Team Milton Update....

Twin Rivers was another success. Milton had a very nice dressage test and a beautiful show jumping round. 

I was leading going into cross country by 6 points, but knew that Milton wasn't quite ready to go for the time just yet. 

The speed is in him and the jumps he understands but putting it all together is a bit premature right now. 

I have many places to improve on the dressage so I'm pleased that we have more work to do. 

My plan is to work on our galloping and take him to the CIC2* at Greenwood in Texas in a few weeks and then to look at entering the CCI2* at Rebecca Farm this summer should his progress continue to grow. I still can't believe every time I go out of the start box and we gallop through the finish flags how incredibly lucky I am to be sitting on him!!

We have been in dressage boot camp with Niki and we also went to Thermal this winter to improve on our show jumping. He is very suspicious of liver pools so we work on walking over them daily to teach him that he can trust me and liver pools are ok!

Monday we will be going to the beach to take the 1* and above horses to gallop to see how their fitness is for their respective level. Most of the horses have been swimming this winter due to the lack of rain and the ground is very hard. 

Milton is up to 14 laps with ease. 

In comparison Landioso will be competing at the CCI3* this spring and he is swimming 30 laps. 

Impressive!!! 

I hope you all are doing well! Milton and I have been working hard to be very prepared for Rebecca Farms CCI2* and Greenwood's CIC2* in a few weeks. 

I will continue to keep you all posted and thank you again for believing in the Milkshake!! 

He's quite a special creature and deserves a huge spotlight!! 

Til next time......

Tamie & Milton

Team Dempsey

It's been a very busy season for Dempsey and I this year and I am very happy with his progress. 

He has started to mature and fill out into more of a horse than a young guy which I'm very happy about. 

Dempsey is physically ready to move up to the Preliminary level, however after a recent stomach scoping performed by Merial we found some ulcers in his stomach. I consulted with our veterinarian and performed a bone scan of his top line as well to make sure we were on track for our move up and we found some discomfort in both TMJ's. Crazy right!! Well this would explain his behavior at times and we want to make sure that he is at the most comfortable and optimal health and therefore we will be treating him with a month of ulcer guard and getting his belly feeling much better, in addition we injected his TMJ. 

He has done 5 training levels and went to HITS Thermal for a week to get acquainted with a big show atmosphere. 

My goal with Dempsey will be to take him Preliminary at Copper Meadows in June and if things go well to take him to Rebecca Farm to compete in his 2nd preliminary horse trials with the goal of competing in a CCI 1* in the fall. 

This is a very similar plan that I had with Milton and taking things slow has certainly paid off. 

Since Dempsey has been put on his ulcer guard as well as his injection in his TMJ's he has been working in the round pen to help him get stronger and learn that he isn't hurting any longer.

I will probably compete him at Woodside Horse Trials in May training level to give him one easy go before his debut at the preliminary level. 

I wanted to thank each of you for your support and I'm looking forward to a bright future with Dempsey! 

Til next time......

Tamie & Dempsey

Team Milton Syndicate

It's been quite the journey with this quirky gentle giant and the journey really seems to have just begun. 

I knew when I saw his eye that he was intelligent and very suspicious. What I didn't know is that a horse and I could fall in love the way we have. He looks at me with the most affectionate and soft look but when I put my foot in the stirrup he is fierce and ready for any challenge. My faith in him has really become strong and I am so excited for his future. 

Each of you have been instrumental in my success with Milton and I thank you for your continued support. You each took a leap of faith and it's starting to turn into an exciting and rewarding process. 

So my deepest thanks go out to each of you for your generosity with keeping Milton and I on track for a bright future. 

He started out the season with an amazing accomplishment by scoring a 31.2 in the CIC1* at Fresno Horse Park. Having him finish on his dressage score was just icing on the cake and winning the division with a 20 point lead. I decided with that great of a performance it must be time to move him up to Intermediate. 

This past weekend at Galway Downs Milton exceeded my expectations and was very solid in his performance. He show jumped clean and jumped around a difficult Intermediate cross country course.

I'm trilled with his performance and looking to compete at Twin Rivers in a few weeks. 

If he is solid there I will take him along with Katie & Kaylawna to the CIC at Greenwood in Texas with the goal to compete in the CCI at Rebecca Farm this summer. 

Plans are never written in stone as we all know and if you had asked me if I would be doing the Intermediate this time last year I would have laughed at you. But I'm happy to say Milton is in good health....knock on wood, and our partnership is more solid every day! 

Thank you all again for all you do for Milkshake and me.......we are very blessed to have you all a part of our journey!!

Go Team Milton!

xo T