Our busiest show of the year took place on the weekend at the Nepean
Equestrian Park near Ottawa. It started off with nearly disasterous riding times -
but the WONDERFUL OADG Festival show committee was able to fix
the times and we were able to get all the rides in over two days. The Surprise Star
o fthe Show (for us) was Sambuka, who behaved beautifully and
placed third and fifth in his Basic 1 classes, with scores well over 60%. Mikayla
was wonderful in her last test and scored 70% to place second to Joan Johnston's wonderful
horse "Wessel". Tali had a few "Vienna
moments" but still managed some decent scores and good placings. Christel
and Plato won one of the Basic 3 classes and Sandra
also had some very nice scores with Falcon. Renee and Casey had
a tough weekend, but knuckled down and rode her tail off on Sunday to achieve a personal
best. Ron got his final qualifying score with Vito, and
can now go for his Coaching Level 2. Sheryl broke 60% in
the Basic 3 with Gabby, and placed second. Very well done, everyone! Special
thanks to the show committee and Christine Hickman who all pulled together and with
considerable intestinal fortitude to fix the times.
A word or two for Kate and Ryn - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK
YOU THANK YOU. Couldn't have done it without you.
There was hardly a dry eye in the house as Gina Smith
rode a conservative but quite nice Grand Prix test with Faust on
Sunday morning. It's been a long comeback trail for this pair, and one can only
offer congratulations and support - jolly nice to see you both back in the ring!
In other news, the Canadian Juniors are now at Paxton
- keep your fingers crossed for a good result from our young stars! Other Canadians
have accompanied the juniors, and Chris will have Bear at this
competition also - hopefully it will go well for him too.
Our next show will be at Palgrave on July 6/7/8.
Tali and Mikayla will make the trip - look forward to seeing you there!
June
21, 2001:
Our trip to Owlstone Equestrian Centre, near
Trenton, for the Oakhills Classic was a trip of
"firsts". Besides the two first places Tali won
in the Basic 4 (his "first" attempts at this level!), we saw: 1) Sheryl ride in
her "first" ever dressage show - does she ever look
the part, and rode pretty darned well also! 2) Renee rode her "first"
Medium tests, and made it through them with her new partner Casey - it was
her "first" show with this lovely TB gelding. 3) Sandra showed
with us for the "first" time, and did a very competent job in the
B1 and B2 classes with Fandango (better known as Flacon). Sandra earned two third
places and a fourth. 4) "Spot", also known as Sambuka, made his "first"
trip to a horse show, and was a well behaved, interested, calm young horse -
he worked like a trouper and was a pleasure to have along at the show.
It was also the "first" time Owlstone had held a dressage
show at their facility. Many thanks to Carolyn and Jan and Mickey
for all the hard work to put on the show.
Siggy had her kittens! There are five
little ones - three light beige like mum, one Morris-orange male and an adorable grey and
orange calico. I will keep the grey one (named "Visa"), and we are saving
one for Louisa, but the others are up for grabs - send me an email!
Our next outing will be at the OADG Festival in Ottawa.
The show will take place at the Nepean Equestrian Centre, and we have a whole crew
going: I'll ride Tali, Mikayla, Spot and Plato, Christel
will also ride Plato in the B3A/A. Sheryl will do her
"second"! dressage show, Renee and Sandra will bring
Casey and Falcon, and Ron will be there with his new mare
"Sabrina" as well as his medium level ride "Vito". Should be
loads of fun - catch up with us on Saturday evening for a beer or two. Dr.
Gail will be up from Connecticut with "Little-Liz" to watch her
darlin' boy go in his first competition. The boogers will be rooting for us all, I
believe.
Mikayla is leading theWinner's
Circle standingsfor Basic 1 Open! She is also ranked in Basic 2,
and Talisan is ranked in the Basic 3 Division.
If nothing else, at least I can grow roses!
June
5, 2001:
The second show of the season took place at the Caledon Equestrian
Park (aka "Palgrave") on June 1, 2 and 3. Once
again Taliesan and Mikayla made the trip, along with me, Kate
and Ryn. It was another successful outing, in spite of the generally unpleasant
weather. Mikayla continued her winning ways, with very satisfactory scores (61.2% up
to a 66+%), including two solid scores in her first Basic 2 tests. We finished off
the weekend with the Reserve Championship for Basic 1. Taliesan
got some excellent scores, including a 68+% in Basic 3, and 65% or better in
each of the FEI Young Horse tests. By Saturday he had stopped "squeaking"
and settled into some very good work - I was extremely pleased with his attitude and work.
