Clover Ledge Farm

I know everyone has their own opinion about helmet use.  And I normally refrain from writing about it here on my blog.  Hence the reason I did not post anything about Courtney King-Dye...... But in light of recent developments, I have to say something!  Personally, I wear a helmet EVERY time, EVERY ride.  I cannot imagine a reason why I would not wear my helmet (same goes for my seat belt).  I also personally don't care for the "personal choice" argument, that it is a viable choice to NOT wear a helmet (or a seat belt for that matter).  If there is technology that can SAVE YOUR LIFE, you need to take advantage of it!!!!  (I also believe that smokers should pay MORE for their health insurance - I don't smoke - but that is another thread for another blog...LOL). So it is with great happiness that I report that the USEF (United States Equestrian Federation), which governs all equine sports, has announced a landmark rule change! Effective immediately, all riders at

Not much to report.  Not much going on.  Yesterday morning at 6:30 AM when I fed the mares it was -19 degrees.  Yup, -19!  HOLY CRAP that is cold.  And at evening chores it was a blistering 3 degrees above zero!  Whooo!  This morning was a little better, with the temps just hovering above zero.  I believe it was officially 1.5 degrees.  That is way too darn cold.  But I admit that I was momentarily really HAPPY to see the arrow above zero.  LOL! The mares are doing fine in the cold.  I keep a steady supply of third crop hay in front of them and refill water frozen water buckets as much as possible.  They all had icicles on their noses the past few mornings and yesterday Dreamy had frost in her eyelashes.  It is pretty weird to see a black horse with pure white eyelashes!  LOL! I am very pleased with their winter coats and have not yet blanketed anyone.  No one is clipped, of course.  Reva did not grow much of a winter coat last year, so I did blanket her, but this year she is a true

Here is another WEG 2010 video!  This one was made by the USTA.   I think I need to make a WEG page here to keep everything together!  :)

Thanks to Kate at Riding From the Ground Up for bestowing this blogger award to me!   There are four duties to perform to receive this award: 1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award 2. Share 7 things about yourself 3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers 4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award! So I have to share seven things about myself.  Hmmmm....  I am a perfectionist and organized to a fault.  This is perhaps because I am a first born, with a Type-A personality.  :)  I like things done correctly the first time.  I have a hard time delegating because it is easier to just do it myself and not have to "fix" something that someone else did for me.  Being a perfectionist is hard, and sometimes completely stresses me out.  (Yes ,I have read the book Don't Sweat the Small Stuff .....many times! LOL!)  But I will say that I have "mellowed" out a bit over the years, especially since becoming a mom.  But I am st

It is hard to believe that I have been writing here since May 2008.  And this is officially my 300th post!  Yay! Some interesting statistics (to me, anyway! LOL): I currently have 54 "official" followers, and many others who read and/or comment but have not hit the "follow" button.   I average about 1250 views a month. Most of my traffic comes from BehindTheBit .  Thanks Stacey!  :)  While my biggest audience is the USA, I also get readers from Canada, Australia, the UK, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, and Estonia, as well as random other countries like Ethiopia and Hungary.  Very cool! The most popular posts are: Chastetree berries Ethmoid Hematomas WEG 2010 Saddle Fitting COPD/Cushings Well, here's to another great year of blogging!  :)

Look who made it on the Scarborough Downs page !  Yay for my good mares!  :)  (Sparky could not be included, as she is a Morgan after all.  LOL) It won't be there for long as they rotate pictures through.  :)

Things have been crazy around here, hence the lack of posts!  Sorry readers!  It is the end of quarter two, and this English teacher is up to her eyeballs in grading writing portfolios.  I am halfway done though, so that is a good thing! Lots of horsey things have been going on, but nothing has really sparked my interest in writing.  LOL!  And it has been brutally cold.  I mean, arctic cold.  As much as I want to ride in the beautiful snow, it is just too cold for me and the ponies.   At least the sun is out, I suppose! Something funny dawned on me today and I wanted to write about it.  I thought about how a nice dressage rider (and occasional eventer) like myself has accumulated so many WESTERN shirts!  LOL!  Yes, readers.  Western shirts!!  WHY you might ask? Well, I don't know.  :)  Dreamy and I did try our hand at showing Western pleasure this past year at the Standardbred National Show.  It was a lot of fun.  But I wore a sparkly Western show shirt for that.  Will I sh

I love to read.  I mean, yes, I am an English teacher so I TEACH reading (and writing) every day, but I still love to read regular old books that are not in the "canon".  LOL!  I tend to read more in the summer and winter, and this winter is no exception. I have recently finished the third book in a "trilogy" of novels by Susan Richards. Overall, I liked them all, with the exception of the middle one.  Remember the following is only my opinion and you may disagree, which is fine!  :) The first book Chosen by a Horse was fabulous.  Published in 2006, I want to say I read it a year later.  It is a wonderfully written memoir about how a starved and abused Standardbred mare named Lay Me Down helped heal Susan's own broken heart.  It was incredibly sad but also uplifting, and truly resonated with someone like me who has a strong bond with a horse.  I liked the Standardbred connection, of course, and I can appreciate any book that makes me cry.  This is a defini

...is so not fun!  :-(  I am not a winter person at all.  I hate having to bundle up to go outside.  And yes, I obviously was born and raised (and still live...) in the wrong state!  LOL! This week is back to reality for me which means back to work teaching.  :)  Last week during vacation I got to ride a bunch of times, which was nice, but seriously, I am NOT a winter riding person.  At least we had a bit of the January thaw, with daytime highs in the sun up into the 40s and 50s!  I sometimes wish I had an indoor to ride in, but then I think that I would still wimp out from the cold.  LOL!  Granted, with Dreamy I am careful not to ride when it is very cold, seeing as it can irritate her breathing issues. I rode Dreamy four times over my 11 day vacation, all bareback.  Mostly I was too lazy to actually tack her up, but also I think it was good for my posture.  I had to sit up at the canter or I would have fallen off!  Ha ha ha.  And Dreamy is much happier in the canter when her owne

Here is a look back to my goals I set in January 2010.  Some were met and some were not.  But overall I am very happy with how our year progressed! Sparky - ALL GOALS MET!  Yay! Keep her healthy, happy, and sound Ride/drive her lightly Dreamy - Almost all of our goals were met!  Just never got a chance to try team penning.  :(  That's for 2011! Keep her healthy, happy, and sound Continue to show at recognized dressage shows, a few of the MHA hunter shows, and perhaps a three phase event or two Compete for the third year in a row at the Standardbred Nationals in August Take at least 2 lessons per month with Judy, preferably more if possible Attend as many clinics as financially possible Marshal at the racetrack for MSBOA and SD as needed...maybe one day at Cumberland with Shel?? Go team penning and/or try cowboy mounted shooting (I am being serious!! LOL!) Continue to work on the connection to the bit at the canter, the stretchy trot, and begin to ask for increased c