October 27, 2005
- Our show season
finished up extremely well, with great results for everyone at the
August CDI*** in Ottawa! Special congratulations going out to Ariane
Gauthier and Demios, who won the National Prix St. Georges
and was Fourth Level Champion. This concluded a spectacular year
for Ariane and "Dav".
- Ruth, Andrea Bresee and I (the
River Rats) placed third overall in the Canada Cup Challenge,
riding Sambuka, Raffles and Mikayla, and took home beautiful halters and
a fair chunk of prize money. Lyne Jolie, Nancy McLachlan and I,
riding the "Pretty Boyz", Flower King D, Ariston and Taliesan,
placed fifth overall.
- Taliesan rose to the
occasion and provided me with scores which will enable me to be long
listed for 2006! Miki was a good girl and had some nice
work in her tests.
- Judi rode her
beautiful mare White Socks to very good scores and nearly
won the Reserve Championship in First Level, Roberta
placed well in Training level with Einstein and Sandra
placed well with Fandango in Second Level. Ruth
placed well in the EC Young Rider Championships, and came home with lots
of great prizes.
- Cheryl and Sandra
also competed at the Ontario Dressage Championships in September,
bringing home the Reserve Championships in the Advanced Division and
Second Level.
- Overall, we had a great show
season, with lots of good results and personal goals achieved
for everyone. Some special congratulations going out for standout
performances: to Christel and Plato, for their debut
season in Prix St. Georges - what a terrific start! To Cheryl
and Serge for getting through some difficult decisions and
riding better and better each time out - you are so good to go now,
girl! To Judi, for riding like a pro and always
being so positive! To Karen and Elvis - wowsers!
Way to go! To everyone, for your great sportsmanship, camaraderie
and support. Let's do it again next year!
- We said a sad good-bye to Cheryl
and Serge this month, as they returned to Alberta to make a home
there. We'll miss you, stay in touch, and hopefully we'll see you
again (let's make a date for the Pan-Am Trials, OK?)
- We also said good-bye to Ruffles,
who joined Whimsey on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge in
August. How I miss their adorable little faces and jolly
personalities. Tempi is quite lonely now, living as our only dog.
- Ruth began a new
chapter in her life in September, beginning classes at St.
Lawrence College in Kingston, in a two year diploma
program. She and Spot continue to be a team, however, with Spot
living at Roberta and Scott Zurrer's farm in Desoronto, giving Albert
all kinds of advice, I'm sure!
- We were very fortunate this summer
to gain the help of Shannon Davis as our weekend manager -
Shannon has now started doing a bit of riding for us as well, and is
schooling Bambi and developing her riding skills. Look out for
her, she's good!
- We have also seen a lot more of Zach
Ball lately. He's been around having some lessons on Max
(who is still going strong!) while we search for a new horse for Zach to
develop. It's great having the Ball-Byers clan around, always lots
of laughs!
- We will welcome Kerry
Houlahan in November, with her pony Nicky, as she works to move
up to the FEI Pony division next season, after a great start this year.
- Allison Hurley and Denver
have also joined us. Allie and Denver compete in Pony Hunters and
Equitation, and will be getting some dressage schooling to help them out
there.
- All these nice young people
have really added a new dimension to our stable - it's exciting to see
such great kids coming up through the ranks.
- I am also so pleased to welcome Nathalie
and Grace to the barn. Grace is a lovely young mare and
Nathalie already fits right in, with her humour, dedication and sense of
fun. Great to have you aboard!
- Aliy had an up and
down year. After selling her big horse Riz, she rode Christel's
horse Plato for a bit, showing him in the early spring. And then
she took delivery of her new horse, the 3 year old sport horse
"Shaq", who is a full brother to Karen's horse
Elvis, and is a super young prospect. Aliy and Shaq have been
working hard all summer, and will make their show ring debut next
year. Aliy seems to like all things large - Shaq is almost 18hh,
and Aliy's new dog, "Grace", is a brindle Great Dane!
- I am as busy as ever, with a full
barn and lots of clinics booked. It's fantastic to have
such loyal clients, as I start my 5th winter at Ferme Mercedez in St.
Lazare, and my fourth season at the Auberge on the South Shore. I
look forward to some great clinic days in both locations. I will
also be in Barrie for the first time in November and anticipate meeting
some great folks and having a good clinic there.
- I will be one of the demo riders at
a super clinic this fall at Franklands - Stephen Clarke
will do an educate your eye clinic on November 11th and 12th, and I will
ride Elvis! Should be fun and very educational.
- Aaron is back at
Queen's this year, working towards his Master's degree after travelling
to Italy this summer to enjoy some vacation with Christina.
- Carolyn is taking a
break from school this year, and has moved back to Brockville with her
partner Chris. She is managing a Subway store in Brockville, and
enjoying independent living for a while!
- Adam is as busy as
ever with his practice and the hospital, but finds time to enjoy his new
guitar and work with Aaron on re-building the Lotus. We enjoyed a
wonderful holiday to Scotland in October, where we hooked up with our
old friend Ross to tour around and sightsee. It was a super
vacation, and Scotland is definitely worth a trip - beautiful country,
lots of interesting things to do and see, and the weather was much nicer
than we anticipated!
- I hope you all had a great summer
and are looking forward to a productive and interesting winter.
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