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Weekly Words from Gail: (or when she gets a chance)
Monday, March 08, 2010 Our visits are comfortable, laid back and chock full of knowledge, I am thankful! Jenna and Amanda had a great time and were just great to spend time with. I truly enjoyed the time we had together and I feel that we created some super memories as well as being involved in the observance of their riding knowledge grow! I enjoy the younger folk and enjoy their company. Although it can be a reality check that I have someone else's daughter in my care and always need to consider all safety, social aspects, it inevitably works out great and it always is a positive experience for the students. This winter I am sharing what I learned this season. First, riding correctly is hard!!! Movements are easy that can be taught easily and if you get a horse that knows it all and you ride regularly you will climb up fairly easily up the dressage tests and do "OK". This is absolutely FINE, it ISN'T right /wrong, especially if you LOVE horses BUT need to work /raise a family and/or run a business AND do something that you feel so strongly emotionally about riding. PLEASE, get a schoolmaster that can help you, so you can enjoy riding while keeping train frustrations to a minimum. Let a knowledgeable instructor help you with the nuances of riding, working on your rider position to positively affect the horse and your ride. For us in the business though, it is our obligation to get all the knowledge we can absorb, in order to be truthful, accurate and give our students the BEST possible instruction that we can. With this insight, I feel for me, is the want to learn learn learn and help as many people thru the many emotional /riding levels with their horses that they love so much, to get to where they want to go. Where this journey takes me personally, I don't know, as all doors are open and want to include as many people that share the same passion as I do. Secondly, POSITION - POSITION - POSITION, period. Every day, EVERY rider will work on their position whether you are training level or Grand Prix you will be constantly re-adjusting, checking in with, looking in mirrors or getting consistent regular lessons with knowledgeable instructors on position. As a rider you have to be taught to self correct yourself somehow. This has to be addressed for the level that the rider is ready for. There are many levels of positioning of horse and rider and if you introduce it all at once you will blow a student's mind if you go too quickly or push a student too much. As an instructor, it is a great responsibility to balance your students safety, while introducing knowledge and theory. It takes experience to know when a student show move on to the next opportunity or when to revisit an ideal to make sure the rider understands a basic foundation area. To help a student be able to stand up to riding physically and tell them what the path ahead is going to look like, the different issues they will confront and how they may feel emotionally. I try to keep an "open door policy" with your students so they can come to you with ANY question regarding training, instruction and any feeling they may be having. Thirdly, learn all you can and keep an open mind. Information can come from the oddest places! I always listen to what people have to say I appreciate and try to comprehend the theory behind the belief, and then I process how it applies to me, my horses and my students. Some things mesh in well, others I may not feel it in the best interest or work in how I feel that is the best learning process or may be more advanced for the level a student is riding at. There are many roads to Rome! At the farm as is business as usual. SADLY, Barb Chambers who had worked here at the farm feeding every AM and PM Monday thru Friday for the past year is leaving to move to Bar Harbor with her daughter. Barb did an EXCELLENT job here, she was so dependable and the horses ADORED her. We wish the best of the best and will miss her much! Now to fill Barbs shoes; I feel really positive and welcome are Kim and Bobby Bubar. Both have horse experience and Kim has a horse of her own that will be living here at the farm. Kim and Bobby have a lot of horse sense and Kim wants to learn about the horse industry and wants a future in instruction and training. She came to the RIGHT PLACE!! I love people that are serious about their riding as I take them under my wing and open all opportunities I can for them! Student news: There are some really awesome stuff going in this department! The Taylor family bought Abigail for their daughter Emily. Abigail was one of our school ponies that Debi Gould and Smi-Jo Brawn had owned at one point. Now Abigail who now I think is about 6 yrs old , Debi and her husband Mike had gone to see Abi a few yrs ago for Sami and just felt in their hearts had to get out of the situation the mare was in. Long story short Deb gave her to the farm where Jenna Jones and some of the other working students (Ashley Shaffer too ) worked her. Abi is about 13.3 hands and can jump a 3' ft course! She is young so we don't jump that high often ( although ask Pam P about jumping her 3'6"!) Emily LOVES her and she is doing a great great job brining the mare along. Michaela Beach, one of Katie Bragdon students, just got a beautiful Pinto mare that seems like a great match!!!!!!! SO happy for Micheala as she has to have the "horse fever" and wants to be around them all the time! Cleo, Norma Wilson's mare is doing well I LOVE this mare. Jen Hastings has been working with her and she is just a super nice mare. Maddy Kelly and Galaxy are getting to be quite the team .He has been super,super and and really excited for them both and Maddy LOVES her horse! Ashley Shaffer got a new horse Keiko and I keep telling her I CANT WAIT to help them get going and am motivated to work with them both ! Amber Anderson has been working her sister (Beccas) horse, Scouts Honor, that they had bought last year from me ( I showed him the prev. yr he is a blast to ride) Look for their name out and about. Rebecca White got accepted to quite a few Vet schools. We are really happy for her! Becca worked hard and deserves the opportunity! Eva Peach is now the proud owner of Ruffy! This gelding I let Becca Bourgoine start with my help and Becca did and awesome job! I think Becca may show him some this year along aith Baby (J'Adore) Becca, BTW, got MDS 1st level champion AND 2nd level champion! Val Philpot was T level champ MDS go Val! Kathleen Fox had many accomplishments in MDS and EMDA lots of pats for Ray too. Diane Rosell, Aremis and Chellie Oldfield are quite a team working with Aremis. Diane is a super person and she and Chellie click, working well with Diane's horse. Congratulations Ali Conroy for getting a $1300.00 scholarship to peruse her riding education! She is a dedicated rider and deserves this opportunity. Haley Loving had Diamond at home right now, this is big for them as she worked MUCH with Diamond and has done a great job! LOVE that mare! Konner Wilson has been riding Lilly recently and looks awesome on her and done well, Lucky Konner! Keri Giles has been riding Turtle she does a great job with him, I forget Keri is only 12 and rides these horses SOOO well! She started Houston jumping and they look like a great team. Can't wait to see Gabby Fevens back @ the farm! She rode in jump group on Jack and was super. I want to get the working student program going full swing for the summer if you are interested please let me know I am setting up a date with the next 6 weeks. I know there is more news and will write again... sooon! Gail Thursday, February 11, 2010 Turning to the last legs of winter it's a good time to take advantage of the school vacation and take Amanda Snow to Florida. We will be there for two weeks and back by the 29th of February. As we have done in the past we will be staying with Eric Richman who has great accommodations and spending our days working with Judy Westlake honing our riding skills. We are lucky again this time, as we will be seeing some going to CDI shows. Eric has leased his barn and ring to a couple I know as "Joe and Linda". Joe has a Grand Prix horse he rides as well as riding and selling young horses internationally. He will have his young horse at this CDI so we will be cheering him on through out the weekend. The barn is doing well, everyone is just doing a great job keeping the horses happy and well fed with ample water available at all times. I am impressed how our crew is diligent on making sure the water tubs that aren't heated are clear of ice and scrubbed out twice weekly. Nice job!!! Water in the winter is hard work! Chris kept the home fires burning and he is a great guy to roll with how the barn operates. So lessons have been kicked up a notch and everyone is in on the knowledge part. It is amazing how the students pick up difficult concepts and apply them. This weekend will be auditing the Judges program in Pownel at Pineland. I had thought about applying but don't feel that is the direction I want to go. Going and listening in though will be great to help teach the students for when they go in the competition ring. So start cleaning up your tack and making sure your show clothes are in good condition, 2010 show season is right around the corner! 'til next time! Monday, January 04, 2010 So far this year already feels better than last! I have been having great rides with the Jones' horse Orpheus, riding Eva Peaches' Horse Molly and Ray, Kathleen's horse. It has been great and I am really happy with how the knowledge of riding is going! Everyone is great here at the farm. The barn workers are doing a great job, especially with hands on care of the horses and blankets and making sure all the horses are taken care of and tended to. Special thanks to Barb, Lori, Eva, Sally, Andrew, Kelly, Courtney, Grace, Nicole and Nick as well as the working students' thanks thanks, thanks!!! You all are awesome! Everything is going steady here at the farm. Over the holidays Mike came home from the Navy. He is doing so super am so happy for him and feels that he is in a great place. He got married and has really settled into his career. We are so happy for him and Casey his new wife. The kids were off the holiday too and the last weekend