Stafford Carriage Driving

PLEASE VOTE, yes AGAIN

2009-12-12T18:28:00.001-08:00

COURAGE TO LEAD HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR HORSE OF THE YEAR BY THE USEF. PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE FOR "Katy" Follow link below:

http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/hoty/hoty.aspx

PLEASE VOTE

2009-12-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

Suzy Stafford has been nominated for Equestrian of the Year by the USEF. Please take the time to cast your vote for Suzy. Follow link below:

http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/eoty/Eoty.aspx

KATY IS NATIONAL CHAMPION

2009-10-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

The beautiful National Champion Courage to Lead and Suzy Stafford

"Katy" and I were unbeatable at the Kentucky Classic and the National Championship! What a fabulous show we had together. Our marathon on Saturday made me grin from ear to ear. What a ride!

Katy's special day

2009-09-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

I would like to invite all of Katy's friends, family and admirers to her retirement ceremony to be held at the Lexington Classic CDE on Sunday October 4th after the awards for the National Single Pony class.

All Results

2009-08-24T03:46:00.000-07:00

To view all the results from the dressage, marathon and cones visit: (click on the British flag in the right hand corner for English) Go to recent news or results.
http://hoefnet.nl
You will also find the results from the World Pairs Championships here as well.

News release from the USEF about the Pony Championships click here.
http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/newsdisplay/viewPR.aspx?id=4748&star=true

BRONZE MEDAL FOR SUZY STAFFORD

2009-08-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

After moving from 2nd to 3rd to 4th and to 3rd I am happy to say I have come home with a Bronze medal for the United States!

The Team came in just shy of a medal in 4th place. We as a team had a few hick ups along the way but overall I think we gave it our all and everyone gave 100 % to the effort.

As a Team we will work on weaknesses and play on our strengths. We will be back in 2011!

Cones Day

2009-08-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

As usual, they gave all the drivers 1 hour to walk the cones course. The course was very technical in spots with some big runs in between. It had 2 zig-zags back to back and a double box of minimum width.

It was extremely hard to make the time AND keep all the balls up. There were no double clean round in the single class. There was one almost with 2 sec. time penalty driven by the Dutch driver Melanie Becker.

I hit part of the double box and hit a cone when Katy slipped and lost her footing. The only way to describe the feeling I had during the course was that I felt like my pants were on fire!

Sara Schmitt had one ball after Batman jumped out of the box and she had some time penalties. Sherri Dolan opted not to drive when Smoke has a bit of a swollen leg. She didn't feel it was necessary to risk it. FYI- he is fine now. False alarm. Better safe than sorry.

Tracy Morgan had an awesome round in cones!! She was nearly double clear when she hit the 19th cone. We all thought she had it in the bag! She certainly brought her A game on Sun. Individually she moved up to 5th because of it.

Randy and Katie also had respectable rounds. Laurie and Lisa both had a few balls and a few time penalties.

Nations Night

2009-08-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

Nations night was on Wed. Every country set up a table with their "home town" cuisine. It is always an array on weird meats and stiff shots. The American cooked up BBQ ribs and Jack Daniels shots. They were a big hit.

A big thanks to Phillip Needs for his expert culinary skills!!!!!!

Sat. night awards

2009-08-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

They had the special marathon awards during the competators party on Sat. night. before the awards they a dance group come out in red sequin outfits.

They gave all the drivers their ribbons and as a special gift each driver was given a dances to dance with for the night.

Me and Randy were the American drivers recieving these awards. I think Randy has secretly

Marathon Day

2009-08-23T17:58:00.001-07:00

Perfect weather for a marathon! It was partly cloudy around 74 degrees. The sec. A track was mostly on the road. Very easy pulling for the ponies. Sec. E was partly through the camp and stabling so they closed the camp to all cars during the marathon. All the hazards were in close proximity to each other. VERY spectator friendly!! And pleny of beer tents close by.

I was the first on out on course. I had a clean round with no mistakes. I wasn't the fastest by any means but I was happy with my go. Katy did her best and I felt like I had my head in the game!

Sara and Sherri went one after the other. Sara unfortunately has a mistake in the 2nd hazard when her pony over shot a turn. As she came back to correct her way she missed the D gate. It was very unfortunate because she was having a GREAT go!

