You know life gets more exciting when the ponies begin to shed their winter coats!  I remember a lesson that my first Barn Mom told me when I was about 10 years old.  She said, "it's o.k. to spit at the barn, just not in public!'  She was referring to the little hairs that one sometimes gets in ones mouth while shedding out their VERY hairy pony!  I have always remembered that and try to keep my spitting at the barn!

Well, the last snow storm was a doozy and really made regular horsekeeping a real challenge.  The only benefit is that we could have been in Virginia where the snow was up to the horses bellies!  No thanks.  It has made everything challenging but it will allow us to appreciate the good weather even more.   Thanks to everyone, especially Jason, who have helped out during this more challenging time of year. 

As I write this I realize that there are only two weeks before we send in our first entries for our first Spring Horse Trials - wow it will be here before we know it.  Someday I hope we will be able to start conditioning outside!  The horses have all been great this winter and everyone has worked diligently to keep their horse fit over the toughest time of the year.  You all should be commended for a job well done. 

The first event of the season may be the Hidden Bridge Jumper Show but due to the weather it may be condensed and just be an event for the barn and some other brave riders!  But, I hope we get to have it because our kids really deserve a time to show off their new skills, at least I hope they will start applying those new skills to their competitions rounds!  Come support the barn by cheering on our riders! 

The other event that is coming up is the Danny Warrington Clinic/Training Session on March 6-7.  This should be a great educational weekend for everyone, even if they aren't riding you can learn a lot by auditing so I strongly suggest you come and reap the benefits! 

Keep shedding out those ponies so summer will come quicker~!

O.K. It's now February 1st and the days are starting to get longer - always puts me in a better mood to know that spring will come!  We are having a great winter, the indoor has been put to good use and all the horses look like they are enjoying their work.  

We now have an entire course of Jumps for Joy jumps with FEI approved safety jump cups.  For those of you who don't know the difference these jump cups will break-away if a horse were to hit a pole too hard or land on a fence.  In this industry you can never be too rich or too safe.  We will go for the latter!  I am really excited about these jumps because they won't rot, splinter and NEVER need painting!  YEAH! YEAH!  Of course, they are pricey but I hope that they will be worth it! 

 I have put HIdden Bridge Stables/ERE on Facebook and will use that forum to get the word out to other horsey people about the goings-on at HB/ERE.  So if you are on Facebook, go ahead and become a fan of Hidden Bridge!

 We have a Jumper Show on February 21 and will need some of you lovely boarders to volunteer for some key positions.   The aim of this jumper show is just to get the riders back in the groove of riding under a bit of pressure - riding the right pace and working on riding each fence properly.  It will be fairly laid back and the time frames allow plenty of warm-up time for each horse even if we can't utilize the outdoor arena.

Hidden Bridge/ERE is also hosting a Danny Warrington Clinic on March 6-7.  Danny did a clinic last year at Hidden Bridge and he was an excellent communicator and made the days very fun!  I highly reccomend him to any level rider!  The format of the clinic is fairly unusual - there will be private flat lessons and semi-private jump schools.  This will allow personal attention that usually only happens in clinics if your horse is the one that misbehaves or needs more work, that's an unfortunate part of clinics but it won't happen with this one!  So sign up and get a great start for the spring season!

We hope everyone is coping well with the cold temperatures.  I know that I am VERY thankful for the heat in the lounge and tackroom.  I know the horses love the fact that their bits aren't frozen when we put their bridles on!  Happy horses make happy riders make a happy coach!  All is good!  Cheers

O.K. A lot has been happening at ERE over the past few months.  We have a new beginner instructor, Jessica Sander,  as well as new help in the barn, Jason.  Nathan is taking classes to become a nurse and we appreiciate his ability to balance both school and keeping our horses happy and well fed.  MacKenzie finally got her own horse and will be a force on the event circuit next spring!  Linda and Stitch are new boarders and Betty returned with her fabulous mare Belle (who I love to ride and can't wait to see how she does in the competition ring)!

