Fall Ride

The RAC (Ride A Curly contest) is hosting a mini October contest which is a one month version of the year long contest-- ride and keep track of your hours. We have been able to get out almost every day, in between rain and rain. The temperature has hovered consistently in the 50's, but when the sun shines-- beautiful riding weather!

October 1st- to start the contest, we went out with me on Keri (of course- who else? ) and Zoe on Teasel. These two love each other and are a great team. We started out in the indoor, since it was raining and dark clouds loomed in the distance promising more. After about 25 minutes of that-- we looked at each other and said-- let's just ride in the rain.. we needed some fun time. Turned out, after a few minutes, the sun came out and the ride was gorgeous. Since this was unplanned I did not bring my camera. We stayed on the roads since the trails are VERY wet. The trees were bright with color and the roads littered with leaves already fallen... I wish I had brought a camera-- We had a spectacular refreshing gallop -- and as soon as we were home and horses untacked, it rained HARD !!

Monday, we decided one of our lesson horses needed a break. Sudie seemed sad and cranky- a good trot down the road will rejuvenate her spirits. This time I did bring my camera- since I had it in the barn already anyway.

I always say-- the first mile of our ride is fraught with obstacles.. after that-- it's home free. There are always ducks and herons flying up from the brook, turtles slipping off their rock, people raking their yard (horses just hate that rake rake rake sound it seems). And along the first mile for some reason, homeowners are obsessed with lawn ornaments of all varieties-- spinning and stationary. Today we were treated to the seasonal Halloween ornaments.

We call Sudie our Curly couch- she is wide and short. Her Wintec changeable gullet saddle takes the widest girth. This is one characteristic that makes her a great therapy horse..there's a good Str-e-e-e-e-ch for your legs. She has a delightful forward smooth trot- so she makes a super "road" horse. OYY Sweet Bee, who just returned to us last week, is a daughter of Sudie's. She is a chunky pony, but did not inherit the couch gene. Her son, OYY Buster Brown- who will turn 2 on the tenth of October-- takes after his Dad (Mead's Chocolate Chip).. he's more of a "horse". They all have Sudie's wonderful temperament though.

We ducked into an easy trail that looked dry for a break from the road. Sudie is no bushwhacker, she prefers a simple straightforward by-way. But she can handle a wide easy trail such as this one.

We had a great ride, the colors are not so vivid today, after the rains, but still quite inspiring. I love the way we can ride in and out of the sun and the shadows of the leaves on the road.

Here we are, on the way home, passing Uncle Reino's water garden.

Quite a difference from the last photo I posted of the same scene back in the winter !

We returned home refreshed and Sudie's mood uplifted considerably!

Enjoy your day ~

October Show

Finally-- the moment of truth ! Saturday- we loaded up the horses and took off for the show in Chester, Vermont. Not without some last minute anxieties and changes.

OYY Pal's Job came up terribly lame with an abscess on Monday. Oh no-- poor Job and poor Sara. After all the work she has put in riding him and preparing herself and her mount. Fortunately, I had decided to buy OYY Sweet Bee back from the Brogna's in MA. They made the decision to upgrade to a larger gelding for Denise. They had purchased Sweet Bee for their son, Louis, who did not follow through with an interest in riding. Denise chose a nice Curly from Lisa Wytiaz in Georgia for herself. Top O' The Hill Farm benefited from her decision in re-acquiring Sweet Bee. The fellow who hauled Denise's new mount from Georgia was nice enough to make a last minute change in his delivery schedule and Sweet Bee arrived in Vermont at 1:30 am Thursday. Just in time for Sara to ride her Thursday and Friday to ready themselves for the show on Saturday. We had rain for days with blustery November type weather-- too squishy to ride in the big arena so the girls schooled in the indoor.

After some last minute checks-- do we have everyone's girths, helmets, gloves, hairnets?? We arrived on the grounds to find out-- we are parked right near the duck pond !! Thank goodness, the horses did not react to the waterfowl at all.

Our ride times were one right after the other.. warm ups were in the indoor- the dressage arena was in the outdoor area. Zoe on WR Winter Dancer in the indoor pictured here--

Jennie and OYY Elektra-- Sara and OYY Sweet Bee

Great--- the dressage area is adjacent to the cows !! The duck pond was not enough of an obstacle ??





The horses and the girls did great-- a lot of work for 2 minutes in the ring, but worth it and has inspired new goals for us all.

Sweet Bee and Sara won second place with a 70.5% score. First place was 71%.. so she did very well for herself.

OYY Elektra and Jen scored a 69%. Elektra drifted outside the arena and stomped on the rope, their circle was a bit small -- other than that she did great. Jen and Elektra received third place.



Dancer was perfect until she entered the actual dressage arena and suddenly decided she needed to call to her imaginary friend. Zoe, I know, was furious with her, but kept her cool and kept her going. The judges were impressed how even though she was calling, Dancer did not stop or hesitate and got some good points on her balance, impulsion and smoothness.. but low points on her (to quote the judges) "inobedience" (Is that even a word ?) . She did score well with a 65% though and went away with fifth place. The judges commented how Zoe needed to take Dancer out more often by herself-- Dancer goes out alone nearly every time she is worked .. so who knows why she behaved like such a buffoon ?? Here she is with her nose out, calling away.



it was a great day-- Top O' The Hill Farm is proud of the horses and the riders. Lots of commitment and dedication on the part of all involved to get ready and do well.

