Rain Again!

Region 15 horse show was an incredible success. Despite the rain. AGAIN. We are now 4 shows and 4 rains. This show was extra special as it was KKoi’s first Regional show doing Dressage. Or should I say qualifying and showing dressage. While he was well on his way in 2005, breaking his coffin bone sort of put a damper on things. So here we are 3.5 years later and we are setting the ring on fire. We came home with 3 Top Fives between the two horses. KKoi got a Top Five in SHIH stallions and Top Five in First Level Test 4. WOW! A performance Top Five. I have been waiting for this for a long time. The victory pass was so sweet. The ribbons and all the pomp and circumstance made me a bit weepy. As many of my show friends know this was a long time coming and it was truly a memorable occasion. He was not lame, he was not broken, he was perfect. It was a Kodak Moment for sure. Thank you Gary Hooghkirk and Rachel for sharing the ribbon photo with me!! And the biggest thanks to Sarah Duclos of New Freedom Riding Academy in New Freedom, PA for taking what I started in KKoi and making it all work right!

EF KKlassique Beauty++ also did me proud by earning a Top Five ribbon in SHIH Mares 2 and over. Unfortunately she had a rather large laceration in her mouth which caused us to scratch out of our performance classes, but that’s ok, her willingness to please still shone through! She is still an incredibly well put together mare and was duly rewarded for it! Next up is East Coast Championships and East Coast Youth Championships! With the way Rachel is cleaning up with Blossom she should do very well at East Coast. Meri is coming along as well. We shall see how the contingent does. We are all very excited!!

KKoi in New Jersey

Wow it was hard to see my boy being ridden by someone else!! Even though he and I both adore Sarah it was tough. He was not at all confused though. When I saw him in his stall for the first timer in 4 weeks at the New Jersey Horse Park he quietly nickered to me as if to say where have you been. When Sarah came over he looked at her a not wanting to be interrupted so she discretely stepped away so we could have our moment. Thank you Sarah!

All in all a great show was has, except for the cold rain. Again. KKoi rode in an open show and two Arab shows. He did very well all around. He got a 1st in Sport Horse Under Saddle, a 4th in First Level test 2 a 3rd in First Test 1, a 4th in First test 1 and a 2nd in First test 1. This was his first outing doing first Level. The extensions are coming along and this qualified him for Regional’s with Sarah in First Level as well as Nationals. I am very excited I hope I can keep it together enough to continue to WATCH someone else enjoy him. It’s almost as if he’s cheating!!

Raining Ribbons!

We are back from another long weekend show. We left on Thursday to head down to Culpeper, VA for the VAHA Arabian Show and Futurity. Amongst the rain showers, the rigs began to arrive. It was, as per usual, a show filled with fun, excitement and friends, both old and new. We stalled with Wendy Spangler and Fireproof Number One, aka Gem, and met up with Dona Hoffman and Future Image while there. We had another jaw dropping performance from all of our horses and our stall drapes were filled with ribbons. We brought EF Llameri, our just turned three last week filly, EF KKlassique Beauty++ and East of Eden, aka Blossom.

We spent all of Thursday afternoon unpacking and getting the horses settled into their temporary living arrangements. Friday morning arrived and so did the in hand classes. Meri was a winner in her class with me at the end of the reins and Blossom won her class as well. Friday night was the SHUS classes. This would prove to be the best showing yet for all the girls, both equine and human. We rocked! We were going in and out of class after class; it was reminiscent of my old hunter days, standing around the ring, meeting the other competitors and making friends along the way. Quite frequently after each class, we were walking out with the top spots. If we weren’t first and second we were second and third. In one class, we took a clean sweep of Blossom-1st, Meri-2nd and Gem-3rd. Beauty could not show in these classes, as she was the only purebred of the bunch. She and I stepped in and out of the purebred classes with blues as well!

