After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time! most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the...
In an effort to not feel so blah about blogging, I figured I would copy my fellow bloggers who do yearly reviews. So here you are....Standardbred Excellence for the year 2011!
January
The new year began with a recap of my horse goals. I complained about riding in the winter in the Northeast and shared a book review with you. I hit my 300th post, won a blog award, shared more video from WEG, and applauded the USEF helmet rule. Oh, and it hit -19 degrees here in Maine. Somehow I have blocked that memory until just rereading that post! Ahhh!
February
I reported out on the Maine Dressage Society banquet, which is always something to look forward to during the dreary months of winter. I had fun with my friend Tania at Dover Saddlery and discussed the topic of "red snow" as it relates to horse husbandry. Reva earned her own stall plate, at the request of a reader I talked about my Morgan's relatives, and I reveled in my little Standardbred featured in the 2010 USDF Yearbook! I wrote about how much I love horses in honor of Valentine's Day, I laughed at my mare Reva and her reaction to sheep, and shared an interview about Standardbreds. I rounded out the short month by attending the SPHO-NJ banquet!
March
In March I did a 30 day challenge. Click here to see all of my posts!
April
By now, my conditioning schedule was in full swung. Tania and I went on a fun beach ride! And I continued riding my horses as much as possible because of that wonderful thing we teachers love, school vacations! :-)
May
Reva had more dental work done and I added to my horse tooth collection. I worried about moving up to First Level with Dreamy, which ended up being No Big Deal. Reva went to her first ever horse show and was champion of her division! Whooo! And I publicly thanked two of my horsey friends Tania and Shelly!
June
Reva went to her second horse show, first ever trail ride, and tackled the scary noodle curtain. Dreamy and I started back into the swing of lessons and went to another SMDA dressage show. Reva went to her first big overnight show in Skowhegan and was fabulous! Dreamy and I went to the UNH dressage show at the end of the month.
July
We had a wonderful summer and I was so busy (in a great way!) in July that I never touched the blog! LOL! Reva had the month off from showing. Dreamy and I spent a long weekend showing at Isaac Royal's USDF show, followed by another SMDA show, then had an AWESOME vacation at Acadia National Park, and finished the month doing well at a horse trial in New Hampshire.
August
Again, we were busy at shows! Dreamy went to another SMDA dressage show, had fun at a clinic with Peter Atkins. Reva made her first trip to the National Standardbred show in New Jersey and I had a rant about being "on the bit".
September
Reva debuted saddleseat at the MHA Labor Day Classic, her fifth show of the year. Dreamy was busy marshaling at the track, competing in a combined test, and our last SMDA show of the season. Reva continued her winning ways at another MHA show and earned her first custom browband!
October
I mourned along with the rest of the horse blogging community as Andrea had to put down her beloved mare Gogo. Reva went to a dressage show and cleaned up at her eighth and last show of the year, even trying out western just for giggles. We got a shout-out from friend Ellen Harvey at the USTA. Dreamy went Beginner Novice for the first time at Sunset Farm and marshals at the 3YO Finals at Scarborough Downs. Reva makes good strides in her training and we lunge her to work on her canter.
November
Reva continues to make great progress in her training as I take advantage of the gorgeous fall weather to take as many lessons as possible. I attend the 2011 MHA Year End Banquet with friends Shelly, Tania, and Katie. And I am proud to say I completed NaBloPoMo 2011!!
December
I talk about unsuccessfully switching Dreamy's SmartPak and Reva's reluctance to bend. We have a wonderful Christmas here and I am very much looking forward to 2012! Show dates are already rolling in which makes me excited! :-)
I had planned to recap my 2011 goals here too...but then I realized I never actually posted them at all! Whoops! Suffice it to say, I met all my goals....keep Sparky happy and healthy in her retirement, rock it out at Prix Caprilli and First Level with Dreamy, and have an awesome year showing Reva. I think I will outline more specific goals for 2012 in a January post...
January
The new year began with a recap of my horse goals. I complained about riding in the winter in the Northeast and shared a book review with you. I hit my 300th post, won a blog award, shared more video from WEG, and applauded the USEF helmet rule. Oh, and it hit -19 degrees here in Maine. Somehow I have blocked that memory until just rereading that post! Ahhh!
