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Weekly Words from Gail: (or when she gets a chance)
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 Most of you know I will be away for January. If anyone needs assistance they can call the farm and talk with Chris or also Angie or Katie for anything you need. The staff is all set they and they are great. I did forget in my last e-mail to include Marie Stupacawitz who holds all the horses with Jerry. Sorry Marie! (Ohoo Carla Arno too... was she mentioned?) Anyhow we have ALOT of help at the farm and they do a great job ensuring that the horses are taken care of. Jr is settled in down in Florida and I will be there by the 1st of January. Becca Bourgoine will be with me and we will have a lot of stories I'm sure to tell when we get back! Destiny Tibbetts trailered her new horse Sreamer over and we have been working with him. He is a very cute Appaloosa and I am thinking that they will have a great year this coming year. Kathleen Fox has a horse on trial coming that we are switching out her stall for. His name is Rainman and he is a 17 yr old KWPN. He will help Kathleen get to her next level of riding. Sheila Dow's horses, Spirit and Magic have come for the winter they are great to have at the farm, as well as Pretzel and Molly P. Mary Beth Dever and Tuppence have been here since the beginning of December and are doing well! Mary is dedicated to getting Tuppence ready for next year! So until next time, Tuesday, November 18, 2008 I thought that going into our SIXTH year (yes sixth!) that I would have it figured out but no, it changes yet again and I learn more. The younger kids are growing up and schedules change for them. We have a lot of adult students right now and for the off season are now offering a kid/teen drill team and a separate adult drill team! Each team had 12 to 15 riders, so they are big and fun and everyone is learning. Anyone that is interested please come, although there are a lot now, there will be some that can't come, and there is no size limit right now on how many riders come. We want you all! (It is good to have more then less, we have the horses) Some news to keep everyone updated on: Katie is bringing her horse Okie along. They are doing great and Katie is teaching her students weekly at the farm. I have had some horses in for training. Triton, Eric Smith and Michele Webbs horse is in for two weeks of training. Ella, a pony of the Shaffer's is here for training and she is a STRONG willed mare so we have been doing ALOT of join up and she is coming along nicely. Ashley rode her the other day and that was great to see. Ella is a dominant type of pony and smart. I keep working with her and flashbacks of Dixie run through my head. Ella is submitting nicely and the pony light bulbs are turning on. Sassy, Bonnie Shorey's horse that she wanted tuned up while she is away, was here. She is also smart to work with and comfortable to ride. November 28th I asked Audrey Bean if she would come and teach while she is up for a few days. She said she'd love to. We are lucky that she will come to the farm. SO we are currently offering 2 sessions: 4:30 to 6:00 advanced- inter jumping group, at 6:00 Advance/Beginner/Intermediate group. PLEASE make sure you can make the commitment before you sign up Audrey has some great exercises.. I am going to take pictures of our staff so everyone knows who is who; We have Sally Giles , Katie Giles, Eva Peach, Lori Wilson, Carla Arno, Barb ( Barb does all the AM and PM feeding Mon thru Fri, she lives in the upstairs apartment), Andrew and Kellie (who are living in the new downstairs apartment). As well as our working students... and Chris (thanks Honey!) They do a great job and have kept the barn running like clock work. Hip, Hip, Hooray! (Hey that is a good name for a horse!) Jr is leaving on the 29th for Florida. I will miss him so! He has been coming along great, he is strong enough to stay into some collection and is lengthening nicely, thinking about medium gaits and his lateral work is coming along great. Every time I ride him I just feel so lucky and blessed to have such a fun horse! I understand why you pay the money you do for these WB horses that have the conformation. They get the collection easier. That being said, I wouldn't trade for the world any horse I had trained in the past. Each one teaches you more and that helps make training the next one easier too. You can pin point the horse's strengths and challenges and train accordingly. Some horses may need a side rein, some not, some may need to be brought along one way some a different way. I can read the horses even easier now and as I always have done, what the OWNER wants, I tailor to. I've said it before and I will say it again, I wont "cookie cutter" a horse into one training method. (cookie cutter refers to training all horse with one method whether that is the best for them or not) January Becca Bourgoine and I will be down in Florida W/ Judy for the month of January, Amanda Snow in Feb, and Chellie Oldfield in April. We will be riding attend clinics and seminars when available taking dressage lessons with Judy (I will always take lessons regularly for the rest of my life which I think a good thing for an instructor to do, you always need to brush up and work of the gazillion things there is to learn about horses, if your instructor doesn't, you may want to ask why). We will be taking some jumping lessons at the Wellington School. There are some really nice barn people that I met down there from past years so the visiting student and I will be going to some different farms to meet horse people that have the same interests as the student and will show them how their farm is run. No matter what the Demographics are and financial background, horse people all does this for one reason....the love of horses. I'll be home though too to catch up with the barn peeps and keep everyone up to speed. (Remember