What's New On The Farm

6/20/10
We are back from the very busy two weeks of Mason City. We had so many monumental successes this week. Despite the severe weather threats, everyone had a great show. In the professional divisions, Quiet Cool was Reserve Champion even with 40 mph winds shaking the flowers and bushes and blowing over jumps. Dark Chocolate was Champion in the 1st Year Greens for the second week in a row. Showtime also had a great week winning all the Regular Working over fences classes to be Champion again. Showtime also proved his versatility by helping me to win the Professional Equitation Class sponsored by Zone 6.
Showtime also went on to be Champion in the very competitive Large Juniors with Katie Sweeney as well as finishing 5th in the Hunter Derby.
Acolade had his biggest win to date when he won the Hunter Derby with 32 horses in it. He scored a respectable 82 in the first round but shot to the top when he scored a 90 in his handy round. Calligraphy also had a good day and finished 7th. Brie also won in the A/A hunters with Cal.
The weekend was amazing. Both Emma Gage and Jenna Golden stepped up into the 3'6" for the first time and were great. Emma's first class at 3'6" was the ASPCA and she showed everyone she belonged by winning! She also swept the 12-14 Eq Division finishing Champion with her brother Patrick Gage very close on her heels in Reserve Champion. Jenna held her own in the Small Juniors with good ribbons and very respectable rounds. I'm so proud of these two for their easy adjustment into these bigger divisions. Patrick also looked amazing in the Children's Hunters as well.
Philadelphia won a A/A class with owner Cindy Bulwicz as well as winning a 1st year green class earlier in the week. Analisa won the Adult eq with Protege and then had some great prizes in the A/O hunters.
The jumpers were fantastic as well. Rachel Barrea rode Gipou Des Ettisses beautifully in the Modified Jr/Amateur Division. Lara Palmquist was Champion in the High Adult Jumpers. Anne Meyer was 3rd in the very fast and competitive Children/Adult Jumper Classic. Kathy Ott's new horse Danicka moved up into the Modified Jr/Amateurs and had several clean rounds with lots of room to spare.
Andy won the Grand Prix with Luxius II! This was Luxius's first grand prix win and it was especially special as we have had him since he was 2 yrs old. Rival and I were second just .1 seconds behind him with the only two double clean rounds. Rival ended up Open Jumper Champion with Luxius Reserve Champion.
Africa went home with Joan Winters. We hope they will get along famously and I hope he will find a permanent home with Joan.
Back at home, things were quiet. Kate was able to enjoy a vacation with her husband in Traverse City, MI. We found out Cassinia is pregnant to Landkonig. The babies are growing fast and are so cute.
On a sadder note, we lost a great friend last week. Bill Qualey, died unexpectedly on Wednesday while working. He was a patient, kind and generous man as well as being a true horseman and exceptional farrier. He will be deeply missed.

6/14/10
We are in Mason City, IA in between two weeks of shows. I thought I better update the blog before I forgot about all the great things that have happened here. This is what I remember as highlights. At the beginning of the week, Azalea was Reserve Best Young horse in the Hunter Breeding, Susan Carlson's horse, Quite Cool, was Champion in the Pregreen hunters after winning all five of the classes. Susan then finished the week Reserve Champion in the A/A 51 and over division in only her second time showing in that division on Sven. Dark Chocolate was Champion in the 1st Year Green Division and with owner Jenna Golden, was the winner of the Children's Hunter Classic with a first round score of 88! She also finished Reserve Champion in the Childrens Hunter Division. Worth The Wait, another star in the Children's hunters finished 1 point behind Jenna in the Childrens Hunter Classic with Patrick Gage. Patrick swept the 12-14 eq division as well as winning in the Children's hunter division.
Showtime won all the Regular Working over fences classes finishing Champion. He then went on to win the $5000 USHJA National Hunter Classic. Calligraphy finished 3rd with Acolade finishing 4th in the Classic. We were so happy to have such a great day in this competitive class.
In the jumper ring, we were happy to have Lara back on Will'O Wisp. They were very respectable in the High Children/Adult Jumpers after Whinny had a lot of time off this winter. Rachel rode Moto beautifully in the High Children/Adult Jumpers as well and is looking forward to moving up into the Modified Junior/Amateurs this week. Kathy looked amazing on her new horse, Danica, and I expect she will go on to do great things.
Kid Rock was fantastic this week. He won the Open Jumper Class on Thursday and was double clean and 2nd in the Grand Prix. Janine was .5 second faster for the win in the Grand Prix on Lt. Kiji. Rival finished 4th in the Grand Prix as well.
The horses were really great this week despite the very wet weather. I'm sure there were many other highlights that I am forgetting, however, I'm exhausted and don't remember right now. Bye for now!

