Monday, September 22, 2008
Charly wins Plantation Fields CIC**
What can I say about the weekend... it has taken me 24 hours to begin to absorb all of the excitement and take my first brief look back... Working backwards, we'll start with the results... Havarah's Charly Won the first Plantation Fields CIC** ever!!! To all of those who have helped out, what wonderful joyous news to share with you. The down and dirty backwards in time... double clear show jumping round to take first place, perfect through Sunday's jog-up, a wonderful competitor's party at the Walker's (the competition's landowner), 2.4 time faults on Saturday's beautiful course designed by organizer Dennis Glaccum, a brilliant dressage test, and great coaching by Boyd Martin!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
BIG weekend ahead...
Plantation Field Horse Trials is this weekend; Ginger is doing a Preliminary HT and Charly is in the CIC **. The course at Plantation is known to be quite BIG but said to ride very nicely. Both horses jumped early this morning and are ready to go. Ginger is seeming very willing and interested in all the new exciting questions that are coming with her jumps and Charly just can't get enough...
Thatch, Alyssa Hatai's young horse is sitting this show out (as they only start at Preliminary) yet was a total super star at his cross country school on Tuesday at Fair Hill. Willing and Able is the perfect name for him!
Thatch, Alyssa Hatai's young horse is sitting this show out (as they only start at Preliminary) yet was a total super star at his cross country school on Tuesday at Fair Hill. Willing and Able is the perfect name for him!
Monday, September 08, 2008
A trailer full of champions!
The weekend of September 6th and 7th will never be forgotten for many people on the east coast and I have to say that I am happy that I am part of that crowd.
Hurricane Hanna made her way over Washington DC just as Charly, Ginger and Thatch were to enjoy a weekend of competing at Seneca Valley. Luckily the organizers did a great job at moving times around to avoid the worst of the storm and MOST luckily I had great ground support from Bryce over the weekend to be able to get the three horses safely and successfully through despite the very offsetting weather.
Charly was the first of the three horses to compete and he did all three phases back to back on Saturday morning in the very beginning of the storm. Charly hands down did a great job considering the trying conditions. He slipped a few times in the dressage court and cost him his normal spectacular test, but he more than came through for the show jumping and cross country. Jumping clean in both phases he only incurred time penalties which were due to me wanting to have a sound and brave horse for Plantations CIC ** and Fair Hill's CCI ** both coming up very soon :)
Ginger was next in the line up and being slightly young and much less traveled she was rightfully concerned with the horrendous weather that she was put in for her dressage test. After having a few moments of "un-happiness" in the dressage test we got through, loaded into the trailer as quickly as possible and headed to safety to their covered stabling. I then proceeded to fill up water buckets with the amount of water that came out of my boots! The horses all seemed to really enjoy their early day (in stalls by noon!) The rest of their Saturday was filled with eating, drinking and I'm sure some good stories told by each.
The weather made a huge turn Saturday evening and Sunday was an absolutely stellar day. Ginger had her first Preliminary completion jumping clean in both phases and finishing second! GOOOOO GInger! This is a great horse and I'm sure we will see her for years to come in the winners circle. Lots of jealous people on the east coast all said that she is happily owned by a young rider in California.
Last but not least was Thatch aka "Willing and Able", Alyssa Hatai's new young horse. I took Thatch in his first BN on Sunday and he was a total gentleman through the entire event. Dressage warm up made him slightly nervous, and the slippery conditions in the dressage court had him a bit confused as to how he was supposed to canter on such small circles but he was willing to do whatever I asked of him. Thatch jumped clean in Show Jumping and absolutely loved the cross country. This horse was so ambitious jumping into the water I nearly fell off...Alyssa I advise holding on ! :) This is going to be a cross country machine.
Hurricane Hanna made her way over Washington DC just as Charly, Ginger and Thatch were to enjoy a weekend of competing at Seneca Valley. Luckily the organizers did a great job at moving times around to avoid the worst of the storm and MOST luckily I had great ground support from Bryce over the weekend to be able to get the three horses safely and successfully through despite the very offsetting weather.
Charly was the first of the three horses to compete and he did all three phases back to back on Saturday morning in the very beginning of the storm. Charly hands down did a great job considering the trying conditions. He slipped a few times in the dressage court and cost him his normal spectacular test, but he more than came through for the show jumping and cross country. Jumping clean in both phases he only incurred time penalties which were due to me wanting to have a sound and brave horse for Plantations CIC ** and Fair Hill's CCI ** both coming up very soon :)
Ginger was next in the line up and being slightly young and much less traveled she was rightfully concerned with the horrendous weather that she was put in for her dressage test. After having a few moments of "un-happiness" in the dressage test we got through, loaded into the trailer as quickly as possible and headed to safety to their covered stabling. I then proceeded to fill up water buckets with the amount of water that came out of my boots! The horses all seemed to really enjoy their early day (in stalls by noon!) The rest of their Saturday was filled with eating, drinking and I'm sure some good stories told by each.
