Rain. Blessed blessed rain.

I know parts of the country (ok, the world too) are under constant deluges. We've not gotten real rain for well over 4 weeks and were totally baked out dry dusty hard ground everywhere. Yuck. At 4:04 this morning it all changed back to healthy greeness with a loud clap of thunder! YAY! Which means it will be great to be back in our outdoor arena again tomorrow!!! No dust! No glaring bright sunlight! Ahhhhh, bliss on horseback!

Speaking of bliss on horseback - the mid and upper level horses are making massive progress with better connection, softness in the bridle and increasing aptitude at the higher levels. Picture big happy dances for this acheivement! All the weeks of hard work and hours in the saddle really start to pay off this time of year! Hip hip hooray! So with steeper half passes, better collection, constantly improving flying changes and the piaffe and passage is always getting better - it must be time to show, right? Soon Grasshopper. Very soon.

First there will be video day(s). We need to have a bit of the luxury of shooting videos and still photos of the horses in action and make some minute corrections in their respective training before venturing out into the big world. But very soon - promise!

We have some fall lesson packages still available for September - October, so contact us to get in the calendar. We do not have any schoolmaster openings, however. If you can not bring your horse to us - get in touch - we'll try to work something out.

But enjoy the rain! It's so nice to be a tad cooler and not walking on cement covered with burned out grasses.

Catching up (briefly) and what's in store for Fall 2015

Dolce getting groomed to go work

OK, so I haven't been blogging or posting much lately and you might be wondering what the heck I've been doing...or not! But to sum it up - I've been busy in the barn! We're a tad short handed this summer in the rider department and after working through The List every day, well, I'm beat and opt for bed rather than coming up with witty comments on how fun it is to train horses day in and day out. But having said that - the horses we have right now are so nice, I'm not complaining (much).

Anne and Stella

On the competition front - we've been taking our beasts to schooling shows so as to gain mileage and experience at a lower price point than doing the recognized route. Daylily and Don William had their Third Level debuts at Blue Goose a few weeks ago and are quickly advancing from there. Both are getting very nice moments in the piaffe and passage - like big, fancy grown up horses have! All of this is very exciting - really really!

Liam and Stella at Blue Goose

Whodini and Wylie hanging with Anne

Wilson, Whodini and Wylie went to Fox Crossing for a Classic Oaks Horse Show (CCHSA) and were stars. Wylie was Champion of her division, Whodini brought home ribbons and Wilson did his first hack class in a big grass field and also brought home his first ribbon! Thanks to Melissa and Sara Gartland for the super riding!! All three horses would benefit from more outings and regular jumping training - the sky is the limit - but in the meantime, we will keep advancing their dressage training, as that is what we do best!

Wilson strutting his stuff

Wakanda has successfully completed 4 weeks of being the designated "Pony Camp Demo Horse" and is declared bombproof! Mini ponies, hordes of children in flight, hula hoops, costume relays, sparkly wands - she is fine with all of it while doing her Grand Prix work! There are not many horses that are willing to work at such a high level and then can be relaxed and trustworthy with small humans underfoot - but Wendy finds it fun! :)

Wendy and her kids

Liam says HI!

If you are wondering what the other horses have been up to - well, training is the best answer. There are many hours of (un)exciting or uneventful exercises that have to be repeated, fine tuned and repeated again until they are routine and repeatable without fail no matter who the rider is. Lots of voltes, shoulder in, haunches in, renvers, travers, half pass, leg yield, shoulder fore, transitions...I'm getting tired just typing it all out as so many horses for so many hours each and every day...well, it is a good life to be living! ;) The best part of the whole process is the hours of repetitive work are paying off as the next generation is climbing out of the Second Level doldrums and beginning the "fun" work of learning flying changes, piaffe and passage half steps. This is the best part as all the hours of strength training and suppleness work pay off and we get glimpses of what the future might be! (trust me - this is the most exciting time for a trainer/rider) I think we have 6 that are at this level, the 2 Grand Prix hopefuls and then 3 that are closer to PSG than not...so it's a wonderful time to be in the barn all day, every day!

Tasker is retired but happy in his pasture

So having said that, we're looking to venture out to a few shows this fall - more in the recognized category as well as the schooling show variety. The lesson business is ticking along and keeping us on our toes with dedicated and talented horse and rider combinations. If you are thinking of taking a lesson on one of our schoolmasters - be aware we are limited to just 1 horse in that area, so advanced planning is a must! There are a few openings for new students (and horses) in our schedule and we love helping others. If you have a horse that you would like to put in training, please contact us to discuss that situation as we have a few openings.

As always, we do have a wide variety of horses for sale at this time - all ages, levels, prices and sizes, so if you are horse shopping, please get in touch with Anne to talk about what you would like to have in your next equine. We are actively seeking homes for 12 of our horses - so your next champion might be in our barn!

Show results! Show mileage! Out and about reporting!

 Wendy (aka Wakanda WF) has been our ambassador for the Pony Camps at Cold Spring Farm LLC for several weeks now. She has learned all about mini-horses, costume races, giant soccer balls, a pony cart and ponies in general! She is now extremely bomb proof and calm about all of the chaos that can come with 20+ small humans and their activities. Wendy is fully trained through the Intermediate Level - she just needs a confident rider to finish all 15 one tempis! Piaffe and passage are solid! She is for sale to an approved show home. Contact Anne for pricing and info.