5/24/10
We have finally returned from the three weeks in Iowa. Everyone had a wonderfully successful show. Emma showed her new horse Weston in the 3' eq and Children's Hunters and looks ready to move up to the 3'6". Patrick was amazing the 2nd week of Maffitt Lake winning the Children's Hunter Classic in addition to being Champion. Thanks to Katie Dean, I enjoyed helping Hailey Livingston on Sir Dragon, Blueberry Hill and Hope I'm It. The ponies were wonderful and it was a total pleasure helping Hailey. She was 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Pony Classic! I also was able to help Page Tredennick with her two horses. She had a stellar 2nd week and was both Champion and Reserve with her two horses in the A/O 3'3" Division.
Cindy's horse Philadelphia debuted in the 1st Year Green the second week and was fantastic. He won both over fences the second day and was Reserve Champion. He then went on to be Champion in the Adult Amateur Older Division with Cindy. Her horse Hennessey was also really good for his debut of the year. The first week, Analisa had some great rounds with Protege in the A/O hunters and also rode Mark McKone's horse in the A/A hunters. She had a lot of fun catch riding him. Brie was super in the A/A Hunters and Brie and Analisa were Champion and Reserve.
Mary Laurie showed how much she learned over the winter with Hans. She rode great and fell in love with Maffitt Lake. Anne also placed in both Children/Adult Jumper Classics and had a good couple of weeks.
I had the pleasure of riding Rival, a wonderful horse owned by Shane Sweetnam. He was 11th in both Grand Prixs and was 5th in the Welcome the 2nd week. He is a fun, talented horse that is both brave and careful.
Now we are home for a couple of weeks. We are looking forward to Escada having a foal in the next week or two and then we will head to Mason City for two weeks.

5/11/10

Izak	Peakalika

We had a great spring at home with really mild weather and lots of riding outside. We have had two beautiful additions to the barn. Daphne foaled a beautiful colt by Ironman that we named Izak. Daisy had a gorgeous filly by Pablito we call Peakalika. They are so much fun to have around the barn.

The weather is now turning into a true spring just in time for the shows. Last week, we attended the Midstates show at Mason City and had a great week. Showtime was Champion in the Green/Regular Working Division and Dark Chocolate was Reserve Champion. Susan Carlson's new horse, Quiet Cool, was amazing and was champion in the Low and Pregreen Division. Calligraphy was Reserve Champion in the Low Hunters as well. The weekend was cold but still successful. Dark Chocolate and Jenna Golden were Champion in the Children's Hunters and Worth the Wait was Reserve Champion with Patrick Gage. Patrick Gage had a clean sweep of his equitation classes winning all the 12-14 classes as well as the MHJA medal.

Our new working student, Rachel Barrea was Champion in the Modified Jr/AOs.
I got a wonderful new sale horse on Thursday evening. We showed in the Level 5 and 6 jumper class Friday with clean rounds so we decided to try the Grand Prix. He was super and jumped double clear and finished 3rd in the Prix. Andy and Luxius were clean in the first round and ended up 4th and Kid Rock and I had the fasted 4 fault round and ended up 6th.
Those are a few of the highlights, but everyone had a successful show. Now we are at Maffitt Lake for two weeks. It is raining so much here that they cancelled the show for today. Tim Hott does a great job of running these shows despite the weather.