we had about 10 of them here playing indoor soccer in the ring and coming up to the house for a movie and pizza. After the movie, half went out sliding on the hill and everyone stayed overnight and rode then next day. It was great! Jenna Jones and I are going to Florida the last week of January and then the last two weeks of February, Amanda Snow and I will head down. I will have a laptop with me and as long as I figure out the technology part, will write while we are down there. We have our new boarders in and lessons as usual. Have great exercises that everyone "loves". They are hard a little hard to grasp at first but with the knowledge that we discuss, everyone is starting to ride to their next level, it is just amazing! Learning to ride and go up the levels, whether dressage and/or jumping is HARD!!!!!! I give lots of credit to all that stick to it, it is difficult!!!! Hope everyone a prosperous year. Life will go along and we with its tide..... Monday, December 7, 2009 Scruffy our pony that had wondered the farm and was a large part of our lesson program was put down in September. Any one that has been on our farm would remember Scruffy. He was a POA (Pony of America) that was an integral part of our school program. Originally he was bought from Sandy Gran when he had his place in Corinna. The Ernst family bought him and although he was good for lessons that I taught them at their farm he could be a nudge and he ended up with me at our farm. Scruffy fit in perfectly and our facility and had a stall in our upper barn. Becca White worked at the farm way back when we started our boarding and indoor. She or I would feed in the morning and turn out and we would frequently hop on Scruffy $and canter him down the hill from the upper barn to the field. We cantered him around and just enjoy him then turn him out where he needed to be. Scruffy taught many, many kids how to canter. He had a great little lope and at 13.2 hands everyone felt comfy one him. I miss Scruffy every day, as I walk out of the house I find myself always looking right for Scruffy. Love you Scruffy and miss you lots and lots! Monday, October 12, 2009 Long time since I last wrote! The summer had been busy as usual at t he farm with many shows and lessons. The lesson program is busy and I have made some alterations to it and that seems to be going well. We have been having Junior riding club Saturday mornings from 10 -12:00 the working students run it and right now we have 10 junior riders. The fee is less then a lesson with me and this program gives the child and parents a couple of months to decide if their child really loves to ride without spending a lot of money. My adult groups are expanding two- fold! We have many adults that have taken an interest in lessons and the groups are going great! Foxcroft pony club will be now out at Infinity Farm. This is a great opportunity for a young rider to join and organization that helps expand their horse knowledge on and around horses. FMI about United States Pony Club please visit their website USPC.org Our Equitation show is this Monday, Columbus day. Come by and watch or better yet, ride! Our Frost on the Pumpkin 2-phase is October 24th Saturday, there is so much going on Sundays that we had to switch to Saturday! Madeline Kelly has gotten a new horse, Galaxy, a lip./tb cross, he is very handsome and sane. She absolutely loves him and is one very happy girl! Kathleen Jenkins is now leasing Francis a Cleveland bay cross and has him at her place in Levant, they are a great team. The Harding family now has Honey and is boarding her here for the winter. Honey loves attention so it is working out well for them. As many of you already knew, over the summer I had broken my jaw and had it wired for two months. It wasn't as bad as you think it would be and I could still ride. I am now recovered and thank you to everyone for your thoughts and support! The show season is STILL going for us here it should be winding down by Nov ~phew~! I have also been riding and showing Jenna Jones new horse Orpheus a Belgium WB /TB (not a Belgian as in a draft horse but a Belgium warmblood). Orphie has some great training in him but for years had been shown in working gaits so we've been spending the summer developing muscle and I am currently showing him 2nd level. This winter I hope to continue working him and see if we can make it to 3rd next year, with the Jones blessing of course!
