Taylor Made Dressage

01/24/2024

Huge Congratulations!

First competition of the 2024 season in the books ✔️

Despite a sketchy start in -3° temperatures ❄️ with some of the horses having some rather frisky moments 😳, we actually managed to keep ourselves together for great results

Young superstar Monty owned by Ayse Vrielink, just keeps delivering. He scored a near 73% for a win at his first try at 3-3 and was high point open winner of the day

Animo owned by Donna Phillips yet again pulled off another highlight test for a 74% win in the Int 1 and a fantastic 75% in his freestyle. High point winner for FEI and Freestyle over the weekend

Fancy owned by Jamie Crawford debuted his first time at 4th level and although the first test is something we don't talk about 😆🙈, he redeemed himself for a 70% win the second day

Ziggy owned by Connie Mastro also performed well for 65 and 70% at 3-3

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

01/22/2024

HDS WINTER SHOWS I AND II

Well, despite the weather being absolutely freezing cold and my fingers and toes being numb most of the weekend, I am absolutely delighted with the results from the first show of the season, making it all worthwhile. No less than 8 high point and reserve high point champions over the two days!

SATURDAY
Champion Open (National level) Carly
Reserve Amateur Champion (FEI) Kacie
Champion (Freestyle) Carly
Reserve (Freestyle) Jillian

SUNDAY
Champion Amateur (National level) Nancy
Champion Open (FEI) Carly
Reserve Champion Open (FEI) Erik
Reserve Champion (Freestyle) Jillian

Well done to all of my clients! A special congratulations to Nancy in her very first recognised show (scoring an amazing 69%), Erik doing his first PSG test in years and winning the test out of 8 very good riders on Sunday (with a 68%), Kacie earning her Regional qualification at Intermediate level first time out, Jillian who got the 65% at Freestyle (on a tricky OTTB mare) that she’s worked so hard for and of course, my daughter Carly (whom I am so incredibly proud of) getting over 70% in all of her tests on Sunday, with a massive 74% at Intermediate level! Thank you to everyone who braved the cold to come out and watch. Thank you to my friends and colleagues for all your support. Thank you to Twinwood for the amazing facilities that enable me to keep teaching throughout the year, no matter how much the freezing cold and the boiling hot temperatures try to interfere with our training!!! I am one very happy and proud trainer!

12/22/2023

I would like to wish all my family, friends and colleagues the merriest of Christmases and a happy, healthy, successful New Year. I especially want to thank my amazing clients, who bring joy to me every day. Thank you all for the wonderful gifts you have given me this Christmas, I am truly humbled by your generosity. I am very grateful for all that I have and very much look forward to 2024 and all the exciting things it will bring!

12/11/2023

The HDS Schooling Show Championships/Open Show held every year in December is such a fun event. It is a great start to the festive season and everyone was in the best of spirits. All of the Twinwood Trainers were at the competition, either riding themselves or with their clients and we all had a fabulous time, starting with a ‘happy hour’ on the Friday night after bringing horses in, bedding down and coaching.

I had 11 horse/rider combinations, two in the Championship classes! Everyone did really well and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We had horses who hadn’t competed in years, riders who hadn’t competed on their horses ever, rider/horses trying a new level and some really fun freestyles with Christmas music!

Thank you to HDS for organizing this great show every year. Thank you to the judges and volunteers that make this show possible. Thank you to my fellow trainers, competitors, friends, family and those who came to support their fellow boarders. Thank you to The Equestrian center at Twinwood.

The ‘serious’ stuff starts in January with the HDS Winter Shows I and II on 20th/21st January. Hope to see many of you there. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!!

10/29/2023

Well what a fantastic day was had by all at the Halloween schooling show held yesterday at The Equestrian Center at Twinwood, organised by Leslie Rohrer with all proceeds benefitting the charity SIRE. It was a beautful, hot, sunny day and we had dressage, jumping and our fun 'trail' class. Congratulations to all my clients - Emma rode Boji at 1st Level for the first time, earning them Junior High Point, Holly rode 1st Level to get her second qualifying score for the Schooling Championships in December, Mo rode Training Level and Prix CaprillI and got both her second qualifying scores for the Championships. Kacie rode Intermediate I for the very first time, Ayse rode her horse Monty herself for the very first time at a show at First level, Debbie rode her Novice Eventing test and continually gets consistent scores and finally Carly rode my new young boy, 5 year old Rocco in his very first ever dressage test and got a 71% at Training Level! Very proud as he was only broken in earlier in the year and I have only had him for 4 months! Congratulations to everyone else too, we had some fantastic rides by the other trainers - Jessica, Ida and Jackie and as usual, Erik made us laugh in his Chris Jenner costume! The costume classes were unbelievable, with everyone making such a massive effort, how some of the horses endured the get up, I do not know. In the afternoon, we held the trail class which was a great success, with a 'halloween' theme and lots of clients went around the course in hand afterwards to desensitise their horses - the tarpaulin being the scariest thing on the course! Jackie held the show jumping part in the other arena - which she organised. Thank you so much to Twinwood for hosting the friendly, fun show, to all my fellow colleagues and management, to all the help the boarders gave me setting up the course and helping take it down at the end of the day, to our lovely judge, Fran Kehr (dressed as the devil) and especially to Leslie for organising the show in the first place. I hope we made lots of money for SIRE!