the past years and how lessons were when I got back???? It'll be fun!) More detail and theory!!!! Yay! Hey we were at the MeCTA banquet that was fun the students did well. There is an EMDA and NCRC banquet coming up. Look up on their web sites to see when and where. I will try and have something posted. I know there is more... I am going to work on the student of the month page and get some more students up. It is a time management for me and finding the right picture of the student. We have had great reviews on the solar lights around the property. This does help the students know where paddock gaits are at night and it just looks cool! Until next time! Ciao! Gail Monday, October 20, 2008 We have had an influx of adult riders and it has been tons of fun! We have our Thursday Night adult group and it works well for a dozen or so riders! One of our adult riders Jess Pitcl had a very special surprise from her folks. They bought Lilly, a VERY nice Canadian WB mare for Jess. They will be keeping Lilly here through the winter then bringing her home. Congrats you guys! There are a couple of weeks of shows left. We will go to the local ones and then will be heading toward... winter! Our Holiday party is Dec 7th from 1-4 it is pot luck, Yankee swap, hay ride party and always lots of fun! Our barn staff is really great. They are keeping the barn clean, cleaning out side water bucket s and paddocks so they are spotless and the place looks neat and tidy. Barb, our new resident that is in our side apartment, does a great job making sure every one gets fed AM and PM. I hope you come out some afternoon and meet Barb she is super nice and a great addition to the farm. Chris and Andrew have been continuing putting up more fencing and hopefully next year we will have the ten acre parcel next to us ready for pasture. Andrew and Kelly will be moving to our other apartment. Andrew has become Chris's' right hand man in helping with chores around the barn. Both Chris and I are grateful to have him help Chris out. Our Junior Riding Club is doing great. The older students enjoy mentoring the younger students and the younger students love the time with horses. Judy Westlake is coming back this Wednesday, October 22nd . She is great and until you ride with her a couple of times then you realize how great her teaching skills are. I am hoping to have Beth Murphy come up from NH to teach. She is a really nice Eventing /Advanced level rider that will help our jumping clients out. Audrey Bean hopefully will be home sometime. She is so nice it would be fun to have to teach at the farm again. Next month Pretzel and Tuppence will be at the farm for winter board. It is great to see these past horses come around to stay at our farm for a time or two over the years Hope all is well with you! Monday, October 06, 2008 We had our Fall 2-phase and it went well. It was on a Saturday rather then Sunday and slightly earlier. Our turn out was good about 40 riders for mostly our students as well as Little Brook farm in Shirley and some other independent horse peeps. We always have good time and anyone that wants to get together for dinner after with us are always invited (frequently its Moon Hing) and I always under estimate who will show. It is usually from 12 people to 30, like the other night... The Moon Hing people are great and accommodating! We as a barn, have lots of fun AND learn!!! I am realizing how much of a family we all are. It is a big family but one that people feels comfortable around one another. SO some student news... Gabby Fevens has a new mare to keep Ranger company. The new horse is a super cute two year old mare. She is smart and seems even in her gaits. We are excited to know she and Gabby will be working together. Next week I will have more news! Until then! Ciao!!!! Friday, October 03, 2008 A fast a head shaking summer to a beautiful colorful fall! This is my favorite time of year! The mornings are cool but you know it will get warmer, the trails and roads are so pretty and we are ready to go into the next year learning and growing. Everything is great! The riders are learning so much and getting a lot of experience and enjoying their horses at all levels. A lot of our riders like to compete. They have their own trailers and go and no matter what the outcome they go and enjoy the day with their horses. It is really what horse ownership is all about. We have students that just started showing, students going to Eventing levels and Dressage levels, students getting to know their horses; it really has been great. Some of the students are at the 'collection' part of their riding and are doing wonderful . It is coming together and the work is paying off. At our barn we don't “talk the big talk" we can “walk the walk”. Our jumping program is doing well too. We don't rush! We want the fundamentals to be there and the riders have the security when things get tricky. They remember what they need to do and do a great job. No big whoop they just go and do what they know, quietly, efficiently, effectively. Our students get what ever they need to learn and succeed. We want them to learn SO much that all the opportunity is there for them to learn and experience what will work for them. Our barn is small in size, but HUGE in heart. Once riders get into our program, they get the big picture and we have a lot of very devoted riders. It is SO awesome! The reward when the rider gets the learning process of working with horses and riding is unequal. The commitment that the riders put into the horse gets rewarded every time. So I am so proud of all the riders at our farm. They have done well over the show season but even more importantly they have learned how to conduct themselves at a show learned how to make a commitment to a sport and care for another being and have shown dedication to the horse and sport. That is what we teach at this barn!!! We have some inside barn stuff to announce too! …Congrads to