LaurenGallops

We ♥♥♥♥ Upperville – oh yes, we do! and sincere apologies for not posting about Sunday on Sunday night, but we were knackered and had some deadline stuff to deliver… The spirit was willing, but the flesh very weak in terms of posting about the Elizabeth Busch Burke $75,000 Upperville Jumper Classic, but better late than never!

Today, Tuesday, we’re finally starting to feel much less sun-addled – it rained! – and slightly less frazzled from the daily commute (nearly an hour). Lucky the folks who parked campers on the west end of Upperville’s hunter side: we would love to do that next year…

The weather was gorgeous on Sunday, but hot hot hot. Shade was nice – more people are opting for shade at Upperville for the grand prix, but the sun is all wrong from the east side of the T. A. Randolph field and from the west side you fry while you photograph, but the sun’s on your back and that’s best. Special thanks to the good folks who tailgated in the tent up on the hill: appreciation to Turan Attay, thanks to Karen Buckley for the invite – great party, terrific food, loved the fizz, you all rock! Thanks also to Lee Smith & his wife from United Metro Golf Cart Rentals and to John & Penny Denegre, Middleburg Hunt, for cold water before and during the grand prix – we might not have survived without it!  Oh, and dark chocolate from Jeanne Blackwell of MadCap Farm.

That's the 2012 sign - next year, we have no clue what the dates are - we just know that the show is over for now and it was great, exhausting, but great! © Lauren R Giannini

Aaron Vale won the $75,000 Upperville Jumper Classic with Colonel Clover and finished sixth with Wodka L – his third horse Tibor did well in the Welcome Stakes, but hooked a rail in the first round of the Classic. Six horses out of 27 went clear for Sunday’s jump-off. Tori Colvin and her Monsieur du Reverdy served as trail-blazer, going first and posting a clear round right out of the starting gate. They went first again in the jump-off and put in the first clear, setting the time to beat at a quick 43.984 – T.A. was 56 seconds.

Aaron Vale and Admiral Clover, owned by Carmen Rojas, jumped clean and clear in the first round and posted the time to beat in the jump-off to score Aaron's third grand prix win at Upperville (2003, 2010), the winner's share of the $75,000 prize money, a cooler, and a golf cart courtesty of United Metro. © Lauren R Giannini

Aaron went next with Wodka L, but they pulled a rail on 44.089. Luis Larrazabal piloted G and C Flash to a clear round in 43.984, a touch slower than Tori’s time, and good for fourth place. Daniel Bluman and G & C Blue went the fastest of anyone in the jump-off, but alas, picked up four jump faults to finish 5th. Aaron had his strategy mapped out from Wodka L’s jump-off round and from watching Luis and Daniel: he attacked the course with his relatively new ride, Admiral Clover, who seems as honest as the day is long and scorched the combination to trip the timer at 42.383 to take the lead. Last to go, Allison Robitaille, who lives in Upperville, partnered with Cover Girl for a quick clean round just 3/10 of a second shy of besting Aaron’s time to beat, to take second place. Tori and her “Frenchie” finished third.

Okay, we did it – highlighted the Upperville Jumper Classic.

Now, all of you 3-day eventing enthusiasts, near and far – hark please (hunting term for quiet & listen per piacere): one of our most persistent and dedicated riders was just named to the 2012 London Olympics 3-day US short-list and there’s a party planned in Middleburg to raise funds to help defray Allison’s expenses, because she and Arthur have to fly to the UK to compete in the Barbury Castle Horse Trials at the end of the month – billed the “Clash of the Titans” for all the Olympic-calibre riders who will be running there for a final tune-up for London, that’s the final selection trial for the US 3-day team. Allison Springer bases her eventing stables at Beverly Equestrian in The Plains, VA – there’s a big party going on in Middleburg on Thursday – cocktails, dj, dancing, silent auction – a suggested donation of $50 at the door will help to fund Allison’s Olympic bid. She’s such a good rider and she has believed in the uber-talented Arthur when others might have given up – they earned the National four-star championship with their performance at Rolex in April – such faith, such dedication merits our support.

Visit Allison’s Facebook page or the Olympic Fundraiser for Allison Springer for details about Thursday’s party & be sure to RSVP so they have an idea about the numbers. If you aren’t anywhere near Middleburg and you want to help, visit Allison Springer Eventing and look for that little yellow “Donate” button down the right side of the home page. The Olympics have been Allison’s dream since she was a little girl… we’ve all had that dream, but Allison has worked for years to live the dream. Support her Olympic bid – every little bit helps!

Allison Springer & Arthur: 2nd at Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event and 2012 USEF National Four-Star Champions - heading to the UK and the Barbury Castle Horse Trials for the final selection trial that will determine the US 3-day eventing team for the London Olympics. © Lauren R Giannini

We ♥♥♥♥ Upperville and 3-day eventing!!!

