photos by Mr.Willie




Sooooooooo
I don't have pictures of EVERYONE, but pretty much everone looked like the woman, maybe a little better.
Except Hunter, I thought maybe, just maybe William Fox Pitt could try to do him justice. Everyone in the crowd was ooohhing and ahhhhhing about Hunt and Fance!
Seriously,
Leslie, Kari, Allison, Kathy, Sharon L, Katie C, Laney, Kristen, Brittany, Hunter, Katherine, Sharon O, and Skyler looked PERFECT in the clinic!!!!!
You could tell Stephen has been down training in Aiken.
When he told me to set up the exercises, I was like, Huh.....maybe I will need help to set up!!!
The grid in the middle was X 18' Vertical 10' Vertical 19' oxer 11' Vertical.
On one long side was vertical 21' vertical 21' vertical. On the other long side was Oxer 45' vertical 11' vertical 45' oxer!!!!

All of the horses did the exercises perfectly. I'm being totally serious. It was like magic.
My mares were like magic. Oh it just makes all the hard work worth it.
The jumper show went great. We set up on Saturday for about 7 hours, and it showed.
To the best of my knowledge, the show went smoothly. Warm up was the entire lower out door, and the course, while slightly harder then the last show rode well.
I was excited to see a few people take the optional tight turns that Katherine had planned.
My wonderful husband helped Maggie with the parking. I don't know what I would do without Dave and Maggie.
Kristen P got there early and helped with jump crew. In hind sight, I don't think we laughed hard enough at both Dave, but especially tiny Kristen.
When a rail near us would fall, they would put one hand on the 3 and a 1/2 foot wall in front of them and just levitate their bodies to the other side.

Kari was a trooper at the in gate. Both Katie and Julia were super troopers at the warm up!!!
Allison helped me judge, and the OCD Alexis did a superb job at check in. Quite the crew we have!!!!
All my students, you are the best. You are more then that, you are my wonderful friends.
Today, we (Beast, Callie, and I) are off to Vanessa's for a dressage lesson! I will try to get some teaching in before the rain hits.
Tomorrow, Maggie and I will have a busy day of Sprout t.v., yoga, nap, and some lifetime movies. We will do this while we eat peanut butter straight from the jar.

Best clinic ever!

Everyone did AWESOME!!! Sharon on Harmony, Katie on Riley, Laney on Blue, more to come!!!

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Snow snow go away!

Awww. The weather was so beautiful. Our ring was soooo beautiful!
This is what it looked like earlier this week. Now me and Mags are stuck inside doing yoga together.
Actually, This snow isn't holding us down. We snuck in rides and lessons Monday before the rain.
Yesterday, Em took her lesson in Walkersville, Sharon had her lesson while I rode Callie (at SV), Beast Hacked, and the ladies rocked it out in the indoor at SV after I schooled Packer!!!
Tonight Alexis has her dressage lesson on the Packsters, and Beasty will be keeping him company!
Everyone had amazing lessons yesterday.
Especially Sharon. She looks ready to rock at the Stephen clinic tomorrow.
We will try to get some good photos to blog tomorrow at the clinic!
Can't wait for the jumper show Sunday at Serra Valley Farms!!!!
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Beasty the star

Callie....wait for it....

It's been a wonderful week!
All of my students had great lessons. Friday was especially nice because of the insanely perfect weather.
Sharon looks ready for the Stephen B clinic. Her smart mare Harmony is feeling a little disappointed though. Sharon seems to be consistently out smarting Harms; thus avoiding any problems before they occur. Harmony is such a beautiful jumper, and loves to do her job, she just likes to spice things up in between fences ;)
Heather had a great last lesson before her (hopefully) new horse Bolter comes!
Then Breanna, Sam, Alision, Hunter, and Megs were all PERFECT.
They got themselves into the ring on time, and rode great. I love my students. They all try so hard.
Samantha looked like a million dollars on Buckshot. God knows I push her hard, and am hard on her. She has stuck with it, and risen to the occasion. She did not break her rhythm once going to her fences!
Hunter looked amazing on Fancy. They did not miss a beat. Its a good thing he is so strong, because the way that mare jumps you need to be to stay over top of her in the air!!!!
My other ladies were perfect. Megs, Bre, and Alison worked their patooties off, and looked good while doing it.
Alexis and Packer continue to amaze me. Packer had moments where he looked like a cat. Alexis stayed with him with ease. What she didn't notice was the amazing canter and canter seat that she and he have now as well!
Katie Cindric has brought Freckles a long way also. I never thought I would see the day where Freckles may canter on a 20 meter circle again. He is in his early 20's and his one hock just doesn't make it easy for him. With Katie's hard work and Dedication though, Freckles is probably more fit then he has ever been in his life. Maybe the hock injections are worth it.......

