BG.  We met around noon at the Dover booth for a autograph signing with Missy's fabulous sponsor, Patrick Hughes and Horse First.  There was a constant line of fans filtering into the front of the booth to meet Missy and I was able to capture a few pictures for tonight's blog.

Their XC round was so inspiring, considering the number of top competitors who either came unseated (Tiana and Allison) or wracked up penalties due to refusals.   Missy and BG put in a beautifully clean round, with time penalties, but they came home safely and stand in 20th position going into stadium tomorrow.  Here's wishing them a restful night, sound morning and clean stadium round tomorrow!!

Dressage Wrap Up

Missy and BG looked fabulous in the warm up for their test & I was able to get some great shots of their pre-competition preparation.  As always, there were a great group of supporters joining the BHF crew to support our favorite big bay horse!!


Gallery link for iPhone Users!

The atmosphere in the stadium today was much different than yesterday with the majority of the seats being packed.  The energy from the crowd definitely played a part in BG's level of tension, but Missy rode a very accurate test & managed to contain him.  She was disappointed with their score (and I felt they were a bit unforgiving), but tomorrow brings new challenges & opportunities, and the course looks much improved since the storms.

Many thanks go out to all the BHF supporters & also Paddy from Horse First, who was on hand to lend support prior to the dressage test.  Stay tuned for more photos & results after they run XC at 2:35, and heres counting on a safe trip home!!

Greetings From The Horse Park!

I was able to catch up with Missy and Jessica yesterday as they were schooling BG in the warm up area.  They both looked fabulous & seem well prepared for today's dressage at 1:46, so please be sure to tune in to the Rolex Ky website for live coverage of the event!

More to come.......LT

Count Down to Rolex!!

I just got off the phone with Missy, who's enjoying herself down in Wellington with BG and Harry (BG's babysitter) for the next few days prior to her count down to Rolex.

Contrary to popular belief, Missy is NOT out bar hopping or sipping mint juleps at the polo club, but focusing her efforts on some dressage lessons with Todd Flettrich and then tuning up their stadium performance with a few jumper classes at the Wellington Equestrian center on Wednesday & Thursday!  On Friday they will return to Ocala, where she will be packing up for the trip home via Rolex, and then they will do one last gallop on Sunday over at the O'Connor's farm.

Monday they will ship to Kathleen Sullivan's, a friend and client who lives in Lexington, and on Tuesday they will move over to the Horse Park!!

We're all very excited for Missy and BG and hope that you'll come out next week to cheer them on at Rolex!!  For those of you who can't make it to the horse park, NBC Sports will be featuring live coverage of stadium from 2 - 3pm.....check out the latest press release!!

Fantastic Dressage Results At Morven Park Dressage!

It was a great weekend for Jessica and crew down at Morven Park and the VADA/Nova, Inc. Spring Dressage Competition, held this past Saturday & Sunday, April 9 & 10, 2011.

Morven hosted the Official Qualifying Competition for the FEI North American Junior and Young Riders’ Championships and Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Pony Rider, Junior, Young Rider, & Brentina Cup Championships. Official Qualifying Competition for the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program and USEF National Developing Horse Dressage Championship were held there as well.

Jessica sent the following note about the weekend:

"We had a great show at Morven Park this weekend. James won both the PSG and the Intermediare 1, and was also high score in both those classes. Rachel with Taldi was second on Saturday and first in the third level test 3 on Sunday. She then was high score third level!! Jess won her second level test three class on Saturday and Sunday on Hugh Knows.  All in all, it was a good early spring show for Blue Hill Farm!!!"

Eventing Nation Interview

Many thanks again to Samantha Clark of Eventing Nation for giving Missy such great camera time during her road to Rolex! Samantha and Missy had a chance to catch up this morning prior to her stadium. (Full Story)



I was also able to chat with Missy this morning and she expressed how happy she was with BG's steady clean XC ride. She said he felt very relaxed, was dead on to the corners and skinnies and took her confidently to the jumps. I'll certainly catch up with her regarding her stadium round, but they really put in a positive effort and I'm sure she already has a mental game plan for her preparation for Rolex!

Final Results

Dressage at The Fork!

Thanks to Eventing Nation's footage of Missy's test at The Fork!  She's in great position, tied for 9th in a very competitive division of 40!  Stay tuned for more reports after XC.

