Another Show Behind Us

Here at Evergreen Farm we are rockin’ and rollin’. We just came back from Bel Air, Maryland for the BRAHA spring show. The contingent wasn’t as big as in recent years but we were still a force to be reckoned with! We brought Rachel Dors to show her project pony, EF KKoi’s Braveheart, aka Ben, Kristen Thorpe to show EF She’s Our Legacy aka, Lacey, Emily Estep and her mount Tex, and Christine Reed brought her new horse, Rory Hills, aka Boris. Also in attendance was Ian Dors.

Ian, who was one of the very smallest competitors, rode Boris the largest horse on the property. Boris is a staggering 18hh and Ian decided to take him into the walk race. They won!

Rachel took Ben into four Halter Handling classes where she received a 1st, a 2nd, and two 3rd s and ended up Open Grand Champion High Scoring Horse of the day. Not bad for a not quite 2 year old pony and a 13 year old girl. Gotta love those KKoi genes!!

Christine pretty much got a blue ribbon in every class she entered. I would list them but there are too many!!

Kristen, this being her first show as was Lacey’s, pulled a 2nd and a 6th in classes that were 12 and 8 deep. Very impressive for a pair of first timers.

Emily, also a first timer, pulled a 2nd in halter handling and a 3rd in the Western Pleasure class.

All in all the kids had a great time and all went home with smiles abound. We were a bit soaked as it rained all day long but we were still in good spirits! Our 4-H club, the Rebel Riders, utilize the Spring BRAHA show as a fundraiser for future outings. We held a bake sale and Ian walked the grounds all day long selling the baked goods the kids had made. Once again even though the weather was down right ugly the good folks who attended the BRAHA show made our day with generous donations to the kids. Thanks to all who supported us.

Emotions Run High

Emotionally charged, that is the best way to describe the Shenandoah Valley Spring Classic Show. Let me explain why this was such an incredible show. On December 27,2005 KKoi fractured his right rear coffin bone in two places. He was instantly lame and it was advised that we should strongly consider putting him down as this type of injury could render a horse in serious pain for the rest of its life. We were truly heartbroken. KKoi however was not going to give up. We found a vet who works almost solely in podiatry and we began our long journey into the unknown. Fast-forward three years, and three months to the day and we had a blue ribbon in hand! While we never thought he’d be sound again, then we thought we’d never be able ride him, then we thought he’d never be able to keep his mind clear after 3 years of only breeding mares, he proved us wrong on every count. Our first ride back was Training Level test 3, my least favorite of all the Training Level tests. I went in, under Marian Cunningham an “S” judge, and did the best I could. I asked KKoi for all he had and he gave it to me. Every ounce. My daughter came running up to me just after my next class with my score sheet. I read it over and wow; a 63.5% from this judge was an awesome score. It was a great feeling to be back in the ring and not totally tank. Then she pulled the ribbon out of her pocket. IT WAS BLUE!!!! I actually won the class. It began to rain and I began to cry. I was so overjoyed and full of emotion just to be there, but then to win, oh my gosh, I was beyond words. I am sure that the people standing around me that didn’t know my story were wondering about the middle aged lady sobbing in her horses neck, but those who knew me and my horse cheered with laughing voices for me. We made it back, back from the brink, back to a place where we can all be happy and now look to the future, the very, very bright future.

If that wasn’t enough of an emotional upswing, Rachel had been riding her heart out all weekend long coming to fourths and fifths. I tried to explain that it takes a lot more time to be a great dressage rider when you have already been a great hunter rider, but that she’d make it. Having faith in her pony and being grateful for the ribbons she did earn was important at this juncture. Well when she finally accepted that it would take more work and maybe she wasn’t as prepared as she thought she was, it came, the elusive blue ribbon. She finally had a blue ribbon from an “A” show. She was stoked now. She was ready to move on. It was another moment of sheer joy. Joy in the accomplishments of the younger ones coming down the line. Joy in the innocence of the kids just riding to get the ribbon and not worrying about who is in the ring or who they are competing against, just them and their pony reaching for greatness!