Saturday morning brought the first dressage classes of the show. It was a bit daunting for me as I was riding my first First Level test off the farm. While we are building a full size dressage arena on the farm, it is nowhere near completion so I have not had the opportunity to ride it in a full size arena yet. I managed my way through and got a second in the class. The score was a very respectable 60.6%. I’ll take it. I rode Meri in Training Level Test One for Junior Horses and got a first with a 64.8%. Once again, I’ll take that! Rachel, after the past year and a half of hard work and dedication to Blossom rode a beautiful Training One test to a score of 60.0%. Saturday night brought the Sport Horse Under Saddle Championship classes.

After a brief encounter with a suspected funnel cloud, the stage was set for the Championship classes. We entered four and brought home a third, two reserves and champion. We were very proud of the accomplishments of our young riders and young horses.

More rain and then finally a bit of sun ushered in Sunday morning’s dressage classes. We all had a repeat of Saturday’s line-up. We each had two classes. Once again the ribbons came. The horses were a bit tired as were most of the horses on the grounds that weekend. The storms were huge and the rain was plentiful. Overall, we had a fabulous time. We rekindled friendships with people we haven’t seen in a while and made a whole host of new ones. Christine commented that the people at Arab shows were all so friendly and the atmosphere was so relaxed and friendly. “It wasn’t even like being at an “A” show”. Welcome to the Arabian Sport Horse Show Arena, Christine, welcome!

Another Show Behind Us

Here at Evergreen Farm we are rockin’ and rollin’. We just came back from Bel Air, Maryland for the BRAHA spring show. The contingent wasn’t as big as in recent years but we were still a force to be reckoned with! We brought Rachel Dors to show her project pony, EF KKoi’s Braveheart, aka Ben, Kristen Thorpe to show EF She’s Our Legacy aka, Lacey, Emily Estep and her mount Tex, and Christine Reed brought her new horse, Rory Hills, aka Boris. Also in attendance was Ian Dors.

Ian, who was one of the very smallest competitors, rode Boris the largest horse on the property. Boris is a staggering 18hh and Ian decided to take him into the walk race. They won!

Rachel took Ben into four Halter Handling classes where she received a 1st, a 2nd, and two 3rd s and ended up Open Grand Champion High Scoring Horse of the day. Not bad for a not quite 2 year old pony and a 13 year old girl. Gotta love those KKoi genes!!

Christine pretty much got a blue ribbon in every class she entered. I would list them but there are too many!!

Kristen, this being her first show as was Lacey’s, pulled a 2nd and a 6th in classes that were 12 and 8 deep. Very impressive for a pair of first timers.

Emily, also a first timer, pulled a 2nd in halter handling and a 3rd in the Western Pleasure class.

All in all the kids had a great time and all went home with smiles abound. We were a bit soaked as it rained all day long but we were still in good spirits! Our 4-H club, the Rebel Riders, utilize the Spring BRAHA show as a fundraiser for future outings. We held a bake sale and Ian walked the grounds all day long selling the baked goods the kids had made. Once again even though the weather was down right ugly the good folks who attended the BRAHA show made our day with generous donations to the kids. Thanks to all who supported us.

Emotions Run High

Emotionally charged, that is the best way to describe the Shenandoah Valley Spring Classic Show. Let me explain why this was such an incredible show. On December 27,2005 KKoi fractured his right rear coffin bone in two places. He was instantly lame and it was advised that we should strongly consider putting him down as this type of injury could render a horse in serious pain for the rest of its life. We were truly heartbroken. KKoi however was not going to give up. We found a vet who works almost solely in podiatry and we began our long journey into the unknown. Fast-forward three years, and three months to the day and we had a blue ribbon in hand! While we never thought he’d be sound again, then we thought we’d never be able ride him, then we thought he’d never be able to keep his mind clear after 3 years of only breeding mares, he proved us wrong on every count. Our first ride back was Training Level test 3, my least favorite of all the Training Level tests. I went in, under Marian Cunningham an “S” judge, and did the best I could. I asked KKoi for all he had and he gave it to me. Every ounce. My daughter came running up to me just after my next class with my score sheet. I read it over and wow; a 63.5% from this judge was an awesome score. It was a great feeling to be back in the ring and not totally tank. Then she pulled the ribbon out of her pocket. IT WAS BLUE!!!! I actually won the class. It began to rain and I began to cry. I was so overjoyed and full of emotion just to be there, but then to win, oh my gosh, I was beyond words. I am sure that the people standing around me that didn’t know my story were wondering about the middle aged lady sobbing in her horses neck, but those who knew me and my horse cheered with laughing voices for me. We made it back, back from the brink, back to a place where we can all be happy and now look to the future, the very, very bright future.