Well, actually, it’s Sunday morning – we returned home from the 159th Upperville Colt & Horse Show by around 8:30, answered emails for an hour or so and then had to stretch out with a book:  woke up around 12:30 and downloaded Saturday’s photos from two cards and answered more emails.

Saturday started and finished as a gloriously bright day of sunshine. Upperville’s “shade” proved how smart everyone was in terms of preserving those old oak trees on the hunter side when they did the footing (green oases within the main hunter ring). The whole week has been a tribute to how well the show committee treats spectators and exhibitors with lots of tents to augment the trees that dot the open fields that comprise the jumper side. The gazillion details that make Upperville such a fabulous show depend in great part on the incredible generosity of the landowners of the farms on each side of Route 50/John Mosby Highway, which provide the uniquely beautiful settings for Upperville .

Okay, we didn’t want to admit it, but we are tuckered out, trying to keep up with the action in all the rings, even with that United Metro golf cart !!! Too much going on all the time. We hardly got to the second hunter ring all week. We shot only the odd round in the many jumper classes that were going on over on the Salem Farm show grounds… We missed a lot – heavens, it would have been a challenge to get everything if it were only one or two rings, let alone five!

Saturday’s hunter side main ring included Ladies Side Saddle, Lead Line, Family Class, Piedmont Silver Foxes Invitational and all sorts of special awards, including Upperville’s Wall of Honor. Breeding classes went on in the main ring and across on the jumper side in ring 2 (the grass ring). Here are a few photos of what we managed to record on film. Hunter action was still going strong at 5 pm when the first ever Upperville Hunter Derby drew a good crowd to the tents and grassy knolls overlooking the new state-of-the art jumper ring.

Francesca Dussek, aboard Dust Off, reacts to the announcement that she is the winner of the Leadline 4-6 class. © Lauren R Giannini

Ultimate winner of the Lead Line 3 & under class, Sydney Pemberton has fun chatting with judge Scott Williamson, partially visible behind Devon Zebrovious who coached the young enthusiast. © Lauren R Giannini

Samantha Schaefer & Sugar Ray, owned by John Skinner, won the $10,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper Stakes Bonus class in the most gorgeous of show settings. The duo also earned the High Junior/AO championship. © Lauren R Giannini

Hunter Derby

Tori Colvin and Dr. Betsee Parker's Inconclusive, shown here in the Handy Hunter round, won the inaugural Upperville Hunter Derby. After the Hunter Derby, everyone watched Union Rags, trained by Michael Matz for Mrs. Phyllis Wyeth, win the Belmont Stakes - streamed live on the big scoreboard - amazing & great day at Upperville! © Lauren R Giannini

OMG – look at the time! Two hours flies by when you’re sifting through hundreds of photos, but we must get some sleep – forget the beauty part, we need to get through Sunday – with breeding classes in the morning on the hunter side and the $75,000 Upperville Jumper Classic in the afternoon at 2:30, but make plans to get to the showgrounds early to avoid the traffic for the grand prix. Lots to do on both sides – last-minute shopping, of course, and the Prix d’Elegance parade of carriages takes place at 1 pm in the T A Randolph Field.

We ♥♥♥♥ Upperville!!!

For information: visit Upperville Colt & Horse Show’s website – if you can’t get to the show on Sunday, take advantage of livestream covereage!!! All you need is your computer and high speed internet access – just scroll down the home page & click on the TV!!! Easy Peasy!!!

We’ve said it before & we’ll say it again:

We ♥♥♥♥ Upperville!!!

Upperville – the momentum keeps building! and Saturday will be huge in terms of what’s happening on both sides of the John Mosby Highway (Rt 50). As for Friday, that’s really when the pace ratchets way up:  hunters, ponies, jumpers – action in four rings all day long, with a fifth ring adding to the excitement at 5 pm when the $25,000 Welcome Stakes showcase 30 jumpers and riders in the T A  Randolph Grand Prix field.

Right now, at around 10:30/11 Friday night we’re cooked – Saturday 8 a.m. postscript: and that’s why this post didn’t get finished before we crashed. Honestly, it’s been all go all week! This is how we feel:

Sort of expresses that saying about one picture being worth a thousand words, doesn’t it? Well, that’s yours truly in a nutshell (pun intended). Part of how we feel is that it’s like a mission impossible to keep up with everything going on at the 159th Upperville Colt & Horse Show (go on, visit the website)! Saturday and Sunday are jam-packed with so much all day long. We barely have the energy to breathe – let alone download today’s photos, select a few for this post, and write about what happened today. But we promised Tommy Lee that we would blog every day – and if he can spend a long long day at Upperville, seeing to a gazillion details and then drive over to Charles Town to saddle a runner in the sixth – an allowance with a post-time of 9:46 (Tommy trains Thoroughbred racehorses), then we can muster up the energy to blog tonight (Sat a.m. comment: maybe not – lol!). It might be midnight, but it’s Friday – so people are either out partying or out cold from exhaustion and the heat. (Sat a.m. comment: our excuse is heat & exhaustion, daggnabbit – oh, to have the energy to party hearty…)

