The Closest I’ll Get to Competing at Rolex April 28, 2014

I was so excited to see Lauren Kieffer finish second in the Rolex 4-star event. I’ve never met Lauren, but guess what – Bahea has! In addition to her Rolex partner Vironica, Lauren is well known for her accomplishments on the now retired Anglo-Arabian Snooze Alarm and his brother Vermiculus. Both of these talented horses and Bahea as well were all bred by Lawson and Jeannie Williams. I remember Lawson telling me about Snooze Alarm many years ago so I always kept an eye on him. He has also been keeping me apprised of her advances with Vermiculus.

It seems Lauren knew Bahea when she was in dressage training in Indiana. She recalls her being a solid, talented horse. It’s wonderful to have Lauren be a positive spokesperson for the Arabian breed and have such great success on Anglo-Arabians. I hope she will continue to do so. And congratulations must go out to Lawson and Jeannie (who have since gone their separate ways). They bred some outstanding sport horses and I’m pleased to be riding one of them. I hope that perhaps one day I’ll get to meet Lauren and her horses. For right now I’m excited to know someone who knows her!

To learn more about Lauren Kieffer and her horses, go to http://www.laurenkieffer.com. The photo below is of Lauren and Vironica after finishing their stadium jumping round at Rolex.

Finally a video! April 24, 2014

With better weather finally the opportunity came to shoot some video of Bahea. You can view it by clicking on the link above. It is unedited and gives a good representation of where she is. She knows a variety of movements, but she obviously still needs to build a lot of strength and suppleness, especially in the canter. Under saddle I’m taking the advice of Cheryl Swing…do 20 to 30 minutes of correct work and quit before she gets too tired. With Bahea’s strong work ethic, she will keep on going even after fatigue has set in. Cheryl also suggested doing some canter leg yield, which is really helping her canter improve.

On the ground, Dr. Deb of PECTS has been doing some massage/chiropractic work focused on her hind end to help loosen and stretch Bahea’s tight muscles. We are also doing hind leg stretches before and after her rides, and I can definitely feel a difference. It’s only a little bit at a time, but slow and steady wins this kind of race.

I’m entering her in a small schooling show on May 10 doing training level. I’m looking forward to her return to the show ring!