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See also
**PLEASE NOTE** ***With the completion of the
new barn, we Check out the 2006 WEF video! **Note - we are currently interviewing
working students. 11/16/07
Next up was Seneca HT in Sept where I was 6th with Shakedown and 6th with Fancy both in the Novice. Taylor moved her horse up to Training and went clean. Lauren and Mara both did well in the Training to finish in the ribbons too! Liz had a foot perfect move up to OI except for jumping the wrong last fence on xc! But still, it was a clean go as far as we were concerned! Also in September we went to Marlborough HT where both Mara and Lauren moved up to Prelim with clean xc rounds! I rode Shakedown in the Novice to finish 4th (he won the dressage with a 31 but had one rail sj!), and moved Fancy up to Training where she finished 6th with only a couple time penalties xc. Kelsey represented WEF with a good go in the Prelim at Middleburg HT. Kelsey had made the YR team for the CCI* this month, but opted not to go and to run more HTs this fall.
In October we were off to Maryland HT. Once again Liz and Manhattan had a great go around the OI course! Taylor and Savannah were great around the Trianing, but jumped a Prelim fence on accident! I rode Fancy in the Training to another super clean round to be in the ribbons. Lara and Foxy were in Training and finished 6th with their first competition back after having the summer off. Also in October we went to Waredaca HT. Mara and Lauren did the Training level 3 day and put in excellent performances even though it POURED rain all week! I was over there to support this program by doing the "how to jog up" lesson and the sj course walk. Every year I help out this program, but its great to have students in it as well! For the regular HT part, the Training level got cancelled so Fancy set this one out, as did Manhattan as the OI footing was not where we wanted it to be. On Sunday, it dried up enough that we took the Novice horses and Jen had a good go with Miette, I was great on Shakedown to have a 33 and finish just out of the ribbons as I trotted the bad footing areas, Maggie was 2nd with Dante, and Mimi took her horse out to his first event! Kelsey had a good go in the Prelim as well. We also had a bunch of people go out to the FMF pipeopener in Oct too! This past weekend we went to the Waredaca starter. Lara and Foxy were 3rd in the Training, Lesley and Mardi were 7th in the BN, Nina and Sam were 3rd in BN, and Kerri and Kudos were 6th in EL. Another great day! Most of you know this already, but my friend Melissa Hunsberger's horse Just Fun Stuff was seriously hurt while I was helping her out at the Fair Hill CCI*** a couple weeks ago. See www.teamwindchase.com for more info on his accident and the fund they are setting up to help pay his expenses and to find her another horse to go on with. Melissa is a wonderful person and anyone that can help her out - it would be very much appreciated! No donation is too small and through the AHTF it is tax deductable too! On a lighter note, I want to congratulate
Julian Curry on the purchase of Hidden Path! We have 2 more
events for this fall, so check back and see how it goes! 7/26/07 This same weekend, also had Mara and Lauren go to the MD HT. Mara finished 3rd and Lauren finished 4th in the Training. Both of these girls will be ready for Prelim soon and are aiming for the fall Training level 3 day event! Shane and I went home to Illinois for 12 days right after this event - it was great to see everyone and have a little mini vacation! The only bad things were that the brand new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited we bought was hit in a hit and run accident while we were there - and we had only had it for 4 days!!! Then we almost got struck by lightening while hiking out in Little Grand Canyon when we got stuck in a thunderstorm and were on a ridge 3 miles from the car! Always some excitement I guess! Upon our return, Liz and Ryan made a trip out to Seattle to visit Liz' brother and family. They had a great trip and mini vacation as well! Its great to get away a little bit during the heat of the summer!
We've been spending the summer getting the babies started undersaddle, working the youngsters, and doing a lot of xc schooling. We also went last night to a derby at Waredaca. It was a lot of fun and a good experience for the younger horses. In August, we have Olney Farm HT and Waredaca HT coming up and then a bunch more in the fall! And - the new barn is open so we have a few openings for boarders!!! Check back to see how it goes! All of us at WEF are hoping for a speedy recovery
for working student Sophia's horse, Leo. Leo managed to step
on a nail and had to have surgery to flush out his foot. They
have spent all summer working hard and are coming along so great
and now are going to have to miss their event at Olney! 6/4/07
This past weekend we took a lot of horses to Waredaca HT. On Friday, we had quite an adventure taking the 3 year olds for the future event horse classes. Dark Star (aka Jerry) just learned what a bridle and how to lead a few days before the event! After Eight (Hershey) and Major Felon (Tank) are both undersaddle so understood what was going on much better than Dark Star. All of them did very well with After Eight finishing 3rd, Major Felon 5th, and Dark Star 6th.