Jenna Anderson on her pony PB. They are doing great toodling around the farm. Also Jenna Jones on her purchase of Luke a 19 yr old Holsteiner. He is a dressage Intermediate school master and will teach Jenna lots! Katie Bragdon, one of our instructor/trainers has purchased Okie, a horse that she has had in training in the past. They are gong so super well! Courtney Edgerly had decided to keep Kiwi; they are boarding him at our stable this winter. yeah! Courtney's grandma Judy has a Pintabian. Chyzaam in for training; he is so fun I love training Arabians!!! Bonnie Shorey, a past boarder has purchased a new little paint mare. We are looking forward to meeting her! Sadly Tina Wellman and Harley Wellman have to bring their horses home. Tina and Harley had worked at our farm for the last 3-4 yrs. Harley needs a Saturday off! They will still always a part of our farm and know that we will see them often! Adina has stayed at the farm, although Chantelle and Scott have moved to Hampden. They want Adina to stay as they like our services. Thanks you guys! We still have some horses for sale. I can't believe that we still have Lilly for sale. I haven't been aggressively selling her but she is a super nice horse! My horse Junior has been an honor student (instead of the juvenile delinquent!). He was really naughty and I cut his grain WAY back, got him protein and fat in other forms other then concentrates and really pushed him forward. We would go and gallop and canter and trot and we would relax and come toward contact. He is going super and I always look forward to riding him. It's the year of getting to know your horse. Now that I figured him out I can get him SO obedient and listening to me instead of what anyone else is doing. No one can teach you this you just need to know who is driving the bus! This winter he and I will be in Florida for some of the winter. I will be bringing students down to lesson with Judy Westlake and chaperoning them. It's important for the students to understand what the riding world is like out there. The benefit of Florida is that there are a lot of riders/teachers/trainers in one small area. I am booking slots now, but at the same time leaving time slots to be at home and teach other students what I learned down south. Every year when I get back, the students LOVE it! Right you guys???? Ahahaha.. Oddly enough it's what I learn in Fla. that keeps people at the farm. When I leave the students that are willing to learn wait and learn SO much when I get back! They LOVE it! (really!) Chris and Andrew have been making a lot of nice permanent fencing. Everyone has noticed and they really are thinking that it is looking sharp! Thanks you guys! Becca Bourgoine's mare Baby (J'adore) is coming back from her cut and Becca has been riding Ruffy too. He is doing super well and is a nice looking horse! Jenna, Amber and Amanda Snow have been working Abby the pony. She is WTC and jumping 2 feet. Really cute and talented! Kazoo is also coming along great. Chellie Oldfield has been working him. She is going to take him to Lincoln 2-phase. That should be fun! He is a super pony! Sam and Timber are doing great. Also, Kylie and Honey really has that horse going well! Hey! Konner got Fever through and nice and toward contact. It was awesome! She did a great job! Ali and Woodie are doing great! Jess Curtin and Emily and Michaela are all well. Grace Sage started jumping at 6 years old and she can memorize a dressage test and jump a small course! It is lots of fun to watch! Emily and Lauren Taylor are well too and we have so many nice and super students here that I NEED to get them all on the student spotlight! OK By next week I will get that going!! We now have a staff of seven workers that clean, scrub, water, rake, sweep and make sure all runs smoothly at the farm. Thanks you guys! Thanks too to Angie and Katie good job! Hope all is well and I will write sooner… Wednesday, August 27, 2008 They need to explore and try different venues. The students have questions on what they learned from a clinician or what a judge commented to them from a show. I can help them understand what the clinician was trying to get across in the clinic or what the judge thought was important that the student needed to work on. Mostly I have found that certain judges or clinicians have certain criteria that they look for and can point that out to our riders and it works well for them. With that all said I can say a couple of things; 1) I know our clients...well... I, Angie or Katie know the ins and outs of them and we can get the best out of their performance and can tap into their learning tendencies. 2) We know the CHALLENGES of our students and their horses and where they both shine! 3) I really work hard on what is best for the student. I understand about instructors wanting riders to ride with them only. Sometimes though, we as instructors have to let go of our egos go, and do what we truly feel is best for our students. My philosophy is "do what is the BEST for the student". I have learned to map our students to what will work best for THEM. It can be hard to me to see what works best for them. I ALWAYS put the best interests of a student, and I'm OK with that. 4) As an instructor, I find the BEST possible learning opportunities for my students. I, Angie and Katie do a great job, many students don't want to go else where but we want them to learn under other instructors THAT WE FEEL ARE INSTRUMENTAL IN THEIR LEARNING. So, we have a support group of instructors that we set up clinics with. We have them get into the nitty gritty of the lesson and give our students what they need to learn. Many times the riders say that they feel that they visiting clinician is giving similar instruction that we give them. That is good! I get good visiting clinicians, instructors that understand the principles that we believe in. 5) Have fun! Our students every year jump higher, go to a higher level of dressage