January 2024 Newsletter
Happy New Year!
A big thank you to everyone who braved the north wind to come to our Holiday Party!
Liston Johnson guessed 140 kisses in the jar. That was the exact amount!
Caroline Molther guessed 981 M&M’s. She was the closest guess without going over the number which was 989.
Nowa Yunus was the first guess for the What’s In The Box and she got it right! It was a mug.
Chris de Zevallos was the Adult What’s In The Bag winner. He guessed it was bourbon.
No one guessed the Open to Anyone What’s In The Bag so we drew among the staff. Jimmy got the Hour Glass!
Another big thank you for all the thoughtful holiday gifts.
A huge shout out to MJ Masetas! She and Clint One were third nationally in the Low Children’s Hunters for 2023!
A big congratulations to our THJA and Zone 7 year end winners! MPH hit it out of the park in 2023!
THJA
Younger Children’s Hunter:
Champion, Highmark and Liston Johnson
Reserve Champion, Don Bocelli and Liston Johnson
Fourth, Everything Is Awesome and Marisol Hess
Medium Pony Hunter:
Champion, Bada Bing Bada Blue and Elle McNear
Younger Low Children’s Hunter:
Champion, Clint One and MJ Maestas
Fifth, Small World and Delaney Husted
Older Low Children’s Hunter:
Champion, Cordoba Z and Ellie Tapp
Medium Stirrup Hunter:
Champion, Brazos and Katherine DeZevallos
Reserve Champion, Mackenzie Marshall and Charmed
Short Stirrup Hunter:
Champion, Divide’s Freedom Spirit and Margot Evans
Younger Junior Equitation:
Reserve Champion, Liston Johnson
Small/Medium Children’s Pony Hunter:
Reserve Champion, Sorry Not Sorry and Annabel Grefe
Modified Children’s Equitation:
Reserve Champion, Ellie Tapp
Fourth, MJ Maestas
Fifth, Delaney Husted
Low Adult Hunter:
Third, RVF Hudson and Lauren Harrison
Children’s Equitation:
Fifth, Liston Johnson
Adult Amateur Hunter (50 & over):
Sixth, RVF Hudson and Lauren Harrison
Opportunity Awards:
Hannah Cai
Katherine DeZevallos
Cheryl Lawrence
Samantha Marshall
Amelie Schaeffer
Zone 7
14 and under Children’s Hunters:
Champion, Highmark and Liston Johnson
Reserve Champion, Don Bocelli and Liston Johnson
Fourth, Everything Is Awesome and Marisol Hess
USHJA 2’-3” Hunter:
Champion, Sahana Parasher’s Silver Lining
Low Children’s Hunters:
Reserve Champion, Clint One and MJ Maestas
Small/Medium Children’s Hunter Pony:
Third, Sorry Not Sorry and Annabel Grefe
Medium Pony Hunter:
Fourth, Bada Bing Bada Blue and ElleMcNear
Low Adult Hunter:
Fourth, RVF Hudson and Lauren Harrison
USHJA 2’-6” Hunter:
MJ Maestas’s Clint One
Special congratulations to Liston Johnson who was Champion and Reserve in both the Zone and State. She and Highmark were also ranked seventh in the Younger Children’s Hunters nationally.
A big apology to Elle McNear and Caracalla aka Boston. They were inadvertently left off the results for the Final Chase Horse Show. Elle and Boston were Champion in the Pre-Children’s Hunters!
The 2024 show season has begun! Please make sure you are registered in all the correct organizations. If you are over 18, you must also be registered with Safe Sport.
We started the year by showing at the Frost Fire Horse Show in Katy. Here are some highlights:
- Amelie Schaeffer made her first show with Divides Freedom Spirit aka Spirit a winning one. They were Champion in the Cross Rails and 18” Opportunity! Look for them in the Short Stirrup in Wellington!
- Katherine DeZallos and Brazos moved up to the Weekend Hunter and were Champion! Caroline Molther had the ride on Brazos in the 2’-3” USHJA Hunters and was also Champion.
