Welcome to 2016!

It's 2016 and Team Sundance is off to a roaring start! With a barn full of horses and riders, we have stayed busy all through the winter months - and have even managed to avoid drowning in all the rain! However, as a reminder to all our Sundancers - if it has rained enough so that the valley is flooded, please give yourself extra time to get here as they close the bridge in Duvall, meaning some long back-ups as everyone heads over to "our" bridge. Fortunately, our hill keeps us free from the raging rivers, and horses have managed to squeak in some outside time when we get dry days!

With a busy show season in front of us. we were so delighted with how organized all of our riders were in getting their show requests in for the season. If you weren't sure of which show you wanted to attend, some shows still have room, so please make sure you touch base with your trainers ASAP so we can get you on the list! We are excited to be attending; San Juan Capistrano, Thunderbird, Thermal and the Cascade Horse Shows in Cle Elum, to name a few, and would love to have all our riders there! If you haven't signed up for a horse show yet, now is the time to get on the list!

With horse show season right around the corner, it is also time to make sure your show gear is up to snuff! Congratulations to Gigi on her brand new Antares saddle, and to Kim on her pending SE trunk! If you are in need of any tack, helmets or show equipment, please check with us first so we can help guide you to the right items - and, maybe even get you a discount in the process! For those of you who do not have Sundance trunks, covers, name plates, halter boards and standing wrap holders, these items will be rented to you at the shows. However, there is still time to order before show season gets under way, so make sure you get organized now and you will have your very own equipment to start the season!

San Juan Capistrano looks pretty great, framed by some horsey ears! 

With a busy barn, and a busy show season, we are very excited to welcome our new Assistant Trainer, Hannah Paradis to Team Sundance! Hannah brings with her a wealth of teaching and riding experience and is an exciting addition to our fantastic staff! We have loved the warm reception she has received from all of our riders and are looking forward to her contributions to the barn.

Our Sales Horses are keeping Chelsea busy, with Charlie and Kash both coming along nicely. Charlotte wiggled her way into Katherine's heart, and has also joined the team - although how "for sale" she is, remains to be seen as she continues to win everyone over with her abundance of cute. She may, instead, find herself a member of the Best Lesson Horse Brigade, that Sundance is proud to host, as she earns more miles under the saddle - and over those scary fences! Our good friend, Mexico, found a new home in Eastern Washington, where she can continue to teach, and eventually enjoy a well deserved retirement. Although she will be missed by all of us, we are delighted she has found such a wonderful new home!

Brisky, Monte, Skye and Landon all joined the Team since last year and we are excited to have them on board with us for 2016. Brisky will start the year off first, making her showing debut with Team Sundance this March, as she and Katherine head to San Juan to get the show season off and running. And by running, we mean RUNNING, if you haven't seen this mare in action!

We have also started off the year by working on some new projects around the barn, including finishing the installation of the new water heater in 2015, a new set of doors (that close!) and another layer of felt for our fabulous footing! We are excited about all the improvements and are looking forward to continuing to better our facility for our horses and riders! We hope you've enjoyed them as well!!

We are, as always, excited to get started on a new year of showing, and hope that you are as well! If you are looking for some inspiration, make sure you check out the Year-End Video from 2015 - huge thanks to Rory for putting it together and to everyone who took photos and video during the season! It is great to have a fun way to look back at another great year of riding.

And, finally, congratulations to all our horses and riders on conquering the "Open Water"! We were so excited to add this larger liverpool to the jumping equipment, and even more delighted at how well everyone did! All of your hard work paid off and we couldn't be more proud! Looking forward to coming up with a new challenge for 2016!!

Looking forward to another great year with Team Sundance!

See you at the barn!

Bring on 2012!

Happy New Year, Everyone! Hopefully this writing finds you all happy, healthy and well on your way to a wonderful 2012! We are excited about the upcoming year!