and are competing with their horses and/or ponies at levels that they were told in the past they couldn't ride. So Bah Humbug! The goal is to go as high as you think you can… don't listen to others, listen to you! Next week I will have another letter, Miss ya Robbie!!!! Friday, August 08, 2008 Every weekend another show! This summer has been packed full with shows every weekend. We are only about half way done for the season too! Infinity Farm has been trying to get out and about as much as we can locally to support the other stables and clubs. We have a lot of clients that ride at the shows and we have fun too! Judy Westlake has been out a few times and we will be seeing her again on the 15th of August. I have been playing telephone tag with Beth Murphy an advanced event rider, to come up and have a clinic at a local XC farm. I hope we can get together and have her come. I met Beth in FLA.; she rides with Judy Westlake too. She is super nice and hopes we can have her up. We have a SUPER SUPER nice mare for sale, Lilly. She came in from a friend of mine that just doesn't ride anymore. This mare is great for timid riders, trail rides, WTC. W to C, lead changes, jumps, really nice mare. Nicely priced at $5000. Also Kiwi is for sale! HE is really cute and would do great with an intermediate rider. He has schooled XC knows lateral work he has some junior moments but with a rider that has some confidence will really do well. His ground manners are awesome trailers great just needs some mileage. He is fancy to ride and fancy to look at. Asking $4000. Also Ponies ponies ponies! Call FMI All horses /ponies can go on trial to an OK'ed environment. Our dressage show was great we had 24 riders, great turn out for a dressage show. Carol Poulin -Taylor was our very accommodating judge. She is great! August 14th, Thursday is our local MECTA 2-phase with Judy Lenihan as our judge. It will be at the fairgrounds and look forward to seeing the local event people. I need desperately to update our student page!!! We have so many to add on, once I get pictures organized. I will send them in and get that page rolling! Sally Giles has been busy taking pictures all over the farm and is courteously sending me DVDs, so the ball is in my court. Our junior riding club has been a great success. The kids LOVE it! 4-H with the Oldfield's are running the program also has been doing great. Every week there has been more and more interest. Brenda Oldfield does a great job with activities. Brenda and Angie did a great job getting the 4-H /Infinity Farm float together for Dover Days. Look for the Oldfields at the Piscataquis Valley Fair . They will be at Animal Land for the duration. Speaking of the Piscataquis Fair Angie Coy is organizing the equitation show August 24th. Call Angie at 343-0033 FMI. I will write again soon! Hope all is well, talk soon! Gail Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Children and adults were happily riding their horses outside on the road and trail these innocent equestrians were ambushed by these fearless kamikaze warrior flies who only goal in life is to make mammals lives miserable! OK there is not much in life I hate I can think of three things and one of them is the DEAR FLIES. I DO NOT like them! They are a pain in the buttocks! I am aware of environmental issues and understand the need for insects in our world but I don't see these yucky insects as being a necessity! I want to observe how many species finds these flies a tasty treat. I want those animals/mammals/insects to come and find haven around Branns Mill Pond and have a food feast with Dear flies as the main course. Maybe someone can enlighten me on why we need dear flies. Please I am really hoping someone can put a positive spin on these unwelcome nuisances! So I let you all know how I feel about dear flies and every year I feel the same thing. They are an annoying thing for me and I needed to share that some things are tough the summer months at the farm. Other then that, we are doing really great! We have a busy show schedule and a full barn schedule. Brenda Oldfield has initiated 4-H at our farm. It is picking up speed and kids are having fun a responding to her leadership. Anyone interested it is free and FMI call or e-mail me. It is a great program. Foxcroft Pony Club is still going on at the Ruksznis. They meet every Thursday for more info call myself and I will pass the word. Our Junior riding club has been fun! The kids learn and we have a whole summer program for them FMI call me! We are WAY behind on our students of the month! We have a lot of students that have been with us that we want to acknowledge as well as our newer students. I will triple up again on the students so we can let them shine on the website. The 27th of July is our dressage show at the Dover-Foxcroft fair grounds. Come on by! Angie has been organizing the shows this year and after our dressage and 2-phase, she will be organizing the Piscataquis valley fair show Aug 23rd Saturday. Hope everyone can attend. Katie's horse in training left last month to a woman in Abbot. I saw the owner just today in a local tack store and she raved about how well her horse is going. I glad to see another pair enjoy our training and enjoy their horses. Chris has been busy and it shows! He put in an "outdoor wash stall" and it was like we invented chocolate! Clients praised and praised the wash stall. We thought it would be a nice addition as in Florida a we had one, but the positive response was incredible! Here are some reviews:
