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! 

They're Here!

Well, it's official - as of this afternoon both Farley and Ella settled into their stalls and introduced (or re-introduced) themselves to the rest of the gang. Farley seemed glad to be home, and quickly marched down the path and strolled across the arena in that "Yes, yes I'm back, you may all resume your worshiping" way that he has. Good thing he's modest.... Ella seems to be settling in as well. Sue brought some blankets out for her today and she'll head to work tomorrow getting used to the new routine. It'll be fun to see what she has to offer!

In barn news we have some events coming up, so make sure you put them on your calendar! We are doing Dinner and a Horse Show on the 23rd of April. This is a great event with food and horses - what could be better? And this year, a special treat, in that Jill will be showing her two horses in the Grand Prix to give them some "inside" exposure so we'll have a chance to cheer her on again! Everyone can check out Katherine's (secret) favorite horse, Poppy, in the ring - shhh, don't tell the other horses!!

We have a couple of shows that we are looking at doing, so make sure you touch base with your trainers ASAP if you are interested so we put them on the calendar as "for sure". GCEC has a hunter show in April (30th) that we are considering, and then there is the Mother's Day Classic in Wilsonville (9th-15th) and, of course, the Pacific Northwest Hunter/Jumper show (16th-22nd) in Monroe. Both shows are in May, but forms will be due soon, so if you're interested in either show, let us know now so we can work toward getting you there.

We will be going to Thunderbird the end of May/beginning of June (5/23-6/5) to give the jumpers a chance to get some miles up there. If this is a show you're interested in, let us know. The show runs for 2 weeks, but horses can go for 1 week if you are unable to do both weeks - let us know and we'll help work out the details with you.

Nimh enjoys the view!

We're still working on doing some bowling (May 1st) - remember, if you are interested in joining the bowling team, let us know! It's a great way to spend a Sunday and a good cause as well!
Hope you have all been able to make it out to the barn through all the rain. The horses haven't minded staying in a bit during all the liquid sunshine - we have all our fingers and hooves crossed for some solid sun later this week.
Stay warm and dry and we'll see you out at the barn!

Spring has Sprung!

Well, for those of you who may have missed it, your trainers headed down to CA for a few weeks to experience some HITS (horse shows in the sun) action! All of the horses were wonderful - including Toby who moved up into the 1.10M division for the first time and Vince and Jill winning the PCHA medal class - which was quite an accomplishment when faced with the fancy CA horses! We had a great time and enjoyed the sun - hopefully you all had a chance to follow along on Facebook - and, for those of you who weren't able to ride or visit this year, put it on your calendar for next year - it is a once in a lifetime show, and a wonderful time of the year to get out of the barn.

In other barn news, we are getting ready for our annual "Dinner and a Horse Show" event. This is a yearly tradition where we all get together for dinner at the Monroe Red Robin and then head over to the Fairgrounds to watch the Grand Prix. It is a fun, relaxing night of horses and friends, so save the date (Saturday, April 23rd) and make sure to let your barn staff know you'd like to come so we save you a seat!

In sad barn news, our buddy Sinatra/Titan will be leaving the barn. We have loved having him here and wish him all the best on his new journey. We have our fingers crossed that he will find a permanent home soon! However, we have had to make room at the barn as we will be welcoming Farley back home soon and a new horse, Ella, will be coming in to start her training next week. We're always sad to see someone go, but are excited about bringing the new horse into the barn.

In SAFE news, we are putting together a bowling team! Yep, that's right, your trainers will be showing off their skills at the bowling alley! SAFE is hosting this event as a fund raiser and we would love to see a strong Sundance showing. Lanes are $200/lane for 6 people, so if you would like to be part of our lane, let your barn staff know! Bowling is Sunday, May 1st, so check your calendars and come out and support the horses of SAFE!

In exciting barn news, it's official! Both Farley and Jasmine will be for sale in the next month. This is YOUR time to head out there and talk up both of these wonderful horses to all of your horse friends - we would love for both of these great horses to get a home from someone we know, so help these 2 find a wonderful new place! And, there just may be a plate of cookies in it for you too! ;)

We're taking a bit of a show break for this month, but are taking sign ups for anyone wanting to show at the GCEC hunter show in April as well as the Thunderbird shows in May/June. Make sure you chat with staff and figure out which shows are best for you.

It's great to be home - we missed all of you! Hope you all had a chance to enjoy some of the spring sun, before those April showers show up for a visit!

See you at the barn!

We're Back!!

