The Porcupine Hill Chronicle
August - September 2000 Archive
December 11:
Winter is definately upon us!  We have snow, and lately, some pretty chilly days.  But I am pleased to tell you that the new barn is working out extremely well, and is warm and comfortable for both horses and humans.  Here are some neat pictures that Adam took that give you an idea what the place looks like in the winter.
Our holiday party will take place on December 30th from 2:30pm in the stables.  Please join us if you are in the area.
And that's it for this week folks ... keep warm, don't get too stressed about the holidays, and remember - it's the thought that counts ... so if you can't find the "perfect" gift for someone on your list, a book, a bottle of nice wine, a round of cheese, or a gift certificate are all nice things that most people will appreciate ... with your kind thoughts and good wishes something simple and thoughtful IS the "perfect" gift!   Have a great one!
November 28:
Things are finally back to "normal", whatever that is, at the Hill.  I spent Saturday at Phantom Farms, working with the usual group - a satisfying day, as everyone had improved!  I'll be back there again on December 30th.
Sunday at the farm was filled with lessons, riding and RAIN (yuk!).   But again, I was pleased to notice how much everyone has improved lately, and the horses were all going well.  A big welcome back to Gary Simkins - we missed you!
Well, the election is over and once again we have a Liberal majority.  Frankly, I thought the Alliance would have a stronger showing, but I am pleased that our local incumbent, Liberal Joe Jordan, will be back at Parliament Hill for another few years.  Now, if the Liberals could just capitalze on that 17% flat tax thing the Alliance was pushing, everyone would be happy!  Hear me, Paul?
Christmas is coming, and I hope you have all started your Christmas shopping.  I haven't yet, but that's normal.  I usually leave it to the very last minute - there is less selection that way, and I don't have nearly such an agonising time making choices.  For anyone who cares, I really would like a DeWalt cordless drill for Christmas.  Actually, I really want that Dodge truck FILLED with DeWalt tools that is the prize in the Canadian Tire contest ... but I won't hold my breath.
The 2001 CIDRA Calendars are now available from me.  Just send $23.95 to me and I will mail you one.  Unfortunately, the powers that be decided not to include any stunning pictures of moi, but there are many other nice ones of Canada's top dressage pairs.  Plus, the $$$ earned go to a good cause - the CIDRA Developing Rider Grants, of which 4 were awarded this year.
Hope you are having a great week!
November 21:
Our weekend was very busy, particularly Friday, when we had Albrecht Heidemann teaching until 5:30pm and THEN Christi came over from Franklands to look at the Young Horses ... Taliesan was his wonderful self, showing just how much he has come ahead in the last few months.   I also rode Santana, who was much better than we had any right to expect!  He was calm about the audience, and, although he had been out of work for two weeks, he showed off his paces, and behaved extremely well.  I was most pleased with both horses, and, as usual, Christi pinpointed our weaknesses and gave me clear and concise instruction towards improvement.
Saturday morning, Bear, Amanda and I made our way to Franklands (the home of Gina Smith and Faust) to work with Christi.  This was our third chance to work with Christi, and I felt like perhaps our schooling was beginning to pay off.  We had some much improved work, and I was very satisfied at the end of our lesson.  For Faust fans, I saw him briefly at the end of my lesson and he looks as fit as a fiddle and strongly on the come-back trail! which is excellent news for Canada.
We received our first snow of the season yesteday, and more is expected today, so I guess we are now pretty much locked in for the winter.  i am looking forward to the chance to school the young horses and work towards the 2001 competition season with my students and their horses.
We would like to welcome Ruth Crawford to our staff.  Ruth is our neighbour, and an avid 3 day eventer,  who will be handling stable duties on the weekends and giving Sally a hand a couple of weekdays.   Happy to have you aboard, Ruth!
November 14:
Finally back at home and settled in after a wild week away.   Our week began with a long drive to York Equestrian Centre last Friday.  We arrived safely and had time to relax a bit before joining Conrad in the arena for a little meeting and then some brief schooling.  Amanda arrived just in time!  Max was fine.  Many thanks to Ann Welsh at YEC who found us a great place for the camper and made us feel so welcome!
The symposium was just as good this year, although it followed a different format. This year, Conrad actually did more schooling with the horses, and clearly demonstrated the exercises and their effect on the movements and athleticism of the horses.  Max was a very good boy in both of his sessions, and I learned alot.  One of the nice things about the symposium was the opportunity to meet quite a few people and chat - it was great to see Kathryn Fraser from Nova Scotia, and to finally put faces to names for some of my Internet friends!
After the symposium was over, we rested at York on Monday, and then made our way down to the CNE grounds on Tuesday morning.  Stabled in our familiar stalls, Max was much more relaxed about "The Royal" this year.  He settled in very quickly and we were all pretty relaxed by about 2pm.   We had a short school in the exercise ring, just to loosen up for the 5:45pm Horse Inspection, which passed without any incident (except that I had forgotten to bring my passport from the trailer, and Mum had to go get it - she was somewhat out of breath when she got back!).  At the draw for the Grand Prix riding times, Tanya obligingly drew 4th position for her mum (Evi Strasser) and 5th position for me.  Mum and Nancy and I enjoyed a quiet "traditional" dinner at Shopsey's.