On a different emotional note, this time of pride in a breeding program and the loss of a beloved second generation broodmare for us…EF Llameri a coming 3yo filly by KKoi and out of our recently departed grand old TB/QH mare, Cephie, went to the show as well and was an amazing competitor. She did SHIH and ended up winning her class and then moving on to be the Reserve Champion high score for the HA/AA Mare division. How exciting for Christine her handler. Then she rode in several SHUS classes and behaved far better than any other coming 3yo should or could. She moved on to Dressage over the weekend and had amazing scores: 62%, 62.5%, and a 65%. For any horse those scores are, well qualifying, but for a coming 3yo, they are truly outstanding. Once again kudos to her rider/handler Christine for a job well done. It was a bit emotional as Meri’s dam, Cephie, was my show horse as a teenager and college student and the daughter of my first horse as a child and she had just recently passed away. She too would be proud of her last daughter in the ring.

All in all what a show, it had the feeling of a season wrap up not a season opener! We have a lot to live up to now, a blue ribbon for each of us at all shows, it’s tiring just thinking about it!

First Show of the Season Already Behind Us!

Well Evergreen Farm’s first show of the season is already behind us. It was an exhilarating show as the weather was perfect, 70 and breezy, and the show was very well attended. For us personally it was a bit of a milestone as well. KKoi was back in the show ring after three and a half years off. Back in December ’05 he fractured his right rear coffin bone in two places and we weren’t even sure if he’d make it out the other side. Well, he made it through, but we are starting all over again in the training process. Even though he was a strong contender in Training level back during the ’05 show season he has had so much time off that it was as if we were barely out of Intro. We decided to throw caution to the wind and try Training 3 and 4 at the show. He held his own in T4 and did remarkably well in T3. I am very excited for his return to the show ring and his complete comeback as a riding horse. It has been a slow and tedious process, but the vets feel like he is as good as new and we were given the green light to proceed at 100%. With a score of 62.8% right out of the gate in T3, we are hoping for Sport Horse National qualifying scores this season. Only time will tell.

Additionally a KKoi daughter, EF LLameri competed for the first time under saddle. Meri and Christine have been working very hard this winter to see if they have what it takes to be a dressage pair to be reckoned with. Well it seems as though they are a pair made in heaven. With Meri being a coming three-year-old and Christine never riding Dressage before this winter it was a surprise clean up. Starting with Intro A and a score of 61.5%, landing them in 6th place, the scores for these two just kept going up. Training 2 earned them a 64.64% and a 2nd place and in Training 1 they really shined with a 67.83% and the blue to go with it. What an amazing ride it was. The goal for this pair is the inaugural East Coast Youth Championships in August.

Rachel Dors on her ½ Arabian mare, east of Eden, aka Blossom, dished it out and brought in very nice ribbons as well. With a 62.61% in T1 earning a 5th place she went on to Intro A with a very nice score of 65% and the first place ribbon. Her eye is on East Coast Youth Championships as well. Looks like we will have a full trailer going to Lexington in August!!

It was a beautiful day all around. The weather was good, the company was good, the competition was excellent and the ribbons were fabulous. We could not have asked for a better start to show season.

The Gallery and The Painter

The Gallery
It was a very hot August day. We were invited to a gallery in a small but very upscale city. This was Main Street, USA. Cobblestone streets and beautiful storefronts. This particular gallery was an equine only gallery owned by a friend of a friend. She had contacted me the previous spring about my stallion, KKoi coming to the gallery for “Arabian” day. She mentioned that she does different breeds as often as possible and likes to get the best representations of each breed there, in the flesh, for people (non-horsey mostly) to see and touch. She explained that finding an Arabian quiet enough to spend the day in a 12x12 pen in the parking lot all day with kids, cars and all sorts of commotion around was a very daunting task, and one that she had not yet completed. Then she heard of KKoi.

Rolling over and over in my mind were all the e-mail messages that we sent back and forth and the visit to the farm by the owner of the gallery and the surprise visit afterward by the painter who had wanted to photograph him for reference material. As we were driving in the 90+-degree weather with stallion in tow, I began to wonder if I had lost my mind. Could he do it? Could he sit there all day in the heat and deal with kids, and flash pictures, and cars and motorcycles and who knows what else? We brought a tent, one of those party tents that you sit under. Well it was only 10x10 and KKoi’s enclosure was 12x12, would he deal with that too? Only time would tell.