- Dana Malin made her Holiday vacation from SCAD a winning one! She and Happier Than Ever aka Eli were Champion in the Modified Children/Adult Equitation and Reserve Champion in the Pre Adult Hunters. Caroline and Eli were Champion in the 2’-9” USHJA Hunters with an assist from Dana in the under saddle. Eli won all his classes in the division.
- Liston Johnson moved into the older Equitation age group and made her presence known. Liston and Cassandra were Champion in the Equitation. Liston also won the USHJA 3’-3” Jumper Seat Medal and NHS/Hammel Foundation 3’-3” Equitation on Cassandra. Cassandra won a 3’-6” Perfromance Hunter with Caroline. Liston’s Don Bocelli aka Freddie was Reserve Champion in the 3’-6” Performance Hunters with Caroline. Liston moved into the 3’-3” Junior Hunters and took home the win in the Handy Class.
- Annabel Grefe and Sorry Not Sorry aka Nacho were Reserve Champion in the Children’s Pony Hunter. Margot Evans and Bada Bing Bada Blue aka Blue started their partnership with a win in a Children’s Pony Hunters over Fences. This was Margot’s first time in the Children’s Pony Hunters!
- Delaney Husted and Small World aka Petunia made their last show together count. They were Reserve Champion in the Low Children’s Hunters. Look for Delaney and Malibu in the Children’s Hunters this year!
- Jordan Fama and Up Country Bettie aka Bettie were Reserve Champion in the Weekend Jumpers. This was their first show together!
- Speaking of first shows together, Lauren Harrison and Oswald Van De Leeuwerk aka Ozzy were Reserve Champion in the Adult Equitation in their first show together. Lauren’s RVF Hudson aka Hudson and Caroline won the 3’-3” Performance Hunter under Saddle.
- Elle McNear and Caracalla aka Boston won the last Younger Children’s Hunter over Fences. This was their first time doing this division. Look out Wellington here they come!
Good luck to all our riders headed off to Wellington!
We will be doing the Winter Series at Great Southwest Equitation Center in Katy in February. Look for the e-mail to sign up! Please note that weeks 3 and 4 are WCHR Shows.
OK, I know this sounds crazy but…we need to also start thinking about the summer shows. In June we will do two weeks of Split Rock shows in Lexington, Kentucky. Week 2 of Kentucky is a WCHR show. We will be in Traverse City, Michigan for the month of July and first week in August. If you are thinking about Traverse City it is not too early to secure housing. Note that July 10-14 is a WCHR Show. Please e-mail me as soon as you know what weeks you will be attending.
Congratulations to Lauren Harrison on her new partner, Oswald Van De Leeuwerk aka Ozzy. Look for them in the Adult Equitation in 2024.
Emalyn Bilski also has a new partner, Denali. Congratulations to Emalyn!
Last but certainly not least, congratulations to Cheryl Lawrence on the purchase of Esquire aka Squirrel.
We will be doing equine dental check-ups on January 4 and 5. This should not affect lessons.
Sunday, January 14 Kathrine will be running the Houston Half Marathon. This will affect the lesson schedule a bit. We will have hacking and lower level lessons in the morning. All other lessons will be in the afternoon. Go Katherine!
Happy Birthday to our January Birthday Girl, Georgia Carter!
We wish Sabrina Jiwani the best of luck on her move to LA!
We welcome Debbie Cardwell to MPH. Debbie will be sharing with Melinda the riding duties on Bettie.
Please keep us up to date on any travel plans you may have this month.
Please remember to sign up for lessons at least 24 hours in advance on Time Tree.
Weekend lessons will continue to be assigned. If you have certain times that you must ride on the weekends, the sooner you let us know the better we can accommodate you. If you do not plan to ride on the weekend, let us know as soon as possible so we can make a lesson schedule that works for everyone.
Don’t forget to wish Frank a Happy Birthday on January 11!
Here’s to happy and healthy 2024!
Patty
