Below are chronicled
some of our favorite moments over the years of Palladio's development
into the fabulous, fun-loving guy that he is today...ENJOY!
For 2008 we are thrilled
to have Palladio back in the ring doing the Regular Working Hunters!
After
such a great Evergreen Classic we decided that we really needed to head
off to Thunderbird in BC, Canada for the second Hunter Derby offered
in the PNW.
So we scurried around and off we went. Upon arriving at the show we
were devistated to learn that due to a personal tragedy Palladio's trainer
would not be able to make it to the show. We quicky weighed our options
and decided to make the best of it. I approached the fabulous hunter
rider Nancy Free who said she'd be happy to catch ride. The next morning
without so much as a warmup day, Nancy cruised Palladio into the ring
and won the 3'6" Thunderbird open hunters out of 20-some horses.
We started to feel pretty good about our choice! By the second day Nancy
laid down nearly flawless rounds in the Thunderbird and Regular Hunters.
Palladio finished Champion of the 3'6" Thunderbird Hunters and
Reserve Champion in the Regular Working Hunters. At this point we all
decided to go ahead and take a shot at the Derby. Friday arrives and
the Hunters get to hack on the Grand Prix field. It was gorgeous. The
ring is amazing, the footing unreal and as I sat out there the sun was
coming over the trees at the back of the showpark and was highlighting
the remaining morning mist over the field. Palladio looked amazing and
I laughed as he marched right up and hopped over the grob...showing
his hunter rider that the scary fences were no problem. As I sat there
admiring him a perfect "V" of Canada Geese flew right over
the course...they were so pretty...and at that moment the announcer
spoke welcoming the hunters up to "jumperland" and then said
"And I see we have Palladio out there, winner of last weeks International
Hunter Derby"...and at that point it was just the most magical,
surreal moment.
So Saturday in the raging heat Palladio and Nancy head out for the Derby.
Nancy is laughing since the course is rather jumper-y and she hasn't
jumped a jumper course in 20-25 years. At least she's not worried about
the horse! They lay down a very respectable round over a HUGE and very
challenging course. It's really good but does have one unfortunate rub
through the brush. It's enough to hold on for 12th out of 32 very, very
nice horses and get invited back for the handy round. The handy round
is nearly perfect but sadly there is one little miscommunication and
Palladio has a rail...such a shame on such a great run too as the rest
was amazing. He still gets ninth for that round and finished 11th overall.
We are so proud of them both as what an accomplishment for her fourth
day sitting on him!
The 2008 AA Rated
Evergreen Classic has proven to be Palladio's biggest horseshow ever
with him winning the 2008 $10,000 International Hunter Derby, the $3500
Bunny Coffin Memorial Hunter Classic and the 2008 Overall Champion Hunter
award for the show. Pictures and videos of the rounds will be coming
soon!!!
On Wed and Thurs he showed the Regular Conformation Hunters....he beat
them over fences but got nosed out to a Reserve Championship in the
Conf...(silly judges, don't they know stallions are SUPPOSED to have
big fat necks, lol)...but who can complain when your horse puts in the
rounds that he did...here's how the week went...
Thursday night there was
a $3500 Hunter Classic in honor of a fabulous woman named Bunny Coffin
that used to come and compliment me on my first horse when I was in
high school. She was such a supportive figure in our horse community
and we were so honored to win a class held in her honor. We were excited
about Palladio's excellent scores of 83 and 84.
Saturday was the USHJA International
Hunter Derby. Palladio went in third in the order and laid down the
most amazing round...seriously set the bar. It was gorgeous...Steve
Sanville took him to all the big options and made it look easy. Palladio
scored an 84 and 86. There were 33 rounds to go in and Palladio's scores
were never touched. There were four judges in two judging teams and
their scores were surprisingly consistant. At the end of the first round
the most torrential downpour of all time started...they rained out the
second round until Sunday at 7:30 pm....right...now I'm supposed to
go home and SLEEP...are you kidding me!!!
So bright and early this AM we zip back up to the show to watch the
second round. Palladio, as the leader heads in last. The round he put
down was once again totally brilliant. He scored a 96 (a career high
for my trainer) and a 92.
It was a totally surreal
day. George Morris raved many years ago about what a great Regular Working
Hunter Palladio would be and when I heard about the Hunter Derby I thought
"wow...a class made for my horse...how special"....but this
week was beyond belief because Palladio laid it down in both the Regular
hunter ring and the Derby. What a great program and I'm so proud that
Palladio is the winner of the very first one held in the NW!
I'll have his rounds up
as soon as I can get them reformatted for the computer...
In June we were able to
sneak away for a quick trip to the Early Summer Classic #2 in Wilsonville,
OR.
Palladio with Steve Sanville at Early Summer #2
Some fun pictures
that we captured from our video camera after the Wilsonville show...what
can we say...it's all about the KNEES!!!
yikes! How 'bout those knees!!!!
In
June we ventured out to Wilsonville, OR to the gorgeous and competitive
Early Summer Classic #2.
The competition here was very tough and Palladio recieved a 2nd and
5th out of 10 in the Regulars. He also received a 4th and 5th out of
26 horses in the Open 3'6". He and trainer Steve Sanville are really
starting to click and we hope to have more happy updates later in the
summer. The best news of all is that everyone, and I mean everyone,
has been coming up to comment on Palladio's amazing jumping technique.
Even if his round has a small mistake there is no denying that horses
with his jump just don't come around every day!
just a couple fun shots my friend shot with her camera
while visiting the Wilsonville show...
In
May we showed at the PNWHJ show in Monroe, WA.
Here he received three seconds in the regulars as he got to know his
new trainer Steve Sanville.