The weather made a huge turn Saturday evening and Sunday was an absolutely stellar day. Ginger had her first Preliminary completion jumping clean in both phases and finishing second! GOOOOO GInger! This is a great horse and I'm sure we will see her for years to come in the winners circle. Lots of jealous people on the east coast all said that she is happily owned by a young rider in California.
Last but not least was Thatch aka "Willing and Able", Alyssa Hatai's new young horse. I took Thatch in his first BN on Sunday and he was a total gentleman through the entire event. Dressage warm up made him slightly nervous, and the slippery conditions in the dressage court had him a bit confused as to how he was supposed to canter on such small circles but he was willing to do whatever I asked of him. Thatch jumped clean in Show Jumping and absolutely loved the cross country. This horse was so ambitious jumping into the water I nearly fell off...Alyssa I advise holding on ! :) This is going to be a cross country machine.
Thank you and congratulations!
There are two of my students that I would like to give a bit of a spotlight to. These girls recognized the need for a more intense learning period and went way out of their way to receive this. I hope that each of them realizes how much this has affected their lives and realize how much they can now give back.
The first is Jestine Burch-Butts. Jestine trekked to the east coast in the summer of 2007. That summer she worked day in and day out for a great horseman and very tough boss! :) Jestine learned how to meticulously care for a barn of horses and how to help horses acheive a second career after the race track. I know that there is a lot more to her summer than the above, but I, as a very far away coach, am very excited about her having this intense training program. Since the summer of 2007 Jestine has returned to Sanger, Ca where she has been taking on training projects and sale horse. I am very proud of you girl, keep up the good work!
The second is Lauren Billys. Lauren has just returned to California after a very full-filling summer of work on the east coast. She had some great opportunities presented to her and has already expressed how excited she is to share this with others back in California. While she was back east she learned how horses are correctly kept in shape for the upper levels of eventing and also how to deal with many different types of "problem" horses. I think more than anything Lauren is excited to work with her students back in California on how to prevent problems both under saddle and on the ground. Good luck in your endeavors Lo!
Thank you Jestine for taking what you have learned and applying it to all of your new mounts and Lauren I can't wait to see how sharp you'll get our crew at home!
The first is Jestine Burch-Butts. Jestine trekked to the east coast in the summer of 2007. That summer she worked day in and day out for a great horseman and very tough boss! :) Jestine learned how to meticulously care for a barn of horses and how to help horses acheive a second career after the race track. I know that there is a lot more to her summer than the above, but I, as a very far away coach, am very excited about her having this intense training program. Since the summer of 2007 Jestine has returned to Sanger, Ca where she has been taking on training projects and sale horse. I am very proud of you girl, keep up the good work!
The second is Lauren Billys. Lauren has just returned to California after a very full-filling summer of work on the east coast. She had some great opportunities presented to her and has already expressed how excited she is to share this with others back in California. While she was back east she learned how horses are correctly kept in shape for the upper levels of eventing and also how to deal with many different types of "problem" horses. I think more than anything Lauren is excited to work with her students back in California on how to prevent problems both under saddle and on the ground. Good luck in your endeavors Lo!
Thank you Jestine for taking what you have learned and applying it to all of your new mounts and Lauren I can't wait to see how sharp you'll get our crew at home!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Stuart CIC **
Last week we made the trek to the Stuart Horse Trials which is near Rochester, NY. Charly and Ginger were trailer mates while Alyssa Hatai, Lauren Billys, Bryce and myself accompanied Quigley up in the truck. The trip to the horse show was absolutely gorgeous as it followed the Susquehanna river for a large portion of the trip. Luckily it was un-eventful and a mear six hours later we reached our destination and were met up by Alyssa Billys and Betsy McCarley. It was almost feeling like a Havarah horse trials back in California!
This event is known for it's terrain and very difficult (yet well built) cross country courses. As soon as we got a walk around we realized that "challenging" was definitely the adjective of the weekend!
Charly put in a lovely dressage test finishing 3rd out of a large group of highly experienced horses and riders. It was his (our) first time doing a dressage test in front of a large crowd and I think he handled it quite well. In fact, if I had to guess, I think that Charly was plenty happy to show off his fancy tail to all his new "friends". It seems like Charly feels like these horse shows are like parties and he pretty much acts like he is the birthday boy and everyone is there to hang out with him. In fact, Charly even learned how to drink out of a gatorade bottle, just like a person! (ok pretty close to it!!)
