Hello!
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. We started the summer with two weeks in Lexington, Kentucky. Here are some of the highlights of those two weeks.
Split Rock 1 and 2
Amelie Schaeffer and Flower Power aka Faith were Champion week 1 and Reserve Champion week 2 in the Large Children’s Pony Hunter Division. The pair won at least one class each week. Amelie also stepped up to the Medium Pony hunter Division on Says Who aka Oliver. The pair got good ribbons and will be looking to get more in Michigan!
Margot Evans only got to show week 1 before heading off to Aspen, but she made the most of it by winning a Low Children’s Hunter over fences on Cambastan aka Cam along with some other good placings on Cam and Thank You Robert aka Bob.
Sam Marshall did some showing in Kentucky garnering some ribbons in both the Medium Pony Hunter Division on Says Who aka Oliver and the Low Children’s Hunter on Slow Hand aka Minty. Sam also did some shopping! She has a new Large Pony, Royally Fancy aka Fancy Diego. Look for her in the Large Pony Hunter Division in Kentucky.
Upcoming Horse Shows
July is a traveling month for most of you. Please keep us up to date on when you will not be coming out to the barn. MPH will travel to Traverse City, Michigan for the month. If you are thinking of going, please let us know asap. We will be back in Kentucky for Kentucky Summer Horse Show, Pony Finals, and the weeks after Pony Finals in August. Please let us know of your intent to show at any of these shows.
Entries will open in July for Capital Challenge. They will close quickly. Please let us know if you intend to show.
Barn News
For those of us who are still here in July please remember to dress appropriately. No bare midriffs, no riding in just a sports bra! Please wear a belt if your pants have belt loops and shirts should be tucked into your pants.
Dates to Remember
The chiropractor will be here Monday, July 20. This should not affect lessons.
Happy Birthday to Sophia Duran and Marcos! They both celebrate their birthdays in July!
Remember we will be closed Saturday, July 4 to celebrate the holiday.
Horse Show Corner
I was recently asked by a young rider if more points were taken off for adding a stride in a line or leaving a stride out in a line. Both mistakes are major faults. Leaving a stride out would be considered dangerous and so would be the worst of the two mistakes.
I have also been asked by both riders and parents if touching a jump counts off. There are many reasons a horse might touch a jump. If the rider in an equitation class makes a poor turn causing the horse to hit the jump, this would be considered a major fault. If it occurs in a hunter class and the horse or pony still jump in correct form, then it might be used as a tie breaker, but it would not be a major fault. The caveat to that is a bad turn makes it difficult for a horse to jump in good form so while it might seem like a horse was penalized for touching the jump it is really penalized for jumping out of form.
Happy 4th!