Back to Upperville, one of the greatest shows on earth – this is our column and we can play favorites!!! The setting has always been pretty spectacular with the ancient oaks on the south or hunter side and the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the western horizon that frame the jumper rings like photos out of National Geographic. What a great day trip to the country – win-win all the way, but we digress…

Even without gorgeous equines, the setting of Upperville is like a jewel in the countryside with vistas that are beyond beautiful - the state-of-the-art footing has been a total winner, to boot. © Lauren R Giannini

Tori Colvin & Monsieur du Reverdie won Thursday’s 1.40m stakes at Upperville in the T A Randolph grand prix ring. In Friday’s $25,000 Welcome Stakes they were one of  the 14 clear first rounds to qualify for the jump-off and all was going very well until the second last fence. They ended up with four faults, but that’s showing – some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear gets you. There’s always tomorrow…

From Thursday's 1.40m jumper stake: Tori Colvin and Monsieur du Reverdy en route to the win. Form over fences was just as good for Friday's Welcome Stakes - a quick glance at photos reveal that she stuck like super-glue during that one bad fence. Such is life in the saddle: one day, you're riding high & winning, the next you might find yourself doing that old "pick-up-sticks" game with a show jump. Nothing but good times ahead... © Lauren R Giannini

Getting back to Friday’s Welcome Stakes, Aaron Vale claimed the top two places – first with Admiral Clover, owned by Carmen Rojas, & second with Tibor, owned by Bonnie Smith. Schuyler Riley and Waterloo finished third, followed by Danial Bluman and G & C Blue. There were only six double-clear rounds when the final results were tallied, but with 30 entries, it was a good class and spectators stayed to the final victory gallop.

Aaron Vale piloted four in the $25,000 Welcome Stakes at Upperville, harvesting first and second - shown here with Admiral Clover. No doubt Aaron has his sights set on the $75,000 Upperville Jumper Classic on Sunday - he won in 2010, and Admiral Clover and Tibor proved themselves in the 30-strong field of contenders. © Lauren R Giannini

OMG – look at the time – we gotta hit the road asap! Here are a few pix from Friday, but forgive us we’re in a hurry – sidesaddle, leadline, breeding classes, jumpers, hunters, lions and tigers – no, just being silly – LOTS OF HORSES!!!

Our good friends in the Dubarry booth. Our beloved bling boots have served our feet well all week. Stop by and check them out. My first pair are about 11 years old, wore them hard and they more than paid for themselves over that span of time. Waterproof (de rigueur to proof them regularly, but oh so easy), comfortable and the best fashion statement your extremities will ever make! © Lauren R Giannini

A.W. was back at United Metro Golf Cart on Friday and we thought this was a hilarious way to spotlight him and his cohort – TGIF and all that jazz!

United Metro Golf Cart rentals at Upperville: actually, that sign refers to their golf carts, but we wanted to do something a little different... Seriously, they are the nicest people and do everything they can to meet your transportation needs at Upperville and other shows up and down the east coast. © Lauren R Giannini

We have totally run out of time, but we want to leave you with one last image from Upperville – it’s a great family show. Check out the Upperville website for all sorts of information. Oh, if you have visited it before, the “buttons” are now at the bottom of the home page…

Nate Dailey - polo enthusiast on the MadCap Farm team - with his daughter Noelle who is making her show debut Saturday in the leadline. © Lauren R Giannini

Special heartfelt thanks to Sherri and Daniel Morgan of West Virginia for being so kind about taking our cell number to alert us if our CEO (canine executive officer) needed us during the Welcome Stakes. BZ was very happy to see us, but her new friends reported that she snoozed in the driver’s seat of the golf cart for the duration of the class. We meet the nicest people from all over the country at Upperville. Come on out and experience good old-fashioned community spirit…

We ♥♥♥♥ Upperville!!!

Yipes: *originally Wed PM – sun-fuddled fatique!

This is a verbal nightcap – no adult bevvies and too late for coffee! Lovely day, but long, and we’re weary. We’ll do a quickie recap of some of the action, but honestly, peeps, you would have such a great time if you head out to Upperville, an easy drive westward on Route 50 if you start somewhere in northern VA on the Route 66 side… if you decide to travel to Upperville on Rt. 66, you will have to wend your way over scenic winding back roads from lovely little towns like The Plains, Marshall, Delaplane etc… Got a GPS – easy peasy – or google for map & directions.

