Madeline is Off to Her Biggest Adventure Yet!

Ari & Madeline at the 2017 RK3DE!

We are so thrilled to see Madeline Backus reaping the benefits of years of hard work.  Madeline has been an integral part of the Blue Hill Family for many years, since she came to train with us when she was just a young teenager!

Now Madeline is about to embark on one of the biggest adventures of her life, going abroad to train with William Fox-Pitt for the next year, thanks to the Wilton Fair and Rebecca Broussard grants through the United States Eventing Association.

We asked Madeline to send us her thoughts on her past year and this next opportunity.

"I am sitting down to write this after a wonderful week at the Eventing 25 training sessions, with a barn full of happy horses and I can’t help but to be in awe over how fortunate I am. This sport includes a lot of ups and downs, but I have the most amazing people around me who continually offer me guidance and help through it all. It’s great to see Missy again, and the Blue Hill horses who migrated south again this year.

"2017 has been absolutely huge for me and my horses. Not only finishing my first CCI4* (at Rolex) in the top 20 with Ari, but also seeing everyone come together to help get me there. I was also privileged to ride and compete the horses my mom kept going for me in Colorado, and ended the year with a really fun group of competition horses.

"Now I am making plans to go overseas for the next year, and can still hardly believe that my dreams have become a reality. Ari, Vinnie and I will be crossing the pond to base with William Fox-Pitt in South England - that is something I never imagined myself saying. I am very excited for this opportunity given to me by the Wilton Fair and Rebecca Broussard grants through the United States Eventing Association.

P.S. On Top of the World (Vinnie)

"We will learn what it is like to train and compete overseas, and add that to our ever growing amount of knowledge.  Ari and I will be aiming for Badminton, and possibly Burghley this year, and Vinnie will be working his way up to the CCI2* level.  It is amazing the story that has gotten me here, and I am grateful everyday to everyone who has cheered me on and supported me along the way. My time at Blue Hill Farm will play a huge role in helping me be successful in the UK.  Missy, Jessica, and the Blue Hill family taught me so many valuable lessons which I will carry with me as I make this trip.

"I will make sure to keep everyone posted, I am looking forward to a great 2018. Best of luck to everyone this year!" ~ Madeline

BHF Has An Immediate Opening for an Ambitious Working Student!

BHF Has An Immediate Opening for an Ambitious Working Student!

Our Working Students Have Fun and Become Friend For Life!
Photo Brigitte Aickelin

We are looking for a capable, independent, hard working event rider to join our team.  This person needs to have competition experience, preferably someone with upper level experience or poised to be there in the near future.

The job requires that you roll up your sleeves and help in all aspects of horsemanship, including the care and grooming of the horses, feeding and turnout, cleaning tack, help around the farm and exercising the horses.  In exchange for your competence and hard work, you will receive olympic level coaching, living quarters, board on one horse and the ability to compete at area USEA events.

Please send us an email with detail on your riding experience, photos and perhaps a recent video of schooling or competing.  We would also appreciate several letters of recommendation.

Inquiries can be sent to missyransehousen@gmail.com 

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Missy directly at 484-576-3947.

Peavy and McIntosh Secure Top Honors at 2017 USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships

Blue Hill Farm is so proud of our para riders who traveled to Tryon, NC last weekend for the USEF Para-Equestrian National Championships!  We are also very thankful to several trainers who stepped in to coach the ladies while Missy had obligations coaching back here at Plantation Field International.  Many thanks go out to Michelle Folden for stepping up to the plate for Gigi, and to Ange Bean for coaching Laurietta!

Gigi also wanted to communicate her appreciation to the entire team who have been instrumental in sourcing, training and preparing her newest competitive mount, Heros.  Gratitude goes out to Mette Assouline for finding Heros, and to Missy for her involvement in selecting this newest mount and for traveling to Bishop Burton to help coach alongside Michel Assouline!  The time Missy spent at hacking at Rigbie Farm with Emily Walkup certainly contributed to the great improvement in scores.

Below is an excerpt from the USEF press release.  Congratulations Team BHF!!

Mill Spring, N.C. - The 2017 USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships sponsored by Deloitte wrapped up Sunday with Grade IV athlete Angela “Annie” Peavy and Royal Dark Chocolate crowned National Champions. Grade I athlete Margaret McIntosh and Heros earned Reserve National Champion honors.

