Ramblings...

I often find myself questioning my sanity in this industry....the costs are astronomical, the glory is minimal, the thanks and appreciation for all the hard work is few and far between.

This winter has been rough.....I currently find myself in my second attempt to "do the horse thing" full time without another source of income, barely scraping by. Frequent conversations with my best friend end in "why do we do this? I hate horses....." But the truth is, we don't hate horses. We love horses. We love them so much we are willing to spend every penny we own on them. We love them so much we are willing to sacrifice weekends with friends and loved ones to chase a 50 cent ribbon. We love them so much that we'll stay up for days without sleep- pushing drugs, hand walking, racking up thousands of dollars with the vet, praying, pleading, begging God for a miracle only to have to put the horse down on the 3rd day bc all your efforts weren't enough to save her. Tonight one of my dearest friends called me half in tears telling me she needs to retire her horse because of a breathing issue. My heart broke. Sometimes life can be unfair, I find that more so with horses.

I've been struggling for the past couple months with my up and coming horse....she hasn't been herself at all. I have separated her from her friends in the hope that it was just a heard bound issue. I have treated ulcers and then added supplements to prevent their return. I've given her time off. I've worked her harder. I've kicked her out hoping more turn out would be the trick. I've done something I've never ever done and started her on hormone therapy drugs for moods. I've added a calming supplement thinking maybe we can "just get through the winter". I've changed grain. I've bought the $13.50 a bale alfalfa. Nothing has worked and all I can explain to people and myself is that she just doesn't seem right. I know this horse like I know myself. Yesterday she refused an 18" vertical.......I can count on 3 fingers the number of refusals that mare has had, yesterday being one of them. Today we had decent flat work, and then when I was cooling her out she spooked at a sparrow. On Monday the vet is coming to do a full work up and test for Lyme disease, which I find myself praying comes back positive because at this point I just want my horse back and at least that's treatable.....

To everyone in the industry, I commend you. This business will chew you up and spit you out. Nothing you do will please everyone, no matter how hard you try. To those who get up day in and day out, putting their head down and working hard no matter what- I'm with you. To those who throw in the towel and just can't make it work, or decide they'd rather just enjoy their horse for once, I hope you find the peace you are looking for and sometimes I wish I was you. This business isn't for the faint of heart and that's for sure. To those clients who ask "what can I do to help" or just pick up a broom without being asked- thank you a million times over. You have literally no idea what that means to us. To every single student who just says "thank you" before leaving, that alone can make the difference in a good day or a bad one when you feel like the world is caving in around you. Horses are tough, this is a labor of love. I would guarantee not one single person went into this industry thinking "I'd like to get rich quick!" And if they did, they were clearly misguided. 

New goal for 2015: The Iron Horse Preliminary Challenge at Plantation

Earlier this week Advanced level event rider, Evention star, and sweet Dressage Skillz rapper Dom Schramm announced on his FB page that a plan was in the works for Plantation Field to run an Iron Horse horse trials/triathlon competition at their international horse trials next fall.

Sounds awesome right?!

From what I gather so far from his post they plan to run it as a Prelim horse trial (http://discovereventing.com/?q=glossary/term/93), followed by a Sprint Triathlon (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triathlon). The top finishing scores from the horse trial will be combined with their finishing score in the triathlon for an average combined score to determine the winner. First prize: $5000 cash!

Since I've started my weightloss journey this year- down 20lbs since mid February- I've gotten a bit stuck lately. I'm very goal oriented, so what better way to motivate myself on this fitness adventure than a competition that involves both eventing and running/swimming/biking?!

So here's the hard part(s):

1) I have never competed in any fitness competitions, apart from swimming races at summer camp about 15 years ago.

2) I have never evented recognized above Novice (2'11") and never schooled cross country above Training (3'3").

3) I retired my event horse last year.

4) My current competition horse has never so much as schooled a cross country fence. 

Sounds pretty impossible right?? Well, tell me I can't do it and I'll try harder! I've assembled a pretty fantastic group of people to help me with the first problem. I've also joined the YMCA and started on a training schedule, today was day one!

Second, my horse, although never having evented before, is not without competition experience. CSS Cor De La Mar (Nicki) is a 16 hand, 8 year old Bavarian Warmblood mare. She is a granddaughter of Cor De La Bryere out a a TB mare. She has a fabulous uphill build, 3 stunning gaits, and a big snappy jump. She is an absolutely amazing partner and gives 110% every ride. She is athletic, brave, and has a ton of heart. I think she will take to eventing like a duck to water. 

She has shown in the hunter ring to 3ft over the last couple years so is used to a busy environment. She focuses well on her job and doesn't seem to be flustered by much going on outside the arena. I have shown her in one dressage schooling show at Training Level where we received very high marks and scores in the mid to upper 60's and we will be giving First level a go on Saturday at another schooling show. 