Summer. Ahhhh Summer. I took the little three year old out to the lit ring on Thursday night. She has had at least three months off, has never been "under the lights" and when I did ride her before, it was always in the round pen. I was by myself so I was just going to lead her around and maybe back her by the mounting block.
She was being so good, I just got on her! We walked around a few times I patted her and took her back to her stall. So smart. So big, but so smart.
Friday Sharon and I took Summer to the ring. I got right on and had a nice walk trot and canter! Just like I was having a nice ride on a nice broke horse!!!! SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOO SOOO EXCITED!!!
Summer feels like Knick, her size and the way she is put together. Her personality, and movement are much different, but I all ready feel at home. I wonder how she will jump......... :)

Saturday Dave, Magsters, Katie (Aunt Cake), and I went to the Jimmy Wofford clinic. It was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Now don't get me wrong, I am still a faithful Stephen student. God knows if I was going to switch trainers I would have done it a while ago, I think at this point I am in for life!
Anyways, Jimmy has a very distinct, and set way with the green horses. Work on their flat work, develop the canter, trot and canter fences and let them find their foot work. All of which I obviously agree with. There were a few things with Callie that I really have to spend the next few weeks thinking about.
As I develop as a rider and trainer, I develop my own ideas and style. I take what works for me, and store what may not work for me in a filing cabinet. I have come to find more and more a tool that may not work right now, will work at a later time.
At a later time, I may gain a better understanding, a more rideable horse, etc etc. Some things may simply never work for me, but that is ok. I can still save those tools, and try to give them to my students. I realize what works for me, may not always work for them.
Callie was a gem. (Except for her middle finger at Jimmy....see video)
Beast was so wonderful. My favorite part was when one of the girls there said she looked just like Madeline, Holly Payne's advanced horse. I take that as a huge compliment! Lets hope that the Beast takes me around some advanced courses and we look as good as Holly and Madeline ;)!
I really had a great lesson on Beast. I had a few break through moments. (Also see video)
I have a harder time following Jimmy's instructions and exercises then Stephen. Its simply because I have ridden with Stephen for so long. The really cool thing was that Jimmy noticed and would mix up the way he said things.
Simple things like the course. Liver pool, left circle, bounce, diagonal, whattttttt? When he would see my blank a$$ expression and vacant smile, he tried pointing and counting. One, point and draw line in air, two etc etc. Then I got it.
At the end he said "you are not used to going first huh?"
I didn't lie!!! I just smiled that vacant smile. ( I ALWAYS go first in my Steve-o lessons)
Sometimes it helps if you eat too.
I had the pleasure of riding with Kristen P. in the Prelim group. This was helpful for three reasons.
1. I realize just how good the Charles Owens AYR8 helmet looks (she has one), and how bad I want one.(Love my Wellington Pro though!!!!)
2. It was nice to have someone to talk to(in a VERY quiet voice) about what he was saying, and how it looked etc.
3. She politely reminded me that I was in the way of the exercise or standing RIGHT in front of the jump (like 55 times).
Like I said eating is a good thing, I should try that next time.

I have to give a huge shout out to my sweet Dave (and the Magsters). Thank you sooooooo much for coming and videoing, and watching Maggie walk through random fields.
I Love you and the day got even better when we had Chinese food and watched a movie. Best date ever.

Another big shout out to Aunt Cake. Katie is especially helpful because Riley (her jumping horse) has trained her up for Callie.
Katie does not notice/mind/freak out when Callie acts a fool. She even stood on the trailer with Callie and a dressage whip and would tap her every time she kicked the ramp saying "No Callie".
This went on for quite a while. At least a half an hour. Can you imagine?
I looked out at one point and saw them just staring at each other..... BANG Tap. "No Callie" BANG BANG Tap...................................
I think Callie finally figured this b!t@h is crazy, and stopped because the next time I looked, Katie was smiling in the observation area, and Callie had her head hung in defeat, half sleeping.

Live amongst the animals

Zoom in to see the sunbathers

This is a "Nuffy"

So I have a crawl space below my living room.
I also have/had an animal under my house in the crawl space.
This has been a source of anxiety for the animals that live in my house. Well just the animals that are suppose to live in the house. Not the stink bugs. They are cool with it.
Anyways, Dave says to me last night "I may or may not have borrowed an animal trap from work. I may or may not have set it. And I may or may not have all ready caught a cat."
(Its a humane trap of course)
So we let the neighbors cat go, reset it, and literally minutes later, caught the opossum.
It was actually kinda cute. I tried to tell Dave that an opossum is better then a skunk. He asked if I was trying to provide it a home. I can't lie to Dave, so I didn't answer.
I know it sounds weird but those kinda critters eat and keep away the worse critters like mice and bugs.
Obviously we are not crazy, well at least Dave isn't. So he took the possum to a field down the street and released it...... Well he tried to release it. He actually sat in the field with it for like 45 minutes occasionally poking it with a stick. It would just hiss and stay in the trap. All I could picture is them sitting in the dark not facing each other, both pissed off. I'm not actually sure what ended up happening because at this point it was like 1030 and I fell asleep. The trap is probably still in the field and the possum is probably tucked back in, listening to sprout tv and Maggie's footsteps running above it.