Reserve National Champions McIntosh (Reading, Pa.), another 2016 Paralympic team member, and her Heros, a 13-year-old Danish Warmblood mare, also have a very new partnership, coming to the National Championships on a leap of faith and finishing on an overall score of 70.747%.

“I didn’t know what to expect here today,” said McIntosh. “I bought Heros in June and rode her for a little while in England with Michel and Mette Assouline. She was imported at the end of July and spent three weeks in quarantine, so this was a leap of faith coming here. Heros improved with every test and has been a model of exemplary behavior. This was an old freestyle that I have ridden many times with my last horse, so coming into the ring to ride it felt like putting on an old shoe. Heros just fit into the right place and seems to enjoy the music a lot.”

McIntosh and Heros won the Grade I FEI Team Test on Friday with 70.476%. They placed second in the Grade I FEI Individual Test with a 70.475% and first again in Sunday’s Grade I FEI Freestyle Test with a 71.833%.

 

Laurietta Oakleaf (Coatesville, Pa.) and her 13-year-old Friesian stallion Niekele Fan Busentiz placed third in the 2017 USEF Para-Equestrian National Championships sponsored by Deloitte with their consistent performances, ending on an overall score of 69.649%. The combination won all three of their tests over the weekend, with a 69.899% in the Grade II FEI Team Test, a 68.529% in the Grade II FEI Individual Test, and ending with a 71.389% in the Grade II FEI Freestyle Test. She and Niekel Fan Busentiz had been together since the stallion was six months old. Oakleaf handled most of his training and they began competing seriously in 2015.

“His strongest test was today,” said Oakleaf. “We got him a little more round in the back and a little more through in the bit. He had a little bit more push of the hind end today. I think it was about consistency and each day asking for the same thing and adjusting or changing what we needed. I was really proud of him today. He had a really good test.”

FULL PRESS RELEASE FROM USEF

New Horse and New Adventures for Gigi!

We are thrilled to announce that Gigi is officially back in the para game!!  After a brief retirement (which we all knew wouldn't last), Gigi has found her next competitive para-partner and we cannot wait to join them on their upcoming adventures.  Below is Gigi's story about finding her new partner and spending the first part of the summer in Europe! 

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"This adventure started in February when Mette Assouline commenced hunting for a new Grade 1 horse for me. 

"Through an old friend of Mette's, we were introduced to Hanne Ejlersgaard. Due to her husband's sudden and unexpected passing, Hanne had contacted Mette about selling her husband's horse. When Mette mentioned needing a quiet horse with a great walk, Hanne suggested her own medium level competition mare, 13 year old, Heros, as she had never fallen off her!  Heros had a lot of previous experience at 3rd and 4th level.

"Missy travelled in Denmark with Mette and me, where we found perfection in the 13 year old, 16.1 hand mare by Blu Hors Hertug, Heros!  At the end of June, she shipped from Denmark to the Assouline's Brickhouse Farm in Essex, where we commenced intensive preparation for the CPEDI*3 at Bishop Burton!

"The month spent in Colne Engaine at Assouline Dressage went by way too quickly!  Fifteen years of experience in developing Para horses came to bear on Heros and me as her diet and exercise and my equipment and riding ability converged under Mette and Michel's guidance.

Mette and Michel, Gigi & Heros, Missy and Charlotte at Bishop Burton!

"As I had had Heros for only almost one month, I had no idea what to expect at our first show! I managed to make every common mistake in our first outing, going off course, pausing to poop and whinnying! Our subsequent tests showed steady improvements, culminating in a lovely freestyle for second place behind London Paralympic medal winner, Laurentia Tan!
    
"Despite my mistakes, our new USA team coach, Michel Assouline liked what he saw in the first test, stating, "The pieces are all there!" He and Missy were both delighted with our Freestyle performance and we are all looking forward to the CPEDI3* in Tryon in September!

"I have since returned to the states, and now we are waiting for Heros to be released from quarantine and return to Blue Hill Farm.
  
"Thanks so much to Missy and Jessica Ransehousen, Mette and Michel Assouline, Charlotte McIntosh, Ellen Beardsley, Alex Philpin and Becky Reno for all their great help in making this wonderful trip happen!"  ~  Gigi