Our cross country ride wasn't until late afternoon and Charly's anticipation was growing minute by minute. At one point I just shut his stall door just to try to get him to take a moment and relax a little bit. Our cross country course was full of extreme accuracy questions as well as ride-ability exercises on top of the demand for scope and fitness. Charly was VERY honest at all of the accuracy questions and proved to be fit enough for the challenge at hand. His scope was never in question and in fact that our largest piece of homework... I now have to learn how to contain his scope. We had two "20 penalties" on course that were just due to the fact that Charly jumps so impressively that it makes some turns after fences a bit difficult. Being very focused on my year with Charly we have already begun our work on this area by changing some of my riding tactics and practicing a few more turning questions at home!
Stuart's show jumping course is on a grass ring with a few more hills to negotiate. The course was beautiful and very well designed. Charly came out Sunday morning fresh and ready to go, in fact I think I might have appreciated a more tired horse in warm up! However, once in the show jumping ring Charly was all business and put in a fabulous round. It was such a pleasure to be sitting aboard this amazing jumper, I felt very fortunate. I really feel like Charly and I have formed a great bond. I truly love the big guy! :)
This event is known for it's terrain and very difficult (yet well built) cross country courses. As soon as we got a walk around we realized that "challenging" was definitely the adjective of the weekend!
Charly put in a lovely dressage test finishing 3rd out of a large group of highly experienced horses and riders. It was his (our) first time doing a dressage test in front of a large crowd and I think he handled it quite well. In fact, if I had to guess, I think that Charly was plenty happy to show off his fancy tail to all his new "friends". It seems like Charly feels like these horse shows are like parties and he pretty much acts like he is the birthday boy and everyone is there to hang out with him. In fact, Charly even learned how to drink out of a gatorade bottle, just like a person! (ok pretty close to it!!)
Our cross country ride wasn't until late afternoon and Charly's anticipation was growing minute by minute. At one point I just shut his stall door just to try to get him to take a moment and relax a little bit. Our cross country course was full of extreme accuracy questions as well as ride-ability exercises on top of the demand for scope and fitness. Charly was VERY honest at all of the accuracy questions and proved to be fit enough for the challenge at hand. His scope was never in question and in fact that our largest piece of homework... I now have to learn how to contain his scope. We had two "20 penalties" on course that were just due to the fact that Charly jumps so impressively that it makes some turns after fences a bit difficult. Being very focused on my year with Charly we have already begun our work on this area by changing some of my riding tactics and practicing a few more turning questions at home!
Stuart's show jumping course is on a grass ring with a few more hills to negotiate. The course was beautiful and very well designed. Charly came out Sunday morning fresh and ready to go, in fact I think I might have appreciated a more tired horse in warm up! However, once in the show jumping ring Charly was all business and put in a fabulous round. It was such a pleasure to be sitting aboard this amazing jumper, I felt very fortunate. I really feel like Charly and I have formed a great bond. I truly love the big guy! :)
Monday, July 14, 2008
CIC **
Stuart Horse Trials is this weekend! Charly will be competing in the CIC ** class and Lauren and Ginger will be competing Preliminary.
Charly and I have been focusing towards this event for a LONG time and I'm super excited! We have one more jump school on Tuesday and then Wednesday morning we are off to New York.
We have a fantastic fan club coming; The Billys/McCarthy family is being represented with Alyssa and her mother Betsy, we also have Alyssa Hatai representing the California Havarah group and last but not least Bryce will be crutching along to give his best gimpy support from the sidelines!
Charly and I have been focusing towards this event for a LONG time and I'm super excited! We have one more jump school on Tuesday and then Wednesday morning we are off to New York.
We have a fantastic fan club coming; The Billys/McCarthy family is being represented with Alyssa and her mother Betsy, we also have Alyssa Hatai representing the California Havarah group and last but not least Bryce will be crutching along to give his best gimpy support from the sidelines!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Intermediate XC
Better late than never....
Waredaca Intermediate XC June 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4kORMMiTik
Waredaca Intermediate XC June 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4kORMMiTik
The Perfect Saturday!
I pretty much do a daily check on accuweather in hopes of seeing thunderstorms and showers so that the ground will stay good and the grass will stay green...all last week the weather forecasters were wrong and daily got my hopes up only to be let down. FINALLY on Friday night we had a lovely storm. Saturday morning I took Charly over to the Fair Hill "park" and had a fantastic gallop. He feels so much stronger and way more mature than when he was doing this same gallop last year. Bryce and I have been watching the Stuart Horse Trials on U Tube and realizing just how fit the horses need to be to get around that course. My class list is also posted now on the Stuart cite and Charly and I have some VERY difficult company!
Charly's gallop was just the start of my perfect Saturday because I then was invited out to the North East River with Luke and Sara Allen a few of their good friends, my roomate (Jane) and my boyfriend (Bryce). It was a perfect crowd, a lovely boat and we got to play on some very cool toys. I now can wake board decently on a straight line, turning right and some times can even stay on for a turn to the left... I'm glad that I can be happy with small progress! Luke and Sara are both excellent at the water sports and provided us great entertainment with all their athletic endeavors.
