On February 15th 2006 Full Gallop Farm SC hosted its inaugural USEA Event. With some top ranked riders like Phillip Dutton entered it was certainly looking like a successful event. But as we know success comes in many forms and we are lucky enough to hear about the event courtesy of Liz Heiden aboard Poetic Justice from Auburn Georgia.

Neither Punxsutawney Phil’s bleak winter outlook nor a fractured elbow could keep this competitor and her steady steed from competing in the first USEA recognized event at Full Gallop Farm. After an uneventful early morning drive, we pulled into the farm. There, we were greeted by the first of many friendly and helpful volunteers. Once my mare was settled I ambled off to check in and check things out. The show office was easily found and signing in was equally simple. It was then off to do two quick walks of cross country before getting ready for dressage. On the return walk back to the trailer I had to pause for a moment to watch the top two riders in the nation last year (Phillip Dutton and Kim Severson) jump clean stadium rounds. OK now that I had a visual image of how it was done it was off to tack up for dressage.

The dressage warm up was in a large mowed field directly across the dirt road from the arenas. Warming up on the grass allowed us to get a feel for the footing in the dressage arenas. There was also ample room out there to ride without bumping into other competitors and the volunteers were excellent about keeping us informed of ride times and status. Dressage is not our strong suit, but my mare warmed up well and I was pleased with our test. Regardless, there was no time to ponder because we were off to prepare for stadium (also not our strong suit).

After a quick tack change I set off to walk the stadium course. It was designed by Julie Zapapas and definitely looked to be a challenge for us. The course started with a nice forward oxer away from the in gate and then moved on to a white panel vertical. Then things started to get interesting with three fences in an S pattern, another vertical fence best ridden at a slight angle, to another oxer, a gentle roll back, on to the fence line for a two stride combination and finally a nice wooden vertical that had seen its share of hard rubs. This was definitely a thought provoking course and my mind might have been stuck back there in the S curve when we launched over a warm up fence taking out a rail in the effort. It was quickly put back into place by a smiling volunteer and after screwing my head back on we rectified our mistake. There were several problems with fences and rails in our division, so when we went double clear I’m sure the people back at the trailers heard my “good girl”!

There wasn’t much time to relish in the glory before preparing for XC. I needed to eat a quick bite and buy a new watch. Both needs were immediately met by the vendors and I spent my lunch break playing with my new toy. Then it was show time. You have probably deduced by now that since dressage and stadium aren’t our best events that we live for XC. Full Gallop’s course is one of our favorite types of courses-fast and fun. I won’t bore you with a blow by blow, but I would like to share some of the parts that were enjoyed most. Warm up was well managed and horse went on course like clockwork. The first fence was a very inviting log easing the competitor into the course. Fence #4 was a little log on the top of a bank that you run up and down. Fences #5 and #6 were a ditch on to a coup. Towards the middle there was a #8AB combination consisting of a little bank up, two strides to a log. In front of and after the water were fences #10 and #12. All of these last fences introduced many of the concepts that are seen in Training and Prelim allowing the Novice horses and riders to get a feel for the future.

There are few feelings as good as coming off of a XC course. As we walked back to the trailer side by side I quietly thanked my brave mare for taking care of me once again. After taking care of her needs, I strode back to the office to take a look at placings and pictures. Boy was I in for a pleasant surprise. We had ended on our dressage score to receive fourth place! The picture stall was right next to the score board stall, so I decided to sit down for a minute to absorb this information and scroll through the pictures taken by Hoof Clix. As usual, Mark Lehner, the owner, had done an excellent job. He even generously agreed to let me use the pictures in this article. By the time I was finished with the order sheet my ribbon was ready and we were off for home. But we will be back again. Thank you to Lara and Andy, judges, officials, and volunteers for making the first USEA recognized HT at Full Gallop a day to remember.

Liz Heiden
Auburn GA