Clover Ledge Farm

Ten days after the April 22 dressage show at HBF, we were back for their second show! It felt like a lot of showing after a winter off, but it also was good to test where we were so early on. Plus, these shows are so laid back and ho-hum for us, since it is our lesson barn, it is always good to practice tests in the ring where we lesson! We had run through First 2 earlier that week in our lesson and Beth really liked how I rode that test better than First 1. This was especially true in the canter work, as you lengthen the stride and then circle 15 m. in First 1 but you do the opposite in First 2. For where we are right now, cantering the 15 m. circle and THEN asking for the lengthening seems to help Ellie balance and develop her medium canter much more than how it is asked for in First 1. I know we are not ready quite yet for the canter loops of First 3, but to me it didn't matter which of the other First level tests we rode. So as Beth is the show secretary haha, she just had me r...

While Rejoice and I were busy playing jumper pony, Ellie and I had been concentrating on our dressage lessons during the late winter and early spring. It felt good to come back from a pretty laidback winter and not to have lost any training; in fact, I think Ellie's winter break did her a world of good. It felt as though she had matured a ton and was ready to be a First Level horse. She is coming nine this year and I think it is my favorite age so far! this was March but pretty representative of our winter rides Beth and I agreed it would be a good idea to knock off the rust and get the first 2021 show under our belt, so I entered the little schooling show her barn held during April school vacation. It ended up being freezing cold and spitting sn*w (which is better than the rain that was forecasted I suppose lol), so the weather wasn't exactly ideal and fun, but it was worth getting into the big outside ring and riding First 1 to see where we were at. We had not ridden this tes...

By mid September, Ellie and I had started to get ourselves together. It wasn't perfect, but it felt so much better to have put in the time, sweat, and tears to begin to move past our issues with stopping. I felt really discouraged for most of the summer, so moving through that was huge. Of course, my rides at Green Acres and Esprit in August had still contained stops, but our lessons were where we really showed improvement.  when you ask your small child to take a photo of you on your horse and he wants a selfie, too  I took Ellie down one day to the farm where Babette was based out of for years called Gathering Farm (she is now at a new barn because Gathering sold over the winter). It was an opportunity to take a lesson over fences in a new place, so while it wasn't totally like a show, it was nice to jump in that environment. And can I just say that Hamilton, MA is such beautiful horse country! It is home to Myopia Hunt as well as many other lovely barns like Ledyard Farm. B...

Our third attempt at First level was at the August "team" show at HBF. This is always a fun show because not only do we get to ride and be scored on our tests, we are also put into teams ahead of time for an overall team score as well. Complete with neck sashes and a white polo awards ceremony, this is always a highlight of summer showing! Ellie and I had some serious growing pains with First Level in 2020, which is probably fitting in the Year of the Dumpster Fire that was 2020 haha. However, it gave me space to figure things out, with the help of Beth of course, and just sticking with First 1 and showing at HBF. This August show was a clear step in the right direction and helped me to remember that progress is not linear just because you want it to be. Training an opinionated young horse teaches much more than just horsemanship.  Our first ride was a 61.2069% with our typical unbalanced bobbles in the canter and difficulty with submission. Our reride was a bit better with a...

We headed back to our lesson barn in July for another go at First Level. This was a little different, as Beth decided to try a Thursday show. This meant it was a super relaxed day with a bit few entries than normal. At this point, we were still struggling with Ellie's canter, to help her find her balance by slowing down the canter. This was a huge work in progress in 2020, so this show we still had comments related to her balance in the canter. However, we also scored a few 7s and an 8 on our trot, free walk, and center lines which was great. We ended up with a pair of 61% which was incredibly accurate for that point in time in a small class of five.  First 1 the first time = 61.8966% 3rd First 1 the reride = 61.5517% 4th This was also about the time I finally admitted to myself that my Stubben Juventus just wasn't working well. Yes, it fit Ellie perfectly, but it really didn't fit me. It tipped me forward and I just couldn't be effective in the saddle. I started a supe...

