Excellent showing

If I could add "We are the champions" sound track I think I would. Yesterday was a success on all fronts but the weather. We met personal goals for both riders and horses, we placed well in our classes, we had a fantastic social time, and all in all everything went beautifully.
I know all you guys want are the pictures, so here are a few.

Gia showed Jessie in the low hunters with the big boys. Although they had great rounds Jessie showed her dislike for Mullet hall by refusing the first fence of the outside line just as she does each and every time down there. She pinned well in her division, and then got a break before Gia's 11 and under equitation. This time Jessie did not refuse and they won both the flat and over fences eq classes bringing home the championship.

I am loving having Togey, but he is a ride every step horse. I have not been riding enough recently to be in the shape to do him justice all day at a horseshow. I decided to enter him in the unrestricted w/t/c with a hunter hack division. We had a beautiful u/s class, we blew a lead in the pleasure class, and had a really long spot to the second fence of the hack. I opted for the training moment and pulled him up hard following the second fence. I wanted to give the junior rider in the class a chance to take the class. Unfortunatley, she also had a long spot and we won the class. That gave us the championship in the division. When we left the ring the junior had a temper tantrum with their trainer. In the end perhaps learning to lose gracefully was a skill they needed to work on.

A very talented junior rider came down to show Togey in the mid height jumpers, while I had planned to do one lower height. Watching her school him I recognize she was in a better position to do him justice and put out a good training round which is what I was looking for than I was. She showed him in the 2'6'"-2'9" jumper divsion. They took a rail in the first class, and trotted the majority of the second class. Togey was a very good boy, but ran out of gas at the end of the day.

I rather enjoyed my role as sponsor to such a talented rider, and am looking forward to sharing Togey with her for some lessons with her regular trainer. I am also working on some upcoming show opportunities for her.

I apologize in advance for the slideshow transition taking too long, but I love the color what can I say?

Horse Show Crazies

Sea Island....what can I say? When we go to this show we never know what the turnout is going to be. We've had every trainer in town bring horses some months, and other months just us and one other farm.

This time it's been CRA's turn to be all over the map. We have gone from everyone showing this weekend, to no one and just this week we've swung back the other way. It looks like Gia will be out on Jessie, I'm showing Togey, Katie will be showing him as well. I haven't had enough time to ride to do justice to multiple classes. Chipper is still up in the air. He may be showing a pony for Charles again this weekend. Or he may show one of our horses.

Stay tuned for results.

Congratulations Chipper

Chipper had a big day today. He was invited to catch ride for Charles.
He rode an adorable pony that the owners are looking to sell or lease. He rode in the 2 foot green hunter and 2'3" low hunter. The divisions were both very large with about 15-20 entries each. Charles even had 5 rides (we think) himself in the green division and Paula rode in the low hunter.

Chipper did an outstanding job winning 3 of his 6 classes. He brought home the championship in the low hunter division. More importantly he was invited to come ride the pony again next weekend.

Congratulations Chipper!!!

R.I.P. Tank

Our sympathies and prayers are with the Johnson family and LEAP at this time. Sean's horse tank had to be put down yesterday. It was a horrible state of events that led to this situation. We know they are all at a loss and hurting right now.

Please take a few minutes out to pray for them.

Moving Day

Today was a big day for Togey. His breathing had gotten pretty fierce last week, so he's been off. We had a long series of phone calls on Friday to discuss a treatment plan. Near miraculously he recovered with minimal care over the weekend. Dr. Miller called his respiration 90% this morning. I have renewed hope that he is adjusting to our climate and will work out for the longhaul for me.

The exciting part of him doing so well today was that cleared him to travel to his new home. I have moved him to Rose Court Farms in Summerville. I had planned to ride during the mornings while Kenzie is in school. I was finding I didn't have enough time to get to Whistle Stop and home again.

Riley and Pickles will continue to stay under the stupendous care of Tara.

Hopefully this move and his improved breathing will mean I can get back in the saddle on a regular basis now. Here's hoping I have a horse ready to show in November.

beautiful day

I got a rare treat today...I was slated to take Jackson out on a trail ride. For those of you who don't know Jackson is a 1400+ pound morgan x friesan. He's right about 16h, but wider than a aircraft carrier. Seriously you can land a helicopter on his back. He had shown some nervousness about limbs and such rustling/falling. I was expecting him to take me for a ride. IN the end we had a beautiful 2 hours, of fine tuning, and a tiny jump when my boot hit a tree trunk. I saw my first red (think toadstool) mushroom. It was really cool to realize those things in storybooks actually exsist.

We were crusing along really well until we hit water at the end. The first puddle was small and avoidable. After just a minute of protest I gave up so I wouldn't hold everyone up. The second wet spot was either go through water or at least deep suctiony mud. This fight I was in for the long haul. I ride Jackson in Kellie's treeless saddle which is about 3 inches too large for me, and the girth is about 2 inches too big for Jackson. SO not the ideal equipment for a fight. Jackson was definitley dug in for a fight. When he realized I was too. He answered my insistence with a High, Ho, Silver move. He went vertical and lunged over the mud. I can't say he jumped it because the hind feet didn't leave the ground until the front ones touched down, and he was truly vertical with every ounce of strength in his hind quarter. I gotta say it was fun:)

Another happy note. Bella aka. Palmetto Walk will be out of quarantine tomrrow. We're going to let her settle into her new routine this week, and then the girls will be able to start lessons regularly next week.

Ups and Downs...literally

Two rides ago I put Togey back in his KK loose ring that he has always been ridden in. He was perfect:) Waited for spots, jumped properly, etc.

Then today the weather was nice and cool, and he has become herd boss. I guess he is full of himself as he took me to the rodeo today. He schooled on the flat fine. He was willing through his circles, a bit strong at the canter, but not as bad as he has been. He schooled the crossrail fine. I tried a grid a few times and he was not happy that I asked him to be quiet and do the add. He was throwing a buck on landing. We backed down to a single vertical which wasn't much better, but rideable. I tried to finish out the ride with the crossrail, so we'd have a better stopping point. He jumped it perfectly, and I was prepared to allow him to canter down the rail. That's when the fun started. It was a true bronc ride buck, rear, kick, buck, bolt, rear, and so on. My apologies to Cassandra and Grizzly for interupting their lesson.

Oh, to figure out what it will take to get some consistency. Maybe a martingale next, and hoping the new bit I ordered will get here soon.