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Showing posts from January, 2009

NER United States Pony Club Show Jump Rally - July 20, 2019

Ellie and I had SO MUCH FUN at our first Pony Club jump rally this year.  We drove up to Clay Brook Farms, where we had our D-1/D-2 rating, in order to compete for the day on July 20.  This happened to be one of the hottest days of summer, so the organizers modified the schedule a bit.  Instead of doing two rounds in the morning and one in the afternoon, we all did just two rounds (with a ten-minute break in between) all in the morning, so we were done and headed out just after lunch.  
Everything ran so smoothly despite the condensed format.  We were able to do our formal inspections right before we mounted up, and we were all encouraged to limit our warm up time.  We were not allowed to wear jackets, and there was a TON of horse water and ice cold human water available at numerous stations around the field.
I was competing with Epona Pony Club, but I was again put on a Horsemaster team with two other adults from Foxcroft Pony Club, Angie and Beth, the two riders I competed with at the…
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Greetings to my readers!

Welcome! If you are coming here for the first time or if you have been an avid reader from the beginning....just wanted to say hello! I decided to create this blog for my own use last summer to keep track of our training progress and goals. Lately I have not cared for the idea that "anyone" could read it, hence the reason why you now must be an invited reader. I am flattered that any of my friends wanted to read it in the first place!

If anyone else you know has been reading along and wants to be invited, have them send me an email! :) I just no longer want "random" people or folks looking to start trouble here any more.

Happy reading! And please feel free to post comments too! :)
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Rambling Thoughts on a Snowy Day...

YAY! This is my 100th blog post! :) I was hoping to have something exciting to share in my 100th post, but alas, nothing is very exciting around here right now. (ETA: Hmmm...interestingly it says I have 100 posts on my "dashboard", but it only shows 99 on the right side of the blog....ah, whatever. Close enough). :)

It is a snow day, so I am home. That means housework, which is not my favorite thing. It means I am bored and can only do so many barn chores until I am cold and tired. It also means I get to shovel out paths to the manure pile and horse trailer. Oh the joy of winter in Maine!

So because my riding life has been put on hold for a while, there is not much to post in the area of training. So instead I will just give a summary of each mare. Overall, Dreamy and Sparky are both doing well this winter. My only complaint is the same it always is around this time.....I am ready for above freezing temps!!! BRRRRR!!! Anything under 70 degree is cold to me.

Dreamy is now clippe…
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2009 Plans....I think!

Well, the omnibuses (omnibii??) are not even out yet, and here I am digging through websites finding dates. LOL! The stressful part about putting together a show calendar in Maine in January is that I can't ride right now! OK, I can ride, but not train. But hey, I have shown horses for many many years and always done fine with my conditioning schedule and making it to early spring shows despite no indoor. Long slow miles on the road. That is why it pays to live in the middle of nowhere on a quiet street. :)

Anyway, here is what I think might happen this year:

April 19 SMDA schooling show (might be too early, need to play it by ear)
May 9/10 NEDA Spring (MA)
June 26-27 UNHUSDF dressage show (NH)
July 11-12 Issac Royal USDF dressage show (ME)
July 25-26 Issac Royal USDF dressage show (ME)
Aug. 1-2 UNHUSDF dressage show (NH)
Aug. 28-30 National Standardbred Championship show (NJ)
Sept. 9-13 NEDA Fall Festival (NY) This is the Region 8 championships, but I probably will not qualify, but do the…
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For the record....

This is MY BLOG. If you don't like what I write, don't read it. The country is founded on free speech. Well guess what folks??? The only free speech here on MY BLOG is my own. Here is a great article, well worth reading:

http://www.idiotsguidetoblogging.com/2008/03/rude-comments.html

And just a quick lesson on Blogger's Content Policy, taken directly from their site. The bold color is my own addition.

Blogger is a free service for communication, self-expression and freedom of speech. We believe Blogger increases the availability of information, encourages healthy debate, and makes possible new connections between people.

We respect our users' ownership of and responsibility for the content they choose to share. It is our belief that censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression.

In order to uphold these values, we need to curb abuses that threaten our ability to provide this service and the freedom of expression it encourages…
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2008 Year End Awards

Dreamy was a rockstar in her second year of showing...and second year of being under saddle essentially. We moved up a level at both dressage and eventing competitions, so I knew not to expect the same year end results as last year. We are still in the baby tadpole levels, but nevertheless I am proud of my girl.

