Always good to hear...

It is always good to have a chat with Roddy Strang who starts our youngsters! He called mom earlier today to check in - we've been rather busy since Wilona (by Waldaire out of As You Wish) went to 'camp' at Sport Horse Training, Inc and haven't checked on her for a bit...anyway, Roddy said she is a really super horse! Mom mentioned that he kept saying how nice she is and how well she is coming along...and for those of you who don't know Roddy - he rarely repeats himself, so it was a huge complement for him to keep mentioning how nice she is! :)

We'll go over for a photo and video session after the New Year so everyone can see yet another star in the making from Waldaire!

First reminder for the 1/10/10 Clinic

Just trying to start organizing the day for Ryan on Sunday January 10th...we have had about 30 people express interest - which is fantastic!

So, if you are worried about the weather turning sour on us (again), please just fill out a form and get it to Ellie (ellie@watermark-farm.net). That way we can set up the schedule and prepare for a full day which will hopefully be unseasonably warm & sunny!

Happy Holidays!

Sally Cousins Clinic CANCELED

We're canceling due to the 15" of snow currently sitting on the road out in front of the farm. The township has not plowed since 11AM and it is not safe to ask anyone to trailer their horses given the road conditions.

My apologies on behalf of Mother Nature!

Happy Holidays regardless!

~Ellie

Sally Cousins Clinic Ride Times

10:00 Peyton
10:30 Emily
11:00 Rebecca and Jill
12:00 Ellie and Sara
1:00 Cindy, Chelsea and Mary
1:45 Ginny and Lauren
2:30 Ric and Christine
3:15 Pat and Karin


If the weather is truly awful, I will contact you by phone/email by 9 on Sunday. Due to the traffic pattern in the driveway & possible snow accumulation, we will be asking people with trailers to park at the end of the driveway. We have a country road that has a nice big shoulder, so some folks often pull over there even in good weather to avoid having to back their trailers up in the smaller driveway.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

See you Sunday!

~Ellie

Sally Clinic Update

I know everyone is anxiously watching the weather forecast and looking for clinic times. The dual stress is getting to be a bit much!

The times should be available later this morning. There were so last minute changes, so Sally is tweaking the final plan. As soon as it crosses my desktop, I will post here, Facebook and on the Clinic Page of the farm website.

If the weather is lousy and unsafe for trailering horses, I will contact people by every possible means to notify you all of any changes.

Apologies that winter seems to have arrived but the weather is very much out of our control.

Last call for the Sally Cousins Clinic this Sunday!

Just sending out the final reminder for the upcoming Sally Cousins clinic on Sunday December 20th!

Treat your horse (and yourself) to a fun lesson with Sally before she leaves for Aiken for the winter!

Schooling Photos!

We took a trailer of mares over to True Prospect today - Wylie, Wallace, As You Wish & Alexis! Everyone was just super!

Ryan rode Wallace (Lacey) and there are a few photos -





























I rode Wylie for her first trip off of our farm (Roddy has trail ridden her lots & at other barns, too) and she was a super star! To be perfectly honest - the Waldaire's are so sensible & fun to ride! Each day is a treat just like their papa!

































Kitty & Lexy were also really good! Kitty has been protesting her more flat work oriented lifestyle for the past month, so it was super fun to jump again! (or so my DQ side says) :-) Ryan had a fantastic school on Lexy and just like her big brother Dillon (Avebury), she blossomed with Ryan in the irons. It had gotten just a bit too dark to shoot pictures of these last 2 ladies, so you all will just have to believe me when I say how good they were!

Christmas greetings from a happy client

This is the time of year that we all receive happy Christmas wishes from friends and family. It is always fun to hear from satisfied clients and even better to see them with their equine family!

Congratulations to Susan M. and her whole family on Willy's successes for 2009! Good luck in 2010!!!

It was a real treat to get updates on their progress and showing accomplishments all year and to see a photo of the happy family just makes the year's end that much more special!

Waldaire Filly With Eloquence has begun her undersaddle training!

This is Peg Lederer's Waldaire filly With Eloquence ( x B'Eloquence by Beste Gold) as she begins her undersaddle training down in MD. Peg & I had a lovely chat the other day and she told me that everyone at the training barn raves about little Ellie's good temperament & about how much they enjoy working with her!

