Tennessee Equestrian Real Estate : The Farm at Tralee : Knoxville Farm Land in Strawberry Plain, Knox County, TN

This winter was filled with hard work and training for Gracie, and I decided it was time to test her skills at her first Eventing competition. I signed up for the spring Horse Trials at River Glen Equestrian Park, and I entered her in the beginner novice division for green horses. My student Kim has been riding Gracie a lot while her mare is laid up, so it was only fitting that Kim got to compete in her first event too!

We were both a bit out of our element, and joked the entire weekend about being Hunter/Jumpers without a clue...but Gracie was all business, as usual, set out to claim her place at the top. She knows when the show has begun, and she really turns on her "show pony" game face.

Her dressage was good enough to put her 4th out of 17, and we were more than happy about that. But her jumping is where she really excels, and after a double clear stadium jumping round and a clear cross country round, Gracie ended the weekend as she expected...in first place! I am so proud of her and Kim, and we all had a great time. Gracie is owned by The Farm at Tralee and she is currently for sale, ideally to a good eventer who wants a little horse with tons of heart. Check out our Sales and Leases page for more information.

 
The weekend after River Glen, a group of us went up to Lexington, KY to watch the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event--the pinnacle of eventing competition. It was an amazing display of athleticism and bravery, and we all had a great time. The highlight was watching Karen O'Connor compete on the famous "Teddy", a 14.2 hand pony! Teddy is the first pony to ever compete at Rolex, and he took 3rd last year, and 6th this year. He is the true definition of "pony power".

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This week, Tralee student Susan and I chose to take advantage of the decidedly spring weather and go lesson in the field. The best field for riding is a large stretch of hilltop that overlooks the pond and pavilion, and due to its shape we riders call it “The Big L” field. The “L” is community space at Tralee, open for riding, picnicking, bird-watching…and most of all, for the simple serenity of gazing at vast stretches of rolling meadowland.

It’s a great place to pull all your riding skills together, because open space riding really requires an effective, confident, accurate, secure rider who can use her aids well. Susan was up to the task, and Gracie enjoyed the break from the arena as they practiced hand galloping over the rolling terrain and jumping the single fence I had brought out to the field. I personally always feel bolder jumping in the field, as if somehow the fences magically shrink against the blue horizon. I think this comes from that naturally more forward pace that most horses have in the open spaces, or maybe just because the tall grass makes the fence height look smaller.

Either way, the field can be a fun place for an experienced rider to get some confidence-boosting mileage over slightly bigger fences. By the end of the lesson, I dropped the 3’6” vertical down to 2’9” for one last jump, and Susan remarked that it looked positively puny at that point. This picture captures that happy moment, after a mind-opening lesson such as we had this day, where 2’9” will never look quite the same again!

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