SHOW RESULTS & FARM
NEWS
2008
FOALS of 2008 Just got news that Ann Daum's
mare Lelady had a bay colt foal this morning 2nd April. Also, on
the 2nd May, Freckles, a POA mare had a cute palomino filly with a white
blanket over her rump! Chloe had a palomino colt on the 16th April.
Pictures on the FOALS
page.
FEB 2008 It's already February!! Where
has the time gone? Nugget is already well into his training with Patty
who has recovered from her hip surgery. Sadly (for us) we sold
Chloe in January so no foals being born here for us this spring, her new
family in Issaquah will be having that privilege.
Ellie went up to Vaughn to get some training with Anni but
had to come back 3 weeks later due to an ongoing abscess in her front hoof.
The farrier is coming out and will pull her shoes and we shall see how it
goes. Rachel is coming slowly back into work, she is shedding like mad
so we are going to wait until she is done with before climbing on board.
I am all set to take Nugget to his dressage shows this year, Patty and I
have already marked our calendars and I have paid all the USEF and USDF dues
on him and myself etc....talk about expensive!!! Can't wait to see the
foals by Nugget this year.
2007
DEC 30th The kids are on holiday from
school until 3rd Jan so we decided (Sarah and I) to take Ellie and Nugget up
to Anni Grandia's farm for some exercise and also to say goodbye to Promise
as she is now sold to a wonderful family for their little girl, Juliana.
The weather has been very temperamental with occasional VERY heavy rain and
then snow but today it was not so bad, just very chilly at 39 degrees with
some light rain, a bit of snow and some sun come through.
Nugget was is total shock as we tacked him up and led him
into the indoor arena. Anni jumped on and around they went, he started with
lots of enthusiasm and eagerness but after about 10 mins of flat work he
started to fade, he is so unfit from being off work. Before we put him
away he was asked to go over a couple of ground poles and he really picked
up his feet nicely. He showed us a very nice form over the small
fences with a good bascule and nicely tucked up legs. However, with his
level of fitness we didn't want to push him too much so he was put away.
Next to go was Ellie and she gave her all and jumped the
jumps with great gusto but at times she was a little squiggly going towards
the rails and leapt over the edge/wing instead of the actual jump giving
Anni a couple of surprises. She was enthusiastic, never refusing (if
you call jumping the wing a refusal or not) and was quite bold and of course
is much fitter than Nugget so lasted a bit longer in the arena. We
left Anni at around lunch time (after giving Promise some carrots and a fond
farewell) which was just in time as then the heavens opened up on us and
snowed/rained during the one hour journey home.
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Dec 27th I took a lesson on Ellie at Patty's
place today and had to come to terms with the fact that I am grossly unfit;
having no core or leg strength making my aides totally ineffective and my
seat is way too loose, consequently I was bouncing all over poor Ellie's
back like a ping pong ball and came home quite upset with myself for
allowing me to get this way. Time for a New Year's resolution of more
work outs, weight lifting and time on the treadmill, especially on those
long cold rainy days that are very common this time of year. Could
also help myself by losing 10lbs....for my height and frame that is the
amount (I found out) I need to shed. ~groan~
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Nov 15th It seems
like winter is here already, we have already had one major storm pass over
us knocking trees over and leaving our neighbourhood with no cable and
electric. Thanks heavens Chris managed to sell our old generator and
buy us a fancy new bigger electric start up one just in time.
Mud is becoming more and more
apparent in the paddocks now and the ponies are turning into hippos as they
enjoy wallowing in it. Nugget is showing us his new colours these days
quite gleefully; little pig. Patty is home now from her operation and
she is miserable with not being able to ride, so we wish her a very
speedy recovery!
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Nov 2nd Autumn didn't seem to happen, the wind
and rain hit us here hard and suddenly. Right now we have cold nights at
near freezing and cool but sunny days in the 50's. I wonder what
winter will bring when we finally get into Jan. The ponies (except
Ellie, typical thin skinned sparsely coated TB that she is) are all
hairy and fat, thankfully we had loads of grass this year thanks to all the
extra rain so feeding hay has been at a minimum and with having to pay
around $10.00 a bale that has been a welcome relief.