June 25, 2009 Gee, It is like the second week of school vacation and all the kids are pooped! They were so excited to get out of school and cone ride, they stayed and stayed and now need a couple of days to recoup! We have shows coming up, Carmel HT, Pucker brush Dressage, NCRC Equitation, Young Riders, Pendragon 2-phase all by the 7th of July! Judy Westlake is coming up June 27th and will be back July 18-19 to run an EMDA 2 day clinic on the rider's core and exercises with the Balimo seat. It is gonna be great!!! The week right after she will be here in the AM teaching the younger riders with a 1/2 day camp, lectures and riding each day. Our first camp is July 6th to the 10th, that is always fun! Amy Jordan and her horse Oliver are here for the month to brush up on their riding. Abby, Eva Peachs' mare that Nichole Schobel has been riding is here for some training with myself. Becca White has a gypsy Vanner mare in for training with one of her clients. She is really cute. The owner does have another for sale if anyone is interested. Brombie, Savannahs new horse went home this week, she is doing fabulous with him. Her mom bought a trailer and they trailer him up for lessons. Orpheus, Jenna Jones new horse, is settling in nicely. I took him to the EMDA rider run show at East Ridge and he was well behaved! Samantha Perry has been riding Smooch, her QH young gelding, he is doing nicely under saddle. We have a pony in for the kids to ride that is for sale. He is a VERY cute dapple-gray pony that the kids named "Howie" (That's Howie Do It.) Suzie and Amanda Snow are off to camp for the next month. They will be home on the weekends to hang out and compete locally. We are having a saddle fitter come the first week in July, Nancy Sedrick, if anyone is interested. Amanda Sherbourne and Priscilla Leger have started trotting in their adult group lessons. They ride with Shanna and her son Dillon. The later group on Thursdays has started their lateral work. Kathleen Fox has taken her horse Ray to their first show together at the EMDA rider run at East Ridge. Our adult group on Saturdays, Katie form Agway and Tenneal Toothaker, are having fun too. Aleesa from Agway has been riding too and doing a great job. They ride during the Jr. riding club, which has 12 members!! They are having a great time and doing well. Ashley Shaffer has been competing Dixie and Ruby so far this year. Becca Bourgoine is back in the show ring after having last summer off with her horse's injury. Grace Poulin has her license and is coming back to ride, she is trying out for a pentathalon and one of the disciplines is jumping so she will be riding in one of the jump groups. SO much more going on I will up date soon! (I still need to update the student spotlight too!!!) Gail May 8, 2009 While in Florida I could ride Junior and work on certain aspects in a focused atmosphere. When Junior came back up the weather was cooler I was busier and our ring was busy as it should be in a good business. The difficult part was that it was hard for me to work my horse in certain circumstances and have clients be able to work their horses too. The bottom line was I had too many obligations and Infinity Farm is doing great for people coming to learn and board. I have to put more into them, and then I could for Junior. My lifestyle made me limited and I knew I had to sell a horse I loved and waited for, but realistically didn't fit my lifestyle. So Junior is in Florida, with a friend Ashley Davis who starts young horses... Anyone interested in a GREAT contact in the heart of Horse World, call me I will get you in touch with Ashley, she has a really nice barn in Homeland, very near Wellington and Ashley is a super, super young horse rider ! So Now I am busy riding what the economy brought in... I have My SMA horse Ruffy, who is too much fun and Lilly the Canadian WB, who I am in the process of buying and in the last 3 weeks have had 3 horses given to the farm. Zizi a Han, TB Mare, and Houston a very, very nice QH with really super gaits! As well as another QH. I have some boarders that were waiting to come in that now can. With that said please if you would like winter stalls or outside boarding, let me know ASAP, as I only have few spots for the winter, and will close the farm for winter boarding soon. I have given Kazoo (AKA Kudos) to the Oldfield Family. Chellie Oldfield had been working with Kazoo since he came. She showed a lot of dedication to him and showed him last year for me. He is very special and I thought that Chellie should have him, she put SO much time and effort into him. Look for them out and about, they are quite a team! Dream and Destiny Tibbetts are doing well, he is an awesome guy. Haley Loving and Diamond are doing super too, they are learning the ropes together. I am soo proud of ALL our students, I see everyone working hard and having GREAT support from the parents. The kids really study what they learn, it's awesome! The parents are impressed too and I feel that we allow the kids to think and ride without cutting them down and they surprise and make us proud of how they figure things out! It truly makes a thinking rider and it shows... So I will write again soon, Gail Thursday, April 16, 2009 Everything is drying up nicely, the horses came out really well from winter due to our wonderful staff! We've been riding in our huge outdoor, it is awesome and great to be teaching riding outside. Chellie Oldfield and I will be in Florida with Judy Westlake for vacation week. It'll be a lot of fun and it'll' be interesting to see how Chellie likes it. After that I'll be home for a while, getting geared up for the warmer weather activities. Give a full report when we get back! Gail Sunday, March 22, 2009 Many of you may remember Joyce as the woman who was in the scoring booth for the pony club rallies for the Foxcroft pony club, Foxcroft horse trials, Infinity Farm 2-phases and the