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Poor Bella got stuck in quarantine. Why, you ask? Not because she failed a test or showed anything funny in her bloodwork, temp, (or any other stat). But because of the ice storms in the Southeast slowing down FedEx and delaying the first round of tests. I guess all I can say about it is that I’m grateful to not have been IN the snow storms and that the only impact to me was a horse who was delayed for an additional week.

But she (finally!) made it! My 10yo daughter, Sadie, and I headed out at 7pm one night last week to meet the shipper at Emerald Downs. Bella, ever the professional, was completely unphased by the late night parking lot unload and reload, and was happily munching hay in my trailer 5 minutes after the shipper pulled in. We brought her home with no fuss and she was happily munching hay in her new stall before midnight. See the trend? “Will work for food” 🙂

Her first ride was a dream. I guess I should mention here that I haven’t purchased a horse who was trained for the job I bought it for since I was a young kid. That’s not to say that they haven’t been trained at all….some of my off-the-track TBs came with a pretty decent background. Just not trained in a dressage-friendly (let alone jumping) manner. Bella is an absolute dream who exudes the confidence and ease of a horse who has mastered her job, and all I can say is that I could get used to this! Here are a few short clips from her first ride about 12 hours post haul-in:

A few days later we cantered over our first few jumps. I haven’t had the chance to upload the videos to youtube yet, but a couple of stills from our first jump session: 

Suffice it to say that I am completely and totally taken with this mare! She is absolutely rock solid and a blast to ride. My assessment after the first few rides is that she is an equitation rider’s dream horse. Loads of scope, a killer brain, and simple enough that I would put my own mother (or daughter) on her and feel good about it.

Welcome to Flying F Sport Horses, Bella! 🙂

FF Bella got all packed up and shipped out, crossed an ocean and a continent on Tuesday, and successfully landed in LA. A huge thank you to Jet Pets and Guido Klatte for making all of the arrangements and orchestrating the move! According to Jet Pets, she is an absolute delight to handle and was kind, curious, and gentle every step of the way (this is in contrast to the 2yo I shipped in 2 years ago who spent her whole time in the 3-day quarantine with Jet Pets trying to bite the handlers! They preferred this one!). She was unruffled by the travel and never showed any signs of stress. I received the same update from the owner of the Quarantine Facility, Farwood Farm, in Oregon after she was shipped from LA to Oregon on Thursday. I’m so excited for this special gem of a horse to get up here!

I have a horse that carried me through the 1.40m jumpers and managed to win more consistently than any other horse I’ve owned. She then proceeded to start Sadie in the Short Stirrups (and then Pre-Children’s and then 0.75m and 0.85m jumpers). I have had more offers on that mare than any other horse that has crossed my path. She is an absolute one-in-a-million horse who will retire with me for giving so much to me and then topping that by doing the same for Sadie. Her name is Foxy Socks (pictured below with Sadie this last year) and I owe her more than I could ever repay:

My point of a random story about a random (non-sales) horse? From what my Germans tell me, FF Bella is every bit as special in the same intangible (but oh-so-important) ways as my Socks mare. You only come across horses like these a couple of times in life. I cannot wait to meet my next special mare in person! Only two weeks! www.flyingfsporthorses.com/horses-for-sale/bella-1003/

We’re right around 6 weeks from our departure for the HITS Coachella circuit, and that means it’s time for the horses to step up their daily conditioning programs to be ready for the show season.

FF Evita will step into the YJC 6yo classes and spend the summer showing in the 1.20m – 1.25m range. A year ago I wouldn’t have guessed that we would be this far along, because she was a bit behind the curve and just being started under saddle. In fact, her first (ever) course didn’t come until April 2017 in the 0.75m jumpers, so the fact that she finished the season with terrific placings and lots of double cleans in the 1.10m and YJC 5yo classes was really spectacular.