This fall the competitions were great!  We had Natalie competing in her first recognized event and placing 4th overall!  Her hard work in the dressage phase really paid off for her and she knows that a good test is a necessity for success at the lower levels.   Kelly and Simon continued their winning ways on the Mini-Trial circuit with a win at the Bluegrass Pony Club Mini-Trial.  Meredith and Stormy finally bit the bullet and competed at Octoberfest and won their division!  Claire made her debut with Megafox and ended their first competition on their dressage score at Octoberfest, which was only a point out of the placings!  Liza and Savvy continue to amaze me with their showmanship, which you never see exhibited at the barn but comes out in full when a judge is watching.  They won at the Bluegrass Pony Club event and placed on their dressage score at Octoberfest.  McKenzie and Buzz have formed a partnership that has been fun to watch.  In her last XC round of the season McKenzie was galloping and jumping out of stride like she and Buzz were seasoned competitors rather than a green pair still trying to figure eachother out.  Spending the winter on dressage will really turn this team into a factor next spring.   Sam and Hugz and Bailee and Joy went to the Spring Run dressage show to see how their work is paying off.  Hugz placed 3rd in a BN test against all the 'big' horses!  Joy was showing improvement each test and got progressively better. 

 As we head into winter it will be time to start focusing on basics again and really pay attention to details. I know that sometimes it gets frustrating to think that the next Horse Trial isn't until April but the time will go by quickly and we will have shows and combined tests to keep us busy.  We are going to try to go to at least one day of the Lakeside shows beginning in December to keep the horses going off the farm and working on their performances.  These shows are always fun for the kids since all they have to do is jump (i.e. no dressage!) and they get to school as well as practice things that are difficult to practice at events since you only get one shot to go clean.  I think that the experience really pays off in teaching the girls to keep their minds actively engaged while riding a course. 

 I think everyone had a great competition season, with one more Mini-Trial to go!  All the horses are happy and have really grown up over the past year. 

As we creep onto the 1st anniversary of ERE at Hidden Bridge I want to thank all the boarders and  lesson students for giving me the opportunity to teach and train you over the past year.  I am so lucky to have such a supportive and caring group of people at the barn.  From moms who never dreamed that they would be mucking a stall at a show while their daughter rode their horse,  to the kids who dream of hitting the big time, to the students who just want to become better riders it is a joy to do what I do!  I am anxiously awaiting 2010 because I believe that everyone is ready for a break out year! 

As always,

Kick on

This has been the most glorious July in Kentucky history!  The horses have absolutely loved the cool temperatures.  We have been really busy and when we aren't busy at the barn, then we are usually busy doing non-barn things, so I apologize for not blogging earlier!

Charlie has been mowing like crazy this summer and the farm looks exquisite!  If you ever get the chance to see him without his headphones on please try to thank him for all the work his does on the farm to keep it looking beautiful for us and healthy for the horses.  As the recent C1 Pony Clubbers will tell you (Congrats go out to Kelly and McKenzie), our pastures are maintained correctly: mowed often, harrowed as needed, and rested so they aren't overgrazed.  That takes good maintainance and dedication, we owe a big thanks to Charlie for that! 

I also owe a huge Thanks to Nathan for doing a great job with the horses!  He really wants to make sure your horse has a happy home and works diligently to assure you peace of mind when you can't make it to the barn to check on your horse.  Please make sure he knows you appreciate his efforts. 

The competitions have been going well too.  We have competed at the "Big Mini Trial" at Flying Cross, Midsouth Pony Club Horse Trials, Pony Club Rally, Spring Run, Champagne Run and everyone had great rides and were improving as we went. 

This past weekend our own Bailee H. competed at the Eastern Pony Club Championships in Lexington, Virginia and won the Senior C Quiz Competition!  She was invited to go to compete for the US at the International Quiz in British Columbia, Canada in October.  We are very excited for her achievement and wish her well!  If you notice she stays in the bathroom a bit longer than most, she may be studying all the Pony Club Posters in there!  Ha!

We had a new arrival this week, Meredith and Stormy have come to Hidden Bridge and are interested in learning about the mysterious world of Eventing!  I will go ahead and predict good things for this combo once they figure out  how AMAZING cross-country truly is.  She may get her first shot at XC next week, but shhhhhhh, she doesn't know this yet, it's our secret! 

This week we had our first Ride-A-Test and it was just grand!  One short thunderstorm added to the excitement but it soon blew over and we continued with out a hitch.  I hope that all the riders had fun, learned more about how to ride under pressure and were able to take away a few nuggets of information that they can add to their ever-increasing tool box.  Of course, we also need to thank Lara S. for coming to judge it for us, Laura I. and MacKenzie K. for scribing, and Nathan for gettting the ring in tiptop shape.  I am thinking next we will do a Jumper show???  What do you think girls????  Let me know. 

