This Summer we have certainly managed to keep us rather busy! We are ready to start our 4th and final camp week tomorrow morning (we will have done 3 beginner camps and one advanced camp). Two of our camp sessions were held in July which really made having a normal lesson schedule very tough! We were able to teach a couple of lessons after camp each day and then tried to make do on the off weeks with getting everyone in! This past week I felt like I was a lesson teaching machine ;) I was just thinking back to this time last year and how far all of my students have come in a years time. It is such a fun road to go down with all of you! Not only do I get to see everyone growing up, but I get to see your riding take shape and your education get better and better.
In mid-July the 4H girls showed at the County qualifying show, and all qualified to move on to the District 4H show that will be held at the Quentin riding club in mid-August. In order to qualify to move on they had to place either 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their classes. Wish all of the girls luck in case you happen to see them around! At the end of the month we have quite the crew headed down to Carousel Park in Delaware for an Event. For a few of the girls this will be their very first full event!
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
Hello Summer!
I have been slacking a bit on writing here.. we have been busy, busy! Summer started off with a bang for us at KLS.. which of course means we were at a horse show ;) Saturday the 21st we were at the Lancaster 4H county fun show. We had 7 girls go and all had a really great day. The horses were all well behaved and the girls all had a good experience, won some ribbons (a couple of them won their classes) and learned what we need to work on before the big 4H show in July. The big topics of the day were forgetting to check our leads and how tough Equitation over fences courses can be! :-D
A couple of weeks ago we had a group of girls make their debut in to the Eventing world! Bry, Alyssa and Anya entered the Elementary Division at the starter horse trials held at Plantation Field. Each had been to one Combined Test, but this was their first 3-phase event. Alyssa went on to finish with no jumping faults and finished on her Dressage score which was in the low 30's. Anya had 2 refusals out on XC, but did managed to make it over and finish the course with a great experience under her belt for next time!
Bry and Willow had a bit of a rough day. Willow was a bit amped for Dressage but nothing too out of the ordinary. As the day went on she got more and more agitated and it was decided that she had come in to season (heat). She was a bit of a disastrous mess of raging hormones! Bry managed to get her through the warm up for Stadium and get through her course with no rails--but made the right decision in deciding to with draw herself and not compete in the XC phase. All three girls did a wonderful job with what they were dealt for the day and I have to say that I am super proud of all of them for having the guts to try something new! It was a lot of hard work for all of them to prepare for this. We are hoping to enter another full event at the end of August.
At this very moment, we have our first session of summer camp going on. We have 15 campers for the week! The first day was a great success and I am looking forward to a fun rest of the week. This camp session is a beginner/advanced beginner session. Our next session, in a few weeks, will be for more advanced girls who are at least confidently jumping cross rails.
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| R to L: Abbey/Clem, Alyssa/Bouy, Hope/Chloe, Jess/Greyson, Bry/Willow |
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| Anya and Kota |
Bry and Willow had a bit of a rough day. Willow was a bit amped for Dressage but nothing too out of the ordinary. As the day went on she got more and more agitated and it was decided that she had come in to season (heat). She was a bit of a disastrous mess of raging hormones! Bry managed to get her through the warm up for Stadium and get through her course with no rails--but made the right decision in deciding to with draw herself and not compete in the XC phase. All three girls did a wonderful job with what they were dealt for the day and I have to say that I am super proud of all of them for having the guts to try something new! It was a lot of hard work for all of them to prepare for this. We are hoping to enter another full event at the end of August.
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| Bry and Willow |
At this very moment, we have our first session of summer camp going on. We have 15 campers for the week! The first day was a great success and I am looking forward to a fun rest of the week. This camp session is a beginner/advanced beginner session. Our next session, in a few weeks, will be for more advanced girls who are at least confidently jumping cross rails.
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| Alyssa and Bouy |
Friday, May 16, 2014
Another rainy day..
I appreciate that the rain helps all the pretty things grow around us, however, I don't appreciate that it keeps us from riding! ;) The rainy weather outside does give me the opportunity to write here and up date everyone on the things we have going on...so I guess I'm at least getting one thing accomplished today!