But now I’d like to get her confident and comfortable over 1.20m-1.30m courses so that nothing surprises her in the desert. Friday was the first time I had jumped her “up” since August. And here she is showing me that 1.20m/1.25m is still no big deal (in other words, comfort and confidence are definitely not a problem for her!):

She followed that up the next day by jumping her first 1.30m fences:

Absolutely love her willingness and confidence! Now we’ll spend the next 6 weeks introducing more complicated exercises and honing her jump. I’m really excited to take her into the ring in February!

Happy New Year!

I, for one, hope that 2018 is at the very least a little less accident-prone than 2017. But when it comes down to it, we ended 2017 with 7 perfect rides in sunny weather, and it’s tough to top that. So I thought that rather than focusing on the negatives of the year (which included, but was not limited to; my FEI horse experiencing kidney failure, me breaking several ribs, a sales horse bruising his coffin bone and being out for the entire year, about a thousand or so vet calls for a myriad of relatively minor incidences, and so on), I would make a list of the positive things that happened.

• I have strengthened the bond I have with my veterinarian, my farrier, and every other veterinarian in the area – both small and large animal because I am equal opportunity every step of the way (okay, that one is mostly tongue-in-cheek).
• For the first time in my adult life (and really in my entire life), I was able to spend the year completely focused on my horses. I’ve spent so many years working as hard as possible in order to spend every dime I made on the horses. So to be able to step back and do the horses alone made 2017 a year I will never forget. The extra time with not only the equines, but much more importantly, my children and husband, was absolutely priceless. Resolution for 2018 is to take more pictures of the 4 of us together!
• Rasen BHS, FF Clintaro, FF Evita, and FF Bella, joined the Flying F Family. Need I say more? 4 incredible horses that I was so so lucky to acquire. A huge thank you to Sparling Rock Holsteiners, Bayhawk Stables, and Hengststation Haselau for all of the assistance, brilliant scouting, fabulous riding, and absolute top notch care of all of the horses before they come my way. I am blessed to work with such an amazing team of horsemen!                                 
• My off-the-track Thoroughbred, William L, finished the year as the Zone IX Champion in the High Amateur-Owner Jumpers. My young mare, Cassiana SR (2010 Cassiano x Calando I), finished with the Zone IX 7yo YJC Championship. Thrilled to see the results given the months that I was out of the stirrups with broken ribs through the beginning of the show season.  
• FF Clintaro went to a wonderful new home, which is the best I can wish for any of my sales horses. The moment his new owner sat on him I knew they were perfect together. She is one of the loveliest riders I have ever watched pilot a young horse around – soft and quiet and completely in sync with the horse. I cannot wait to see videos of the two cleaning up in the show ring this year!
• FF Evita surpassed all expectations and has matured into one of the most enjoyable horses I’ve ever had the chance to ride. We finished the year with Sadie riding her for the first couple of times and she agreed completely with that sentiment. At the beginning of 2017 I would have thought that she was too sensitive for a kid, but this smart young mare stepped it up in a big way. Sure looking forward to the 6yo YJC classes on her in Thermal! 1.20m is not too shabby of a place to be for a horse who was started under saddle exactly one year ago!
• My baby mare, Tori (2014 Castellan x Canturo), was finally started under saddle late this fall and has been an absolute super star. I was more anxious than I’ve ever been when we started our rides because of my [not-distant-enough] broken ribs. But Tori is on the schedule like one of the big horses now!

My other acquisition of the year (though certainly not part of the sales string) was our beautiful bouncing girl, RavenRidge Harley Quinn, “Harley,” the Bernese Mountain Dog. We’ve always had males, and it’s been a lot of fun experiencing the female side of the Berner.  I’ve always been a mare person, and it turns out it’s no different with dogs! 

There were a slew of other positive happenings scattered throughout the year. So while there were a lot of challenges, I think it’s important to reflect upon the positives before chalking the year up as a total disaster (now I will take a deep breath and repeat those words again…and again…and again…)

Now in these first few weeks of the new year I’m preparing for our annual trek down to Thermal for 3 weeks of the HITS Coachella Desert Circuit (weeks 5, 6, and 7 for anyone interested in sitting on a horse down there!). I’ll make the trip with sales horses, FF Evita, FF Bella, Cassiana SR, and with-me-for-life horse, Billy.