My goal for her is to do a couple BN's this fall, as well as paper chases, cross country schoolings, and the occasional hunt this winter. The big goal for both of us this winter is fitness. Lots of trot sets for Nicki, lots of running and biking for me, hill work for us both....many many lessons. Late winter/early spring I will try to do a couple recognized Novices, start the summer at Novice/Training and then make the leap to Prelim. I also plan to enter at least 1 triathlon, several 5ks and a couple mud runs for myself.

I realize all of this seems ambitious, but without goals what are we working towards?? I plan to try and document this journey here in my blog with at least monthly updates on progress!

Cheers!

Rain, rain go away....

It seems after that last snow storm cycle that we are finally done with the cold white stuff, I say 2 days before the first of April....Mother Nature seems to have shifted gears and we are now on day 2 of heavy rain, get it together girl friend!! Without an indoor, the horses are getting some down time, as if they haven't had enough already this year. The only plus side I see here is that everyone will come back fresh and ready to work as soon as the weather cooperates.

Days like these are great for spring projects and catching up on all the fun paperwork. Today I will be scraping more jumps to be painted as soon as (if ever) they dry, renewing my insurance with Equisure for the farm, and giving everyone a good grooming and they're all shedding like crazy!! There's also the task of cleaning all the stalls for the umpteenth time in the last 36 hours as well as bandage changing on Nancy Toby's Total Eclipse of the Art who got in a nasty fight with a round bail feeder and lost....

This is the first major open wound I've had since my partnership with RevitaVet systems, and I am eager to use it to aid in the healing time of Mr. Eclipses battle wound. I am very lucky to be able to have such a fantastic product in my bag of tricks to help keep the ponies on the right track, whether it be open wounds, muscle soreness, etc. I have noticed an enormous difference in my horses since adding this to my program, especially in conjunction with my sponsor BeneFab Products. Both products work absolutely fantastic together! 

Most horses who come into my program show signs of being sore in their backs. This is partly because I'm taking TBs off the track who are generally sore all over. Other back soreness issues have been caused by poor saddle fit, incorrectly developed top lines (or non at all), and more. The RevitaVet system works really well to address these issues using a system of LED/infrared lights on various settings. After treatment with the RevitaVet system, I then ride each horse in either my BeneFab all purpose or dressage saddle pads. BeneFabs products are all made with ceramic fiber woven into the fabric which creates far-infrared light to continue to warm and sooth sore muscles in the back. This week I have used both these products on horses that I travel to ride and the difference in their way of going after just one time with both products was notable! If anyone wants to try or purchase these products let me know and I can get you in touch with the appropriate people :) 

Now I'm off to swim the horses in my Olympic sizes swimming pool, oh wait....

Cheers!

So you wanted to have a career in horses, huh?

Words of wisdom from my favorite farrier, Bill Mills. Yes, in fact, I do want to have a career in horses! It's exhausting, the hours are long, the pay is minimal, the expense is outrageous- but let's face it, some one has to do it!

All joking aside, I've wanted a career in horses for roughly 23 of my 27 years in existence. God bless my poor mother for starting the downward spiral that was my first riding lesson. My father still to this day chimes in with "are you sure you don't just want to do horses for a hobby?" 23 years, countless dollars (I'd hate to actually count), 7 years in Pony Club, and 4 years in college studying horses.......yes dad, I'm sure!

I've been operating under the business name Close Up Show Stables since 2005. CSS has never been full time until this month, although I'm sure I've put in enough overtime hours throughout the years to already retire early. It has survived 8 barns, 2 states, 3 boyfriends (one who I think is finally in for the long haul), college, 5 part time jobs, and my own mistakes along the way. Just two weeks ago I made the move to quit my part time job and make CSS and the horses my full time job.....talk about scary! Today marks the day that all my work, learning, and time has been leading up to: I became Close Up Show Stables, LLC!

I'll tell you right now they do not prepare you in college equine business classes for filling out state business licensing documents, or FEIN (federal employee income number) forms, or that you need both these things to open up a business checking account. Or that if when filling out said documents that if you're filing for LLC you need to actually write LLC after the business name- as opposes to assuming they know you want to be Business, LLC- or they will let you fill the whole thing out and pay for it, only to email you roughly 3 hours later to tell you you've been declined because you're an idiot and of course you need to put LLC after the name- NOW FILL IT ALL OUT AGAIN! Ooops!

But, after all that, today is a landmark for Close Up Show Stables, LLC! After 9 years, I am officially a business! I have my fantastic and loyal clients to thank for this, because without them it would be impossible! More landmarks to come this year, I can feel it!