Next up, is the actual Schooling Show Championships and Open Show on 9th December - so far, I have 11 horses going, so should be a whole heap of fun! Can't wait, it is such a fun show and always gets us in the festive spirit and is always a great start to the holiday season!

10/16/2023

Another wonderful piece of news..... One of my clients, Stephanie Tassos Reimers just passed her TD exam and is now an official Technical Delegate for Eventing! Huge congratulations.

10/16/2023

Great job! 2023 was a difficult year for the horses as they had to contend with the heatwave that lasted for months! Lets hope that 2024 is a little kinder to us.

10/15/2023

So proud of my client, Debbie Blake, who gained another clear round in the XC section at Pine Hill yesterday and has now already qualified for next year's AECs!

This weekend, my eventers are attending a clinic with Carsten Meyers at Twinwood - wonderful weather, fabulous teaching and awesome facility!

Next up we have our own 'charity show' on 28th October at Twinwood, benefiting SIRE of Fort Bend County. I hope as many of my clients (who are either boarders at Twinwood or who haul in for lessons) participate in some way. It is always such a fun, relaxed, wonderful little show, with great local judges joining in the spirit of Halloween. Some of the costumes that people have worn in the past have been spectacular! Really looking forward to it, just hope the sun shines on us. Fingers crossed.

09/24/2023

So my eventing people were once again out competing this weekend at Meadowcreek. After an excellent showing at the AECs two weeks ago, they once again excelled with Laura winning 1st and 2nd places in the Open Preliminary division, Erik gaining a 4th place in the Open Training division and Debbie gaining a 3rd place in the Novice Championship division (and getting under a 30 in the dressage for the first time!). So very proud of my eventers. Next up is dressage and the Regional Championships between 5th and 8th October and I have nine horses going, some shared between Carly and I. Best of luck to everyone going! I am so very lucky as a trainer to have so many fit, sound, strong competitive horses in my program and some of the very best clients! You make my job easy!

08/26/2023

So gave my last 'preparation' lesson this morning to one of my 3 riders and 4 horses competing at the AEC's next week. They have all endured the heat, kept their horses fit, ridden their tests umpteen times and could not be any more prepared - very proud of their commitment! I want to wish Erik, Laura and Debbie all the very best, a safe journey there and back, do yourselves proud, but above all, have a blast! I will be watching from home, fingers and toes crossed. BEST OF LUCK!!!

05/28/2023

So this weekend I had Debbie Blake competing who went all the way to Kentucky no less (as a practice run for the AECs) and she finished 11th in the Senior Novice division. Toby was a dragon in the dressage arena, so good job they went and had a practice run, but they had a clear cross country though! Well done! Jillian and Carly competed at GSWEC, Jillian competed Lil Miss again in the Freestyle and her score improved and she was the Amateur Freestyle Champion! Congrats. Carly had another awesome weekend, winning 4 out of the 5 classes she contested. Animo won both the PSG on Saturday with a 70% and the Int I on Sunday with a 74%, she won her 1st level class on Ziggy with a 71% score and today won her 2nd level class on Monty with a whopping 75%. She was the Open FEI Champion both days. Very happy competitor and very happy owners! Got back just before the rain started! Hope everyone enjoys the Bank Holiday tomorrow, but also remembers those who gave their lives for our freedom!

05/14/2023

So incredibly proud of my eventing clients! Last weekend, Erik travelled to Texas Rose and won the 'Open Training' division winning on his dressage score of 31.2 and earning a place at the AECs! So very happy for him and his thoroughbred Caesar (owned by Brandye Randermann) - he thoroughly deserves it as he has worked so hard and improved so much. This weekend, Laura travelled to Tryon and did her first ever 2* Long course on her very new mount 'Kitty'. She was 12th after the dressage (out of a very large class) and ended up 15th Overall. This is such a new partnership, but what a wonderful way to start - there are literally much bigger things to come from them both. I am lucky enough to have 5 horses/clients qualified for the AECs being held August 29th - September 3rd at the Kentucky Horse park. Its going to be so exciting.......

