Clover Ledge Farm

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...

I almost didn't attend the last Pony Club rally of the year, because I wasn't sure if I wanted to show in the dressage show on Saturday and then the rally the following day.  But seeing as this rally with Central New England Region (through Atlantic Pony Club) is only for riders at the D level, and my plan is to earn my C-1 next year, I knew that this was my one and only chance to compete.  I also figured Ellie was more than capable of doing two Training level tests the day before an event.  And as a D-3 rider, I was required to do BN Test A and jump 2'3", which seemed like a perfect move-up opportunity. Of course, it was an early morning adventure to get to the Groton Fairgrounds in Massachusetts, a place I had never been to before and is 2.5 hours away.  I left the house at 4:30am (OUCH) and luckily had a super easy drive down to MA.  It was only 29 degrees when I left, and it wasn't much warmer when I arrived at the grounds just before 7am.  There wa...

After earning my D-1 and D-2 rating back in July with Epona PC, I was able to test for my D-3 in September with Atlantic PC!  It was held at the barn in NH where my DC boards her horses, where we had our striding clinic in early spring. Like my other D ratings, there wasn't much for this test that felt difficult.  I did go over the questions I would be asked to be sure I felt prepared, but I did not have to "study" or learn anything new for this rating.  The horse management questions were still fairly basic, though I had to now identify more parts of the horse and more breeds/colors, provide more details in my health and maintenance record book, and I had to show how to apply a standing wrap. We did the horse management section seated at a picnic table near the barn with all four of us who were testing.  It was a gorgeous early fall day to be outside doing fun horse things!  Two kids were doing their D-1, one was doing her D-1 and D-2, and I was doing my ...

Ellie and I had SO MUCH FUN at our first Pony Club jump rally this year.  We drove up to Clay Brook Farms, where we had our D-1/D-2 rating, in order to compete for the day on July 20.  This happened to be one of the hottest days of summer, so the organizers modified the schedule a bit.  Instead of doing two rounds in the morning and one in the afternoon, we all did just two rounds (with a ten-minute break in between) all in the morning, so we were done and headed out just after lunch.   Everything ran so smoothly despite the condensed format.  We were able to do our formal inspections right before we mounted up, and we were all encouraged to limit our warm up time.  We were not allowed to wear jackets, and there was a TON of horse water and ice cold human water available at numerous stations around the field. Ellie chillin' with her new BFF for the day I was competing with Epona Pony Club, but I was again put on a Horsemaster team with two ...