|
Stoner
Ridge Farm News
Robert
&
Lyngle
Lawson
2469
Clintonville Rd.
Paris,
KY 40361
859.988.9092 or 859.749.3008
March 1, 2007
 Happy
St. Patrick’s Day
February 6-9 found Robert and Erin at beautiful Brays Island Plantation Colony in Sheldon, South Carolina. As Kentuckians were braving yet another round of near zero degree weather, and they were experiencing the warmth of the mid 60’s.
Brays Island is a 5,500 acre resort community that provides hunting, fishing, golfing, swimming, equestrian and other activities for outdoor sportsmen and women. Beside the facility’s roads are Live Oak trees draped with Spanish moss creating the feel of pre-Civil War times. The Inn has 13 rooms that provide accommodations for the guests of Brays Island’s owners. The entire island has a wonderful, relaxing atmosphere.
Becky Beyea, Equestrian manager, operates the facility in a very professional manner. She coordinates rides and lessons. Becky is in charge of managing all the horses at the center. There are about 70 head of horses stabled there - some of which belong to the owners and some that belong to Brays Island itself. Folks can ride their own horses on the trails or one of the Plantation’s horses. There are miles and miles of trails to enjoy. One of our clients, Gren Schoch has a home at Brays (C.J.’s owner). He told Robert you can ride three hours for seven different rides and never travel the same trail twice. It truly is a horse lovers paradise.
Robert and Erin conducted daily clinics and private lessons for the owners at Brays. They discussed the difference between a gaited horse and the walk, trot, canter horse. They talked in detail about how gaited horses have lateral movement as opposed to the diagonal movement of a horse that trots. They did mini clinics on ground control and teaching horses respect. They also discussed bits and bitting while making some minor adjustments to individual horses. They did lessons on trailer loading as well. Erin gave some lessons also to the Brays Island staff about riding the gaited horse. Robert and Erin really enjoyed working in the pleasant environment and with the wonderful folks there. They found the staff and owners at Brays very receptive to their training techniques.
UMH
Judge’s Clinic
The Stoner Ridge Farm crew braved the cold to travel to Murfreesboro, TN on Feb 15-16 for the annual UMH Judges’ Clinic. In coordination with the Pleasure Division of the NWHA, UMH conducts a clinic for prospective judges. Ethics, UMH rules, way of going divisions, and conformation were discussed in depth. This year, there were approximately 25 horses that were used in live demonstration to assist the judge trainees (or experienced judges who had returned for a refresher course) with placing horses in the proper divisions and in the proper order. Dr. Whitaker who is on staff at MTSU specifically asked that Merry Go Blue return this year as an example for conformation and under saddle. He was awesome! Thank you owners for allowing us to demonstrate your horses and thanks Nancy Copland for coming along. We appreciate everyone’s willingness to send their horses to this important event. SRF covers the cost of the Judging Clinic expenses with no charge to our clients. Thanks again for your support.
Check it Out!
The new web site for
Michael and Judy Brummer is up and
running!
Go to:
www.emdeemountainhorses.com
Special
Dates of Interest for March, April, and May
Al
Prewitt Memorial, Ashville, NC—March 9th
- 10th
Trainers’
Challenge Clinic -
March 23rd
Trainers’
Challenge -
March 24th
Carson
Masters Spring Premier -
March 30th -
31st
Three
Phase Challenge -
April 21st -
22nd
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee -
April 13-14
UMH
Trail Ride -
May 5th
North
Middletown Show -
May 12th
Madison
Co. Show -
May 19th
Ladies
Auxiliary Show -
May 25th -
26th
Trainers’
Challenge Moved to Saturday, March 24th
The annual Spring Fling and Trainers’ Challenge has been moved to 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, March 24th and will be held at the Madison County Fairgrounds. The most exciting part of the day will be starting the 3 year olds. We are using virtually untouched 3 year olds to start under saddle. Individuals competing in the challenge will have a totalhave 3 hours to train a young horse to accept a saddle and bridle. That’s not all. Our youngsters will be asked to work on the rail backward and forward and to complete an obstacle course. Competitors will be judged on technique, gentleness, and their ability to teach their horse to respond to their cues. There will also be an element called freestyle where the trainer will demonstrate a unique quality or skill that their horse can perform. The event will be judged with cash prizes to go to the top three winners. Come join us for a great time!
Sponsors Needed
Sponsors are needed for the Triple Crown shows. Sponsorships range from $900 to $150 for the three shows. Your ad will go in our special program that will be distributed at the Carson Masters Spring Premier, Summer Celebration, and the Kentucky State Championship. E-mail us at sales@stonerridgefarm.com or call 859.988.9092 if you need additional information on these opportunities.
Reservations
have been made
with wilderness resorts
for the UMH trail ride on Derby weekend.
We have rented the Holly Patch cabin.
Robert & crew will go down on Thursday, May 4th (I’ll follow
on Friday after school).
We’re planning on having a great time.
Let us know if you can join us.
Foundation First Mountain Horse Training TM
Clinic Held in NJ
Robert and Brian left early Friday morning for Randy Smith’s in Pennsylvania. On Saturday they held a clinic at the Alexandria Equestrian Assoc. in Milford, NJ for the UMH Regional Northeast club where Robert started a 3 year old colt. Brian worked with another horse in the afternoon. Robert’s techniques proved successful and both colts learned to trust their trainers and were ridden successfully.
There was great camaraderie among the members of the club. They were attentive and asked many questions during the demonstrations.
On Sunday, Robert and Brian had private lessons scheduled where they worked with individuals and their horses. Lots of teaching and learning occurred last weekend.
Thanks Randy for providing the opportunity for Robert to share his Foundation First Mountain Horse Training TM methods.