Charly's gallop was just the start of my perfect Saturday because I then was invited out to the North East River with Luke and Sara Allen a few of their good friends, my roomate (Jane) and my boyfriend (Bryce). It was a perfect crowd, a lovely boat and we got to play on some very cool toys. I now can wake board decently on a straight line, turning right and some times can even stay on for a turn to the left... I'm glad that I can be happy with small progress! Luke and Sara are both excellent at the water sports and provided us great entertainment with all their athletic endeavors.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Go team!
Since my last post many exciting horsey adventures have occured. Charly competed in his first Intermediate of 2008 and was a total champ, it was wonderful to feel how much more connected we have become since our Intermediate runs last year. Services Rendered has now completed his first two horse trials and is showing much talent as an event horse. HIghest Offer just finished second in a training level event at the Seneca Horse Trials, becoming one of my all time favorite cross country mounts. AND last but not least our summer addition to the east coast, Lauren Billys, finished second and third at her first two east coast events. Lauren is working towards moving up to Preliminary in a few weeks at the Maryland Horse Trials.
Charly's next event is the CIC ** at Stuart which is known as a great event but really requires a fit horse. So in addition to his normal fitness regime Charly has added on swim practice into his schedule. :) It's pretty cool, I'll try to get some pictures of him treading away posted.
Charly's next event is the CIC ** at Stuart which is known as a great event but really requires a fit horse. So in addition to his normal fitness regime Charly has added on swim practice into his schedule. :) It's pretty cool, I'll try to get some pictures of him treading away posted.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Fair Hill Horse Trials
May 18th was a fantastic day in Elkton, Md. Charly and I competed for the first time in 2008 and were lucky enough to have a fan club including, my mother (Judy), my boyfriend (Bryce), Charly's vet and my good friend (Dr. Charles Arensburg), as well as some very good friends.... Sara, Luke, Traci and Caroline. I believe this group brought us great luck as Charly received a 24.5 on his dressage test and had fantastic jumping rounds that helped us secure the win at this horse trials.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
April in California
The April clinic in the central valley was a huge success. We had three gorgeous days with lessons at El Encanto and at Sport Equine; Sue Rice and the Davis's have been big supporters of our Havarah group and I can't thank them enough. Both have spent endless hours creating fantastic sport horse facilities, highly appreciated...thank you!!! As a whole the riders worked on learning the feel of having an appropriately balanced horse for the task on hand. Just ask Jenn Whiting how tiresome that can be, she actually had to take off work the following day because her body was so sore!
I don't have all of the final placings from the April Ram Tap horse trials; so I'm not even going to try to list them out, hopefully one day we'll get Bill to put results up on his websites! I do know that we had a first, a fourth (or maybe a few fourths) and many other placings very near by. I also know that I heard from many of my little spys that my group was organized, friendly, safe and well prepared... I think those are some of the best words a trainer could hear :)
Below are some the competition photos from Ram Tap.
Jestine is pictured here with one of my favorite young horses, "Houston". Houston represents the ideal young TB, quiet, smart and a lovely jumper... BTW he's for sale and I think he needs a home in Havarah... anyone looking ????
John Marshall put tears in all of our eyes as he finished the weekend on a very respectable dressage score with no penalties added from XC or SJ... great work John, you've come a long way!
Maddy and Tigger (one of the cutest ponies to ever live!) are a brand new partnership and Val Burch (Maddy's trainer) has done a fantastic job preparing them for their first event.
I don't have all of the final placings from the April Ram Tap horse trials; so I'm not even going to try to list them out, hopefully one day we'll get Bill to put results up on his websites! I do know that we had a first, a fourth (or maybe a few fourths) and many other placings very near by. I also know that I heard from many of my little spys that my group was organized, friendly, safe and well prepared... I think those are some of the best words a trainer could hear :)
Below are some the competition photos from Ram Tap.
Jestine is pictured here with one of my favorite young horses, "Houston". Houston represents the ideal young TB, quiet, smart and a lovely jumper... BTW he's for sale and I think he needs a home in Havarah... anyone looking ????
John Marshall put tears in all of our eyes as he finished the weekend on a very respectable dressage score with no penalties added from XC or SJ... great work John, you've come a long way!
Maddy and Tigger (one of the cutest ponies to ever live!) are a brand new partnership and Val Burch (Maddy's trainer) has done a fantastic job preparing them for their first event.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
SPRING :)
It's here...finally! I got home from work and it was still light out, I actually wanted to take my dog for a walk and had energy to put together my California clinic.. life is good :)
Charly was moved on Tuesday to his new home; on Wednesday he got his first turn out of the year and since his injury. He also got to meet the barn mascot (a pot belly pig) he apparently was much braver than most about the introduction. For his first ride out there I went with the barn owner and took him on a leisurely hour long walk around their cross country schooling fields and out around the neighboring farms. Charly was very mature and completely relaxed, I think he's happy with his new accommodations.