Piscataquis fair show that was put on this last year. Her granddaughter, Dyanne Gillespie events locally and Joyce frequently came to her events. Joyce had five children and many grand kids. Dy Gillespie who you may see her name at events, had grown up in Joyce's and Joyce's husband Bob house. Her family fiercely loved their mom and the love and care they showed for Joyce when life was uncertain was strong and protective. The character of the family was amazing. In the days that Joyce has passed and any one that has known Joyce we are all so thankful in knowing her and have so many great memories with her. What I didn't realize but now acknowledge is how many younger people remember/know Joyce and how much she has touched their lives. I heard story after story about how Joyce would saying encouraging words and remember so many horse riding kids! When you went to Foxcroft dressage rallies or Infinity farm 2-phases you were probably eating her sweets. You could recognize her baking, I know I'd always be looking for Joycies cookies and smacking my lips in front of her to let her know how yummy they were! Now Joycie rode too! About ten or so years ago we had given an older work horse that I had originally gotten for my husband, to Bob, Joyce's' husband. The horses name was Scooter and he was a small white work horse that had originally been "Worked Really hard and put away wet" as the saying goes (it's the equivalent of being worked hard then not being taken care of). Joyce and Bob brought Scooter home and although the horse was for Bob, Joyce had wanted lessons with him. I would go over to the house to teach and hang out and Dy would sometimes ride Tasha and Joyce would have a lesson with Scooter. She did a great job too! Here there was this petite grandmother with the little short inseam getting up on Scooter and walking and trotting around the ring! She was awesome!! Now this was quite some time ago, BBB (Before Big Barn). Afterward we would go to the house and have orange soda and cookies. (Those yummy chocolate chip cookies had their own taste). Now because Joyce was "vertically challenged" Bob found her this mounting block that was super tall. What the block actually was an oil display rack that looked and was a great step mounting block and worked really well for Joyce, as it was almost 3 feet high. Joyce and Dy had also boarded at one time at East Ridge Stable where you can find that awesome mounting block that the Gillespie's had given Robin for her therapeutic riding program. Many of you had also probably seen Joyce walking at any event that Dy was at, going up to one spot or another, meeting Laurie Watson who would be taking pictures of DY galloping around her XC courses. She would talk about how her short legs made it harder but there she was supporting her granddaughter and watching her ride. Sometimes she would be sitting in front of their trailer enjoying the day and having fun hanging out and talking with the other Eventers that you get to know when you go out and about. I know that there are a lot of people that have feelings about Joyce they would like to express. If you want to express these feelings please go onto mem.com and leave a message .Also a donation can be sent to the Leukemia foundation. Miss you more than words can express Joycie ....... Thursday, March 12, 2009 SO another month and found myself and Amanda Snow in Florida for two weeks. The weather was great, Amanda's lessons were terrific. Jr. is great, I had an unbelievable cold! I know so many people back home had the same long lasting yucky cold. It was not so fun with this cold for me or Amanda! Despite that we had a good time everything went well and smoothly. Kate Sherrell was down for part of the time and we hung out when we could. Kate had conferences in Sarasota for work, so on her off time we met in the western side and checked out some horses. Amanda was with us of course, we met up with Wally Ward who graciously taken us out to eat. We learned much and it was good to take another student with me. I really see the value in doing this. In 2 weeks Amanda's awareness and education grew ten- fold. Daily lessons made a big impact; as well as exposure to the talent in the Wellington area too. Although she didn't recognize a lot of the riders we were watching she took time to appreciate the benefit of exposure to these top level riders. Amanda had her moments in the sun too, with her experiences in her lessons. She listened well and had the opportunity to ride an upper level horse that she could use her aids and what she had learned at home and have a horse respond easily and practice work in collected gaits. While we were there we took a lesson with Lauren Briggs for jumping and went to WEF and watched the Hunter/ Jumpers show. It was informative and good education to see the "AA" circuit. The farm again was again well maintained while I was gone. Everyone has been dutifully working their horses and the progress is notable! Mary O'Rourke has been out to teach and although she had to be re-scheduled due to weather, her days always fill up and she is a lot of fun to have. OMG! The kids are getting taller than I am; it is a reality