Yeah for the Wilson family on purchasing Dayfdd! It was Karma that this family bought this horse. Congrats you guys! Judy Westlake has been teaching this summer here for a couple of days. The next days are August and the 15th. I would like to make the 15th a body clinic. I need to know if this is something people want to do. Jr is doing really great. He is so much fun! I was going to get him out on the 20th but will ride him on the 27th to get him out and about more. He is just a great partner to have and although he doesn't know much right now, he really tries and gets any new exercise quickly! I feel very thankful to have him. We have ALOT of horses coming in for sale and training. Please if you are looking to buy and can offer a good home let us know. We will be training and working with any horse that comes in. Our training is thorough and we are happy to discuss with you. We have great references available too! I will write more as there is more info and notices I have forgotten. Until then Happy Riding, Gail Wednesday, July 02, 2008 All is settling in well for the summer. We have our regular lessons, our Trainers training program, Instructor Program, Junior riding club and will start our in barn drill team up again in the next few weeks. A lot of students have also been attending the dressage 101 that Angie has organized. Our trainers training program is working really well. Our students are working horses at the farm and have their own clients in the area. It has been an extremely good program and I am very impressed at how the students in the program are learning and how good their "equine eye” is developing. They can see when a horse is through, can explain the process, can demonstrate it and teach a horse the basics of thoroughness that is very impressive. Thoroughness, the connection of the back of the horse to the front, is a hard feeling to learn and these students are doing great. The dressage scores they come out with really show the knowledge. The way they train is also correct and the horses respond very well. We have a lot of knowledgeable judges impressed with our horses' way of going. The students do a great job riding and understanding what they are doing under saddle. They learn to label gaits and understand balance differences that occur as a horse builds muscle and learns at the different levels. For example, the balance of a training level horse and how it starts to change thru some 1st and how balance changes to 2nd and to 3rd and so on. We will be starting a new session of this with in the next few weeks. I encourage anyone who has questions about how we train and what our theories are to please contact us. I will be happy to talk with any one about what it involves and how we help horses and riders. Our Instructor program and Junior riding club has been a lot of fun! We have a few Instructor program sessions with about 4-7 attendants, they in turn teach the junior riders Saturday mornings. We have about 8 junior riders right now. It has been working out well. Any one who wants more information is welcome to e-mail myself. YMCA had an enrichment day this last Monday. The YMCA camp will be running for the week in August. We will have more info on that. Our regular camp for June went well. There were 8 campers and we did lots of riding. The kids learned a lot and we will see some of them at our later camps this summer. For EMDA I facilitated a clinic with Carol Poulin-Taylor at Whispering Pines Farm in Dixmont. That was fun and I brought Jr along. He was a little spooky but was a good boy. I am looking forward to getting him out more and more. Jr. is a super good boy. Our MeCTA 2-phase at the fair grounds was awesome! We had about 45 riders and it went smoothly. Sandy Porter-Bean T.A.ed (thanks Sandy!) and it was great to see Robin Corey, Kris Nikola, Jill from Coldbrook Equestrian as well as many other riders from all over. Thanks you guys for coming! We are trying to get to East Ridge stable to go to some of their events, soon I hope we can get a time in! Tues July 8th we will at Pendragon farm , Sandy PBs place. It seems every weekend there is a show (or two)! Rajas new owner Dakota Lovejoy will be taking home Raja sometime this week. They are learning a lot together and Dakota is stepping up to the plate how to ride Raja and learning the theory and developing an eye and learning to ride through, in order to get Raj to relax and settle into contact. Her sister Wendy just received a new horse, Eclipse; I am looking forward to working with them both. Sarah Harmon's horse, Heidi, has been here for a few days. She looks great. This weekend we have some short term borders comings in. For either trail riding or riding over to the USEF dressage show at Isaac Royale. Flash finished his training here and has gone home Down East. Abby Oropazas horses Peeper has been in for training, as is Sandy, Abby Ogan's horse. Marissa Robinson was just here today. Although she had moved also Down East she came home to see her folks and Dayfdd, her Fjord. Judy Westlake will be here July 11th. We have 3 slots left for lessons please let me know if you would like a lesson with her. Our next show the farm puts on is July 27th, a Sunday. It is a dressage show, at the fair grounds, with Carol Poulin-Taylor judging. It should be lot of fun; we encourage all to stop by! Congrats to our riders how preformed at East Ridge, Carmel horse trials and Puckerbrush, this last month or so. It's great to see our students going out and about and having fun! Happy Riding! Gail Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Let's see, we've decided to drive to New York watch the dressage festival this year and bring horses next year. The costs are expensive and want to take a year to have the students able to raise money for the trip. It was a tough decision but I think a good one so that the students can see what the festival is like, before they decide. We have a full show plate, going to shows most every weekend. Its hard when there are two shows the same day, we had made a calendar in Feb of which shows we are going to, so the later added ones usually become 2nd option. We have our 2-phase June 15th at the Dover Fairgrounds. Kath Hartley is our judge and is looking forward to seeing all our show friends we see each year. Angie had been working on the show and we are ready to go! Had