 Don William and Daylily went to Blue Goose's Flamingo Show a few days ago with good rides at Third Level for both horses.

Daylily

Liam is for sale and very appropriate for a confident AA rider with his exceptionally kind nature. He is very tall - so his gaits are on the big side but very soft and easy to sit.

Two pretty faces! Liam and Stella

 Whodini, Wylie and Wilson went to Fox Crossing's CCHSA show a few weeks ago. Wylie was Champion of her division (again) continuing her pattern of being a good obedient horse no matter what discipline is on the day's agenda! Wylie is for sale - contact Anne for info and pricing.

 Whodini was very, very good also - going calmly around his courses and handling the footing like a pro! He's ready to go on in whatever discipline his new people choose to pursue.

 Wilson went to the Leslie Ducharme school of showing! He hung out most of the day, watching and learning that all the things at a show (dogs, strollers, food trucks, traffic, etc) are no big deal and wrapped up his adventure with a good showing in a hack class out on the grass!

Thanks to Melissa and Sara for the great riding!

Hip hip hooray!

Time to celebrate and get clicking through the website!!!

The computer issue(s) that have plagued me since March are resolved! Uploads to the server at Network Solutions are zipping along - which means pages are becoming current. Check out the newest listings, updates and revisions!

Now as I typed that, I remembered that I have to OPEN the files on the server, so that means an hour or two of going through the file list and doing that...but...they are there!!!!!! Ugh. Not quite done! :D

3 shows in just 3 weeks?!? Wow! Things ARE busy!

We've had a busy few weeks for the farm - and it's not looking like it will slow down much either! No complaining as we've got such super awesome students and really nice people coming into our lives with all these adventures taking place! The schoolmasters are quite busy these days - sharing their wealth of knowledge, so if you have been meaning to get some lessons on trained horses, don't delay! Call or email to schedule your training times ASAP!

Wyatt (Weltmeyer x Savannah WF by South American Way/Abundance) has made his official Intermediate B debut at both recognized and schooling shows with little fuss. He's as cool as the other side of the pillow and thinks all the hard stuff is quite fun! A bit more fitness and confidence should see him knocking out bigger scores shortly!

Wakanda (Waldaire x Abracadabra WF by Again and Again) has also come out at the same level. She has gone to her first schooling show at WindurraUSA (home of Olympian Boyd Martin) and did her classic mellow warm up and lovely test for a 65%. She is only hampered by her rider's inability to remember the test (that would be me) - so look for bigger, brighter and better scores from her as well.

There are quite a few other younger horses getting their miles logged in as their training progresses, too. They should be laying rubber down getting their initial travel experiences out of the way soon - so that means showing is not far away either for that group! :)

Wyatt at Blue Goose

Speaking of schooling shows, Planation Field is now offering dressage schooling shows!! On the Tapita footing in the big ring!!! First one is the 15th of July, so get your entries in QUICK!!!

Woot! Woot! Another super match!

Big congratulations to Jenny of NH on the purchase of Wall Street WF aka Hansel the handsome!

Best wishes going forward with your new partner!!! We're so happy you found each other!!!

Finding the perfect match

I'm sure most everyone has read a romantic story or watched a comedy which has a lovely story about 2 partners finding one another. One of those tale of how they get along like a house on fire and just flat out revel in being around the other person...well, every so often a horse sale goes just that smoothly and the horse adores their person from the first interaction! (and what fun it is to be a part of the process of matchmaking!)

So without any more fuss or flowery language, let's all congratulate Doug of Dark Horse Stables in PA on the purchase of Avebury WF!!! "Dillon" and Doug are building a big trust bond at the moment but the summer and fall will involve some jumper competitions and then there is a trek to Wellington, FL for the winter circuit!

Best of luck to the dynamic duo!!!!

What is a ______ (fill in Dutch, German, Swiss, American) Warmblood?

If you've ever wondered what kind of horse is actually a ___warmblood, this website is a handy dandy tool to be able to accurately look up their bloodlines*.


So if you've ever wondered how to look up a pedigree to see who is who, bloodlines and what percentage of Thoroughbred blood our wonderful Waldaire carried - HERE is his pedigree.

You'll see he carries just 25.78% blood (listed as xx/ox or TB/Anglo Arab) - which is part of why he crosses so well on mares that are more "blooded" or full TB or Arabian.

I can not explain how valuable a website like this one is, really. For one, it is secure - which means only members can login and enter data (no monkey business or fibbing). Secondly, it does the mathematical calculations and can be used to go back multiple generations. Third, it is secure. If I had a nickel for every time I've had to login to Allbreedpedigree and remove a Gotland Pony from Waldaire's 6th generation....my bank balance would be healthier. ;)

So check out the names and pedigrees of famous horses! Find out more of who's who in their genetics!



* - only caveat - this is a database that is based out of Holland and Germany. Many North American bred horses are not listed, so pedigrees will appear incomplete.

Big Congratulations are in order!

As You Wish WF is qualified for the AEC's at Preliminary!!!! Well done Sara!!!