Catching up

HEy Hey Hey! So so sorry bout the delay with the show news and such but now I am back and I have alot of news and later lots of pictures. So I want you all to thin WAY back to my post about showing at the spring grove hunter jumper. So that went really well ! We came home with a Reserve Grand Champion for one of the jumping divisions. congrats again Abagail!!  That was the highlight of the day We all did good but we didn't match or top that. Poor Kendall. Ty had a hissyfit and we decided it was smarter and safer that she only did the smaller training rounds and she didn't actually compete. But besides that It went smoooooth. Stetson was definatly the champ of the day. He was up against some of the best jumping horses and riders I've seen in a while and together me and him came out with a 5th two 6th and a 2nd!
                  

      Four Winds went equally as well. I decided not to show so Mrs C did and she was fantastic. came out with some firsts seconds and thirds. Clarissa on reign Czeck came out with Grand Champion for the day and made us proud.

And the most recent show was this past Saturday back at Spring Grove for the Open show. Open shows are where the judge calls out what you are supposed to do and they grade depending on the class, the horse or the rider or both.  We had many first time showers and they handled it like pros. We came out with ribbons of all colors. Some of our riders got roobed but hey that's showing and only one persons opinion.  One of our first time showers and staffers named Katlyn didamazing. She and Titan competed in 2 western pleasure classes and came out with two seconds!!!

This was our showing experience for the month of may we are done with showing for a while as the camps start up. We have YMCA camp and a VBS camp but then on june 27 We start the first full day Heavenly Horses Summer Camp of 2011.  There is still time to sign up send your kid to the best week of their life =)
they have been some of the best in mine and it's awsome cuz I get to live it all summer.

Hunter Jumper

So tonight I am so excited for tomorrow!! Why? you may ask. Well tomorrow is the very first horse show of the year!!!! It is a hunter jumper show which is where the horse and rider ride a course of fences and the judge judges them on the style and the form of the rider and horse. I love jumping. If I were rich I would make a career out of it. And yes people make a career of riding horses It's a dream come true right?

    So tomorrow we are taking 4 horse to Spring Grove. We are taking our most experienced jumpers, except for Jay J. He still has a little fear of the trailer, he's getting better but it is still there. So besides Jay we have Stetson. An old pro and jumping and showing. And we also have Titan. A well seasoned hunter horse that used to show in highly rated shows.  Reign Czech. When he jumps like a dream and is such a show off. Last we have Apollo. The dependable reliable but still a little inexperienced over fences.

As for the riders, mostly staff is going but we also have some of our jumping students tagging along.  For the staff we have Kendall, Chiann, Paige, Maggie, and Clarissa. For students we have Abigail, Megan, Anna, and Grace.

Wish us luck and please pray for no Rain!!!

Shows

Hello!! Today was absolutely gorgeous!!! It made me want to go to the barn but sadly I have seriously 10 history projects due soon. But I will make up for it this weekend because we got 2 horse shows this weekend!! Pictures and ribbon results will follow. We have a hunter jumper show at spring grove horse show on Saturday and on Sunday we have a flat show. Which is where the judge will call out what you are supposed to do ex: "Walk your horses please walk your horses. . . . . . . canter your horses please canter." and so on and so forth.
     Here are a few pictures of our previous shows. Good times!!

HA ha it was an early morning and a long night before. We were tired and Apollo is so fluffy and comfy  . . .

COME SEE US AND CHEER US ON!! If you can't which is very possible give us your prayers! They are much appreciated

Sick Mo Mo

So last night was a bad night. I got a call from Mrs. C around 7:45. When I picked up I could instantly here the stress and worry in her voice. So  I asked what's the matter? The answer is not what I wanted to here. "Mo is down with colic. We don't know how bad he is but it looks like he is in excruciating pain."
        For those of you that don't know what colic is I will explain. Horses can't throw up. You know how horrible we feel before we throw up like we just could die. Well horses have such a long neck and digestive track that it is physically impossible for them throw up. There are sooooo many causes for colic it can be very hard to distinguish. One of the biggest problems with colic is one of the symptoms: rolling. When a horse rolls it is trying to easy the pain, but excessive rolling can twist the horses intestines which in most cases is fatal. colic is the #1 killer in horses.

 

   So it is never a good thing to hear that a horse is colicking. Mo is out of the woods and looks and acts like nothing ever happened. But he still needs your prayers. We know that he was not vetted periodically by his previous owners which leads us to think he was not wormed regularly so there might be some parasite that messed him up and worms have been known to cause colic before.
              He still needs prayers so please everybody please pray for our little mo mo!!