quite a few horses come in for training and some that clients have bought in. Debi Gould had gotten a tres cute Hafflinger cross mare, Abigail, for her daughter Sami-Jo Brawn. Katie Bragdon brought in her paint mare Moxee May. Flash and a mini horse 1/2 pint had come in. 1/2 pint is SOOO cute even when he is naughty, its hard not to laugh! The Shaffer's had Nikki in for a few months. I had bought a pony April that Becca Bourgoine has been working. Also Kazoo that Chellie Oldfield has been lunging and will back soon. Candy, Debbie from Abbott sent in for training with Katie left the other day, as did Zizi the Hanoverian mare that Carol Schur from Lamoine had in for some training. All were really happy with their horses and are happy with their partners. Raja who had also been in for training is on a trial with Dakota Lovejoy. His previous owner, Kathllen Shaffer-Keith is riding on of Carols horses Honey in Lamoine. I am going to traveling down that way to teach lessons and they will find time to come up here too! Eva Peach's horse Abby (as well as one of our ponies, Belle) is with Dy Gillespie right now on a free lease. Dy is having a blast with her! Breanne Clawson is back from school. She was on her intercollegiate team as their point rider. Tuppence had been with Mary Beth Devers, who had Tuppence here for the last month, just went home. I will be teaching Bre this summer at Marybeth's neighbors, the Ruksznis using their ring. Maddy Kelly has been riding lately with Angie taking lessons with Hank. Maddy and Hank are going to have fun this year eventing, they are a great team! Robbie Desmarias is going to be 1/2 leasing Shiloh. Kylie Sands will be 1/2 leasing Honey. Val Philpot and Jack have been showing almost every weekend! They are a force to be reckoned with! Gabby Fevens and Ranger are getting their feet (and hooves) wet trying out some of the local shows. Jen Hastings is so dedicated with working her horse Kya. She is out most nights and really puts the time in. Courtney Edgerly and Kiwi have really made great "strides". Hey are coming right along! Heidi Hamilton has been coming out to ride her mare Goldie. The Anderson girls, Amber and Becca are also out regularly working Moe and Koda. Ashley Shaffer took Nikki to her first show. Yay "Ashley!" Joan is having a ball working Million for Dottie Hadler. Joan really enjoys him! Lena Morin had her surgery on her foot done and is on her way back and has some shows lines up with Lee. The Ogans pony, Sandy, will be coming the middle of the month for the summer. Spirit and Magic, the Dows horses have gone home for the summer. Lucky horses… sound like their home is awesome! We have Gizmo, our latest pup to add to the pack. He was a stray and since he has been at the farm he fit in like he was born here! Biff, Chantelle and Scotts (who live in the apartment) goat has been cruising around under Chantelle's supervision. He really is fun to watch! Ohhhhhh by the way Junior has arrived!! He came in last week and has been a lot of FUN to work with. He is still getting to know where his legs are. Right now they look like Gumby legs all over the place. His attitude is AWESOME and I am just thrilled! (He is handsome too!) I will get some pics and put them on the site. I will write more about our other students thru out the summer as well as keeping up with the student of the month. We have a back log! I know there are lots more news and more students to write about. I will really try and write more frequently, until then happy riding! Ciao! Gail Tuesday, May 13, 2008 When we have students that ride here, we want to interweave the love of horses and desire to ride into their daily life. We want them to pursue what ever dream they may have in respect with horses into reality. Many of the students have gone farther then they felt they would and are enjoying what horses bring into their lives. AS in every day life there are ups and downs but remember the saying: "If you believe you will receive" and with perseverance and persistence so many goals are attainable. At our farm it is amazing to see clients learning, taking care and nurturing their horses. We see them struggle with learning a new concept or movement and through hard work get "light bulb moments". From the students looking to advance as far as they can go, to the students who want their riding to be their "Zen" time, it is great to see the interaction between humans and horses. From a trainers perspective, horses are herd animals and there is always some kind of hierarchy. The way that horses decide the hierarchy can seem very physical to humans. Biting, kicking, chasing and herding are ways that horses communicate. They don't have the opposite thumbs (or any thumbs) to dial the horse physic. Many times humans want the horse to think like a human. We as humans need to think more like a horse, in order to communicate. Physical, with lack of compassion, some humans may think barbaric when it comes to establishing hierarchy. Necessity for survival, for equines. Now, not that horses lack compassion, I don't think of a horse compassion in the way humans think of compassion because horses display acts differently then us. If it was just like us, then it wouldn't be horses as herbivores, they would be more like us...human omnivores. (Now humans are thought to be carnivorous but we put just about any food that we don't know what is in it in our bodies, so Omnivores! However, once the hierarchy between human and horse has been set, there are MANY stories of horses and humans looking out for one another. With that said, go enjoy your horse. If you want to learn, go for it, head on! If you need the personal time to spend with your horse that is great too. Horses don't mind if they are never ridden again. To brush a horse is so relaxing, I LOVE to pamper my horses! Although, to keep their health up they need work. Just like us, we would like to sit on the couch and do nothing but for our bodies it is really detrimental. We are entering year five with the farm. It is a learning experience to see that students learn what they need to know with out getting stuck at one level of jumping height and pushing out of their comfort zone with in the abilities of the horse they own/ride. We are going to New York this year and need to raise money. All are welcome to go and/or help in New York. I am setting up a meeting time by the 18th of May to get how we can spend the money for all to attend. We had our spring fling and want to thank everyone that helped! SO happy that you all could come.