check. I am SOOO proud of everyone. They are working their horses and having fun. There is no drama and I am so loving how relaxed and organized everything is. The farm is truly a place to learn and ride and enjoy. We have the best staff, they work hard. We do have fun too which is great. Jr. is doing really well I need to get a picture of him for the web site. He is SOOO smart; you need to keep one step ahead of him. I want him to keep his happy attitude so it's a fine line on what is acceptable and when he has to mind. He will take advantage of people, he uses charm and wit! Talk about personality plus!!! Chris and Bill redid our downstairs bathroom as a surprise for this trip. I am trying to plan another trip away soon so that we can get our floors done as another "surprise"! haha Heard from Mike he loves the Navy and says Hi to all. He is having a blast! Paul had a son; he is so happy and is now living in Bangor! It was good to see so many people at the Foxcroft Vet Appreciation Day. It was informative and I hope they put on some more lectures and interaction days like that. They really try hard and work hard, I so appreciate them. Judy Westlake is coming May 2nd, the day before our 2-phase, it will be great to have her at the farm. Our first farm show is May 3rd, its 2-phase and dressage only. PLEASE Sign up Soon!!! We always get a flurry of last minute riders, so please try and do the paperwork today. Sad news, Ellie my eldest dog passed away shortly after I got home. She was 14 years old which is old for a Mastiff cross. Truly, such a SUPER sweet dog, she had the best temperament and its strange to get up in the morning and not have her around. Thanks to everyone who sent or called with condolences. I will write again soon because I know I am missing stuff, hope and see you at the farm, G Thursday, February 12, 2009 You all are soo great! Becca Bourgoine and I were in Florida for January. We left the end of December to North Carolina where my parents and sister and her husband and two small twins live. My parents have a town house in Cary, N.C., and in the winter live outside of Tampa Bay, Fla... Becca and I stayed at their place and spent New Years with my sister and her family. On Jan 1st we loaded up the car and started our 11 hour drive down the coast, destination, Loxahatchee, Fla.! We arrived and our plans had changed slightly. Our original place, at Denise Daratas', where Lena and I had stayed last year, was going to have a new long term tenant coming in. Denise had given us a lead on another place to stay, Eric Richmans, who also is a friend of Judy Westlake's husband, Brian. SO although Lena was at Denise's this year (there is a really funny story I will attach at the end of this letter), Becca and I hung our hat at Eric's. We arrived at Eric's and it was beautiful! He has a 5 acre property in Fox Trails, an equestrian community. His house is two stories, not as common there, and a beautiful 7 stall barn full size dressage arena w/ mirrors and lots of large paddock turnout areas. Eric leases his barn out and it is a nice facility. Becca and I each had our rooms down stairs with our own bathroom and easy access to laundry. We shared the kitchen area and had some nice meals and conversation with Eric who was a great host. The next day we went to Judy's and started our month of intense training and learning. Lena was also riding with Judy until a think the 9th (?). Lena and Becca and I would have our daily lessons with either Gable a big DWB school horse of Judy's, Herbie, Judy Lenihans Percheron cross or I would ride Junior, my horse, who is down until March. Later in the month Judy Lenihan and Kate Sherrill would be down also to take lessons with Judy and get warm. Also, Christina Gordon, another student of Judy's was working and living near by in White Fences (another equestrian community) with her horse, Mr. Moe. Our lessons were frequent, hard and awesome. We worked hard, learned so much and it is hard to describe how much it teaches you. I was also working there doing barn work and helping out while Judy rode and taught. We frequently wouldn't get home until after 8:00 pm! I rode Junior mostly, and Judy taught me much about how developing my eye and looking at the whole horse and muscling and what is desirable with dressage horses. She was demanding on getting your riding and longing correct. Junior has much talent, but was started before we had him in draw reins. It had affected his striding, Judy worked on this with me and he was truly making many improvements by the end of the month. He and I really had a lot of time to get to know each other and he was such a good boy when he could have had the opportunity to be very naughty. I just think he is so wonderful! Becca also had a lot of eye opening moments in her riding as well as the big horses' world. Her lessons went well she worked super hard and absorbed everything around her. We attended two conferences there over four days. One with Herbertus Schmidt , a German rider /trainer, considered by his peers to be one of the best trainers in the world! In his clinic we observed him teaching Betsy Steiner, Shannon Dueck, Steffen Peteres