Paradise Farm Horse Trials set for this weekend

Even a serious injury to organizer Lellie Ward couldn't preclude the Paradise Farm horse trials from going off this weekend. There will be 300 rides competing this weekend from beginner novice to preliminary levels starting on Friday.

There have been some changes to the cross country courses for this year's horse trials, said Ward.

"We've changed the directions around," said Ward, who sustained multiple injuries in a fall on Jan. 31. "All the jumps are on virgin ground, so the footing will be perfect. We guarantee really good footing."

This year's cross country course includes a new feature, said Ward. The horseman described it as a move your feet exercise for the horses.

"We built a new sunken road complex, which I've wanted for about the past five years," said Ward. "This year only preliminary and training horses are jumping it. The sunken road complex is built for all levels to jump."

The horse trials will be running four dressage rings, and will start Friday at 8 a.m. and will go until about 4 p.m. The event will run on a split days format on Saturday and Sunday. Training and preliminary will go cross country on Saturday, and will show jump on Sunday. The novice and beginner novice levels will show jump on Saturday and go cross country on Sunday.

There have been a number of requests to run the horse trials as a two day event in 2013, said Ward.

"Each year the competitors follow a different circuit, a different track, so it's really hard to know what they want," said Ward. "But now, they're asking for more of a two day format instead of a three day format. We'll probably change it around next year to accommodate the riders. You have to be very flexible."

Family, friends and staff pulled the horse trials together after Ward sustained serious injuries 15 days ago. The cross country courses had been ready prior to the accident, but she's grateful to everyone who has played a part in making the process seamless.

The horseman is recovering from her injuries, and will be back teaching next week after the horse trials. She'll be working toward obtaining her course designers licenses for eventing and show jumping as she'll be taking some time off from competing this spring because of the injuries.

Ward sustained a broken left hand, nerve damage because of a swollen spinal cord and facial lacerations. Initially, she had been diagnosed with a chipped vertebrae, but it was discovered that she had multiple fractures at the follow up visit. She'll be setting the show jumping course Friday night.

"Fortunately, they're all stable (the fractures), and I'm lucky I didn't need surgery," said Ward.

FEI cross country course designer Tremaine Cooper designed the cross country courses for the Paradise Farm Horse Trials.

"He laid out almost the same track that I would have laid out," said Ward. "It was really interesting that I saw a lot of the same things before he built them. I was really pleased with the track that he picked out because they were all things that I was going to ask him about doing in the future. It's encouraging that we're thinking along the same lines."