On May 4th we made it to the LAPS Benefit show at Linden Hall School. We ended up taking eight horses with a total of 13 riders. There were numerous division Champions won (I think 4 in all)and ribbons to be had by everyone! All of the horses and ponies were well behaved and we couldn't have asked for a better time...just some better weather! It sprinkled some rain on us a few times and was somewhat chilly for a lot of the day. It ended up being a very long day for Christina and I (as well as a few of the girls who stuck it out with us for the entire day) We left the farm at 7:30AM and did not return until close to 8PM. Luckily Karolyn was able to take 4 of the horses home mid day so that all of them did not have to wait around with us! To me, all of the time spent was well worth it to see everyone having a good time, learning a lot and for a little icing on the cake..doing extremely well!
Last Saturday we held a 4H show at Knights Landing which many of the girls participated in. There was a mix of more serious classes paired with some more fun timed events. Again we had a good day and the rain held off until the show was completely over, YAY!
On Sunday, I competed at the Plantation Field Horse Trials (the unrecognized show day for our first event of the season) with Mikey at Training Level. For an explanation on the difference between the levels of eventing check out this link :) http://discovereventing.com/?q=node/77
Saturday night before the event, it rained all night. I was a bit worried about the footing as it can become quite muddy when many horses ride over the same paths in both the Dressage ring and out on the cross country course.
For Dressage, we scored a 41 which is not great, but not totally horrible. The mud had me riding quite reserved/a bit tense, for fear we might slip. We didn't get much of a canter lengthening at all due to my fear of us slipping in the mud, our stretchy trot was basically non-existent and the free walk was just not really there for us in that test. We have been scoring quite well on our free walk! And then dumby me halted a little bit late at the end of the test. So we definitely still have things to iron out, again its more so me that has things to iron out! I just need to ride my horse better! Here is the video (this is USEA Training Level Dressage Test A) http://youtu.be/VlXGZIC9bAU
Stadium went really well-- we had 2 rails that were my fault. I tend to revert back to my old Hunter ways and ride in to tricky fences much too slowly! Mikey was jumping really, really well. He was very adjustable and jumping like the height was easy for him. Before our next event I will be working on a more forward/uphill canter stride to our fences! Luckily we have the Dom Schramm clinic coming up! I am hoping to gain a lot of new insights and ideas from him :)
On May 4th we made it to the LAPS Benefit show at Linden Hall School. We ended up taking eight horses with a total of 13 riders. There were numerous division Champions won (I think 4 in all)and ribbons to be had by everyone! All of the horses and ponies were well behaved and we couldn't have asked for a better time...just some better weather! It sprinkled some rain on us a few times and was somewhat chilly for a lot of the day. It ended up being a very long day for Christina and I (as well as a few of the girls who stuck it out with us for the entire day) We left the farm at 7:30AM and did not return until close to 8PM. Luckily Karolyn was able to take 4 of the horses home mid day so that all of them did not have to wait around with us! To me, all of the time spent was well worth it to see everyone having a good time, learning a lot and for a little icing on the cake..doing extremely well!
Last Saturday we held a 4H show at Knights Landing which many of the girls participated in. There was a mix of more serious classes paired with some more fun timed events. Again we had a good day and the rain held off until the show was completely over, YAY!
On Sunday, I competed at the Plantation Field Horse Trials (the unrecognized show day for our first event of the season) with Mikey at Training Level. For an explanation on the difference between the levels of eventing check out this link :) http://discovereventing.com/?q=node/77
Saturday night before the event, it rained all night. I was a bit worried about the footing as it can become quite muddy when many horses ride over the same paths in both the Dressage ring and out on the cross country course.