We ended last year with our favorite Holiday Party - the highlights included the wonderful year-end video put together by Rory (thank you! thank you!) and our annual in-barn year end awards. The video included tons of highlights from the year at shows as well as at home, and some great photos of everyone enjoying their horses. If you haven't seen the video, make sure to check it out! And if you have seen it, watch it again and share it with your friends! What a great way to show everyone how much fun we have - and all the work too! As for our barn awards, every year we have a tough time picking out our barn winners - and this year was no exception - but we were excited to give Aidan and Ella their awards in Most Improved and Sportsmanship, respectively. Aidan and Phalcon have had a long road since coming to the barn and we were delighted with their accomplishments this year. Not only did they do well at the shows, but Aidan was able to reach her own personal goals of showing in the Children's Hunter Division this year - which not only did she do, but she did well, and earned the Reserve Championship in the WSHJA National Awards Program - a pretty big deal for their first time over the bigger jumps! Aidan's commitment over the years truly paid off and we were very proud to be able to help her achieve her goals! As for Ella, anyone who has been around the barn at all, knows that we have a big fan in Ella! Ella is always happy to be at the barn, tries her best (no matter how hard Katherine pushes her) and is always at the back gate when she isn't riding, taking great pictures and videos. Ella is always the first to ask questions about what is coming up in the future and is more than willing to catch a ride with anyone who is driving to the show even if it is to just "hang out". We love her enthusiasm and can't wait to see her get a chance to ride in more shows this year with her favorite pony, Pink.

December was also Christmas time and, of course, all of our ponies were good - enjoying some nice treats and special magnets in their holiday stockings. Jasmine had an extra special present this year - a new home! Although we miss her terribly at the barn, we were very excited about her new owner, Emma, who received Jasmine as a Christmas present - we can't think of a fancier Christmas present for a little girl! Emma and Jasmine will live in Ellensburg where they will continue to pursue Emma's dreams of eventing. Look for photos of Jasmine and Emma on Facebook soon.

January brought the WSHJA banquet and the snow. More and more snow.... Chelsea, Katherine and Nicholas held down the fort as everyone else was stuck (or sick!), and ponies stayed warm, cozy and ridden during the time off from lessons. We're not sure if anyone was happier to see all that white stuff go then this small group of workers, but it was sure pretty while it was here - let's hope it is gone for awhile!

The banquet was a lot of fun - it's a rare chance for us horse people to get all dressed up, so it was great to see everyone looking so lovely! Hopefully you all had a chance to see some of the photos online - it was a fun evening, the food was great and the company even better! Congratulations again to all of our SE winners!

The beginning of the year also brought a new horse to the barn. We are excited to have Heidi and her horse Avram at the barn. Avie is off the track and very green. We have enjoyed getting him started in some of the lessons and watching him try and learn some very new skills! He seems to be learning fast and has a kind, calm disposition. Anyone knowing of a potential new home for Avie should let us know as he is going to turn into a pretty nice ride with some training.

Sam came out and adjusted all the horses - everyone needed an adjustment this time around and several of the horses felt pretty amazing the next day - ahhhhhhh - thanks to Sam for coming out and keeping our ponies in tip top shape! Next on the list for February is more worming as we get the horses ready for the warming weather.

Speaking of warming weather, be prepared for some blanket changes at the barn in the near future! Now is also a great time to wash those saddle pads if you haven't done so recently - not too mention a nice bath for your four footed friend! They can get a pretty solid layer of grunge built up after all the cold, and a nice bath can help make them feel a whole lot less itchy.

We have really enjoyed working so hard on some complicated flat work over the last couple of months and hope you have all noticed a change in your riding. We're excited to start getting back into more jumping as we prepare for the upcoming show season! Hopefully you are all prepared for the show season as well! Remember to talk with Staff about what shows you would like to aim for this year and find out which memberships you should be signing up for for the year.

Lastly, trainers and riders are getting ready to head to Thermal later this month for the first show of the year! Horses and riders are working on getting prepared for some big, tough classes, but are excited to see some warm weather as well! Make sure that you have touched base on the schedule as we are doing extra rides/lessons before we leave/after we get back so that everyone stays current - AND, make sure you keep up with our days in CA while we are gone by checking out the SE page on Facebook! Better yet, book your tickets now and join us for some fun in the sun!!

What they use for "flowers" in Thermal, CA.!

Hope you all have had a chance to take advantage of some WA sun while it was out this week! Enjoy it while it is here and we will see you all out at the barn!

January - world's fastest month??

Woosh! There it goes! As long as it seemed to take to get to the New Year, January has come and gone so quickly it has left us wondering if Spring will show up next - wait, let's not get too excited....

