Spring Combined Test!

Course Brook Farm’s annual spring combined test was held Sunday, April 29. We offered pre-elementary through preliminary divisions as well as dressage-only and extra jumping rounds. The beautiful weather, smiling faces, and a herd of palomino ponies in the elementary division made the day an enjoyable one for everyone involved.

Starting the day off as the sole competitor in the preliminary division was CBF’s Paige Garson and her lovely horse Sam. They may have been guaranteed the blue ribbon, but they put in a great dressage test for a 33.9 and then pulled only one rail in show jumping for a solid final score of 37.9. 

In the training level division, Jeanie Clarke and her elegant mare Summer Solstice won the dressage with a score of 30. A green runout at the fan jump in stadium turned the round into a schooling session, and by the end of the second optional jumping round, the pair were looking full of confidence. The division was won by Grace Pilkington on Hershey with a score of 39. Second place went to Anna Billings riding Hastening Rue (45.4), and in third was Corey Mordas with his big bay gelding Soto Marino (47).

Mary Lee didn’t have much competition in the novice division either, but that didn’t stop her from putting in a steady show jumping round to finish first in her division of one on her dressage score of 40.

In the beginner novice, Anna Billings led from start to finish on Ben There Done That, winning on her dressage score of 35.7. Second place went to CBF's Brett Piercy and The Rooster with a score of 39.5. No one believes that Rooster is only 4 years old! In third was Erin Cheever on Tameeko (41), followed by Katelyn Dudley riding Headliner Chas, who scored 46.1 to finish in fourth place. Bella Sovrano, ridden by Bethany Jubert finished out the division in fifth place with a score of 60.

The elementary divisions were a blur of palomino ponies. Elementary division A was dominated by CBF’s own Jennifer Chong on Julliard, who finished on a score of 31.5. Second place went to Sonia Williams and Winston with a score of 45. The yellow ribbon went to A.L.F. Aumara, ridden by Jessica Schabert (47.5), and Emily Pip Block and Candee finished in fourth on a score of 48.5.

Eliza Santin won Elementary B on Peter Finnegan with a score of 36. Jamie Lance rode Marlines Magic to win the red ribbon with a score of 39. In third was Michele Foland with Chestah (41), and fourth went to Katie Santin on Dietz (45).

Top honors in the pre-elementary division went to Emily Young on Elliot G.S., with a score of 39.3. In second was Does Her Justice, ridden by Jocelyn Pierce. Third went to Lilah Whitcomb riding Junkyard Treasure (41.88). In fourth place was Happy Meal ridden by Audrey Weyler, also on a 41.88. Fifth went to Mary Bovaconti riding Immortal Honor (47.5).

In the dressage-only division, CBF-ers Jennifer Harrison and Anything Goes (aka A.C.) as well as Marian Bourgeois riding Liam put in excellent tests!

Stay tuned for photos...

-- Casy

Eventers in Paradise!

Those of you (meaning ALL of you, I'm sure) who follow Course Brook on Facebook will recall that our own Rica T. and Janet M. made all of us jealous by taking a riding vacation in Costa Rica this month. They had a blast, as you will see in the guest blog report that they kindly wrote for today's post. It sounds like they had an amazing experience. Take it away, ladies!

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Casy asked Janet (Dev’s mom) and I (Jazz and Ginger’s mom) to share a little about our riding vacation in early February to Costa Rica. We flew into Liberia, rented a car and drove about an hour to a little village on the Pacific coast called Playa Junquillal (hoon-kee-al).

Janet had been there before and arranged our trip with Erika a German transplant to Costa Rica for 16 years (www.paradiseriding.com) Susan, our guide, was from Switzerland and spoke English, Spanish, and German. Each day we rode for about 6 hours, including lunch. We had the same horses every day. I rode a nice quiet bay with a floppy ear called Bugs Bunny and Janet’s horse, Fandango, was a frisky grey. They were criollo, the local breed, and somewhere around 14 – 15 hands.

The first day we rode along the beach to the north. We rode through Playa Junquillal, Playa Blanca (white sand), Playa Negra (black sand) and Playa Avellana (pink sand). There was no one on the beach in Playa Junquillal and Playa Blanca so once we were acquainted with our horses we did a nice gallop along the beach. The saddles were endurance ones and the horses’ trot and canter were so comfortable – even I could sit to them. Playa Negra and Avellana are big surfing beaches, so we rode along the beach watching the surfers catching waves and wiping out. In Avellana we rode through a little estuary and went onto to the road to stop for lunch-fresh mahi mahi the fisherman caught that morning! We went to a restaurant, tied up the horses up to a tree, gave them some water and their treats - bananas.