I enjoyed my first trail out on Ellie today since we get
her. She behaved like a typical youngster like she has never walked
through a carpet of fallen leaves ever before, looking at people walking
towards her with their dogs like they were Halloween monsters, overall I was
really pleased as she did very well considering. I was also in good company
with my friend Robin on board her horse Drifter to keep us company. Sure
nice to have that help and support when schooling these
"youngsters/greenies".
Patty is having hip surgery so
Nugget is having the next couple of
months off from work. He really seemed to enjoy the rides with Patty
as he was always eager to climb into the trailer and get going in the arena
with his supplying exercises and transitions. Patty is really
considerate and kind with him and she kept his lessons short and easy but
also challenged him and he would always come through with flying colours
with any new exercises and movements she would ask of him which I am sure
helped his attitude immensely. How many 3 years old do I know that can
happily counter canter inside only 5 months of training?? Can't wait
to get him out there showing again next year.
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Sept 8-9th Just got back from Donida where they held
the Oktoberfest hunter/jumper show with Promise. She showed on both
days and was the most perfectly well behaved pony ever, Joel, her 16yr
old rider had a blast on her and enjoyed her immensely. Video of her
doing one of the hunter rounds is on her FOR SALE page. Results will be
posted shortly.
Nugget is back in work with Patty and is coming along really
well, we will be letting him down next month to have some time off as Patty
is having surgery in Nov and will need 3 months recoup time, then we will
get back to work again in the Spring. Ellie is in light work 3 times
per week and she is also coming along VERY well. I might start taking
lessons with her in the near future.
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August 21st Sadly, we
are no longer able to have McKenzie ride Nugget. She is off back to
school now so it's time to bid her a fond farewell. It was a wonderful
summer having her here making herself be available on the odd occasion to
ride Nugget. We are still progressing well with Ellie and have also
started on Doremi very lightly with long-lining. She will go up to
Anni's to be started under saddle in the summer 08.
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August 11th What a nice day!! Nugget did an
awesome job at his dressage show and came home with 2 blue rosettes and a
$25.00 gift certificate, I am THRILLED. He was as high as a kite
when he came off the trailer and had to be lunged to settle him down with is
very unu
sual for him. He stepped into the arena like he meant
business. His first test he scored a 65.4% with individual scores in the 6's
and 7's tho' he did get a 4 for striking off onto the wrong lead at one
canter but it wasn't enough to drag his score down far enough and he was
placed first in that class of 6. In the next class training level test
2 he once more scored 65% with a couple of 8's and a 4 for jigging in the
walk. There were 5 competitors in that class and he came away with
another blue ribbon!
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July 23rd Just got
home from a soggy dressage show up at Donida Farms this past weekend.
We took Nugget up on Sat evening and left him there overnight all braided up
and looking like a trussed up chicken ready for eating with his sheet and
sleezy on in an attempt to keep him as clean as possible for the Sunday
classes. It paid off as he looked particularly good at 7.40am when he
strutted into the arena. His mane and tail were all braided up and
were as white as could be as were his three white socks for only a very
short time as they quickly turned dirty in the sloppy wet sand arena.
The judge gave some lovely encouraging comments saying what a fun pony he
was to watch being ridden and he was very forward and obedient and has a lot
of potential.
A lot of people had scratched from their classes due to the
atrocious rain, it poured nearly the whole weekend making the
shavings/bedding in the portable stabling all soggy and a couple of the
outside arenas were getting too heavy and goopy to ride safely in.
Later that morning when Patty rode Nugget in the Training level test 4 he
went on to score a good 61%. We were pleased as this was his
first REALLY big show and the wet weather did not help.
Nugget behaved EXTREMELY well the whole time he was there. It was a wonderful experience for him and everyone involved and now we are looking forward to
doing it
all over again before the summer is out hopefully.
*************************************
July 14th Nugget is back
on track and we are getting him ready for the BIG EVENT on the 22nd
July...watch this space....!!
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July 10th Nugget is doing much better, he had some blood drawn by
the vet. He has a mild infection and he is on medication to help keep the
temp down and electrolytes once a day. He is back to eating carrots and his hay
and we hope to see him back in fine fettle by the end of the week. A HOT
DAY!! (87.6F)
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JULY 7th We just
got back from a dressage schooling show today. It was sunny and warm in the
upper 70's and luckily there was a nice breeze blowing to help keep everyone
cool. Patty (Trainer of both horses) was with us and rode Nugget around the
warm-up arena and to pass by the monster mirrors and around the grounds to
get him used to the sights and sounds and he was super well behaved as
expected (of course).