The day started with people streaming out to see KKoi, like he was a celebrity. Well he ate it up. He acted like this was something he does all the time. He stood with kids next to him for photo op after photo op. He would, every hour, as per our contract, come out of his enclosure and walk around for people to get really close. We had one toddler get away from her mom and run and wrap herself around his hind leg. He just stood. Never moving a muscle. After it was over, after what seemed like all of the 2000 invitees came and went KKoi and I trudged home. He now had a new fan base. He now had people outside of his family adoring him. He was on his way to fame.

The Painter
During the apex of the Gallery Day I was approached by the gallery owner and asked if Lesley Harrison, the painter could come out and see KKoi. Apparently Lesley is a close friend of the gallery owner and when I sent my promotional materials ahead for use in the invitation for the gallery, the owner sent them on to Lesley. Lesley was captivated by KKoi’s kind eye and soulful look. I am a bit naïve to the art world so unknowingly I said sure. When I told my friends what was happening, most of them looked at me and said,
“The Lesley Harrison is coming here to see KKoi?” I Googled her. I learned pretty quickly that this was a big deal and I needed to seize it with open arms. Lesley came out very early to catch the morning light and KKoi at his finest. He was bathed, clipped and crimped to the nth degree. He was gorgeous, and she agreed. Over 2000 pictures later she reminded me that this was just for reference work and she had over a year’s worth of commissioned work to complete before she could even think about doing something for herself.

Night after night she said she lay awake in bed thinking about KKoi and one particular picture she took. She dreamed it in her sleep. She just could not push him from her mind. So she began to paint and in less than six months from the time she took the pictures it was completed. This stunningly beautiful portrait of KKoi’s soul. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet a person like Lesley. She is an artist who, like no other I have ever seen, can take a photograph, make it into a pastel painting that looks like a photograph and include the soul of the animal she has painted. The icing on the cake is that I did not commission her to paint KKoi. She did it on her own fruition. AND she continues to do it. She is up to “Blue Halter #4”. Kkoi is in Lesley’s 2009 “Spirit of Horses” calendar, as well as a book jacket and I think there are negotiations for a wine label as well. I guess I really do have my own living art in the barn, and his name is KKoi.

Bad Voju' by Rachel Dors

It all started off as any trip to Lexington, Virginia would. With Christine texting, me reading, and Nikki writing/listening to her Ipod. Christine’s mom (Barbara) was driving and my mom (Pam) was sick this didn’t stop them from cranking the radio and chatting over it. Just before we hit highway 81 my mom started singing, “On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again…” It was part of a tradition trailering horses to shows. Then the stories flowed like rain…

BANG!!!! The trailer shook, something exploded!
“Holy Cow,” someone shouted, “I think that was the tire!” We pull over and Barbara got out to check on the trailer tires, followed by my mom. Nikki and I stopped what we’re doing and looked at each other. Next thing we know my mom and Barbara have the jack out and the tire was already changed.
“Wow, record timing mom!” I said enthusiastically.
“Look at the tire,” said Barbara, “It lost all its tread!” We all went back to our previous activities as we continued down the road, with mom singing “On the road again…”

12 miles down the road…

BANG!! “Holy schnitzel!” some one cried
“Uh My” I groaned, “we’re only 50 miles from home!!”
“We’re never going to make it,” cried Nikki (who wasn’t even showing at 4-H states, due to lack of time (1 year) in 4-H, but was willing to be my personal slave…(muh-ha-ha-ha))
“911 what’s your emergency?” asked the operator. Mom repeated the story twice. Once to the operator, and once to my father.
“What ever you do, DO NOT. I repeat, DO NOT go the left side” (the side by the highway) Commanded Barbara
Cars zoomed by as I stared incoherently out the window
“Hey, wasn’t that the policeman we passed earlier?” asked mom.
“Yeah,” agreed Nikki, “the undercover one.”
Then suddenly, like a surge the phones started ringing again, even mine.

