Well, Howdy!

Boy, it sure has been awhile! It's time to get your barn updated after a very busy show and Fall season!

September had us showing down at Donida for Octoberfest as well as up in Monroe for the Northwest Autumn Finals. Both shows were a hit, with Ella and Pink bringing home the ribbons at Octoberfest, as well as moving up a division and Toby and Chelsea making their debut ride in a Mini Prix against some tough competitors and bringing home a 6th place finish! It was a great show, and for anyone not sure how to break into the show ring in 2012, a good show to put on your list!

Horses aren't the only things we ride!

The Finals show was fun as well, with all of the horses bring home ribbons - including a Championship for Toby in the 1.15M division as well as a win in the 1.20 age group class, and another Championship for Farley in the .90's, just edging out Finesse who brought home a very nice Reserve Champion ribbon as well. Both Toby and Phalcon participated in the big USHJA hunter class - Phalcon had an amazing round, but a couple of rails kept him out of the ribbons, so Toby represented the barn in the 2nd half of the competition, showing those hunters how to make the turns, and coming in 10th out of 27 rides - pretty good for a jumper! All of the horses and riders earned points toward their year-end awards, so, if you haven't looked them up yet, take the time to check them out now! Points for the WSHJA are FINAL as of 11/30/11, so make sure they have all your ribbons accounted for before they are set in stone. We have some horses and riders looking to get some neat ribbons in the National division, which is great! Look for an update on their final placings soon!

At home we had our annual barn work party. Thanks to everyone who attended - this was an incredibly productive day with jumps being painted, the hill getting weeded, pasture wires restrung and just an all over good time. We always appreciate everyone coming out to help keep the barn looking great!

The weather has turned chilly now and horses (and riders!) are bundled up against the chill. We've started body clipping, so if your horse hasn't lost their puffy fur coat yet, don't be surprised if you show up to a pretty fancy looking horse in the next week or two! All of the horses made the list this year, so your horse may be next! We'll be changing blankets again at the end of the month, so keep an eye out for updates on the SE Facebook page!

We have several horses and riders participating in the Jeff Cook clinic next weekend. We are very proud of all of our riders who signed up for this opportunity as well as those of you who will be auditing. This is an incredible learning experience for both horse and rider, as well as the chance to show your trainers how committed you are to your sport! Kudos to you all in advance!

We were also invited to participate in the George Morris clinic in Wilsonville, OR this year. Katherine and Toby will be riding in the 1.20M division with George which is a great chance to get input from one of "the greats", as well as getting the chance to see other, top of the line riders, in a very intense, learning weekend. Make sure to check your calendar and head down for the weekend or the day.

With the holidays approaching we are making plans for our annual Holiday Party! This is a great - indoor! - event with your fellow riders, food, and one ridiculous present swapping game. Come on out and see what mystery may hide beneath the SE Christmas tree! We will also be handing out our yearly "Most Improved" and "Sportsmanship" awards - fortunately for us, you have all made it very hard to choose this year's winners!

We had a fun new addition to the barn this last week - Chelsea (and Danika) are the proud owners of a brand new SE trunk! Check it out - but don't touch (kidding!)!! We're excited to see another beautiful trunk in our midst. If you are interested in ordering one, let Katherine know and we'll set you up through Olson's. Sometimes we are able to get used trunks as well, so if budget is a concern, let us know and we'll see if we can dig one up for you. If you don't have a trunk cover, make sure you put that on your Christmas list as well - outside of looking great, they protect your trunk both at home and the shows.

Lastly we just did a big coat order for the barn and are excited to see a bunch of new SE jackets in our midst! Go Team Sundance!

We want to thank you all for your support and enthusiasm throughout the show season this last year - we hope you all had a great time and enjoyed all the learning and improving you did as much as we enjoyed helping you get there! Don't forget, now's the time to start thinking about your goals for 2012! Make sure you take the time to sit down with Katherine or Chelsea and chat with them about where you want you and your horse to be next year!

See you out at the barn!

Time Flies!

Well, it doesn't seem like it has been that long since our last post, but then the last month has flown by - sort of like the sun that shows up once in awhile....