This Friday we are having a Barn Cookout and Sleepover and I know we will have a great time.  Laura I. has done a great job organizing this one.  So I hope everyone can make it! 

Again, I will end with a note of thanks to all.  I am truly honored to be your instructor, barn manager, and friend.  I love the opportunity to share with you or your child my knowledge and guide them through the world of horses.  As I always try to tell them, in the horse world the highest highs are usually always followed by the lowest lows and this summer they got to realize that statement when it hit home.  Just for example think of Karen O'Connor and her incrediable showing at Rolex on Theodore O'Connor last year.  A few months later, during a routine weekly ride, Teddy was spooked, ran away,  fell by the side of the barn and had to be put down.  It was most devastating.  This summer my own daughter had her best showing at Spring Run Horse Trials, winning the dressage trophy for the lowest scoring pony and ended up placing 2nd overall.  The next day my heart just sank as I saw him trotting out with a 'hitch in his git'along'.   Of course I was hoping against hope that he had just pulled a muscle but my gut told me otherwise.  He got better, but not 100% and once diagnosed we found out he would be spending the rest of the summer turned out.  

My daughter was upset but has perservered.  We searched for the positives in the situation and determined that it was likely that she would become a better rider because she would be able to ride several different horses instead of just getting in a groove with her own pony.  And sure enough, it came to fruition.   In large part it was due to great friends allowing her to use their ponies for competitions.  So thanks to Nat, for letting her ride Poco at Rally where they placed 9th individually, and to Morgan for letting her ride Ripey Man in the Dierks Clinic where she learned that even a small, skinny kid can stop a galloping TB by 'assuming the position'!   She benefited greatly from being able to ride in those events and I cannot thank you enough for allowing her those opportunities.

May is almost finished and that will bring us to the long awaited Spring Break!  We are really getting busy preparing everyone for their late spring adventures.   We want to welcome Bailee and Joy to Hidden Bridge as well as Haley and Chloe who are just here for the summer over their college break.  Haley is the former owner of Savvy - small world. 

Before I start telling you guys what we are planning to do I owe some THANKS to several people:

• Nathan - for installing the rubber mats in the aisleway - it keeps the dust down and looks great! For helping me paint the show jumps, keeping the barn tidy and the arena harrowed and watered!!!  Yeah!
• Linda L. - for giving us the shelving unit for the lounge
• Laura - for cleaning the lounge in her very tidy way - and for the bench
• Charlie H. - for mowing and mowing and mowing and making the place look FABULOUS!
• Marcia for making the covers for the chairs in the lounge, they look stylish and comfy!
• Everyone for doing their part to make HB a very special place to ride and learn!

O.K. Now for what's happening -----------Currently, George and Jody are at the KHP competing in the the KDA/MSDEA Dressage Show.  George will get a well deserved rest on Monday since he will compete for 5 straight days.  Good luck George! 

This weekend George will be joined by Magick and Simon at the Horse Park but they will be going to  comptete in the May-Daze Horse Trials.  This will be McKenzie and Kelly's first USEA recognized event so they are very excited.  We wish them well!

Next week several of us are going to join the Long Run Hunt and go on their Trail Ride through the hunt country.  This would be a great adventure for those of you who would like to get your horses adjusted to riding in groups with the goal of going fox hunting this fall.

On June 6th, we will be sending students to  the Boshart Hunter/Jumper Show, some for their first show ever!, and then the Champagne Run Mini Trial on Sunday. Whew, that will be a busy weekend.

The following weekend McKenzie will be competing at the Spring Run Horse Trials.  On a historical note:  Emily first competed at Spring Run in 1979 and won the PreTraining (now Novice) division the following year.  What is also cool is that we both rode paint ponies that were 14.1 hands!   

That will be quickly be followed (read next day) by Samantha and Natalie going to compete in the Pony Club Show Jumping Rally.  On Wednesday Claire, Sarah, Liza, McKenzie, Kelly, and Bailey will be going to compete in the Pony Club Eventing Rally and Morgan will join them as well. 

After Rally we will all take a big sigh and ride down to the swimming hole and relax by swimming with our ponies in Harrods Creek!   AHHHHHHHHH!

May is almost finished and that will bring us to the long awaited Spring Break!  We are really getting busy preparing everyone for their late spring adventures.   We want to welcome Bailee and Joy to Hidden Bridge as well as Haley and Chloe who are just here for the summer over their college break.  Haley is the former owner of Savvy - small world. 