February
I reported out on the Maine Dressage Society banquet, which is always something to look forward to during the dreary months of winter. I had fun with my friend Tania at Dover Saddlery and discussed the topic of "red snow" as it relates to horse husbandry. Reva earned her own stall plate, at the request of a reader I talked about my Morgan's relatives, and I reveled in my little Standardbred featured in the 2010 USDF Yearbook! I wrote about how much I love horses in honor of Valentine's Day, I laughed at my mare Reva and her reaction to sheep, and shared an interview about Standardbreds. I rounded out the short month by attending the SPHO-NJ banquet!
March
In March I did a 30 day challenge. Click here to see all of my posts!
April
By now, my conditioning schedule was in full swung. Tania and I went on a fun beach ride! And I continued riding my horses as much as possible because of that wonderful thing we teachers love, school vacations! :-)
May
Reva had more dental work done and I added to my horse tooth collection. I worried about moving up to First Level with Dreamy, which ended up being No Big Deal. Reva went to her first ever horse show and was champion of her division! Whooo! And I publicly thanked two of my horsey friends Tania and Shelly!
June
Reva went to her second horse show, first ever trail ride, and tackled the scary noodle curtain. Dreamy and I started back into the swing of lessons and went to another SMDA dressage show. Reva went to her first big overnight show in Skowhegan and was fabulous! Dreamy and I went to the UNH dressage show at the end of the month.
July
We had a wonderful summer and I was so busy (in a great way!) in July that I never touched the blog! LOL! Reva had the month off from showing. Dreamy and I spent a long weekend showing at Isaac Royal's USDF show, followed by another SMDA show, then had an AWESOME vacation at Acadia National Park, and finished the month doing well at a horse trial in New Hampshire.
August
Again, we were busy at shows! Dreamy went to another SMDA dressage show, had fun at a clinic with Peter Atkins. Reva made her first trip to the National Standardbred show in New Jersey and I had a rant about being "on the bit".
September
Reva debuted saddleseat at the MHA Labor Day Classic, her fifth show of the year. Dreamy was busy marshaling at the track, competing in a combined test, and our last SMDA show of the season. Reva continued her winning ways at another MHA show and earned her first custom browband!
October
I mourned along with the rest of the horse blogging community as Andrea had to put down her beloved mare Gogo. Reva went to a dressage show and cleaned up at her eighth and last show of the year, even trying out western just for giggles. We got a shout-out from friend Ellen Harvey at the USTA. Dreamy went Beginner Novice for the first time at Sunset Farm and marshals at the 3YO Finals at Scarborough Downs. Reva makes good strides in her training and we lunge her to work on her canter.
November
Reva continues to make great progress in her training as I take advantage of the gorgeous fall weather to take as many lessons as possible. I attend the 2011 MHA Year End Banquet with friends Shelly, Tania, and Katie. And I am proud to say I completed NaBloPoMo 2011!!
December
I talk about unsuccessfully switching Dreamy's SmartPak and Reva's reluctance to bend. We have a wonderful Christmas here and I am very much looking forward to 2012! Show dates are already rolling in which makes me excited! :-)
I had planned to recap my 2011 goals here too...but then I realized I never actually posted them at all! Whoops! Suffice it to say, I met all my goals....keep Sparky happy and healthy in her retirement, rock it out at Prix Caprilli and First Level with Dreamy, and have an awesome year showing Reva. I think I will outline more specific goals for 2012 in a January post...
Just wanted to say... You are an inspiration to me! Last year I picked up an otsb and I cannot wait to show everyone what a versatile breed they can be!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for keeping this blog!!
Wow! You had a very busy year. I love reading about versatile horse breeds. I will have to check out your blog some more!
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining my blog!
Happy New Year
Thank you MHF! I appreciate your kind words and that is EXACTLY why I keep my blog, beyond my own personal desire to keep track of my horses' progress. I look forward to reading your blog! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Val! I am definitely busy around here...I found out quickly that showing/training TWO horses is a lot of work! LOL! Thanks for reading here and I look forward to reading your blog too! :-)