It's a Wrap!

At Sundance, we started the year on a high, and ended there as well! Wrapping up the Octoberfest Horse Show, with multiple Championships/Reserves and great riding by all, Team Sundance ended the 2015 Show Season with the same fun attitudes and fantastic horsemanship, as they started! All of the Sundance Trainers were delighted with the improvements of all our horses and riders, and we were excited to see some new faces on the show circuit. We are already starting on all our homework to prep the Team for 2016!

We have had a lot of line up changes this Fall, as Team Sundance is full of not only great riders, but smart students, and several of our riders have left us to pursue college. We are very excited for all our ladies and know they will be spectacular at whatever path they choose! They are all, of course, required to stop by for a visit and we hope to see some of them back in the barn next summer.

Chelsea has kept the stalls full, however, as we have welcomed Charlie to the barn, and have Charlotte on trail this week. Both of these horses are young and green, and we are excited to see what the future holds for both of them. Check the SE website for Sales updates as we move into 2016!

Chelsea & Giac looking stylish as they ride to a 2nd Place finish out of almost 40 riders, in the 1.10 Classic at Thunderbird! Photo Credit to Totem Photos

Team Sundance spent the summer out and about, enjoying shows in Canada, at the always popular Thunderbird Show Park, where not only did we get to see some amazing riding in the Longines Grand Prix (Go, Rich & Flexible!), but our team did their own amazing riding and brought home some hard earned ribbons. We also headed back over to the Cascade Horse Shows in Cle Elum and the newer facility, Meadowwood, in Monroe, and had a great time with all of our Sundance Riders and Fans - both in the rings and at the fun events after the shows. Cries of "METERS" are still ringing throughout the barn and the debate over who can truly "Hang" and who can not, keep us up at night in rowdy debate. Of course, at the end of the day, we know that ALL Sundancers can "Hang", because, well, we are just that cool.

Our Fall Schedule is filling up, and, although we have ended the show season, we are, currently, looking into participating in the Winter Thermal show this year.  This show runs the last week of October and the first week of November and the due dates are fast approaching, so, if you have ANY interest in this show, please let us know ASAP as we are currently deciding on whether or not to go. We hear it is a fun show, and the weather is (generally!) nice, so it could be a fun way to get your horse to California without the crowds of the February/March circuit.


We will also be holding the Annual Work Party in October, so keep an eye on the Sundance Facebook page for an update on dates. We know how everyone loves to paint those jumps, so bring your brushes and sand paper and painting clothes and show up for painting, cleaning, and, of course, food!

We are hoping to have Jay Duke back this Fall for another clinic - please make sure you let us know if you are interested so we can make arrangements with Jay before his calendar fills up for the season!

We will also be hosting the Yearly Christmas Barn Party and need your photos! Pictures and videos are welcome - they have to be of high quality, so if you aren't sure if your photos/videos will work, please email Rory and check with him. The more we have to choose from, the more likely you are to see your shiny face on the big screen (or little, depending on the size of your computer!)!

We are enjoying the last, warm days of the Fall before it starts to rain again, be aware that horse sheets will be coming out of storage, so look for updates about what we need you to bring for your horse coming soon!

With this lovely September weather, it seems like a great time to say:

See you out at the barn!

It's a "HIT"s!

It may only be March, be we are underway with horse show season and have wrapped up the first of many great shows with Team Sundance for 2015! HITS, Thermal, was a great show - for both our hunters and jumpers! Chelsea and her new boy, Giac, got to know each other and moved up the Levels to finish up in the Level 3 Jumpers on their last day of showing - bringing home a 4th place ribbon out of almost 40 riders. Gigi showed both of her ladies - taking home numerous blues with Finesse (aka: Super Pony), and working on her hunter skills with Ms. Maia. We were delighted with Maia's progress this year as she works on her hunter skills, and hope everyone had a chance to watch the video of Maia and Gigi in the hunter ring - what improvement! We were also very excited with Maia's first place finish - twice! - in her schooling division. It was a great start to the show season! Toby and Katherine worked on their skills in the Level 6 & 7 classes, and had some great rounds, leaving the show very excited for the next challenge.

A beautiful way to relax at the show!

We move on to our next stop in the show season, with San Juan Capistrano starting up this Monday. We are looking forward to another fun show with our jumpers and are excited to try this new venue out for the first time for Team Sundance! Look for photos and update on Facebook.

At home, Danika and Aubrey have held down the fort, keeping everyone fit and show ready, with lots of lessons and rides. Our force of Working Students have also been indispensable, and we are, as always, grateful for our hard working team. A great barn really does take a village and we know we have a GREAT barn!!

We have had some changes to our show line up, so make sure you check the calendar at home. We will not be going to the Eugene Mother's Day show this year, so, once we are home from San Juan, plan on lots of time for torture with ALL your trainers on deck! We will be participating in all three Thunderbird shows this year. For riders interested in this show, be aware that we will be doing our show sign ups in April, so plan on doing deposits early for this, very popular, show. We are excited to have a great group of riders already signed up for these shows!

