December 16:
Our Holiday Open House will be Wednesday, December 29, anytime after 2pm - please come and enjoy a cup of holiday cheer at the barn. The farm is located on the east side of Country Road 15, 3km north of 401 Highway at exit 705 - very easy to find.
Kate's new horse is NOT named "Loverboy" - we aren't sure yet what his name is going to be!  But he has settled in nicely and is working fairly calming on the lunge in both directions, and has begun to wear a saddle as well as a bridle.  We plan to clip him soon (which should be an adventure!), and then he will wear his beautiful new blanket.  Kate is pretty thrilled with him!  I have posted a picture here.
The "Big Boys" (Max and Bear) are doing well, and Carlisle has now learned to stand quietly on the cross-ties to be groomed - what a smart fellow he is!
If I don't get this site updated over the next week, please have a VERY Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year.
December 6:
Our good friend Robyn has decided to sell Riley, her QH gelding.  You will find information about "Ring Boss" by clicking HERE.
Kate's new horse is home, safe and sound, so I guess I can tell you all about Loverboy!  He is a 16.3hh CSH by Lorbason out of a mare by Wotan II.  He's very dark brown, with three white socks and a star on his pretty head.  Although he is four years old, he is completely unbacked, and dead green even to handle on the ground.  But, we re tremendously encouraged - last evening I was able to do some basic long reining withhim, and he learns fast and is very kind.
Watch this space for the date of our Holiday Open House ...
Have a great week!
December 2:
November 26, I attended the Dressage Workshop held in Montreal to solidify the creation of "Dressage Canada", an autonomous entity governing and administering dressage, under the corporate structure of the CEF.  The meeting was extremely positive in many ways, and I sincerely believe that as the work of the Interim Board comes to fruition, the sport will be in better shape to address some of the challenge that we will face in the coming years.
The facilitator for the Dressage Canada Workshop was an incredibly competent woman named Rachel Corbett.  She is with The Centre for Sport and Law, Inc.  Some very interesting material on their website.
Things on the "Hill" progress normally.   We are in the process of replacing the floor in the tack room with interlock, and apparently, if you stand still long enough, Sally will paint you blue, like every other stationary thing at the farm. Seriously, Sally has been a wonderful addition to our businesss - she is doing a great job and I cannot imagine how we did without her.
Kayleigh is coming along well.  Sally has been working with this lovely two year old filly for a couple of months now, and Kayleigh is super to handle and has recently had her first lunge lessons.  The filly took to work like a duck to water, and clearly demonstrated what a fabulous mover she is.
Max has been enjoying some down time, while I focus on Bear and Fairy for a bit ... he's enjoying going outside for most of the morning and lazing about the rest of the time.  If he maintains his mellow attitude, he'll maybe even get FAT!, but I doubt it - he's recently been indicatingthat he'd like to go back to work.  Bear and Fairy are becoming more fit, and our fall "remedial" dressage schooling is really paying off with improved suppleness and softer, rounder and more fluid horses.  I have always liked to take a couple of months at the end of the season to address these very basic issues, and I am more convinced of the merit in doing so than ever.  Horses that have long competitive seasons really NEED a couple of months to relax, unwind and lose any tension, stiffness or attitude acquired over what can be quite a stressful show season.  It's a great time to brush up equitation, too <groan>.
Keep your fingers crossed, Kate has got herself a horse ... more later, once he's safely home!
Hope you have started your Christmas shopping .. only a few shopping days left.  I personally am doing all mine on-line!  I recently bought some breeches from Divoza - what a pleasant way to shop :-).  And the prices were very good.
Have a great week.  Hope you enjoy any early Christmas parties you may be going to, but PLEASE! Don't drink and drive ...
November 22:
A busy weekend ...
I was back at Phantom Farms on Saturday for another one day clinic.  Again, I had a great time working with the riders at this stable - what a terrific bunch.  A warm welcome to Alain and Susan, who joined us for the first time.  I will be back there December 11.  Contact Carolyn for information.  If you are interested in participating in these one day clinics, I would suggest you get your notification in early, as spots are tending to fill up fast :-), and there was a waitlist this time.  I hope to be at Phantom at least once a month over the winter.