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 We have some changes with our schedule and want to get the word out. Our Junior Riding Club, a riding program for 3-9 yr olds will be postponed until May due to scheduling conflicts with clinics and our 2-phase. The club itself has been successful we are full with 14 students. In the summer when school lets out we will have another program set up. The students involved are Gabby Fevens , Ashley Shaffer, Chellie Oldfield, Sam Perry, Tajia Arno and Harley Wellman. Anyone that would like more information should call me at 564-7046. Vacation week Angie is having a ride all day session. Please call or e-mail Angie FMI. I will be hosting a Junior rider half day camp on the Wednesday, April 23rd of vacation. Please call or e-mail myself FMI. Carol Poulin-Taylor is coming for a clinic day April 25th. She will be having group rides in the Am with test rides in the PM. Call Angie or me for more information. Judy Westlake is coming May 3-4th. Call Angie or me for more information. The next weekend on Saturday, May 10th is the Foxcroft PC jumper show and our Infinity Farm 2-phase is the next day Sunday, May 11th. Memorial weekend some of the adults will be going to Judy Lenihans for a weekend clinic with Mary and Judy W. that should be fun! Call me if any one wants to go. I will get the info. This month I have had 3 horses in for training and 3 or 4 more will be coming in soon. Angie will be getting some of them under saddle as well as Katie and I. So the barn is busy and it is getting more and more organized, so all is working smoothly.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Just a quick note to let everyone know that there will NOT be any drill team or dressage 101 this weekend due to Easter. Drill and 101 will resume on April 13th at their regular times. We also wanted to let everyone know that Mary Guenzel is coming for the last time this spring on April 6th. I still have a few openings so if anyone is interested please contact Angie. Jumping group with Mary on the 6th from 9-10:30 has availability, too. On another note, we are changing the date for our Infinity Farm Student Two-Phase to Sunday May 11th. This is due to a scheduling conflict. Entries for the May 11th two-phase are now open. The closing date for this show is MAY 5th. All entries must be received by Angie by May 5th. You can also find copies of the dressage tests on the forms page. Any questions e-mail Angie and she'll help you. Dressage times will be available on the website or at the barn Friday May 9th. We are having an article in "The Horses Maine" in the April Edition. Pick one up next time you are at the tack shop! There is also an article in that issue about NCRC and all the year end results were posted. See everybody Soon! Gail & Angie Friday, March 07, 2008 Well, it's great to see everyone working their horses with the new lunging technique! It is so great having the students lunge their horses through, what to look for, and breaking it all down. This technique is what I learned from Judy and it makes everything so CLEAR and straightforward! Horses coming in for training has started for spring. Although this spring is full, I have an opening (and will try for another) this summer. If you would like your horse to come in please let me know soon as I have to limit booking and am filling up through the summer. Also; for boarding this fall/winter PLEASE, PLEASE let me or Angie know as soon as you decide about your boarding situation. We already have reservations for horses that go home for the summer and come back, that have contacted us again for next year. We do book up early so even if you are THINKING about boarding please contact me so I can know that you are interested. We want to make sure we take care of our clients and have happy horses! We have been talking with our students and getting them set for the 2008 show year. Everyone is chomping at the bit and Angie, Katie and I have been getting in touch with students and family on what shows we will go to and such. Again any IF student is interested, please contact myself or your instructor and we will get you into any programs here that we talked about at our barn meeting that you may be interested in. If you missed the meeting, no sweat, we will let you know all the new changes that are occurring. Remember, you can always e-mail us. Ok student notes... Sam Perry and Timber should be ready to BRING IT ON, after the year of getting Timbers muscles fit. Katie's student, Talia has been coming all winter and loves riding Suzie. We hope to see her this summer out and about! Jess Curtain is back from a Basket ball hiatus Hi you guys! Angie has 4 new students from the Carmel area. They ride on Tuesdays if you are out stop and say Hi to them! I am traveling down to Newport still Thursdays AM and am barn hopping and teaching at a few barns down there. Our Dressage 101, Training in Training programs have been very successful and fun! (Our Instructor program won't start for another week). Angie is teaching our Dressage 101 and has researched and gathered a lot of accurate information and the classes are really big! The training Program is going great, the students are learning to develop their eye and want to learn MORE MORE MORE ! The response on the changes from our barn meeting has been over whelming