Team Symphony continues to shine, this time at the Dressage Association of Southern California's Championship Show in Santa Barbara, California.

Jersey Beach and Sophia won again! That team has been so successful all year. They just walked away with yet another First Place Championship win. Sophia and Jersey Beach earned DASC Junior/Young Rider Champion at First Level with another 68% and Training Level Freestyle Champion with 70%!

On Sunday, Dazzle and I scored a 68% in her first Intermediare 1! ​Then, Jackie Duncan killed it with Habanera in their First Level debut with a 71% and a 74%! 

To finish the day, Sarah Bishop and Enzo brought home Reserve Champion at Training Level!  

As always, I am so proud of both my juniors and adult amateurs. Way to go, Team Symphony!

​What a winning weekend! As a coach, you hope that...
#1. Your advice is sound.
#2. Your students hear it.
#3. They remember what you said when they go into the show ring!
Here's to five ladies and girls who got it!!! 

At the CDS Junior Championships in Del Mar, Sophia and Jersey Beach won First Place at First Level, and Cate and Griffin won Junior Reserve Champion at Training Level. ​

I really needed a good day, and I got two this weekend! Team Symphony brought out their best for El Sueno's Mid-Summer Dressage show (July 29 - 30). While Dazzle had a few mistakes in the Prix St. George's, we still came away with a 67%! 

Team Symphony's juniors continue to amaze. All summer long we've had juniors with high point and qualifying scores. Sophia and Jersey really stepped it up by earning their final qualifying score for CDS Junior Championships at First Level with a resounding 67% and 71%!  

Not to be outdone by the juniors, Team Symphony's adult amateurs are also putting in some excellent rides. Cecile Audinet posted RAAC and Championship qualifying scores at First AND Second Level. She had a 70% First Level score and a solid 63% at Second Level. We'll see Cecile, Sarah Bishop, and Karen Sweaney all competing at this year's Central RAAC in Paso Robles.

The summer show season isn't over yet, so keep your eye out for Team Symphony. We look forward to seeing you!

While I took some of our juniors to the USDF Youth Sport Horse Breeding Seminar at DG Bar Ranch, other Team Symphony members were busy showing. Riding Elvis, Corbin Hurtado scored a solid 63% on both rides in his Western Dressage classes at White Birch Farm. 

A friend sent me a message in the evening telling me that Chris and Corbin were quite the professionals without me, and that Corbin is an up and coming Western Dressage star! Best thing to hear while I was trying to extract info from two men.

I am proud of all the girls' high point wins so far this season, but I'm especially proud of Cate and Griffin. They had a particularly tough start together. So many trainers told her that it would be better to sell Griffin and get something more suitable. Not that that's bad advice, but she believed in her horse and persevered. So while Griffin is 8 going on 3, under Cate's guidance, they scored a 73% at their 4th show this season. Not only was the score outstanding, but they walked away with the Jr./YR High Point score!

​My first show this season was interesting ... I had a little bit of a wardrobe malfunction, haha! My show boots were held together with my spur strap and the snap at the top! 

Zipper issue aside, the show went quite well. The horses were wonderful, if a little excited going down centerline. To be honest, Dazzle, Rocky, and I were all chomping at the bit to go down centerline again. Dazzle had some truly awesome moments, but there were some blips in her first Prix St Georges. Rocky was just through the roof excited to show his first Fourth Level test. I'm sure that the next show will find them both much more relaxed. Many thanks to Ardean Bennett and Jan Handlers for letting me train and show these wonderful horses that we bred and have trained together!

One of my juniors, Cate, helped immeasurably by babysitting Rocky. He struggles with separation anxiety when the other horses or I leave him in the stall. He had to be monitored constantly during his first few months of foal hood; I'm sure that is why he gets so frantic. So while we've been working on this in small doses at home, there's still more to do. ​I'll be writing about his history soon.

The rest of Team Symphony was awesome as well! Jackie Duncan, my assistant trainer, and her baby, Dempsey, showed us how Training Level is done. They scored a 69% and 71%!

Morgan Hurtado and Maizie finished earning their Third Level qualifying scores for CDS Junior Championship. Now, she has to work hard to improve the quality of the movements. Morgan has only been riding Maizie for 3 months, so moving up to Third Level while learning a new horse is a steep step up. She's very excited to be learning from Maizie.

Sarah Bishop and her OTTB Enzo were working on getting their game faces on for CDS's Regional Adult Amateur Competition. Sarah is already qualified for RAAC, so this show was just another opportunity to polish up their Training Level Tests in preparation for August's show at the Fall Fling Dressage Show in Paso Robles.

As always, Team Symphony continues to be busy showing and enjoying our horses. The next time you see us at a show, please stop by and introduce yourself. We'd love to meet you!