And with that, bring on the success, joy, and positivity of 2018…Happy New Year from Flying F Sport Horses!!!

I really enjoy the relaxed pace of the post-season, pre-holiday time period. And this weekend was no exception! We had a really fun couple of days with visits from friends who hadn’t seen the horses since earlier this show season.

Maddy is someone I consider family. She was my childrens’ nanny in the summers and my frequent horseshow companion for at least a couple of weeks worth of shows every year since. She’s been to Sonoma, Thunderbird, Monroe, and Thermal with me, working tirelessly and possessing the rare gift of being able to guess what I’m going to ask her next before I say a word. Now she’s an attorney and has much more important things going on in life than just the horses. So it’s extra special when she finds time to come for a visit and gets to peek in on how the horses are going.

I was planning on having her ride Clinton (FF Clintaro) as a fun “spot check” since she was one of the people who helped me out when I broke my ribs in May and hacked him between the two weeks of shows, and I thought it would be fun for her to ride him again with a season of showing and training under his belt. But my 9yo daughter, Sadie, got upset because she had been waiting all week to ride him (seriousy, how many 4yo horses have kids and amateurs fighting over them?!). So Sadie got the ride on Clinton and Maddy got to ride and jump Evita and Cassie….everyone was happy with the arrangement!  But possibly the best part of the weekend (from a purely selfish standpoint) was having Maddy on the ground to help my with my 3yo filly, Tori, who came over from Germany last year and got put on the back burner when I broke my ribs this spring. Maddy has been my help when starting horses more times than I can count, and I was excited to have her there once again.

The next day brought a visit from a young trainer friend, Courtney Palmer, who helped me at several shows this season, but never got the chance to ride any of my horses. She was eager to sit on the two black horses, and we had a blast bumping the fences up a bit. It was educational for me as well. I’m a jumper rider through and through, and I’m still studying and learning the art that is involved in producing a true hunter effort over a jump from a young horse. We coursed Clinton at 3’3″ and he was spectacular under her, showing a completely different side compared to his total caretaker/packer mentality when carrying Sadie around the day before. The video below has both days – first half is Sadie doing flying changes and then cantering a short course and then Courtney jumping some of the lines I had set up in the ring. This horse is truly one in a million and from day one has done literally anything and everything asked of him without ever questioning his rider’s input. Truly a unicorn in every sense (except the horn, of course, lol!).

I don’t have the same distaste of Mondays as I did during my decades in Corporate America, but I am sad to have the weekend over. It was so much fun hosting rides and seeing friends I see far too infrequently once the show season ends!

I don’t ever call it “Autumn,” but the rider in me struggles to welcome the word “Fall” in any form 😉

But on that note, we have truly and really stepped into the fall season. Chilly mornings, (finally!!!) some rain, and that bite to the air when the sun goes down in the (way-too-early) evenings. All of the horses are starting to get some serious fuzz, and we’re heading into the maybe month’s worth of rides where I contemplate clipping, but try not to time it too early which would force extra clips during the winter…because that is a big task when you have 9 horses on hand to clip!

All of the horses have been experiencing a little bit of R&R following the summer show season. Most of them got 2 weeks out in their fields with next to no human contact (other than feeding time, of course), a few got 3 or 4 weeks. And I’ve been wistfully watching them graze around the fields, wishing the break time, despite being short, was already over.

Now that we’ve hit October, everyone is back under saddle, which makes me happy. There’s nothing I like more than finishing a day with a full page of my exercise sheet filled out for each horse! And this is made even better by the rehab and return to work of Rasen, who was laid up through the entire show season with a bruised coffin bone. What a pain! But also, what a great injury in regard to the fact that there is no particular “healing” time once it has resolved, and no concerns about him inadvertently re-injuring himself. I was frustrated by the length of time it can (and did) take, but now that he’s sound, I’m super relieved to have dealt with such a “simple” problem!