Cheers!

Oh the weather outside is frightful.....

Well, it seems winter has finally settled in for the long haul. We've had snow, ice, rain, the dreaded "wintery mix"....water troughs need to be de-iced on a daily basis, fans are down heated buckets are up. While I love the holidays, I absolutely hate the cold! I am one of those people who would rather be drenched in their own sweat all day long then freezing to death; sunny and 85, that's what I'm talking about!

This time of year, since I don't have an indoor arena, my riding time can sometimes come to a screeching halt. Currently, my arena is a frozen sheet of icy sandy daggers. The ground in my back field seems to thaw more so than the arena, it gets the longest amount of sun exposure during the day, so the ponies get to spend some time outside of the arena, which is great for them! Hacking out, strengthening through trot sets, it's all great stuff for the winter! 2013 wasn't a huge competition year for me as I retired Gandy, my long time competition partner, and had a lot of babies coming up that just weren't really ready. So I will use winter as an opportunity I work on our dressage and strengthening through consistent flat work so that everyone is strong and ready to go in the spring! 

I also hope to get the babies off the farm as much as possible! I am lucky that I have 2 wonderful indoor arena's all within 15 min from my farm that I have been invited to use. So lessons don't necessarily need to be rescheduled for bad weather, and all training doesn't need to die off. There are also several wonderful winter schooling show series all within about an hour from us. From hunter shows to dressage shows, there are plenty of opportunities to get the babies out in a relaxed and controlled environment before spring time!

The only other fun thing going on is that another local trainer and I have dabbled with the idea of acquiring a stallion. She has a lot of experience in the breedin world, as well as the facility to house and stand a stallion, and I have the guts to get up there and compete him! We both love the TB mind and athleticism, and have a few bloodlines in mind that we'd like to hopefully get our hands on for sport horse breeding purposes. 

Other than that not much new since the last blog........hey, 3 in one year, that's a new record :)

Cheers!

Natasha the Standardbred

I am a professional trainer on the eastern shore of MD, specializing in retraining OTTBs for new careers in eventing and the hunter rings. I was recently approached by a "first time horse buyer who fell in love with a standardbred mare." I try to keep a very open mind about all breeds and their abilities, but when she told me they had never owned horses and had just purchased a Standardbred mare, who by the way was still at the track barn, for their 8 year old daughter who had been taking lessons for about a year, I was beyond slightly hesitant. She explained to me that they would like the mare to do local showing and essentially just be their family horse. They had wanted to take on a horse that would otherwise perhaps ended up in a bad situation ad when they met her they just "fell in love". While i don't think that anything off any track is appropriate for an 8 year old child, after speaking with the Mother it was clear they were going to purchase the mare either way and even if she didn't work for them they would provide her with a forever home, I decided to accept the challenge.

We picked up the mare, Natasha, from her training barn yesterday afternoon in-between crazy storms. She walked quietly out of her stall, and just stood there starring inquisitively at me. I was shocked- she was lovely! And as I started to look around at all the other heads sticking out from the stalls I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were all lovely! Like I said before, I try not to be breed biased, but we all know what we picture if someone says "standardbred".......plain bay with a "jug head"......none of these fit that description! There were of course many bays, a few chestnuts, and even a big grey- almost all of which had beautiful heads! (I even tried to take a 3 year old home with me, however the trainer said she was doing to well to retire and had to run again Monday night.) I found myself saying out loud over and over again "wow, they're so pretty!" I had to wonder if the trainer was getting offended by my repeating of the comment, but I just couldn't help myself! They were all fat, shiny, dappled, happy, refined headed Standardbreds!

Natasha, who is 4 years old and had a lack luster racing career, walked quietly down the aisle way, took one last look around, and hopped into the trailer to head to my farm. When we got there, she walked off the trailer as quietly as she had walked on, marched into the barn, and happily went into her new stall and started munching hay like she'd been there forever. She had a small scrape on her ankle that the trainer said was a couple weeks old, so I wanted to clean it up. Keep in mind I'm used to taking TBs off the track, chain over the nose, nervous, unsettled, pacing their stalls- not Natasha the Standardbred! She marched into the wash stall on a loose lead, let me scrub her wound and clip it! She then quietly stood while I clipped her fetlocks, muzzle, and ears......UNHEARD OF!! After that I put her away for the night.

Today will be her first day of training to be a riding horse! She is a trotter, not a pacer, so that in itself is helpful! She seems so good natured and quiet that I think she will be of the easiest horses I've ever worked with! I would love to do weekly updates on her progress while she is here, I'm already very much impressed with her- who would have guessed it!

A New Year....