Last week Charly had a very good doctor visit with his Ultrasound Vet and was given the go ahead to begin preparing for a spring competition. I'm planning on preparing for the May Fair Hill Preliminary Horse Trials. Charly and I have been working on our own throughout the winter and have seemed to developed a strong relationship I can't wait for our first cross country school!
Last weekend I went to watch a hunt meet on Sunday, it was on site of the Plantation Horse Trials which is across the street from Bruce Davidson's farm. It's so inspiring to watch the timber racing, makes me very anxious for my first competition! It was also a really neat feeling to know many of the jockeys now, versus last year when I didn't know any of the jockeys or trainers... I feel like now I go and have a real reason to cheer the horses and riders on.
A very funny side note to the horse stories... I've had to say good bye to my little small two seater couch that my good friend/old roommate Jennie Steres was kind enough to pass down to me. I feel like that couch has given many good years to young adults and it was now time for me to pass her down to help out the next girl in it's life. The couch is in very good hands and once again it is extremely well loved! This brings good news for all of you, I now have a traditional sized couch that is quite comfy and even a nice little chair to go along! The couch is open and available for visits, it's ready for some good breaking in :) Lots of hunt meets and horse trials in the area in the next few months ....
In California all my students are in full spring mode, being very dedicated about their riding. I have a clinic scheduled for the 7th, 8th, and 9th of April which will help prepare the Havarah Equestrian group for the April Ram Tap. Christine Scarlett has graciously accepted taking on the group and giving them her great coaching skills at the horse trials. We then have a big group planning on traveling to the May Galway Downs where I plan to fly in and coach. I'm so proud of all of my students accomplishments and hope to be around for as much of their learning as possible.
Charly was moved on Tuesday to his new home; on Wednesday he got his first turn out of the year and since his injury. He also got to meet the barn mascot (a pot belly pig) he apparently was much braver than most about the introduction. For his first ride out there I went with the barn owner and took him on a leisurely hour long walk around their cross country schooling fields and out around the neighboring farms. Charly was very mature and completely relaxed, I think he's happy with his new accommodations.
Last week Charly had a very good doctor visit with his Ultrasound Vet and was given the go ahead to begin preparing for a spring competition. I'm planning on preparing for the May Fair Hill Preliminary Horse Trials. Charly and I have been working on our own throughout the winter and have seemed to developed a strong relationship I can't wait for our first cross country school!
Last weekend I went to watch a hunt meet on Sunday, it was on site of the Plantation Horse Trials which is across the street from Bruce Davidson's farm. It's so inspiring to watch the timber racing, makes me very anxious for my first competition! It was also a really neat feeling to know many of the jockeys now, versus last year when I didn't know any of the jockeys or trainers... I feel like now I go and have a real reason to cheer the horses and riders on.
A very funny side note to the horse stories... I've had to say good bye to my little small two seater couch that my good friend/old roommate Jennie Steres was kind enough to pass down to me. I feel like that couch has given many good years to young adults and it was now time for me to pass her down to help out the next girl in it's life. The couch is in very good hands and once again it is extremely well loved! This brings good news for all of you, I now have a traditional sized couch that is quite comfy and even a nice little chair to go along! The couch is open and available for visits, it's ready for some good breaking in :) Lots of hunt meets and horse trials in the area in the next few months ....
In California all my students are in full spring mode, being very dedicated about their riding. I have a clinic scheduled for the 7th, 8th, and 9th of April which will help prepare the Havarah Equestrian group for the April Ram Tap. Christine Scarlett has graciously accepted taking on the group and giving them her great coaching skills at the horse trials. We then have a big group planning on traveling to the May Galway Downs where I plan to fly in and coach. I'm so proud of all of my students accomplishments and hope to be around for as much of their learning as possible.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
A well filled month!
The month of February started off with a fantastic trip to California. Almost the entire time I was home I was blessed with sunshine, (each morning was a reminder of what pea soup looks like) just in time as I was beginning to turn purple and blue here in Maryland! The Havarah group has remained so strong in the Fresno and surrounding areas that I was kept busy teaching all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I am so impressed with the dedication everyone has kept without having an on-site trainer; I realize that at many times this is problematic and frustrating for many BUT looking in from afar, my students are riding every bit as well as riders in full time training programs.