On Saturday we had the Training and Beginner Nnovice horses. Lauren and TJ WON their Training division! Mara and Rose were 4th and Lara and Foxy were 6th! Jen and Miette also had a great go to finish 12th at the Training level. Michael and Bourbon were 6th in the BN - this pair will be moving up to Novice soon! It was 95 degrees and very humid so was a long day for these horses and riders! Sunday the weather changed and it cooled off and rained all day! That didn't stop my and Taylor from going over for the Novice divisions. Actually, the weather felt pretty good after the day before, although the ground did get a little slick! I took Shakedown and he put in a nice dressage test to score a 36. He had a greenie look at the ditch, which the counted as a stop, but I was still very pleased with his performance. He is really getting it now! Talyor and Savannah had another wonderful go around stadium and xc! This pair should start thinking about Training level for the fall! We have events for the next 2 weekends and then have a little bit of a break during the heat of the summer - which is a nice time to break in the other babies, focus on fine tuning the competitions horses performances, and get a lot of farm projects done!
We also just welcomed in 3 new working students recently - Hanna, Galina, and Sophia. Hanna is here short term for a month and the others are here for the summer. WEF is happy to have them! Other exciting news - Sirius had her foal on May 22nd. This long legged chestnut filly is by Salute the Truth and is really beautiful! I have high hopes for her future! We have named her Quasar and are calling her Zara. Natalie 5/8/07
As soon as this event was over - I ran home, unpacked the trailer, and drove down to Phyllis' to pick up Melissa and her horse, Just Fun Stuff, for Rolex. We packed about 8 p.m. that night and then got up at 3 a.m. to leave for Kentucky. Fun travelled well and we made it in about 9 hours and got him all settled in. It was a great week - Melissa and Fun had a great clean and fast xc go and finshed their first 4 star in style! I also got to see many people I hadn't seen in years! We had a lot of fun!
We got home Monday night and had a busy week getting ready for MCTA this past weekend. I rode Shakedown and Fancy again and both were great with Shakedown placing 8th around a challenging course. Taylor placed 6th again with her horse! Kelsey and the wonder pony Maddie had a super clean xc go in the Prelim to finish 10th. Mara, Lauren, and Lara all did the Training level -- and it was big -- just ask them!!! Mara was 10th and Lara was 4th. Lauren didn't get to run xc as her horse somehow managed to bruise her foot on the walk up to xc. Bummer - but there is always another event!
In other farm news - the new barn is almost DONE! With this addition, we have room for 2 boarders in the new barn and 3 boarders in the old barns - so check us out if you are interested in boarding at a top level eventing barn! I am also currently interviewing for fall working student positions - send me an email and come interview if you are interested!
Also, congrats to Megan Hansen and Aurora (a former WEF horse) on their 5th place finish in the OP at MCTA! Natalie 4/18/07 The weekend of April 14-15, we went up to Plantation Fields HT. This event was to be held over 2 days, but the nor'easter storm expected to hit on Sunday moved everything to Saturday! Liz had another great go with Manhattan to finish in 9th with only a few time penalties added to their dressage score. They will be moving up at MCTA to OI. Kelsey and Maddie were 5th in the JYOP -- they have one more run before their CCI* in May. Kerri and Juliet moved up to OI, they were 3rd after dressage and ended up 5th in the JYOI division! Quite a feat since they ran at 7 p.m. and it was almost dark!!! Kerri is also planning to do the CCI* in May. This weekend we are off with a big
group to Redlands HT then, Sunday night/early Monday morning,
I am off to Kentucky to the Rolex CCI**** with my friend Melissa
Hunsberger for the week. Its her first time riding there and
should be a blast!! Check back and see how everything goes! 4/3/07
We are also busy finishing up the barn construction! Its almost done and is beautiful! We can't wait! With the new addition, we will have a couple openings for boarders so check with me if you are interested - an opening at WEF is not something that happens very often!
2/7/07 Well the barn is coming along great! We should be ready to move in really soon at this rate! These guys are amazing - even out here working the past 3 days when the high has been 20 degrees!!
We welcomed 3 new working students in January - Racheal, Jade, and Lindsey. They are all doing a great job and fitting right in around here. Thanks to them for all their hard work (as well as our other staff members - Kerri, Lesley, Lara, Sierra, Jen, Lauren, and Kelsey) during this miserable winter weather recently! Even with all the construction going on - things are running smoothly around here! Now if it would just get warm enough to ride.... On a sad note - we recently lost a dear friend to WEF. Amanda Draper's horse, Flower, passed away due to liver disease. This special horse was a rescue from the Equine Rescue League In Leesburg, VA. Amanda and Flower shared many great years together. She will be greatly missed by us all.
Our jumper show has been postponed, due to weather and rhino outbreak! Contact me for more info! Also - congrats to Kelsey and Maddie on placing 5th in the YR Prelim standings for the year for Area 2! I am also interviewing working students for Fall 07 currently - email me to appy!
1/2/07
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