December 30, 2002:
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Wishing
you and yours the very best for 2003! |
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The
new mare arrived from Germany on November 6, and she is
wonderful! A 5 year old, by Weltmeyer, "White Socks"
is a lovely mover with a great temperament. We are looking
forward to Judi's visit in early January to set up a program for the
development of this terrific prospect. |
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Another
new horse in the barn is the adorable 7 year old Swedish Warmblood
mare "Oksana" by Edinburg. Oksana is
Beth's new horse, and I think she will be everything Beth hoped for
in her new horse. This horse is another example of the great
horses we are breeding here in Canada - she was bred by Emily
Robertson at True North Farm in British Columbia, and
came to us from Laurie
James at Mandala du Lac in Edmonton.
Congratulations, Beth! |
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Speaking
of Edmonton, I was there to teach a clinic at
the beginning of December. What a great bunch of people!
And the juniors! WOW! Some real talent and dedication
there. I am hoping to go back early in the new year. |
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I
will be back in Ottawa at Dewmont Farm on January 12,
and then to St. Lazare on January 25, at Ferme Mercedez. |
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I
am looking for a working student or part-time employee,
to start as soon as possible. A working student would be great
- bring your horse, live-in, get lessons and lots of opportunity to
ride! The work is not so hard, and we have a lot of fun here,
so if you are interested, PLEASE email me as soon as possible. |
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Book
of the month :-) is a revisit to an old, old favourite.
I recently read the three part series by Kevin Anderson and Brian
Herbert on the Great Houses (Atreides, Harkonnen, Corrino) and so I
just had to go back and re-read the Frank Herbert classic
"Dune". It was well worth the visit. A
real science fiction masterpiece. |
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Adam
gave me the collected "Jeeves and Wooster"
DVD series for Christmas, and we are greatly enjoying the antics of
Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry in these highly entertaining comedies,
based on the stories of P. G. Wodehouse. |
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Have
a safe holiday and I look forward to seeing you in the
future. Best wishes for 2003. |
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October
29, 2002:
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All
the horses and riders here at the farm are doing well. Bear
and Miki are both progressing well, and I have begun
riding Carlisle as well. At three years of age,
Carlisle is over 17hh (a little bigger than I really need!) and
still going through his awkward stages, but shows tremendous promise
and rideability. We'll see how he develops and maybe get him
out to a few shows in the spring. Ruth and Sambuka
are also progressing well, becoming more and more confident with the
demands of the FEI Junior test. |
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Tomorrow
I leave for Toronto to pick up a new horse at the
airport. This gorgeous four year old mare is by Weltmeyer, and
will be in training at Porcupine Hill for the next while. A
very exciting new prospect to work with. "Socks'"
owner Judi is a very nice person who is currently living overseas,
and I can't say how pleased I am to have the privilege to work with
this lovely young
mare. |
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I
had a wonderful clinic a week ago on the south shore
near Montreal. Saw some really nice horses and met some great
people. It looks as though I will be back in that area a few
more times, and I will greatly look forward to that. I am
teaching twice a month in St. Lazare, at Ferme Mercedez.
I just finished a clinic which marked my 1st anniversary of teaching
there and I was struck by the terrific progress everyone has
made. I have taught basically the same 10 riders for one year
now, and I have to applaud their dedication, focus and steady
work. It's always a pleasure to go to this stable - it is such
a supportive and friendly group of riders and regular
auditors. It was fun to meet up with Nancy, a
childhood friend, this past weekend at Ferme Mercedez - always
happy to renew old acquaintances. |
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Book
of the Week is "Shadow of the Hegemon", a
continuation of the Ender's game series by Orson Scott Card. |
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I
hope you are all ready for winter - it has arrived
here in Ontario, with temperatures below zero (C) and frost on the
grass this morning. Have a great few weeks! |
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October
11, 2002:
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Wow,
it's been a while since I updated this page ... so here we go with
all the news: |
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Mikayla
finished off her season of competition in fine style.