Ellie and I had a late start to starting up dressage lessons in the spring of 2020, which was fine with me since I appreciated the opportunity to get out for lessons at all! So many of our issues at the time stemmed from connection (a lack thereof) and Ellie blowing off my seat/half halts. It was nice to look at 2020 as an opportunity to really buckle down on training and not worry about showing rated or pushing ourselves to really get solid at First level. Beth (my instructor) wanted us to tackle First level in the competition ring, even though we still had plenty of bobbles and Ellie did not always want to work as a team haha. But the pressure was off due to COVID which was actually just what we needed. We tackled First Level in the middle of June 2020. We ended up only doing dressage tests/shows at Hidden Brook Farm, where we take lessons, which was perfect. And we only did First 1 last year because we were NOT ready to do much else haha. It was a huge growing year. Our debut at Fir...

Again this year, Ellie won her fair share (and then some) of year-end awards for 2019!  We competed at Training level dressage and three consecutive levels in eventing.  We started the year in June at pre-elementary and won, then did two events at elementary for a first and second, and ended the year moving up to advanced elementary in October.  We also did two what I think of as "regular horse shows", the Vermont Heritage Days and the Maine Morgan Breeder's Cup Benefit Show. I am listing this in order of banquet dates, so that is why there seems to be no rhyme or reason.  (Plus, having posted this over a year later, can I just say how weird it is to see pics of everyone without masks???) Maine Horse Association  Training Level Champion with a 67.4995% American Morgan Horse Association  Open Competition Program Reserve Champion Eventing 5th place Traini ng level dressage    Central Maine Dressage Association 3rd place Tr...

I had many great horsey experiences in 2019!  I am really pleased with how the year went overall; nothing is ever perfect, but both horses are sound, happy, and healthy, which is really what matters to me. Some of my 2019 goals were met easily or with lots of hard work, and a few of them were utter fails haha.  C'est la vie! Let's recap! Happy, health, sound Both mares are doing well in this regard!  Dreamy will be 29 this year, and while she definitely shows signs of her age at times, she overall looks and acts much younger than she really is!  Ellie has really matured this year, filling out as well as mentally becoming more comfortable in her own skin.  As she will be eight this year, I feel like we have moved through the baby phase. having this photo shoot was definitely a highlight of 2019! Continue lessons with Beth and Babette This goal was met and then some!  I took almost weekly dressage lessons with Beth and monthly jump lessons with B...

Ellie and I closed out our busy 2019 season with a dressage clinic with USDF Gold medalist  Ashley Madison of Yellow Wood Dressage  at Hidden Brook Farm (where I take lessons).  Almost exactly a year ago, I rode with her  for the first time; this year I was able to ride both weekend days thanks to my Morgan Dressage Association scholarship! Ashley had not seen Ellie in a year, so she was suitably impressed with the progress we have made.  I really like being able to ride in a two-day clinic as it seems to help solidify what you learned the first day by being able to practice it again immediately (at least immediately in my mind as someone who takes weekly lessons haha). I was also lucky to ride in a later afternoon lesson on Saturday and then Ellie spent the night at HB Farm and I rode in the second lesson on Sunday morning.  It was so much easier to only truck her up and back home once, plus Ellie LOVES being at HB Farm haha. Riding with Ashley help...

On the last day of September, I received an email from the Vermont Morgan Horse Association asking if I would be interested in bringing Ellie to Equine Affaire in Massachusetts from November 7-10.  I became a member of VMHA this year when I decided to compete at Vermont Heritage Days; so even though I live in Maine and not Vermont haha, I made a snap decision to say yes!   Our VMHA booth in C Barn Honestly, it was 21 minutes after the email came in that I responded yes!  Then I had to figure out how to actually make it all happen hahahahaha.  Typical. All set up! I attended Equine Affaire as a spectator a few times way back when and then for many years I ran the breed booth for the Standardbreds, including a four-day stint in C Barn with Dreamy back in 2013 .  It is fun and exhausting to travel 4+ hours one way from home to talk with thousands of people, walk thousands of miles around the venue (ok, not that far but close), and ride in demos on a ...