05/01/2023

The end of another long weekend! This time the CDI/HDS Spring Shows I and II. What can I say, yet another fantastic weekend for my clients. Kacie won the 'Friesian Sport Horse' Reserve Championship on Sander, Jillian won the 'Freestyle' Reserve Championship on Lil Miss, Carly won the 'Open High Point' Reserve Championship with Ziggy with a huge score of 73.5% and Cheryl got her final score at Third Level to get her bronze medal! Carly won 3 out of 4 of her classes on Friday and won all 4 of her classes (including the CDI small tour classes both days on JJ) with 4 different horses! Big shout out to Jolie who scored a whopping 72% at 3rd level on both days and Monty who did his first ever second level test and got over 70%! HUGE congratulations to all. Very proud trainer! (Love the photo of Cheryl sharing her glass of champagne with Betty!)

There was also some heartache for some however. My heart goes out to the owners/riders of the horses who couldn't compete due to colic and sudden soundness issues both at the show and at home. I wish them all a full and speedy recovery.

04/25/2023

Another fantastic weekend! Firstly my eventing clients braved the stormy weather and competed at Meadowcreek with the following results. Laura Sparks rode Kitty in Open Prelim and was first after the dressage phase (very proud) and ultimately was the overall winner. Huge congratulations. She also competed Brooks in the same section and was 5th after the dressage, but withdraw from the XC due to the poor conditions from all the rain as he had already qualified. She also competed Felix in the Open Training division and was 5th after the dressage and ended up 2nd Overall! Erik competed Caesar in this same class and was 2nd after the dressage (with a fabulous score of 30.0) and ended up just behind Laura with a 3rd place. Lastly, Debbie competed Toby in the Senior Novice division and was 8th after the dressage, but with a great score of 30.6 - getting ever closer to that elusive 20s score and a very consistent test made up of virtually all 7s. She did however also withdraw from the XC as by the time it was the novice riders turn, the course was pretty bad.

Here at Twinwood, we were priveleged to hold a USEF Dressage Program 'scouting' clinic held by George Williams. We had 9 outstanding horse/rider combinations (including Carly with both Ludo and JJ), several of which were at Grand Prix level. The quality of the horses and the standard of riding was inspirational to those of us watching. George was so encouraging and made everything very clearcut, the emphasis being on suppleness and relaxation, especially when the horse was in a more uphill frame and had very extravagant movement and to riding into your outside rein from your inside leg consistently with soft elastic allowing arms. So incredibly happy that we are being recognised as a Region that has talent and potential in both riders and horses! Thank you so much USEF for arranging, George Williams for wonderful teaching and to Twinwood for being the host. Lets hope we have many more of these in the future!

04/21/2023

04/21/2023

Many of you have asked me about Rue's pregnancy and what is involved and timeline etc., so I thought I would keep a little journal of what's been going on and share it with those of you who are interested.

04/02/2023

What a fantastic day we had yesterday at our fun charity show held at Twinwood - all proceeds going to 'SIRE'. The weather was gorgeous and the sun shone all day on us. Everyone had been practicing really hard and it paid off as the scores all improved. A special shout out to Holly who scored over 66% at First level, Kacie who scored over 63% at PSG, Erik who scored over 68% at USEA Training level, Debbie who scored over 68% in USEA Novice, Grace who scored over 62% at USEA Beginner Novice, Maureen who scored over 62% at Prix Caprilli and Emma who scored over 68% at First level on my own horse Rue and 67% on Rose at Training level (Emma has never competed either horse before!). All the above are qualifying scores for the Schooling Show Championships in December! We also held a 'trail class' which was so much fun and we had lots of people giving it a go, either under saddle or dismounted. Thank you so much to Twinwood itself for hosting this show, to my fellow trainers for all your help, to everyone who volunteered their time and to those that baked and donated cakes, to all the competitors and especially to Leslie Rohrer for organzing this event twice a year!

03/27/2023

Could not be more proud of two of my clients who competed at Texas Rose this weekend. Erik Yokay was 5th after the dressage phase and finished 9th overall, achieving a clear XC round to get qualification for the AEC Training Level Championships later on this year. Debbie Blake was 4th after the dressage phase and moved up to 3rd place overall and also qualified for the AEC Championships at Senior Novice Level. They both work so hard and thoroughly deserve their successes. Big Congratulations!