May found us showing at both the Pacific Northwest Hunter/Jumper show in Monroe as well as Thunderbird up in Langley, Canada. We were lucky enough to be able to hire a new farm hand just before the horse shows - Thomas has hit the ground running and has been working hard to learn the system. We've really appreciated having the help and hope you have all had a chance to meet Thomas and welcome him to the barn.

We had a large group head out to Monroe in May with riders showing in everything from the Walk/Trot division to the 1.15 jumper classes. Everyone was great, with both horses and riders getting new experiences in the show ring: Pink and Ella tried out their first "A" circuit show together and came home with a Reserve Champion in the .75M jumpers. Amelia and Mexico attended their very first "A" show and brought home the ribbons in the walk/trot AND moved into the cross-bar division with Emma (also attending her first show) with both horses and riders placing in every class. Phalcon and Aidan moved up to the 2'9" division for the first time, and Phalcon moved into the 3' division as well - inlcuding competing in the Hunter Derby that weekend, going over all the "big" options and just being a general stud! Finesse and Nicholas moved up to the .90M jumpers for the first time together and brought home a Reserve Champion in both the Children's & the Low division. The jumpers - Toby, Maia & Jasmine, all moved up in their divisions, with Toby & Jasmine riding in the 1.15M classes and Maia moving from the .75M to the .85M - in her first show! Danika and Farley played in the 1.0M jumpers and Ella (the horse!)added her first show in the walk/trot group. Marla and Webster rounded out the group by coming out, showing and winning the Champion in the 1.0M adult group - all in all a busy, but very fun show. We really appreciated all the help we had as we ran from ring to ring and we are very proud of all our horses and riders!

Jasmine plays in the Grand Prix field at Thunderbird

We came back from that show and, in true horse show season fashion, packed up and headed North with the jumpers for two weeks at Thunderbird. The rain was icky - and the footing made it tough on a couple of days - but the horses stepped up to the bigger (and scarier) fences that Thunderbird offered with Jasmine and Toby working in the 1.15 and 1.10 jumpers (including Jasmine with the win in the 1.10M division and Toby bringing home some cash in his 1.15 classic). Maia continued to impress, earning great ribbons in the .85M and then getting to move up AGAIN to the .90M group and earning a division Championship our last week. It was a great couple of weeks and a wonderful learning experience for horses and riders.

We're back to the barn now and the horses are doing great - everyone is enjoying the larger grass field turn outs and Thomas is working hard on pulling the spring weeds which have enjoyed all the rain. Horses are up to date on shots and worming and are getting their dental work done for the spring as well. Feel free to come out and help mow the lawn by taking your horse for a nice grass walk around the barn!

We're getting a few weeks of down time in between shows and will be working getting ready for the next show! Maia, Toby and Webster will be heading up for a couple of weeks in Thunderbird at the end of the month and we are currently working on getting show forms done for the Emerald Classic in July. Make sure you get signed up at the barn so you can come join the fun down in Donida this July!

Fingers crossed for a few more days of sun to come our way - horses have enjoyed a couple of days without sheets, but nothing consistent yet - maybe in July...?

See you out at the barn!

It's a Girth!

OK, yes, we went to a show and yes, it was super cool, BUT, the big news this week out at the barn is Titan (aka: Sinatra) finally has a girth to call his own!! Thanks to a wonderful donation from his friends at S.A.F.E., we were able to buy him a brand new girth. It is a size 38 - and yes, he probably could use a 36 depending on your saddle - but it fits and the saddles stay on and we are excited to actually get to see a person on his back. We've put him on the line with the saddle on to make sure it would stay in place (it did!) and yesterday, after a short lunge lesson, Danika stepped up into the irons for the first time. We did a nice lead line lesson with him and he was wonderful, so we are super excited to see what is next for our funny guy. Hopefully we get a chance now to put all those hours of getting him broke on the line to transfer to a happy and calm pony under saddle so he can find a wonderful kid to love him forever - needless to say we are excited to see how the next few weeks go for him!