We’re still rattling all over both sides of the road, enjoying Upperville in the United Metro golf cart…

Our CEO (canine executive officer) has been outstanding all week for her 2nd Upperville - she's such a great doggle and a rescue from Middleburg Humane. © Lauren R Giannini

QUICK HEAD’S UP!!! Friday around 5 p.m. the $25,000 Welcome Stakes take place in the T. A. Randolph grand prix field on the jumper side. On Saturday at 5 p.m., in that brand new, state of the art jumper ring described so well by Joe Fargis in this morning’s post, the first-ever Upperville Hunter Derby will take place!!! Oh yeah – we’ve had a terrible time deciding between hunter or jumper classes (can’t be in two places at once, daggnabbit!). Of course the Upperville Hunter Derby runs about the same time as the Belmont Stakes, and I’ll Have Another has a shot at being the 3-year-old champion of champions if he can pull off a winning run in the 3rd leg of the Triple Crown series…

sigh, so many horsey things going on, such hard choices, but we’ll be able to watch the race on the internet later that evening, we will miss hanging out with friends at the farm and enjoying something on the barby… sigh BUT we must thank the wonderful board members and King Construction Company – Premier Equestrian Facilities, Wednesday’s sponsor of the hospitality tent, for providing much needed refreshment and sustenance from 4:30-6:30. (Thursday the sponsor was an anonymous friend of Upperville – wish we could thank them for the lovely spread…)

Wednesday's hospitality tent, sponsored by King Buildings, was staffed by Upperville Colt & Horse Show board members (we apologize for losing the piece of paper on which we scribbled their names, but they know who they are...) wonderful food by Tutti Perricone and the best beverage dispensers around! © Lauren R Giannini

Some of the winners (and this list is so incomplete – you’ll just have to click into HorseShowsOnLine and look up your fave riders, horses, trainers, owners, divisions or combinations thereof…)

Tosh Hunt piloted Betsee Parker’s Rosalynn to the High Performance Working Hunter championships. He also partnered with Dr. Parker’s Cold Harbor for top honors in the Regular Conformation division. In the Amateur/Owner 3-3 division, The Barracks’ Castleton, trained by Claiborne Bishop, ridden by Marianna Wade took the tri-color. Mrs. Rionda Braga, whose horses have been winning under the oaks on the hunter side for many years, watched her Never Say Never, trained and ridden by Patty Heuckeroth, win the Pre-Green Hunter championship over Mrs. Braga’s Mr. B, who claimed the reserve rosette. Never Say Never also earned the reserve championship in the Local “OTOR” Working hunter divisions (OTOR – other than owner rider, we think, but it’s late and our mind is mushy from the sun) AND won the Thoroughbred Development Class AND won the Founder’s Cup.

Honestly, we wish we could list a lot more – after all, the hunter side has been going all day into the evening in two rings, but we simply have to invite you to check out the results (scroll back up for the live link) or come on out and watch the results happening. Lots of shopping, food, hunter and jumper classes – you won’t be bored – satisfaction guaranteed!

Jane Nordstrom, who bases her training and boarding at Fox Chase Farm, and several students - Audrey Bell, Amanda Zavala, Megan Fangman, Courtney Todd - schmoozed with the "babies" and The Eyez Have It - Cleveland Bay yearling filly owned by Sara Miller - showed her precocious camera presence on a familiarization walk in the main hunter ring on Wednesday late afternoon. © Lauren R Giannini

On the jumper side… the Meter-Forty (that’s how you “pronounce” 1.40m – really, horse talk is almost like a foreign language and we’re here to make you feel like an insider when you finally decide to get out of the office/house/classroom/whatever and show up at Upperville!) division concluded with the $10,000 1.40m Jumper stake, Thursday afternoon, in the T A Randolph grand prix field. The very competitive field of 27 included Aaron Vale, Joe Fargis, Ramiro Quintano, Angel Karolyi, Schuyler Riley and last year’s Upperville Classic winner (another wunderkind, but maybe 20 now…) Caitlin Campbell – all of them placed in the top eight (Vale piloted two for second and fourth) – there were 14 in the jump-off round and they were all bested by that 14 year old wunderkind, Tori Colvin riding her “Frenchy” – Monsieur du Reverdy.

Wish we had the energy to download all of today’s photos, but we don’t. It’s after midnight and time to hit the hay, but we think we can put our hands quickly on a 2011 Upperville photo that we took at the ingate of ring 2 on the hunter side during the ponies…

One of Betsee Parker's champion pony hunters with rider Tori Colvin before the division awarded the championship and reserve to Parker ponies... We recall writing about Tori back in 2005 when she was a successful "pony catch rider" on the Florida circuit... Now she's showing "big horses" literally and figuratively, hunters and jumpers including grand prix. The sky's the limit for this 14-year-old rider, that's for certain. © Lauren R Giannini

Honestly, ya gotta get out to Upperville – check out the schedule by visiting UPPERVILLE.COM – really, truly – three more ACTION-PACKED DAYS of hunter and jumper classes, breeding on Saturday and Sunday morning, carriage classes on Sunday morning – the Upperville Jumper Classic Sunday afternoon.

