Be sure to stop by and check out Padi Hollowell’s stall signs featured above.  She is a talented artist and will be taking orders for your own, handmade stall sign.  She will have samples and is just awesome to talk to no matter what.

AND we’ve got Sam’s incredible Aunt Becky doing crystal card readings (read Tarot cards if  you are lost….).  If we are really lucky she’ll be doing some Reiki treatments.  Alternative healing at its finest.

So now you can get some lessons, stay fit, get a new stall sign for all of your favorite horses and get a crystal card reading and reiki treatment to top it all off!  WOW!  Not to mention all of the other super things you could win at the raffle!

See you Sunday!

Jennifer

Everyone’s riding has improved as a result.  I can assure you that the strength and stamina – physical and mental – I have gained is invaluable.

So, come join us!  Mr. McBroom has generously donated a certificate for one month of unlimited Jujutsu lessons ($209 value) AND one free private Jujutsu lesson with Mr. McBroom ($300 value).

Buy your raffle tickets today to win one of these awesome gift certificates and we’ll see you out there on the mat!

Jennifer:)

PS stay tuned for more fundraise updates!

Jennifer

Jennifer

Jennifer & Sam

Believe, Preliminary, Marlborough Horse Trials 2011

The end of the season here in Maryland is upon us and that always makes me think about my goals for the next year.  I am always thinking about and revising andmy updating goals, but now is the time to lay out the plans for the next year.

One of my many goals this season was to move my mare Believe, aka Bree, up to  Preliminary and to possibly do an Intermediate or two at the end.  As fate  would have it, we did move up to Preliminary successfully but were not able to fit in the Intermediates.  OK, it is what it is, and we horse people know that the only constant thing we can rely on is change.  I was so thrilled with her first Prelim because she handled the show jumping with ease and grace and the cross country with boldness and maturity.  My goal for 2012 is to move her up to Intermediate and compete at the Fair Hill CCI** in October.  YES!

I have known this beatiful mare since she was 2.  She has taught me so much that I am such a better person and rider for having the opportunity to ride her. Why a better person?  Because in order to learn and push out of your comfort zone on a regular basis you must challenge your non-rider self too.   Who you are out of the saddle has a huge impact on who you are in the saddle.   You must be willing to connect in so many ways.

Why a better rider?  Because Bree is a SO sensitive that I’ve got to get everything just right in order to get things to work.  She is not shy about letting you know if you are not doing your job to the best of your ability, or to her expectations.  No short-cuts, no gimics, just simple, tried and true plain old patient training.

When Bree was 3 she shoved- and I mean shoved - past her lead horse to splash down with confidence doing her first down bank into water.  That was when I knew for sure I had a special event horse.  And I kid you not – sometimes she goes towards things she is being spooky about.  Talk about facing your fears!  She can teach all of us something about that.

Every day I learn from all the horses I ride and all the awesome students that I teach.   With all that learning, and Bree’s athleticism, talent, and boldness, you’d better BELIEVE we’ll be out there chasing our goals next season!

Jennifer

Believe, Preliminary, Marlborough Horse Trials, 2011

]]> http://allancloversporthorses.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/you-better-believe/feed/ 1 allancloversporthorses bree-mht-stadium bree-mht-xc http://allancloversporthorses.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/the-greatest-victories-are-not-always-shown-on-the-scoreboard/ http://allancloversporthorses.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/the-greatest-victories-are-not-always-shown-on-the-scoreboard/#comments Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:51:44 +0000 allancloversporthorses http://allancloversporthorses.wordpress.com/?p=107 ]]> Miss Diggy Bear, affectionately known at home as Buttercup, is officially the little horse that can and will.  She has just successfully completed the Young Event Horse Championships for 5yr olds at Fair Hill.  Pictures and video coming soon.  After spending a lot of September in her stall foot sore from a little too much trim, I entered her on closing day of the championships, just 16 short days from the championships themselves.  Keep in mind that I rode her for the first time in about 3 weeks the day I entered her!   Streeeeeeesssssss!!!!  So many thanks to my vet for the help and the green light to go ahead.

A whirlwind of getting ready followed.  All our plans of getting her out to another competition or 2 and doing some good schooling as well had gone out the window, so we were feeling a little behind.   Fortunately the competition does not require endurance training since there is no optimum time for the jumping, and the course is relatively short consisting of several show jumps and then on to cross country jumps.   Trish Gilbert designed a lovely YEH course at Fair Hill.