After lunch we saddled back up and rode through the towns. The highlight was seeing the howling monkeys at a creek along the side of the road. We were lucky and saw a baby monkey that looked pretty young – only 5 inches or so. ( The howling monkeys make this incredible noise – the first night it was a little unnerving.)

The second day we rode inland into the hills. Since most of the roads around the area are unpaved, we rode on the roads. We saw some of the indigenous trees such as guancaste (also the name of the province we were in) that are huge and grow in clearings, acacia, and a wide variety of papaya trees. We stopped for lunch at this lady’s farm where she grows and cooks all the food herself- some of the chickens lost their buddies for our lunch. She had picnic tables and chairs and the some of the locals stopped by for lunch as well. The food was delicious, but surprisingly enough, it was not spicy. On our way back, we saw two kids riding a horse back to school – no saddle, books tied with a piece of string hanging over their shoulder.

When we got back, I think all 3 of us were pretty sore. Thank goodness the next day was a day off from riding. Janet and I went zip lining and boogie boarding.

Thursday was our last day of riding. We rode along the beach to the south. The beaches were absolutely deserted and we had some incredible views of crashing waves on volcanic mountains. We passed a few fishing villages and noticed a few families out on the rocks harvesting some type of scallops or mollusks from the ocean. This ride had quite a bit of cantering along the beach – we went about 30 kilometers in 4 hours. Portions of the ride included going over rocks and the horses were amazingly sure-footed. Throughout the rides Janet and I noticed how incredible the horses were. They handled all sorts of terrain so well – deep sand, packed sand, up steep hills / trails, rocks, waves, trucks, motorcycles, cows, and even other free roaming horses. This ride ended with lunch at a restaurant and the horses were trailered back home. Interestingly enough, the trailer is just a pick up truck with a large enclosed bed. They back the truck up to a hilly area and the horses just walk on. They thought it was funny that we have trailers with ramps and even $150 coconut fiber pads for the horses to walk onto the trailer. Lunch again was amazing - they’re very much into the organic, local food movement and everything is incredibly fresh.

The rest of vacation was spent snorkeling and boogie boarding at the beach. Hotel was terrific and in a location with infinity pool and hot tub. Local bars were really fun with people from all over the world. If anyone is interested stop by and talk to us. --Rica

Spotlight on Jennifer Dow Olsen

Today we have the next installment in our spotlight series where we feature a member of the Course Brook Farm community. Jennifer Dow Olsen is slightly in the minority at CBF as she's a hunter/jumper rider, and a very successful one at that. She has two horses of her own at Course Brook, A Priori (a.k.a. Lucy) and Big Man on Campus (a.k.a. Fitz), as well as a handful of students and their own horses. We are, of course, welcoming of all disciplines, so I'm pleased to feature Jennifer in this blog.

Jennifer and A Priori in the pre-green hunters at Vermont Summer Festival in 2011

Jennifer grew up riding at her family’s hunter/jumper farm, the Westbrook Hunt Club in Westbrook, CT and trained there with Jane Dow. Jennifer has also had the unique pleasure of training with the great Hall of Fame trainer, Victor Hugo-Vidal, as well as being invited to teach alongside him as a professional. She had a successful Junior career, including qualifying for Indoors with her Junior Jumper, Hill Street. Jennifer stayed on at Westbrook Hunt Club after turning professional, continuing to bring along young horses from basic ground work to competing on the “A” circuit and teaching students to numerous championships. She has competed up to level 7 in the jumpers with horses like Westbrook and Hill Street. Jennifer has shown successfully in the hunter and jumper rings at both local CHJA and NEHC levels, as well as winning Year End Zone Championships on the National Circuit from Pre-green through the Regular Working Hunter divisions. Most recently, Jennifer qualified for the 2011 World Championship Hunter Rider’s emerging pro finals at Capital Challenge with A Priori, a horse she has trained since she was a 3 year-old. Jennifer has trained riders of all levels, in Equitation, Hunters, and Jumpers from start to year-end championships and to finals.

Jennifer was kind enough to respond to a few of the questions that I like to pose to our featured riders. Thanks for sharing, Jennifer.

1. How old were you when you first started riding? I was far younger than my memory. My family always says with a chuckle that it was before I could walk.

2. What is your greatest extravagance? My horses.

3. What other talent besides riding would you most like to have? I wish I could dance. I think those that are familiar with my dancing enjoy the entertainment value of bad dancing, but I have a great appreciation for people that can dance well.

4. What do you consider your greatest achievement (riding or otherwise)? The family my husband and I have created together.

5. If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be? A Grand Prix horse. I'd love to experience what it feels like to be that powerfully athletic, brave and careful, and tremendous heart.

6. What is your most treasured possession? My grandmother's horse head necklace. She wore it every day and it reminds me of her great strength, will, and positive thinking that made her successful.