For Dressage, we scored a 41 which is not great, but not totally horrible. The mud had me riding quite reserved/a bit tense, for fear we might slip. We didn't get much of a canter lengthening at all due to my fear of us slipping in the mud, our stretchy trot was basically non-existent and the free walk was just not really there for us in that test. We have been scoring quite well on our free walk! And then dumby me halted a little bit late at the end of the test. So we definitely still have things to iron out, again its more so me that has things to iron out! I just need to ride my horse better! Here is the video (this is USEA Training Level Dressage Test A) http://youtu.be/VlXGZIC9bAU
Stadium went really well-- we had 2 rails that were my fault. I tend to revert back to my old Hunter ways and ride in to tricky fences much too slowly! Mikey was jumping really, really well. He was very adjustable and jumping like the height was easy for him. Before our next event I will be working on a more forward/uphill canter stride to our fences! Luckily we have the Dom Schramm clinic coming up! I am hoping to gain a lot of new insights and ideas from him :)
For Cross Country, I was very honestly freaking out! I walked the course the night before by myself and it had me very worried. I know in my heart of hearts that we have the ability and the right tools to event at this level (and probably a level above this), otherwise I wouldn't have signed us up for it! We were well prepared coming in to this event but I still felt very uneasy! I had a couple of specific fences that I was worried about for a variety
of different reasons and Ill add some photos in with explanations :)
All in all we made it around clean with no refusals, and I didn't fall
off.. so it was a successful day after all! We ended up placing 4th out of 9! I was so proud of Mikey, I got very teared up at the end of our XC run. Here is our XC video! http://youtu.be/B-XRMSKOOlE
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| The tree in front made this tricky. |
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| This was a combination..made difficult because of jumping the first fence then going a few strides and dropping off of a bank over some water. (notice the B flag for the second element) |
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| better side view of this fence |
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| and this was the front side of the drop at "B" |
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| Fence 9.. dropping in to the water (this is the front side of it..) We jumped off the hillside in to the water. Mikey hates the water jumps! |
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| blue/yellow ramp to the corner jump at 14.. Another combination of fences that had me worried! |
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| A "corner jump" is basically a big triangle, its narrow and you are supposed to jump the narrow side. |
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Horse show season
We had a great start to our season at a Combined test horse show on April 20th. Three of the girls went along and rode in the Introductory division which included a walk/trot dressage test plus a cross rail jump course. These are scored together for your final placing. We use Combined Tests to get ready to ride in a full event which adds a
cross country jumping portion as well as the dressage and stadium parts. I am so proud of all three of the girls! It was their first attempt at something outside of the "hunter world" and in Alyssa's case, her very first show ever off the farm! Anya ended up winning the division and Bry was in third.
Mikey and I also rode the same day in the Training Level Combined Test-- which is the Eventing Training Level Dressage test and jumps at 3'3. I was so happy with Mikey but not nearly so much with my own riding! I have to get the test memorized a bit better as I had a late transition at one point because I forgot where it was suppose to be! Oops! We ended up winning the division overall but I have lots I want to improve on :)
Christina and Jackson went Novice at Plantation field in April as well, which is a full recognized event with all three phases (dressage/stadium/cross country)-- they had a good showing and made it through the day unscathed! Major congrats to them for getting fit enough this early in the year to make it there! She also plans to go in a few weeks to the May event at the same place (as do I with Mr Mikey)
This coming weekend we plan to head to a hunter show at Linden Hall School. We have about 9 horses and 14 students going! Wish everyone lots of luck and I will report back afterwards! Fingers crossed things dry up enough for us to get there!
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| L to R: Bry & Willow, Alyssa & Bouy, Anya & Clem |
Christina and Jackson went Novice at Plantation field in April as well, which is a full recognized event with all three phases (dressage/stadium/cross country)-- they had a good showing and made it through the day unscathed! Major congrats to them for getting fit enough this early in the year to make it there! She also plans to go in a few weeks to the May event at the same place (as do I with Mr Mikey)
This coming weekend we plan to head to a hunter show at Linden Hall School. We have about 9 horses and 14 students going! Wish everyone lots of luck and I will report back afterwards! Fingers crossed things dry up enough for us to get there!
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Spring has Sprung! :)
Finally! I am so excited to have been teaching in short sleeves this evening. It is a most welcome change! We have had quite a bit going on this past month and even more planned for the coming months.