Sunday was a great day ... Adam, Louisa and I drove up to the most beautiful Irwin Inn, near Peterborough, Ontario to spend a little time talking with the Ontario Young Riders about Freestyles.  Young Riders will be required to do a PSG level Freestyle in 2000, so YR leader Elizabeth Robinson wanted to be sure that everyone had a bit of information (and inspiration) before the winter, so they could start thinking about their Freestyle music and choreography.  Adam and I spent about an hour talking with the riders, and we watched some video from the Pan-Am Games, and then enjoyed a great lunch provided by Irwin Inn.  It was a very pleasant day, except for the driving, but even that was a rare chance to talk and listen to music.
Saturday evening, Adam and I, along with the young people (some of Louisa's friends, Carolyn, Dan and Vanessa) thoroughly enjoyed seeing Great Big Sea in concert at the Ottawa Civic Centre.  Folks, this is a great band!  Traditional maritime/celtic music, as well as some original rock, and a fine sense of delivery are combined with incredible energy and a sense of fun.   tremendously enjoyable.  Needless to say, the CD of the Week is TURN, by Great Big Sea.
The Book of the Week is The Ultimate Rush, by Joe Quirk.  A fast paced, "quirky" story of counter culture in conflict.  Frequently quite funny, always irreverent.   A pretty good read.
I will be in Montreal on November 26th for the big "Dressage Canada" pow-wow, as part of CIDRA's team of representatives.  If you have any issues or concerns you would like brought forward at that time, please do not hesitate to send me an email.
As most of you know, I quite enjoy writing ... I write a little fiction, but mostly I write about training, or my general observations about the horse world.  I am regularly published in Horse News, a tabloid journal out of New Jersey, and I submitted material for an "Ask the Experts" column in Horse Sport recently.  Very soon, look for me in Dressage Today!   I also wrote a nice article on the Conrad Schumacher symposium in Toronto for Kyra Beth Houston at Dressage Unlimited.    This is a shameless brag :-) - it's very cool to be asked to do these things, and to be "published". 
Best wishes to my friends in the States for a Happy Thanksgiving holiday.
November 17 - The Royal Report:
Last Wednesday and Thursday were the dates of the Canadian World Cup
League Final, which is held in conjunction with the Royal Winter Fair. Now some of you will not know about "the Royal" - it's Canada's largest indoor Agricultural Fair, and takes place in downtown Toronto at the CNE grounds. They have *everything* there: crop exhibits, goats, pigs, sheep, cattle, baking, poultry, *guinea pigs*!, petting zoo, hunters, jumpers, ponies, roadsters, hackneys, heavy horses, llamas, 4H, Junior Farmers, special performers, music, noise, heat, dust, expensive (bad) food, and the Swarovski Canadian League FEI World Cup Dressage Final :-).
We shipped in on Tuesday about noon, got Max settled in his stall and
rested for a bit before tacking up for some light exercise around 3pm. Max was a little wowed by the 6 horse hitches (!) that finished their class about 3:30, but he was OK. We almost got run down by a roadster. But he was fine and we went off for a bath and braiding before presentation to the panel and the FEI vet at the 5:30 Horse Inspection. Max was great, but unfortunately our good friend Nancy was unable to present Davis Cup, due to a misfortune that same day. We were all very sad for Nancy and John Watson (Davey's owner), as they had a very good chance and are exemplary competitors.  Davey is now OK (thankfully).
Wednesday morning at 8am we got a chance to school in the main arena,
then it was back to the stall for a bath and some rest and to get ready for our 4:00 GP test. We were first in (imagine!), and put in the best test we have ever done (not that you would know it from the marks!), but I was thrilled with the boy. Francis Verbeek had us placed first when it was all over, but a couple of the other judges liked Gina's (Smith-Fledermaus) ride ALOT, so she ended up first after the GP and I was in second, with George Miechowsky third.
