Summer Update

Wow, I really need to try and update more! The girls of WRS have been very busy the past couple of weeks showing their ponies!

Allison and Dash are becoming quite the pair. They started their summer season at the Morris Farm Eventing Jumper Show with 2 firsts and a 3rd.

 
 

 

 Sydney and Godiva and Allison and Dash then competed at the Lakeside Hunter/Jumper Show Memorial Day Weekend. Allison and Dash had some great rounds in the 2ft classes, with a 2nd, 5th, and 6th I believe, in large classes. Sydney and Godiva Finished 1 and 3rd in the Green Horse Cross Rails.

June 8th was a very busy day! Angela and Kristin Participated in the Laine Ashker Clinic at Morris Farm Eventing. Both of us learned so much and can't wait until Laine comes back!

 

 

 The Same Day Sydney and Allison competed at the District 4 4-H show. Both girls did excellent in their 2 ft divisions. Both girls qualifies for state and reserve champion for their age groups!

The Next weekend the girls took to the Bourbon County Knight's Horse Show, and the Clark County Fair. Windy Ridge was well represented by Allison, Sydney, Callie, and Reagan, and the brought home lots of ribbons!

 

 This coming weekend, Angela and Kristin will be back out eventing at the Kentucky Horse Park at Champagne Run at the Park. Angela and Buddy are moving up to training level, and Kristin and Lilly are looking for another great run at Beginner Novice.

Until Next Time, kick on!

Angela

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where has the time gone?!?

Wow, so it has been quite a while since my last post! So I figured I needed tp update everyone!

I started riding again in September, and in November Buddy and I participated in a clinic with Sinead Halpin, who finished 2nd at Burghley in 2012. Even though we were put in a group below our level, we still learned a lot and and had some exercises to work on over the winter.

In November, I also added a new horse to the barn. Lilly came from a friend trying to find her a home for her owners. She is a 5 year old (almost 6) Thoroughbred Mare who did the hunters and jumpers in Ocala before coming to Kentucky. Shortly after she arrived, my friend Kristin Lund took over riding her to help me out.

Lilly in Ocala

 

 

We have spent that past couple of weekends horse showing. We took both Lilly and Buddy to Paul Frazer Combined Test and Spring Bay Horse Trials. Buddy finished 6th at Paul Frazer in a large novice division. At Spring Bay, Lilly and Kristin finished 10th in their open beginner novice division, and Buddy and I won our novice division!

Lilly and Kristin

Buddy with his ribbon

 

We also had two ponies come in to be commsioned to be sold. And thankfully we have alreday found them both excellent homes! Taz is down the road at Ledgelands farm and is the owner's son's pony. He and Donald are continuing weekly lessons with me.

Rudy was purchased by Megan Northrup form Louisville for her daughter, Tate. They are a perfect pair!

 

Wedding season begins this weekend for me, so horse shows are on hold. We will be attending a few XC schoolings, taking lots of lessons, and heading to the Laine Ashker clinic in June.

 

Buddy and I will be making our move up to training in July at Champagne Run Horse Shows. I'm sad we can't move up earlier, but that just gives us plenty of time to get things perfect. The overall goal for us for this year is to compete at the Training 3-Day at

 

Everyone' favorite pony, Godiva, has arrived back at the farm to get ready for the 4-H Shows, and we have added another sales horse. Grady is a 15 year old TB gelding who evented thru novice. He has had quite a bit of time off, so we are bringing him back slowly.

 

Clark County schools are now out for summer, so lesson times are filling up quickly! We would love to have more people join our team, so contact me for more details!

 

Until next time,

Angela

 

Welcome to all of our new horses!

We have welomed quite a few new horses to the farm this month. We have 8 horses there!

Emily Lago and her pony Hillcrest moved in July 1. We are so excited to have them!

Judi Kuhl brought a old friend of mine, Forest, to the farm for some RandR. I rode Forest for her when I was a teenager, so i've got a soft spot for him :) He and Hillcrest are quite cute together in our back field!