I am so proud and impressed with Buttercup.  Fair Hill has LOTS of atmosphere and she went in that main arena and did her dressage test with the confidence of a pro.  For the jumping phase the following day she let us know that she was super ready and bright in the warm up.  Let me at it!  She was a little green to a couple of the fences, but she was honest, forward, bold, and positive the whole time.  And she impressed the crowd with her awesome jumping as well.

Buttercup held her own in the confirmation phase scoring about in the middle of the pack.  Unfortunately, the judges did not think that her dressage and jumping were as spectacular as some of the other horses, so she did not score as well as we would have liked.    But in my book Buttercup has what it takes to be an amazing event horse.  At 5 young years she has already competed at Fair Hill during the CCI ***/** competition including doing her dressage in the main arena.  The jumping test included fences up to preliminary specifications (3’7″ ), a bank out of water two strides to a house, a trakhener and more.  She handles the big jumps with ease and grace, and is a safe and careful jumper, lengthening and shortening with ease and already doing her changes.  You can see in her expression that she loves to do this and that she is very self confident.  She did everything we asked her to do and she did it well.   She is super smart, quick footed and with the athleticism and the scope to go far.  She is certainly the kind of horse I want to be on for all the levels of eventing!

The road to YEH Championships was rocky and included (but was not limited to!) a busted truck radiator on the Baltimore beltway (bye bye MCTA! Bonus I was alone that day because my groom that day woke up throwing up.  Two horses in a huge trailer on the side of the beltway.  Oh FUN!  Thank you Colleen Corrigan for picking up me and my two young horses.  Boy was I happy to see you), a dramatically thrown shoe (could not finish at Applewood, grrr.  It was nice to see my brother and his wife there though.  Silver lining, right?), cellulitis (me!  Sam rode that day. Go Sam!   Be very kind to your horse if they get it – it REALLY hurts and you feel super lousy),  dressage in a thunderstorm (ok they sent us back to our trailers just as I was about to go in the dressage ring – the letters and the ring itself were blowing over! It was not storming when we actually rode the test).    Need I go on???

So, just getting qualified and getting there was a huge success story in itself.  As I have said before, the greatest victories are not always shown on the scoreboard.   This was a great victory and its on my scoreboard for sure.   And not just because of all the wacky stuff that happened this summer.  But because we believe in Buttercup and how wonderful she is and she was able to get out there and really prove it.

Just a note about the Young Event Horse program itself.  Having gone through the qualifying process and ridden at the championships I am very pleased with the program itself.  Like anything else, there are glitches and things that need ironing out (where aren’t there?!), but overall I certainly felt that this is a great program to showcase exciting young event horses, and to expose young event horses to competition in a relaxed atmosphere.   Hmmmm…  I have a lovely 3 yr old out in the barn:)

I cannot end this without a huge thank you to lots of people.  First is Sam who believes in me and Buttercup without fail.  Thanks also to Sharon White, Susan White, Debbie Williamson, Tim Hamilton, Jason Cole & Filippa Boughton, and last but not least huge thanks to the wonderful staff back at home who take care of the horses and the farm and make it possible for us to be away.

Jennifer

Click here for video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqzeXEI0gPQ

I am so excited because this is my first blog.  I finally decided to join the modern world and dive in.

I decided to do this today because I just put a quote up on my facebook profile page about the “limitless potential of the human spirit” as one of the gifts we get everyday from horses.  We are so enormously lucky to have these creatures in our lives!  What better place to learn dogged tenacity, responsibility, committment, dedication, perseverence, humility, and overwhemlingly, appreciation.  And, in the words of my dear friend Rose Lawler after a very successful clinic with Bent Jensen, “I can do it!”

Hmmm .  I think that may also have something to do with the reason my beautiful mare is named Believe.  We all have to believe, even when the going is rough.

I believe in the horses’ ability to bring out the very best in us and lead us to do great things in life.  That is a true gift.  Enjoy.

Jennifer

They are available for training, from polishing the skills of an experienced competition horse to confidently and harmoniously starting a youngster. They are avalable for clinics and coaching, as well as boarding at their 25-stall Southern Maryland farm.