I plan on traveling back to California for clinics as often and as long as my riders are willing to have me; the east coast may have hills, trees and grass but I don't think I'll ever find another "Havarah"! As I say this, I do have to admit that the rising cost of travel is making my short trips a bit difficult to put together! I have always been lucky to get decent priced flights directly into Fresno but on the February travel I purchased a ticket into San Jose for half the cost of the ticket into Fresno... so note to all... always check the surrounding airports :) This actually worked out perfectly as my long lost brother conveniently just moved into a home that is about 15 minutes away from SJC. My brother, Aaron, is someone that many of you will never meet but I would still love you to know about. I've always referred to him as "the brains of the family". Aaron is a Cal Tech graduate, he studied Micro Biology and after putting in a substantial amount of time searching for a specific gene that creates cancer, he has now switched over to his true talent in life...computers. Aaron has lived in the bay area for many years now, and travels to Fresno only when he is completely forced into it, thus is why I mention that you may never meet him. None the less, I own him much gratitude for my insane horsey passion. We both began riding together at "Horseworld" and my goal was never to get great, but just to be better than my older brother :) This really only came to fruition when I gained a week of riding on him when he went to boyscout camp. Then his love of riding faded and he was left to be my taxi driver! My mom constantly reminds me that my favorite phrase as a youngster was "I can do anything you can do and I can do it better!" No wonder my brother said he liked me a lot better before I could talk!
California was great, every time I go I have to re-convince myself that what I'm doing on the east coast is really the right thing for me at this point in my life.
For those of you following this blog for some "Charly" up-dates, keep reading! For weeks upon weeks Charly and I were going on long walks, sometimes very peaceful and sometimes way too eventful! Charly was in a very slow rehab program and on January first he was put back under tack. All of January and February Charly was worked in the indoor having his work gradually increased each week, all walk and trot. These two months seemed to just fly by for me. Charly is one of those horses that just make your life better. I miss competing, I miss jumping, but I still look forward to any time I can spend with Charly. He was re-scanned at the end of February and was given full go ahead, it's time to canter!!!! :) Last week Charly had his first days of canter work in the indoor and then yesterday I took him out on his first "hack". Charly went up hills, through woods, across a road, by a dumpster, and even over some small little twigs :> The woods that I hack in have lots of jumps, mostly very natural logs, and it's taking all my will power to NOT jump them! Ahhh one more month!
I did take a non-horsey non-work weekend and traveled with Bryce to what I've always thought of as a very famous east coast destination...the Poconos. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I've always thought of the Poconos as a resort type of get away. In reality it's just the place where most of Pennsylvania goes for skiing/boarding (locally) if they really want good terrain they go to Vermont; OR if they want good snow they go west! Anyhow, it was a lovely quick get away and I'm finally catching on to the sport of snowboarding. Bryce even tricked me into getting down some black diamonds!
The end of Feb beginning of March brought along one more change...up until now I've been sharing a cottage with Asia, one of the girls that moved out east with me. She recently purchased a very nice house in PA. Quigley and I decided that we didn't need a move at the moment and luckily found ourselves a great new roommate named Jane. Jane is a vet student, excercise rider and a dog owner. Jane is as close to California as I could find! Quigley doesn't know it yet but Jane will be bringing over Lola, she's a female version of the Quig mister so I'm hoping they'll get to be good friends.
That's all for now... keep in touch!
I plan on traveling back to California for clinics as often and as long as my riders are willing to have me; the east coast may have hills, trees and grass but I don't think I'll ever find another "Havarah"! As I say this, I do have to admit that the rising cost of travel is making my short trips a bit difficult to put together! I have always been lucky to get decent priced flights directly into Fresno but on the February travel I purchased a ticket into San Jose for half the cost of the ticket into Fresno... so note to all... always check the surrounding airports :) This actually worked out perfectly as my long lost brother conveniently just moved into a home that is about 15 minutes away from SJC. My brother, Aaron, is someone that many of you will never meet but I would still love you to know about. I've always referred to him as "the brains of the family". Aaron is a Cal Tech graduate, he studied Micro Biology and after putting in a substantial amount of time searching for a specific gene that creates cancer, he has now switched over to his true talent in life...computers. Aaron has lived in the bay area for many years now, and travels to Fresno only when he is completely forced into it, thus is why I mention that you may never meet him. None the less, I own him much gratitude for my insane horsey passion. We both began riding together at "Horseworld" and my goal was never to get great, but just to be better than my older brother :) This really only came to fruition when I gained a week of riding on him when he went to boyscout camp. Then his love of riding faded and he was left to be my taxi driver! My mom constantly reminds me that my favorite phrase as a youngster was "I can do anything you can do and I can do it better!" No wonder my brother said he liked me a lot better before I could talk!
California was great, every time I go I have to re-convince myself that what I'm doing on the east coast is really the right thing for me at this point in my life.