A few weeks ago we started a search for a new pony for Allison. One that she coudl gain confidence on and move forward in her riding. Thru a mutual friend we found Rapidash, or "Dash" as we are calling him. They are a perfect fit and we love having him, although he will be leaving once school starts!

We will also say goodbye to Rufus at the end of the month. We all love him so (and Nicole) so we will be sad to see them go! Andi will especially be sad with no more play time with Bently!

We hope everyone has been enjoying their summer, and trying to get some riding in! As I am writing this it is downpouring, but I am so excited for the rain!

Until next time

- Angela

One Step Forward.....Lots of Steps Back....

VW Perry Photos
Buddy at Spring Bay HT Novice

So it has been a while since my last post, and with good reason! I have been eating, sleeping, and breathing wedding planning and lessons. Since April 14 I have had a wedding or event, and I keep going until July 21. Well, every weekend but May-Daze HT, but more about that later. On top of that I have had two students catch the showing bug, and my days off from my real job were spent at horse shows with the girls. They all did fantastic, and learned a ton. Here is a breakdown of the shows we went to!

      Morris Farm Schooling Hunter Show: Allison and Lucy placed 5th in both poles classes, and 2nd in the flat class
       Lakeside Arena May H/J Show - Allison and Lucy - 2 4ths and a 2nd in the poles
                              and flat classes; 2 5ths and a 3rd in the crossrails
                     Sydney and Godiva- 2nd and 3rd in the cross rails, and 1st in the flat class
      Ballyhigh H/J Show - Allison and Lucy - 1 and 2nd in the poles, 1st in the flat for champion of the division! 5th in cross rails and 4th in the flat class against a ton of older riders!
        4-H Districts - District 4 - Allison and Lucy- 2nd in showmanship; 2nd in hunter under saddle, 1st in equitation
                      Sydney and Godiva - 1st in Showmanship, 1 in Beginner Horse Over Fences, 4th in Equitation over fences, 1st in Hunter Pony under saddle



Bourbon County 4-H Horse Show - Allison and Lucy - 2nd in Showmanship, 4th in Equitation under saddle, 2nd in hunter under saddle
                                       Sydney and Godiva - 1st in Showmanship, 5th in Beginner Hunter over  fences, 3rd in hunter under saddle
                                       Callie and Scooter - 4th Showmanship, 4th Hunter under saddle

State 4-H Horse Show - Sydney and Godiva - 7th Showmanship, 7th Over Fences, 8th Under Saddle


So needless to say it has been busy. Unfortunately, I haven't had to worry about riding Buddy during this time :( We were all set for our move up to training at May-Daze. After Spring Bay I gave him a couple of weekes to chill and just work lightly. He always comes back so happy to be back in full work, and he definitely did. His canter was improving by leaps and bounds, and because of this his stadium was also improving. Gone was the horse who decided everything, and he was replaced by a horse who could add or take out striding. We decided to attend the first May XC schooling at the horse park. Man, was it insane! Horses galloping everywhere. Buddy isn't one to get frazzled on the XC course, dressage yes, but give him solid jumps and he is a happy camper. Because of the craziness I couldn't let him really go to the jump, as there were people cutting in front of everyone all the time. Buddy wasn't happy with the start and stop of the whole thing, but he got really happy once we got to the water. Jumps in and out, no problem. Then we attempted to school the drop into water. I came in at a trot and Buddy jumped down no problem. Upon landing though, it felt like he just got stuck in the water with his front legs, and my whole balance shifted forward and BAM, my pelvis hit right on the pommel of the saddle. At that point I was ok, and went right back down the bank and stayed back even more no problem. We went on to school a couple training jumps and stopped with that. That Saturday at work, I started to experience the same piercing pelvic pain I had last year. Unfortunately, the pain persisted for weeks, and much to my despair, I ended up scratching from May-Daze.

 I was really upset with the whole thing, and I still am. All my friend are out competing, and I'm stuck watching Buddy torment the others because he has nothing to do. Lindsey rode him for me when we had hopped I still might be able to ride, but since I have yet to get back on him, we stopped working him as it was pointless. I've just started riding again, and its been very controlled. I'm back on all my medications I had weaned myself off of, and trying to stay on a strict diet.