If that wasn’t enough of an emotional upswing, Rachel had been riding her heart out all weekend long coming to fourths and fifths. I tried to explain that it takes a lot more time to be a great dressage rider when you have already been a great hunter rider, but that she’d make it. Having faith in her pony and being grateful for the ribbons she did earn was important at this juncture. Well when she finally accepted that it would take more work and maybe she wasn’t as prepared as she thought she was, it came, the elusive blue ribbon. She finally had a blue ribbon from an “A” show. She was stoked now. She was ready to move on. It was another moment of sheer joy. Joy in the accomplishments of the younger ones coming down the line. Joy in the innocence of the kids just riding to get the ribbon and not worrying about who is in the ring or who they are competing against, just them and their pony reaching for greatness!

On a different emotional note, this time of pride in a breeding program and the loss of a beloved second generation broodmare for us…EF Llameri a coming 3yo filly by KKoi and out of our recently departed grand old TB/QH mare, Cephie, went to the show as well and was an amazing competitor. She did SHIH and ended up winning her class and then moving on to be the Reserve Champion high score for the HA/AA Mare division. How exciting for Christine her handler. Then she rode in several SHUS classes and behaved far better than any other coming 3yo should or could. She moved on to Dressage over the weekend and had amazing scores: 62%, 62.5%, and a 65%. For any horse those scores are, well qualifying, but for a coming 3yo, they are truly outstanding. Once again kudos to her rider/handler Christine for a job well done. It was a bit emotional as Meri’s dam, Cephie, was my show horse as a teenager and college student and the daughter of my first horse as a child and she had just recently passed away. She too would be proud of her last daughter in the ring.

All in all what a show, it had the feeling of a season wrap up not a season opener! We have a lot to live up to now, a blue ribbon for each of us at all shows, it’s tiring just thinking about it!

First Show of the Season Already Behind Us!

Well Evergreen Farm’s first show of the season is already behind us. It was an exhilarating show as the weather was perfect, 70 and breezy, and the show was very well attended. For us personally it was a bit of a milestone as well. KKoi was back in the show ring after three and a half years off. Back in December ’05 he fractured his right rear coffin bone in two places and we weren’t even sure if he’d make it out the other side. Well, he made it through, but we are starting all over again in the training process. Even though he was a strong contender in Training level back during the ’05 show season he has had so much time off that it was as if we were barely out of Intro. We decided to throw caution to the wind and try Training 3 and 4 at the show. He held his own in T4 and did remarkably well in T3. I am very excited for his return to the show ring and his complete comeback as a riding horse. It has been a slow and tedious process, but the vets feel like he is as good as new and we were given the green light to proceed at 100%. With a score of 62.8% right out of the gate in T3, we are hoping for Sport Horse National qualifying scores this season. Only time will tell.

Additionally a KKoi daughter, EF LLameri competed for the first time under saddle. Meri and Christine have been working very hard this winter to see if they have what it takes to be a dressage pair to be reckoned with. Well it seems as though they are a pair made in heaven. With Meri being a coming three-year-old and Christine never riding Dressage before this winter it was a surprise clean up. Starting with Intro A and a score of 61.5%, landing them in 6th place, the scores for these two just kept going up. Training 2 earned them a 64.64% and a 2nd place and in Training 1 they really shined with a 67.83% and the blue to go with it. What an amazing ride it was. The goal for this pair is the inaugural East Coast Youth Championships in August.