I got 2 texts:

Hepner Tire- has # will call
From: Dad 1:45p

Tell Mom
From Dad 1:46p

“Alright, guys we’ve found a place, we just have to get there,” Barbara said climbing back into the drivers seat. The 3 miles were the scariest 3 miles in the entire trip. (except when the tires blew up, but that wasn’t 3 miles) The truck was dead silent as we were “limping” along. Christine suddenly shouts out “Look a blue Mustang! Just like the one I want, a convertible!” We were now on the back roads, and it was a gorgeous day, I felt sorry for the driver of that Mustang who was stuck behind us.
“There it is! There it is!” Nikki yelled
“Yeah!” Christine and I said in unison.
We pulled up and the jacks were already setup waiting. We were in and out, thanks to laughs. It was like being at a NASCAR pitstop! Barbara goes walking off talking on the phone and next thing I know she comes back with a piece of grass in her mouth! If that isn’t enough Barbara is saying that the guys that changed our tires are HOT, yes HOT. Just as if on queue, here comes a young guy in a truck that says UNIFORMS, and Christine goes,
“No, that guy is hot!”
“No, he’s not!” said Barbra
“Yes, he is”
“No, he’s not”
“Yes!”
“I’m hungry,” I complained
“We have pop tarts,” said Christine
“OMG look on the box it says ‘pop tarts to the rescue’”
Mmm was all you heard for a while followed by, mom I’m thirsty!
After we found the ‘soder’ machine they all got drinks, (except me because I packed water). We learned that after 5-6 years the tires dry rot (no matter how many miles are on them), but you can’t see it when they’re inflated.
As we were leaveing we all rolled down the windows and yelled “Thank you!”
About 3 miles down the road (back on the highway) Nikki pulls out a book to read, and I gasp
“Nikki!” She had pulled out a book called Jinx,
“Really Nikki are you trying to kill us!”

About 2 more miles down the road…
“My butt’s on fire, my butt’s on fire!” said jumpy Barbara. Oh you must have hit the switch when you got in.
“Wow the window’s down!”
“What!?!”
“The trailer window?”
“What’s all the shouting?”
It was mass chaos, for about 3 minutes then we pulled over at a truck stop and put up the trailer window and continued on our journey. There was drama, yeah there was drama, but we overcame, and we made it back (not without our own set of problems)
“On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again…”

What happens in Lexington stays in Lexington.

Something To Talk About

Life In the Fast Lane
I have so much good news to report that I am so overwhelmed I don’t even know where to begin! I think going chronologically is probably the easiest. So after we came back from East Coast Championships I was sure I had enough points for Beauty to earn her Legion of Merit but I had to wait. On we trudged to vacation. A much-needed respite from the farm was needed by all of us. We returned rested and ready for action. Next on the docket was a two-phase day. Early in the morning on September 18 we took Sabiyana our Russian bred Arabian mare and her ’08 colt, EF Rafikki to a GOV inspection. This was a new adventure. We have never been to a warmblood inspection before. Sabi is a grey one of those white grays. After about 3 hours and a gallon of Orvis and whitening shampoo she was respectably clean looking and braided to almost perfection. This mare, I am sure, was in shock. She is 21 and hasn’t been in the show ring for many, many years. She knew what we were doing, I could see it in her eyes, but she was definitely in shock. When we were done with her we decided a comprehensive grooming and braid job on Sam was sufficient. They looked fantastic so off we went. We arrived very early as we were instructed to do. We got our paper work in order, hired handlers, and in the ring they went. Sabi got into the GOV Main Mare Book! How exciting, a 21-year-old mare was good enough to get into one of the strictest warmblood mare books we have access to. Sam got good remarks and nice compliments. He was such a good boy, so well behaved. So well behaved in fact they said he was too quiet, we should have him checked out to be sure he is ok. He is fine; he is just a good boy. Unfortunately he was the youngest colt there he was just 3 months old but he made us proud. The old lady and the little boy that could. That’s what we are calling them, yes that’s it.