Right now all competition plans are on hold once again. I may try for an event in the fall, but we will see. A move-up this year isn't likely, as I don't have one weekend off for the fall events. So it looks likes dressage boot camp for a while, and maybe some jumpers this fall, since most of the local shows are on Sundays.

Its been hard, but once again I am valuing my time in the saddle and with my horse. Its nice to be able to relax and have no pressure, just enjoying each other's company. Don't get me wrong, I desperately want to be out on the cross country course, but I'm not going to push it. So we will look towards a spring season, and possibly getting south a few times depending on my schedule and funds :)

I will try to update more, especially on the girls and their progress. If you want to keep up with my "real job" check out my blog on the Opera House's website http://www.winchesteroperahouse.com!

1. - Angela

March Wrap-Up

Wow! What a month! The beginning of the month saw my equine population almost double with the addition of 3 horses! We welcomed Nicole and Rufus, who as boarding with us. Its so nice to have Nicole and Rufus at the farm to have someone to talk to and ride with. Parker also came back to the farm, after not working out with his owner. After a few weeks of some TLC (and some tough love) Parker quickly turned back into the superstar that I know he is. He was quickly scooped up by a friend's client and is now living in Auburn, Alabama. I couldn't have imagined a better home for him. Katie is awesome and loved him before she even set eyes on him. I can't wait til they get out and start competing together!

At the end of the month Lucy, Allison Fink's pony, came to the farm for 2 weeks while they were on Spring Break for a little jumping boot camp. Over the two weeks she has turned into a jumping machine. I can't wait for Allison to get home and see what her pony can do!

For Buddy the month of March was all about getting him ready for Spring Bay Horse Trials this past weekend. On the 31st of March we went to the Paul Frazer Combined Test and competed in Novice and Training. In the Novice he scored a 36 in dressage and jumped double clean to just finish out of the ribbons on his dressage score. In the training he scored a 34 (shock to me) but had 2 rails (totally my fault) to finish 6th in our first training CT. I was very shocked when I heard the placings, but super proud of my pony. We will get the kinks worked out of the jumping and find the middle ground between whoa and go.

At Spring Bay this past weekend we competed in a Novice Rider division. I pre-rode him Saturday morning to get all of his nerves out. This worked well, as I had a calm horse for my actual warm up. The dressage is slowly coming together; every time he goes out he slowly gets better and more consistent, which is all that I can ask. A few points were lost on my part from not being accurate. I'm going to take him to Masterson to ride in their dressage rings so that I can get my marks on accuracy better. I think I get so focused with riding the horse I've got I just go thru the movements of the test not paying attentions to specifics. O well, this is only our 3rd competition in over a year and a half, so we will just continue to practice and improve.

Our division was the last to stadium jump, and I was 3rd to last to go. He warmed up a little nervous, but that's always the case. Lindsey does a great job of warming us up just enough, and then getting us out of warm up. Unfortunately the rider before me took a long spot to number 7 and went their separate ways. The horse decided to leave the ring as well.. Great way to start my round. But Buddy kept his cool and we went in and jumped a double clear round. Lindsey has been working hard in getting me to make decisions, and minus the last jump I think it went pretty well.

Sunday was XC day, and I've always been a little leery of Spring Bay XC. I've had a couple bad experiences. But never fear with Buddy...he ate the course for lunch. He didn't bat an eye at anything and was much more rideable then at Full Gallop. I had to have him be more rideable, as the course was wheeled really long. The optimum time was 6:09, and we came in at 5:02. I'd rather be a little fast then slow right now. We finished the weekend tied for 7th, but because of my fast time we lost the tie and ended in 8th.

Buddy was great all weekend and is really showing improvements! We have gotten the go ahead to enter training at MayDaze! Finally! The next 7 weeks or so leading up to the show will be spent in dressage boot camp, as well as lots of stadium lessons and a few XC schoolings. Wedding season kicks into high gear starting next weekend, but since I will be working Saturdays I'm going to be taking Mondays off so that I can have a day off that isn't spent recovering from a wedding!