Rachel Dors on her ½ Arabian mare, east of Eden, aka Blossom, dished it out and brought in very nice ribbons as well. With a 62.61% in T1 earning a 5th place she went on to Intro A with a very nice score of 65% and the first place ribbon. Her eye is on East Coast Youth Championships as well. Looks like we will have a full trailer going to Lexington in August!!

It was a beautiful day all around. The weather was good, the company was good, the competition was excellent and the ribbons were fabulous. We could not have asked for a better start to show season.

The Gallery and The Painter

The Gallery
It was a very hot August day. We were invited to a gallery in a small but very upscale city. This was Main Street, USA. Cobblestone streets and beautiful storefronts. This particular gallery was an equine only gallery owned by a friend of a friend. She had contacted me the previous spring about my stallion, KKoi coming to the gallery for “Arabian” day. She mentioned that she does different breeds as often as possible and likes to get the best representations of each breed there, in the flesh, for people (non-horsey mostly) to see and touch. She explained that finding an Arabian quiet enough to spend the day in a 12x12 pen in the parking lot all day with kids, cars and all sorts of commotion around was a very daunting task, and one that she had not yet completed. Then she heard of KKoi.

Rolling over and over in my mind were all the e-mail messages that we sent back and forth and the visit to the farm by the owner of the gallery and the surprise visit afterward by the painter who had wanted to photograph him for reference material. As we were driving in the 90+-degree weather with stallion in tow, I began to wonder if I had lost my mind. Could he do it? Could he sit there all day in the heat and deal with kids, and flash pictures, and cars and motorcycles and who knows what else? We brought a tent, one of those party tents that you sit under. Well it was only 10x10 and KKoi’s enclosure was 12x12, would he deal with that too? Only time would tell.

The day started with people streaming out to see KKoi, like he was a celebrity. Well he ate it up. He acted like this was something he does all the time. He stood with kids next to him for photo op after photo op. He would, every hour, as per our contract, come out of his enclosure and walk around for people to get really close. We had one toddler get away from her mom and run and wrap herself around his hind leg. He just stood. Never moving a muscle. After it was over, after what seemed like all of the 2000 invitees came and went KKoi and I trudged home. He now had a new fan base. He now had people outside of his family adoring him. He was on his way to fame.

The Painter
During the apex of the Gallery Day I was approached by the gallery owner and asked if Lesley Harrison, the painter could come out and see KKoi. Apparently Lesley is a close friend of the gallery owner and when I sent my promotional materials ahead for use in the invitation for the gallery, the owner sent them on to Lesley. Lesley was captivated by KKoi’s kind eye and soulful look. I am a bit naïve to the art world so unknowingly I said sure. When I told my friends what was happening, most of them looked at me and said,
“The Lesley Harrison is coming here to see KKoi?” I Googled her. I learned pretty quickly that this was a big deal and I needed to seize it with open arms. Lesley came out very early to catch the morning light and KKoi at his finest. He was bathed, clipped and crimped to the nth degree. He was gorgeous, and she agreed. Over 2000 pictures later she reminded me that this was just for reference work and she had over a year’s worth of commissioned work to complete before she could even think about doing something for herself.

Night after night she said she lay awake in bed thinking about KKoi and one particular picture she took. She dreamed it in her sleep. She just could not push him from her mind. So she began to paint and in less than six months from the time she took the pictures it was completed. This stunningly beautiful portrait of KKoi’s soul. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet a person like Lesley. She is an artist who, like no other I have ever seen, can take a photograph, make it into a pastel painting that looks like a photograph and include the soul of the animal she has painted. The icing on the cake is that I did not commission her to paint KKoi. She did it on her own fruition. AND she continues to do it. She is up to “Blue Halter #4”. Kkoi is in Lesley’s 2009 “Spirit of Horses” calendar, as well as a book jacket and I think there are negotiations for a wine label as well. I guess I really do have my own living art in the barn, and his name is KKoi.