Clover Ledge Farm

I was contacted the other night via email because I was selected for a NEDA Flextime Lesson! YAY! Click HERE for more info on what I am talking about....

Basically, Flextime is a program through the New England Dressage Association for junior and adult amateur members. It gives you an opportunity to take a lesson from an instructor you may not otherwise get to have......at a very discounted price. The instructors who agree to do this are basically donating their time. You have to fill out an application and mail it with a $45 check. You must choose your top three choices of instructors (there were 34 different listed to choose from this year) and then you are selected based on application and postmark.

My first choice was Lendon Gray. I would have crapped my pants if I had gotten that lesson! I emailed Ms. Gray before I applied to ask her about stabling and such. Basically, had I received her as an instructor, I would have trucked to her NY farm for a long weekend, taken my Fle…

Dreamy has a signature head toss. I have only ever seen other Standardbreds do this...specifically Volo who I wrote about here.

Anyway, on Monday night this week, I took the camera out with me when I did night chores. Of course, after a few pics the camera ran out of battery (typical), so I was unable to get her head toss filmed. Ah well....here are the pics I was able to take. She totally does this as her way of flipping me off. She does it when I dare to be late when feeding her. She does it in the winter when she is bored and not ridden enough. She does it in the evening when she is waiting for her treat. Both mares have me trained so that I give them a treat after they finish their grain. (They each get carrot chunks IN their grain....but then they get a cookie afterward...LOL!)

Interestingly, she only does the middle finger head toss for me. :p

So Dreamy finishes her grain first and proceeds to flip me off. I wait until both mares are done before I distribute a cookie to…

So, after a week's vacation, it has been a week since I last rode. Pooh! The weather and temps just did not cooperate this week. Yesterday it was bright and sunny, but FREEZING with the wind howling. My mom was here (built-in babysitter!) so I was determined to ride, but it was just too cold.

So this morning, S was so thoughtful and recommended I ride in the morning instead of waiting for C's nap time at 1PM like I usually do. The forecast was calling for snow after lunch, so it did seem like a good plan. It was overcast this morning, but no wind and the temps were mid-30s. Time to ride!

Our ride was much like last Sunday. However, due to the storm this past week, there is now tons of ice in the driveway, so I had to either ride in the field or not at all. I tacked up, praying that the footing would be OK. It seemed to be to me, but I am not a 1000 pound horse with hooves.

Anyway, the footing was fine. It was a little more crunchy than it has been all winter, as we got some freez…

A blogger friend On the Bit sent this award my way! Thanks OTB!!! I cannot wait to meet her this summer when I return to NJ to show. Actually I had debated on whether or not to invite her to the SPHO-NJ Banquet this month, but then I got thinking that she might think I was crazy, since we have never "officially" met in person yet. LOL! But anyway, I felt silly.....AND then I saw OTB's comments about the banquet and now wish I had just invited her anyway. I think we would have had a blast hanging out.

Next year OTB! You are so coming with me! :D

The award description:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

So now…

Yay, I finally got to ride again! I despise winter, only getting to ride once a week if I am lucky. Blech.

Today was a pretty decent day, weather wise. It was sunny, the wind was calm, and it was in the upper 30s. The barnyard/driveway area is clear, except for one spot of ice that is easily avoidable. Of course, it is a little muddy, but not enough to cause the footing to be poor. And of course, this area is only about the size of a 25 m. circle, which makes things rather limited, but we did OK.

I wanted to go on the road and just do some LONG SLOW conditioning miles. But there was someone buzzing around the neighborhood on a four-wheeler, so I made the decision to live rather than get out onto the road and be killed by a stupid teenager illegally riding his four-wheeler. Gotta love rural Maine. *sigh*

But our muddy circle was OK. I did some walk stretching and bending followed by some short burst of trot, and then alternated a marching medium walk and a long and low stretchy walk. Drea…

Here are two neat photos of Dreamy I came across in my newly arrived Maine Dressage Society 2009 omnibus. I was not aware that either pic would be used, so it was exciting to see them!

The first is an ad for the upcoming Linda Zang symposium. I have been checking the SMDA website nearly daily for the application. I am planning to apply to ride Dreamy with Ms. Zang, and I am crossing my fingers that I might be chosen! Of course, even if I am not chosen to ride (it costs a couple hundred bucks for a 45 minute lesson...) I will plan to audit the clinic.

Now, of course it is hard to tell if this is really my horse used as advertising. But I saw that pic, saw the white spot on the shoulder, and if this is not Dreamy, I will eat my hat. It HAS to be the two of us...and I think it was from a SMDA show in 2007, and the pic was taken by R. Cuffey.