In
2008 Palladio returned to the show ring as a Regular Working Hunter.
His first show out for the year he won the Championship at the Early
Spring Horseshow in Salem, OR with trainer Morgan Carr.
Palladio and Morgan Carr winning the championship at
the
March 2008 Early Spring show in Salem, OR.
Palladio's debut in the
Regular Working Hunter ring at HITS Tucson in 2005. Sarah Invicta Williams
and Palladio did some lovely rounds with top ribbons. Now we have a
very hard time deciding which ring to show in!
2004 was really
mostly devoted to the 100 Day Stallion Testing where Palladio finished
6th with a super score of 111.97 (116.26 Jumping Index and 108.10 Dressage
Index)
Palladio's second trip to "The Evergreen Classic" in August
2003 competing in Preliminary Jumpers and his first ever Mini-Prix.
Palladio's first show "The Evergreen Classic" 08/02 with
amature rider Andrea Clibborn. He took a second place in the jumper
division.
My first view of Palladio
came in the form of a video tape showing him free jumping at just shy
of three years of age. That video told me in a second that I had found
my new jumping partner and the perfect stallion for our farm!
Palladio's Early Jumping
Conquests!-Summer 2002
 In
August 2002 we took Palladio to compete in his first real horseshow,
The Evergreen Classic. It was a huge, five day show that Palladio handled
like a champ....luckily no one told him how easy a canvas stall would
be to get out of! Palladio turned some wonderful hunter and jumper rounds
with the highlight being his second place finish in schooling jumpers
in his first ever competitive jumper ride! This show, in addition to
Palladio's first, was my reintroduction to showing over fences after
way too many years off. I was teased a bit for having the only "Long
Stirrup Stallion" in the world...but hey...how many people can
say they rode their baby...let alone a stallion...at their first show
in Long Stirrup with excellent rounds!
September 2002 we visited the Octoberfest Horseshow and moved Palladio
up to some higher fences with Morgan giving him a beautiful ride. The
jumps were still easy for him and his rounds went great...very smooth,
very clean, and surprisingly quick considering we were trying to use
it just for schooling. The jump judge at that show raved about his form
and technique...and was completely surprised when he found out he was
a stallion.
Plans are now in the works
to visit the winter shows in either Arizona or Indio...stay tuned!
In April of 2002, Palladio moved closer to home to work with a fabulous
trainer named Morgan Carr. We were, of course, delighted to find such
a perfect rider for Palladio and trainer for me so close to home. I
knew we had found a great place to call home when I saw how nice and
soft all of Morgan's horses went....and that all of his horses had great
dressage work on the flat. Palladio had some great basics under his
belt and Morgan got right to work fine tuning his abundance of talent.
Palladio's
early jumping days-
We have always believed that some horses just love to jump and are bred
to naturally be very good at it. Early on we realized that Palladio
was a fabulous mover but jumping was Palladio's job of choice. When
free in the arena, he would jump the fences just for fun. For a horse
like this, we knew the jump would come on its own, so we spent Palladio's
first year under saddle on the flat, getting him fit, straight, forward
and responsive. All of his flatwork was done with the goal that if good
basics were in place, the jumps would just come naturally.
In late November
of 2001, after not quite a year of arena work and trail rides, Palladio
met his new trainer, Tami Masters, and was introduced to work over fences.
Tami was grinning by the end of her first ride and no one watching could
believe that it was his first day jumping under saddle. He took it all
in stride and looked to be downright enjoying himself.
The real test came
when it was my turn to jump him a couple days later. While I used to
jump a great deal, I had been without a jumper for almost six years…and
boy did I feel rusty! So, off I went on my semi-green stallion to test
out my memory of how to properly get a horse to a fence. Needless to
say, Palladio's built in scope and ability got us where we needed to
be. It quickly became apparent that the best thing for me to do was
to just let him do his job and learn to find the perfect spot.
After only a week
of over fences work, in December of 2001, I could not turn down the
opportunity to ride with Rudy Leone during a clinic at a local barn.
I was a little worried about taking such a green jumper to a clinic
while still feeling so rusty myself but I figured it was the best way
to give myself a quick tune-up under such fabulous guidance. Needless
to say, Palladio was a star! He took the new environment in better than
any horse I'd ever ridden and rode in close quarters with four other
horses (two mares) for three days without giving it a moment's thought.
By the end of the clinic we were cantering small courses and Palladio
was learning his lead changes.
In January of 2002
we decided that Palladio was ready for his first field trip out to a
horse show. We chose the local Jumpernight for his debut. This first
show we planned to just jump a couple warm up courses and get him used
to the show environment. As Tami had so many horses that day, it was
my job to warm him up for her. If you haven't seen a small jumper warmup
ring before then you really should find one to visit. It is always chaos!
Palladio never missed a beat….you'd have thought we were out hacking
at home. The real test came when a rider was thrown in front of a warm
up fence and took off at top speed around the arena, made a couple laps
right by Palladio and then made it out of the arena and took off across
the parking lot! At the moment that horse got loose, I sat atop my young
jumper at his first show and just prepared for the worst. I knew I truly
had the horse of a lifetime when Palladio didn't even shift a foot!
In February 2002
we attended our second Jumpernight and it went equally well as the first.
We put Palladio in the 2'6"-2'9" Warmup Jumper class. While
we did not go for speed, it was a great course with lots of tricky turns
and angles. Palladio made the event look like a handy hunter class.
With each bit of
experience he gains, his famous jumper heritage continually shows itself
as he gains confidence and experience. I constantly look forward to
watching the talent unfold….and am always so excited that he is
forgiving enough to let me be a part of it!
Tami and Palladio schooling
at Jumpernight.
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