Shopping…

The best therapy: horses and ponies…

Heaven on earth…

UPPERVILLE!!!

Greetings! Upperville Colt & Horse Show is younger than ever for all it is 159 years old!!! The last few years have seen a physical makeover from the grandstands on the hunter side to the new footing of the hunter rings and now the new jumper ring – we are so impressed by what Upperville is doing to keep its rural tradition alive and well in the 21st century!

Lots going on and several photos to post with this morning’s entry about the new jumper ring and a few words about Upperville from Joe Fargis. He happens to be one of our all-time favorite rider/trainers, but he has a thing about not talking about himself. If Joe weren’t such a gentleman, we think he might be tempted to run like blazes when he sees yours truly about to approach him. We’re sincerely sorry, because we respect and admire and like Joe. As a horseman, he gets it right. Plus, we know for a fact that the horses come first, because of a good friend who has improved his riding immensely, thanks to Joe.

Joe Fargis - world class all the way, just like his Olympic gold medal horse, Touch of Class, and all his other great jumpers. © Lauren R Giannini

We really like this photo of Joe, snapped a few years ago while he walked the Upperville grand prix course and paused to contemplate the jump beyond this one. Grand Prix is huge in terms of size and spread of fences, and many riders might feel called, but not every one will make it or even be successful at it. Joe has been very successful and he knows what it takes for horse and rider to keep going.

A fact of life in the show world is that jumper riders need good footing and prize money. Upperville has a unique ring system in that it has the oaks on the hunter side and grass, but rain during the show – often torrential downpours that had no time to sink into parched earth – can be hazardous on many levels: even properly studded – variously sized screw-in caulks used on the horse’s shoes to give them traction in whatever the footing can’t really help a horse when it has to leap out of mud. However, even hard ground covered by thick grass can be slick as black ice, especially when a half-ton of horse rocks back on its hocks to launch itself and rider into the air from a brisk canter or hand-gallop. If one foot slips – and remember the horse’s engine is in its rear end so those hind feet and legs are crucial to lift-off – well, the consequences can range from a dropped rail (four faults) to injury. Even a minor strain is enough to put a horse on R&R for weeks or months.

Mrs. Mary B. Schwab and OEJI Farm's Diams III and Joe Fargis en route to winning the 2010 Upperville $25,000 Welcome Stakes the day after winning the 1.40meter Jumper Stake. Note the rich grass of the T.A. Randolph grand prix field - it's great for the horses as long as the footing is "good" - not too hard, not too soft/muddy. © Lauren R Giannini

By the way, that photo of Joe and Diams does not show how big the fence is – about five-feet tall and some of the spreads are six feet wide, to boot.

The point of all this is that when rains decimated the grass and footing not once, but several years in the last six or seven years of Upperville – especially the monsoons that one year swamped the hunter side’s rings, the Upperville crew decided that changes were in order or else risk losing entries on both sides of the road. The hunter side got its makeover first, and then the jumper side. Everyone involved with Upperville pitched in on every level, but one person in particular, who loves the Upperville Colt & Horse Show, proved instrumental in getting this new jumper ring funded so it would be ready in time for this year’s edition of the Upperville show… Yes, you guessed it: Joe Fargis.

“I don’t know if I was instrumental or not, but I sure did ask a lot of people for money, to tell you the truth,” admitted Joe. “We’ve raised almost enough to build the ring. We still owe, and we’re still asking. I’d like to say “thank you” to the people who have given – thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The science behind how this footing works is fairly complex, but Joe managed to make it easy to understand.

“A friend of mine named David Steffee who did the ring in Cleveland, Ohio – that’s my favorite footing. I put David together with the committee here and they hired him to do the ring,” replied Joe. “He did the ring and he did it well. David Steffee has done a couple rings around the countryside. He did Travers City in Michigan, and he has his own ring. He’s done a few rings. He’s just very good at it. He’s meticulous.”

Fair enough. Joe’s statements led to our next question: what’s so special about this footing, compared to other footings that are in use and well-regarded?

“I think they’re all good – it’s just David Steffee’s recipe and it’s good,” stated Joe. “The difference in this footing is that it’s watered from underneath. It has some sort of piping. You don’t need a water truck. You fill the pipes from underneath and the level of the water goes up. If we have [a flood] and you want to empty the ring because it’s too wet, then you open the pipes and the water drains into the pipes and leaves – there’s s collecting area down there for that.”