For those of you following this blog for some "Charly" up-dates, keep reading! For weeks upon weeks Charly and I were going on long walks, sometimes very peaceful and sometimes way too eventful! Charly was in a very slow rehab program and on January first he was put back under tack. All of January and February Charly was worked in the indoor having his work gradually increased each week, all walk and trot. These two months seemed to just fly by for me. Charly is one of those horses that just make your life better. I miss competing, I miss jumping, but I still look forward to any time I can spend with Charly. He was re-scanned at the end of February and was given full go ahead, it's time to canter!!!! :) Last week Charly had his first days of canter work in the indoor and then yesterday I took him out on his first "hack". Charly went up hills, through woods, across a road, by a dumpster, and even over some small little twigs :> The woods that I hack in have lots of jumps, mostly very natural logs, and it's taking all my will power to NOT jump them! Ahhh one more month!
I did take a non-horsey non-work weekend and traveled with Bryce to what I've always thought of as a very famous east coast destination...the Poconos. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I've always thought of the Poconos as a resort type of get away. In reality it's just the place where most of Pennsylvania goes for skiing/boarding (locally) if they really want good terrain they go to Vermont; OR if they want good snow they go west! Anyhow, it was a lovely quick get away and I'm finally catching on to the sport of snowboarding. Bryce even tricked me into getting down some black diamonds!
The end of Feb beginning of March brought along one more change...up until now I've been sharing a cottage with Asia, one of the girls that moved out east with me. She recently purchased a very nice house in PA. Quigley and I decided that we didn't need a move at the moment and luckily found ourselves a great new roommate named Jane. Jane is a vet student, excercise rider and a dog owner. Jane is as close to California as I could find! Quigley doesn't know it yet but Jane will be bringing over Lola, she's a female version of the Quig mister so I'm hoping they'll get to be good friends.
That's all for now... keep in touch!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Busy busy busy
It seems like not a minute has past since 2008 began that wasn't fully utilized! I am excited to announce that Havarah's Charly is back in work; he's in a progressively increasing trot program, received a lovely set of shoes and he feels like a millions bucks :) I'm trying really hard to not get too ambitious about our up-coming show season (yet) we'll do a re-check scan in the first week of February. This scan is going to determine a lot, if his tendon is still showing improvement then his work load gets to keep increasing, otherwise the program has to get altered in accordance to better suit his healing needs.
I'm still galloping horses in the morning at the Fair Hill Training Center, I think the best part of this job is being so close to so many good riders and trainers. I still feel in awe to be working daily amongst many of the equestrian communities "celebrities". I've been taking a short break after my morning rides to come in, warm up, and catch up with some of my west coast duties. I then head off to the afternoon rides. Riding at Inspo and for Babsi Clark has been a remarkable experience. I feel like I'm learning the language of horses more and more each day, I also have to say that I'm absolutely falling for the Sir Sinclair line. I love them, lovely movers, very willing attitudes and a pretty face to go along.
I did play hooky for a few days from the on-going list of horses to ride and went to Massachusetts to ride a snow board instead! A good friend of mine and I met up with a group at a resort named Jiminy Peak. We stayed in a condo that was with-in walking distance of the slopes and had a fantastic time, a perfect way to spend a birthday weekend! However I came away with some good bruises from falling multiple times on some seriously hard packed snow...why I passed up learning how to snowboard on all those college Tahoe trips I'll never figure out!
Back home on the west coast I've received news that one Havarah girl has started out the 2008 season for us with a nice win at the Training level combined test at Twin Rivers...congratulations Miss Lauren and good luck with the rest of your season! Speaking of students in California; I couldn't be more proud of how all of my girls, it seems like each one of the "Rockstar" group has found their own little niche in life becoming very responsible and meaningful to the world...you go girls!
Last but not least, if you haven't heard the first clinic of 2008 is scheduled. Please contact me ASAP if you'd like a slot, it is filling up fast. February 8th, 9th, and 10th.
I'm still galloping horses in the morning at the Fair Hill Training Center, I think the best part of this job is being so close to so many good riders and trainers. I still feel in awe to be working daily amongst many of the equestrian communities "celebrities". I've been taking a short break after my morning rides to come in, warm up, and catch up with some of my west coast duties. I then head off to the afternoon rides. Riding at Inspo and for Babsi Clark has been a remarkable experience. I feel like I'm learning the language of horses more and more each day, I also have to say that I'm absolutely falling for the Sir Sinclair line. I love them, lovely movers, very willing attitudes and a pretty face to go along.
I did play hooky for a few days from the on-going list of horses to ride and went to Massachusetts to ride a snow board instead! A good friend of mine and I met up with a group at a resort named Jiminy Peak. We stayed in a condo that was with-in walking distance of the slopes and had a fantastic time, a perfect way to spend a birthday weekend! However I came away with some good bruises from falling multiple times on some seriously hard packed snow...why I passed up learning how to snowboard on all those college Tahoe trips I'll never figure out!