Camps

In this blog I have  talked a little about the camps we run every summer.  They are my favorite part of the year. the kids are always hyper and so much fun to be with. It's so amazing to see a little four year old girl scared to death of horses on her 1st day and on her last she's trotting our second biggest horse bareback by herself. It's the best feeling to share the relationship with these horses that I get to feel everyday.
     Besides the horsey part of the day we also do games and crafts and hikes. Those always get the kids fired up and usually the staff is ganged up on especially in the water games !! Here are some pictures of the fun camp times.
this is camp favorite like duck duck gooses only we call it drip drip DROP

Painting the horses is always fun

he he Jack likes hats
Pam doesn't like cameras but it found her anyway

So many fun times but never enough time to catch them on film. Come experience them for yourself!!                                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                              

Staff

Here at Heavenly Horses age does not matter. We let kids as young as 3 come to camp and our staff is as young as 10. To be staff all that matters is a sense of respect, lots of maturity, and horse knowledge. Horses don't know or care how old we are. They do know if we do or don't know our stuff. I have watched little 7 year olds beat out adults in horse shows. I would bet that my staff has more horse sense more than any common adult.  So our staff is on the young side but we do have several adults watching and overseeing all the activities of a busy barn. the younger staff keep the joy and moral up on tough days and they work so well with the kids. Here's some pictures of our staff having a little fun

Here is Abby one of our Senior girls and one of the coolest funniest girls I know.

Megan (Junior staff)                                                                    (Left to Right)Abby (Senior), Pam (Student), Paige (Head Senior)

we were at a wedding for one of our students. It was country themed. Abby ended up doing the worm on the dance floor! Such skills

Reign Czeck

Hey guys. So today is the last day of our horse over view. Horse number 9 is named Reign Czeck (Rain Check) He is a speckled grey 16 year old Polish Arabian. He like Sassy is owned by a very very close friend of everybody at Heavenly Horses, George!. Reign Czeck came to us about 2 years ago from Arizona. It was so cute to watch him in snow for the first time. With these big eye that seemed to be saying, "What the heck is this white stuff!!??? By the way guys I'm kinda sorta freezing."

We think that he was broke by an old fashion horse trainer where they abuse the horse rather then be gentle and listen to him. So as a result of this harsh method Reign Czeck has issues with his ears being touched. But that is really his only vice. Which I can't blame him, even if I weren't abused I wouldn't want somebody playing with my ears all the time. He LOVES the kids his favorite pass time is jumping. He is a little wary of the big new fences and he just likes the normally painted poles. He is an excellent intermediate horse. He could do beginners but he is sooooooooooo bouncy. So we let the students leg muscles develop before they ride Mr. Bouncy.  

OH MY GOSH THERES A FENCE THERE!!! ha ha he's so adorable I love my Mr. speedy bouncy boy

Apollo

Hey everybody. It's been awhile that's my bad. But we have two horses left in our 9 horse count down so without further adui here is horse number 8. He is a palomino quarter horse that is 15 years old and his name is Apollo, also fondly called Apapllo. Apollo is the laziest horse I have ever  met. . . . until he sees a row of fences in front of him! Then there is no slowing him! He loves to jump its his favorite thing to do besides barrel racing but his aged legs cant take the strain of those tight turns. He is only used over the low itty bitty fences but it's enough to keep him excited and energized and he is still learning his striding so its a good combination for our intermediate jumpers

 He is a very good intermediate horse but not so much for beginners. We put all the kids that need work on using their legs more on Apollo because unless he knows that you mean business and can cue him correctly with your legs he will be a lazy little bugger. He likes all the people around him but he obviously plays favorites. His favorite person is one of our lead staffers named Ashley. he will do anything for her.
      
     Just this Saturday Ashley did something that all riders do eventually; she took a fall! Now falling is not that bad it's the same as falling off of a bike it hurts you might get bruised but that's it. And that's exactly what happened to Ash. She took a roll over his shoulder in a group jumping lesson lesson. I was riding in front of her on Stetson doing our warm ups and I can witness but as she fell Apollo's eyes went HUGE with fear and sorrow. He slammed on the brakes and bent his head and nuzzled hers. When she got back on a few seconds later, Apollo walked off as slowly as he could and kept checking to make sure Ash was still on his back.
     And people say horses can't love. Watching this exchange our entire lesson got misty eyed.