Enjoy your day ~

Early Morning foggy workout

Since we have been schooling the 3 horses that are doing the show on the 4th of October, I decided to set up a kind of quasi-dressage arena in my big ring.

Here is Zoe and WR Winter Dancer - an early morning work out in the fog.

Dancer is a wonderful lesson horse for our therapeutic program, but she loves having the opportunity to get out and work like "big girl".

As I was headed down the driveway the other day, I was treated to something very special. I have 2 ponds on this side of the property plus the brook which runs through, and the blue heron likes to visit me.

He (she?) flew up out of the smaller pond and landed on the fence- sat there for quite awhile. When I walked a little closer to snap a photo, he flew down into the brook.

The Great Blue Heron makes for a

surprisingly good obstacle at times

when he flies up out of the brook or pond while we are riding by.

Zoe's Day Dream is coming along superbly.. she is better and better all the time and loves being in training. I am more than pleased with her progress... quick and pleasant. if we don't sell her before next year, she'll be at the shows for sure.

OYY Salvadore, my favorite little sporty pony stud, has graduated to going down the road and working in the big ring. He looks forward to his forays out and about- always cheerful and willing. He loves an adventure.

Enjoy your day ~

Frost on the Pumpkin

The last few mornings have been definitely nippy. 2 mornings ago my car was covered in a quarter inch of frozen dew. Yesterday morning, I had to dig out my chore gloves- cold hands- and 2 sweatshirts. It warms up considerably as the sun rises- and we are experiencing a lovely autumn so far. Perfect weather.

The early morning fog is heavy -- creeping in , as Carl Sanburg wrote-- on little cat feet. It rolls down the hillside and slaps you in the face like a damp rag.

I don't think I'll be swimming in my pond anymore this year.

This week, Jennie and Sarah have continued to ride their show mounts- OYY Elektra and OYY Pal's Job- getting ready for October 4th. Zoe schools WR Winter Dancer three times a week as well. OYY Hummingbird is continuing with her ground driving and very close to being hitched to the cart. She is so smart... for some reason I thought she was 3 years old as she is so mature. She is only 2 .. but old enough to pull the cart. I love this little pony girl.

We took some time to do some photo's of some of the younger horses- All 2 year olds, who will be be started in ground driving this winter.

OYY Little "Z" is a gorgeous sporty bay filly out of Ahmet and Mead's Chocolate Chip.

OYY Olympia is a filly we are planning on keeping, out of Zoe's Day Dream and Homefire Curlies's WCC Benjamin. Her dam, "Reverie" is now under saddle and doing outstandingly well.

One of our favorites, OYY Queen Jane Approximately, is growing into a beautiful filly. She is prettier than her full brother, OYY The Mighty Quinn, I think.

Here is a recent photo of Quinn with his owner Denise. He is a handsome boy ! He is the sire of Jennie's mount, OYY Elektra and son of Chip... lots of potential in that family.

Enjoy your day ~

Good news - Bad news -and in between

This past few days we have had a recurring visit from Hurricane Ike- first rain, now wind. Hurricanes rarely hit with any enthusiasm here in Vermont, so there are no real concerns and it gave us time to tidy up the tack room and clean house a bit. This morning's moon is beautiful with clouds low on the horizon. It's not cold, but windy enough that I have to close the windows. As long as there are no trees downed on the fence, I am OK with it.

It's been chilly enough to fire up my outdoor wood boiler. I had to shut it down in July because it got too darn hot- there was not enough call for heat to keep the fire going. I am not so crazy for the extra chore, but love not burning any expensive heating oil. The first fire of the season is fun though- love the smell of wood burning.. however come February-- that's another story !

During the week, Zoe's Day Dream was backed-- bareback. As I mentioned before-- she is so calm and accepting, it will not be long and she will be down the road and on the trail. She'll be needing her very own bridle soon !

OYY Hummingbird continues with her ground training. She is wearing her little harness and loving her training sessions. Here she is as a little tyke with Mom. She's growing up and is quite proud of herself.

I finally posted the video of Mead's Chocolate Chip at his first show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4aYdLg3y50

Also got some footage of Elektra being schooled by her rider, Jennie - 15 years old- and in love with her mount ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPCg1Ng2cjg

The big news for the weekend is-- OYY Yemaya left for her new home. Her owner is in love and Yemaya loaded beautifully.... and is already settled in there. When you sell a horse you have spent time with-- it's a toss up... thrilled that the horse has a new wonderful home and a rider-- and a little miffed that the horse does not seem to miss you at all ! Yemaya is 8 years old-- so she and Laurie have the best years ahead of them now.

We have been stocking up on hay-- living on a farm, you must be an ant and not the grasshopper. Already 2 loads from Canada- which comes in big square bales, 4 feet by 8 and so handy because I can unload and stack them in the building with the tractor. Each bale weighs about 850 and there are usually 55 bales or so on a trailer load.

All my new seedings are coming up perfectly... fenced off until next year. I am hoping to spread some more lime and fertilizer this fall.. depending on weather and time. I did get some rocks picked when I disced over some of the newly planted areas-- The larger rocks I dug out, will go on a future retaining wall-- these will go to fill in a low area by the brook.

The disappointing news of the week is-- my little "hen" Peep started to crow !! So now it seems I have 2 roosters. I will have to watch the classifieds for a few Banty hens for my boys.

Enjoy your day ~