Clover Ledge Farm

My grandfather, whom I call Bampie and have written about here , is not only one of my favorite people, but also one of my favorite horse people.  He taught me so much in the years I boarded my first mare Sparky at his farm.  I was lucky enough to board her there for the first six months I owned her in eighth grade, and after a year and a half boarding elsewhere, I brought her back from my sophomore year in high school until I moved her here to Cornish with me in 2003.  He took care of her for me all through college, and there were times when I would not be able to visit her for a week or two at a time.  But I always knew Sparky was fine.  Bampie is the one person who I truly have never had to worry about leaving my horse with.   Anyway, I visited and went out to lunch with Bampie on Christmas Eve day.  Besides the usual Christmas card and cash gift (thank you Bampie!) he gave me a brand new pair of leather splint boots. Now granted, they are 20+ years old.  LOL!  But they were

My son and I took advantage of the gorgeous sunny weather yesterday to play in the snow with Dreamy.  He was very giggly at first, mostly because he has never ridden bareback (usually has his teeny western saddle) and because he has never ridden in the snow!  He is hot/cold about the horses....at age six I would have been in heaven if my mother owned three horses!  LOL!  But I can understand how growing up with them in the backyard takes some of the excitement out of it.  I NEVER push him to ride.  It is always his idea.  And he was having so much fun yesterday that I had to beg to have my own turn!  LOL! After a moment of walk, he decided to ask Dreamy to trot.  LOL!  Ummmm, no kiddo, Mama's not going to let you trot bareback, in the snow, and without a lead/lunge line attached!  Thankfully Dreamy knows her job as a babysitter and did not actually go into a trot.  This past summer was the first time he agreed to ride without a lead rope attached and actually steers very well.  H

Here is a video from WEG!  I believe this was our second demo.  :)  

Up here in Maine, we got about 8-9 inches of snow overnight Sunday into Monday.  The wind was also howling so I left the mares inside for a while on Monday morning.  Once it stopped snowing and the visibility was a bit better, I let them out around noon time.  They were happy to be out but were certainly ready to come inside at 4PM for dinner!  LOL! I took a bunch of photos when I let them outside.  They were pretty cute in the snow and wind!  There is not much space in their winter paddocks, but all three ran around, bucked, and rolled multiple times.  Then Reva tore around the longest while the other two "mature" mares watched!  It was pretty cute! More pics can be seen here on my Facebook page !  You do not need Facebook to view them!   Here is Ms. Sparky!  Love this mare! Reva being frisky in the snow! Reva playing in the snow! Reva rolled about ten times!  LOL! Dreamy rolling... This was right after Dreamy got up.  I think this picture is SCA

First, congratulations to Now That's A Trot for winning the saddle pad number contest!  :)  She guessed 36 and I actually own 38.  Yay!  I know her personally so can email and get her address.  I have a fun little horsey surprise to send her.  Thanks to everyone for guessing! We had a wonderful Christmas here.  All of the family on both sides came here and I cooked a large ham (from our own pig!) dinner.  All was said and done by 3PM which was unheard of!  It was wonderful...I got to spend some time in the barn and the boys took a nap!  :) I have a Christmas tradition to ride my horse (now horses...) bareback in the snow.  The only year I did not do this was the year my parents bought me a County dressage saddle back in college.  :)  Of course, I had to try out the saddle!  LOL! I took Sparky out first.  There is only about 2 inches of snow so it was not as exciting as some years, but that was OK.  Sparky was cute....I forget how small and smooth she is.  Her trot felt like

So my computer is still being fixed, but it seems as though the end is in sight.  I should be able to pick it up tomorrow!  Yay!  :) Anyway, just thought I would post something funny.  I was putting away some of my show saddle pads the other night and decided to take all of the pads out of the (huge) trunk to organize them.  As I was sorting them into piles (show vs. schooling, dressage vs. AP vs. western, etc, etc.) I began to count.   Now, I have owned a horse for 18 years and have been riding for 26.  That's a long time to accumulate horsey stuff.  And now with the three mares, I have a bad habit of justifying buying more tack because I own more horses.  But in my defense, none of Sparky and Dreamy's cob sized equipment and tack fit Reva.  So I DO have to buy larger sized items! LOL! I sort of wish I had not counted the saddle pads.  I feel like a bit of a glutton.  But it is hard to not purchase a saddle pad with a good price, sort of like the $5 fitted AP one I nab

My computer is currently dead from a terrible virus, hence the lack of posts.  I am hoping it will be fixed properly this week.  :(  Thank goodness for my work computer!  LOL! Anyway, just had to share something cute.  Reva is probably one of the most affectionate horses I have ever met, and certainly the most affectionate out of the three I own.  Sparky simply "puts up" with me, her servant, while Dreamy does like to nicker lovingly to me and puts up with minimal fussing.  Reva, on the other hand, is the biggest lovebug ever.  She whinnies loudly to me when she sees me and would quite honestly like to climb into my lap if she could.  While she is very loving, she is not an obnoxious in-your-face kind of horse, thankfully. So every night after I bring the mares inside, grain them, and all that, just as I am leaving the barn, I give them each a cookie.  It has become ritual enough that they will actually stand with their heads over their doors waiting for me.  LOL!  Sparky

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) National Convention, Symposium, and Awards Dinner this past weekend.  I flew to Jacksonville, Florida on December 3 and thankfully the northeast weather was fine for traveling.  You just never know in December!  LOL! My friend Tina from Florida was nice enough to pick me up from the airport.  We headed straight to the Jacksonville Equestrian Center, where the Symposium was to be held.  We had a booth at the trade show, to represent the United States Trotting Association (USTA) and Standardbreds in Dressage!  It did not take us long to get the booth set up and looking fabulous!  Jessica at the USTA had the banner made.... This photo above was taken by the USDF photographer and posted to their FaceBook page!  Yay Standardbreds!  :) Enjoying our booth!  :)  Tina is on the left, I am on the right! We decorated our booth with dressage ribbons...most were from the Florida Standardbreds since I