We had a great time with Jay Duke before heading off for the shows, and are excited to see Ella and Lucy ride in the George Morris Clinic again this summer. Make sure to mark your calendars for the first weekend in June so you can come audit. It is a privilege to have Mr. Morris so close to home, so please make sure you take advantage of this opportunity.

We have a few things coming up on the calendar for you to make note of - we will be taking sign ups for the Cle Elum shows in June as well as starting an RSVP list for Dinner and a Horse Show! This is our annual Spring get together and is always a fun, relaxed night of food and horses - our favorite things! Please plan on meeting us for dinner at the Monroe Red Robin and then heading to the Fairgrounds to watch the Grand Prix. This is a fun night of horse shows and a chance to get to watch some big - and fast - jumpers duke it out for the cash prize. Make sure you plan on joining us!

Chelsea will be arriving at the home front this coming week and checking up on everyone's progress. We are expecting good things from all our horses and riders! Hopefully the Washington weather will cooperate as well and show off some of that lovely, early spring, weather you have been enjoying. A nice break from the heat of the dessert!

We are looking forward to seeing our next group of riders at San Juan, and hearing about all the fun you've been having at fun as well!

See you at the barn!

Hiting the New Year, Hard!

After a much needed, and enjoyed, couple of weeks of downtime, we are looking forward to returning to the ring, refreshed and ready to work! A few of the horses spent Christmas playing with their riders and out in their fields, while others enjoyed extra trail rides and attention from their people. It was a great way to wrap up a busy, and productive, year, and we are excited to get back to our normal schedule - lots of hard work, flat work, maybe some of that no-stirrup work (maybe? how about, "of course"!) and a couple of jumps thrown in there as well. We hope everyone is as excited about 2015 as we are!

Can hardly wait to get back to the shows!

We are wrapping up our preparations for both Thermal and San Juan Capistrano this week. Horses will be getting all their paperwork done next month, as well as their routine care - we also expect to have Sam out this month as we look to start the year with everything in place - in mind AND body! We are excited to offer several great shows this year, including: HITS, Thermal, CA., Blenheim, San Juan, CA., Thunderbird, Langley, BC and the Cascade Horse Shows, Cle Elum, WA. We have group housing available for Thermal, San Juan and Cle Elum on a first come, first serve, basis, so make sure you let us know if you are interested in sharing the housing. These are only a few of the shows that will be on the table, so make sure you look at your calendar now as we will be entering the majority of these shows well in advance this year.

We had a lovely time at the Barn Christmas Party this year, and truly enjoyed all the lovely gifts we received, and, of course, Katherine was blown away by the new trunk (& cover!)! What a surprise and an amazing gift! Thank you to everyone who donated and, of course, a huge thank you to Chelsea for, once again, putting it all together. You will all be thought of each time it is used - and let's face it, that's a lot! We are all looking forward to seeing it, in all its glory, at the shows this year! We were also excited for the annual unveiling of the Year-End Video! If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you check it out! And if you have seen it - why not watch it again! Thanks to Rory for all his hard work putting it together and to all our photographers and videographers as well!

As an added perk to our riders without "standard sized" trunks, this year we have an extra trunk for riders to rent during show weeks. Outside of looking great, this will reduce the clutter in our Ready Room at the shows and allow us to all use that space more efficiently. This is a great way for our riders to have access to a trunk, while saving up to get their own. This is also a great time to make sure you have your show supplies order in at Olson's. Make sure your horse has a name plate for the shows and we would like everyone to look into the halter boards as well. We have a very limited supply, and halter boards keep your nice show halter off the ground and away from curious pony teeth. Please contact Mike at Olson's and he can get you set up - do this early so it is here for the shows! We are also in the process of ordering barn jackets - please let us know if you need one! One must wear all the cool clothes, after all!

Wednesday lessons will be returning to our schedule in February, so please look ahead at your calendars and let us know if this is something you would like to utilize. This will be a temporary addition, so if you have been dying to ride on Wednesday, make sure you let us know so we can get you on the schedule! As a reminder, during the wet weather, if there is flooding in Duvall, traffic is quite bad coming out to the barn as the second bridge floods. Please allow extra time to get here!

We are looking forward to the WSHJA Awards Banquet this weekend and want to remind everyone that now is the time to re-new your memberships! Riders should have memberships in the WSHJA, USHJA and USEF. If you have questions or are unsure what to sign up for, please check with your Trainers. As a reminder, horses need memberships too, so make sure your four legged friend is up to date! We also want to congratulate all of our riders on their year-end awards! Too many to list here, but check out the Sundance Ad in the Flying Changes to see your name in lights!

We have two fun clinics for riders so far this year. Jay Duke will be returning to the barn on February 7th and 8th and, rumor has it, George Morris will be at Potcreek this summer. Space is very limited for both these events, so sign up now to make sure you are able to participate.

We are excited for another fun and competitive year in 2015, and can't wait to spend it with all of Team Sundance!

Stay warm, stay dry, and we will see you at the barn!