Well, apparently I am a horrible blogger since the last/first time I "blogged" was almost a year ago. Seems appropriate to start over now seeing as its New Years Eve, so here we go:

So many changes since my first blog! 2012 was a huge year for myself and CSS. CSS has finally found a place to call home on a 20+ acre farm in Preston, MD. It is humble but professional and a good work place for where I am now in my career. The farm has 9 stalls, 6 in the main barn and 3 in an attached lower barn. It has a huge outdoor lighted arena that we have split up to house both a standard dressage arena and a full stadium course! We have a large 7 acre field that is slowly turning into what I hope will be a nice cross country course! We are currently accepting training clients and consignment horses (shameless plug).

I have changed my career goals and pathways as a rider here lately thanks to a large push from Nancy Toby! Because of the goal she had set for her mare that is in training with me (USEA YEH) I have found my way back into the equine triathlon that is eventing! Although the YEH didn't go as we had planned, it was the push I needed to try my hand back in this sport; it also turns out that my horse is really really good at it! Big Gandy infact has a USEA record with Advanced Event rider Laura Candervliet who it turns out actually started the big guy under saddle, I couldn't be more honored to have a horse who was started by such an amazing professional in this industry! We did 1 Beginner Novice starter trial where we finished 2nd, missing first by only 0.5 points! The following month (November) we bumped up to Novice and finished fourth on a big tough course (with SO MANY HILLS!!!) after an unfortunate rail in stadium. The plan is to do Novice for half of next year and then bump up to training level! The great thing about going into this with an older horse (can't believe he's already 14!!) is that we can move up quickly as we progress through the levels and feel comfortable. This horse will always be my once in a life time, I don't know that I'll ever have another as amazing as him, even this early in my professional career! Our biggest goal for 2013 is to qualify for te AEC's in Texas.....we shall see! One of our most exciting accomplishments of 2012 was the addition of our first sponsor, CWD Sellier! Gandy and I can't wait to get our custom saddle in 2013!

I have had some opportunities to ride some pretty amazing horses this year! Briar Rose belongs to Nancy Toby and is who sparked this eventing adventure! She is a pretty little mare who really wants to please, I can't wait to see how far she comes this spring and summer! Nancy has been working hard with her daily on the flat, focusing on "calm and relaxation" as we push forward with her training. Rosie could really go in any direction but she seems to excel in dressage! We are currently placed 2nd in the LKM/Breezy Run Dressage Series for Intro and hope to move her up to the Training division next month. When she is relaxed and focused she really is lovely to watch- we have even received 9s on our movements! Rosie is for sale, as most of them Are, and would be an ideal YR dressage mount!
Nancy has also recently (less than a week ago) purchased a really cool little pony for her twin daughters! Belle is a lovely little paint pony that we basically pulled out of an icy field and brought home. I have only ridden her once since she's been home because of the weather but if that one ride was any indication I'd say she has a bright future ahead! It was blowing about 20 mph with my jumps falling down around her and she didn't bat an eye!
Abbey is another really neat little mare I had the pleasure to work with this year! She is a Freisian Sport Horse by the Freisian stallion Onassis, out of a spotted draft mare. She belongs to Joe and Cat Dorcak and came to CSS with about 10 rides under her belt. In 2 weeks we brought her up to Full Moon Farm, less than 30 days under saddle, to win te Elementary Division on her dressage score!! I was so proud of her! She loves to please and definitely tries hard. She is a fast learner and enjoyed being on the "fast track" learning program while at my farm. She is back home with we owners now however we hope to get her back for the spring to play some more!
I some how got involved and ended up with a big 17 hand TB mare named Sugar. She is sort of a mental rehab as I think she's been a little mishandled in the past. Her past is foggy and I haven't done much with her yet as I am working on her just settling in and learning the routine of the farm.


I have to of course take this time to thank my awesome clients! Without them I would't have been able to have the year I have had! We are a small group but it's slowly becoming a tight nit family! The Toby's have been with me for over a year now, through 3 different barns, 2 different ponies (and now their own), countless shows, a few road trips and lots of lessons! Morgann is a long lost childhood friend! It is so nice having someone from "back in the day" in the barn! She bought an amazing horse from me named Hunter and he has turned out to be a stellar horse for her family, even 4 year old Carrie, her daughter! The Scott's have been lessening with me for a few months now and while I only see them once a week (they have their own farm), I love working with them and their horses! Hannah has really been growing in her riding and has goals of moving up to her D-3 this year! Cat is another client who has her own farm, in Salisbury. She is a wonderful person and has quite an amazing collection of horses, mostly TBs! I love traveling to her farm to work with her and her horses! She is in the process of building a new barn on her farm and we hope to grow a lesson program there as well!

Well, dinner is almost ready and this is long winded- happy new year to everyone and best wishes for 2013!!