I’m also excited to have made a decision this weekend that may be a huge help to me this year. Sadie is 9 years old and a pretty decent rider for her age. But she still needs to be sitting on a horse that wants to help her out a bit, because she still is, of course, only 9 years old! I’ve made a huge concerted effort this year to only buy horses that have literal “one-in-a-million” brains, and I talk a lot about how that means that the horses are ones that “anyone can ride.” Soooo……

I decided to put my money where my mouth is and allow Sadie to start riding my nice young horses without any warmup or pre-ride of any sort. I will note that we don’t ever lunge horses at home, so that was never a part of a horse’s “prep” for Sadie. The usual protocol was that for any horse aged 5 or younger, I would hop on and hack the horse first and then allow her to ride it.  So off Sadie goes on a fall-time adventure riding green(ish) horses without help from mom!

Up first was FF Clintaro this last weekend. He had the 2 or 3 days prior to her ride off, and it was one of the first chilly fall days. I have to admit that I held my breath when she mounted (the horse has never set a hoof wrong, but it’s a whole ‘nother “thing” when your tiny child is climbing aboard with the “what-ifs” rushing through your brain).

Ride one (flatwork only):

And ride two (jumping):

That was followed by her participation in the rehab flatwork for Rasen as he comes back from his time off.

Suffice it to say that Sadie has a very interesting dilemma in front of her. When asked who her “favorite horse” is, she gets very perplexed trying to work out how to answer it. This weekend the answer was “Clinton for sure!” and then after taking Rasen on a trail ride, “well, Clinton overall is the best, but Rasen is the most fun to take on trail rides!” and then after jumping her pony, “Clinton is the best HORSE, Max is the best PONY, and Rasen is the most fun to take on trail rides.” Some thinking, and then, “And Socks is the best horse to show!” What I would have given to have an option tree like that available to me at that age!

I’ll continue updating this blog as the horses move into the fall season and start heading out to schooling and jumpernite shows. Happy October to all!

So my summary of the show season is – WOW! What a season! Each horse was better than the last, and it’s not often you get to say that at the end of a year!

I broke my ribs in May in a freak accident at home right before the May Thunderbird shows, and that had the potential to derail my entire season. But it turns out that a barn full of stellar horses is a great insurance policy against missing out! Every one of them stepped up to make me feel safe enough to jump again starting 6 weeks after the accident.

The young horses transformed the most out of the group.

FF Clintaro proved that he is the ultimate junior/amateur mount with a final statistic count as follows:

4 different children rode and showed him – the 13 and 15 year olds each won classes on him. The 11 year old kid picked up a 2nd place and several top finishes. The 12 year old beginner was in the ribbons in every single class (out of 11-14 riders) despite trotting the first fence in several of the classes. How’s that for consistency? Tough to find that in a grown up horse, let alone a youngster in his first year of showing! Further, he did auto changes for all of them and never took a naughty step, despite having plenty of questionable distances thrown his way.

3 adults also rode and showed him – me (his owner), Tracey Epp (a pro in Canada who rode him when I broke my ribs), and an adult amateur friend who showed him in the Long Stirrups at his first show. He picked up top three finishes in every set of Baby Greens with a Reserve Champion in good company in the mix. Again, wow! Such consistency in a variety of weather conditions and under a variety of riders. And all of this for a horse who turned 4 in May!

I thought it might be interesting to put together a list of videos with each of the riders, so here are his rounds under seven different riders:

