This is the first blog post from Lizzie Snow who is competing in the Eventing YR (CCI2*) Championships and riding Coal Ceek (Devon). Please follow the link to see Snow's High Performance Eventers blog. http://usefnetwork.com/blogs/highperformanceeventers/read.aspx

Let the countdown begin! We are currently just about 2 weeks away from NAJYRC. This past weekend I traveled up to Maryland to run Devon in a preliminary horse trials as a final prep for the CCI 2* at Young Riders. The course was very nice. It asked legitimate questions but they were set up in a nice, inviting way. This was only my fourth event with Devon. I ran him in the preliminary division at the Fork in early April this year, and then we did the CIC2* at Fair Hill in mid April and the CIC 2* at Chattahoochee Hills in late May. I am still getting to know him and figure out how to ride him, but he is always game and takes me along for a ride.

These final two weeks are the most stressful for me. They are filled with final gallops and perfecting the flat work and working on precision in the show jumping. Charlie and I have gone over a final plan for these two weeks to help me get the best work out of Devon with out over working him. Lets just say I will be taking a lot of flat lessons in the next two weeks….
There are papers to get filled out, new shoes to get drilled and tapped, things to be packed, and jog outfits that need to be finalized. It’s much easier once you arrive on the grounds and don’t have so many things to think about. I am a procrastinator, but this year I am already doing horse laundry and organizing my show trunks in hopes that I won’t have so much to do late Sunday night before we have to pack up and go Monday morning.
Area VII is sending two riders this year, Florence Miller for the 1* and myself for the 2*. Florence is shipping her horse from Montana and sending all of the Area VII gear with him, and will meet him in Kentucky a few days before I make the eight-hour drive on Monday. Florence and I are still trying to get outfits together, although living in different parts of the country makes that difficult. There are also no malls in Southern Pines, so I am mostly looking online for things that we can both wear. As these last two weeks whiz by, I will be trying to slowly get prepared for a very exciting week!

Lizzie Snow