As for the shows, we just returned from our last "away" show at Octoberfest and had a blast! The sun stayed out and the horses were great - including earning 4 Championships and 1 Reserve Championship at the show. Wally was great in his hunter classes - earning a Championship in the Pre-Green Division as well as a 3rd in the Hunter Derby and a 5th in the Open Working Hunter Classic. Nicholas and Finesse moved from the .75 jumpers to the .80 AND .85 jumpers and - outside of winning all their classes on Sunday - were Champions in BOTH divisions. It has been quite a year for those two as they have been Champions at every show they attended this year - wow! Chelsea and Farley had a good show as well, earning a Championship in the .95 division and a Reserve Championship in the 1.00 classes - lots of fun jumps and courses made for good days in the jumper rings for everyone.

Phalcon was hurt when he was lunging and had to sit the show out so we missed him and Aidan during the week, but it looks like he will be better soon and able to get back to work in order to be ready for next season. And Maia attended her very first "A" show and came out and schooled with the "big kids" - no bucking or bad behavior and some impressive jumping in the schooling ring as well made us all excited to see what she can do next season. Now she is preparing to go to Gold Creek and debut in the 2' division next weekend.

Dave and Marla returned with their horses and we got to enjoy some exciting rides with Clover and Webster as they tackled the challenging 1.00 courses - rocks, black and white checker jumps and some wacky turns out there. Overall it was a great show for them - with some good ribbons and even better rides throughout the weekend - and, as always, their great, smiling faces - no matter what! We have been excited to have them join the Team this season.

For everyone else, Gold Creek is next weekend! We are getting ready to show off some fun hunter rounds and take some newer clients to the show - make sure you all come out to partake of Danika's Titan fundraiser at the show! Now that she has a girth, she can look forward to filling out the rest of her wish list for Titan.

Vet day next week means up to date horses at the barn and a well deserved day off for all of our equine buddies on Monday. Make sure to come out and enjoy your horse and the sun while it is still here and stock up on some warm gloves and socks for the cold that is coming soon!!

See you all at the barn!

We Did It!

Well, after months of prep work we loaded up the majority of the horses in the barn and headed out to The Evergreen Classic! With lots of riders and horses ready to go, we enjoyed a lot of great rides, good food (the breakfast sandwiches were a Chelsea favorite!) and fun! Thanks to everyone who came out, rode, played and cheered Team Sundance on during the week! Big thanks to Rory for bringing out his amazing wings for the aisle party and to Amy for the great pizza fest during the Hunter Derby!!  Special congratulations to Emma and Finesse on their Reserve Championship in the jumper ring - Good Job Ladies!!

This coming week we wind up our away show season with Octoberfest at Donida Farms in Auburn. If you aren't riding, head down to watch! We will have riders in both the hunter and jumper rings at this show as well and there will be lots to see. This show packs a lot of classes into 2 days and is a great wrap up for the bigger show circuit. After that we will return to Gold Creek - if you are interested in the September GCEC show make sure to sign up at the barn ASAP!

In other barn news, Pink arrived at the barn in August. Katherine has known Pink for years as she was Candy's horse and then Heidi's and she is now looking for a lease so she can stay at Sundance and play in the Pony Jumpers with Finesse. She is fast and fun and she has pitched in on some lessons as well as getting to play some with Vera as they test the waters for a potential half-lease. If anyone else is looking for a fun Pony Jumper, make sure to let us know!

Boo has graduated to being able to be outside for a bit - something we are all excited about for her! She is sharing a small space in the turnout field and slowly getting more time outside. She has been very good about it and we are delighted that she finally gets to be out of her stall a bit! Fingers crossed she continues on the road to recovery.

In sad barn news, Laura (Wally's Mom) moved to CA this month. But, on the bright side, Wally gets to stay with us and keep playing with Erica - we are so excited to get to keep Mr. Walter in the barn! We are looking forward to seeing him show at Octoberfest and planning on spoiling him rotten while his Mom is away!

All the horses are looking forward to getting their shots updated this month (well, maybe not looking forward to it!) and their teeth checked as well so we can start the Fall off on a nice healthy note! Make sure that your horse has the right clothing out at the barn (check with Staff) and take home any fly masks that you may have had out there - yep, summer is gone! This is also a great time to take home and wash all of your saddle pads!! If you don't want to wash them at home, the Blanket Express will take them for you so just leave them down at the barn - if you aren't sure how to get that done, check with us and we will get it together for you.

Looking forward to Octoberfest and Gold Creek this month! Good luck to All!!!