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March 2008 Updates March 1st: Albion’s show: Some may not know that returning staff member (and niece), Kendra goes to Albion University. She has been on their college equestrian team there for two years, and this year she very excited, as Albion had decided to host their own show. Problem was not enough jumping horses. Kendra asked if she could use some of Cedar Lodge’s show horses and of course, the answer was “yes”. Sadly, at the last minute, we were beaten down by the weather (see February) and the show had to go on without us. Never fear however, Kendra did very well in both her classes, pulling blues in both. This qualified Kendra to go on to Regionals, an honor that she was very excited about. Good going Kendra! March 8/9: Vaulting weekend: Another impromptu, last minute contact. This time by Charlotte right around the beginning of March begging for a chance to come practice. Of course, the answer was “Yes”. Just by chance, the weekend coincided with the beginning of Kendra’s spring break and she was on hand to put Charlotte, Malik, Taylor and Ashley through their paces. All were satisfyingly sore by the end of the weekend. March 8-14: Kendra is home for Spring break: Home for a week and made the mistake of asking where she could best utilize her riding time (silly girl). Chris opted for Moffit and I opted for Auntie Em. Kendra opted for Jughead as a reprieve. Kendra started out working the vaulters for a couple of days, and then spent the rest of her stay working on Moffit’s canter, Auntie Em’s ground driving and Jughead's……..Kendra. She lucked out on weather. March was much nicer to us than February and some days were actually in the mid 40s with sun! Wow. Lots of melting and watch the ice. I had forgotten what the sun looked like. By the end of the week, Kendra was able to go outside with her charges and ride in the back ring, a real treat after 4 months in the indoor. Moffit really benefited from her time with Kendra, though by the end of the week I don’t think Kendra was her favorite person. Thanks a bunch Kendra! March 15/16: Barrel Fest: This year, Cedar Lodge launched a team of 5 vaulters for the fest; Becca, Charlotte, Ashley, Taylor and Kat. Niece Kali was nice enough to come down from Alma to coach the team for a couple of days, taking all the pressure off of Chris and me for the weekend. In the spirit of always moving forward, the vaulters not only competed in the free style and compulsories, but there were two pairs routines, and a team of four for the two phase competition. I must admit that this year’s competition was an eye opener for all of us. Our vaulters have been steadily moving up the ranks out of the pure novice divison all year, but winter is a hard time for us to get to practice and our vaulters were a bit rough around the edges. Not so for the other teams present, who have been hard at work all winter with local coaches. None the less, everyone worked hard in their divisions and came home with much to think about. I think all agreed that the two phase competition, that used four of them together as a team, was their favorite and there is talk about expanding out into a team event as well (that would take 6 vaulters so we have to do some hunting first). Though all vaulters did very well, the hero of the show was Taylor, our newest vaulter. Taylor just started vaulting in January as a fill in, but has been taking her vaulting very seriously for the last couple of months. Taylor did very well in her divisions and was an important member of the two phase team. After the fest, there was a flag competition that all took part in. There were over 20 vaulters in the competition and Taylor held on for second! Way to chip in, Taylor! She said her arm was so tired afterwards, she could hardly feel it. After the barrel fest, CL vaulters went back to Cedar Lodge for some relaxation, riding and a great meal put out by Chris. Then it was back to the Fest for a clinic with the judge at 8:30PM. The judge this year was a gold medal vaulter, and all agreed that her clinic was well worth the late starting time. She worked our team on the first three compulsories and focused on what they would need to move on to the next level in their compulsories. Though she was very tough, she was able to help everyone out with their problem areas and everyone was very excited by the results. She even mentioned that Taylor had a very nice flag. Wow. And just 2 months vaulting. Must have been all that practice in that flag competition. Way to go vaulters. Thanks Kali, for all your effort, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. Next stop for the team is April 19th in Battle Creek, Michigan. Our team will be going to compete, not only  on the barrel, but Earl should be back at CL and in shape to pack our team around as well. Stay tuned……..