Before I start telling you guys what we are planning to do I owe some THANKS to several people:

• Nathan - for installing the rubber mats in the aisleway - it keeps the dust down and looks great! For helping me paint the show jumps, keeping the barn tidy and the arena harrowed and watered!!!  Yeah!
• Linda L. - for giving us the shelving unit for the lounge
• Laura - for cleaning the lounge in her very tidy way - and for the bench
• Charlie H. - for mowing and mowing and mowing and making the place look FABULOUS!
• Marcia for making the covers for the chairs in the lounge, they look stylish and comfy!
• Everyone for doing their part to make HB a very special place to ride and learn!

O.K. Now for what's happening -----------Currently, George and Jody are at the KHP competing in the the KDA/MSDEA Dressage Show.  George will get a well deserved rest on Monday since he will compete for 5 straight days.  Good luck George! 

This weekend George will be joined by Magick and Simon at the Horse Park but they will be going to  comptete in the May-Daze Horse Trials.  This will be McKenzie and Kelly's first USEA recognized event so they are very excited.  We wish them well!

Next week several of us are going to join the Long Run Hunt and go on their Trail Ride through the hunt country.  This would be a great adventure for those of you who would like to get your horses adjusted to riding in groups with the goal of going fox hunting this fall.

On June 6th, we will be sending students to  the Boshart Hunter/Jumper Show, some for their first show ever!, and then the Champagne Run Mini Trial on Sunday. Whew, that will be a busy weekend.

The following weekend McKenzie will be competing at the Spring Run Horse Trials.  On a historical note:  Emily first competed at Spring Run in 1979 and won the PreTraining (now Novice) division the following year.  What is also cool is that we both rode paint ponies that were 14.1 hands!   

That will be quickly be followed (read next day) by Samantha and Natalie going to compete in the Pony Club Show Jumping Rally.  On Wednesday Claire, Sarah, Liza, McKenzie, Kelly, and Bailey will be going to compete in the Pony Club Eventing Rally and Morgan will join them as well. 

After Rally we will all take a big sigh and ride down to the swimming hole and relax by swimming with our ponies in Harrods Creek!   AHHHHHHHHH!

O.K.  Well it has been a while since my last post but that is because we have been so busy!  Before Spring Break there were 11 Hidden Bridge riders that competed at the Covered Bridge Pony Club Combined Test.  For everyone it was the first 'real' competition of the season and everyone was generally pleased with their results - except for those true perfectionists that won't be happy when they win if their 20 meter circle was 18 meters!  There was a special moment that occurred this past week when a picture of Liza R. and her pony Savvy were in the Oldham Era.

This past weekend a few riders and horses went to the Spring Run Dressage Show.  McKenzie had two 'early worm' rides and was finished with her day by 8:50am!  She was very pleased with her pony and how much they have improved over the winter.  Natalie and Poco also put in a personal best performance! 

Catherine G. rode Lexus in her first Dressage Show ever and got a 61% and placed 6th.  She was very happy and she had her grandparents and her mom there cheering her on!

Our youngest entry, George was a very well-behaved boy and placed 2nd in Training Level T4!  What a big boy he is becoming!  Jody got to ride her other horse who has spent the winter basking in the sun down in Florida and they looked fabulous together!

This week we are heading to Lexington for the Jumper Show and Cross-Country School so we will all hope the weather cooperates! 

Tags: covered bridge pony club combined test, hidden bridge

Well, I am really ready for some crocus' to pop out of the ground and some daffodils to show me that spring is truly around the bend.  Luckily Savvy has been giving me hope as he has started to shed some of his monstrous coat - that was clipped in December! 

I am very excited about Spring and all the changes it will bring. 

• I have spent a large part of the winter trying to developing a 'levels guide' for the lesson program .  It is based somewhat on Pony Club levels but with stronger emphasis on learning about all  the English disciplines. My hope for this system is that it will help parents, especially the non-horsey parent, to understand what their child is learning and how the system of progression works in our world. 
•  This month I am going to start bringing in some horses  for training and selling.  As much as I love teaching my other passion is taking a horse and transforming it into an athlete and I now have the facility in which to do that very thing! 
• I am also very proud of all the girls at the barn - the old ones as well as the young ones - because their dedication to their riding and their horses has been great to witness.  I love seeing young and old in the same jump school and learning from eachother how to tackle the issues that horses like to test us with.  Learning about horses is a lifelong process and I enjoy seeing how everyone shares their knowledge with eachother. 
• Competitions will also begin soon and we will all be happy to be able to go and feel confident about our horses and their readiness to tackle new courses. 

