Havarah in action...lots of action!

Hello blog readers, I'm going to do my best to get you up to date on all the happenings at Havarah.

First off we'd like to bid Molly Gasiewicz a farewell and many happy fun times at her new house and horse residence in Kennett Square. Molly G. spent quite a bit of time with us after her studies were done in Colorado.  I believe she is an east coast fan but at her young age is excited to be back in the action of a happening town.

In a few short weeks everyone at Havarah will be welcoming and learning a new working student who will be staying at the farm to help keep watch over all our special horses :) I'll wait to give you a full run down on Katie until after we've found out her favorite foods, least favorite chore and a few other key details!

Something that I'm super excited about is the newest match we have made at the farm- Robyn and Desert Pepper! Pepper is a lovely young TB that Patti Gillen/Steen has raised and brought along.  When you see him you'll think that Robyn took a shopping trip in Ireland, but instead we found this horse in our fabulous small town of Kirkwood.  Pepper and Robyn have already started their competition career, but will be keeping it low key as we develop Peppers skills and strength.  I am so excited for the future of this talented horse and wonderful rider. Keep your eyes out for this long legged duo.

We officially have 2 more TRAINING level riders!!! Quinn Anderson and Hannah Metz left the world of novice with some strong runs at training level.  Both of this girls have been working really hard to help them with this advancement.  I think both of these girls are well and ready for some bigger jumps! Waredaca is their next outing, you cant miss either of them as one is the flying Palomino and the other is the bold Pinto. Good luck to Miss Quinn and Miss Hannah.

Speaking of moving on up, Dr. Steve (Berkowitz) - you may know him as hamburger man or photographer extroidanaire, horse vet with a smile or NOW you will know him as the novice adult amateaur rider of WHIPLALA.  Steve is taking eventing on by storm, it's pretty incredible.

This last weekend I took a trip to the Virginia Horse Park with my good friends and owners the Klavens as well as Bryce and Hannah.  We brought Puttin on the Ritz there for his FEI debut.  This is one of the horses Im super excited about; he has a future at the top of the sport, Im sure of this. "Benny" has really improved in his dressage, this showed as he had an impressive 51 in the CCI * and was standing in 5th place.  Benny set out on xc like a champ, hitting each minute marker in stride. He handled the first half of the course with ease- then came the water jump.  The water has been challenging for him and this time it was bigger than he's ever seen, bigger than he felt ready to handle. SOOOOooo our summer plans for him will be slightly altered to give him more experience at the level before going back to the CCI *.  The other horses I took, Sabrina and The Diesel Boy both did quite well, finishing 6th and 10th in their classes.

My last piece of news I'll leave you with is totally non horse related. I'm proud to tell you that I'm an engaged woman now! Most of you have met my "fiance", Bryce Kinnamon- for those of you that haven't, you're missing out :) Bryce is one of those that can work all week and hop on a horse over the weekend and still have a great leg position, it's impressive! Beyond that and besides the fact that he's fixing my computer that just crashed and keeps the website up and running- he's just great. Funny, smart, a good cook and most importantly he's my best friend....and totally hot!

I think that's all the up-dates I have for now, until next time.
Molly Rosin

THE mascot says good bye

RIP Quigley 9/01 - 5/14/12

Havarah's long standing mascot
Clyde's older brother and role model
Every cat's worst fear
Protector of all his horses, friends and family
Loyal best buddy to Bryce and myself

Quigley will never be replaced because there is no other dog like him.  He understood the English language and he could read minds, I could just look at him and he knew what I meant. Im not quite sure how life will ever be the same without him, in fact Im sure it never will.  Quigley cared about everyone else's needs more than his own, he took care of us.  Bryce and I loved Quigley dearly as did his baby brother Clyde.  We miss him so much.

Hannah and Zhen - A Match Made in Havarah

It really is amazing sometimes how a creature or person can enter your life and they are your match - but you don't know it yet.

You hear those stories which seem like a love affair between the rider and horse: "I knew he/she was the horse, I just knew" - but really, the majority of our most promising partners are right under our noses, sometimes the next stall over from our current mount, and we don't even know it.

This kind of was the case when Hannah met Zhen.

Molly's business entails receiving in horses to train and sell, and last summer we received two colorful ones.

Zhen and Piney - full sisters -are paint/dutch warmblood crosses.

"Honestly I didn't actually ever picture myself owning a paint," Hannah said. Plus, she already had a horse at the time, and though us working students do have our favorites in the barn, we know that these horses will enter our family but find a new one eventually, and we never assume that new family will be our own.

However, it was when Hannah caught a ride on Zhen one day that Molly saw some potential. Hannah's mare at the time, Anna, was a young OTTB and although Hannah was doing a great job bringing her along, Molly knew something with a little more experience could help Hannah grow as a rider while having more fun.

So, she suggested a lease while they went to Aiken, with the possibility of purchase after. Luckily, it didn't take long for a Civil War reenacter to fall in love with Anna, so Hannah was able to sell her previous mount to potentially create a new partnership.

Hannah said she knew Zhen was "the one" after a cross country school before their first show in Aiken. She was able to school fences which were a lot bigger than she was used to, and Zhen straight up showed her a good time. Hannah spent the rest of the day with a smile on her face, she just knew this was too much fun to pass up.

Thus, Hannah and Zhen grew as a team in Aiken, enjoying their lease together. However, when they got back to PA, it was time to make a decision.

Hannah's mom has always trusted Molly immensely and believed this was a positive investment in Hannah's future - however, it was an investment, and the first time Hannah was actually purchasing a horse. But they decided to go for it.

Hannah said it was a bit unbelievable at first. She couldn't really believe Zhen was hers until the pre-purchase was being done and then it really sunk in. Zhen was hers!

Although she still loves Anna, Hannah is infatuated with her new mare. Although she is allergic to neoprene, and is much more sensitive than Anna - she is such a happy horse and is always happy to see not only Hannah, but everyone who comes around the farm.

"It's a partnership," Hannah said. "You love your horse, your horse should love you back."

To add to the smiles, Hannah placed 5th today at MCTA aboard Zhen. Though they had a so/so dressage  test, Zhen showed that she is ready to move up to training today with her jumping skills. Plus, Hannah was excited to win something for the first time (a Bit of Britain hat for 5th place)!

So some major congratulations are in order for Hannah and Zhen. And some major thanks to Pattie, Hannah's mom, for making this possible, and to Molly, for making the match.

"Give me a new horse over a new car! She's 100 times better than a new car," said Hannah, who is getting her license very soon!