1. Me: https://youtu.be/zKh_hak0DOk

2. Tracey: https://youtu.be/nEYy-Ai-ebQ

3. 13yo: https://youtu.be/o4HvzVt1kug

4. 15yo: https://youtu.be/O_hhaxWdE4o

5. 11yo: https://youtu.be/ILgvPhFh_rc

6. 12yo (beginner): https://youtu.be/KdF3V54ED_U

7. My 9yo daughter: https://youtu.be/-X4hAnu9-Xk

On the opposite end of the spectrum, FF Evita earned the “most improved” award for the year. When I sat on her for the first time in Thermal, I was positive that she would not be terribly rideable without a solid year under her belt. And, as expected, she was brave but a bit scattered at her first show in April. I put her on Gastrogard on a whim in May, however, and what a difference that made! My horse instantly became quiet, tractable, and totally settled where she had been SO sensitive to activity outside of the ring prior. But if you had told me in April that we would be loping around the 1.10m like seasoned veterans by early August, I never would have believed it! And yet, that was the finish to the season. We’ll step up to the 1.15m and 1.20m over the winter to prep for the 6yo YJC classes, and I’m confident that she will be even more fun there than she was this year in the 1.10m. Being started a year late was certainly no handicap for this mare!

And Cassie – well, not much to say there. She stepped up to her first 1.30m and 1.35m classes in Thermal in the first few weeks of the year. She then got the opportunity to develop her ability to take the inside tracks through the rest of the season, and by the end was able to go head to head with the best in both the YJC and open 1.30m classes.

Sadie counts as one of my young horses as well, despite being slightly…well….HUMAN-er 😉 She transitioned into the jumpers to complete her first full season without stepping foot into the Pre-Children’s or Children’s Hunters. We might revisit the hunter ring next year, but it makes me happy to see her galloping around the jumper courses planning for her inside turns and learning what it takes to truly craft a ride in the heat of the moment. The Championship in the 0.80m jumpers at her last show was just the icing on the cake of a great time. And her transformation into my assistant, helper, and jump setter on all of the other horses was incredible! I love this kid so much, and I swear I’m not saying it just because I’m her mom!

Billy was once again the anchor of my herd, providing me with consistent and confident rounds in the 1.40m and 1.45m classes over and over again. Like Evita, if you had told me that this would be his role during his first year off of the track and on my farm, I would have said that you were crazy. Yet this was his 8th year in the 1.40m+ classes, and all I can say to him is, “thank you.” He is my heart and my champion and I am eternally grateful that he allows me to be his human <3

Now the horses get some well-deserved R&R for a month or two before we start getting legged up for some small winter schooling shows and the start of the winter season, which isn’t nearly as far away as it seems like it should be!

Home from the last two big Thunderbird shows of the season, and boy am I wiped out! The shows were absolutely phenomenal, and every horse finished the show better than they started. Can’t ask for more success than that!

FF Evita 

Evita was a rockstar at this show! Double clear in all of her open 1.10m classes (which is pretty darn impressive considering she started the show season and her entire showing career 4 months ago in her first ever 0.75m rounds) and a terrific go in the Maplebrook Young Jumper 5yo Finals class – also clean and 7th out of a large field.  The class reinforced my feelings about this mare’s scope and brain, and I will say again that she is a legitimate international prospect. All heart with a body to match!

FF Clintaro 

Clinton wanted in on some of the glory as well. He continued with his consistency, picking up top 3 ribbons and a bunch of red (1st place) ribbons in his Low Hunter red/blue ribbon rounds. And it’s a good thing he did, because we had one of those funny weeks where all of the horses seemed destined to wind up second almost regardless of the class size and difficulty. All in all not a bad place to be, but the only one to pick up any 1st place ribbons was Clinton!

He also picked up a new catch rider at this show. 11 year old Bryn was his pilot on the non-Baby-Green days. She hacked him for me, schooled him for me, and showed him in the Short Stirrup hunters, picking up a blue ribbon in one of the short stirrup rounds one day!

Cassiana SR

Cassie was as good as her younger counterparts, with several clear and double clear rounds in the 1.30m Jr/Am classes.  Hard to believe that she’s technically still a young horse – she was my absolute rock during the week! <3

William L

Billy was terrific throughout the two weeks. We stuck to the High Jr/AO Jumpers during the first week and the first couple of days of the second week, finishing with several top finishes in big classes. We stepped up to the FEI classes for the weekend, and it was a bit of a tough go with our draw of 66th in the Friday class. He struggles with footing, and it felt like we were jumping out of holes. He had a few rails, but jumped around confidently like he always does. This horse absolutely awes me with his heart and willingness to jump even when things aren’t perfect. Last year we did the FEI classes on a broken coffin bone (discovered after the fact), so I have to say that there’s a certain confidence that comes with knowing your horse will jump no matter what!