In the last month or so we got in three new horses to add to the lesson roster. Bouy, King and Buddy.
-Bouy is an 18 year old gray, large pony who came from an old friend of mine. He did 4H with her back when I was in 4H in my teens. He is a great jumper and is super athletic with quite the personality. Alyssa S. will be partial leasing him for the year and I know she is super excited already! She will use him as her 4h project, do some local hunter shows as well as get her feet wet in the eventing world with us. Their first show together will be Blue Goose in April, they will tackle the Intro CT division. (Intro Dressage and 18" jump course.)
-King and Buddy came to us together from a family farm where they were the only horses. King is a 14 year old QH gelding who is about 16 hands and Buddy is a 27 year old Appaloosa Gelding, about the same height as King. Both of them have spent a lot of years trail riding and were even camp horses quite a few years back. King is already being used for some of our beginner and novice riders and has been great. He is a super slow, couch of a ride! If you happen to meet him you'll notice he is QUITE over weight. We are working on getting him in to better shape and then hope to teach him about jumping some cross rails :) Buddy is still settling in. As a much older horse he has had a tough time making the transition to a new farm this late in life. He is great to ride and has a teeny tiny canter (its even smaller/smoother then Nikki's fabulous canter!) We hope in the next weeks he will settle in to life with us just as King has.
In other news--
*Rosie is back at it doing walk/trot lessons again! We are so excited that she is back under saddle again after almost 5 months of rest and rehab due to the deep flexor tendon tear that she had. She is one of the sweetest ponies you could ever hope to meet!
*Bryanna Y. will be partial leasing Willow for the 4H season and hopes to participate in all kinds of things from 4h to the local schooling shows and some eventing type things too! Willow came to us last May as a freshly off the track 4 yr old TB who had had one ride since retiring from racing. We now have her successfully WTC and jumping a 2'3 course with pretty consistent changes. The hope is that she moves up to the 2'6-2'9 range this year with Bry. One step at a time! She is a great mare and we are really looking forward to seeing how she and Bry do this year as a team.
* Our favorite big man on campus, Remington, moved home to the Reid's beautiful new farm this week. We will miss seeing his big head hanging over in to the aisle way every morning! Julie plans to trailer over for lessons come May. We'll miss seeing them around the farm all the time for sure! We have a number of horses moving back to the farm this week after being away for the Winter-- we will be looking at a full house by Saturday!
* I moved Mikey back to KL a few weeks ago. He had a very leisurely Winter hanging out at the farm near my house. I think I was only on him about 6 times from November through mid March! He got clipped and is now back to work!
Our first show for the year will be the Combined Test at Blue Goose Stables on April 19. Alyssa, Bry, Anya (and possibly Nancy) all plan to go and do either Intro test A or C. I will be showing Mikey as well in the Training CT division as a warm up for Plantation Field Training level, in May. We had planned to go in April but I just didn't feel that we would have enough time to get fit for it due to all of the bad weather.
We are still doing some planning as far as our first Hunter show goes--stay tuned!
In the last month or so we got in three new horses to add to the lesson roster. Bouy, King and Buddy.
-Bouy is an 18 year old gray, large pony who came from an old friend of mine. He did 4H with her back when I was in 4H in my teens. He is a great jumper and is super athletic with quite the personality. Alyssa S. will be partial leasing him for the year and I know she is super excited already! She will use him as her 4h project, do some local hunter shows as well as get her feet wet in the eventing world with us. Their first show together will be Blue Goose in April, they will tackle the Intro CT division. (Intro Dressage and 18" jump course.)
-King and Buddy came to us together from a family farm where they were the only horses. King is a 14 year old QH gelding who is about 16 hands and Buddy is a 27 year old Appaloosa Gelding, about the same height as King. Both of them have spent a lot of years trail riding and were even camp horses quite a few years back. King is already being used for some of our beginner and novice riders and has been great. He is a super slow, couch of a ride! If you happen to meet him you'll notice he is QUITE over weight. We are working on getting him in to better shape and then hope to teach him about jumping some cross rails :) Buddy is still settling in. As a much older horse he has had a tough time making the transition to a new farm this late in life. He is great to ride and has a teeny tiny canter (its even smaller/smoother then Nikki's fabulous canter!) We hope in the next weeks he will settle in to life with us just as King has.
