Stephie Baer on Burghley, Victorian literature, and overindulging in bridles

Stephie and Roo tackle the monster elephant trap at Plantation

Today I’m reviving the getting-to-know-you questionnaire, turning the spotlight on Stephie Baer, one of CBF’s two primary trainers/instructors. For most people who have been involved in eventing for more than ten minutes, Stephie requires little introduction, but here are some of the essential facts about her career:

Stephie is an advanced-level international event rider. She has competed at Bromont (Canada), Mexico, Rolex Kentucky, and Burghley (England).  She was short-listed for the 1998 U.S. World Championship Team. She has been teaching beginners through advanced-level riders for 35 years and has trained countless horses through the levels. She has been a member of the Course Brook Farm family for at least 15 years and has been a huge part of developing the facility into what it is today. She teaches seven days per week at CBF and her lessons are $95/hour. 

 

Dreyfus

For any of you who are interested in riding with Stephie, she will be teaching her annual Memorial Day cross country clinic at CBF on May 27. More information can be found here.

Stephie was kind enough to answer my hybrid horse-person/Proust questionnaire for this post.

1. How old were you when you first started riding? Five. My grandfather said to my mother, “Here’s some money, get that kid some riding lessons.” He was in the cavalry.

2. What is your greatest extravagance? Bridles.

3. What other talent besides riding would you most like to have? More athleticism.

4. What do you consider your greatest achievement (riding or otherwise)? Being short-listed for the World Championships in 1998. 

5. If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be? A spoiled house cat that can go in or out.

6. What is your most treasured possession? My horses Dreyfus and Prudential.

Dreyfus at Rolex Kentucky

7. Who are your favorite writers/artists/riders? Writers: the historical novels of Anthony Trollope (probably because I had a great teacher in Victorian lit.) and Tolstoy. Artists: Michelangelo, Degas. Musicians:  Joan Baez, Pete Seeger. Riders: Bruce Davidson, Buck Davidson, Phillip Dutton, Lucinda Green.

8. What is your motto? Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

9. Have you ever ridden sidesaddle? Yes, as a kid without a sidesaddle.

10. What is your favorite riding moment (competition or anything else)? Going to England for five weeks with Dreyfus.

11. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Right now, here. Probably in England if all my family and friends could be there too.

12. If you could do any job besides teaching/training, what would it be (doesn't need to be realistic). Be an architect or an engineer.

Thank you to Stephie for her insights, her incredible contributions to Course Brook Farm, and for the fabulous photos that she contributed for this post, including the one below of the infamous ditch and brush at Burghley. No big deal...

--Casy

April Combined Test Wrap-up

Photo by Lauren Murphy.

Sunday, April 21 we hosted the first in our spring series of three combined tests. The day started chilly, but by mid-morning the sun was out and it began to feel like spring. The show had thirty-two entries from training level to pre-elementary and featured adorable kids and ponies as well as lovely green horses beginning their eventing careers.

First of all, a huge thanks must go out to our wonderful volunteers! We are so lucky to have such committed boarders and friends and truly couldn't do it without you. A BIG thank you also to Lauren Murphy, who provided all of these wonderful photos!

Jan Conlon (R) was the dressage judge. The show jumping course was designed by CBF resident instructor Erika (Hawkes) Hendricks, who made an appearance despite having had her appendix removed last week! Erika said, "I try to design the courses with the parameters of recognized events in mind while keeping the courses flowing and easily adaptable to all levels."

Allie and Chloe finished second in the training division. Photo by Lauren Murphy.

In the Training level division, CBF’s own Allie Kohlberg and her elegant mare Clover Hill put in a polished test to score a 29 in dressage. A clean stadium added no penalties and she placed second, just behind Debbie Carlson and Carlingford Knight, who finished on their dressage score of 24.

Novice was the largest division of the day with eight competitors. Sandy Niles and her eye-catching Black Tie Affair led from start to finish with a score of 30. Daun DeFrance riding Quite the Casanova held onto second place with no jumping penalties, finishing on a score of 34. Victoria Wilson and Quarter Note jumped clean to finish third on their dressage score of 36.5.

Organizer Nici Hornblower sets the novice course. Photo by Lauren Murphy.