4/17/10
We have been back from a very successful Florida for about a month now. We are thrilled to say we were very busy showing horses. We ended up with seven deals done in eight weeks which made our trip very worth while. Congratulations to Susan Carlson and Emma Gage on their fabulous new horses. Everyone who showed in Florida did extremely well and we were very proud to have them there. Since we have been back, I have been working on updating the website as well as showing horses to prospective clients. We have had trainers from near and far trying horses and sales are definately picking up. FINALLY!
I am enjoying working with my own young horses. Ambassador is so much fun for me and he leaves me smiling every day. Gloria is in the process of being started. So far, walking undersaddle is great and next week we will trot. Daphne had a gorgeous colt by Ironman last week. His name is Izak and he is adorable. Daisy is due next week as well. Her foal is by Pablito.
We have all been enjoying riding outside for the last month (the first time I've ever ridden outside in March in Minnesota). Our course outside had inspiration from the Hunter Derby at WEF and is challenging but inviting for everyone.
We are slowly gearing up to horse show in Iowa for three weeks in May. Based on the customer's lessons today, we are ready to go now! All this extra practice time outside has everyone much more prepared than in past years.
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of important things so I will try to update again soon.

2/22/10
The shows in Florida have been going great. Andy and I bought a really nice 6 yr old jumper from Alex Jayne. However, before we showed him, Cris Killam's customer purchased him. Independiente will have have a great home in Nebraska and I will be able to watch him show. Mark McKone bought a super young horse from Europe called Arizona. He arrived a week ago and we love him. He is very athletic and scopey but also willing and kind. Good luck to Mark with showing him in the jumpers. We are keeping our fingers crossed for Susan Carlson as she is vetting a horse tomorrow for herself. Quite Cool aka Sven just arrived from Sweden on Friday for Susan to try and it was love at first sight. He is big and beautiful and should be a lovely hunter for her to bring along. Susan has had a great circuit so far showing Lanciano in the A/A hunters and the eq. She won a A/A class and has placed in several. She has also been excelling in the equitation. Yesterday she was 3rd in the Palm Beach Adult Medal and the week before she was 3rd in the Ariat Adult Medal. We would like to offer our condolences to Susan as she lost her mother last week.

Anne Meyer has been extremely consistent and riding great in the A/A jumpers. One of her highlights was a 3rd in a $10,000 A/A Classic in the International Ring. She was also 2nd in a class and she has been double clear too many times to count.
Mark has been showing Dance Card in the 3'3" A/A hunters and Andy has been showing him in the 1st Year Greens. Both Andy and Mark were able to show Danny in the International Ring during hunter week where he once again proved his wonderful disposition and had his best rounds. Mark was in the ribbons last week as well.
Showtime was shown by a catch rider to a 5th out of 45 yesterday in the ASPCA.
Ashton and Showtime have been wonderful for the circuit but haven't found a new home yet. It hasn't been for lack of trying. Both horses are very special and have been perfect on every occasion.

Pav has shown a few weeks as well. Louis Otten showed him in the A/A a few weeks ago and looked beautiful on him. The following week one of Jeff Gogel's students showed him in the Children's hunters. She was 4th in the hack and 4th and 8th out of 45. As always, he is a head turner.

Calloway was leased last weekend as well and was Reserve Champion in the Low Children's Hunters. He is very beautiful and kind and also looking for a home.

Over all, the horses have been wonderful and my days are busy with trials on the horses that are for sale. Some days we have as many as 4 trials.

As the weather is beautiful and we are having so much activity, we are going to stay in Florida an additional 2 weeks. Although we miss everyone at home, we are just having too good a time to leave.

We had a very sad day a few weeks ago when Smokey aka Just in Time had to be put down. He had a colic that would have required surgery. As he was 26 years old, we decided not to put him through surgery and the difficult recovery. I first started riding Smokey when he was just 5 yrs old. I showed him in the Pregreen hunters and a year later purchased him to show in the 1st Year Green Hunters and the Sm. Jr Hunters. He was also my equitation horse. He was the best horse that I showed as a junior and was a very consistent, reliable horse. I was able to show him at AQHA World, was Zone Champion 3rd Level Dressage and Zone Champion Sm Jr Hunters and winner of the Zone IV Medal Finals the same year as well as showing western and doing a little eventing with him. I showed him at Harrisburg in the AHSA Medal Finals (now known as USEF Medal Finals) and the Sm Jr Hunters the same year. He had the most wonderful personality in the barn and was one of my best friends in high school. When it came time for me to go to college, we had to sell him. He was the most heartbreaking horse I have ever sold. He spent many years teaching kids the ropes in the 3' hunters. Many years later, my path crossed Smokey's and I was able to offer him a retirement home. He taught a few people how to ride and he became a wonderful babysitter to my yearlings. He spent several years in charge of all the horses in our pasture at Raven Ridge. I was so blessed to have him in my life not once but twice and I will forever cherish the time we had together and all that he taught me.