Just like the snow, your trainers came back to work after the holidays and then left for the weekend for a trip to AZ, only to reappear again this week. Unlike the snow, we came and went for an educational experience, and not just to make everyone's life a little more messy!

a shot of the pool (we didn't get to use) at the hotel :)

For those of you who do not know what your trainers have been up to, both Katherine and Chelsea participate in Continuing Education (CE) Clinics every year. The USHJA - which is the governing body of our sport - now has a program wherein they are certifying trainers in order to make sure every trainer has the proper amount of education necessary to safely teach their students. Although we have always worked to continue our education at this barn, there has never been a requirement from "the top" to do so, and, although the USHJA is not currently requiring trainers to take part in these classes, the idea is, some day trainers will be regulated - fortunately for our clients, we have a strong belief in CE here and are already ahead of the game! We had a great time with a wonderful clinician (Geoff Teall) and encourage you all to watch the Sundance Facebook page for some great clinic quotes. We have already enjoyed putting some new ideas into play in the lessons and hope everyone has enjoyed it as much as we have!

In other barn news, show season is officially here! After wading through the winter weather we have something official to look forward to as the show calendar is up and posted in the tack room. The best idea for a successful show season is to plan NOW, so make sure you make the time to chat with either Katherine or Chelsea about the shows that are available, your schedule, your budget and your goals and we can give you a realistic approach to the 2011 season.

Speaking of shows - we are underway and have officially signed up for Thermal in 2011! Best of luck to Toby, Jasmine and Jill's Vince on their upcoming trip down south and a fun filled (hopefully) start to the show season! To those of you not showing, this is a great show to come and watch, so plan on making some vacation days in March and heading down to the sunny skies in CA to cheer on your teammates!

In other show news, GCEC is underway starting in January. There is a jumper show that we are able to attend, but we need at least two riders willing to show in order for us to put it all together - make sure, if you are interested, to touch base with Katherine or Chelsea ASAP.

In barn news, our new ponies are an adorable hit! CJ (or "The Rabbit" as we call him) is super fun to ride and about as adorable as can be! He is still looking for a lease, so if you have been thinking about showing this year, grab this little guy while you still can - he is a winning ride! Our other new pony (Abby) has been lucky enough to secure a lease already! Congratulations to Teague on her new lease with Abracadabra! Can't wait to see the two of them in the show ring!

In sad barn news, Wally left for his new home in CA. Although we are super excited that he gets to go live with his mom, Laura, we will definitely miss him here. Laura promises to keep in touch and we all enjoyed getting to see her video of him enjoying his first roll in the sun! We're sure he'll be making new friends soon!

Farley also left the barn for a temporary job up in Canada. He moved to the Milner Downs stable for the next month as they try out some riders who have been looking for a fun horse to ride. We're sure that we'll see him again soon, but hope he is having a good time up North!

Lastly, this weekend in the WSHJA banquet. Congratulations, in advance, to all of the Sundance riders on their upcoming awards this weekend. We're looking forward to a fun evening of getting to dress up in something besides breeches and barn boots! Hopefully we will all recognize one another!

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year and are as excited about the upcoming year as we are!

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!

Another Horse Show? What?!

Yes, we have officially wrapped up the away season, but for those of you that can't get enough of horse showing fun (who can, really??), Gold Creek is this weekend - hopefully we will see all of you there, either cheering on your teammates or riding in the show ring with us for the first time. We have riders in the X-bars, 2' & 2'3" divisions, so come on out & enjoy the fun! Danika will also be setting up her donation booth for Titan (aka; Sinatra) & his growing stash of items, so come on out and help her sell some goodies for his cause! I would love to see a nice indoor sheet for our boy for the winter!

Speaking of our favorite foster horse: the girth continues to be a success & is holding that saddle firmly in place! After spending the week on the line getting used to saddle and rider, Titan graduated to some trotting and was great. He is very quiet and has relaxed so much - we are so glad we had the time to really work through his fear on the lunge line and it seems to have paid off as Danika was thinking she'd probably need some spurs to get him to actually keep going - a great quality in a kids' horse! Hopefully we'll have some video up on FaceBook soon of him trotting around like a pro - it is fun to see him making such great progress - fingers crossed he can find a home that will keep working with him and enjoy his funny little personality!

As for other barn news, all the horses had their shots on Monday and had their teeth checked. Only two made the list this time around for tooth work and the vet will return on Monday to take care of them, remove Phacon's stitches and give us our Fall wormer - it is nice to get everyone all set up for a healthy winter.

Speaking of winter, although it is nearly impossible to predict the weather in this area, the big fuzzy coats some of the horses are starting to sport make a chilly winter seem likely. Now is a great time to check your winter blanket supplies - right now all of the horses at the barn should have one outside sheet, one inside sheet and a cooler - if the last time you brought a blanket out to the barn was the beginning of the summer, now would be a good time to send them away, get them cleaned and waterproofed before the rain sets in for a stay. Your horse, and the people that touch those blankets, will appreciate it!

In other barn news, Boo has finally been given the go-ahead for some canter work and longer outside time - something we are all excited about for her and her Mom! It is fun to get to have her be able to work like a "real horse" now! All the other horses are working toward the Gold Creek show this weekend or starting on winter projects to prepare for next show year. If you have any interest in riding in a clinic this winter, make sure to let us know - we are considering riding in the Susie Hutchinson clinic in November and it would be a great opportunity for riders to either ride or come out and audit - any interest, let us know and we can get you all the details! Clinics are a great way to hear new ideas and refresh your technique and keep the winter fun and interesting while waiting for the sun to join us again!