Back home on the west coast I've received news that one Havarah girl has started out the 2008 season for us with a nice win at the Training level combined test at Twin Rivers...congratulations Miss Lauren and good luck with the rest of your season! Speaking of students in California; I couldn't be more proud of how all of my girls, it seems like each one of the "Rockstar" group has found their own little niche in life becoming very responsible and meaningful to the world...you go girls!
Last but not least, if you haven't heard the first clinic of 2008 is scheduled. Please contact me ASAP if you'd like a slot, it is filling up fast. February 8th, 9th, and 10th.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Back in action!!!
In complete contrast to my last blog up-date... the weather here is oddly delightful!
I'm still riding in the mornings at the Fair Hill training center and I've survived my first two fall. More importantly, I feel like I've acquired some excellent skills that I'll put to work in my event riding and teaching. I feel like there's aspects in everyone's riding career that can't be taught, they just need to be instilled from time doing. One thing I know I'm doing is spending time "doing". In California I was blessed to have multiple horses to ride and great students to teach; recently, here on the east coast, I've been blessed with an abundance of horses to ride, strong ones, naughty ones, talented ones, green ones, and trained AS WELL as the undulating ground to gallop across and trails to navigate.
Charly has had two weeks back under tack, and I truly couldn't be happier! Charly and Rosella's horse, Lance, moved to a new home where we have a great indoor arena to use during the bad weather and LOTS of trails to access when the weather is good. It was a good move for all of us involved, the facility is called "Inspo", if you get a chance you should look it up...they have some cute creatures there!
December was full of family and friends and a rest time for the ponies, it's now 2008 and it's time for all of us to get back into the sport!
I'm still riding in the mornings at the Fair Hill training center and I've survived my first two fall. More importantly, I feel like I've acquired some excellent skills that I'll put to work in my event riding and teaching. I feel like there's aspects in everyone's riding career that can't be taught, they just need to be instilled from time doing. One thing I know I'm doing is spending time "doing". In California I was blessed to have multiple horses to ride and great students to teach; recently, here on the east coast, I've been blessed with an abundance of horses to ride, strong ones, naughty ones, talented ones, green ones, and trained AS WELL as the undulating ground to gallop across and trails to navigate.
Charly has had two weeks back under tack, and I truly couldn't be happier! Charly and Rosella's horse, Lance, moved to a new home where we have a great indoor arena to use during the bad weather and LOTS of trails to access when the weather is good. It was a good move for all of us involved, the facility is called "Inspo", if you get a chance you should look it up...they have some cute creatures there!
December was full of family and friends and a rest time for the ponies, it's now 2008 and it's time for all of us to get back into the sport!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Breezing in the snow!
Today is December 5th and is the first day we've gotten a full white layer of snow...it's cold, and a good day to be inside catching up on relaxation! The end of November marked my last days working for Breakaway Farm and the yearling breaking, since it's a farm operation they basically close down for the winter and don't work any horses. So then the question was laid out, do I try to find riding jobs (in the snow : / ) or should I get my first non-horse job and just call it a winter experience? If I was smart (and maybe I'll get smarter in the next few weeks!) I would have chosen the second option.
Monday was my first day riding at the Fair Hill Training Center, a beautiful high end race horse training facility. I got a job to ride for a trainer named Edwin Merryman, who has so far seemed like a super nice guy. At the moment I'm just riding 2-3 horses a morning for him...which honestly has left me each day totally exhausted! Today was my first day breezing at the track, I've breezed before but it was on a farm and on young horses that weren't really all that fast yet.
I think that if I wasn't worried about my frozen hands the whole time, I would've realized how totally cool it was that I was riding a horse that was preparing for a race and we were flying. However, instead, I was praying that I could keep him from pushing the other horse over the rail and that I could finish the breeze without letting go of my reins. Both things got accomplished, but I assure you, I was terrified that one or the other was going to take place. All in all, the trainer was happy, so I guess a job well done for the first time. I still think a warm office job is sounding really nice!
Monday was my first day riding at the Fair Hill Training Center, a beautiful high end race horse training facility. I got a job to ride for a trainer named Edwin Merryman, who has so far seemed like a super nice guy. At the moment I'm just riding 2-3 horses a morning for him...which honestly has left me each day totally exhausted! Today was my first day breezing at the track, I've breezed before but it was on a farm and on young horses that weren't really all that fast yet.
I think that if I wasn't worried about my frozen hands the whole time, I would've realized how totally cool it was that I was riding a horse that was preparing for a race and we were flying. However, instead, I was praying that I could keep him from pushing the other horse over the rail and that I could finish the breeze without letting go of my reins. Both things got accomplished, but I assure you, I was terrified that one or the other was going to take place. All in all, the trainer was happy, so I guess a job well done for the first time. I still think a warm office job is sounding really nice!
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