
05/05/2025
After four straight weeks of showing, I can say two things with complete confidence. One, the horse show hangover is real. Two, I am extraordinarily grateful.
It was a great feeling to get back in the ring on Leena for the first time in 2 years. She had a fault free week at Culpeper, winning the 1.15m and finishing 8th in the $5k 1.20m speed (slow jockey on a fast horse, too many hunter rounds for me!). QT continues to show her quality in the 3ft greens and won The League 3ft Derby. Céleste is a 5yo savant that amazes me more every time I take her out. And Tsar might have the best amateur brain on the planet.
Pretty wild to think that exactly a year ago Baxter was fighting for his life and I didn’t know if Leena would ever horse show again. Now he and Dahlia are giant yearlings and I get to go fast with their mom. I have an incredible string of horses to show and wonderful people to show them with.
In January of this year I was visiting Leena’s mother’s breeder’s farm in Belgium. They had a sign that read, “never never never give up.” I’m really glad I didn’t.