Sherri and Smoke also looked fast through the hazards but took on 10 penalty points after her navigator stepped off the carriage to fix some broken harness. The judges said that the carriage was not stopped when the groom got back on the carriage.

Tracy Morgan and Randy both had good clean marathons! Randy was 7th overall in the marathon and Tracey was 16th. Katie was 25th.

Our 4 in hand drivers went around with good clean rounds. Laurie put in a stellar go helping the team stay in the top 4 in the team standings. Laurie was 9th in the marathon and Lisa was 17th.

Fri. night awards

2009-08-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

The US was honored to have 4 of their drivers back in the ring on Fri. afternoon for the Dressage awards ceremony.

Special awards were given to the top 11 finishers in singles and pairs and the top 9 in the 4 in hands.

I had our Chef de Quip Chester Weber on my carriage for the awards along with Katy's "mom" Bev Lesher. Tracy Morgan brought her owner/sponsor Susan Deuterman into the ring to share in the celebration. Katie Wailey and Laurie Astegiano were also happy recipients of these special awards!

dressage day 2

2009-08-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

Today Randy Cadwell put in her best efforts in the dressage ring. Some last minute rein adjustments gave her unexpected results during the test.

Katie Wailey was next with a lovely test with new ponies owned by Ann Bliss. She was 11th overall in the dressage with a 57.

Lisa Stroud and Larie Asteiago both had lovely tests as well. Lisa Stroud had an error of course giving her 5 penatlies. Lisa's score was 65. and Laurie's was a 58. putting her 9th overall in dressage.

First day of dressage

2009-08-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

The day started out with a bit of rain Sherri Dolan went first of the Americans. She is the Individual for the US. She had a lovely test and Smoke looked very relaxed during the test.Sherri scored a 58. Sara Schmitt was next with a very accurate test. She did have a bit of rain during her test but it didn't seem to bother Batman. her score was 55.6

I was the last of the singles to go and Katy had been a bit of a handful the 2 days prior and in my warm-up. I was hoping to put in a consistant test with no mistakes. Katy did not let me down, she put her game face on as we entered the ring and I was happy with the test we drove. My score was a 48. I ended up 4th in the Dressage standings.

Tracy Morgan also went on Thurs. afternoon putting in a score of 52. The test got better and better as it went. Randy, Katie and 4 in hands go tomorrow.

vet check

2009-08-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

All of the American ponies passed the vet jog with flying colors. There was only one pony spun and I cannot remember what country it was from

I can't read the signs!

2009-08-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Trying to keep everyone calm, the Chef de'Quip told all the drivers "this is just like a regular horse show". Only thing is, I can't understand a word of what the other competitors are saying! needless to say reading the signs!

We are Here!!

2009-08-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Tean USA has arrived on the show grounds with no problems. All the ponies are working well in training! Vet check is tommorrow at 10 AM. The team had a total of 2 and a half hour to use the training dressage field. So the coach devided up the time between the driver acording to what their training need were.

This is katy and I getting some advice from Boyd.

On our way to Greven WPC or bust

2009-08-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

The Team is packed and ready to go tomorrow to the Show site. We took a Team photo with the Coach, Boyd Exell and our host, Koos De Ronde at the training center. Germany here we come!!!

Rural Lanscape

2009-08-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

I took Katy for a drive today down the road near the farm amnd came across the circus goats. Their balancing act was perfect!

Roughin' It

2009-08-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Running low on clean cloths leading up to our departure to Greven tomorrow, Tracy and Kenny decided to use their carriage for somthing other than a transportation device.

Sooo Cute

2009-08-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Koos and Marie's daughter Anna, 4 years old, came tromping down the isle of the bard today wearing her favorite riding attire. Sooo Cute!!

Counting Down

2009-08-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we had two days of training with our Coach Boyd Excell. Everyone looks ready to go and as our Coach said "We are all on the right track!"
Now we all must keep ourselves and our ponies happy until the show. We had a Team building dinner last night with the whole team (minus Laurie Astiago sp?) and Koos and his wife Marie. It was good fun.

THIS IS FOR YOU, BEV

2009-08-05T05:41:00.001-07:00

I thought you would be missing your girl about now! She loves the weed/flowers.

