Lindsay and Stephanie on top of Sugar Bowl PMR

Now, I am home enjoying the amazing start to the winter here. I went for a quick skin up Tamarack and a skate ski the first day back!  Gotta love over a foot of snow in November!  Hope it keeps coming!

Looking toward home from Tamarack November 28

And alas, it is snowing again!

I am looking forward to our annual Year End Party this Thursday evening.  Hope you are coming if you are in the area.

Next week I am off to the USEA annual meeting in Scottsdale.  I am looking forward to some great lectures, meeting with some “experts” on my latest project, time with friends from around the country; all close to my Mum and Dad!  I have volunteered to be a “rider” for the ICP (instructor certification program) clinic Sunday of the convention.  The clinic should be great fun with David, Karen and Mark Phillips as the instructors.  Come find me if you are going to be in Scottsdale.

The barn will be hopping when I return the 13th.  I have it booked full through the end of January.  I then plan to get organized to go south from approximately Feb 1-April 20.  I hope I am able to keep a full barn going smooth and ski an hour a day till then!

I am already looking forward to a full and fun AZ season with some work out of Bellisima (in Cave Creek,) lots of local shows/derbies, horse trials and maybe a week in Thermal!  I will keep some horses in training and teach in Wickenburg.  I would like to extend an invitation to you to come down, thaw out and ride whenever you get the chance!

Until that time I am available for lessons at least twice a month in Boise, regularly at home and at the North Wind Jumper Series.  Please come join us!

Stephanie

It is either the wine, (we spent two afternooons in the tasting rooms of Los Olivos and Sante Ynes,) the weather (sunshine, sunshine and partly cloudy for x-country,) the people (Wendy Wergeles helped me for hours!) or the footing (no studs here).

We really did have a wonderful time in California last week and toped it off with clean cross country for everyone!  Breezer had a great weekend from start to finish.  We had a few time in the SJ and X-C but he was super!  I am sad it took a first or second place ribbon from us (yes, we were tied for first) but he doesn’t know that!

Having my mom, Linda (Shelley and Shawna’s mom) Allison Springer made the weekend even better!  I will post more pictures soon.

We are enjoying fall at home and on the road.  Last week Shelley, Shawna and I did an all night treck to Woodside, California for the fall event there.  The weather was perfect, the horses pretty darn close and the food and friends were great fun!

I rode Wesley to a win in the training horse division; finishing on his dressage score of 31.4.  Breezer started his first preliminary over a championship course and almost made it around.  A little greeness kept him from jumping into the larger combinations the first time.  He really was getting it by the end and we are looking forward to Galway!

Intrepid was great in all three phases and is looking forward to stepping it up for a clean run at Galway.  While Henry was the most mature, finishing on his good dressage score.

Yesterday I spent the day in Middleton and Eagle teaching our bi-monthly clinic in the valley.  It was the perfect fall day with cool air, sun and happy horses.  I hope every weekend is as such!  The next clinic in the valley is October 30th.

Michelle and Kathryn are still helping when ever they can at the barn.  I am already looking forward to when school is out again and I have their great help and support all day!

Galway is our next big outing.  We will be leaving from Boise on Oct 31 and spend the week jumping around California (and wine tasting:)) and then meeting up with my mother, Jennifer and friends at Galway Downs the first weekend of November for the last event of the season!  Hope to see you all soon.
Stephanie

We have started a clinic series in Middleton, ID every two weeks.   Please contact Shelley Thomas at spthomas11@gmail.com for more infomation and check out our calendar for the dates.

This weekend we are off to the Fall Event at Woodside in California.  We are looking forward to The North Wind (Breezer), Yes We Can (Wesley), Intrepid and Henry strutting their stuff and showing off all our hard work!

We are raising money through The American Horse Trials Foundation to support The North Wind’s carreer through a jumper series this winter in Nampa.  Check it out on line here.

Hope to see you soon.

Stephanie

Karen is coming to McCall!

I have returned to the “blooming” desert after 5 days in Norwood, NC at The Fork Stables.  We had a great weekend watching, helping and catching up with our friends.  Josh has been in North Carolina for a month working on the course with Cross Country Hardware and Supply.  The horses and riding spread the scale from “up and coming” to “close to perfection.”   Allison Springer had a fantastic weekend, ending up second in the CIC*** after a rail in the show jumping (which she rode GREAT) and is geared up for Kentucky in a few weeks.  She is coming this July to Sun Valley for our IDEA clinic at Rafter K.    I also confirmed Karen O’Conner is coming for a clinic in McCall August 20-21!  Information will be posted here at www.wasatchsporthorses.com. 

We are looking forward to hosting another clinic with the High Country Pony Club here in Wickenburg this weekend.  The weather should be great for the full range of horses and riders coming.

Josh, the boys and I are planning on heading north to McCall the end of the month.  We are getting excited about all the summer has in store; just waiting to hear it has stopped snowing!

After an amazing trip to Cuba with my sister, I am back in full swing in Arizona for the remainder of the winter.

Wesley (Yes We Can) and Flower (Michelle’s new horse) made the trip south with the boys and I. We are all enjoying hacking in the desert and looking forward to the challenges and excitement of the year to come.

Wesley is just starting back into work after a winter of rest and recovery while Flower is in full training. I am enjoying both aspects. A new friend, Toby is here from snowy Flagstaff to get a head start on spring.

Pam (Nicely Dunn) is sound and looking svelte! She is starting the road back to fitness and competition after a challenging year of pregnancy and complications. Branaghan is looking great and waiting my mother to motivate! Our baby, CC, is growing strong in Peoples Valley. I am looking forward to bringing her back to Idaho this spring.

Right now it is raining! The washes are running; the earth can not drink it fast enough. We expect to be flooding through tomorrow. I love the smell of desert rain and don’t mind being trapped indoors for a day! Soon, the computer will stop working, and I will be forced to read and catch up with family and friends. I hope to organize some goals and schedules for the year ahead as well as reflect on the past year and what we learned.

A pony club from Flagstaff is coming down (once they shovel out) for a clinic in two weeks and I run another marathon in six. There are horse shows and events every weekend from here on out. Let me know where you think we should focus and what you would like to do. In the mean time, I am going to cozy up and enjoy a day of rain! Stay dry and warm- Stephanie