01/23/2023

First show of 2023 under our belts and it was relaxed, fun and had some super results! I had 7 horses show in total over the two days. Kacie rode Sander as a 3 year old 10 years ago at the exact same show and this time 10 years later, she got her silver medal! Huge congratulations.
Jillian continues to earn very consistent scores at 3rd level on one of her OTTB mares and qualified for the Regionals at this level and on the other one, she tried her hand at an equitation class and earned a 72% for 2nd place on Saturday and 73.66% for the win on Sunday! She also qualified for the Equitation Regional Finals.
Carly rode Jamie Crawford’s Fancy in his first ever 3rd level test (only started working on flying changes 4 weeks ago and they are a work in progress) and won the class with a 69% on Saturday and was High Point Open Reserve Champion for the day and on Sunday won with a 67% - a very good debut at this level and in his very first attempt also qualified for the Regionals.
Carly also rode Cheryl Laird’s beautiful mare Betty first time at 4th level and were 2nd scoring over 63% and 60% in both classes.
Laura turned to the ‘dark’ side! Laura one of my FEI event riders, turned her hand to pure dressage and took her boys out at first and second levels earning some very decent marks with scores up to 64.5% and achieving two 3rds, a 4th and a 6th place and two qualifying scores and went home with lots of experience in the dressage arena and plenty of feedback. She knows exactly what she has to work on!
All in all, a great first show of the season.

10/16/2022

Yep! Another amazing week for my clients! First off, Christine McCarter was Reserve Champion with her 2 year old, Kacie Linegar competed at PSG With Sander and Training Level with Lindeman at New Horizon Schooling Show with great scores and my eventing clients were amazingly successful. At Pine Hill, Erik competed at Open Training level for the first time with Caesar and got 7th place and Debbie competed Toby for a 4th place at Open Training level. Laura travelled all the way to Poplar Place and was awarded with a 2nd place in the Open Preliminary division with Brooks and won the Open Novice division with Felix. So very proud of everyone's success. Yay! Next up Twinwood's Halloween Schooling Show on Saturday 29th October. Can't wait to see everyone there!

10/10/2022

What an absolutely amazing 5 days at the Regionals with family, friends, clients & colleagues! Had 9 clients plus 2 of Carly's clients showing and between them, we had 4 Reserve Champions, one SWDC bronze medallist, three horses showing at a higher level for the first time and one rider gaining their USDF bronze medal! I could not be prouder or happier. So in no particular order, Erik on Ziggy was an SWDC bronze medallist at 1st level, Carly on Bruno was a SWDC Silver Medallist and Reserve Champion at Int I level, Carly on Animo was the GAIG Reserve Champion at Int I, Carly on Fancy was the GAIG Reserve Champion at 2nd level and Evelyn on Pax was the Junior GAIG Reserve Champion at 2nd level. Phew! Carly on JJ went up to Intermediate I for the first time, Cheryl on Betty went up to 3rd level and baby Monty did his first ever 1st level test - they all did a fantastic job! Christine rode her eventing mare Possum at 1st level gaining a 70%, but I think the icing on the cake, was Jillian earning her last 3rd level score to get her USDF bronze medal on her little OTTB mare Miss P. I must also mention that my colleague, Ida, was the SWDC Champion and GAIG Reserve Champion at Int II on Edison owned by Twinwood - well done to her. Thank you also to all my other clients who came out to watch and support everyone who was competing. Thank you to The Equestrian Center at Twinwood for all the support and sponsorship towards the show, to Leslie Rohrer for sponsorship of mine and Carly's clients outwith Twinwood and a special thanks to HDS for their organising the Regionals every year and doing such a splendid job. I really do have the best job in the world! Roll on next year...

09/25/2022

What an amazing weekend! Firstly to my eventing clients - Laura Sparks rode Brooks to 2nd place in the Open Preliminary division and Felix to 5th place in the Open Novice division, Christine McCarter rode Possum to 7th Place in the Open Preliminary division and Debbie Blake rode Toby to 2nd place in the Senior Novice division at Meadowcreek. Well done ladies! Also happening this weekend at Twinwood, was a dressage clinic with Anne Gribbons 5* international dressage judge and trainer, where 4 of my clients - Carly Taylor-Smith, Erik Yokay, Cheryl Laird and Jillian Bowman had awesome rides and made me so proud! Life doesn't get much better than this! Roll on the regionals in 2 weeks!

09/13/2022

Although the passing of our queen put quite a dampener on things this weekend, I did have the most amazing time at a show with incredible clients, family and friends which helped lift my spirits no end! Carly did a fabulous job piloting the two horses that had never ever been to a show before (Monty and Fancy) and managed to qualify first time out at their respective levels (training and second), Bruno got his remaining GAIG qualifying score at Int I and Animo got his qualifying scores at Int I at his very first attempt at this level! Awesome job Carly! Another young horse got his qualifying scores first time out at First Level (Ziggy) empathetically ridden by Erik and Jillian got a 3rd level score to go towards her bronze medal (only 1 score left to get). Erik also competed Betty at Third Level for the first time and got a great score (over 66%) and lastly my junior rider (Evelyn) did a great job at 2nd level as a practice run for the Regionals where she is already qualified for 1st and 2nd levels. Several of my other clients came out to watch and support everyone, which I really appreciate! It really was a very successful show for all concerned. Just over 3 weeks now until the Regionals! So exciting, it's going to be insane!