The next photo was used in an advertisement for SPHO-Maine. Now, personally I think the ad was poorly done, since it does NOT even SAY SPHO-Maine on it…

So, I have had about 100 bales of AWFUL hay in my barn. Reason? See this post here and here.

I finally got around to putting an ad in Uncle Henry's about the hay. I wrote something like Hay for sale, dusty but stored in the barn, first crop, $3.00/bale, you pick up. We bought it for $4/bale, but because it was so dusty from mold, I did not feel right about selling it for that much. We figured we would just take a hit on the price and chalk it up to bad luck.

Well, it finally went in last week and I got three calls. The first one was from a neighbor of mine who ended up buying 66 bales for her new donkeys. Cool. I guess donkeys are OK with a little mold.

Then I got two calls the next night and told them both that whomever showed up with the money in hand would get it, first come, first serve, no promises. One person from the neighboring town came the next night, money in hand, and bought 40 bales. Then he and his wife decided on the spot to bring that load home and come back for the r…

Pics of the award table...



I tell you, SPHO-NJ knows how to put on an awards banquet! The awards are gorgeous!


Some of the gift baskets from the Chinese auction....


Here is the Taurmade award Dreamy won, with presenter Helene.


Here I am with Rob winning the Training level horse award from the National show.


Here I am winning the reserve Ambassador Standardbred award.


Here I am winning the overall Combined Training award.


Here I am winning the overall Dressage award.


Here I am with ALL my awards! :D


Thanks SPHO-NJ!!!!!!!!! :D And can I just say that I LOVE Rob's shirt??????? I am dying for a Burberry purse in that pattern! ROFL!!! ;-)Here is the ad I bought for the banquet program. Rob designed it.

This is the slideshow I created for the SPHO-NJ banquet, held on Sunday, February 8, 2009. If anyone wants to purchase one of their own, please let me know. They cost $25 through One True Media.


Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I had AN. AMAZING. TIME. at the SPHO-NJ banquet this past weekend! I am so glad I was able to make the 390 mile (780 round trip) journey. It was so fun to see everyone and to just have a good time.

SPHO-NJ puts on a fabulous banquet and puts all the banquets I have attended here in Maine to shame. Not only are the awards simply fabulous, but the atmosphere, the food, and the people are just outstanding. I have never met such a dedicated and inclusive group of Standardbred owners. They have treated me like one of their own, despite the fact that I am from Maine. They have supported my competitive aspirations without thinking I am a "show off". They have never once made me feel bad for supporting the racing industry. It is a shame that I have to go all the way to NJ to get this, despite the fact that there is an SPHO chapter right here in Maine.

The dinner was so yummy. The gift basket Chinese auction was outstanding! I donated a $30tack shop gift certificate to the auction, and…

I was finally able to ride this past Sunday after it being so darn cold for so long that doing anything was impossible! It was just above freezing, so still not "warm", but better than below zero!!

My mare was awesome for not having worked in months. The driveway is plowed well enough to ride and there was a spot on the edge where the grass was showing so I was able to trot for about 6-7 strides! LOL! Funny how that makes me excited in the dead of winter.....trotting 6 strides! YAY! So I did a lot of walk/halt transitions to get her sensitive to my leg. Boy, she was like "HUH? Leg? But I am on vacation MOM!" It took a few minutes, but I got her right there between my leg and hand. Stopping and walking with a perfect connection to the bit. No head tossing and using her hind end! Yay! And the best part is she did it without having a hissy fit! I am hoping that is something of her past......crossing fingers.

Then I did a little bit of walk-trot-walk. Agai…

This past weekend was a pretty good weekend. For one thing, it did not snow! :) Yesterday I drove down to Double G Ranch tack shop. C got to spend some time with Grampa so I could have some alone time to SHOP! :)

Armed with gift certificates from Christmas, I was ready to shop. The biggest thing I wanted was a new pair of riding boots. My dad bought me my first pair of leather boots back in 1997 when I entered college. He wanted me to have new boots as I was riding in the college's riding program. It took forever to find a pair that fit, as I have small feet and wide calves. I do not even know what brand they are, but I do remember driving all the way to Wellsley, MA to the Dover store to get them (this was before Dover was in NH).

Anyway, my trusty boots have about had it. They were well worth the money spent 12 years ago, and I will still keep them of course. But it was time for a new pair, especially for showing. Dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I said NEW BOOTS! Bec…