I was very happy when one of the judges commented positively to me on the
quality of Taliesan's training - an extremely flattering comment, and very
meaningful to me.
It was great to see so many nice horses coming out this year - I
really do think we are making progress in the sport. There were some outstanding
rides at all levels - it was fabulous to see Neil Ishoy back in
the ring after a long absence - he had wonderful rides with Epona Farm's
Andiamo Tyme - a stunning grey gelding. Cindy
is back also, with two outstanding prospects in the Small Tour. My good friend Vicki
Winter has a very fancy young horse who attended his very first show, and I
saw a number of others with new young horses. It was also nice to see Chris
Von Gartzen back in the ring on her new horse "Falco",
who does a very nice job in the Small Tour. The FEI Juniors
did a great job with their silent auction and reception, and the Young Riders
are getting ready to challenge at Chicago this year. All in all, things are looking
positive! Congratulations to all for some super rides.
The farm is looking wonderful right about now - the flowers
are blooming and the gardens are fabulous, thanks to all of Kate's
hard work. Here's a new "panoramic" photo of the farm taken about two weeks ago (by Adam,
of course, who also put together the panorama!).
Thanks to everyone at the show who asked about Max
... he's fine, and here's the picture to prove it - he and Ryn get along great - although
it's hard to believe they are the same age :-):
Hope everyone has a great couple of weeks. With any
luck I'll see you at Trenton!
May
15, 2001:
We made it there and back, and we had a very positive outing for the
two babies and our first show of the year (Toronto Cadora @ York). Taliesan
was a little anxious his first three times out there in the dressage ring all alone!, but
by his fourth test he was calmer and able to focus on his work - he scored a
nice 62%. Mikayla is a born show horse, and
settled in at the grounds like she had been doing it forever. She was calm and
focused for both her tests, scoring 65% and 64.9% for a third and a first and the Basic
1 Open Championship! Ryn and Kate helped out tremendously, and the
Sorflatens were on hand to see their boy. Thanks to everyone who helped and
supported us in this first show.
OK, so I have to get a new jacket.
Chris and Bear were also in attendance for
their first effort together. Nerves were perhaps a factor in an OK test on Saturday,
but Sunday they both did a great job and gained a qualifying score
in the Young Rider test. These two make a terrific pair,
and I have never seen Bear looking so pleased with himself (and so CLEAN!). Chris
was looking pretty happy too! Tom did a great job steering "the boys"
through the warmup and competition. I think it will only get even better as Chris
and Bear get to know each other and gain experience and confidence.
Thanks to all the nice people who offered
congratulations and support for my tobacco cessation program.
I didn't realize it would be such a hot topic! But I do appreciate your kind
words and helpful comments.
Next show will be Cornerstone's Spring into Dressage at
Palgrave on June 1,2,3. Once again Mikayla and Taliesan will make the
trip. I'll look forward to seeing many of you there! Until then, have great
rides and enjoy the fine spring weather.
May
9, 2001:
The first horse show of the season!
Are we ready? Well, the trailer and truck have brand new safety certificates,
everything is clean, the ponies have new Reeboks, my jacket still fits (even if the
breeches are a little tight!), so I guess we are ready. It's been nearly five years
since I showed a horse at Basic level ... so this will be an interesting excursion for me,
as well as for Taliesan and Mikayla, who are making the trip to York this weekend.
Welcome to Renee and Casey, who have been at
the barn in training for the last week! Making huge improvements daily.
I want to say a word to show organizers.
I have be looking at the prize lists this week, planning the rest of the season.
A couple of comments. First of all, THANK YOU for
all your hard work, which is, in spite of the next few comments, greatly appreciated.
Now, I have a couple of suggestions. Well, OK, one suggestion. Can you
please, please, please think about putting in camper hookups? When I start adding up
the amount of money it costs to bring even ONE horse to the show, it's astromomical.
The cost of stabling, entries, drug and "adminsitration* costs, etc.