In Beginner Novice A, a junior division of two, Katie Santin and Finnegan pulled two rails in show jumping, but won the class with a score of 41.33 after Catherine Grenier and Dancin’ suffered an unfortunate elimination in show jumping after scoring a 33.33 in dressage.

Alyssa Carpenter and Future Perfekt led Beginner Novice B (the senior division with four competitors) from wire to wire, finishing with a score of 37.14. Both Amanda Teft (riding Lacy Lu) and Michelle Fotev (on Urioso) ended on a score of 42.38, but the tie was broken by collective marks in the dressage and Amanda took home the red ribbon.

 CBF trainer/instructor Stephie Baer walks the BN course with Ari Cora. Photo by Lauren Murphy.

The junior division Elementary A featured seven riders. The class was won by Hannah Donovan and Big Time Rush, who were in second place after dressage on a 37, but moved up to first when Dorothea Callen and High Tide pulled a rail in show jumping to add four penalties to their dressage score of 35. Third went to Carlie Cichocki riding Sillygoose with a score of 41.5.

The senior division Elementary B was won by CBF’s own Jennifer Harrison and the lovely paint Cherry, who finished on a 30.5. Second place went to Laura Tracy and Olive Grove, who jumped clean to score a 32. In third was Brenda Casey and Killian’s Irish Red, who scored a 41.

Pre-elementary was split into two divisions, junior and senior, each with one rider. CBF’s Elizabeth Gill and her adorable pony Sweet Dream earned their blue ribbon in Pre-Elementary A with a 38.13 and senior rider Melissa Restifo scored a 47.5 in Pre-Elementary B riding Norma Jean.

 Elizabeth Gill and her pony Sweet Dream won PE-A, as well as the spectators' hearts! Photo by Lauren Murphy.

The full results from the show can be found here. 

The next combined test in the series is May 19 and entries are now open. We are also accepting entries for our annual Memorial Day clinic with Stephie Baer. More information can be found at CBF's Shows and Clinics page. As always, we could use some volunteers for the May 19 show, so if you're interested please contact us at info@coursebrookfarm.com. See you there!

-- Casy

Finally... Spring!

The back barn in bloom!

I'm happy to report that Spring arrived in Sherborn around 1 pm yesterday! By 4, there were horses in and out of the wash stall for their first baths of the year. There were a lot of sparkling faces looking over their stall doors this morning. You know it's a good sign when the indoor is a ghost town during the day! I just hope I haven't jinxed us all by putting my snow shovel away. New England weather can be full of surprises...

Spring has everyone seriously thinking about their show schedules. As one boarder replied when I asked when her first horse trial was, "Thirty two days!" But who's counting?

Course Brook's first combined test of the season is right around the corner on April 21. It's the first in a series of three, so if you're interested in winning some excellent prizes at the end (and who isn't??), get your entry in. The closing date is April 14. We're offering combined tests from pre-elementry (18" jumps and USDF intro test A, aka walk/trot) through prelim. You can also do a la carte dressage tests, so no matter if you're ready to tackle the brick wall or not, come on over for a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and work out your kinks before you arrive at your first recognized horse shows.

Everyone around here is pretty excited about the fact that Will Faudree will definitely be coming to CBF August 17 & 18 to do a cross country/show jumping clinic! Keep your eyes on our shows and clinics page for a registration form later this summer as well as all of the good stuff that's happening around here before then. 

That's it for now. Looking forward to seeing you on April 21! And, if you're like me, you'll need to remember to apply sunscreen to those oh-so-pale arms as they make their springtime debut...

--Casy

Snow and looking forward to the rest of 2013!

Well, it's been quite the winter so far. Even though the clocks changed today and spring can't be too far off, it still feels like winter when you've got a foot of snow on the ground! As usual, the weatherman was a little off, but instead of the usual overestimating, last week we got way more than predicted. It's warm and sunny today, so I know that spring flowers (and mud) are just around the corner. Of course, what better activity when it's snowing sideways than to hop on your horses and make them stand for photos?

Luckily we have a full roster of springtime activities to look forward to at Course Brook Farm. Our shows and clinics calendar has been posted, so it's probably time to think about addressing your horse's bushy mane, dread-locked tail, and six-inch whiskers. I can't wait until I can bathe my grey's tail; I just hope it isn't permanently stained yellow...

