Summer time :)

We are steadily working our way through the Summer and it seems as though it's moving pretty quickly to me! We recently finished up our third and final camp session. Big thanks to all the girls who helped out through all three weeks! And we hope everyone had tons of fun with us :) We got in lots of riding, learning and swimming. Secretly I think some of the campers liked the swimming part just about as much as the riding part!

In July we had big plans to get to a number of different shows, however, the weather did not cooperate in our favor. We had one rained out and one cancelled due to excessive heat! We did make it to the Lancaster County 4-H Show which many of the girls have been working toward since May. With this show the girls are assigned a project horse who they primarily work with to get ready for the county show for the few months beforehand. They have to preregister about a month in advance with their project horses information and chosen classes. This year we had nine girls/horses go and everyone did phenomenal! I am so proud of all of them. Six of them are moving on to districts which is in a few weeks :) To make it to Districts you had to place 1st, 2nd or 3rd and get the required number of points in each class. At Districts it works the same way, if you place 1-3 you qualify for States which is held in October at the Harrisburg Farm Show complex. The photo is the whole gang minus one pony/rider. We had a great day overall!

Just last night we finally got to a Dressage show. Nancy got to take her boy Buff for their first Dressage outing. They did Intro test A and C, an awesome first outing for them! They have improved so very much since the beginning of the year :) Along with Buff we trailered Lily for Doug who is now leasing her as a Dressage/Hunter prospect. She was just great walking and trotting around the grounds a bit to get some experience. Another overall good experience for all!

Some of you may know we have had some horses/ponies for sale recently. The Brossmans recently bought Oliver from us! Alissa aspires to do Dressage with him and is hoping to get to some Dressage shows with us in the next few months. We are ecstatic that he gets to stick around at KL :) Additionally, Gracie and Patch are still for sale and we are hoping they find great homes with people who will love them as much as we do ;)

Patch

Gracie

We recently added Kota to the lesson horse rankings. She has been hanging out, gaining weight this last month. When she arrived she was very skinny and we knew she would need some time to build muscle and gain weight before she could really get to work. She has the very best temperament and is thus far working out great. As far as we know she is a 15 year old Appaloosa/QH cross who comes from a western/trail riding background.

Kota

She is currently doing walk, trot, canter with ground poles and beginning cross rails as she gets stronger. We have had her down the trail as well as out in the cross country field and she is just a star! Yesterday I learned that she also willingly walks over our wooden bridge out by the ring. Right now we are riding her a couple days a week as well as lunging her-- basically low stress work to help her slowly build muscle without burning too many calories. She did pinch hit a few days during our last camp session and was very well mannered if not a bit grumpy about being taken away from her pile of hay ;) I am a huge Appaloosa fan.. I had one when I was younger and they hold a special place in my heart.

Willow (4 yr old TB mare), who has been with us a few months now, is doing good sized cross rails and some verticals as well as schooling over some of the baby sized cross country jumps out in the field. We have also gotten her out on the trail with a group and she was awesome!  Very laid back and such a great mind!

Buzz had a big breakthrough! He had to step in and sub for Callie at the 4-H show a few weeks ago due to her not feeling so great, and managed to place 2nd with Bry in Hunter Hack. His very first time jumping 2'6 was the night before the show in a little practice schooling, and then we practiced a bit in the schooling ring that morning. He has been consistently jumping around at 2'3, but we had not challenged him to do anything higher before this.. So proud of the big, blue eyed guy!

As far as my goals go... I haven't been doing too terribly much with Mikey recently, far too busy with everything else this past month! I just pre-registered the for Ludwigs Corner Horse Show on Labor Day weekend. We will be showing in two divisions on the 3rd day of the show (Monday). I am hoping before then to get to a combined test at Blue Goose Stables in Cochranville. A CT is a show where you do a Dressage test paired with a Show Jumping round, it is scored together almost like an Event is, obviously MINUS the cross country phase. This fall I have set some goals to get to at least one event, hopefully two...maybe. I also would like to get to the Cheshire Hunter Trials as well as possibly the Radnor Hunt hunter trials..plus some pace events in Sept/Oct.  Hopefully we will also make it out fox hunting this winter at least once or twice :)