Come Join US
The first show of the season is this weekend!
We are all excited. Robert
& crew will head to North Carolina Thursday.
I will join
everyone on Friday. Come if you
can!
Welcome
We’d like to welcome
a very special horse back to SRF, Good Deed.
Larry and Brenda Watson have decided to sell Good Deed because they
have so many horses at home to ride and the demands of their jobs just
won’t allow enough time for them all. You’ll remember that Good Deed
received a unanimous 1st place decision at the RMH International.
He’s a great horse.
We also welcome two great geldings that belong to Steve and Mary
Beth Autry, George Dubya (pronounced George W) and Maximus.
You might remember “W” receiving an unanimous 1st place at the
RMH International and Maximus as the RMH International reserve
Conformation Grand Champion.
Robert and Erin also brought Duke back from South Carolina.
He belongs to Maggie Gallagher, and he will be offered for sale as
well. Duke is a great horse
for the trails. We’re
looking forward to working these outstanding geldings.
Tracy Young Clinic to be Held 2/23/07
Tracy Young, certified John Lyons trainer will be judging our Trainers’ Challenge this year. He will conduct a clinic on the evening prior to the Challenge. There will be a small charge to attend that will help defray the cost of our event. Come out and support our Trainers’ Challenge!
Erin
& Charlie
Update
After months of building and working to get everything ready, Charlie and Erin finally moved into their new home last week. It is amazing how many trips it took to get everything relocated. Everyone was so generous that there were very few items they needed to get after getting settled in. Thanks again for everything!
Shows
and Events
A new feature of the SRF web site is the listing of UMH events right on the home page. Just log on to our web site: www.stonerridgefarm.com to see the listing of shows and events right at your finger tips. In addition to the UMH listing, SRF may be attending additional events with other associations. We are planning to go to the KMSHA Spring Jubilee at the KY Horse Park April 13-14 (Rider cards are now required for KMSHA). Check back often as the calendar continues to evolve.
I Ride
The email below has been sent to me by a couple of people (so you, too, may have seen it) but I feel it is just to cool not to share with you all. The deep, down, love for riding shines through loud and clear in the author’s voice. You can tell as you read that she has had to make sacrifices in order to enjoy her horse. The sacrifices, however, she counts as well worth it. We all sacrifice as well. Maybe it is time that is the sacrifice. Maybe it is having to be away from work - our ‘other’ jobs demand so much from us. Maybe we have to leave our husbands behind because of their jobs. We make financial sacrifices also - we need facilities, barns, horses, feed and on and on. I know you will agree with the heart-felt sentiments below. Aren’t our horses wonderful.? They bring us joy and never reveal the secrets we whisper to them. I am thankful for the help Robert, Erin, and Charlie give me. I’m not sure I’m tough enough to be able to do it all on my own.
As you read, there will be parts that will apply to you and parts that don’t. Enjoy the deeper meaning and pause a moment to give thanks for all those special horses in our lives.
A
Simple Statement "I Ride"
I ride. That seems like such a simple statement. However as many women who ride know it is really a complicated matter. It has to do with power and empowerment. Being able to do things you might have once considered out of reach or ability. I have considered this as I shovel manure, fill water barrels in the cold rain, wait for the vet/farrier/electrician/hay delivery, change a tire on a horse trailer by the side of the freeway, or cool a gelding out before
getting down to the business of drinking a cold beer
after a long ride.
The time, the money, the effort it takes to ride calls for dedication. At least I call it dedication. Both my ex-husbands call it 'the sickness'. It's a sickness I've had since I was a small girl bouncing my model horses and dreaming of the day I would ride a real horse. Most of the women I ride with understand the meaning of 'the sickness'. It's not a sport. It's not a hobby. It's what we do and, in some ways,
who we are as women and human beings.
I ride. I hook up my trailer and load my gelding. I haul to some trailhead somewhere, unload, saddle, whistle up my dog and I ride. I breathe in the air, watch the sunlight filter through the trees and savor the movement of my horse. My shoulders relax. A smile rides my sunscreen smeared face. I pull my ball cap down and let the real world fade into the tracks my horse leaves in the dust.
Time slows. Flying insects buzz loudly, looking like fairies. My gelding flicks his ears and moves down the trail. I can smell his sweat and it is perfume to my senses. Time slows. The rhythm of the walk and the movement of the leaves become my focus. My saddle creaks and the leather rein in my hand softens with the warmth.
I consider the simple statement; I ride. I think of all I do because I ride. Climb granite slabs, wade into a freezing lake, race a friend through the manzanita all the while laughing and feeling my heart in my chest. Other days just the act of mounting and dismounting can be a real accomplishment. Still I ride, no matter how tired or how much my seat bones or any of the numerous horse related injuries hurt. I ride. And I feel better for doing so.
The beauty I've seen because I ride amazes me. I've ridden out to find lakes that remain for the most part, unseen. Caves, dark and cold beside rivers full and rolling are the scenes I see in my dreams. The Granite Stairway at Echo Summit, bald eagles on the wing and bobcats on the prowl add to the empowerment and joy in my heart.
I think of the people, mostly women, I've met. I consider how competent they all are. Not a weenie amongst the bunch. We haul 40ft rigs, we back into tight spaces without clipping a tree. We set up camp. Tend the horses. We cook and keep safe. We understand and love our companions, the horse. We respect each other and those we encounter on the trail. We know that if you are out there riding, you also shovel, fill, wait and doctor. Your hands are a little rough and you travel with out makeup or hair gel. You do without to afford the 'sickness' and probably, when you were a small girl, you bounced a model horse while you dreamed of riding a real one.
Special Thanks
to Julia Dake, author of 'A Simple
Statement'
Dec.
2006 News
|