New for this year is our combined test series. We'll be offering one per month in April, May, and June with great end-of-series awards. These are the perfect pipe-opener to remind Bucky what the inside of a dressage arena and the outside of a flower box look like before you drop $200 on a recognized horse trial, or to test the waters to see if you're ready to move up. Each show will feature divisions for elementary through prelim as well as the option to do multiple dressage tests and jumping rounds.

May 27th, we'll be offering a spring Stephie Baer cross country clinic, which is a perfect opportunity to tune up over our banks, ditches, water jump, and permanent and portable cross country jumps. We can't say enough good things about Stephie, so if you haven't worked with her before, come out and give her a try.

A few things to look forward to this summer, if you can stretch your imagination beyond snowdrifts and long underwear:

Another new activity on our calendar is our adult rider camp, which will be July 5-7. This will be a fun and educational experience for any adults wishing to hone their skills in dressage, show jumping, or cross country, so stay tuned for more details. Highly recommended for those of us who loved summer camp and still remember all those campfire songs. Okay, so it's not really that kind of camp, but it will still be an unforgettable experience.

Finally, August 17-18 we're extremely excited to be hosting a SJ/XC clinic with superstar eventer Will Faudree! I'll be posting more information on that later in the spring, but mark your calendars now.

I'm not even going to get into our annual USEA-recognized horse trials (Oct. 12) or any of our other fall activities because just reading the above has probably made our shows and clinics committee members' blood pressure spike, but rest assured you'll be hearing about that and more before you know it.

So, keep an eye on our webpage and, if you haven't already, like us on Facebook!

-- Casy

What a Season!

Ben inspecting one of the training level tables

Greetings from chilly Sherborn! I can’t complain too much since it’s been lovely weather recently and particularly because we miraculously never lost power or suffered any major damage during Super Storm Sandy. I wish I could say the same for everyone else. All I can say is how thankful we are to have come out the other side unscathed and that our thoughts are with everyone in the Northeast that was affected. A few of our boarders had major damage inflicted on their houses and we hope that that their lives can go back to normal sooner rather than later. 

The fact that life at CBF has been blissfully uneventful (pardon the pun) since the beginning of November is a stark contrast to the month of October, which is always our busiest month since that's when we have our recognized horse trials. This year it was even more hectic since we decided to add an unrecognized horse trials at the end of October to make use of the cross country course that was already up and, more importantly, to give people an excuse to dress themselves and their horses up in totally bizarre costumes. More on that in a minute.

Our October 13 recognized horse trials went off beautifully. We can’t say it enough, but THANK YOU to all of our tireless volunteers! I’m not just saying this: we really couldn’t do it without you. A special thanks to some of our younger boarders, who had a particularly good time painting stadium jumps…

And then there was a temporary lack of focus... :)

And, of course, none of this would be possible without Matt and Nancy Mayo, the owners of Course Brook, who put their hearts and souls into this place. Without them, it just wouldn’t exist! Another thank you must go to Stephie Baer, who held a fundraiser clinic at CBF to help us raise money for improvements to the cross country course. Stephie has been a part of the CBF family for decades and we are all so grateful for her support. 

A Stephie's-eye-view of the little drop log

Apparently this happened at the clinic, too.

Thanks to fundraisers like Stephie's, a lot of improvements have been made over the past year, from firming up the footing on parts of the cross country track, to a new location for dressage so that stadium could be held in our large outdoor sand arena. The changes really paid off; it’s been a pleasure to see this event grow and evolve every year. Thanks to our competitors for supporting us and, in turn, the sport of eventing.

Now, about the costumes. For our unrecognized horse trials October 27, the organizers naturally chose a Halloween theme and invited riders to dress up themselves and their horses for the dressage phase of the show. Who would have imagined the effort and imagination that went into these costumes. I think the pictures speak for themselves...

You can find professional photos of both horse shows at www.prestigesportshots.com and at http://www.amandasylvia.com/Equine-Events/Course-Brook-Farm-Halloween. Thanks to both photographers for doing such a great job of capturing the events.

So, now that the horse show season is over, everyone is sitting back, taking a deep breath, and… planning for 2013! Keep an eye on our website (www.coursebrookfarm.com) as we post information about new clinics and shows. Knowing Sharon and Erika, it won’t be long before they’re cooking up something else!

