The End of a Great Trip

It's been a great weekend here at the North American Young Rider Championships!


We have so many people to thank who made this week possible.
First and foremost a huge Thank You to our Sponsors! We couldn't have made it to the Junior Olympics without you!


Our coaches Derek and Bea Di Grazia have been fantastic throughout the year and really went above and beyond here at Championships. Thank You Bea and Derek for your stellar coaching!

We are so lucky to have Shannon Lilley as our Chef D'Equipe and she is the reason Championships went so smoothly. Her attention to detail gave the horses and riders every chance to perform at their best. Thank you Shannon for all of your hard work getting our teams to Championships and having a successful weekend!

The Grooms this weekend were fantastic! It takes true sportsmanship to have kids who should have been competing at NAJYRC to come and support their team and be in the trenches of it all.

Thank you Chloe McNally, Rachel Dwyer, Scott Kuhlman and Jimmie Holotick for a fabulous job.

Dr. Laura Werner went above and beyond her call of duty getting numerous veterinarian products donated to the team as well as her time. All of the horses jogged fantastic and looked amazing throughout the weekend. Thank you Dr. Laura!

Grant from Four Star Equine Therapy also donated his time to help assure our horses had first class care in the barns and in the vet box after cross country. Thank you Grant and Thank you Dougie Hannum!

Margie Molloy and Dave Kuhlman were amazing in arranging the hospitality and providing a house for our team to meet for dinner each night. Even though their son Scott was not able to compete at the last minute they came and supported Area VI. True examples of what a team is all about! Thank you Dave and Margie!

Each night the parents hosted a dinner for our team. We truly ate like kings and queens. Thank you Vicky Koss, Jodie Renk, Christie Kelly, Ellen Coudray and Hallie Tilley for their amazing cooking skills. The dinners were incredible!

Christie Kelly did an amazing job and was instrumental in getting all of our photos, blog, and updates organized and up on our website for everyone to see. She took amazing photos all weekend. Your the best! Thank you Christie!

Alison Baxley has managed the Area VI website and designed our blog page. A true professional job! Thank you Alison!

I have to say the experiences and life lessons our Area VI Young Riders captured this week is what the future of eventing is all about. The camaraderie throughout the week was amazing and something we will all keep with us for a lifetime. Each parent and volunteer who came to Championships to support our Area VI Young Riders as well as the entire country made the experience of competing and being apart of the journey a memory we can never forget!


Cheers to a successful week and Thank You to all of you who supported our Area VI Young Riders!

Best Wishes!
Tamie Smith
Area VI Coordinator

Day 4- Show Jumping

A very triumphant day for Area VI. All the horses looked amazing. Very sound and well turned out for their final inspection. Our 1* Team started off the competition with Suzy Hettich first to go in the ring. A beautiful trip by both Suzy and Chance gave a double clear show jump round. Way to go Suzy!
Madison Reeb was 9th going into show jumping with only 6 points out of the lead. Good pressure training for the future Madi! She didn't let the pressure get to her. Madison and Bella cantered around the coarse with great poise. Madison moved up from 9th to 5th place and Suzy from 19th to 12th.
What a great performance from both our 1* riders. The team moved from 6th to 4th place. Way to go Team!

A big CONGRATULATIONS to our 2* Team! Their performance was outstanding!! Area VI was the only 2* team to start the competition with 4 horses and end with 4 horses! That's what team competition is all about! Everyone passed the jog with flying colors with their very stylish jog outfits! Malcolm Hook voted David Koss Best dressed! Very Nice.... Jenny and Tiana had picture perfect double clean show jumping rounds! Although Max and David had a few rails they kept their focus and insured their team would finish with the GOLD MEDAL with Max finishing 7th and David finishing 10th. CONGRATS California!!!!Just thought I would mention all of the California Teams brought home the GOLD Medal in every discipline!! GO TEAM!!

Day 3- Cross Country

NAJYRC
Day 3
CROSS COUNTRY
We had a fun and exciting day of cross country. Some very good riding from our Area VI riders! The weather gave us a bit of a break since it was only 91 degrees during cross country instead of 106.
David Koss was our first rider out in the 2* and rode a flawless cross country round. It was a joy to watch David and Candy skipping around the course. They did have a few time faults but are now in 8th place.
Max McManamy was our second rider out on course. Max and Taylor also looked amazing. Max is our youngest member of our 2* team at the ripe age of 16. She rode like she's been competing at the 2* level for years. Very impressive!!! Unfortunately, she also had some time which moved her into 4th place.
Tiana Coudray was our 3rd rider out on the 2* track. Tiana and Fin were blazing around the course effortlessly when they had a slight bobble at the last water which incurred her 20 penalties. Fortunately her fast trip and excellent dressage score helped keep us in the game.
Jenny Brannigan and Cooper were our last pair out on course and were clean and inside the time! They defiantly fulfilled their anchor position!
The Area VI 2* Team is still in 1st by 20 points and is hoping for 4 double clear show jumping rounds tomorrow.
Our one star team made the very challenging 1* track look effortless.
Suzy Hettich and Chance were 1st out of the box and looked very solid! They did incur a few time penalties which dropped them down a few placings, however we will be counting on a strong performance tomorrow.
Madison Reeb rode very well! They started off needing a little more fire but immediately after fence 4 Madi and Bella zipped around the course. Madi is in 9th place with only 6 points from the leader.
All of the horses are looking good and with the amazing effort from Dr. Laura Werner as well as Grant from Four Star Equine Therapy everyone is looking forward to a successful jog tomorrow morning. We will keep you all posted on our show jumping tomorrow.
From Colorado. . . . . . . . . . . . .til tomorrow.
Tamie Smith

Day One Part II

Hey everyone! Our AREA VI 2* team showed North America that we know how to ride dressage! It's day one of competition at the Young Rider Championships and we gave them a 1-2-3 punch with Jenny Brannigan in 1st with a 36, Tiana Coudray is 2nd with a 39 and Max McManamy 3rd with a 46. David Koss had a strong ride and is middle of the pack with a 56 and we are looking forward to having as good of a day tomorrow with the 1* Team. Will keep you all posted! Thanks! Tamie Smith

Day One

Greetings from Colorado! Our two 1* girls had excellent rides today. Madison Reeb scoring a 49 and Suzy Hettich scoring a 52. The leading score is a 43 so competition is very tight. Tomorrow should prove to be a true test with the record breaking heat we have been having and are supposed to have extreme heat tomorrow. The one-star track looks very challenging so I'm sure there will be many changes. Very good performances from our Area VI riders! Til tomorrow. . . . . . . . . . . .
Tamie Smith