A switch determines what the system does: someone gets to decide whether the ring needs to be drained or watered. Steffee’s recipe is sheer genius, of course, because the best rains are slow and steady, soaking the earth and getting deep into the root base and well below to replenish the water table. Unfortunately, this part of Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains tends to experience extended spells of drought so that the earth hardens to concrete and then when it does rain, there is massive run-off and little soaking in. Several years ago, daily downpours turned the footing on both sides of route 50 into mousse-like mud. Tommy Lee Jones had a helicopter come in and hover over the grand prix ring early Sunday morning in order to wick up the moisture for the Upperville Jumper Classic taking place in the afternoon. The chopper worked, but in the long run the Steffee Surfaces footing provides the best solution to the ongoing barometric risk of precipitation in the Piedmont.

The jumper riders must be thrilled. Wonder if they’re going to ask for the Upperville Jumper Classic to be moved to the new ring…

“I haven’t heard anything yet. All I know is that we’re just testing,” said Joe. “It’s just one day at a time and everybody’s very very happy.”

Piedmont Foxhounds' junior enthusiast Hayley Alcock in the 1.0meter Jumpers on Wednesday with Wall Street Kids Quick Change - great form over fences and she's still just a kid! © Lauren R Giannini

Then, we had to ask: will this footing add to the longevity of the Upperville Colt & Horse Show?

“There’s no question – it’s going to get bigger starting now,” stated Joe. “I would say this ring combines tradition with good footing and the recipe’s all for success.”

The new jumper ring, according to Joe, provides good back-up for the grand prix ring “if we have a flood.” The grounds provide ample parking and plenty of space for box seating. However, paramount in this horseman’s mind is the fact that the options provide safe footing for the horses, period.

We had to use a few seconds out of our four fabulous minutes with Joe by asking why Upperville is so special to him.

“I first came here in – I want to say – 1959 or ’60, and I’ve been here ever since,” said Joe. “So, I just feel like I’m part of it.”

Bet your boots on that one!

When we asked why Upperville is so important for riders to experience, Joe’s reply was to the point and oh, so sweet: “It’s a good, good horse show!”

AMEN TO THAT!!!

Stay tuned for another post late tonight when we recap the action, mention some division winners and post more photos.

For full results: HorseShowsOnLine.com  Please note on the show selector page, there are two links for Upperville Colt & Horse Show: one for hunters, the other with a J for jumpers.

It’s all happening at UPPERVILLE!!!

WE ♥♥♥♥ UPPERVILLE!!! Spent the afternoon there, took some photos, wandered around both sides of John Mosby Highway and enjoyed the afternoon, nice and cool most of the day, took a few pix, watched some horses – what’s not to enjoy at Upperville? Plus, it’s so friendly – exhibitors, spectators, families – it’s a great outing even if you just like watching all the pretty Dobbins.

Wunderkind Tori Colvin is back, showing hunters and jumpers - shown here with Monsieur de Reverdy after winning the $25,000 Welcome Stakes last year. © Lauren R Giannini

One thing we find really handy is the convenience of a golf cart. We still do a fair amount of walking, but the cart saves time – and energy – and gives our dog a shady spot while we take photos, gather quotes, and yak with people.

LOVE THIS GOLF CART!!!

Lee Smith of Metro Golf Cart Rentals sits behind the wheel of the '59 Chevrolet Belair Golf Cart. We were so hoping this was for rent, but alas - it's for sale. What a fun buggy though!!! If you need a golf cart, contact Metro ASAP as they're renting out fast! © Lauren R Giannini

Late in the afternoon we parked under the trees at the NW corner of the main ring where BZ had a lovely cool spot to watch people, other doggles and yours truly. She’s such a great CEO (canine executive officer), adopted late in 201o from Middleburg Humane Foundation and has acquired great social skills, to boot! This is her second Upperville and her golf cart sophistication is quite heart-warming and also amusing. She really gets the whole show atmosphere.

The wonderful exhibitors’ hospitality tent (they let working press in too!) runs from 4:30-6:30 pm Tuesday through Friday – great news: all the food is catered by the one & only Tutti Perricone whose Back Street Cafe served the appetites of locals and visitors for 25 years in Middleburg. Tutti says she’s happy doing lunches at Middleburg Academy (lucky kids!) and catering. We stopped by to say hello and get a photo on Tuesday when the spacious hospitality tent was hosted by AH&T Insurance. Little giveaways included AH&T tote bags, pens and carrots for the horses & ponies.

