Clover Ledge Farm

I have many wonderful horse friends all over the place, from here in my home state, to Florida, New Jersey, and even the west coast.  But I wanted to write up a little something here on the blog for two of my horse friends I am very thankful for.  They both deserve their moment in the blog spotlight!  :-D First is my friend Tania.  She was a HUGE help to me last year at WEG, doing everything from riding co-pilot in my truck, to actually driving my rig for me after I had driven 10 hours straight, to helping me prep Dreamy for each ride, to taking awesome pics of us all!  :-)  And she was nice enough to volunteer to tag along to the May 8 show, Reva's first show ever, so that I did not have to be alone.  She is officially now my "show mommy".....HA HA HA!  ;-D  I show alone a lot, so it was nice to have someone to help me and keep me sane!  LOL!  She and I also did a beach ride this year and have many more adventures planned!...

So, it's March and I need some inspiration to get me through one of the toughest months here in Maine!  LOL!  I have Facebook friends who I have seen do a 30 day challenge with pics, but I don't really want to do this on Facebook.  I am going to try my best to post every day for the month!  (OK, so yeah, there are 31 days in March....whatever!  LOL!!!) Day One:  A picture of you and your horse Well, this one is easy!  :-) First up is Revenue Stream, nicknamed Reva.  She is a 2006 Standardbred mare who I have owned since July 5, 2009.  Reva never raced or even qualified as she was unable to train down past 2:20.  She was given to me by Carter Duer of Peninsula Farm (as in I am listed as owner on her papers!).  This is a photo of us cantering along during a clinic last summer with Chris Lombard .  Next is Dreamy Starlet, a 1991 Standardbred mare.  Dreamy is a retired race horse and broodmare who started out as a ...

I love how my blog sometimes creates neat occurrences!  :-)  I was contacted last summer via email by a woman named Kathy who was finishing up a book called The North American Sport Horse Breeder.   She said she had been looking for a Standardbred example for her book to go along with the examples of Thoroughbreds, Morgans, and Saddlebreds she had already found.  She found my mare listed in the results for a UNH dressage show (she's an alumna too!) and then found my blog!  I was amazed and flattered, especially since I think there are "better" Standardbreds out there than my own (such as my "teammates" from WEG last fall), but I agreed to supply her with some further information about Dreamy.  It seems that Kathy was amazed at her age, the fact that she is a proven broodmare, and that she has shown to be very versatile under saddle. Kathy's website describes her breeding methods, known as the Tesio method.  From what I understand, it involves a ca...

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!  :)

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

An article I wrote for a state equine publication was published this month!  Check it out!  Click here.

I received an email today from Jessica at the USTA.  It seems they are including a small blurb about the WEG Standardbreds in the November issue of Hoof Beats .  She wrote, "They chose a picture of Liz & Dreamy and a quote from Laura and it’s on the first page of “Starting Lines".  Not only is it exciting that they wrote again about the WEG Standardbred team, but they chose a photo of my horse!  :)  Yay Dreamy!  LOL!  I love it! I am a subscriber and should receive my monthly issue this week.  I'll scan it to post here!  :D

I had an absolutely amazing time at WEG.  I was very lucky to be asked by the USTA to step up from being the jumping alternate (chosen in 2008) and actually be a part of the jumping demo.  The horse who was supposed to jump did a western pleasure demo instead, due to her navicular.  So the jumping section of our demo was performed by Dreamy and I (as the eventing horse) and my friend Helene and her horse JB (as the show jumping horse). It was so much work to prep and plan for this event.  I had so many lists!  LOL!  Shipping my horse 1000+ miles to Kentucky was a huge undertaking as well.  I am proud that I did 99% of the driving myself, except for just a few hours at the end of the trip on the way down.  After too many hours in the driver's seat, I needed to take a break and my friend Tania stepped up to help.  Dreamy was just perfect.  With her COPD issues, I had to be super careful about where I stabled her...I ended up putting her ...

So far, my trip to the World Equestrian Games has been amazing.  I am tired and need to sleep, so this is more of a quick update rather than the longer posts I plan to type eventually.  :) Dreamy and I left Maine last Thursday and drove to New Jersey to spend the night.  We then went on to Kentucky, with our friends Helene and her Standardbred JB in tow.  We also have two fabulous "grooms" Christie and Tania with us.  :)  We arrived in Kentucky on Friday night, and we stayed the night with the horses with our friends Justin and Laura, who live right outside of Lexington.  Laura is also in the demo with her Standardbred mare Legs! We had team practice at the Red Mile on Saturday and then moved into the Horse Park this morning!  It has been a crazy whirlwind trip.  This is seriously the most exciting equine experience of my thirty-one years. Tonight was our first demo and it was OK.  It was FREEZING and windy, but you cannot control ...

We are off to the World Equestrian Games today!  :)  Click here ..... Long drive ahead....wish us luck and I will update as much as I can!

Well, I got my letter from USTA today. We were chosen as the alternate for the jumping demo at the FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2010. BUMMER! Ah well. The discipline I applied for was eventing, as I was hoping I could do a cross country demo on that fabulous KHP course! LOL ! And instead, the worst part is that they did not separate hunter/jumpers and eventing....so they were all considered "jumping." There were 6 horses chosen: one hunter over fences (no idea who), two dressage (one is my friend Helene's horse JB and the other is that gray from FL named Sea the Gray or whatever) , one barrel racing (that would be J's Duncan), one carriage driving (no idea), and one "riding" horse (no idea). I have no clue what type of "riding", since the woman at USTA who I spoke to did not know either. LOL ! Granted, they are not riding folks. :) So I am the alternate for the "hunter over fences demo". It stinks that s...

Hmmm.....I am not sure yet if I should apply. I need a jumping video in order to do so. I am CROSSING FINGERS that I can get a good video of dressage. XC, and stadium at our first event of the year on July 6. Here is the press release from the USTA: Calling all Standardbred Pleasure Horse enthusiasts Monday, May 05, 2008 - by Deveau Zubrod, USTA Advertising Director Columbus, OH --- The USTA is now accepting applications for Standardbreds to be included in a breed demonstration to be held at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Sept. 25–Oct. 10, 2010 in Lexington, Ky. The 2010 Games will be the first of its kind held in North America and we need you to be a part of the Standardbred’s representation at this prestigious event. Although the event runs for 16 days, we will only be doing one demo, so it is not necessary to be at the entire event. The demonstration will likely run for 15-20 minutes and will highlight the best of what your horse has to offer in its respective discipline. We...