So we will continue to work and improve over the next few weeks. After having 2-3 horses to ride a day for the month of March I will be back down to just Buddy, which will be a very welcomed change. Lots of lessons with my 3 current students to get ready for a few shows for them in May. It will be a busy month, and hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Until next time!

A Weekend of Highs and Lows

This post isn't about me, but rather two people who have shapped the rider I am today.

This past weekend was Pine Top Advanced Horse Trials. My current trainer/best friend, Lindsey Solorzano, took Taylor to contest her first advanced horse trial. Over the past 6 years that I have known Lindsey, I have always promised that I would be at her first advanced. So when I had a bride wanted to book their wedding on February 25th, I felt terrible that I couldn't go with her. Luckily, Kristin, a new friend for me, was able to go with her. I'm very happy to say that Lindsey completed her first advanced in style among some of the biggest riders and horses in the world. I am incredibly proud to be her client/friend, and I am so happy that all of her dreams are finally materalizing, and her hard work is paying off. To top off her great run on Taylor, Ramsey finished 7th in a strong prelim group. She bought Ramsey a year ago, and he has quickly become a fantastic upper level horse for her.

On a somber note, in the middle of my wedding Lindsey called me. She had already texted me that she had gone clean, so I knew that everything was ok with her. The call was followed up with a text message that shocked me. Lindsey and I first met when we were both riding with Megan Moore. Lindsey's text message read that Megan's horse, Hopper, had suffered a brain aneurism on course and had passed away. Megan purchased Hopper right before I started riding with her, and I was fortunate to watch his first event ever at River Glen, his first intermediate, and his first one star. I would never wish this sort of heart break on anyone. I know how much Hopper meant to Megan, and I extend my deepest condolensense to Megan and her Dad, Howard. I wish I could find the pictures that I took of him at his first event.

On a happier note, things have been quite busy around the farm...well as far as my phone is concerned. Spring has sprung here so my phone has been ringing with all my 4-H girls ready to start lessons again! Allison brought Lucy out for a lesson today and had the maiden voyage in their new trailer! The Finks are taking a vacation on Spring Break, so Lucy will be coming to the farm for some jumping boot camp to prepare for 4-H Districts. Kim, another client, will be bringing Chocolate the pony for some training in hopes that another student will lease him out! I also received a message from a friend that I had class with in school, and she may be bringing her Thoroughbred Rufus to board with us. And on a final note, one of my favorite horses I have trained is returning to the farm tomorrow. Parker is now a 9 year old, and he isn't quite working out for his current owner. Parker is best in a program and he thrived when I had him at Jenna's while I was working with her. So Parker is coming back for some training and work, and hopefully we can find an adult amateur that he can have some fun with!

Parker at May-Daze HT in 2008, where he finished 1st

I'm done with weddings until the 24th of March, so my weekend are going to be taken over by my horses, and I wouldn't have it any other way! The 10 and 11, Buddy will be going to Lakeside to do some jumpers, and Chocolate and Parker may go play in the Hunters. The 17th Parker and Buddy are going to Snowbird dressage, and the 31st Buddy and Parker will be competing at the Paul Frazer Combined Test.

Go give your horses a kiss and an extra carrot, I know I did today!

Motivation at its Finest

Since today was such a cold and nasty day, I spent the majority of the day on my computer looking at event calendars and filling out entries. Here is my event calendar for the year (tentatively)

March 11-12 - Lakeside KHJA
March 17 - Snowbird Dressage
March 31 - Paul Frazer Combined Test - Novice and Training Combined Test
April 7-8 - Spring Bay Horse Trials - Novice
April 15 - MET Jumper Show
May 25-26 - May Daze Horse Trial - Training
May 28 - Lakeside KHJA (students)
June 9 - District 4 4-H Show (students)
July ?? Antebellum CT - Training
July 21-22 - Gemwood HT - Training
August ?? - Summer School Combined Test - Training
August ?? - Antebellum CT - Training
August 31 - September 1 - KY Classic - Training
September 28 - 30 - Jumpstart Horse Trial - Training
October 18-21 - Hagyard's Midsouth 3-Day Event - Training 3-Day

Hope to see some of you all there!!!!