You won't believe what I found

2009-08-05T05:36:00.000-07:00

So, I was taking a bike ride yesterday to find a nice training loop for Katy and I to drive for a relaxing day and I got slightly lost and stumbled across a large Quarterhorse breeding/training stable. Who woulda thought.
We import their horses to the US and they import ours. The grass is always greener on the other side of the "pond"
GO MORGANS

Koos De Ronde training farm

2009-08-05T05:32:00.000-07:00

Linning the sidewalks of the Koos's training stables are hundreds of mini plum trees. They are delicious! I especially like the yellow ones!

They do make quite a mess if they are not eaten.

Just for Fun

2009-08-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

We walked to the town center for dinner last night and Sherri Dolan and Tracy Morgan found a very tall, handsom blonde they couldn't take their eyes off! Kenny seemd to get slightly jelious but seemed to get over it after a beer or two.

The Netherlands

2009-08-05T05:16:00.000-07:00

Town of Brielle: We are staying in a cute small town 25 KM outside of Rotterdam. There is a channel that runs through the town center with a church dating back to the 1400's as the focal point of the city.

Many nice Beer gardens line the streets with plenty of outside seating. The food has been good so far. I am in heaven, I have been eating smoked salmon for breakfast every morning.

sorry for the delay

2009-08-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

I have finally found a WIFI hot spot!

Here is a photo of the container getting loaded on the plan. It was taken out of the plane window so it is a little blurry. They were funny about taking photos in the holding area.

TRAINING

2009-08-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Team USA are doing well at training camp. Out Team vet made a stop at the farm to check all the ponies after their long travel. They all looked fit and ready to go. The vet ended up coming around 9:30 PM. Seems they work on a slightly different schedule over here than were used to. He said he had been up and working from 4 AM and he still had one more stop to make after us. It dosn't get dark here until 10 PM. This is one hard working country!
Our coach, Boyd Excell, will be arriving on Thurs. and Fri. to give us all alittle tune up prior to the arrival at the Championships. We will set up a cones coarse in the next day to practice with.

We are here

2009-08-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

Team USA made it to the the Netherlands with all the ponies making the trip extremely well. The internet is not working at the hotel. I hope to post the photos soon.
We are staying at Koos De Ronde's farm for the 10 days prior to the Championships. The stables consists of 100 stalls with 3 arenas and an indoor. Nice turnout field for the horses and the hositality is wonderful.
Marie and Koos had Team USA over their house last night for a wlcome BBQ. Today will be a light day for the ponies as we get unpaked, and reorganize. The weather is wonderful today. Sunny and around 75 degrees. It is supposed to be that way for the rest of the week. This is not typical! Usually we would expect RAIN.

LOADING

2009-08-01T03:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we took the lovely scenic drive to JFK airport on a Friday afternoon to drop off all of our equipment to be sent to Amsterdam. The packing went smoothly and everything fit on the pallet with room to spare. The horses leave tonight out of JFK around 10 PM. The "stuff" , horses, and some of the drivers will all be flying on a KLM flight.

This is Sherri Dolan with her stuff. She is our alternate/individual single driver.

THIS IS A TEST

2009-07-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hey, getting everything together for the trip to Germany. I'm testing the video feed for the blog. I hope this works.
Stay tuned for a candid view of the World Pony Championships for me and the team! We ship out Fri.

Counting down

2009-07-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

We are getting down to the wire now. Packing, and more packing! The plane leaves on Sat.

Thanks again!

2009-07-21T12:00:00.001-07:00

Thanks again!

2009-07-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

A Great honor!!

2009-07-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

I am proud to announce that I have been chosen to be the recipient of the Joy Platz International Driving Fund grant graciously donated by The American Morgan Horse Institute.
This fund was set up to honor and remember a tremendous supporter of driving and of the Morgan breed. I thank you and everyone that supported the Joy Platz fund, driving and Morgans!! Please support the AMHA. www.morganhorseinstitute.com

new sponsor

2009-07-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

I would like to welcome and thank Triple Crown for joining Team Stafford in her quest for gold heading into the 2009 World Pony Championships. "Katie" thrives on Triple Crown Complete, giving her all the nutrition, and enery she needs to keep her in top competetive form!

live oak 2009

2009-07-13T03:03:00.000-07:00

Quest for Gold in Germany

2009-07-13T02:58:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I will be posting pictures and tid bits about the adventure to Germany for Team USA and Katy and I. Keep watching!

First Post

2009-07-12T13:56:00.001-07:00

This is the first post