I topped the rise overlooking the new barns on the UMH property
just as the sun began to shine. I
took a deep breath and realized it’s really going to happen.
You hope and you dream and you wonder and you doubt and you
worry but on this special morning, I was able to put the doubts behind
me. Judy Brummer had a
similar moment of epiphany when she looked down on her barn and
saw the lights shining in the isle-ways.
It’s really going to happen
- Whoo Hoo!
There is much construction to do and many dollars to raise but
the dream has become something tangible.
How thankful we are for the support of many dedicated people.
The Three Phase Challenge would not have been possible if it
had not been for the hard work of Margo Kirn and Carolyn Kenton.
I’ll be honest with you, I was concerned (ever the doubting
Thomas)
about dressage for mountain
horses, but I’ve changed my mind.
I think these horses can do anything their riders are smart
enough to teach them <G> The
phases were Dressage, Stadium Obstacle, and Cross Country.
There were also separate dressage tests in which to compete.
Three levels were also available:
Beginner Novice, Novice, and Training.
Exhibitors chose their level based on their own experience and
where they thought their horse would be most competitive.
Robert and Erin were SRF’s representatives for the weekend
and competed at the Novice and Training Levels with Stormy, Pepper,
and Silver. It was
exciting to compete but it also caused the adrenaline to flow.
Each test was supposed to be memorized.
Erin had four different tests.
Some riders (including Erin’s final test) had a ‘caller’
to assist with maneuvers. All
the horses did a great job. (Results
page 4).
Erin received a special invitation as a result of her dressage
performances. In spite of
the fact that it was Erin’s first time to compete in this type of
competition, she caught the eye of Margo and Jenny Jackson who are
regular competitors in dressage events.
Jenny has been contacted by RFD-TV and asked to develop a TV
program on gaited horse dressage.
Jenny told Erin several folks had called her wanting to
participate but that she was going to carefully select participants.
She encouraged Erin to be part of the process.
Woo Hoo! The video
taping will be in early October so Erin will have lots of practicing
to do. Margo is making
arrangements for Erin’s lessons
- she’ll also
have to get a new dressage outfit <G>.
What an honor!
Birthday
Surprise
April
19th turned out to be a very exciting day for Jill Drenik!
It was one of
Jill’s regular days to come for lessons so it was easy for Doug to
carry out his plan. He
knew that Jill just loved Sands of Time, Sandman’s first offspring,
but he told her they had so many horses already, they’d really need
to sell some of their own horses first.
Well several weeks ago, Doug made arrangements with Robert to
buy the gelding and surprise Jill on her Birthday.
We managed to keep it under wraps and Jill had no idea.
Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate . . . Jill’s parents
and Frank and Nancy Puckett. It
was a wonderful day and everyone had a great time.
Tracy
Young Training Tips -
Part II
Tracy instructed the audience at the Trainers’ Challenge how
to use a formula to teach a horse anything you want him to know.
Tracy applied it to teaching a horse to lower its head.
The value is that riders (or handlers) have a concrete cue to
help a horse calm down. Lowering
the head is also an essential step in ground manners and future
training. When a horse’s head is lower than his withers, he will
be calmer. Steps:
Spot
- Poll (joint between the ears)
Direction
- Down
Motivator
- Pressure on reins
Reward
- Release
When teaching
your horse from the ground, put one hand on the poll and the other on
the nose. Apply downward
pressure. When your horse
drops his head, release. Repeat
the sequence over and over in small increments until your horse is
carrying his head lower than his withers.
The same sequence can be taught (or reinforced) while mounted.
Tilt the head lower by moving you hands toward your belly
button. Release when the
horse complies. More
training tips next month—stay tuned!
UMH
Foundation Established
UMH has
established a 501 (c) 3 non profit foundation.
Contributions to the fund are tax deductible.
It is administered by Bluegrass Community Trust in Lexington.
Many projects will be drawing from the UMH Foundation.
We hope to help support our youth programs which include
educational opportunities though shows, clinics, and scholarships.
Many, many building projects are also on-going that are
supported through the foundation.
If you or if you
know of a business or corporation wanting to help, contact Don
Copland, chair.
Horse
Sales on the Rise
Congratulations to the following folks:
·
Brian
Littleton, Thayne, WY on his purchase of Major Impact from Frank &
Nancy Puckett
·
Chuck
Schweizer, Mineral Point, MO on his purchase of Good Deed from Larry
& Brenda Watson.
·
Ruthann
Masters, Green Valley, CA on her recent purchase of
L.S. Toco’s Amiga from Frank & Nancy Puckett.