In other news--
*Rosie is back at it doing walk/trot lessons again! We are so excited that she is back under saddle again after almost 5 months of rest and rehab due to the deep flexor tendon tear that she had. She is one of the sweetest ponies you could ever hope to meet!
*Bryanna Y. will be partial leasing Willow for the 4H season and hopes to participate in all kinds of things from 4h to the local schooling shows and some eventing type things too! Willow came to us last May as a freshly off the track 4 yr old TB who had had one ride since retiring from racing. We now have her successfully WTC and jumping a 2'3 course with pretty consistent changes. The hope is that she moves up to the 2'6-2'9 range this year with Bry. One step at a time! She is a great mare and we are really looking forward to seeing how she and Bry do this year as a team.
* Our favorite big man on campus, Remington, moved home to the Reid's beautiful new farm this week. We will miss seeing his big head hanging over in to the aisle way every morning! Julie plans to trailer over for lessons come May. We'll miss seeing them around the farm all the time for sure! We have a number of horses moving back to the farm this week after being away for the Winter-- we will be looking at a full house by Saturday!
* I moved Mikey back to KL a few weeks ago. He had a very leisurely Winter hanging out at the farm near my house. I think I was only on him about 6 times from November through mid March! He got clipped and is now back to work!
Our first show for the year will be the Combined Test at Blue Goose Stables on April 19. Alyssa, Bry, Anya (and possibly Nancy) all plan to go and do either Intro test A or C. I will be showing Mikey as well in the Training CT division as a warm up for Plantation Field Training level, in May. We had planned to go in April but I just didn't feel that we would have enough time to get fit for it due to all of the bad weather.
We are still doing some planning as far as our first Hunter show goes--stay tuned!
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Winter goings on
Well this Winter has certainly been a doosey!! We have not ridden much at all in the last three weeks. Christina was able to get a couple lessons in today with some of our die hard kiddos and will hopefully get a few more in tomorrow. More bad weather looks to be on the horizon for mid week-- that is definitely not what we want to see :(
A few recent happenings (I dont have much to report on!!)--
Some of you may know that Rosie has been on stall rest since the fall- she has just recently started being allowed to be ridden for 5-10 minutes at a time at the walk per day. That will slowly be increased over the next month. You may just happen to see her participating in beginner lessons some time soon. We have been hand walking her 4-5 times a week, or as possible with this terrible weather, and are hoping she comes through this tendon injury able to continue on teaching the younger kids about position and learning to post the trot!
We had the first of 2 foals born on the farm this past week! She came a bit early and surprised us all. Her name is Maria and her momma is one of the Standardbred broodmares "Becca". The 2nd foal due will be Shea's and she is due some time in May :) Karolyn has posted a couple VERY cute photos on facebook!
Looking toward Spring we have been planning lots of fun things, however, we can't do any of them until the horses and ourselves are back in to riding shape. It is very important to remember that at this point in the year the horses have basically been on vacation for 2 months! It will take them awhile to get back up to the kind of shape we had them in during the Spring/Summer/Fall months. You may find us doing lots of flat work/pole work these first weeks that we finally get to have lessons going on a regular basis again. So while you may be looking forward to jumping-- just remember, the horses need to be fit enough to be able to do more strenuous things, otherwise there is a much higher risk of them getting hurt. Imagine trying to run a marathon with no prior training! Its very similar-- the muscles just aren't there!
A few recent happenings (I dont have much to report on!!)--
Some of you may know that Rosie has been on stall rest since the fall- she has just recently started being allowed to be ridden for 5-10 minutes at a time at the walk per day. That will slowly be increased over the next month. You may just happen to see her participating in beginner lessons some time soon. We have been hand walking her 4-5 times a week, or as possible with this terrible weather, and are hoping she comes through this tendon injury able to continue on teaching the younger kids about position and learning to post the trot!