We very nearly didn't make it to this show. Nugget had scared us the night
before by showing total lack of interest in eating his dinner and hay which had
me taking his temp and to my horror it read 104.6!! So I gave him some
banamine and also an enema ( he looked a bit colicky) as I had seen him
straining but nothing was coming out. The enema worked as out came a small
somewhat hard dropping and the banamine seemed to kick him back into gear with
his appetite and with lowering his temp and soon he was back to his hay but not his grain. I checked
his temp again at 10.30pm and it was down to 102F and he had eaten most of
his hay had had a drink and there was one small poop. That was a relief but it
was not enough.
By 5am the next morning his temp was back to normal at 100.9F and he was eating with gusto
but there were 3 droppings in his stall so we waited until 2pm to decide
whether we ought to go ahead with the show or not. He was happy to be put
outside for some turnout and ate his hay just fine and drank more water. He pooped a good
one in the paddock so we decided he was good to go and here is how it all went.
Nugget thrilled us all with his
performance, you would never have guessed he was unwell the night before and
his results were just brilliant with a 68% and a 70% for training level
tests 1 and 2. The judge gave his some wonderful comments and we got
marks like 7's and 8's for nearly everything. The mirrors never
bothered him at all this time so my efforts of putting one up in his stall
seems to have paid off. The only thing that spoiled the day was when
Nugget came home at around 6pm he once again refused to eat his dinner.
I took his temp right away and found he had a low grade fever of 102F, once
again I was baffled by this and I am convinced that something is up, maybe
he is stressed, or had a touch too much sun?? I took his temp once
again at 10.30pm and again at 5.30am and it was still at 102F but he was
eating his hay and was eager to be outside eating the grass, I gave him 1
gram of banamine anyway. Thankfully, he had drunk about half a bucket
of water, but I will be keeping a very close eye on this guy for a while and
he will be getting next week off.
All of Nuggets foals are now on the ground and if you want to see them please visit
the FOALS page, we are delighted with what he has
produced.
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JUNE Nugget went
to a schooling dressage show and the weather was horrible; it was raining
hard and there was a strong driving gusty wind and to top it all the indoor
warm-up arena had huge mirrors all down one side and McKenzie had her hands
full when Nugget saw himself in them and decided it was another pony, a mare
(he thinks), that had to have his attention and it was hard to drag him
away. He settled right back down again once he left the arena.
The outside arena was where he did his Intro test A and B and he received
some pretty good scores in the low 60's, we were so pleased and so we went
home. I promptly found an old mirror and tied it to his door in
his stall and it will stay there until he gets used to seeing himself.
Other than that he was really well behaved, for such a youngster; with it
being his first ever ridden dressage show I was VERY pleased with him
overall. What a pony!!!
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APRIL 9th We had a wonderful surprise happen here this morning.
Our beautiful Welsh section B mare Evans Chorus Girl presented us with a
filly with three tall white
stockings, belly spot and a wide white blaze, we think she is either bay or buckskin, she is
very creamy for a bay so we are not sure yet. Wow, we are so pleased and surprised!!
She is, after all, nearly 2 weeks early. We had checked her yesterday
evening having just got the camera, lights and her stall bedded deeply
that Sunday (Easter Day) with fresh deep shavings too when lo and behold, at
6.30am when I turn on the camera to check on her there she was with this lump of
moving mass on the ground by her front feet. I have never gotten so
quickly dressed as I did that morning. Thank
heavens it was an uneventful birth, thank you God for taking care of them so
well.
Nugget is now taking weekly lessons with a dressage trainer
here in Olympia, the trainer Patty has a 15 yr old student who is a wonderful size
for Nugget; McKenzie is competing 2nd level with her own horse and is
delighted to be working with us just for the summer to help Nugget get some
extra miles.
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MARCH is here and its been raining a LOT today. 5 weeks to go
before Chloe is due, we just can't wait. We have been busy with answering
calls from Mare owners that have been inquiring about Nugget with sending off
contracts etc...we hope to be able to accomadate a few mares but since
Nugget will be in training this year we
might not have much time to do too many this year. We already have him
under saddle with our pony rider Tara who drives down to our
farm 2-3 times a week to ride our ponies for us. He is coming along so
well and Tara says he is awesome to sit on, a real power house with loads of
"engine" and when he trots out, oh WOW!! Photos will be taken and posted on to
his page once this blasted rain goes away and when my arena is not like a
swimming pool.
