Both of my parents have been around some helping me with the barn and the farm in general. It looked great for the clinic and show last week. We had 33 horses on the property. Karen O’Connor taught great lessons — and I’m still recovering!

In the days before the clinic I was questioning the expenses and the hard work — especially asking friends and family to do the same in exchange for lessons. I will not question it again! I learned so much and loved having Karen at the barn to ask questions, watch ride and see the success that came from her instructions. I want to have her back soon.

We have had some great help on top of the fantastic employees of WSH (Kathryn and Michelle). Callie, Heather and Paige came from Oregon, Arizona and Utah to help us out the past few weeks and we couldn’t have done it without them. They rode, cleaned, and played hard! We are all looking forward to them returning soon!

We are loaded up at the barn at the moment with 11 horses. I am thrilled to be riding Nancy Roche’s The North Wind and Shelley Thomas’s Intrepid at Aspen Farm next weekend along with Wesley! It is a wonderful thing when you are respected and trusted with someone else’s animal. I look forward to doing my best.

I am going to Meika Decher’s Polestar Farm for some schooling before hitting Aspen Farm on Thursday September 2nd. All three of my horses are running training while Mum is riding Pam novice, Kathryn will be on Aria in the BN and Michelle and Seamus in the junior training.

All the girls from the barn participated in the McCall Triathlon earlier this month and we were respectable! It was Michelle’s first running race and Kathryn’s open water swim. Paige landed from Portland and was thrown on a team of strangers. All in all, we had a great time. We have only made time for one hike but hope to get more soon!

Hope to see you soon!

Stephanie

Storming outside, party in the horse trailer!

Thanks to Jon, Laramie and Amy for great photos from the YR Benefit HT in Washington this past weekend!  There are many more found on face book and flickr. 

The weekend was cool and overcast with horses and people trying their best (trying their best at different things!) and we had a great time.  Pam and Mum won their division on a great dressage score, while Wesley ended third in his training division.  Flower was great finishing seventh in her first novice.  Everyone else had some fun and learned a lot.  The courses were nice on great footing.  It was great to see Josh and friends from the North West.  We are now gearing up for Karen O’Connor coming next weekend and our mountain Triathalon this coming weekend.  Michelle is running, Kathryn is swimming and I am biking.  Should be fun.

We have some fun help coming in to help with the clinic and show from Alberta to Arizona.  Hope to see you all here.

We had loads of fun over the past week along with some disappointments and sympathy.
The week began with Flower earning 2nd place in the four yr old Young Event Horse class. She couldn’t have been better (well maybe her jog…) She jumped lovely and put in an accurate and cute dressage test. The judges loved her confirmation, feet and calmness.
From there, we had some good dressage. With lots of help from friend and mentor, Mara DePuy Dean, Wesley scored a winning 25.5 even with an error (-2). Michelle and Seamus were spot on with a 30 and Mum and Trep put in nice tests. Everyone, including Henry were in the hunt for some loot.
Henry was fantastic on x-c beside a spook at some jump judges in an unfortunate place that caused him 20. Michelle and Pam were clean cross country and show jumping. Wesley, after a long 10 days of miscommunication choose to walk away from his dressage mark and withdraw. I was not surprised but very disappointed. Horses have bad timing!
On Saturday we enjoyed schooling, again, at Herron Park and then watched some of the nicest horses and riders in the country run x-c at RF. The weather was perfect all weekend with an afternoon breeze and a few little storms.
The boys stayed at the barn and Josh couldn’t make it over so we missed them all but are looking forward to YR Benefit in 10 days for a reunion (Josh is up building for that event now!)
We have a new sale horse in the barn, Aria. She seems lovely to be around and good work ethic (jumped her today!)
Busy working on the Karen O’Conner clinic along with Jug Mountain Classic coming in August. Please spread the word!
Hope everyone else had a great weekend and look forward to seeing everyone soon!
Stephanie

The title of this post is open because I can’t seem to keep the days of July from blending together into a mixture of horses, driving, riding, mucking, teaching and long sun filled days.
We have had a great month so far and are looking forward to competing at Rebeca Farm next week!
July started in Bellevue, Idaho, where we hosted a clinic with Alison Springer and myself followed by a IDEA Derby. The clinic was fantastic and very busy. I (along with everyone I talked to) had great lessons with Alison. The weather was sunny and cool.
Josh has been home for the first two weeks of July, building some new cross country jumps at the barn and keeping our social life moving!
Michelle has been working long days, started marathon training (her senior project is to train and run a marathon!), preparing for her C3 the end of the month, getting her steers ready for the fair, and being a popular high school girl!
We have some new help at the barn. Kathryn was thrown in to the mix the first of July and hasn’t stopped moving since. I hope we don’t exhaust her beyond recovery!
The boys (Shilo and Tucker) are looking for shade and enjoying all the activity around. We have had 14 horses at the barn plus 4 turned out. CC, my yearling is enjoying all the green grass and growing big and strong!
We are loving having two weekends at home! Lessons for our McCall horse enthusiasts, music in town, catching up with friends and I hope a hike to one of the lakes in the area….
Tuesday we are off to Rebbecca Farm for the week, August 6th YR Benefit in Centrailia, WA then August 20-21 Karen O’Conner in McCall!!!

Hope to see you soon!  Stephanie

Dressage Show

The footing is great here. The sun is shining. Services are close and convienient. And so here I am: still in Arizona on May 2nd.

I really can’t wait to get home to the barn, fields and mountains, as well as my friends (4 legged and 2.)

Wesley is in full work now and looking great. He will be out and about starting at the BSJC spring show in Nampa in a few weeks.

I had a great time riding Mermaid Zorro in some First level tests last week. We had a great show and look forward to doing it again soon! I hope to have some pictures soon, as soon as I find my camera.

The calendar for this season is coming together so check it out and let me know if you have any suggestions.

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!

We have been having a great time in the sun. Arizona has had quite a bit of rain (and snow up high!) this season, and it makes it smell and look wonderful! Within the next 2 weeks the flowers will be out of control.

Wesley is loving his daily rides, though they are slow quality rides and we are looking forward to adding some trot this week! Flower is a joy to ride. She takes everything in stride. Check out her videos here. Toby, a great paint pony is also here looking for his next family to join. You can check him out on his page here.

High Country Pony Club joined us for a weekend in Wickenburg a few weeks ago. We had a great time. The club brought 12 horses down and camped around the dressage arena. I was so impressed with the members, their parents and their horses. I can’t wait to see them all again. We are planning a clinic in Flagstaff the second week in April. You can find this and more plans on the calendar.

I am riding and teaching in Cave Creek at a fantastic farm, Bellisima. The facility is second to none along with the clients, employees and animals. It is a dream location with all the amenities and the weather is divine. I should come back in August to remind myself why the Northwest is my home!

I hope you are starting to get excited for spring, it is right around the corner!