Check out all the exciting news below, shared by
Hawley’s awesome working student and groom, Sarah Braun, who has been with her
every step of the way this season!
Hawley Bennett
Eventing started off the 2013 season with a Bang! Hawley, Eleanor MacLean, Katy
Groesbeck and I welcomed Marta Tabatabai to team HBE to start off the new
season, and then Hawley and the one-of-a-kind Gin & Juice took home two consecutive
advanced wins at Twin Rivers and Copper Meadows. As if that weren’t enough, they
then dominated at the Galway Downs Spring International Horse Trails, the CIC3*
leading up to Rolex Kentucky. Galway was a great event for the rest of HBE as
well with Eleanor winning her very first intermediate, Hawley’s third
consecutive win on Ginny, and I took home the Blue in the Young Rider
Preliminary division on a wicked cool mare, Gwendolyn.
After the excitement of such a great show, it was time to
start getting geared up for a little something called the Rolex Kentucky Three
Day Event. Apparently it’s kind of a big deal. I’ve never been before, so I
guess I was going to find out what I was in for! So, the packing and count down
began-- I packed, unpacked, and repacked every day until we left for the Twin
Rivers Spring 3-Day which was a few days before Ginny and Hawley left on a jet
plane. Finally, all the ponies were
loaded and off to Paso Robles, CA. Ginny
wasn’t competing but she got to tag along with all her friends; as they got to
run fast and jump high she had to play in the white sandbox and practice her
circles! She wasn’t too thrilled with that, but she was excited that Katy
Groesbeck took home a pretty blue ribbon and a new saddle in the CCI2* and that
Emilee Libby had a 7th place finish. The sad part about the show was
that HBE had to say goodbye to Eleanor and her horse Reilly as she headed back
to Canada!
On Monday after the show, I once again unpacked everything
going to Rolex and repacked it and loaded it into the trailer. I couldn’t
believe that Hawley and Ginny were about to head to the Blue Grass State early
the next morning and that Rolex was right around the corner. Marta and I were
up and at the barn at 1:30am to get Ginny all bubble wrapped for her little
adventure. Once we got to the airport, we loaded Ginny’s entire luggage onto
‘Air Horse One’ and then it was Ginny’s turn to board. Hawley and Ginny were
officially on their way, and I met up with them later in the week. We were
lucky enough to stay at Allie Knowles’s facility in Pairs, KY until we vanned
into The Kentucky Horse Park later in the week.
In the down time before the event, Hawley, a few others, and
myself were invited to Keenland along with a few riders from across the pond.
There was this one guy people call the “The Silver Fox,” I think his name is
Andrew Nicholson or something – you might have heard of him – and also Austin O’Connor
and Jonelle Richards!! It was a pretty cool day!
On Monday, Hawley, Ginny, and I headed over to The Kentucky
Horse Park with Allie’s help. We got Ginny all settled into her new bedroom and
unpacked and made ourselves at home. Monday and Tuesday were pretty laid back;
we weren’t quite sure what to do with only one horse! Hawley had a few lessons
from Buck Davidson and also with the new “Coach Canada” Clayton Fredrick
practicing circles in the sandbox! Hawley’s best friend Maralee Paul and our
awesome farrier from home, Tim Shannon, and this cool guy Bill Olson came out
to support Hawley and Ginny along with Hawley’s mom, her husband Gamal, Ginny’s
owners Linda and Terry Paine, Sue Church, Kim Liddell, my parents and a few
others! It was a party, with everyone there to see The Juicer and her Blondie
rock it at Rolex!
On Jog day I made sure Ginny had a shower and
her pigtails were prefect and had her toes painted so that she looked fabulous
on the runway. As Ginny and Hawley ran past the ground jury and I heard
ACCEPTED, it finally set in that I was indeed at ROLEX! After jogs we went back
to the hotel to put normal people clothes on and do our hair like normal girls
and headed to Spindle Top Hall! I was finally able to meet my friend William in
person, you know the guy that has won 11 CCI4*s and a few medals here and
there… As I looked around I had to make sure I kept breathing, I was surrounded
by the best riders in the world and I think I was a bit star struck!
photo credit: Michelle Dunn
Thursday was the big day!!!!