So today is so beautiful I opened the windows to my lovely old farm house. Mmmmm sunshine. Mmmmm stink bugs.
Seriously? Is anyone else alarmed by this? I have like 4 sun bathing on my window!
And then it dawns on me, do opossums eat stink bugs?

Oh well.

Time for a stink bug hunt.
Then off to ride Summer. Its time for her to start back. I can't wait to take her to Vanessa!
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Change of plans!

Well looks like Morven changed their mind! No room for me after all.
Rather then get bummed, I'm going to the Jimmy Wofford clinic! I have been wanting to go to the last three lessons, but one thing or another always came up!
This will be fun!
Hopefully Dave will have some good photos! I love my photographer. He is the best in the whole world!
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Warm days!

So Sunday my girls jumped. Beasty continues to love her hackamore and schooled beautifully. Callie was beautiful also.
Beautiful as her body rocketed around the ring and her giant spider legs "reared" over the grid.
That is what it feels like sometimes on this mare. As we take off, I always see the sheepskin lined edge of her front boots. Rising straight up as her body prepares to rocket over the jump. Or as Stephen likes to put it, "shoot her out of a cannon".
My good friend and student Alexis was with me and she very politely told me that I was throwing my body through the grid. Indeed. I suppose in my efforts to not be tousled about, I was overcompensating and flailing along with her.
I settled my a$$ down and "rode her like a big horse" as all my instructors tell me to do. Amazing how that works.
I made a lot of progress with the Callsters. By the end she was only throwing in a few leaps in between fences. I suppose its time to start her back on her weekly jump school.
Both mares were loosing there saddle pads (yet again) by the end of their schools. I suppose I will break down and buy the Ecogold pads that Sharon keeps raving about. It is all she will ride in. God knows my girls (well mostly Callie) are like that childrens story "The Princess And The Pea".

Yesterday was so beautiful! It was a bit windy though!!! At one point as the Beastling was reverting back to old ways, I looked out in the field and poor Callie was standing perfectly still with her blanket right over her head. She must have thought it was night time a bit early! In hind sight I could give Beast a little slack. The rest of her herd was running but I was obsessed with perfection. I am working on my OCD.Time to go back to Vanessa. Beast and I still have the canter to work on in general, my my real Nemesis and point of contention is the wretched counter canter!
We did get some lessons in at Darenth, and the rest of the week looks great for lessons also!
I am looking forward to Morven Parks dressage show on Saturday.
Then next week will be busy with Dressage lessons and the Stephen clinic!!!
Sunday the 27th will be the jumper show at Serra Valley and we are expecting a good turn out!
Hopefully the family with the mules will be there again. Those little girls BRING IT!!!!!

Yeaaaaaa!

(Alexis)

My girls were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G yesterday in my flat lessons. Callie did counter canters, leg yields and lengthenings. Beast did some canter work that I truly never thought I would feel from her. Vanessa is the best! Its like I spoke a different language than Beast before, but now we are on the same page!
Laney and I worked with Blue and Patsy, and they were both great! Good thing I don't have any extra $. Blue is my kind of mare! Hopefully Lanesters and I can take turns showing this one ;)
Laney does such a good job with her horses!
We were able to have a few lessons at Darenth yesterday. Yeaaaaaa thanks again Mr. Nick for plowing our ring.
Later in the pm, Katie worked her patootie off on Freckles at Serra Valley. She had some brilliant trot work.
Alexis and I rode the girls at Darenth. Today was their 50 minute hack day. Thanks Alexis!
Also thank goodness for the trees and hills blocking us from the wind. We were cozy starting in the ring, and stayed cozy hacking up and down the driveway!!!!
I'm excited to jump at Darenth tomorrow. Its so nice to be able to ride at home.
I can't wait for the beautiful weather this week. Spring is just around the corner!!!!
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Good week so far!