to name a few. All top level riders and it was great to watch them ride and see how they made adjustments to their position to keep it effective while Hebertus worked on their horses and quality of the gaits and movements. It was great to have Judy Westlake right there to get to ask questions and have her clarify and comment on the rides. She would frequently see what was happening talk with me about we would then hear Herbertus making the same suggestions! I was really impressed with Judy's knowledge. It was a great opportunity! The next conference was the USDF trainers' conference with Henk Von Bergen a four time Olympian. He is from the Dutch school and was very good too! I loved the way he got right to the issue with the riders and he had a lot of commentary and talked openly and frankly about the judging issues that dressage is internationally now going through, and how he presented his thoughts. He had a comment about a how a horse is a horse and should be treated as a horse, not as a dog or a person but as a horse. (He also actually stated this about dogs too, should be treated as dogs and not like people.) He is an excellent instructor and was clear and demanded effective riding. Over the course of two days he taught Jen Baumart, Lynda Alicki, Shawna Harding, J.J. Tate (whose riding, although everyone was great, she was amazing) and the ever terrific Courtney King-Dye as well as others. We went to shows and there were a lot of grand prix riders and musical freestyles, it was fabulous! One night Ashley Holzer and her horse won her freestyle, with George Williams and Rocher in attendance. We would spend hours watching the different levels and how riders and their horses warmed up. You could spend all day there! At one shows Lynda Alicki was showing a half sister to Junior. She is a seven yr old and came in 2nd in her 3rd level test with a 70.00% ! (Lynda's other ride came in first with a 71.00%) That was exciting to me! There are so many well known riders riding there it is mind boggling! Becca and I toured some of the show grounds in Little woods and WIF. They are unbelievable! There are about 15 rings with either schooling showing jumping going on. There are usually about 4000 horses on the showground with tack shops and saddle fitting, food, reps from different companies, heaven! The jumper shows usually will go for 3-5 days! Becca also took a jumping lesson with Lauren Briggs an "R" hunter judge that has a farm in Little Ranches (another equestrian community! ) She is great Lena and I took some lesson w/ her last year. She really likes us and our riding and let Becca have some fun with her lesson horse, an 11yr old Holsteiner gelding. We also went with Lena to Lion Country Safari. That was fun it where you drive in a compound in your car and most of the animals were loose around you! There was the CUTEST baby rhino cantering around his Mama, he was adorable!!!! We would eat out to eat our favorite place being the Back Street Grille on Forest Hills Blvd. The food is good and reasonably priced. Kate Sherrill, whose horse is still recouping from injury, came down and will come through out the winter. She and Judy Lenihan are fun to hang out with and we plan day trips around town. Through out the month Judy would have students' from either out of state or locally in Florida come and ride .We met some nice fellow Judy students and all agree she is a really good instructor with a lot of knowledge. At our last day we had to pack up and make the 11 hour drive back to NC where we rested for a day and then caught a flight out to Maine. Our flight was fairly uneventful. Becca's Family was glad to see her and I was glad to see Chris and see all of our friends! Chris did a great job while I was away and even did some remodeling of the living room! It looks awesome! OK so one quick story before I sign off..... I got a call one morning while Becca and I were just getting to the farm. Lena calls. She asks me if I remember Denise's neighbors crazy roosters that live next door. Denise's neighbor has theses roosters that crowed all the time and always sounded funky and crowed at all different hours. They weren't annoying but you could hear them frequently. Well, Lena was sound asleep when one came CRASHING through her window and landed ON HER HEAD! I asked if she was Ok and what did she do??? Lena replied;”Well after I stopped screaming like little girl, I went to find Denise". She got Denise and they tried to get the rooster that was still in her room. The rooster got the hint and flew out the now broken window. SO how was your week??? The next two weeks I will be back in Florida with Amanda Snow. She will be coming down and having lessons with Judy and getting some life experiences! When I get back I will write more! Junior will be back too so there will be much more to write ! Until then keep riding! * * * For other enteries in Gails Journal: Current || 2008 || 2007 || 2006 || Call 207.564.7046 for more information or email gail@InfinityFarm.US |
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The hardest part of having a farm with animals that need to be taken care of is when it's time to let an animal go.