Thursday at 7am we did our sound checks in the colesseum and then tried to stay loose the rest of the day. We (the riders) had to attend the Supporter's Club reception, where we were presented with gorgeous silver crystal statues of a horse by the sponsor Swarovski (now, I have "matching" silver crystal stallions, since I got one last year also!). Once again, Peter and Marilyn White of Swarovski showed their tremendous generosity and support of our sport.
The class began at 9pm, in front of a sold-out crowd in the Colesseum - about 18,000 people! George went first and his horse got very scared of the flash bulbs, so he didn't have his best test. I was next in, and Max was pretty nervous - until the audience started clapping for our first double pirouette, and then he realized they had all come to see him! and he got a little taller and just danced his heart out for me. We finished up with one small error, and a 64%. Gina put in a very good ride to win the class and the chance to represent Canada in the Netherlands in March for the AMIL Final. Max and I were second. I couldn't have been more pleased with my horse or the way I rode.
Friday morning we made our weary way home :-). So now we have a bit
of rest and some down time (finally). We'll have to see what next year brings.
November 4:
Many doings lately!  Thanks to all of you who wrote and complained because the website was out of date!  I didn't know so many people were addicts!
We finished up October with a three day trip to Toronto for the NDC Symposium with Conrad Schumacher.  It was a terrific opportunity to watch a modern master of dressage train and teach.  I demonstrated some of the Grand Prix stuff with Max - who was a very good boy! - and even in so short a time, Mr. Schumacher helped me with the piaffe and passage, through his calm and sensible approach.  I did get the chance to talk with Mr. Schumacher quite a bit, and found him very personable, and, of course, extremely knowledgeable and experienced.   More than anything, I was impressed with his integrity and genuine love for the horses.  Amanda did a great job grooming for me, and she, Louisa and Debbie all took in most of the clinic as spectators, and found it extremely useful and interesting.
For those of you who are following Carlisle's development - there's a new twist in the tale - last week he JUMPED out of his paddock - yup - 4'8" at 6 months of age :-).  Oh dear, NOW what do I do? 
CD of the week is Russell's Shorts, by the Arrogant Worms - an oldie, but a goodie.
Book of the week is Ill Wind, by Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, a well written novel of a modern apocalypse - compelling reading!
I would still like to sell Kayleigh and Mayfair <hopeful look>.  Give me a call on either of these two nice mares.
Max and I are gearing up for next weeks final competition - FEI World Cup Dressage - the Swarovski Canadian League Final at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto.  Here's our schedule for next week:
We should arrive there at about noon on Tuesday the 9th. We have to get settled and the FEI Horse Inspection is at 5:30 in the hitching
ring (I think). The riders are then having a dinner together :-)
Wednesday we get 8am-8:50am for schooling in the Coliseum, then the GP starts at 4pm. Jackie Brooks and Finnegan will do the test ride at 3:50pm. We should be finished up by about 5:30. Gotta make it an early evening though, because ...
Thursday we get 7am <groan> to 7:50am in the Coliseum for schooling and a sound check. The CDSC reception in the Tanbark Club runs from 5:30 until 7pm. The GP/FS begins at 8:35 with ring setup, first horse in at 9pm. Presentations at 10:10. Press conference immediately following.
I will be signing CIDRA calendars with teammate Gina Smith on
Thursday afternoon (2pm to 3pm, I think) in the CET booth.
Our stable is on the second floor of the Horse Palace near the wash
stalls.
Thursday is Gina Smith's birthday (!), so be prepared to sing Happy
Birthday on Thursday night if Gina wins! or maybe even if she
doesn't!
I look forward to seeing anyone who can make it - it's a wonderful
evening - the Toronto "Royal" is the BEST ... it's worth it even if
you aren't a dressage fan. But if you don't have tickets, you won't
get any - Thursday has been sold out for weeks - last year they were SCALPING tickets to "The Dressage Freestyles" at double or triple the face value in downtown Toronto!
The winner of the Final has to stay over and do a demonstation ride
on Saturday as part of the closing ceremonies - all decked out in
Swarovski crystal! Literally - there's a saddlepad, quarter sheet, ear-hat thingie, crystal buttons for the braids, and a gorgeous long crystal tail ornament! The rider gets a black vest with the crystal swan on the back - it's all very sparkly!