Elphin Odin is last of Elphin Esprit's 4 foals by Mick. He is a grey (born chestnut) 15hh gelding named after the Norse god of spirits, Odin, a fierce deity in pre-Teutonic mythology. However Odie didn't take after his namesake, and is more like the cartoon character puppy dog! Odie is very friendly and gentle, like his mother was, and has a strong sense of humour like his father.

Odie was sold to farm in Schomberg, Ontario (near Toronto), where he is being trained for hunter. Rob Robertson says of Odie "We spent a few weeks lunging and long lining before my wife got on, and the riding part went all fairly smoothly. He made good progress through the Summer and Fall, learning his walk, trot, canter, flying changes and jumping comfortably to 3ft. I love how balanced he is. We took him to a couple of hunter schooling shows in September and October and were very pleased how he settled in and performed during the day."

Odie was recently sold to Barb Pooley and her daughter, Andria, of eastern Iowa. Barb writes "Andria is planning to take him to a couple of hunter/jumper shows in June and a dressage show. There is a schooling combined training show in July that he will go to also. If he is ready, she hopes to compete him at the pre-novice level in August or September. She wants to take it nice and easy with him but get him out a lot to give him more experience."

A recent email from Odie's owners:
"I wanted to update you on the latest news. Andria and Cody competed at the novice level at a local pony club schooling horse trial on September 16. They were the only ones to go clean in cross country and they finished 1st! The cross country course was a true "novice" course with some hills. The hills didn't bother Cody - between his younger years in the hills and Andria galloping around the hilly hay fields at our new place twice a week, he's an old hand on hills. All the other horses had problems with the terrain. Anyway, it was a great competition.

This past weekend we went to the Silverwood Farm Horse Trials (outside of Chicago) and Andria and Cody competed in the USCTA Beginner Novice Championship for Area IV. They were first after dressage with a 31, went clean on cross country and stadium so they won the championship! It was wonderful even though it poured buckets for the stadium jumping. This was just their 2nd recognised horse trial so we weren't at all sure how it would go but obviously it went very well. He travelled well - he is just so awesome. Several times a week, Andria says to me that she couldn't have a more perfect horse. Thank you Rob and Heather!

At the pony club competition, one of the trainers who is very active in eventing asked me about Cody and her comment after watching Andria compete on Cody was that they are a perfect match. They really are. We keep pinching ourselves to make sure it's real.

Anyway, we're done competing for this year as far as I know. Next year, Andria is planning on starting out at novice level and moving up to training level later in the summer if things are going well. She is one happy camper!"

Updates from 2002:
May 5 ~ "They are competing at a local schooling dressage show this next Monday. Andria is riding 2nd level, test 1 and 1st level, test 3. She is also doing a bareback class at 1st level, test 2. It should be a fun day. A lot of horse people around here are huge supporters of Andria and Cody so they will get to see them at the show."

2003:
Jan 14 ~ "The clinic with Kim Vinoski was awesome. When Andria first rode in, Kim said, "That is exactly the horse I'm looking for for the farm's owner's daughter." She told Andria to let her know if we decided to sell Cody and she must have commented at least 8 times on how much she liked Cody. (She also liked Andria's riding.) Anyway, Andria and I talked on the way home about the idea of selling Cody. Andria figured that she would compete on him this year and then sell him but the idea of him going to Plain Dealing Farm where Kim Vinoski is had a lot of appeal."
Jan 20 ~ "Linda Wachmeister and her 11 year old daughter, Benita, flew in on Saturday and home Sunday evening. Benita rode Cody on Saturday. On Sunday AM she jumped a little in the indoor arena and then the girls went on a trail ride. (Andria rode her project horse, Buddy). Then we trailered them over to a local BN/Novice cross country course and they had a blast. Benita and Linda love Cody - he is exactly what they have been looking for."
Jan 29 ~ "The vetting went very well...So we are taking him to VA - leaving next Tuesday and coming back on Sunday. We have a place to stay (and stable Cody) outside of Louisville which is just about halfway. We tried to arrange the trip around Kim Vinoski's schedule. She is going to be there next Thursday and Friday. Andria is pretty excited about hanging out at the barn and hopefully making herself useful...Cody is such a great guy and he is the reason that Andria is such a good rider today. He gave her so much confidence and now he's going to go to a new home where he can do the same for another girl."

We wish Cody and Benita the best of luck in 2003!

After competing up to preliminary level with the Strini sisters, Cody is now a schoolmaster for young eventers starting out, as seen below. We hope he likes pink, it sure looks good on him!