The Grand Prix was particularly tense for some of us this year, as five horses started in this test, but only four would go on to the Freestyle.  Everyone put in a good ride, and I was particularly pleased with the technical accuracy of my test, and a very nice score from German FEI "O" judge Evi Eisenhart (65%+).  A couple of the other judges were not too wildly impressed, tho, and I finished fourth.  Jon Costin and Whitehaven were fifth, but were awarded the "Rookie of the Year" prize by the riders.  Jon is a good sport and did a very good job with "Flash" - everyone was sorry he would not be able to continue to the Freestyle.
Max and I were first to go in the Freestyle.   We reprised the Jesse Cook music we used last year, since it fits Max so well.  The audience was very involved, and, as usual, Max loved the applause and cheering.  We had a couple of small mistakes, but overall a nice performance.  We finished fourth overall.  Good friend Nancy McLachlan and Davis Cup were the winners, and will represent Canada in Sao Paulo, Brazil next March in the World Cup Final.  This has been a long time coming for Nancy and "Dave", and I couldn't be happier for them. 
Max's "retirement" party in the stables after the competition was very nice ... special thanks to Tom and Ellen who brought a beautiful basket of carrots and apples and champagne :-).  It was wonderful to see so many people join us to celebrate a long and worthy career - thank you all for your kind words. Max will now enjoy the luxury of staying at home, teaching a few lessons and enjoying a lighter work schedule.  It has been a privilege to ride Max, and he will have a home with me for the rest of his life.
Friday we made our weary way home.  Now we are preparing to host the clinic with Albrecht Heidemann, and to participate in the clinic with Christilot Boylen at Franklands this coming weekend.   I will be shipping Taliesan down on Friday for the Young Horse portion of Christi's work, and then I guess I will take Bear on Saturday.  We were hoping to present Santana for the Young Horse evaluation, but he banged his eye last week and developed an abcess, which is healed, but he has been out of work for almost two weeks.  Next time!
Have a great week!
October 31:
A quick update to the website - my apologies, I have been flying around like a mad thing trying to get everything organized before I leave on Friday, November 3rd for a week in Toronto.
I look forward to seeing lots of friends and colleagues at the second annual Symposium with Conrad Schumacher, which will take place at York Equestrian Centre on November 4 and 5.  Max and I are privileged once again to demonstrate for the clinic, and will hopefully have as satisfactory a ride as we did last year.
Once the clinic is over we will rest one day and then head down to the Royal on Tuesday November 7th.  The FEI Horse Inspection is Tuesday evening, and the Grand Prix is Wednesday.  There are five competitors in the Grand Prix this year, but only the top four will move on to the Freestyle Thursday evening.  Max is going extremely well, and we will do our best at the Royal.  In an humourous little side issue Equestrian Connection is running a poll for your favorite combination to win at the Royal this year ... Max would be extremely gratified to see his numbers improve :-).  The Booger Friends have done their part - many thanks.  I hope anyone who is at the Royal will stop by the stalls for a visit and to see Max.  This will likely be his last competition.
All the horses are moved into their places.  It is very nice to have everything settled.  Robyn and Kirby arrived for the winter, and we are all still waiting with bated breath for Christal to decide if she is going to buy another horse!  But basically we are settled down for the long winter ahead.  Some of thehorses have been clipped, and others still await my return from the Royal.   Carlisle will probably not get clipped this year, but he will be experiencing attention from Dr. John of another sort altogether :-).
I will be interviewing candidates for our part-time stable assistant position this week - I'll let you know who will be joining the Team after I get back from the Royal.
Max will be featured in a CSHA advertisment in the World Breeders' Federation yearbook ... pretty cool, eh?
Hope you are having a great week. 
October 17:
Several months of hard work has finally come to fruition - on October 13, 2000, the CEF Executive approved the creation of Dressage Canada, and accepted the structure and program outlines that had been prepared by the Interim Board, of which I am a member.  This was a tremendous seal of approval for what has been quite an arduous process.  There is still a lot of work to be done, but I am confident that now that we have a mandate to proceed, the dressage community in Canada will start to see some progress towards a more organized, open, accountable governance, and some progressive systematic programs that will lead to better international performances and a stronger domestic development. I have to publically thank my fellow Board members: Lorraine Stubbs, Elizabeth Robinson, Susan Holtby, and Don Barnes for their hard work, perserverance and experience.  I would like to thank Elizabeth McMullen, Sharon Brooks, Victoria Winter and Roz Farber, who have also contributed to the development of the materials which were presented to the CEF.  To those of you who sent messages of support and made useful suggestions, a huge debt of gratitude.  I think the hard part is almost finished ;-).  Thanks for bearing with us, and look for more information in the equestrian press and on the Dressage Canada website.   Feel free to contribute to the Dressage Canada discussion forums - this is YOUR sport, and you must speak up if you wish to be heard.