1/21/10
We are in Florida at WEF and the weather is amazing! The horses are all doing great and have settled in quickly. We are already setting up trials on the sale horses. We have our fingers and toes crossed that the economy is improving and lots of people appear to be shopping. Luxius showed in the 1.3m yesterday and the 1.35 today. He was clean today and looked ready to do the 1.4 for his next class. Delgado showed yesterday and today in the 3'3" pregreens and Andy is planning to show him in the 1st years next week. We are off to go watch the Thurs. Grand Prix.

1/8/10
Happy New Year!
Andy and I made it back from our cruise. We had a great time with all the trainers that came on the cruise. We are preparing to leave for Florida in a week. We are very much looking forward to leaving the cold and working and riding outside for 6 weeks. We are hopeful that 2010 will be a better year for everyone. 2009 was a difficult year for our farm. We lost another special young horse the last week of December. Acapella, (Acolade's full sister) succumbed to a bacterial infection. We had such high hopes for this fancy filly. We do have such highs and lows with these wonderful animals. This year we are looking forward to having 4 new babies. I am particularly excited for Escada, our recently retired Grand Prix mare, to have her first foal. She is preg. to a lovely Holsteiner stallion called Quinar who is by the famous Quidam de Reval. We are also expecting an Ironman baby out of Keith Raleigh's mare Daphne and Daisy is preg. with a Pablito foal. Mary Laurie's retired Grand Prix mare, Astin, is preg by Lt. Kiji. We have to look forward to the days to come with anticipation rather than dwell on the difficulties of the past.

12/21/2009
I just returned from teaching a clinic at Hunters Pointe in Cedar Rapids, IA. Maxwell's have a beautiful barn and the people were very fun to teach. The weekend before that, Andy and I taught a clinic in Howell, NJ at Paragon Farms. It was a fast trip for me as I flew in Sat, taught Sunday and flew out early Monday. Monday and Tuesday I showed Jennifer Rhodes several nice baby green hunters around the twin cities. We saw several promising young horses and hopefully one will work for her client.
Andy left for Florida already to keep working on sales. Congratulations to Laura Rohlfing's customer on the purchase of Hannah Montana AKA Widget. She is a wonderful pony and I hope they have a lot of success with her.
Thank you to Carleton Brooks for coming to our farm for a clinic Dec 4 and 5. He was amazing at creatively working out bad habits with new approaches. He was fun and positive and we hope to have him back again next year.
We had a lot of fun at the Holiday Party after Carleton's clinic as well. We had fun White Elephant gifts, great food, and wonderful people. I was very excited about our presents to the customers this year. Our web designer, Patty Nelson, took amazing portraits of the horses. They were beautiful and very original.
We are looking forward to vacation now. Andy and I will spend Christmas in Florida with his parents. On December 27 we will be heading out on a cruise with 65+ horse people. It goes over New Years and should be a ton of fun with the people that are going. After that, we will return to Minnesota to prepare for WEF.
I hope everyone have wonderful and safe holidays.
Merry Christmas!

11/5/09
I am back from our wonderful vacation in Florida and our short cruise. We have four sale horses in Wellington and are having a lot of interest in them. Since I've been back, I'm settling into the winter routine. I have been starting some of the two year olds undersaddle. Zinnia is already walk, trot, and canter both directions in less than a week and has earned herself some more pasture time. Sally and Sparky are both wearing a bridle and saddle and long lining everyday.

The lessons are back to the basics of small jumps but very challenging exercises. Even the less experienced riders are doing a great job of stepping up to the task. We are going to focus a lot of time on horsemanship knowledge this winter. I will be spending time in every lesson quizzing the students on horse care and skills. I feel this area could use some more attention.

On a sadder note, we lost two very special horses this week. We made the very difficult decision to put down our weanling Pele. He was suffering from a fracture as well as several other issues and we felt he would never recover to live a comfortable life. Although he only lived a short life, I feel blessed to have had him in my life.