Congratulations to Peg on breeding such a lovely filly! (keep the photos coming!)

It is awesome to get second hand info - in a positive way!

Through a slightly odd set of circumstances, mom was chatting with a neighbor and he mentioned that he had run into Roddy Strang the other day while Roddy was out trail riding a 'really pretty black filly.' Well, the filly is none other than our Wilona by Waldaire out of As You Wish! Butch (the neighbor) said Roddy had nothing but positive things to say about her and how he thought she was a really nice horse!

We're supposed to go over to Sport Horse Training, Inc. next week to see Wilona but it is always super to hear good feedback from another experienced horse person!

Video from the clinic

So here is a bit of video from the Ryan Wood clinic -

This is Wylie WF, a 2006 Waldaire daughter doing her first jumping undersaddle lesson. Hopefully her calm and willing nature shines through and everyone can see how much fun she is to ride!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJkbVyMq5lg

Roots of a good breeding program through the generations...

These are photos of Aly Alice (Aly North x Hot Beat by Bold Lad) with Jessy MacKnew at a recent jumper competition. Alice was one of our treasured broodmares who found the MacKnew family when she was carrying her 2007 colt Willow (by Waldaire) and has returned to her undersaddle career. Alice & Jessy were the Youth Jumper Champions for the AWR in 2009!

All photos courtesy of Mark Uziel.















Alice's descendants have obviously inherited some of her quality jumping genes -

This is her Adamant daughter Adelaide WF (2004) with Ryan Wood (www.woodstockeventing.com) riding at the recent clinic...








This is Artesian WF (by Again & Again out of Alice) with Ryan riding at True Prospect a few weeks ago...he is Amelia WF full brother and one of my FEI horses who enjoys quite a bit of jumping in his training program.










This is our Waldaire daughter out of Alice - Wallace WF -

















And this is granddaughter Wylie WF by Waldaire out of Amelia WF (Again & Again x Alice) at that same clinic. Note - she has just 60 days of undersaddle training!

Thanks to Ryan for a super day!!!

We had our first clinic with Ryan Wood (www.woodstockeventing.com) today and it was simply a great success!

Ryan has a straightforward, confidence building approach with his teaching style and all of the horses and riders had a most excellent day!

This is Ryan schooling Karin's Adelaide WF -








I am continuing to shake my DQ rust off and had a wonderful time with Wakanda WF (aka Wendy). She might be just 15.2 hands but WOW she can jump!!! My expectations should be quite high as Wally is a super jumper and anything related to Again & Again jumps with their knees up by their ears naturally but...well, jumping hasn't been a focus for me! :) Maybe that will change???








Ric and Gofer waited patiently for their timeslot and Gofer was a star with his buddy!








Pat and Beau did super in the indoor before we moved outside to jump lines & a small course. At the end of the lesson, she allowed Ryan to school Beau. What a lovely jumper he is!








Today was Wylie's first real jump school. She did lines and her first grid work with no fuss. She is also by Waldaire and out of an Again & Again daughter - Amelia WF, so the talent is just beneath the surface. I am so proud of the two girls for being such gifted youngsters. :) Oh and Wally got an extra carrot this evening when I turned him out...just because his daughters are so much fun. :)








Christine brought her homebred TB gelding Buck. He has been undersaddle just 60 days and showed off his fine form over all the fences. They had super trips round the ring and get extra props for working so hard today!



So that was most of the afternoon! There is a boatload of video footage but I am whooped. It will be in the 'work away' pile for a few days and I'll post links when it is finished. (sorry for the delay)

Weather impacts Ryan's Clinic schedule

Due to the recent snowfall, the clinic with Ryan will be starting after 12:30 PM today.

Auditors fee is reduced to $10.

If you are planning on attending, please dress warmly as it is quite cold outside today.

Last call for Clinic Sign Up!

This is the last call for people wanting to sign up to ride with Ryan this Sunday December 6th...

The weather should be in the mid 40's but dry, so come join us!

Times will be posted later today!

There is a sign up sheet that is accessible through the Calendar Page of the website - www.watermark-farm.net/calendar.html or by using this link - http://watermark-farm.net/On%20Site%20Clinic%20Form.htm By filling out this form, you will help Ryan to get a sense of your goals, your horse's experience and your riding background. Also attached through that link is our Client Waiver which all participants must sign prior to mounting on the day of the clinic.