And our results are......we won 21 year ends this year!

Southern Maine Dressage Association(SMDA awards placings by TEST). Click HERE to see full results and my pic too! LOL!

Reserve Champion Intro test B - 68.333%
Fifth place Training test 1 - 58.083%
2008 Champion High Point Senior Rider
(for the third year in a row......with two different horses)
Maine Dressage Society
(MDS awards placings by LEVEL).
Reserve Champion Standardbred Horse of the Year
Third place Introductory level - 67.5%
Tenth place Training level - 58.261%
SPHO-NJGrand Champion Dressage division
Grand Champion Combined Training division
Reserve Champion Ambassador Standardbred of the Year
Third place Versatility Award
Thi…
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Lemonade Award!

My blogger friend OnTheBit, who owns a gorgeous TB named Gennyral and leases a talented Appy named Texas, passed on the Lemonade Award to me! YAY, my first blog award! LOL! :)

THANKS OnTheBit! :)
As far as I can tell, the Lemonade Award is for blogs that have or show a great attitude. I certainly try to keep my attitude positive, and anyone who knows what it is like to juggle family, horses, and showing can affirm how much work it can be and how much of a balancing act it all is. And of course, I have always tried to be really positive and thankful for my Little Horse That Could, my Standardbred dressage star Dreamy, whom the blog is named after. And of course, nothing else cheers me up than my first love, my first horse Sparky.
Here is what she wrote on her blog as to why she awarded this to me:
STBEventer over at Standardbred Excellence is making the tough transition from stay at home mom to working warrior and is still keeping her show goals up for this summer.
I am supposed to award t…
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The more people I meet, the more I like my horses.

Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed. --Albert Einstein
Ain't that the truth??? And just think, I learned all this from being involved with horses!
I am feeling the need to pontificate, after a stressful week of bitter cold temps, the end of the quarter at school (and grading up to my eyeballs), and a stomach flu that ran rampant through my little family. UGGG. So, dear reader, you can either put up with me or ignore me. The choice is yours. :)
A little background.....after many years of being involved with various horse organizations as a competitor, I decided to "give back" and volunteer my time. Being a stay-at-home mom gave me "free time" (I use that term loosely...) to say yes when asked to be president of a statewide club. That experience was fabulous. In two years, I met tons of great horse folks and enjoyed being involved from the business end of an organization. I happily passed the reins to another member this past December 2008…
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Taming the Woolly Wild Pony

Well, taming her fur that is. ;-) Dreamy did not grow a winter coat the first year I owned her. So I always have blanketed her. And the last two winters I have clipped her anyway, so I never really knew what kind of coat she might now grow. This winter, her hair became woolly and shaggy pretty quickly in late fall....hmm amazing what good nutrition will do! I knew with my job I would not be able to ride as much as in past fall/winters, so I opted to just leave her be and see how she did. To me, a horse's natural winter coat is better than any blanket I can buy.
Then I finally got a lesson scheduled for today that I really thought we would be able to actually have. The forecast did not call for snow. LOL! Unfortunately I had to cancel it a few hours beforehand, as my instructor let me know it was VERY cold at the indoor and with Dreamy's respiratory issues, it would not be a good plan to ride her there. I was bummed and almost just said the hell with it, since I want to hav…
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Horses of My Past (Oh and a few older shots of Sparky too)

Lately I have reconnected with many childhood horsey friends via Facebook. It has been a ton of fun to see scanned pics of us from years ago. Some of these girls I have not seen for 15-17 years!

So I decided to scan some of my photos the other night to post. Luckily the scanner was in a good mood. So here are some that I posted on FB. If you have not found me there yet, come on by!
Here I am in an undated photo, but I would say 1982 or so? I was perhaps three years old and exhibiting signs of the horse bug. I honestly remember begging for this pony ride, though I do not remember much of the ride itself. I have always been such a serious rider! :D Gotta love the no helmet and being STRAPPED onto the saddle. Safety first!
This is my first love, JoydaleJumelle, circa 1988. I miss her. :( She is full sister to Sparky. I helped train her (so really she was my first training project!) and I got to back her. She was for sale, as was all the young stock at the farm, and I BEGGED my parents to bu…
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