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Showing posts with the label Standardbreds

Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

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...

Ellie + Dreamy's Photo Shoot

I have always wanted to have a photo session with my horses, and I especially have loved the recent trend of black background photos of horses standing in aisles.  After meeting the professional photographer at the Vermont Morgan Heritage Days and then seeing (and buying!) her gorgeous photos, I got really excited when I realized she actually lived in Maine.  When I reached out to her to see if she would travel down her to my farm, she enthusiastically agreed! Taylor of Lasting Moments Media is a sweetheart and has a sharp eye!  She is so fun to work with and I really enjoyed our session.  She had a sneak peek up for me that night, too!  She is a horse girl herself, so she is confident around horses and how to engage them. We started with Ellie, who soon became bored with our antics and put on her bored mare face.  She looks pissy, but honestly, she had just lost interest in our human shenanigans LOL!  Dreamy was totally fine, as she is used to be...

Snap Dancer Memorial Race

I have attended the Cornish Horsemen's Day at the local trotting park since 2005, marshaling races with my now 26 year old retired Standardbred, Dreamy.  I have written about it a few times here: 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , 2012 (this is when I won my RUS race with Snappy !), 2013 , and 2014 .  I was pregnant in 2015 and too busy in 2016 to attend. This year was a bit different.  The organizer, Diann, asked me if I could marshal just after I had to put Snappy down, so of course I had to decline.  Then I got thinking about it and wondered if she might allow me to make a donation in order to have a race named after Snappy.  She was happy to do so! Race #2 ended up being the Snap Dancer Memorial.  Though Snappy raced as a trotter, it ended up being a pace.  Ah well.  Technically, Snappy was pacing bred despite the fact she raced on the trot, so it was all good haha.   I didn't think I would feel as overwhelmed as I was, getting tea...

Snappy's Final Pics - Area I SHT Champs

First, let me say thank you for all of your support and love.  It is not easy to make the decision to end a horse's life, and even though I know it was the right thing to do, it still hurts so much.  Snappy was also well loved in the Maine harness racing community, so her death affected many others beyond me.  So many people remember Snappy as the "little mare with the big heart" because she was a scrappy and gutsy mare on the track.  Snappy's little Facebook page is full of kind words and memories from those folks. I messaged Snappy's former harness trainer's wife the morning it happened, because I wanted them both to know directly from me.  I also messaged her previous owner's wife, Cindy, who I have never met, and she has been so kind.  She's not a horse person, but she shared with me that she is the one who named Snap Dancer when she was born.  Her husband, Bruce, who gave Snappy to me, is now suffering from dementia/Alzheimer's from what I ...