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JANUARY has arrived and there is ice and arctic cold winds blowing through
here and we are all waiting anxiously for Spring! Thank goodness for
radiant floor heating in our house making it very nice/easier to get out of bed
to a warm floor.
Got a nice surprise in the mail from the WPCSA the other day. Tyee Picture
Play has once again been awarded 3rd place overall for the NW region. Two
years in a row now, not bad huh? We have started to set into motion some
ad campaigns to see about getting her sold, she will no doubt be a valuable
broodmare to some lucky breeder also as well a first class hunter show pony.
Sadly, we just cannot justify the time and expense of doing this ourselves.
We have one foal due late April that will be our first by our exceptional
stallion Smoke Tree Gold Fever
out of
our wonderful broodmare Chloe. She is looking
huge right now and she still has 3 more months to go. It
looks like we may have already sold that foal once its here if it's a bay or
buckskin colt; a lady in NV has contracted with us to have first right of
refusal, certainly a first for me and I am excited. Of course I would love
to keep it no matter what sex or colour it turns out to be, but I have to keep
in mind that this is a BUSINESS.
2006 SHOW RESULTS
ASPR inspection Devonwood October 21st 2006:
Rachel was presented to the ASPR on this day and received an overall
score of 7.5 giving her first premium and a blue ribbon to bring home.
What a lovely place Devonwood is; it is obvious that a great deal of time,
planning and money had been spent on this ultra fancy place and I was wandering
around the facility just drooling. Marla Eden was a gracious hostess and had
everything running smoothly. I visited with some of the exhibitors and
just drooled (again) at watching North Forks Black Earl being put through his
paces for his final stallion approval. He has such a pretty head on him
too. More info can be seen on Rachel's (mares) page.
NWSHBA 9-11th Sept 2006:
We were planning on taking Nugget (Smoke
Tree Gold Fever) on the Saturday and Rachel on the Sunday, classes were
chosen and paid for. Nugget was shown for us by Annie Beamer on Saturday
and scored well with some lovely remarks made by the judge, more info can be
seen if you visit the stallion page, but sadly, we had to cancel Rachel to go to
her classes on Sunday as we had a family crisis.
NWWC August 19th 2006:
I entered Rachel (Tyee Picture Play)
in the Half Welsh class at this well run friendly yearly Welsh show. In a strong class of 8, Rachel was pulled in First and Second place which meant she
qualified for the Championship class. In that class she was Reserve Grand
Champion by Geraint Davies, and Grand Champion by Colleen McCorley. I knew I
liked that filly for some reason. What a nice feeling to go home with,
totally on cloud nine, to do so well
with so little preparation was really thrilling. Thank you to Annie Beamer who
handled Rachel in these classes.
**********************************************
2006 farm news.
Dec-Jan 06 - Xmas has been and gone, it was cold and sunny on Xmas Day, Santa
bought us lovely gifts this year. We are in the middle of some winter
storms coming through the area making it way more fun here on the farm
with power outages and frozen pipes. Thank heavens we have a generator and
plenty of water/food and candles etc stocked here in the house, it was tough
having no internet for 5 days...talk about being in withdrawal.
See you all in the New Year.
November
2006 ......We bought a TB mare this month, what a nice girl she is,
visit our Mares pages for info. the rains are already
here and everything is mud city, we see spring as being a long way away right
now, hoping winter passes quickly.
Its October now and we just got back yesterday from our final
show/presentation down at Sherwood OR and it couldn't have been a nicer day if
it tried. The nights are cool, the ponies are getting (if not already are) very
hairy and I guess soon we will have to start batting down the hatches in
anticipation of the rains that will inevitably come.
It's Sept now and it's been a long hot summer, the grass in
no longer green but dry brown stubble, the hay is in the barn and everything is so desert like in
appearance. We, as a family went up to Victoria, BC for a short much
needed break and found the place to be delightfully green, a tad cooler and very
pleasant (especially Butchart Gardens) and not too far away either. Even
the ferry ride was nice and normally I hate going on boats. Certainly well
worth another visit.