Here is an interesting website ... please visit and read the stories and make a contribution if you choose.  I wish I had thought of the idea, but, as you will see, I am involved to a certain extent, and I have high hopes for the project.
I have to say a word or two about Kate and Santana today.  As some of you will remember, we bought Santana last December, as a virtually untouched 4 year old.  Although he was big and beautiful, he came with his own set of problems, and was a troublesome menace for a very long time.  We had to teach him to lead quietly, and lunge and stand politely in cross-ties.  Then Kate had to be brave and actually get on him.  Well, she did, and she has stuck with him (literally!) through thick and thin, through bucks and bounces and bad attitude and some pretty scary moments.  And she has done an awesome job of turning a very naughty boy into a solid citizen.  I watched her ride him on Sunday, and I had to reflect on how far he has come, as he and Kate executed some very good work - round and supple and balanced, with impulsion and a joyful spirit.  Kate, my friend, you have done an incredible job - you deserve a ton of credit and all the good stuff that I know is just around the corner for you and your lovely horse.
My Favorite Things is updated.
The Schedule is updated.
Please have a great week, and be sure to check out the fabulous colours in fall foliage this weekend - take a drive or a ride through the country and enjoy Nature at her most extravagant!
October 11:
OK, we missed our move date ... we just weren't ready!  But the barn is looking awesome, and it's very nearly finished - maybe next weekend!  But we had a great Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the fixin's, including my very special Sausage, Cranberry and Apple Stuffing ... Aaron took the small amount left-over back to school with him.
I found this really neat website, full of useful information: It's called "Peak Performance", and is run by a woman from the Ottawa area. 
You will also notice (perhaps) my newest idea: an online guide to some of "My Favorite Things", and some links to the virtual retailers where these things may be obtained.  This could be very useful just before Christmas, when you are looking for those hard to find dressage books, or esoteric pieces of tack, or unusual gift items.  Hopefully you will like some of the things I find :-).  I'll start putting the book, video and CD reviews there also.
Hope you are having a great week!
October 5:
Well, the upcoming couple of months will be quite exciting ... lots of doings.  We are hoping to move the horses into their new stalls this coming weekend.  The electrical work is supposed to be done tomorrow, and all the plumbing is just about done (thanks to the guys from Jensen plumbing and Heating).  Gerald is welding window bars for the stalls today, and Sally has been busy staining the wood and painting trim.  All the concrete and basic building is done - Keith built beautiful doors for the tack room and feed room - very fancy!  We are still waiting for a few windows to be delivered, but it's pretty well all done.   It's quite beautiful :-).  I hope the horses who end up living there will find it appealing, and I know we will all welcome the extra room and additional storage space.
We will be hosting Albrecht Heidemann again towards the end of November.  He will be at the farm for three days to coach Juniors, YRs and their coaches.  This will be the same weekend that Christilot Boylen will be at Franklands (in Brockville) to work with the CET riders.   So if you want to enjoy a whole weekend of excellent dressage and teaching, you will have your opportunity ... Franklands is about 5 minutes from Porcupine Hill, so you can bounce back and forth between venues, if there are specific riders you want to see!   I am planning to participate with Taliesan and Bear at Christi's clinic.
The weekend of November 4 & 5 is the Conrad Schumacher symposium at York Equestrian Centre.  If you missed Conrad last year, don't miss it this year.  He's a fabulous clinician, and it is worth every nickle of the audit fee.  I am, I think, going to be a demo rider with Max again this year.
And a jolly good thing, too, as hopefully Conrad will polish us up a mite before we compete, for the third year in a row, at the Canadian League World Cup Final at the Royal, November 8 and 9.
Dr. John was by the other day and wanted to know what our "next" project would be!  Silly boy, eh?  So, anyways, I can't decide if we should get started on the competition venue or the equine veterinary surgery and reproductive clinc.  Dr. John, what do you think?
The Horses for Sale page has been updated.
Had a great clinic at Phantom last weekend ... but was saddened to learn that Carmen and her sister Tammy will be moving to the Toronto area.  I know that Scruff, Snipper and Grace will get the best of care at Momo Laframboise's farm, but I am gonna miss having them in the clinics at Phantom.  best of luck and hopefully we will, as we discussed, meet up at Palgrave!
Monday, here in Canada, is Thanksgiving Day.   Hopefully we all have many things to be thankful for - I know that I do, and I plan to take a moment or two to reflect on all the wonderful aspects of my life - my family and friends, my very cool horses and the cutest dogs in the world, health, prosperity and the time to enjoy the fruits of my labour.  I should probably do this more often :-).   I sincerely hope that you are equally blessed, and that you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday.
October 2:
You'll notice we have gone commerical ... a necessary evil, I'm afraid.  If any of our offers appeal to you, PLEASE click on the banner - our advertisers help support the business.