Ginny’s, well, not so favorite: it was the day for The Big White Sandbox, also
known as Dressage day! Ginny and I both bonded pretty well on all our strolls
to the main ring, a lot of hand walking and grazing to keep her settled. I
think we both got our exercise, but at least there’s a ton of green grass in
KY, there’s not so much back in California! When the time came for that long
black flap saddle to go on Gin & Juice I made sure she had her quarter marks
symmetrical on either side of her bum, her pigtails were tight and perfect, her
tail was brushed, and her toes polished. It was then time for Hawley and Ginny to
make their way down to the main ring, and that’s when I got nervous. As those
two made their way down, everyone else from HB Eventing headed toward the stadium
to watch the fabulous pair. As most of us know, dressage isn’t one of Ginny’s
favorite activities, as she tends to get a bit wound up in the sandbox knowing
what lies ahead of her in the days to come. But luckily over the years, Hawley
has learned how to tame the Juicer and her wild side, putting them in the
middle of the pack after a competitive dressage day.
photo credit: Bill Olson
Hawley had a jump school on Friday morning with Buck, and
as she was warming up The Silver Fox was finishing up his jump school with
Quimbo. I mean, I guess it’s an alright horse and he’s an okay rider….. ;) After
Ginny and Hawley’s jump school, I hit up the trade fair to do a little damage
with my plastic card, watch Hawley and Allie play with the Pony Club games
ponies in the celebrity Games challenge, and watch a few dressage tests! Watching
Allie and her mare Last Call was incredible as we all were watching the scores
the judges were giving and when she halted and saluted the whole stadium went
wild! Then I was curious to see what exactly a 4* cross Country course looked
like, so I tagged along on a course walk Buck was doing. Yup! Big! Very Big!
And very long; I couldn’t finish the course walk, so I went back to the barn to
have a little discussion with the Juicer. I told her, you know what you have to
do, and you’re good at it!
photo credit: Bill Olson
Finally, the best day came around!! CROSS COUNRTY DAY!!!
Team HBE got everything all set up at the Vet Box and so the only thing left to
do was to get Ginny and Hawley all decked out in their Navy and White battle
gear! Once Ginny looked fabulous and Hawley looked fierce I did a once over to
make sure they had everything, and they headed out to warm up. Ginny and Hawley both looked great practicing
more jumping logs and other things before going out onto course. Walking down
toward the Start box with Ginny, Hawley, and Clayton, I had to take a few deep
breaths and play it cool. The Starter started counting down, 10 seconds, 9, 8,
7, 6, 5 (oh boy!), 4, 3, (here we go), 2,1..and they were out of the box!! I
ran over to the TV tent to watch, I thought my heart was going to jump out of
my chest it was beating so hard, but Hawley and Ginny were just ping-ponging
around like it was no big deal. When she was at the last water I ran back over
to the finish twiddling my thumbs until I saw Ginny still full of fire and
looking for more things to jump. The pair came flying past the finish, Hawley
having to make a few laps around the vet box before Ginny realized she had to
stop running! This horse is always full of run and fire; she’s a freak of nature!
After she was oh-so-thrilled about having cold water poured on her and scraped
off, humans touching her, and other horses galloping out of the start box and
past the finish line, she got to go back to her bedroom to chill with some
magnetic therapy, her fireman boots for her toes and legs, and some fluids.
After a few hand walks and a jogging up and down the barn isle, she looked
better than ever! Finally we tucked her in for the night in her bedroom with a
few more bags of shavings and I could tell she was already thinking about
tomorrow. More Jumping! Yay!
The final day of competition finally arrived, and
thinking about having to head home the next day was not what I wanted to think
about! When I got to the barn before the sun was even up, Ginny got to go for a
walk before she had to go back into her fireman boots and magnetic therapy and
get her hair did again. She loves those pigtails! As Hawley was getting did up
for the final horse inspection, I made sure Ginny looked beautiful, and of
course they strutted their stuff more alert than the first jog! After the final
horse inspection, Hawley and Ginny were sitting in a top 10th
placing. Before the show jumping began, Hawley hopped on Ginny for an easy
ride, and then we let her hang out in her bedroom for a bit to relax.