7. Who are your favorite writers/artists/riders? W. B. Yeats is my favorite poet. There are so many great riders I admire. Scott Stewart and Sandy Ferrell are my favorite hunter riders. Beezie Madden is my favorite jumper rider.

8. What is your motto? All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.

9. Have you ever ridden sidesaddle? No.

10. What is your favorite riding moment (competition or anything else)? My favorite riding moments are always had in the summer time, riding as the sun is just coming up, just me and my horse.

11. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? I'm not sure I could do better on how fortunate I am to live in such a great area.

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

Jennifer is accepting students and horses in training. She can be reached at: olsenjennifer@me.com.

Winter is here!

Brush Hill Road, like the olden days.

Well, it's official. Winter is finally here. Today we got anywhere from 2-4 inches of snow and I guess we can't complain since it's been such a mild winter so far. As usual, the horses don't seem to mind nearly as much as we humans do, probably because they're four-wheel-drive and we're not.

Everyone has been deep into the usual wintertime activities (besides shoveling snow): working on gymnastic exercises with Stephie and Erika, lots of dressage, and I've seen plenty of riding without stirrups going on in the indoor recently. I know I'm not the only one feeling jealous of the small herd of CBF boarders who will be heading south in the next week. Nici with Minga, Janet with Pogue and Jamie, and Ashley with Paddy, among others, will be heading to Florida and Aiken and they've got the smug smiles on their faces to prove it. Of course, the rest of us wish them the best for their winter show season down south, even if we are incredibly, profoundly jealous. They're going to miss out on some wicked snowshoeing and sledding!

We finally had our CBF "holiday" party last weekend, and although the holiday season was technically over, we still managed to have a good time and completely overeat. We also had a small but strong showing for the Yankee Swap and I'm happy to say that Janet S. was successfully matched with the purple polos for her new girly girl mare, Cleo. Adorable. All in all, it was a good time. I'm always blown away by the caliber of cooks that we have at Course Brook. We're very, very lucky.

In totally unrelated news, I'm extremely happy to announce that one of our favorite people, Phoebe, and her husband Russ have had a baby boy! Congratulations to you both and we can't wait to meet Avery.

Finally, for you Bostonians who aren't heading south, but would like to have an indoor and fun people to play with, we are currently offering a winter boarding promotion: for new boarders, your first month is half price! Please contact us at info@coursebrookfarm.com for more information. We'd love to have you.

Until next time,

Casy

Erika Hawkes on showing in Singapore, Kate Middleton, and, of course, Mark Todd

This is the first installment in a series of features on some of the people who make Course Brook Farm the vibrant place that it is. It's only natural that we begin the series with our resident trainer, Erika Hawkes. Erika agreed to answer some questions for me and share some insights into what drives her personally and professionally. I've included her bio below, but let me just say that Erika is one of the most patient and thoughtful instructors and trainers that I have ever met. I don't think I've ever seen her lose her temper, and she really does embody what all horse people should aspire to: a calm and quiet approach to teaching and riding. Thank you, Erika!

-- Casy

Erika is a MA licensed instructor with over 20 years of teaching/training experience. She is a graduate Pony Clubber who has competed through Intermediate level eventing and successfully completed several CCI*'s including an 8th Place at Radnor. She has started and trained several ex-race horses to be successful eventers. Erika teaches Tuesday-Saturday and is available for coaching at shows. Training packages are availa

ble and beginners are welcome. For more info on working with Erika at CBF, see: http://coursebrookfarm.com/instructors.htm

1.How old were you when you first started riding? I was seven when I started taking lessons in Laguna Beach, California.

2.What is your greatest extravagance? You mean besides my horses?! Probably getting my hair done.

3.Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Probably “again.” I seem to find myself saying that a lot while I am teaching.

4. If you could do any job besides teaching/training, what would it be (doesn’t need to be realistic)? I have always wanted to write so being a novelist would really appeal to me.

5.What other talent besides riding would you most like to have? Singing opera or playing the piano. I am always amazed at people who possess those gifts. I mean where does that come from?

6.What do you consider your greatest achievement (riding or otherwise)? Running my own business.

7.If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be? Kate Middleton!

8.What is your most treasured possession? Can a dog be a possession because it would definitely be my dog!

9.Who are your favorite writers/artists/riders? I love to read all sorts of things, but one of my most recent favorites is Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle. I love Andrew Wyeth as an artist because I basically spent a lot of my childhood in Maine and love it dearly. One of my all time favorite riders is Torrance Watkins. She was just sooo classy. I also love Mark Todd.