Mary Laurie and Martha also made the very difficult decision to put down Bird, aka Fly By Night. Unlike Pele, Bird lived a very long and productive life. He began his career as a race horse but his racing career ended with a fractured pastern. A plate and screws helped to repair the fracture and Mary Jakubik started him in the jumpers and showed him in the A/O Jumpers and Grand Prixs. She sold him to another of Laura Kraut's clients, Erin Haas. Erin also showed him in the A/O jumpers and Grand Prixs until Mary purchased him for Martha as her first jumper. Bird was an amazing athlete with a comedic personality. He would often jump so high and fast that he would jump out of his shoes or bell boots. Once, in a jump off in a classic at WEF, Martha galloped to the last jump and Bird jumped so high he lost two pairs of bell boots and both front shoes. He was incredibly careful and could be extremely fast. He was also well known to escape while being turned out. He couldn't contain his excitement for turnout and would pull back and get loose before making it into his paddock or pasture. There were many days at Raven Ridge when Bird would run past my house and down the road because the vet, farrier, groom, or owner couldn't hang onto him. It was impossible to stay mad at him when he looked at you with his huge "goldfish" eyes. He was lucky enough to have several good years of retirement at Raven Ridge. Bird was a very special horse and he will be greatly missed.

  
Pele                               Fly By Night

10/17/09

I've been a little slow getting up the results from the Harvest Horse Show because I have had computer issues.
The Harvest was a great success for Raven Ridge Farm. Katie Sweeney's horse Showtime won the $5,000 Hunter Class on Friday night. He was also Champion in the Green/Regular Working Hunters.
Cathy Wurzer riding Casanova was the star of Jumping With The Stars on Sat night before the GP. This charity event was to benefit We Can Ride and was a competition where local celebrities were paired with local trainers to learn to jump and show off their skills. Cathy was amazing and won the event. We are very excited to keep Cathy riding Casanova as we truly enjoy her fun but hardworking attitude.
We had many class winners at the show as well. Philadelphia won an A/A class with Cindy, Analisa won the 15-17 eq again, Worth the Wait won a children's hunter class with Patrick, and Ashton won his u/s classes. Martha with Ofie, Jenna with Dark Chocolate, Lara with Will O'Wisp, Tori with Evita, Molly with Calligraphy, and Cindy with Hennessey all had great classes at the show as well.
Marco and Ava had some injuries that unfortunately required them to scratch from the show.
Andy and Luxius were very good in the $30,000 Grand Prix on Sat night. It was the biggest class Luxius has done to date and handled it with ease.
We are now enjoying a little down time. I have been working on putting several videos of sale horses on youtube. If you search Raven Ridge Farm you can view all these videos. There are also links to the videos on our sales page. Andy and I are going to enjoy a week vacation in Florida next week.

9/27/09

We have returned from two weeks at Maffitt Lake. We had a small group attend but the shows were wonderful and we finished as early as 1:30 regularly. Andy's fancy sale horse Delgado AKA Sam debuted in the Pregreens and was Champion. Tobias also had his horse show debute with Casanova. He rode great and won two classes. Ecstasy was very busy in the Level 5 jumpers with both Kim and Daurie and was very good with lots of clean rounds. Cindy Bulwicz had two successful weeks. The first week she was Reserve Champion in the Adult Amateur Hunters on Hennessey and the second week she was Reserve Champion in the Adult Amateur Hunters on Philadelphia. She is really making progress on her young horse! Analisa is enjoying a lot of success in the equitation. She only rode in two eq over fences classes but won them both. The first week she won the 15-17 eq and the second week she won the USEF. Protege was good in the Junior Hunters and was Champion in the 3'6" Special Hunters. Casanova was Champion in the Maffitt Lake Hunters. Luxius and Andy were 5th in the Grand Prix the first week. Luxius was clean and was amazing in just his 2nd $25,000 Grand Prix. The second week Luxius was clean in the Welcome and finished 4th. He was 9th with the fastest 4 fault round in the $25,000 Grand Prix the second week. He is really showing amazing scope and consistency. Patriot went to the show to see the sights. He went home with a wonderful woman from Kansas City. We are hoping he finds a permanent home with her and trainer Sarah Jane Franklin. Kid Rock is preparing to have some down time after a very busy and successful summer. This week we are preparing for our final show of the year. We leave Monday for the Minnesota Harvest.