positive and I really feel a connection with us the barn staff and the boarders and students. The "Karma" has been really good and every one focusing on horses and keeping to their goals. So Remember... It's ALL about the HORSES and everything else is a “purple pony”!!!! Ciao! Gail Monday, March 03, 2008 Thanks again for the people who went to the barn meeting. The workers worked really hard this winter making sure the horses were properly cared for. Water can be such a tough issue in the winter. The crew though did a great job making sure day and night the horses had access to water in the tanks that weren't heated. We hired Marie Stupacawicz to brush and put thrush application (whether they needed it or not) on all the horses 2-3 times a week. Sarah did a great job taking over the Saturday lessons; Angie did great keeping the barn going. Chris and the kids did a great job and know they had to take on a lot that usually I would have taken on. Most people know I bought a DWB gelding 4 1/2 yr old for myself. His dad is Zeolit and grand dad is Gramiro Z line. He doesn't know much but has nice gaits and is really sweet. He is at Judy Westlake's until the weather gets warm enough to truck him home. I learned so much more at Judy's again this year. For those who may not know Judy, she is a USDF Silver and Gold Medalist and is a certified USDF Instructor. She is really amazing. I attended the USDF trainers conference as Judy's guest. Jans Brinks was teaching and when I asked Judy a question she would answer it then Jans would mention the same thing! I learned more about the importance of being thourough and how misunderstood it is. I learned how in training and 1st you do need to make sure the horse can come through and be on your aids. Although I knew this and used training and 1st to make sure the horse was on the aids and through to the hand, it was good to get validity and have the knowledge that in WORKING GAITS (training and first) you will feel the horse more in your hand until you start your collection work. Your horse should easily stretch down and through as well as being able to come up and work toward collection. A lot of people don't have a clear understanding of this. They feel the horse is on the fore hand, where in a training level frame, yes it will be more on the fore hand then if it was in a collected frame. This foundation cannot be ignored. Until the horse develops the muscles and comes through to be truly on the aids within all the gaits, this is a natural progression. If you are working your horse in a working gait and feel nothing in the hand then the horse hasn't come through in front of the leg and the horse is too advanced in the bridle for the gait. This is bad bad bad. Remember the training pyramid and what you need to get before collection. We got more and more in depth about the training scale and how you really can't have the next step until you horse shows that he has the previous steps. You can't have suppleness before rhythm. You can't have collection before CONTACT. "Straightness" has a different meaning on a bend and riding the horse in shoulder-fore. With all horses, even the upper level ones we rode in Florida, we had to go through the pyramid and label what we were in and get the feel. This is where a PROPERLY trained school master comes in. It is a luxury to have a good horse to ride to figure out what is to be learned. I have some in barn lease horses to lease this year and will get the word out when they are ready. If anyone is interested in leasing a horse then please let me know. We have a lot of really great programs geared to the students that really want to learn more than what their weekly lesson gives them. Some people were happy with the 1 or 2 times they rode in a lesson and others were enthusiastic about picking and choosing what they wanted to focus on and deciding which program they could take. Don't worry though folks, we will be offering some of the same programs, maybe part two of something more towards the summertime. The Friday during April vacation Carol-Poulin-Taylor is coming. We are starting our in barn drill team. We are keeping it on site but will be putting on a half time show during our 2 phase. I wanted to send a note that Becca Anderson is trotting her horse Koda over ground poles! Yay Becca! If you see her at the farm let her know how cool that is! Keep the Faith and remember ~ with the bad stuff, its only a purple pony! Talk soon! Gail Wednesday, February 20, 2008 Change in lesson rate for Private lesson with Gail: Here is the program overview: Dressage 101 - "Exploring Dressage" Some of the skills the student will attain are:
Cost: $40.00 for first session of four classes to be paid at the first class. This class is designed for the dressage rider of any level and the youth group is suggested for but not limited to students ages 12 and over. Dressage 101 youth group meets the second and fourth Sunday of the month from 3:00-5:00 beginning February 24th . This will change to a weekday after school is out or the class may decide to meet different days during school vacations or when showing starts. Dressage 101 Adult group meeting time will be determined by the group. We are only taking 10 participants for each group. Participants should come prepared with a 1" 3-ring binder and pencils. To sign-up please contact angie@infinityfarm.us or download the Dressage 101 infor page and sign-up sheet from the forms page of our website. Horse In-Hand: More info contact angie@infinityfarm.us Training Trainers: more info contact gail@infinityfarm.us We will be offering a two day training trainer’s clinic February 21 & 22. Cost for the two day program will be $110.00 and includes lunch. Instructor Program: more info contact gail@infinityfarm.us Drill Team: more info contact gail@infinityfarm.us Clinics: * * * 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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