10.Who are your heroes in life? Any surprise – horses! I really think they are truly heroes to do what they do for us. Also, my mom, my dad, my husband and of course our troops, of which my brother is one. I would also have to include my vet, Dr Liz Maloney, who has been unbelievable in helping me rehabilitate several OTTBs and turn them into successful eventers. She is the best.

11.What is your motto? Treat other people (and horses) the way you would want

them to treat you.

12.Have you ever ridden sidesaddle? No but have ridden bareback, western and done some driving.

13.What is your favorite riding moment (competition or anything else)? When I was fifteen, my father was working for a company that relocated us overseas to Singapore. I joined the riding club there and became part of the international team competing against other Southeastern Asian nations. Onetime we competed in Kuala Lumpur and we had to draw horses’ names out of a hat and then compete them in a 3’9” jumper class. I drew an awesome horse and ended up winning the class and beating my instructor! That was definitely a high point that stands out in my life. I also remember competing at Radnor Three Day Event and being thrilled after dressage and x-country to be in third place ahead of Karen (Lende) O’Connor!

14.If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Somewhere with a warm temperate climate all year round – maybe Southern California or Hawaii.

CBF fall USEA horse trials photo montage!

The second-annual fall CBF USEA-recognized horse trials was a huge success this year! We were fully subscribed with entries, lucked out with fantastic weather, and everyone had a smile on their face at the end of the day.

We're already looking ahead to 2012 and thinking about what worked this year and what can be improved for the future. Our number one priority for our next competition will be to improve the footing in our grass show jumping field to make it firmer and hold up better under heavy use. We'll be sure to keep you updated on this and other improvements and additions to the plan for our third-annual recognized horse trials, tentatively scheduled for October, 2012.

For now, enjoy these photos of the day, courtesy of our own Lauren Murphy, Janet Sinclair, and Rica Trujillo…

A new addition to our show jumping course this year

One of our two dressage arenas

Don't forget to have your bit checked!

Our intrepid secretary, Erin.

She returned for a repeat performance this year, so she must like us at least a little bit!

One view of the show jumping track

Show jumping on the left, warm up on the right, spectators in the middle

One of our bank complexes on the left

A fabulous runner, doing what he does best

New last fences for novice and training

Our own Paige G. and her horse Sam

clearing the last fencing on the training course with room to spare

See you next year!

Karen W. steps into the hot seat

In my last post, I challenged CBF boarder Karen W. to try to sneak a guest blog post about her trailer-buying experiences by me. Well, I am nothing if not gracious, so here you have the first installment of what promises to be an informative series of articles on buying a new rig (Spoiler alert: the story has a happy ending). Take it away, Karen!

Hello, I’ve been asked to write something from my horsey experiences for the Course Brook Blog. I’m a fifty-something, female boarder at CBF who is mostly interested in dressage and trail riding.

My most recent experience was this fall when I attempted to buy a used horse trailer.

Part 1: the Search

I talked to a few trailer experienced friends and read a few articles. Here is the link to a particularly good one: http://www.equispirit.com/info/articles.htm which stated that one should get the trailer before getting the tow vehicle, because you need to know the weight of the trailer plus horses and luggage in order to get a vehicle powerful enough to haul safely. It’s a lot of math so have a calculator handy. I also needed a trailer to show my husband that I was serious when said I needed a truck to replace my aging Jeep Cherokee.

Then I got on my computer and searched “used horse trailers”. I found many fine sites and then there is of course Craig’s List. I found some bargains, but remember if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I emailed a few—three to be precise—and the replies were almost identical: These trailers were purportedly owned by military personnel and even though were advertised as being in the Boston area, they were not. According to the email the military would ship the trailer to me for free and all I had to do was give them lots of personal information. On Craig’s List there is advice on how to avoid scams and apparently this is a typical one. Who knew that people would prey upon our patriotism and current love for the armed forces to scam prospective buyers of horse trailers? I do now. Fortunately I didn’t give out any info other than my email address.

Local sites like Equinesite.com were very helpful and I did not encounter any scams. But I did not move fast enough for many of the ads that I thought were good deals. By the time I made arrangements to go out and see them, usually more than an hour away, they had already been sold.

I stuck with Equinesite.com because they had the most listings in my location. One had listed several trailers and I inquired why. The reason was she turned out to be a consignment dealer so had a choice on hand. She was located in NH about three miles from my brother’s house where I was going the day before Thanksgiving to pick up my mother. How convenient for me! But the day before I went someone posted an ad for a ten-year-old Kingston with a dressing room and it was just one mile off Route 95, which is my path to NH. Since I ran out of time picking up Mom, I did not go to the consignment place. I ended up only seeing the one trailer, which I ended up buying the day after Thanksgiving, for better or for worse.

Stay turned for Part 2: Getting the trailer home.