Featured Rider - Kyle Carter |
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Kyle Carter (Part 3 of a 4 Part Series)
The Past Month Presenting Many Emotions, the Carter Family Readies for Rolex
This is a hard month to put into words, with some real highlights and tough lows. The events have gone very well for the Five Ring Barn with lots of great placings and wins. Having been out every weekend for 5 weeks straight, it is hard to remember all the results, but I will say that our students have made us very proud!Parker traveled to Pine Top for his first Advanced run of the year. As usual, a nice galloping course was laid out and rode very well. Our dressage is going in the right direction, but not without areas still needing work. Mainly executing all of our good work in the ring. A rail in show jumping at the end of a good round was a little disappointing but Parker feels stronger off the ground than in previous years. Pine Top's lovely, galloping course was a little hard to appreciate as the soft, rubber elevator bit I used made it necessary to start setting up 15-20 strides away from the fences. This made a long course even longer, but at this time of the year better setting up too early than too late!! I was happy with how Parker handled the questions on course, especially the double corners. The only worries were a bad line out of the barnyard which had us twisting at the second element, and a huge leap into to the water, an old habit that we had put mostly behind us last year! A seventh place finish didn't seem so bad and the weekend left me excited for Red Hills.
Arriving at Red Hills is always a treat! These are people who want you to be at their 
show! It has to be the most spectator minded horse trial I have ever been to. Having been every year since the first, it has been nice to see the changes over time, always trying to improve and better itself there is no resting on past successes. Dressage this year was as usual, very electric, and Parker was unusually unsettled by the atmosphere! We got a mark of 62 which was disappointing as I was hoping to crack into the 40s this year. I guess I will try, try again! The cross country was a lot better in the control department as I found a new bit that seemed the right balance. The course lacked a certain flow and I wonder if the course designer was attempting to make it easier than in the past and had several combinations riding backwards because of it. That said, I had my first actual stop on Parker at a set of mushrooms that I confess I'm not sure I gave it enough thought because it seemed as though the option was the best alternative! A moment at the water will have me back working on the quiet, less explosive jump into waters. He did a 2 stride in what was a 3 stride then jumped huge up the bank to step to the base of the narrow and have an awkward jump over it. We 
got away with it, however it has left me a feeling a little less prepared for a run at Rolex, but it is an ever humbling sport! I was pleased with my show jumping round as I feel that the 2 rails I had were easily correctable with a straighter line at both. It was hard to get overly excited going into the ring and I'm sure that didn't help.
show! It has to be the most spectator minded horse trial I have ever been to. Having been every year since the first, it has been nice to see the changes over time, always trying to improve and better itself there is no resting on past successes. Dressage this year was as usual, very electric, and Parker was unusually unsettled by the atmosphere! We got a mark of 62 which was disappointing as I was hoping to crack into the 40s this year. I guess I will try, try again! The cross country was a lot better in the control department as I found a new bit that seemed the right balance. The course lacked a certain flow and I wonder if the course designer was attempting to make it easier than in the past and had several combinations riding backwards because of it. That said, I had my first actual stop on Parker at a set of mushrooms that I confess I'm not sure I gave it enough thought because it seemed as though the option was the best alternative! A moment at the water will have me back working on the quiet, less explosive jump into waters. He did a 2 stride in what was a 3 stride then jumped huge up the bank to step to the base of the narrow and have an awkward jump over it. We got away with it, however it has left me a feeling a little less prepared for a run at Rolex, but it is an ever humbling sport! I was pleased with my show jumping round as I feel that the 2 rails I had were easily correctable with a straighter line at both. It was hard to get overly excited going into the ring and I'm sure that didn't help.Inspiration is hard to come by after a weekend like that and fortunately it has been a rarity for us. It will make the next competition at the Fork CIC*** a lot more important and our preparation doubly so!
The tone of the weekend had little to do with a silly stop and a lot to do with some close friends' hard luck. So out thoughts go out to Darren Chacchia and our sympathies to Jonathon Holling and Missy Miller. They all deserve better and with some luck will receive it. I also would like to congratulate my friend and Pan Am Teammate, Mike Winter on his win in the CIC***. Having known him for a very long time, it is nice to see his hard work pay off.
Jen and I would like to again thank our sponsors, Purina, Mountain Horse Footwear, and Veredus Horse Boots. Plus we would like to thank our owners and clients, Drs. Peter and Jeff Berk, Bob, Jessa and McKinsey Lux, Susan Gray, Sharon Will, Stephanie Schmidt, Nicole and Al Shinton, and Rebecca Huy. We also want to congratulate our students on their successes with some highlights being: Tyler Frey, 2nd in OP at Red Hills; Jessa Lux, 3rd in PR at Red Hills; Ashley Mancuso, 1st in Training at Rocking Horse; Pearl MacGregor, 2nd in PR at Rocking Horse, and Courtney Olmstead, 3rd in Intermediate at Pine Top. We apologize to those that are not mentioned as so much has gone on this past month!
Until next time, keep kicking!"
Kyle & Family