Hospitality committee members staffed the Tuesday tent: Upperville Horse Show board members Maggie Mangano, Tara Trout Revere, AHT director of Farm & Equine with Diane Jones, hospitality tent hostess par excellent, who quipped that she's "married to the show!" Diane's husband is Tommy Lee Jones, Show Manager. © Lauren R Giannini

A little bit earlier, we cruised around both sides of the Upperville show and visited the jumper side. OMG!!! the new jumper ring with its state-of-the-art footing is so absolutely fabuloso and beautiful that we had an emotional moment when we nearly wept for joy at the success of this rider- and horse-friendly improvement. We had first heard about it from Tommy Lee who was at the helm of the improvements, starting with the hunter rings. Also, local favorite Joe Fargis had told us about it last year when the plan was in place and funds in the process of being raised. But we had no clue the extent of the project and how gorgeous and natural and totally bling the result would be. Here’s a photo, because we might be good but we simply can’t come up with enough superlatives to describe the new jumper ring. It’s beautiful and utilitarian – a perfect merger of form and function. It’s as good as footing gets for equine athletes!

Impossible to get the entire vista of the new jumper ring with its state-of-the-art footing - will never by dusty or too wet - Joe Fargis raved about it when we had a moment with him on Tuesday. Stay tuned for more jumper action from Upperville - wouldn't you just LOVE to ride in this ring? We sure would! © Lauren R Giannini

Re action and people at Upperville: here are a few photos just to remind you why Upperville is so special and why you really should get out there sometimes this week.

Tiffany Boran, 17, from Marshall VA, and her Great Dane CJ, started riding two years ago with Christine Fiore. They "parked" outside the hospitality tent while mom brought out a plate. CJ was very dainty about accepting some bits of Virginia baked ham. We got the feeling that Tiffany might have a yen to show... © Lauren R Giannini

All in all, in many ways, it’s like a fun reunion. We see people we don’t see the rest of the year, except maybe at Warrenton Horse Show – folks like Patty Heuckeroth who are such a great part of the Upperville “family” – but this next family in the saddle, we do see pretty often and for good reason. They’re stalwart champions of rural life styles and traditions – brought up in the Nancy Dillon school of horsemanship…

Alcocks on a hack through the Upperville show grounds on Tuesday, Beverly on the gray who had just finished very intense "scratching head on leg" and was still savoring the endorphins, mom Daphne Dillon Alcock on one of the other ponies (mom placed 2nd in the 1.40 jumper class with Just A Jet), and Nancy Alcock. Will always remember the year the Dillon-Alcock clan won the family class on grays that graduated in size from medium pony to horse. Saturday is leadline, sidesaddle and family day, etc!!! © Lauren R Giannini

Okay, that’s all for now. It’s another cool day – so far, so good – and we want to get back over to Upperville, one of the greatest shows on earth!

Hope to see you there!

WELCOME TO THE 159th UPPERVILLE  COLT & HORSE SHOW! We love Upperville and while we have not had the pleasure of showing at Upperville, we’ve known some great riders and horses who have performed under the oaks in the hunter rings and across the street in the jumper rings. There is state of the art footing in the main jumper ring – we think that Tommy Lee Jones, show manager par excellent, has done a fantastic job. We had just a moment to say hello to Tommy yesterday – he’s so busy all the time, but if you know him, give him a warm hello, because he and all his people, volunteers and staff, put their hearts and souls into making Upperville a great great show.

Here are two links to visit: WUSA9.com story about Upperville and WUSA9.com Upperville slide show of photos by Teresa Ramsey, official Upperville photographer (with seven taken by yours truly at the end!). So visit and enjoy. Better yet, come on out to Upperville – the rings were in action yesterday, the vendors ready for visitors to shop-til-they-drop, and the show grounds look magnificent, of course.

Here are some photos from last year’s 2011 Upperville Colt & Horse Show – we are heading to the show this afternoon and will post again tonight.

A familiar sight, repeated every year: lined up under the oaks in the main ring waiting for the results. © Lauren R Giannini

Upperville is party time! Allen & Jennifer Richards entertained in a tent overlooking the Theo A Randolph grand prix ring, shown here with two friends perched on the back of the golf cart, one clutching a large fern. Allen rides jumpers with Joe Fargis who finished 4th in the grand prix - one more reason to celebrate! © Lauren R Giannini

 

 

We just realized that we lost a photo somehow – sometimes WordPress can be a royal pain in the you-know-what… Oh goody – found it!

Hats, boots, tack, clothing for equestrians and fashionistas, custom whatever, jewelry - omg, the bling bling bling of shopping at Upperville!!! And the food stands are great on both sides of the road. Tootie Perricone is catering the special events during Upperville Colt & Horse Show - come on out & party, enjoy the action in five rings and shop-till-you-drop!!! © Lauren R Giannini

Oh – if you want to rent a golf cart, do it ASAP!!! Metro Golf Cart Rentals – Lee Smith tells us they’re going like proverbial hotcakes! The nicest people, they snowbird with the carts to West Palm Beach during the winter and do the circuit, especially our fave, Upperville, the rest of the season. You can also call  (301) 372-1500 or (800) 772-6776. We gotta get Lee to let us have a spin in that glorious orange T-bird golf cart – it’s the bee’s knees & we’ll grab a photo to post this evening!

