Congratulations to the riders from Stoner Ridge Farm. Everyone put forth a great performance for this year's Three Phase Event. As most of you know, the Three Phase Event is a versatility venue that challenges horses of all breeds in dressage, stadium obstacle, and cross country. We have competed for the last four years and have found the practice leading up to the competition has brought additional softness and skill. This year's gaited horse division Beginner Novice was won by Michael Butler on Lillie Bean owned by Martha Gilley. Mike won the stadium obstacle in this divison and placed 2nd in dressage. His cross country time was 34.06 with a target time of 34 minutes. Way to go Mike. In the Novice division, Mike (riding David James another horse owned by Martha) and Charlie (riding SRF's Silver Sundown owned by Steve Heuslein)were tied after the dressage and stadium obstacle. Mike had two seconds and Charlie won stadium obstacle and placed 3rd in dressage. We were all excited to see what would happen with the cross country. It was amazing. Both horses did wonderfully well on the trail. Charlie, however, came in a few seconds sooner which gave him the edge. He won the over all high point for the Novice Division, stadium obstacle, cross country, and the AGMH high point as well. That's not bad for a stallion that was bred three times last week! Robert was fourth with Gaitway's Jasmine Joy also. In the Training division, Robert came in 4th with Silver's Blue Plate Special owned by Don and Nancy. She was fabulous on the 6 mile cross country course but had really stiff competition in dressage and stadium obstacle this year. Fourteen year old Lauren Hickey also rode Jazzy in the Novice Youth division and won. Congrats to everyone! We also want to thank Kristie Whemeyer. Carolyn Kenton, and Kevin Kiper for all their hard work organizing the event and marking the trails. Each division has a separate stadium obstacle lay-out and a separate cross country course. It takes hours and hours of planning to complete. If you have never ridden in this type of competition, it is really a great learning experience for you and your horse. In dressage and trail obstacle competition, you get feedback from the judge about your perfomance. Make plans now for next year! More information and photos will be available in the next newsletter.