We had the first of 2 foals born on the farm this past week! She came a bit early and surprised us all. Her name is Maria and her momma is one of the Standardbred broodmares "Becca". The 2nd foal due will be Shea's and she is due some time in May :) Karolyn has posted a couple VERY cute photos on facebook!
Looking toward Spring we have been planning lots of fun things, however, we can't do any of them until the horses and ourselves are back in to riding shape. It is very important to remember that at this point in the year the horses have basically been on vacation for 2 months! It will take them awhile to get back up to the kind of shape we had them in during the Spring/Summer/Fall months. You may find us doing lots of flat work/pole work these first weeks that we finally get to have lessons going on a regular basis again. So while you may be looking forward to jumping-- just remember, the horses need to be fit enough to be able to do more strenuous things, otherwise there is a much higher risk of them getting hurt. Imagine trying to run a marathon with no prior training! Its very similar-- the muscles just aren't there!
Friday, January 24, 2014
Needs for the upcoming riding season!
Last year I did a similar post--- I included show clothing/riding apparel some of you might need. I added to it and updated the links for more current options--- hope this helps as you shop for the coming show/riding season! If you have any questions feel free to text or email me :)
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For those starting to get a longer leg-- usually around the 10-11 yr old age range, it is a good idea to start thinking about wearing half chaps for every day riding/lessons-- childs sizes OR Adult sizes
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For those of you who are over the age of 13 and plan to show this year--- you have to have TALL boots. Thinking ahead to show season! Please look at the measurement charts included before ordering and measure for the right size! The boots should fit snugly and reach up to the back of your knee.
Here is a nice starter pair $72.99 (synthetic leather-- doesn't last as long as the leather kind but still look nice and do the job for a few years of wear while your feet are still growing!! ) http://www.horse.com/item/tuffrider-ladies-starter-field-boots/E002422/
And these are a well priced leather pair of the same brand $155-- http://www.horse.com/item/tuffrider-ladies-baroque-field-boot/E003611/
If you want to spend a bit more, the Ariat boots are very nice/comfy and break in fast and will last for many years (I have a pair that is over 10 yrs old) if well taken care of. These are nice for those who think their feet are done growing! $280--- www.horse.com/item/ariat-heritage-contour-field-boot/E009979/
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If you will be doing Cross Country Lessons or our advanced riding camp-- you will need a safety vest. These are two options-- both are appropriate for riding at Knights Landing and any outside events we might get to.
Not Certified (same as one of mine) $65-- http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/251308061947?lpid=82
Equestrian International has certified ones on sale RIGHT now, so now is the time to snatch them up!! $130--- http://www.horsetackinternational.com/riding-safety-vest-by-supraflex-2010.html#.UuBN2rQo6M8
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Show clothing for all---- Links to good quality/economical examples.
Show Gear:
-Show Jacket- three buttons, dark blue or grey is always in style no matter what changes in the fashion trends.Link to Childs Jacket OR Link to Adult jacket
-Show shirt- light colors are always in but right now they have lots of bright colors too, choose a color that goes with your jacket color. Must be button up and have a stand up collar. It can be short or long sleeved. Childs shirt or Adult shirt
-plain BLACK gloves. Link to black leather gloves OR fabric gloves OR child size synthetic fabric
-Boots- Tall for anyone over 13 years old- black (they should fit snugly and come up to your knee) and for anyone under 13, short paddock boots, brown or black)Tall boot links ABOVE--- Paddock boot options---Child sizes OR Ladies sizes
-Riding pants that are beige or tan (light in color is always preferred, no blues or blacks etc) (jods with black boot straps for kids with paddock boots or breeches for anyone who needs to have tall boots on)Kids Jodpur example in a tan color. OR Link to Breeches to be worn with TALL boots- Tan or Taupe
-Garter straps--- for the kids under 13 in jod pants and paddock boots, you will need these! They need to be the SAME color as your boots, please be sure you pick the right size.. our little riders have little legs so they need a SMALL size. Link to an example
-Belt
-Hairnet to keep hair neatly OUT of the riders face. Link to hairnet example
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