4-H States, Here We Come!
That same day a few hours later we were back in the truck heading in a different direction. Barbara Schirmacher, my co-leader of the rebel Riders 4-H club, myself and three 4-Hers were heading south down 81 to Lexington to the Virginia Horse Center for the Virginia State 4-H Championship show. There was quite a bit of drama on the ride down which Rachel will write about and post at a later date. The great news is that Rachel, Christine and Nikki had a fabulous time in Lex. They learned a lot about each other, about each other’s horses and about showing on their own. You see at this particular 4-H show the parents and leaders a re not supposed to help. The kids are supposed to minimally help each other. Nikki went down to help out as moral support, gal Friday, and official horse holder, assistant groom, stall mucker and any other job that needed attending to. The girls came away with not only knowledge but some fantastic ribbons. Rachel and Christine both got blue ribbons in stable management. That award was based on tack condition and cleanliness, stall condition including cleanliness, and amount of shavings, bucket height, arrangement and cleanliness, and lastly the overall condition of the horse. They, the three of them, did it all themselves and they were richly rewarded with the blue ribbon, way to go girls! Now on to ring work. This show was Rachel’s “coming out” to dressage. She has never done a test off of the farm. She decided this summer when entries were due that she would ride Blossom to the best of her ability, not as a hunter rider, but as a budding dressage rider. She rode Training Level Test 1 and Training Level Test 4. She received a 63.38% and a 62% respectively. Those scores were good enough to put her right near the top. She is third in the state in Test 1 and second in the state in Test 4. Holy cow, second in the state. I just don’t think things can get any better for us here at the farm. Rachel also entered a dressage equitation class, which quite frankly was foreign to me. She tried her best and came out with a very respectable eighth place in that class. Showmanship, her least favorite, was her last class and she left the ring with a Danish red ribbon. Not great but it ended putting her in 11th place. All in all Rachel proved herself as a force to be reckoned with in the saddle. I am so proud of her. Christine came away with a seventh place and an eighth place. Considering most every class had over 20 entries, she too took home very respectable ribbons.

EF KKlassique Beauty++
We are now home for a few days. We are able to catch our breath and chill for a bit. Well here is the mail and here is the letter I have been waiting for. Beauty did it!! Her name is now EF KKlassique Beauty++. She is just five and she accomplished something that to me is so out there that I cannot believe it has happened. Beauty has earned herself enough points to be among the elite in the Arabian world. The elite who have proven themselves not only as beautiful creatures but also as can do horses. The first and only pointed show for her came at Nationals in ’05 where she was in the jackpot 2 year old fillies SHIH class. She went Top Ten. She finished her points off with a double reserve champion in SHIH open and amateur. So in less than 3 years she accomplished two levels of achievements. One + is for earning her points or beating many horses in all conformation and one is for a combination of conformation and performance. I am waiting for AHA to let me know how many five-year-old horses have achieved this goal. The AHA sent me a list of the awards Beauty has won during her short show career. Here it is: 1 National Title, 10 Regional Titles and countless class A wins and placings. Wow 10 Regional Titles, you’d think she was with a big time trainer or something!!

East Coast Championships--What a Trip!

We did it again!!! EF KKlassique Beauty, our first-born KKoi baby has done it again. She has reached a milestone we are so proud of. She came away from East Coast Championships with 2 reserve Championships and a Second in Dressage. To make a long 5 days short, all tolled we got 8’s and 9’s on our gaits and 7's on rider scores! Wow, 8’s and 9’s on gaits!! There is never such a joy as near perfection. We have been working on our canter depart for 8 months. Balance had been an issue for Beauty in the beginning as she was growing. Then balance was not the problem but rather Miss Beauty decided that the counter canter was much more fun. So the canter departs amounted to counter canters and then flying lead changes as they too were so much fun to do. However, by the time we got to East Coast we had it nailed. We got an 8 for the right lead canter and an 8 for the left. How sweet the victory when you really work for it. If that wasn’t glorious enough we received a 9 for the free walk. A 9!! I wasn’t sure that I was able to read when I saw that. I was sure that I was hallucinating. The comments included things like, "showing nice bend...", "lovely ground cover well into bridle..." , "lovely over stride" and "nice potential". At any rate my chest is full of pride and yes my head is a bit swelled as well. Whose wouldn’t be? This is a clear victory for a small breeder with a clear vision. A vision clear enough that a mare was purchased, a foal was born, and the silks were won! Not bad, not bad at all.