Have a great day,

Emily

O.K. Well the end of January decided to put it's name in the record books, with ICE and POWER OUTAGES of course.  And it all hit while I was away at the USEA Symposium in Ocala  enjoying my Christmas gift from my husband.  Eventhough I was in a warmer climate,  just make things even, I got hit with a bout of the stomach flu! 

What a week it has been for all.  I know many are still without power and I am sure that they will be relieved to have their lives back to normal.

Unlike some industries where you just shut down when there isn't power that isn't our luxury!  Taking care of horses in cold weather is always trying but without power truly takes a village!  Again, we are lucky to have so many boarders that are willing to step in and help out with the chores and the daily grind of horsekeeping we are very fortunate and thankful. 

Many thank you's go all around!   And I am sorry if you contributed and I didn't mention your name - you are certainly

Thanks to:

          Jody who helped get the ice out of the water buckets

          my hubby for being Milton's chauffuer

          Valerie for taking Milton to lunch

         Laura, Natalie, McKenzie and Liza for helping turnout the horses in the indoor to break up the monotony

        Kelly and Missy for helping bring in and feed

        The Rowes for cleaning up the lounge, in the unheatedness that it was in!

 Well, by the time the power came back on and the outdoor water tanks were filled with water  the horses were happy, but not crazy, to go out in their paddocks.   They all seemed to handle their predicament with the upmost of grace and poise, just like their owners!  I on the other hand think that Florida may be an easier place to care for horses year round, and I hate Florida!! 

Valerie thinks that Spring is right around the corner and we will all be able to ride inside and outside with regularity!  Let's hope she's right! I am certainly ready!

Kick on folks,

Emily

Well this month has been a very busy one,  especially since we have had some really cold temperatures!  Luckily there is a huge advantage to having the indoor arena attached to the barn - acessibility.  No one has complained of being too cold so that has been good for training! 

Last week we ended up hosting Danny Warrington for a clinic.  It was just out of luck that we were able to let them use our arena but some of the girls got to participate in the clinic and they got to go XC indoors!  They had a lot of fun and started to begin thinking of the days when they can really go gallop out in the fields!  He is most likely coming back in March so we will have another opportunity to learn some new tricks!

This past weekend 9 riders headed to Lakeside to the monthly Hunter/Jumper Show.  Yes it was cold outside but our horses were loving the warm temperatures inside! 

 I have to say that I am more impressed how well we do since we are 'lowly' event riders.  I get a bit perturbed at people thinking that because we can run and jump that we don't know how to make fluid turns and keep the horse in balance between our fences, because we do!  And....... we don't achieve it by having trainers ride your horses everyday!   All the riders rode as well as they are capable of riding at this stage but I know that their improvements are only limited by their ability to practice correctly.   Even those riders that had some unfortunate trips still looked good in the process. 

We ended up coming home with a couple of Championships and a Reserve and a lot of 3rd place ribbons!   Melanie was our Star Rider of the Show, winning not one, not two, but three of her classes in the Long Stirrup Divsion.  One of the best wins was Megafox, besting a class of 17 horses in the Beginner Rider Under Saddle class.  The look on Sarah's face was just priceless!  Kelly won the Equitation Class 14 and under, which of course is one of my favorite classes to win because it is judged on the riders ability to negotiate the course, not the horses ability, or inability.  Natalie won a class in the Beginner Jumper using her Quarter Horse's turning ability to her distinct advantage! 

I have added two jump schools to the schedule:  one on Wednesday at 4:30 (for students jumping up to 2'3" and one on Saturday at 1:00 for students jumping over 2'3".  The purpose of  the Jump Schools is to set up full courses and have students practice riding a course of jumps. 

These are not lessons to work on individual jumping problems, unless they can be addressed easily.  Please try to let me know if you are planning to attend so I can make sure we don't get too full.   

Next week I have the privilege to go to Ocala, Florida to participate in an USEA Instructor's Seminar.  I am looking forward to going and listening and learning from some of the nation's top equestrians.  I will be out of town Monday through Wednesday so I will reschedule lessons for those days. 

Keep warm,

Emily

Tags: danny warrington, lakeside hj show