·
Doug &
Jill Drenik, Dry Ridge, KY on their purchase of Sands of Time from
Robert &
Lyngle Lawson
·
Mike and
Pam Miller recently sold their spotted horse, Comanche, at the
Heritage Horse Sale.
We
continue to have some great horses for sale: Duke, Cappy Beth (Tracy
Young’s demo horse), Jake’s Mountain Echo, World Champion Patches
Pride of Ebony (SMH), Code Red, Fire Chief, Duke, etc.
Let folks know we have some great horses here.
Laurie
is Now a KY Gal
Laurie
Quincey is now an official Kentucky resident living in Denniston, KY.
We were so glad to get to see her at the Three Phase Challenge.
Rick is staying in NY taking care of their property there
waiting for it to sell. We
really enjoyed Dixie Wicks and Wax, Laurie’s new candle making
business.. We are so
pleased Laurie is ‘one of us’ now!
Thank you for sponsoring our early events.
You all are great!!
ResultsThree
Phase Challenge
Three Phase Dressage
Beginner Novice Juvenile
1st -
Juve. 12-14 Cassie Thompson on New Addition
1st -
Juve. 15-17 Natalie Wright on Big Man’s Pride
Beginner Novice Adult
1st -
Kristie Wehmeyer on Dorado’s Angel
2nd -
Mike Charles on Toco’s Last Chance
3rd -
Adrienne Esquivo on Werther’s Smokin’ Playboy
Novice
1st Jenny Jackson on Watch Me Blush
2nd -
Travis Robinson on Little Ann
3rd -
Robert Lawson on Barb’s Stormy Knight
4th -
Jenny Jackson on Trump’s Maverick Prince
5th -
Erin DeAtley on Pepper’s Just Plain Pretty
Training Level
1st -
Dougie Spears on Toco’s Last Chance
2nd -
Erin DeAtley on SRF’s Sliver Sundown
3rd -
Chris Tipton on Absolutely Incredible
4th -
S.T. Tipton on Ransom’s Blue Millennium
5th -
Michelle Warren on Scarlet’s Sundown
Three Phase Stadium
Obstacle
Beginner Novice Juvenile
1st -
Juve. 12-14 Cassie Thompson on New Addition
1st -
Juve. 15-17 Natalie Wright on Big Man’s Pride
Beginner Novice Adult
1st -
Kristie Wehmeyer on Dorado’s Angel
2nd -
Mike Charles on Toco’s Last Chance
3rd -
Adrienne Esquivo on Werther’s Smokin’ Playboy
Novice
1st -
Erin DeAtley on Pepper’s Just Plain Pretty
2nd -
Travis Robinson on Little Ann
3rd -
Robert Lawson on Barb’s Stormy Knight
4th -
Jenny Jackson on Watch me Blush
5th -
Jenny Jackson on Trump’s Maverick Prince
Training Level
1st -
Dougie Spears on Toco’s Last Chance
2nd -
S.T. Tipton on Ransom’s Blue Millennium
3rd -
Jamie Derickson
4th -
Chris Tipton on Absolutely Incredible
5th -
Erin DeAtley on SRF’s Silver Sundown
Three Phase Cross
Country
(Based on the least number of faults and time
closest to the beginning optimum time window)
Beginner Novice Juvenile
1st -
Juve. 12-14 Cassie Thompson on New Addition
1st -
Juve. 15-17 Natalie Wright on Big Man’s Pride
Novice
1st -
Robert Lawson on Barb’s Stormy Knight
2nd -
Erin DeAtley on Pepper’s Just Plain Pretty
3rd -
Travis Robinson on Little Ann
4th -
Jenny Jackson on Trump’s Maverick Prince
5th -
Jenny Jackson on Watch Me
Blush
Training
1st -
Erin DeAtley on SRF’s Silver Sundown
2nd -
Dougie Spears on Toco’s Last Chance
3rd -
S.T. Tipton on Ransom’s Blue Millennium
4th -
Chris Tipton on Absolutely Incredible
5th -
Ashley Miller on Meet Virginia
Overall
Three Phase Challenge Winners
Beginner Novice Juvenile
1st -
Juve. 12-14 Cassie Thompson on New Addition
1st -
Juve. 15-17 Natalie Wright on Big Man’s Pride
Beginner Novice Adult
1st -
Kristie Wehmeyer on Dorado’s Angel
2nd -
Mike Charles on Toco’s Last Chance
3rd -
Adrienne Esquivo on Werther’s Smokin’ Playboy
Novice
1st -
Travis Robinson on Little Ann
2nd -
Erin DeAtley on Pepper’s Just Plain Pretty
3rd -
Jenny Jackson on Watch Me Blush
4th -
Robert Lawson on Barb’s Stormy Knight
5th -
Jenny Jackson on Trump’s Maverick Prince
Training
1st -
Dougie Spears on Toco’s Last Chance
2nd -
Erin DeAtley on SRF’s Sliver Sundown
3rd -
Michelle Warren on Scarlet’s Sundown
4th -
S.T. Tipton Ransom’s Blue Millennium
5th -
Chris Tipton on Absolutely Incredible
Dressage Only Intro Test A
2nd -
Erin DeAtley on Pepper’s Just Plain Pretty
Dressage Only Intro Test B
2nd -
Erin DeAtley on SRF’s Silver Sundown
KMSHA
Spring Spectacular - Burrrr
The KMSHA’s beginning show of the season turned out to be a
chilly one for exhibitors and spectators April 13-14.