Don't forget, the barn work party is October 10th - this is an all day, yearly tradition where YOU get to come out and help make your barn beautiful for winter. Everyone is invited! We will be working on painting the jumps, digging up some weeds and overall cleaning - the more the merrier and the faster the work goes - and yes, there will be food! Sign up in the tack room and just ask if you have questions!

 Make sure you all come out to the barn and enjoy the beautiful fall weather before it goes away for the winter! See you there!

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!

Summertime at the barn

Well, we are back from Thunderbird and getting ready to head off to The Emerald Classic! This is our first year showing at Emerald, so we are excited to see how the show goes!

Thunderbird was a ton of fun - not only in the show ring, but at the exhibitor's bar-b-que and bull riding and the horseless foot race as well! Our group won in both the bull riding and the foot race so we had some other fancy items to add to our Thunderbird weeks - as well as 3 Reserve Championships: Chelsea and Finesse in the .90's, Vera and Finesse in the Pony Jumpers and Aidan and Phalcon in the Short Stirrup Hunters - a great couple of weeks for all!

At home, Farley continues his struggle with his "lumps". He is quite bumpy for anyone who hasn't seen him, but is under the care of several different vets - hopefully they can all decide on what will return him to show form before the shows are over for the year! We are truly blessed to have Finesse to take over for him while he recovers.

Jasmine tried her hand out in the Grand Prix field at Thunderbird - although she was quite sure some of those jumps were out to get her, the experience, over-all, was a good one and hopefully we will get some fun pictures out of it as well!

Titan/Sinatra has progressed so much on the line! We are so exited about him! He is now able to canter calmly and quietly as well as trot like an old pro -we are all very proud of him and the work the Danika and Chelsea have put into him. With the addition of his new bridle, we were able to add the rig into his routine this week - readjusting him to work with bridle and tack in order to prepare for the day we can hop on for real! Danika is planning on trying to raise some more money in order to purchase a girth to fit her saddle - if anyone has a size 40 that they would like to donate or loan to a good cause, we'd love it!

Everyone else is getting ready for the Emerald Classic this coming week, followed by Wild Waves on August 6th and The Evergreen Classic in August - make sure you get signed up at the barn if you haven't already!!

We are breaking out the fly masks and fly spray so that means summer is officially here! Enjoy it while it lasts!!

See you all out at the barn!

Horse Shows are here!

It was cold, wet and rainy - but it was almost June - what else were we to expect at the Gold Creek Show on May 29th? Despite the wet weather, however, horses and riders had a good day - lots of horse show ups & downs, but a good time was had by all!

Chelsea's horse, Maia, proved to us all that she isn't just a silly baby, and she went out in her Walk/Trot classes with Danika and cleaned house! She was super cute as she trotted around and whinnied her concern at being alone, but not one bad horse moment out there and she won each class she was in and brought home the Championship for the day!

Cookie and Finesse were both fired up - yes, Cookie too! and they greeted the wet weather with enthusiasm! Both mares showed in the 2' division with Aly and Caroline who were moving up to this division for the first time. Both girls brought home some nice ribbons - a couple of firsts for Aly and some seconds for Caroline - and also learned some lessons about remembering your course and keeping that paint mare cantering ALL the way to the fences! But overall the girls did well and the horses had fun.

Lisa also showed at her first show, taking Cookie into the 2'3" division where they did everything from Hunter Hack, flat classes and Over Fences. Cookie, unlike her normal self, continued her speedy ways, but Lisa did a great job working on the walk in her flat classes and keeping Cookie organized for the jumping ones - they had a great first show and placed in all of their classes and, by the end of the day, Cookie remembered she had done this all before and was settled into her happy place - just in time to head home!

In other barn news, Sinatra/Titan has continued to enjoy his time off. He is so quiet you hardly know he is there sometimes and he is just waiting to get his feet trimmed so he is good to go. We are going to test him out on the line again and see if he is feeling 100% again. No new tack on the horizon yet as Danika wasn't able to show and sell cookies at the horse show BUT, Vera donated a bridle that we are going to try & see if it fits. Fingers crossed as it would be great to get to do something with that little guy! He also manged to tear up his sheet as well (it was just too big & finally got tangled) so he will have to add that to his growing shopping list. But otherwise, he is great - happy and hoping to get noticed out there so someone will give him a permanent home!

Barry continued to work on the  burn pile while it wasn't raining and, with that gone, we are hoping to finally spread the dirt up there by the parking lot. We know some kids will miss playing "King of the Hill" on it, but we are excited to see it go! One step closer to more turn out paddocks!

Bainbridge Island horse show is next week, and we are doing Thunderbird show forms this week so check your calendars and sign up to join us at a horse show! That is what summer is for after all!

See you all at the barn!!