Clinic with US Olympian Michael Barisone, and Used Tack Sale
Join us July 8-9 for a clinic with the brilliant and hilarious Michael Barisone. A member of the 2008 US Olympic Dressage Team and coach for the 2016 Bronze Medal winning Olympic Dressage Team and 2012 Olympic Eventing Team, Michael will coach professional, Jr/YR and amateur riders from green to Grand Prix.
Ride times are below. Auditing is $35/day if prepaid or $40/day at the door, and include lunch AND access to our used tack sale! We’ll have lots of great stuff on hand, including a beautiful wooden upright tack trunk and some GORGEOUS custom-made show coats! Email Lauren to sign up to audit.
SATURDAY
10:00 Judy Sprieser & Dorian Gray, 9 yr Dutch Gelding by Sydney, 3rd Level
10:45 Lauren Sprieser & Gretzky RV, 6 yr Dutch Gelding by Johnson, 1st Level
11:30 Jennifer Heck & Rudy, 16 yr Hanoverian Gelding by Rotspon, 3rd Level
12:15 Lunch
12:45 Lisa Hellmer & Aniko, 11 yr Oldenburg Gelding, 4th Level
1:30 Liza Broadbent & Victorious, 15 yr Dutch Gelding by Patijn, Intermediate I
2:15 Eliza Gardner & Ellegria, 16 yr Westfalen Mare by Ehrentanz I, Young Riders
3:00 Lauren Fisher & Eureka BBR, 8 yr KWPN Mare by Sir Sinclair, 3rd Level
3:45 Jean Loonam & Red Hot Chili Pepper, 11 yr Hanoverian gelding, 1st Level
4:30 Torrey Wilkinson & Talisman BHF, 12 yr PRE-cross Mare by Temerario VII, Grand Prix
5:15 Dorie Forte & Froelich, 15 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Festrausch, Grand Prix
SUNDAY
7:30 Judy Sprieser & Stratocaster, 11 yr GOV Gelding by Sir Donnerhall, 4th Level
8:15 Lee Phaup & Rainy, 14 yr Hanoverian Gelding, Prix St. Georges
9:00 Torrey Wilkinson & Talisman BHF, 12 yr PRE-cross Mare by Temerario VII, Grand Prix
9:45 Dorie Forte & Froelich, 15 yr Oldenburg Gelding by Festrausch, Grand Prix
10:30 Lauren Sprieser & Gretzky RV, 6 yr Dutch Gelding by Johnson, 1st Level
11:15 Liza Broadbent & Victorious, 15 yr Dutch Gelding by Patijn, Intermediate I
12 Lunch
12:30 Hannah McSween & Avatar, 11 yr Dutch Gelding by Art Deco, 3rd Level
1:15 Jean Loonam & Red Hot Chili Pepper, 11 yr Hanoverian gelding, 1st Level
2:00 Lisa Hellmer & Lyra, 13 yr Holsteiner mare by Limbus U, Prix St. Georges
2:45 Eliza Gardner & Ellegria, 16 yr Westfalen Mare by Ehrentanz I, Young Riders
We’ve had wonderful back-to-back weekends at Morven Park and HITS Culpeper, and a full report is to come, but congratulations are due to Assistant Trainer Lauren Fisher on completing her USDF Bronze Medal! Huge thanks to Beverley Thomas and her inimitable Fiero for helping Lauren achieve her final scores! Photo by TLP Equine.
Meet Gretzky! Gretzky RV is a 2011 KWPN Gelding, Johnson-Elmshorn, and he’s the latest addition to Lauren’s show string. He’ll be Puck in the stable, and with his quick hind leg and bold markings, he’ll sure to be noticed in the showring. We’re excited to see him arrive from Holland next week! And thank you to the team at 
I can sit and watch any horse sport done well. I love horses (news flash!), but more than that, I love dressage. And because I’m a huge nerd, I love seeing how dressage plays a role in all the other sports, that the basic tenants of training that I preach to my students apply to other disciplines.
We had a great outing to Lexington Spring Dressage! Our small but plucky force had some great educational rides, and ate SO MUCH good Mexican food. Onto Morven Park next month!
We had a triumphant first recognized outing to CDCTA’s Spring show at Morven Park. Huge congratulations to Torrey Wilkinson for finishing her USDF Gold Medal, and to Kristin Hickey and Becky Lee for Zarco’s Second Level High Score! We’ve also got an upcoming weekend with Michael Barisone, and fun news about summer training and lessons. Read the rest 
A while back I had a client enter a show at a big level, her debut at that level, and her first show after a long competitive gap. Her horse is an amazing creature, a phenomenal athlete with an equally incredible mind, who’s also had a long history of health issues, including trying very hard to die on her twice, fortunately to no avail. She’s done the lion’s share of the training herself, and he’d spent a month with me to finish up one last piece of the test. Was she ready to do this level? Mostly. Was it going to be incredible? Certainly not.
Years ago when he was a wee thing, Midge learned the flying changes fairly quickly, and rapidly got comfortable with the fours, threes and twos. But the ones eluded us for almost a year. Midge, with his combination of crazy Dutch Harness Horse knees and boundless enthusiasm, could get through a few, but soon enough he’d be launching himself with reckless abandon in about 37 directions at once, and strong and brave and long-legged thing that I am, I couldn’t hold him together.
Where in the world is Lauren? We’ve had several requests for her 2017 clinic schedule, so here it is!
After a whirlwind last week in Florida, an exciting trip home involving—you guessed it!—two flat tires, and 2 1/2 days to move into my new house in nearby Warrenton, my Floridian team and I are safely back in Virginia, reunited with the home team, and back up and running. I’ve got a few relatively quiet weeks at home until we start the usual spring chaos of constant horse shows and clinics; I’m home one weekend between the end of April and the 4th of July.