My bestie and I have had good days this week. We have done a lot of cleaning, messing up, cleaning, messing up etc.
Mags is the best Yoga partner in the world. She likes to really push the body weight training thing from my body weight, to my AND HER body weight. She really likes to crawl on my back or legs when I am in a posture. Thanks Mags!
Our ring was good on Monday, thanks to Mr. Nicks plowing. I was able to have a really fabulous ride on Callie. We had to do some pattern work, to avoid the puddles, but it was a great suppling exercise. It is especially exciting that she was so good because she had 4 days off prior to that! Callie was due for a "staycation", and will stay on it until her weekly dressage lesson (Friday). She has held up, and tried so hard for me. All this trailering can take its toll on a little green girl, and I want my rising star to be happy and healthy! (Oh and "Succeed", it is AMAZING- A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Both princesses get it sometimes, it is a miracle. Highly recommend it. )
I am hoping to do lessons at Darenth maybe on Friday? The puddles on the ring were smaller yesterday.
Our driveway is on a "when necessary and walk the horses to the end of it otherwise" vacation. All this trailering and stupid snow has taken its toll on everyone/thing.
Thankfully the driveway was frozen last night, (as opposed to SOFT mud/stone)so I was able to take Beast and Packer to Serra Valley.
They waited in the trailer, flirted over a bag of hay while I taught Heather. Heather looked good, and she is waiting for "Bolter" to come in the next few weeks for his vetting.
Alexis had an AMAZING dressage lesson! Holy s@#t! Alexis, like all my ladies, shows a lot of core strength improvement. God knows she is going to need it to sit that HUGE trot that Packers giving us now! Such a sweet unassuming boy, but boy is his dressage becoming head turning.
My Beastling continues to give me hope that she could be quite competitive on the flat this year (for pre-lim at least ;). At this point, it comes down to strengthening her hind end and back, so we can really sit her down at the canter. This means it also comes down to me being stronger, but also more elastic.
Anyways, I am looking forward to my ladies weekly jump lesson tonight. I am so excited that Linda, my new "old" student will be joining us!
Packer will be keeping me company.... well me and Riley AKA "the trailer destroyer" company. Packer will get his training ride tonight. I love training horses that I really enjoy riding! It makes life and work something to really look forward to!
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Fw:

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-----Original Message-----
From:
We had a Great day!!! Patsy was PERFECT! It was her very first show and she acted like a professional!
Laney rode beautifully. Congrats Laney and Patsy!!!
Neither Patsy or Beast had a single rail in their combined classes.
Beast was Champion of her division with a first and two seconds! I had a blast riding her. She was about as perfect as could be.
Laney and I had a blast on the trip over and back also!
Julia looked amazing on Princess yesterday in her lesson! She had some great canter work while on course!
Looking forward to another fun week!
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Packer got his training ride and Maggie found a pen.
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Good days!

After a bumpy morning (traveling), Emily looked fabulous on her two horses! I don't recognize Emily, Jazz or Charlie as the same creatures that they were last year.
The horses are jumping so well for their Mama. They know whose in charge now, and its NOT them! (They knew last year also, but the ones in charge then had 4 legs)
Emily looks strong, she has been rock climbing. It shows in her riding, she doesn't get jumped out of the tack very much at all anymore!
Emily has a new saddle, and it really has made a difference also.
Go EM!!!
Thanks Fred for sharing the ring ! ;)
My little angels were great yesterday.

Sharon rode Harmony and did some grid work, and the pair looked great. Harmony is such a smart horse, she tries to play little games to get out of work. Half the lesson is trying to outsmart her.
Julia, Allison, Alexis, and Laney looked like stars. All though I'm pretty sure my 8 year olds listen better when I'm giving boring basic fact talks.
Especially that Alexis. ;) I did however let her jump the big vertical at the end, which she did with ease and style.
Julia rode Millie. They looked great. All though Julia says she hasn't been practicing, I think she might be fibbing.
Laney and I will be adding drumming to our list of hobbies. First though we will have a blast at Bascule this weekend.
In other exciting news, did you know that Pledge is safe on like EVERY surface?
Now I know why the maid on "Flipping Out" was always low on Pledge.
Me and Mags will be spending a day off at home. We plan to stay in our jammies, clean (using a lot of Pledge), and NOT look at stores like "Equs Now" or "VTO" on line. We will be doing this while those "Wiggles" sing in the background on Sprout tv. I think stay at home moms like this show as much as the little ones ;). At some point Maggie and I will take a break for nap, yoga, and perhaps a little On demand Billy Banks dancing.
Tomorrow is another great, busy day of lessons and Training.
There are 2 spots left in the Stephen Bradley clinic on the 25th. Email me if you are interested.
I also hear that ground hog did not see his shadow. Its almost over!!!! The count down begins!
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So did anyone know that there is a piece of Va across the bay? It took us 3.5 hours, but that's where Heather's potential new horse was!
We left at 8:45am and got back at 6pm!
Bolter was very cute!
Monday was a great day!
I had two more fabulous lessons with Vanessa Schwartz!
I am forever indebted to Kristen P for hooking me up with Vanessa! I can not believe the difference these last two weeks have made! Going back next week! My mares are going to come out blazing in this spring!
Scheduling the next Stephen clinic for the 25th!
Also posting some shots I just got from the 1st jumper show, Hannah on Buckshot and Hunter on Fance!
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