Eventing Nation: Kentucky entries are ramping up!

Kentucky entries are ramping up

By Annie Yeager on April 4, 2011 11:11 AM, Filed Under Eventing Competition Coverage

With all the excitement at Galway over the weekend, we neglected to mention all of the exciting developments that have been made to the Rolex entry list. I think Kentucky this year will be a really interesting one in the sense that there isn't one type of horse/rider combination dominating the field. In the past, there have been years when all of the best US riders rode their best horses and dominated the scoreboard, there have been other years when a strong international field as flown across the pond and into all the top positions by the end of the weekend, and still there have been other years regarded as the 'rookie' years, where by virtue of being the year of an Olympics or international competition, the Rolex field was more open to newcomer success than it otherwise would have been.

This year is like a melting pot of all the different types. There are the usual US suspects entered on either their best, most experienced horse or in some cases a horse that's new to the level. There are a fair number of first timers, a fair number of single-horse riders coming with a horse they've ridden at Kentucky in years prior, and then there are the Canadians. And then, besides the Canadians there are all the international competitors (most of which have competed at Rolex in prior years.)

As of today, there are 46 entries. The list is as follows, with the new additions in bold:

James Alliston/ JUMBO'S JAKE

James Alliston/ PARKER

Laine Ashker/ ANTHONY PATCH

Kristin Bachman/ GRYFFINDOR

Peter Barry/ KILRODAN ABBOTT

Kate Brown/ MOJITO

Diana Burnett/ MANNY

Hannah Sue Burnett/ ST. BARTHS

Hamish Cargill/ SANDHILLS TIGER

Tiana Coudray/ RINGWOOD MAGISTER

Sarah Cousins/ TSUNAMI

William Fox-Pitt/ SEACOOKIE

William Fox-Pitt/ NAVIGATOR

William Fox-Pitt/ NEUF DES COEURS

William Fox-Pitt/ IDALGO

Clayton Fredericks/ BE MY GUEST

Heather Gillette/ OUR QUESTIONNAIRE

Sinead Halpin/ MANOIR DE CARNEVILLE

Rebecca Howard/ RIDDLE MASTER

Mary King/ KINGS TEMPTRESS

Mary King/ FERNHILL URCO

Boyd Martin/ REMINGTON XXV

Martha McDowell/ GAELIC MARRIAGE

Joe Meyer/ SNIP

Heather Morris/ SLATE RIVER

Kristi Nunnink/ R-STAR

Karen O'Connor/ QUINTUS 54

Jessica Phoenix/ EXPONENTIAL

Jessica Phoenix/ EXPLORING

Michael Pollard/ ICARUS

Michael Pollard/ WONDERFUL WILL

Kelly Prather/ BALLINAKILL GLORY

Missy Ransehousen/ CRITICAL DECISION

Debbie Rosen/ THE ALCHEMYST

Katie Ruppel/ SIR DONOVAN

Colleen Rutledge/ SHIRAZ

Kim Severson/ TIPPERARY LIADHNAN

Jane Sleeper/ UN

Allison Springer/ DESTINATION KNOWN

Allison Springer/ ARTHUR

Polly Stockton/ WESTWOOD MARINER

Kelly Sult/ HOLLYWOOD

Frankie Thieriot/ FRIC FRAC BERENCE

Mark Todd/ MAJOR MILESTONE

Oliver Townend/ ODT SONAS ROVATIO

Jil Walton/ MY SEDONA

Missy Ransehousen and Critical Decision are no strangers to Rolex as they have competed and placed well at several past year's competitions, but this year will have a special significance. Last year at Southern Pines Horse Trials, Critical Decision fractured his tibia, so the past year has been one of rehabilitation. BG and Missy are tough, I'd bet on them to have a good showing this year. 

The year since Kentucky 2010 has been a whirlwind for many, but especially for Kim Severson and Paddy.They went to Rolex Kentucky last year with a good showing in the dressage and cross country, but it all unraveled on the third day with a stop and several rails. Kim spent the last year putting the pieces back together, and came very close to being able to show it on the world stage if it hadn't been for a bout of cellulitis in the final lead up to the WEG. Hopefully all the stars will align for Kim and 'Paddy' this year, as they are truly a world class pair. 

As usual, we will keep you fully appraised of all things Rolex in the coming weeks. Stay tuned until then! 

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