We've enjoyed some lovely sunny days at the barn - and even a week of one less layer for our ponies as they enjoyed some warmer temperatures. In true, WA winter fashion, they are bundled up again against the cold, but stay tuned to your SE Facebook page as there may be a blanket change for your horse before the month is over - we can hope!

Last month, after attending the TCP clinic (see last blog post for details), Katherine completed the process and became the 4th Trainer in WA state to get her certification (and the 9th in Zone 9). More bragging rights for a barn that is already SO cool! We've enjoyed the process, and, as the USHJA continues to work on the program, we will be investigating Level 2 for 2012.

We all had a long, but fun night, at the WSHJA banquet. Hopefully everyone had a chance to check out the photos - especially of the new trophy that Chelsea brought home this year. As a hint, it will be available in 2012 for the top 1.0M Open Jumper rider so..... Hopefully another Sundance rider can bring it home again!

In terms of shows, we went to our first one for 2011 at GCEC. We took Sinatra/Titan with us and he and Dankia were great in his showing debut! We are hoping to be able to take him again in February and see how he does - he handled the chaos of the schooling ring, the scary jumps and crazy jumper patterns like an old pro - who doesn't want this adorable pony? The folks at S.A.F.E. came out and took some more video as well, so we are all hoping, at some point, someone will step up and adopt him - he really is very deserving of a nice permanent home. The other riders had a good show as well - both Kristin and Ella stepping into the jumper ring for the first time, and already excited about doing it again in February! Aubrey and Finesse put down some great rounds and a special "Atta Girl" to Chelsea and her baby girl - Maia galloped around the ring over the bigger jumps and the exciting courses like she was born to do it (ok, she was!). We are looking forward to letting both Maia and Sinatra/Titan try some bigger classes at the next show.

Speaking of shows - February includes one GCEC jumper show on the 19th - if you are interested, let us know ASAP! We will also be heading to CA at the end of the month. Make sure you touch base with Staff about the changes in schedule during the last part of CA and the first part of March while we are away - hopefully you are coming down to CA to watch!

In other barn news, Richochett Rabbit returned home - we miss his cute little face, but are excited to have Pink back in the mix. Ella is hoping to start a 1/2 lease on her this month, so, if anyone is interested in leasing the other 1/2, make sure you let us know ASAP.

Fingers crossed that we can continue to enjoy some of this nice warm weather for awhile before the rains return! Come on out and enjoy your horse and some sun while it is still here!

See you at the barn!

Ring in the New Year!

Well, there is goes! 2010 has officially left the building and we are on the way with 2011!

2010, like any year had ups and downs, but, as downs are the norm in the horse world (for example, could it be any colder..? Wait, don't answer that!), we get to focus on the ups - including some fun and successful shows, lots of rider and horse improvement and some fun new additions to the barn in both the horse and rider category. For all of you who are new to Team Sundance in 2010, thanks so much for joining us! For those of you who have been around "forever", we love having you continue your riding careers with us and are looking forward to yet another fun filled year!

We decked the stalls for Christmas and Santa came out and visited all the ponies - guess that means they were all good! We had a great Holiday Party and are hoping to put up the video so that everyone who didn't get a chance to come to the party, will have a chance to see the year-end video!

We'll be celebrating 2010 in style at the WSHJA banquet on January 15th. This is that one time of the year where horse people get to step out of their muck boots and into their dancing shoes - congratulations to all of our horses and riders who competed in the WSHJA shows this year and earned their place on the podium at the awards banquet - all that work pays off in the end!

Chelsea and Katherine will be continuing their education by attending the Trainer's Symposium in AZ this coming week and are looking forward to coming home with even more fun exercises for the horses and riders out at the barn - hopefully you all kept in shape over the holidays!

The horses enjoyed some light work over the last couple of weeks in December and are all rested and ready to get to work to prepare for the 2011 show season, so it is now the time for their riders to make sure they fill out the barn show survey! This is online at Facebook as well as hard copies out at the barn. Make sure you get these done in the next couple of weeks as we will be putting up the show calendar in the tack room soon and you want to make sure your show choices are available in 2011.

And, speaking of showing in 2011 - we have started the year off with a bang by submitting all the paperwork for the Thermal, CA show! If you aren't planning on showing there this year, try to take the time to take a vacation down there during the first two weeks of March - great weather and a beautiful show, plus the chance to come out and cheer on Team Sundance! Come on... you know you want to!!

We wish you all the best for a wonderful 2011!