Northwest May Classic

DCC Traveler (my trusty stallion) and I had a very exciting weekend in May. We competed in our first recognized event of the year at Northwest in the Novice division. This time we competed in the Open division.

We did it, we finished and we placed 8th and in the ribbons and prizes. It was probably the best ride I have ever had on Traveler but competition was a lot more fierce in the Open division.

Traveler had a fantastic dressage score!! Dressage is really hard for us, so that was thrilling. And Traveler jumped every jump, didn't hesitate at a single fence.

The ramp on cross-country

Crossing the finish line! 

 Stadium - tuck those knees....

Dressage 

 More stadium....

And over the schoolhouse in the last loop of the cross-country course.

It was exhilarating, exhausting and really, really successful. 

I can hardly wait for the next event!

Until then... Liz and Traveler 

Pacific Northwest Driven Dressage Festival

 On June 2nd my mare "Legacy" and I competed in the PNWDF held at Olivia Farms in Ford, WA

 We drove our first Driven Dressage tests and learned volumes, it was a great experience.

 On June 3rd, we took a lesson from our PNWDF judge.  The judge was an awesome instructor.

Again, we learned volumes, had a blast and we are on our way to preparing for our next competition.

Driving fun!

In Mid May Legacy and I participated in a CDE playday. We drove the trails to practice for the marathon, we did our dressage test and the cones course. Teddy Bear Farms of Mead, WA were our hosts for the weekend. Legacy and I have competitions planned for June, so this CDE playday was a great experience for us. We learned priceless information on how to plan the marathon course timing, and how to plan out obstacle patterns..a superb weekend!

Legacy and the DeSpooking Clinic

Legacy takes time to smell the roses



What a great day we had...my local driving club sponsored a DeSpooking clinic and Liz M. and I brought horses. The day went well, I had planned on driving around the farm where the clinic was being held, but it was just too icy for me to feel comfortable. At various stations around the arena there were obstacles...Here Legacy was asked to put her front feet on the pedestal..she did the task, but gave me the "equine eye roll" once she complied.




Legacy loved the man and the violin....Thanks Liz for all these photos you took, you were GREAT!


A little ground driving first, then we hitched and drove...a superb day indeed.

DeSpooking Clinic

Well, the worm has turned and the weather is finally nice here. At least it was until today and we have started our spring tune-ups on all the horses and are beginning to fill up the calendar with compeition dates.

Last weekend my good Curly friend, Linda V., and I took our Curlies to the Despooking clinic at Sporthorse and had a blast. Once again, our Curlies proved their worth by accepting all the obstacles, responding with calm, curiousity and doing what we asked of them. I took my 4 year old gelding, Khatmoondhu, and we worked the obstacles first on the ground and then under saddle.

The clinic had a very diverse array of obstacles and challenges to take our horses through including tarps, a giant teddy bear, boy on a bicycle, jumps, cones, vacuum cleaner turned on, flowers (they can be scarey!) and a man playing a violin.

I am proud to say that "Dhuzie" was awesome. Linda did great as well with her remarkable horse, Legacy. I hope she soon posts pix of Legacy in harness and pulling the cart. They are a fun team to watch. Here are some photos of the clinic and as you can see, my boy is finally growing up.

Up next on the calendar for Khatmoondhu is his first trial endurance race at the end of this month. We will only be doing the 15 mile trail ride because he is 4 and taking it nice and easy so he can become used to compeition without becoming "crazy". Show season is just about to officially start.

Saddle Up!

There is a new article about Curlies in the March edition of Saddle Up Magazine this is a published magazine and you can also read it online by clicking the read online link.  Once there, you can zoom in on the articles - check it ou ton pages 26, 27, 28.  Curly Sporthorse International supported this article with an ad to promote Curly Sporthorses - thank you CSI!
Shelly
Curly Standard Place

Looking forward to Spring and the new season!

Even though the weather has been mild, it has also been icey - I usually have winter shoes with borium on at least one of two of my horses and this year *Joey has them on so his riding/training has continued.  So in December of 2011, *Joe had a bried hiatus from his regular training and he spent a month with my favorite young cowboy/friend/trainer for a month, which I am sure was very good for him :)

But now it is back to his regular work and he is now being ridden by my young eventer friend and wow am I impressed with how well he is doing and how great he is looking.  He is developing a nice topline and he is also showing us that he has a good work ethic and is quite capable of the work.  She has also taken over a few jumps on the trail - as soon as the footing clears a bit more we will be trying him over some fences.

So here are a few of photos from his recent training sessions - I am defnitely going to try to get him to at least a few dressage shows this year!  *Joe is looking for his forever home, will be very suitable for dressage and also has a lot of go and stamina, so could probably do eventing too.

Stay tuned for more as he progresses!

Shelly in snowy Summerland, BC Canada

http://www.curlystandardplace.com