Finally it was time for the final phase; with Ginny’s
pigtails in she got to have the brown short flap saddle on this time, and open
front boots, which means not circles but hurtles, and boy does Ginny like to
jump hurtles in front of a sold out stadium! Team HBE met Hawley and Ginny down
in show jumping and watched them put in spectacular double clean round!! As my
heart was beating out of my chest I screamed and shouted and threw my fists in
the air, I was so ecstatic when Hawley and Ginny came through the finish! The
pair finished phenomenally in 7th place, we celebrated with a bottle
of Veuve Clicquot Champagne as we packed up our home for the last week!
photo credit: Lee Ann Zobbe & Megan Brinks
The next morning we were at the airport for a 6am
departure on Tex Sutton with the help of Maralee, Allie, and Gamal. We had to
stop in Ocala, FL to pick up 20 race horses and then stop again in Dallas, TX
to fuel up, and finally we made it to Ontario, CA and then had hour drive home
to Temecula. The incredible journey to Rolex Kentucky was sadly over, and then
we had to start thinking about our next event! What great memories I made at
Rolex and not just as a spectator but as a Groom! I can’t wait to do it again!
The part about returning home that I was dreading the most
was that Marta and her little mare headed back home while I was away Rolex, and
we all miss her! But a week after returning from Rolex we welcomed a new hard-working
girl, Elizabeth Henry, and she was put to the test pretty quickly; after being with
us for just a few days we had an event at Galway. Hawley was riding 6 horses and
I was riding 3 and it was my younger horse’s first prelim! It was a really fun
show and I was pretty excited when I won the Preliminary again on the mare I
won with at the last show!
photo credit: Betsy Braun
At the end of May was the Event at Woodside, which I was
really looking forward to because it used to be my home turf. With a full load
of horses and a truck full of girls for an 8 hour trip, we headed up to
Northern California! I was excited to see some of my best friends from back
home, my dogs, and be reunited with Eleanor and Marta. The weekend started off
great, but I left with some disappointments and a lot learned. Hawley had a
great weekend with all her young horses and some ribbons to add to her
collection!
A couple weeks later was the Summer Event at Copper Meadows
where I had a much better weekend and a big confidence booster, and Hawley had
another great weekend with her young horses and also a second place finish in
the Advanced with 5 O’Clock Somewhere, right behind Katy Groesbeck who took
home first in both the Advanced and Intermediate. It was also an awesome
weekend for Chloe Smyth at her first intermediate with a second place finish
right behind Katy! HBE had a great weekend all around for everyone! Returning
from Copper, we welcomed now the newest member of HBE, Holly Wenzell!!
Right after Copper Meadows I had a little vacation and spent
a week home in the Bay Area and surprised my dad for a little early Father’s Day
gift! After the Father’s Day weekend I headed back to Temecula. That week was a
bit rough for HBE because Hawley had a spill XC schooling, and as everyone
knows our sport has so many of its ups and downs and plans change, and
unfortunately Hawley won’t be competing at Rebecca Farms in MT or Burghley in
England. But, looking on the bright side of things, new plans have been made
and the opportunity for both Hawley and Ginny to compete in France has us all
excited at HBE! Hawley and Ginny have competed at Rolex, Badminton, and
Burghley, and now hopefully Pau!!!!! Having never been to Europe or been out of
North America even, I’m beyond excited to have the opportunity to go to France
and to be a part of this amazing journey! While Hawley has been recovering, Gin & Juice has been
on a field trip for a little Pilate’s instruction and lots of circle practice!
Meanwhile at the end of June, Twin Rivers
hosted the Area VI Young Rider camp, and we were lucky enough to have Jennie
Brannigan, Allie Knowles, and Hawley as our instructors. The camp started off
with a bareback jumping contest; I think I made it to 4’6’’ or something,
somehow I stayed on! It was a great
weekend even though we cooked in a 111 degrees! A huge thank you to Jennie,
Allie, and Hawley for their time and thanks to the Baxter family for the use of
their phenomenal facility and to all the parents that make everything possible!
photo credit: Natalie Kuhny
Everyone at HBE is
counting down the days until we leave for Rebecca Farms, no actually counting
down the days till we ARRIVE at Rebecca Farms! Does a 24 hour drive sound fun?
No not really, but it’s definitely worth it; Rebecca Farms is the most
beautiful place I have ever been to, and I know this is the show everyone looks
forward to all year! I feel so honored to be a part of this amazing team and
have the opportunities I’ve been given, to travel to some of the greatest
events around the country and even the world in the near future! I would have
never guessed this would have been me!
Wish HBE the best of luck at RF and see you all there!
Kick on, till next time
Sarah Braun
