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Showing posts from January, 2016

Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the

New Look and Name

I figured it was time to update the blog with a new look and name.  I may still tweak it a bit, but for now I like it and think it needed a change!  It's not just about Standardbred Excellence any longer, but the focus will be on the entire farm and both species of animals hahaha!  :-)  Plus, it was time to change the name of my farm.  I called it Moonstone Farm for many years, having dreamed that up way back when I was in fifth grade.  But it seemed that as my own life has evolved, the name of our farm needed to reflect that.  And now it is not just my farm, but OUR farm.  My husband is just as much a part of it as I am, which is one of the innumerable reasons I married him!  ;-)  Of course, that meant that I had to change my barn/show colors from maroon and gray to green (with a hint of maroon and cream).  LOL I'll always be a prissy horse girl at heart.

Smartpak Success Stories

Back in the late winter of 2015, I was contacted by Smartpak to write "Success Stories" for the two supplements my mares use.  I have Dreamy on SmartBreathe and Snappy on Smartgut Ultra.  They published the stories online last fall and in their little magazines they send out. This is just kind of silly and fun, but I wanted to document it here.  :-) Snappy  (click her name to see it on their blog) Dreamy's never made it onto their blog like Snappy's.  And they called her 15 years old, but this year she is turning 25!!  LOL!

Plans and Goals for 2016

Well, nothing like catching up your very outdated blog to the present time in just 22 posts! LOL!  Things have surely changed since 2013, and I have to say I could not be happier with the changes. Though had you told me three years ago that I would be where I am now, I would have NOT believed it at all!  But life has a funny way of working out and sometimes we need to go through bad times in order to get to the good stuff.  I was able to ride again six weeks after the little guy was born.  When I say ride, what I really mean is plod around the field trying not to fall off LOL!  My core muscles were pretty much non existent.    First ride post baby! Right now, not much is going on with the mares.  We had an unusually warm December which left us with lots of mud, and I was able to hop on and toddle around the yard and fields with them.  Then things froze up and left us with ice!  There is some snow, but the ice is making it tough to ride right now.  It's really not a huge diff

2015 in Photos

2015 was a big year!  In order to catch up to present time, here are the highlights... We started with this... And ended up with... A gorgeous home built by my father!  :-) We moved in during the month of April 2015. It has little horsey touches, of course! And we needed a barn... So Dad built us a barn, too!   Horse stalls on the right, oxen stalls on the left!   This is the horse side! The mares like their new place!  We have a lot more work to do, but we are loving it so far!  The animals moved in during December 2015. He asked and I said YES!  (That's Sparky's old horse shoe, of course!) We were married on July 4, 2015. Our cake had us with my son, plus Dreamy, Snappy, Andy & Jack! And then we welcomed this little one in September 2015... He was a good reason not to ride or show horses in 2015!  ;-) My boys!  See, I told you 2015 was quite the year!  LOL!

Snappy's First Show

Even though I had decided not to show in 2014, taking Dreamy out to one last dressage show made me miss the entire thing.  So, I decided to take Snappy to her very first horse show on October 11, 2014. It was a perfect venue (local show grounds) and the perfect show (tiny little show that benefits a local Mustang rescue).  The classes were bigger than I had remembered from years past, but Snappy was still quite good.  She was perfectly behaved, had a super warm up, and acted like an old pro in the show ring.  She did NOT want to stand still in the line up and was not convinced that standing quietly in an in-hand class was a good idea, but that is easy stuff to work on.   Snappy earned: 5th in Fitting and Showmanship out of 16 1st in Adult Walk/Trot out of six (her first ever riding class - I wanted to cry!) 3rd in Open Walk/Trot Equitation out of 11 (I was totally ok with the two adorable children who pinned higher than me LOL!!) 1st in Open Walk/Trot Command out of 9 I was S

Dreamy's Last Show

I chose not to show during 2014 because I felt it was more important to save my money for building a house (more on that later...).  In the end, I did two shows and my honey did a few fairs.  It wasn't a huge year in comparison to the last decade, but I was pleased that we both got to do a little something. When I saw a Facebook post that the local dressage club was having trouble filling their fall show, I figured I might as well give First 2 and 3 a shot with Dreamy.  On a whim, I sent in my entry and we showed on September 14, 2014.  I knew this could very well be our last show, as Dreamy was 23 in 2014 and First Level was tough for her.  We had spent the summer with one lovely ride and another, so I knew she could do the movements. First 2 we won with a 64.3% out of four riders.  I was pretty excited.  It was a great test and we beat a fancy young horse that had been undefeated all season at First level.  He is now doing Second Level and will probably climb the levels quite

Cornish Horsemen's Day 2014

Dreamy and I once again marshaled for the day at Cornish Horsemen's Day.  We marshaled every year from 2006 - 2014, which is nine years in a row!  Maybe someday we can do it again! That's my man!  :-) Sexy beast!

Wait, are those.....COWS?!?!

To make a very long story short, I agreed to go out to dinner with an acquaintance and I cautiously agreed to date him...and the rest, as they say, is history!  LOL!  How's that for catching you all up on my love life hahahaha. The great part about deciding to be with someone again is that you can be VERY PICKY.  I knew exactly what I wanted in any man I was going to be with from here on out.  High on the list was someone who respected the fact that I enjoy horses and having a farm. One of the factors that made me know this guy was right for me?  He has steers!  Hahaha! No, they are not cows.  They are castrated males, so they are called steers (under the age of four - like the horse term "filly") and oxen (over the age of four - like the term "mare").  Sometimes I call them cows if they are being pains haha or we call them bulls sometimes, but they are not actually bulls (uncastrated - think of the term "stallion"). So, of course, I figured I m