Nov 2007
Tandemania at Katydid !
Tandem fun was had by all at Katydid CDE in Nov 2007.
thanks to my navigator, John Porter and brave groom for dressage and cones, Jennifer Marriot.
Below is what i wrote for the Florida whips newsletter :
Show report from katydid CDE 2007
Even though the weather was artic for us Florida whips, many of us braved the cold and wind to compete at Katydid CDE in Aiken South Carolina on Nov 9-11, 2007. The facility, including the hazards, was designed by Advanced single pony competitor, Jennifer Matheson driving the GRP stallion, Dannyloo who had a strong lead after dressage and never looked back to win her division. Sam Orem driving Teri Roberts hafie, AJ placed 2nd.
A record 6 tandems (3 ponies, 3 horses) competed in what we hope will be a yearly tandemaniac gathering. The brainchild of Besty Copperthwaite and Sterling Graburn proved to be fun for the drivers and entertaining for the spectators. Lisa Stroud, a snowbird from PA who winters in Sarasota won the pony tandem division, tandem champion, prelim pony pairs and prelim champion with her grey connemaras ! We might not invite her back next year ! Panhandle region members, Wendy Ying and Sterling Graburn from Bonifay were 1st and 3rd in the horse tandems. Wendy had an unfair advantage driving the 2 experienced horses, Duke and Dante, while Sterling drove Joan Von Pantz’s morgans, Bucky and Sky in their first tandem competition.
The prelim open single pony was a hotly contested division with 11 entries, 4 from Florida. Scott Parkman with his connemara mare was 2nd after dressage by just 0.2 points and held on to his placing with a strong marathon and cones for a 2nd place overall. Winner of the pony div was Randy Cadwell of NC with a young pony who will go into the gold medal winning pair this spring. Northern region members Donna Love with her connemara cross, Charlette Trentelmen with her new hafie and Jeanne Abbott with her morgan fought it out for 5,6 and 7th with less than a point separating each placing and all three having clean cones.
Ellen Epstein with her young WB, had a strong lead in dressage and great cones to hold on to her 1st place overall. Florida whips president, Lynda Jowers, won the marathon with her homebred morgan gelding but had some problems in cones and ended up in 7th with Dan Mazar close behind her in 8th out of a very competitive prelim single horse class.
Helen Tolmach made the move up to prelim with her her morgans and came in 2nd to Keady Cadwell of NC with a young pair of WBs.
We all enjoyed watching Phillip Needs and Judy Fryer of Sarasota, battle it out with matching pinto ponies, Winnie and Misty, in the intermediate single pony class. It was a close race to the finish with Phillip placing 2nd and Judy 3rd overall.
Intermediate single horse dressage was won by Sherri Lower with her morgan but Bill Allen of SC with his hackney horse, had a fast marathon and clean cones to sneak past her into 1st place. Sherri held on to her 2nd place finish with former Tampa resident Jerry Hageman in a close 3rd.
With the 2008 single selection trials just around the corner, the advanced single horse division was hotly contested and David Schneider (aka Mr. Zilco) of Palm City with his WB Carlo won the dressage beating out Fred Merriam and his morgan who placed 4th in dressage at the 2006 world championships in Rome, Italy. Marjas Becker with her colorful national show horse was in a close 3rd just 0.6 points behind Fred. Walk penalties and an unfortunate turn over put Fred out of the game leaving David and Marjas to fight it out in cones, with David holding on to his lead to win.
If you are thinking about competing at Katydid next year, consider this. The terrain is flat and sandy. The footing was never deep, but a soft sand with a clay base. The hazards while challenging all had long and short options. There were 6 tandems and 3 four in hands and the hazards all accommodated tight challenging routes for advanced single ponies and open flowing routes for multiples and green horses and drivers. All but one hazard was visible from the stabling/spectators area and a golf cart or ATV is really not necessary. There was more than ample warm up space and the dressage and cones arena was grass. The sponsors tent brunch on Sunday is not to be missed. The historic town of Aiken is a short drive from the showgrounds and is filled with horsey shops, great restaurants and many hotels, however there are RV hookups available on site. It is about a 5 hour drive from Jacksonville and well worth it.