Go on – get out of the house/office/school/job – whatever and get some fresh air and have some fun at one of the greatest horse shows – click on the live link for information and the daily schedule, etc:  Upperville!

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, we’ll admit it. We don’t know how to relax. We think that we have been racing from deadline to deadline for so many years that we have totally forgotten how to relax and enjoy “leisure” – and that’s what this conference is, compared to our real life. This is leisure. This is a busman’s holiday. Unfortunately, like a weird human morph of the ‘thing” between Wylie Coyote and the Roadrunner – we’re destined to zip through life, beep beep:

We emphasize with Wile E. Coyote: hit the wall or go splat on terra firma, shake it off & keep on going, chasing Roadrunner – Beep Beep

We are always chasing down something – a lead, a story, a photo to go with a story, an interview – our tale (pun intended). Heck, we’re caught in that hamster wheel and not even our dog chases her own tail. She’s too doggone smart for that. She sees us at the computer and sighs, then finds somewhere to curl up and snooze – her beds, the sofa, under the other desk. The day we struggled to finish a story so we could leave for this conference, she asked for a raw bone, dispatched it and then did her dance, asking to be let out. We complied and got back to tapping the ivories, so to speak. We worked for several minutes and then thought, hmmm, she doesn’t usually stay outside when we’re working. So we glanced out the door and she was curled up on the wicker chaise longue, queen of her turf. When BeeZee saw us looking at her, she figured she needed to get back on the job: CEO – canine executive officer. When finally we delivered that story, she was beside herself with joy at the notion of a road trip. We took her to her auntie Katharine, our dear dear friend, who dog-sits from her home in Reston and makes house-calls in No. VA.

So, here we are, trying to relax during a couple of days’ hiatus between deadline thrashes and we can’t! We can’t sit still and listen. We have to do something – we have to write - even if it’s a post about not knowing how to be still and not write, to do just one thing, absorb. We know how to multi-task. We know to keep writing…

It’s been too long since our last post, but we have an excuse – endless deadlines. Now, we’re not complaining per se, we love to write. However, the pressure of making each story unique and special and fresh can be uber-challenging as well as extremely brain-draining, especially when you are writing about 3-day riders who hope to make the US eventing team for the 2012 London Olympics Games. There is only so often you can contact an Olympic-hopeful to acquire more quotes: she/he has spent years and years to get to the top of the game and therefore tend to be hounded by other members of the working press. We may be uniquely special, but we are not alone in this wordcrafting trade…

Uh-huh – you get the picture…

This is how we feel after writing five or six stories about 2012 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bridgestone and the quest for a berth on the 3-day team:

That dufus feeling brilliantly expressed by an ostrich.

This reminds us of the best birthday card we ever received – from a dear friend in Florida, who has known us since college days and appreciates the wacky existence of a person who deals daily with deadline dementia.

“Cowboy Frankie” – not his real name – found a card of an ostrich in full primal scream mode. Yep, head on to the camera, beak WIDE OPEN so you can almost see tonsils (do ostriches have tonsils?) and the moment we saw that image, we laughed until we cried. It was so special, so timely and it totally expressed how we felt, had been feeling, for so long.

We tracked down the photographer – being a photographer and knowing how easy it is for people to steal umm, borrow images off the internet, websites, FB, etc – we emailed and asked how much to be able to use that jpeg on our blog. No reply. We’re not sure whether the photographer has a spam filter, figures we’re not worth answering or what. But we did ask, and with no reply, we are left with that card propped on our drafting table where we see it all the time and it still makes us smile. The dufus face (go back and imagine yourself in that state of existence) is good, but that screaming ostrich is glorious. Actually, it’s an ostrich yawning, but it shouts SCREECH to us….

One person who has been as cool, calm and collected as a rider can be, galloping toward her lifelong goals, is Allison Springer – look for a feature about Allison and Arthur in July Sidelines.

Allison Springer and Arthur - Rolex Kentucky 2012 - when they finished second overall and earned the USEF National Four-Star championship. © Lauren R Giannini

Spent six hours in the car on Thursday after a marathon week to complete deadlines so we could head south to Williamburg (VA) for the American Horse Publications conference. Am here with Sidelines people – Sam Charles – publisher, Jan Westmark-Allen – editor, and Abby Westmark, who wrote as a junior about juniors for years until college called… L. A. Pomeroy is a pal, and we caught up with Emily from SmartPak (yay, we survived Rolex!) last night and today is the first day of seminars and lots of social/business networking and “pub” talk… It’s nice to park the car and ambulate from hotel to conference center… we’re keeping busy, hunting for good stories and posting and talking shop.

A veritable busman’s holiday!