8/15/09

We are already showing at Maffitt Lake in Des Moines with beautiful weather but I wanted to share our successes from Mason City.
Katie Sweeney's horse Showtime showed his versatility at the beginning of the week by being Champion in the combined Green/Regular Working division. He also successfully competed in the eq with Katie on the weekend.
The babies Acolade's Alibi and Gloria CWF had a great showing in the Hunter Breeding as well. Acolade's Alibi AKA "Acobi" was the winner in the Yearling Hunter Breeding as well as being Zone IV Champion for the Yearling Hunter Breeding. Gloria was the winner in the 2 Yr Old Hunter Breeding as was also Zone IV Champion for 2Yr Olds. Gloria was also Best Young Horse at the show as well as Zone IV Best Young Horse. She will be one to watch for as she is both beautiful and talented. Worth the Wait was Champion in the Low Hunters winning 3 of the 4 classes and finishing 2nd in the other.

Tiesto was excellent for his third show with us. He showed in 1 Low Modified class and was Reserve Champion. He showed in 2 High Modified classes and was Champion and was double clear in the Open Jumpers on Thurs. Kid Rock was Champion in the Open Jumpers and also won the $15,000 Midstates Fall Grand Prix. Luxius also had a clean round in the prix, jumping spectacularly but acquiring a time fault finishing 4th.

The customers had a successful weekend as well. Patrick on Worth The Wait was the Childrens Classic winner. Jenna was giving him some stiff competition with Dark Chocolate as well with a first round score of 87! They were also very competitive in the 12-14 eq. Patrick had a beautiful over fences class in the Zandra Powers Class for his first time doing the eq in the jumper ring and earned the high score o/f with an 85.
Protege had a very successful Derby round with Analisa resulting in a 4th place in the Challenge.
Alison was a super in the jumpers with Marco. She won the Children/Adult Speed Class on Sunday as well as winning the highly competitive Children/Adult Classic. Tori was the Zone IV Junior Jumper Champion on Jaramilla. Clearly she has been working hard at home as this was her first show since Florida.
Kelly started teaching classes on Friday but still was able to come to MC to show Beau in the A/A hunters. She is doing very well at only her 3rd show ever doing the 3'.
Ecstasy had a successful show with Daurie and was much more sane after her ulcer treatment. If only they could talk to us!
On a sadder note, Bri had a scary fall with Einstein. She broke her collarbone and her horse was beat up as well. We wish them a speeding recovery.

9/6/09
We just returned from a very successful Otter Creek Horse Show. At the beginning of the week, Pavane was Champion in the High Pregreens with Acolades Reserve Champion. Worth the Wait won all four of his over fences classes. Calligraphy won the Modified Hunter on Wed. and Protege won the Modified on Thurs. On Friday, Kelly Gage returned to the ring with style on Beau Coup for the first time in two years. She was Champion in the Limit Adult Hunters. Cindy successfully showed Philadelphia for only the second time this year and was all smiles.
The Otter Creek Hunter Derby, held on Friday afternoon was a blast and very successful for Raven Ridge Farm. Protege won, Worth the Wait was second, and Acolades was third. All three horses received scores in the 90's! Love Story and Pavane also made the top 12 with Love Story taking all the tough options in the handy with Alison making it look easy.
The weekend was a lot of fun. DeMarco was Champion in the Low Children/Adult Jumpers with Alison and was second in the Otter Creek Derby with a very fast and clean jump off. Alison also rode Love Story to the Jr Hunter Championship. Cindy was Reserve Champion in the A/O Hunters with Hennessey. Worth the Wait was Champion and Pavane was Reserve Champion in the Childrens Hunters 13 and under. Worth the Wait also won the Children/Adult Hunter Classic. Pavane was 3rd, Calligraphy was 4th and Beau Coup was 6th. Brie rode Calligraphy for the week while Einstein had a brief vacation. Protege was really good in the Jr Hunters and equitation this week for Analisa who missed her horse winning the derby because of her first test at college.
Everyone had a great horse show and we are unpacking and repacking today to head back out of town tomorrow to Mason City.

8/29/09
We are getting ready to go to four weeks of shows in a row. We will leave Tuesday for the beautiful farm of Otter Creek in Wisconsin. After that we head to Mason City, Iowa for the Midstates Fall Show, followed by two weeks in the wonderful new Des Moines shows at Maffitt Lake Equestrian.