Group lesson fee (payable directly to Ryan) - $50 per horse/rider
Semi-Private lesson fee (PDR) - $85 per horse
Private lesson fee (PDR) - $125 per horse
Auditors - $25
Watermark Farm has a standard $15 ring use fee for each horse/rider combination that will apply separately.

Group lessons can be up to 6 horses/riders and will run for an hour and a half at that size. Semi-Private lessons are for 2 horses/riders and will be one hour. Private lessons are for a single horse and rider combination. Auditors are more than welcome as this is a great opportunity to learn more about Ryan's teaching style and philosophy.

We will be hosting a second clinic with Ryan prior to his departure with Phillip Dutton to Aiken in mid-January. That clinic will be held on Sunday January 10th and we are also accepting clinic applications at this time.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Schooling photos from the end of November & December 1st

So I've been a bit slow getting photos organized and posted to the blog...sorry about that!

The horses have been going really well and enjoying the unseasonably warm days. From what I hear on the news, our 55* afternoons are all going to come to a screeching halt!

But it has been lovely!

Here are some photos from yesterday of Ryan schooling Artesian - they did jump too but the light got too flat to shoot the higher speed action...



















Wyatt and I had had a lovely school and had reached the stretching phase at the end of the ride, so there are no photos of him all puffed up and schooling his lateral work. He's maturing nicely and really getting 'smart' about when it's time to work and focus vs. when he can stare off into the distance. Going over to True Prospect has been really super for him.














Avebury continues to shine. There is just no other way to explain it. There are 2 videos from the 28th here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RghWYOdkPTQ and here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1_KwZkLSww

and here are some still shots -






Thanks Ryan for doing such a lovely job with the big guy!

Ryan Wood Clinic 12/6/09

So our clinic with Ryan Wood (www.woodstockeventing.com) is fast approaching! It is next Sunday (December 6th) here at Watermark Farm. We are hoping for good weather, but always have the indoor and plenty of jumps, cavaletti and other exercises to practice!

There is a sign up sheet that is accessible through the Calendar Page of the website - www.watermark-farm.net/calendar.html or by using this link - http://watermark-farm.net/On%20Site%20Clinic%20Form.htm By filling out this form, you will help Ryan to get a sense of your goals, your horse's experience and your riding background. Also attached through that link is our Client Waiver which all participants must sign prior to mounting on the day of the clinic.

Group lesson fee (payable directly to Ryan) - $50 per horse/rider
Semi-Private lesson fee (PDR) - $85 per horse
Private lesson fee (PDR) - $125 per horse
Auditors - $25
Watermark Farm has a standard $15 ring use fee for each horse/rider combination that will apply separately.

Group lessons can be up to 6 horses/riders and will run for an hour and a half at that size. Semi-Private lessons are for 2 horses/riders and will be one hour. Private lessons are for a single horse and rider combination. Auditors are more than welcome as this is a great opportunity to learn more about Ryan's teaching style and philosophy.

We will be hosting a second clinic with Ryan prior to his departure with Phillip Dutton to Aiken in mid-January. That clinic will be held on Sunday January 10th and we are also accepting clinic applications at this time.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Foal Futurity Awards Announced!

The 2009 Foal Futurity Winners have been announced!

Dolce Elise WF (Dressage Royal x Savannah WF) has been named The Top Foal in North America! Her Foal Inspection Score was a 9.0

Dolce is very precious to us as we nearly lost her dam Savannah a few weeks before Dolce's birth. Savannah hung on to raise her filly for a few months and then tragically passed away on the Fourth of July. Dolce has been a joy from the first minute we met and is an 'old soul' - very self possessed, calm and with the intangible qualities that have ensured this little champion a home for life here at Watermark Farm.

(photo courtesy of A & A Photography - www.alphinsphotography.com )











Our pure product of Watermark Farm breeding - Aloysius WF placed Third in the East Coast Breeders Futurity with his Foal Inspection score of 8.8. He is by Avebury WF out of Amelia WF (by Again and Again) and continues to impress us with his powerful, balanced gaits and sweet nature. Add in his charming expression and long legs - well, we shall see what the future hold for this young star!







(Foal inspection photos courtesy of Bill Alphin (www.alphinsphotography.com) )