Finally, the word on the street is that Matt will be selling Christmas trees this year. There will also be hay rides at the farm every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you’re interested in taking part, or in purchasing a tree from Matt, he can be reached at coursebrookfarm@aol.com.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

-- Casy

P.S. Special thanks to Lauren Murphy for all of the photos used in this post. I promised her I'd include a photo of her horse, so here's Ami (ridden here by Caitlin Calder), heading to cross country at our October 13 recognized horse trials:

Summer Combined Test and More!

CBF's Jillian and Ariana hacking back from the outdoor jumping arena July 22. Photo by Kim Eagan. 

As usual, it's been a busy summer so far here at Course Brook. It's hard to believe it's almost August and the Olympics are finally here! I don't have any kind of NBC services at home, so while everyone else is watching eventing, here I am, writing about it... Please, no spoilers until the DVD comes out. 

Our summer combined test was last weekend, July 22, and it was an excellent day! The weather was perfect and a good time was had by all. Full results can be viewed here, but a special shout out to CBF riders Ariana and Rica, who won their respective divisions! I told Ari that she better watch out because if she keeps winning everywhere she goes, she's going to get banned from certain horse show circuits.

A special congratulations also goes out to our own Paige Garson and her horse Combalache (known around the farm as "Sam"), who won the USEA Area I preliminary championships last weekend at Fitch's Corner! Paige and Sam have been through a lot together, so it's great to see them back on top of their game. 

Now that the combined test is over, we're getting excited for our August 16 jumping clinic with Bobby Costello! Bobby is a favorite of many riders here at CBF and around the world, so if you're interested in riding with him in our clinic, you can find more details and registration information here. 

Also on our website is information about a new fundraising initiative we're launching to raise money for improvements to our cross country course, which includes a raffle. Click here to learn about the many ways that you can help to support not only our farm and the expansion of our cross country course, but also the sport of eventing!

Finally, we're already gearing up for our fall horse USEA recognized trials, which will be held on October 13. If you're within 250 miles of Sherborn, go ahead and mark your calendar because if you aren't riding, volunteer coordinator Janet Sinclair will have you roped in before you can say "NOONDAY DE CONDE" (Okay, maybe I've peeked at the scores.)

That's all the news for now! Please be sure to check our website for the latest announcements, shows, and clinics. Our cross country course is open for schooling, so please email us if you'd like to come out and jump around. 

See you all soon and GO TEAM USA!

--Casy

Combined Test Photos and Jan Conlon Fix-a-Test Clinic

Hello! 


I've got some news about an upcoming clinic with Jan Conlon, but first, a couple photos from our spring combined test, courtesy of Michael of Prestige Sportshots at www.prestigesportshots.com. As always, Michael and his team did an amazing job of capturing our event and is so kind to share some photos with us for our blog. Thanks, Michael!

CBF's own Paige and her lovely horse Sam doing their prelim test

One of the many adorable palomino ponies that competed that day

Now, down to business. The next big thing coming up at CBF is our fix-a-test clinic with monthly CBF clinician Jan Conlon, and cross country and show jumping schooling day, Sunday June 17. The closing date for registration is June 11 (MONDAY). See our fabulous new website (Thank you, Sharon!) for more information and entry forms: http://www.coursebrookfarm.com/index.php/shows-clinics

Have you ever ridden a dressage test and asked yourself “just what was the judge looking for?”  Or have you ever been a spectator or onlooker and wondered just what was going on in that little ring?  If you have asked these questions, then this clinic is for you!  This is a great learning experience even if you can’t/aren’t able to ride because you will be able to see things from a judge’s perspective.  Auditing fee for this clinic includes use of judge’s booklet containing judge’s diagrams of tests, judging terms, glossary, methodology, and pyramid of training. The clinic will also include one or two brief question and answer sessions with Jan in order to ask all those burning questions about riding a successful test and maybe pick up some tips!

Jan is an “R” rated judge with much experience training, competing, teaching and judging actively in both disciplines of eventing and dressage including the upper levels of both. She is well versed in judging in-hand and under saddle classes including YEH, FEH, all sport horse divisions and dressage equitation This is a great opportunity for the person just practicing tests, or in hand/under saddle classes for the first time all the way to seasoned riders/competitors.

So please join us either mounted or dismounted for a great dressage clinic and get some jumping practice in too!  Both stadium and XC courses will be open to participants for an additional fee.

-- Casy