They all add up to a large sum. Increasingly, people are looking to save themselves
some cash and improve the quality of their showing experience by using a camper or by
having living quarters in their trailer. While many of these units are
self-sufficient, it's always great to have a hookup - nothing fancy, just a plug-in is
great and water is a bonus. Anyone who has been to the shows at Palgrave knows just
how popular it is becoming to use a camper. Anyone who really wants to
make the competitors happy will offer some sort of facilities for campers, even if it's
just a space to park. Anyone who wants to really pi**-off competitors will forbid
camping on the grounds. There is NO POINT in camping if you can't do
it on-site, where the horses are, and where you have your trailer/camper available to make
a cup of tea, or have a short (quiet) rest, or just a quick wash and a brush up.
There is NO REASON (that I can see) to forbid people to stay in their campers on-site,
even if you can't see your way clear to provide an electrical hookup (for which you can
CHARGE a fair rate - no-one is asking for a free ride here!). As I mentioned, most
campers can exist without a hookup, so it's just mean-spirited to deny people the right to
stay on-site! Especially since many folks want to stay near their horses. This
is a good way to put a dint in your entries. And it's not just me,
OK? It's a lot of people who prefer to stay near their horses, and save $$$ and be
more comfortable at shows. Just check the resevations for campers at
Palgrave and Blainville and Devon and other BIG shows. It's part of what is
being offered to competitors by shows that know how to attract entries! OK,
end of rant.
If you are at York this weekend, stop by and meet the
"babies" and say hi! Otherwise have a great spring weekend!
April
30, 2001:
There are some new photos of "the girls", Gabby
and Mikayla, on the Horses For Sale page.
These are two extremely nice horses for sale. Gabby is a great prospect for a
serious developing rider to learn from and take to the competitions. Mikayla is a
stunning mare with outstanding bloodlines and fabulous movement. Mikayla has been
accepted into the Dressage Canada Developing Horse Program, and could represent a
wonderful investment opportunity for a qualified Canadian purchaser, or would make a top
class horse for an ambitious rider to take to the top. Mikayla is quite reasonably
priced, so if you have an interest in this lovely mare, please contact me soon - before
the price increases after Mikayla goes to some shows! Mikayla can be seen at York
Equestrian Centre on May 11/12, when we are there to attend the first Toronto Cadora show
of teh 2001 season!
Taliesan and I will also be at York in two
weeks. It's very exciting to have two wonderful young horses to bring out at the
first show! It will be a first show for both of these youngsters, so I expect to be
busy, but it should be rewarding. This will also be Chris' first outing with
"Bear", so we will be there to cheer him on.
Our show season is shaping up now with lots of good looking
competitions on the horizon, and a fine group of people who want to attend these shows.
I think our busiest show will be the "Trenton" show,
which this year will move from Mel Gromoff's Fallowfield Farm to the great facilities at Owlstone.
I think a whole crew are eager to attend that show. Jan Richardsondoes a great job as show
organizer, and we always look forward to working with her!
April
25, 2001:
Here are some new pictures of Taliesan - I
think you will agree he is looking very well!
Carolyn (aka "Ryn", to make her name different from
Carolyn Rees-Potter), has been riding Max lately. Max likes this alot. Carolyn
thinks maybe she would be interested in showing Young Riders next year. She plans to
attend many of the shows this year, and carefully watch the Young Riders. See next
item.
Daneel (aka Bear) is entering a new phase of his life:
Bear will be ridden by Chris Von
Martels in the 2001 competition season. Chris will compete him in the Young Rider
Division, under the guidance and coaching of Tom Dvorak. They make a great pair, and
I know you will join me in wishing them the best of luck, and a spot at the
NAYRC.
Bear is for sale, and you may direct
your inquiries to Tom Dvorak.
Hope you all have a great week.
April
9, 2001:
We have had a few busy weeks, with many visitors to the farm and lots
of goings on!
There are a couple of new horses now available on the Horses For Sale page - check them out if you are shopping!
Lots of friends visited for April Fools Day - and we rode horses and
ate and drank fine wine and other libations and generally had a great time! The
"Boogers" had a "Bagfest" indeed!
The clinic with CHB was great - I got to ride Talisan, who was
wonderful, and I also presented Mickey, who was duly accepted into the program. Both
these lovely horses are quite wonderful, and I feel privileged to ride them.