Foxy Socks  

Finally, Sadie and Socks got their chance to show and to shine! They had to step up to the 0.80m jumpers since the show didn’t offer their usual 0.75m jumpers, and boy was that not a problem at all! Sadie had several brilliant rounds, winding up 2nd in two of the classes (out of 17+ horses and many adults and trainers). This put her in the Champion position for the week, and it absolutely made her week! Week two went just as well, with another 2nd place finish and in-the-ribbon-rides every single day. It makes me so happy to watch the best mare and my favorite kid (who me, biased? lol!) have so much fun together!

 

So far this summer, the Evergreen Classic goes down as my favorite horseshow. We were lucky enough to be stabled with a whole group of my favorite trainers and barns, and I had one of my absolute favorite humans on earth at the show to lend a helping hand.

I only took 4 horses, leaving Sadie’s mare, Socks, at home since she’ll be showing for the next two weeks in Canada. At age 21, I think she deserved a bit of time to relax before jumping around for the next couple of shows! So Sadie got to hang out at the show and mostly play around. She went rafting down a river with one barn, learned to ride a dirt bike with another barn, and pretty much ran amok every moment she wasn’t helping to set fences or groom horses for me. I think it’s safe to say that she had the best time of everyone!

As for the horses…..

FF Clintaro gets the first shout out. He was an absolute and utter star at this show beyond anything you would expect from a 4yo. He marched around the Baby Greens as we’ve come to expect of him, placing in the top 2 or 3 in every class. That was nothing new. What was new was his ability to pack around a timid beginner rider. He carried 12 year old Ava, who’s been riding for just a matter of months, into her first ever 2’3″ classes (the Short Stirrups) at one of her first ever shows. WOW! This video absolutely kills me. The trainer told the kid to trot the first fence and then continue trotting fences until she felt safe enough to canter. It’s not the smoothest round, but it shows his kindness and willingness to deal with less-than-perfect set-ups on course. This was with no lunge in the morning and no calming supplements or other types of “prep” for the show. This is just truly and honestly this horse’s natural temperament and brain. Wow!

FF Evita stepped up another level as well. She competed in her first rounds with 1.10m fences at the last show (Tbird in July), but they were the young horse classes that are set the way young horse classes *should* be. This show tested her a bit more with 1.10m YJC courses that were big and tough, and Evita jumped around like the warrior she is! She took a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in her three classes (the second came in the Qualifier class where the top 2 horses had 4 faults, but she and I were a bit slower than the winner – who happened to be former Flying F horse, Cormorant, now showing as Mr. Big Shot with his teenage owner and rider…I’ve never been so happy to lose to another horse before, lol!).

Cassiana SR was also phenomenal this week. She picked up wins in all 3 of her YJC 7yo 1.30m classes (though in two of them she was the only horse, so while the wins were not terribly meaningful, I was thrilled with her clear rounds nonetheless), and then a 3rd in her combined low/med Jr/AO Jumper class where she was the only horse out of the group who jumped the class at 1.30m. And she was fantastic in that class…we had the time, but had an unfortunate last rail thanks to her rider (me).

And William L was his usual good self. As a newly-off-the-track TB, I never thought he would be my most consistent horse, but at age 16 I have a pretty good handle on what to expect from him now. He finished with a championship in the 1.40m, a 3rd in the $5k Welcome Open, and a 3rd place in the $25,000 Grand Prix with a lovely clear first round and a speedy jump-off (with unfortunate faults).

I packed everyone up on Saturday night and am now packing up to head up to Canada for 2 weeks with the normal group of 5 horses. The one benefit of doing a show the week before is that no one has to school prior to the start of the show on Wednesday, which makes for a slightly easier week!

Happy trails!