At the Ontario Championships, she won both her Basic 3 classes to
finish Ontario Champion. And at the Eastern
Regional Championships, she ended up Reserve Champion
in the FEI 5 Year Test. So I was very pleased with her and all
that she has achieved this year. Back at home, we are now
working on collection and flying changes and more of the lateral
work, and it is coming along very well. |
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Bear
is also working extremely well at home these days. We are
concentrating on the work that may put us in a position to declare
for the 2003 Pan-Am Games - better collection and
self-carriage, more and clearer bend in the lateral work - you know
the stuff :-). It's coming along well, and Bear and I are
really having fun also, playing around with some of the Grand
Prix work - at my lesson with Mum this week we did 11 one-tempis
and quite a lot of nice passage and a few piaffe-passage
transitions. So once again I am reminded that the basics do
pay off when you come to the advanced requirements. |
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My
sad story for this edition of the Chronicle concerns Taliesan.
He is FINE, so don't panic! But those of you who have followed
this website over the years will know how I adore this horse, and
have been excited about his potential. Unfortunately, the
Sorflaten's, who have generously given me the ride on this wonderful
young horse for the past two years, have come to the conclusion that
they must offer Taliesan for sale. So, as soon
as I have a video together, you will see a new ad on the Horses For
Sale page. If you are interested in getting a jump start, this
6 year old Hannoverian gelding is 17.1hh, great mover, kind and
gentle, well schooled and almost ready to go to the FEI ring in
2003. He is reasonably priced and would suit either an
ambitious amateur or a professional. I feel this is a
very talented horse with an enormous future. Of
course, if anyone reading were interested in purchasing this horse
and leaving him with me to compete, I would be VERY interested in
talking with you about a potential partnership. |
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With
me at home, we have had some changes in our staff.
You will know, if you have been paying attention, that Sally left
us in May to run her own stable (which is going very well for her,
congratulations, Sally!). We acquired two great working
students for the summer, Kaitie and Fran. Kaitie
came to us from Nova Scotia, and Fran from Montreal. Since
September, Aliy has been the working student at the
barn. She came from Oakville, with her 5 year old gelding
"Riz", and has fit in wonderfully well. Also working
part time at the farm is Juliana, who is training with
her horse Zulu, and is also a great asset to the business. Ruth
remains our constant and tremendously valued weekend and evening
staff person. |
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On
the subject of Ruth, I am SO pleased to be able to tell you about a
wonderful new thing that has happened. Gail D.,
who owns Sambuka (a very cute young horse that Gail
brought to us in April of 2001 for training), has very generously
agreed to sponsor Ruth on Sambuka to the FEI Junior division
in 2003. Ruth and "Spot", as he is known in
the barn, make a very elegant picture, and are progressing extremely
well in their work towards the FEI Juniors. They will
hopefully attend a few of the clinics with Albrecht Heidemann this
winter, and will be well prepared to make their debut in the FEI
Junior classes in the spring. I can't thank Gail enough
for her commitment to her horse, and her generosity to this
talented young rider. |
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We
have a cool new horse in for training this month - a very nice young
stallion, named "Dilemma". Dilemma is
a Canadian bred colt, by Diamant out of an RCMP mare. He is a
4 year old, 16hh, black colt, with very good conformation and
movement. He was a multiple winner in hand, and we are
privileged to be undertaking his basic work under saddle. This
is one of the nicest young horses I have worked with in a long
time. He has a fabulous temperament and is a very handsome
fellow as well. |
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News
with my students: Ron King has moved to a new
stable near Kinburn, Ontario, where he will be offering lessons and
training. It is a beautiful facility, and I wish Ron the very
best of luck with his new endeavour. Renee and Casey
spent the summer at Porcupine Hill, but have now moved back to the
Ottawa area, and board at Becky Scottie's farm in the west end,
along with Sandra and Falcon. I am still doing a
lot of teaching in St. Lazare and Ottawa, as well as a
few clinics elsewhere. Feel free to contact me if you are
interested in a clinic in your area. |
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On
the home front, Adam and I are "empty-nesters",
since both kids are now in university - Aaron in 3rd
year (Philosophy) at Queen's, and Carolyn in first
year at Carleton. Both appear to be doing quite well. I
have not so far regretted my decision to work exclusively at the
stable - it has been a wonderful summer, and the only thing is that
I have no idea how I ever found time to work at the Board!
Adam is well and busy in his practice and with many
"extra-curricular" activities in medicine. |
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I
am winding down my term as a member of the Dressage Canada
Board. I will not stand for re-election in 2003, but I
would like to publicly thank my fellow Board members and all the
folks who have supported and helped me during my tenure on both the
Interim Board and the inaugural elected Board. It has been a
real eye-opener and an experience I'll not soon forget. Good
luck to those elected for 2003. |
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Wishing
everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and a pleasant fall season. |
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