We shivered and showed right on in spite of the falling
temperatures. The weekend
was actually two shows: the
Spring Premier on Friday and the Spring Jubilee on Saturday.
There were two different judges, Gene Holloway and then Karen
Cabic whose judging styles were quite different.
It was good
to see Randall and Ben Stutman from Berwyn, PA.
Both Ben and Brian showed Diamond Girl and did a great job in
her Trail Obstacle class (adult and juvenile).
Brian also showed her and won in a tough Mares Trail Pleasure
class as well. Congrats
guys! We also were really
glad to see Nancy Puckett who recently returned from Mexico. Her filly
Gundrop did a great job in her first show ever placing reserve!
SRF Results:
Barb’s
Stormy Knight
KMSHA
Spring Premier – Open Geldings Trail Pleasure – 1st
KMSHA
Spring Premier – Open Jack Benny – Nancy Copland – 1st
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Western – 4th
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Open Geldings Trail Pleasure – 4th
Pepper’s
Just Plain Pretty
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Western – 5th
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – 4 Gait – 2nd
Patches
Pride of Ebony
KMSHA
Spring Premier - SMHA Open
Trail Pleasure – 2nd
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – SMHA Open Trail Pleasure – 2nd
My
Best Friend Gail
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Western – 6th
SRF’s
Silver Sundown
KMSHA
Spring Premier – Open Stallions Classic – 2nd
KMSHA
Spring Premier – Ladies Open Classic – Lyngle – 2nd
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Ladies Open Classic— Erin
– 3rd
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Open Classic Championship – 3rd
Gaitway’s
Jasmine Joy
KMSHA
Spring Premier – Open Mares/Geldings CTP – 2nd
FR
Toco’s Double T
KMSHA
Spring Premier – Open Mares/Geldings CTP – 4th
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Open Mares Geldings CTP – 1st
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Open CTP Championship – 3rd
C.D’s
Crown Jewel
KMSHA
Spring Premier - 3 Year Old Mares/Geldings Classic – 3rd
Diamond
Girl
KMSHA
Spring Premier – Open Mares Trail – 1st
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Trail Obstacle Adult – 1st
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Trail Obstacle Juvenile – Ben Stutman – 1st
L.S.Groovy
Gumdrop
KMSHA
Spring Jubilee – Open Mares/Geldings CTP – 2nd
Kelley
Brian’s wife Kelley had surgery on April 27th to remove a mass of blood
vessels from her brain. Brian
called and reported that the surgeon said that everything went well.
By evening she was sitting up talking with Brian.
She should be able to return home within four or five day.
We are so thankful it went well.
We continue to pray for Kelley’s full recovery.
World Equestrian
Games
The Ky. Legislature has approved funding
to add additional stalls and an additional arena to the Ky. Horse
Park. Big plans are being
made for the upcoming games.
Great
to See Scott & Barrie
It was great to have Scott & Barrie Hughes at the KMSHA show last
weekend. They’ve finally
gotten settled since their move from Bailey, CO.
We’re looking forward to seeing them more at the shows this
year. Welcome back!
Welcome
We’d like to welcome back some SRF clients.
Gary Seibert has brought his young Morgan horse, Fortune, back
for additional training here at SRF.
Below is Jellico’s Midas Touch.
It looks like a “gaitor” to me!
Gary is working to establish gaited Morgans in his herd.
We also welcome back Kim Lorance and family withSimply
Incredible and Cease Fire. Kim,
Robert, and Shannon will be moving back to CA in May.
We will miss their enthusiasm.
Best of luck on the move! New
to SRF are Randy Smith and Joyce Bonicamp from Sale Creek, TN.
They have brought a
nice two year old colt, Tyrone, to us to start.
Looks like we’ll have a busy summer. <G>
