SCPTHA News

They have scheduled the year end awards and membership meeting for Jan. 9th. Please save the date. If any of our adults wish to run for office or board member positions there is a nomination form on the association website.

Long time no post

My laptop is down for the count, so I haven't taken the time to post for a very long time. So much has happened there is no way I can catch everyone up. I'll try to hit some of the past highlights and catch you up on what is coming soon.

We went to the Sea Island show a couple of weeks ago to celebrate Cecil's birthday. Gia showed Skittles for the first time and did very well in the green horse/pony classes. She beat Palmetto Walk who wins everything at the pinto shows. It was a great confidence booster for her. She'll be showing there again next weekend in the pony division. Nicole will be joining her for the debut on her new horse Houston. We are trying to talk Cecil into coming again for the jumpers, as it was pouring down rain by the time he was supposed to show last time around.

Then the following weekend it is up to Clemson we go. We're still sorting out how many we're taking. It looks like Gia is taking 2 mounts, Kaijsa is taking Em, Nicole and Diane on Houston, and hopefully Paula on Amador.

The barn Christmas party is scheduled for Dec. 16th. ALL are welcome. We'd love to have some of our past family and friends come visit. Heck it'd be a great chance to check out the new farm. Just bring a dish and item for the gift exchange. If you think you might come why not post a comment to the blog about what goodies you're bringing to eat.

The barn will be closed on Christmas day again. There will not be lessons from 12/25 through 1/2. I will be around, but not teaching.

The boys are making good progress on our cross country course. We have the first 5 jumps completed. As soon as it dries out again they'll get back to work. We were just evaluating a spot for a water complex this week. So we'll have that and a 3 tier bank going in over the winter.

I suppose that's all for now. I can't say when I'll next be ready to post. Wish I new where the camera cord was so I could put up some of our candid moments around the farm. I'm also still waiting for ribbon pics from the 4-H show. hint, hint, hint.

Get out and vote

Just a reminder if you're a McCain supporter get out and vote today=) If you're for the other man...what's his name? Oh yeah Hussein stay home. We love you anyways.

Fun, fun, fun show...

As always I'm posting before the pics are in. I promise to put them up just as soon as I get them. We had a great time at the Stormriders 4-H Fun Show yesterday. We took 7 horses and a bunch of riders down with us. We had several first time show riders, and first time show horses. Cecil even got in on the fun. Katie Drummond decided to practice her catch riding by showing up to ride Miss April. Every one did well in their regular classes. I rode Riley in the command class which is an advanced version of simon says. You're asked for counter canters, pivots, sidepasses and the like. The only hiccup was I jumped on in Nicole's saddle. I was adjusting them as I entered the ring, and one pulled right off the saddle. Needless to say with an equipment issue I was forced to pull both of them and ride stirrupless for the entire class. Riley was phenomenal and helped bring home the blue for me. Cecil and Katie also rode out of the command class in the ribbons. Which when you think Katie had never ridden Miss April before yesterday morning, and was able to get the advanced maneuvers from her I was very impressed.

Leighton was one of our first time horse showers. She had a very rocky start to the day. When Cecil, KJ, and I unloaded the trailer Alexis (who Leighton was supposed to ride) had gotten banged up and was going to need the day off. Leighton hung in like a trooper and agreed albeit nervoulsy to ride Riley instead. It took her a few classes to get her nerves under control, and some kind words from a wonderful judge, but Leighton pulled it together. She completed her horsemanship pattern (something we don't do at home)to win her first ribbon. In great style for a little girl she came out with the pink one (5th place). To complicate Leighton's first show she had to compete against her mom in almost every event. Catherine made her show debut on Dixie, who was an absolute saint throughout the day. Our final rookie shower for the day was Sydney on Danny. Sydney had a rough start to the day as she grappled with understanding it would be a while before she was able to show over fences. She's jumping single crossrails and lines at home, but is a way off of showing over courses. Her spirits picked up at the end of the day with the races. She placed in almost every race class that we had.

Nicole got back in the swing of showing on Riley throughout the day. As you may remember she came off and cracked her knee at the last Clemson show in August. Dorothy came and made her show debut on her OWN horse...India. I tried to repeat my scurry race win from the spring show on India, but apparently India has decided she likes her new mommy better. I ended up winning the scurry race on Topaz.

Then came the part I live for...the races. Cecil, Katie, and I got quite competitive with each other competing in the races. We had a really good run of 1, 2, 3 throughout. All in all our crew had a fantastic day of fun and comraderie. We ended with a birthday celebration for KJ our ever faithful bouncer, body guard, horseguard, trailer hauler, groom, secretary, and much much more. Happy 30th!!!

Pics coming soon.....

Upcoming Show Opportunity

OUCH!!! That's the sound of my arm being twisted, and in turn Cecil's. The girls have talked me into hosting a schooling show day. We will be having dressage tests intro through training and a name your own test class. Susan Selvey will be judging the dressage.

We will offer C/T tests for crossrails through 3' and corresponding dressage tests. We will also be doing stadium schooling classes from 18" through 3'3" with gamblers choice classes at two heights.

We will have a concessions brought in by a vendor, and are working on a few other vendors to round out the day.

If you're interested in show information keep an eye on our website for the details, or drop me a line.

Show date is November 30th at 10am. If you don't want to show we'll definitley need some volunteer workers to make the day run smooth. This will be a much bigger shing dig than our "fun" shows from the past.

Nicole's New Beauty

I know I've been a bit slow on the posting. I have to get back in the swing, but need to get the camera cord located.

Nicole's new horse arrived yesterday. He's a 16H quarter horse gelding. Here's a video of him competing at quarter horse congress a couple of years ago.

Vet makes funny

I was listening to Dave Ramsey on my way home from lessons last night. An equine vet called in. He had been on a farm visit earlier in the day. The client mentioned that she was a liberal, or in some other way conveyed such to the vet. When he was finished and writing the invoice he informed her that he would be adding a 10% surcharge to her bill. The proceeds would then be held in reserve for the next horse owner who couldn't afford vet care. Low and behold the horse owner didn't think it a very good idea. Personally, I thought it was an excellent example of liberal "redistribution". All that said we are back in full swing this week with lessons. As soon as my camera surfaces I will post some pictures of the new farm. Which I'm calling my own piece of nirvana. (that means tranquility)We had an excellent showing at the state fair this past weekend, but I'll post more on that as soon as I have those pictures from Amelia...hint, hint.