News Around the Barn (2006)
[2005 Archive] [2004 Archive] [2003 Archive]
[January] [February] [April] [May] [June] [July] [August] [September] [October] [November] [December]
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!!
We would like to thank all our boarder and close friends for their patience while we dealt with renovations up at the "farm house". We're happy to say that we're all in (if not quite settled yet)!
A special Thank You goes out to Gerald Melanson, a close friend, for all his hours of help at the farm. We wouldn't be as far along without his help!
We would also like to express our thanks to our instructors: Ann, Linda, Debbie and Niki for all of their hours for the 2006 season. Hopefully 2007 will be just as wonderful, or even more so, for everyone.
Merry Christmas goes out to Dr. Randy Hayward and to Robb Connors. Without either, none of us would be where we are with our horses! The horses, by the way, are all doing fine!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!
From the crew of Ashton Ridge:
Jim, Roberta, Mark, Niki (and baby X), Landon, Rob, Chantalle and Karma
We would like to welcome Erin MacQuarrie to Ashton Ridge. Erin is a Level 2 Dressage coach that comes out a couple of times per month to give lessons to some boarders.
The GMEC Christmas Party went on without a hitch on Saturday, November 18. Once again there was great fun to be had with the Yankee Swap with quite a few gifts to be fought over. A big Thank You goes out to Linda Hooper for once again being the MC for the night and she did a fantastic job, keeping everyone entertained and in stitches with her jokes. A special Thank You goes out to Patti Steeves, who, every year manages to pull everything together to make the event fabulous.
Congratulations to our very own Diane Thompson on wining the GMEC (Lois Hoar) Horsemanship Award! For everything you do Diane, the award is well deserved.
We at the farm would like to take this time to personally recognize Patti Steeves for all her hard work and many hours she contributes as President of the GMEC. Her active interest in all aspects of the Club (and her frightening organization skills!) are a major contribution to the ongoing success of the horse club. When someone mentioned starting the "Ride and Drive" logging, Patti quickly came up with the pamphlet draft that very same day (I tell ya, this woman is on the ball!). What makes this even more amazing, is that this position is a volunteer position. They often say volunteering is a selfless act, with not a lot of "Thank You's" and we can sometimes take them for granted. This is why we are taking the time to say a big and heartfelt THANK YOU to Patti.
A special Thank You goes out to Susanne for the care and riding of Edward while Niki's not riding. We don't know what we'd do without Susanne riding and training skills.
Tess, Robb Connors' mare that Susanne was working with has sold and left the farm. Susanne has put quite a few hours on Tess and taught the young mare everything from flat, to jumping, to cattle penning and drill team. Great Job Susanne!
Once again the GMEC is hosting another Drill Team Clinic with clinician extraordinaire, Ruth Fowler on October 21 and 22. For further details, please contact Linda Clark at 506-434-4008.
The Cavalier Riding Club are slowly winding down another fall session and are finalizing last minute details for their Annual General Meeting and Annual Closing banquet to be held on Tuesday October 24. Parents, for more details, please visit the "Cavalier" page.
The last points are being counted and preparations are under way for the GMEC Annual Holiday Diner and dance to be held in November. More details to follow.
Sundark Angel has left the farm on Friday, October 20 for his retirement home. Sunny was born on the farm 20 years ago and after many dedicated years as a lesson pony and therapeutic riding pony, it was finally time for him to retire. He went to Kim Parker, who has 2 small children, and lives in Hampton. Sunny has also been reunited with some old friends, Jock (Linda Clark's old horse) and Spike (Catherine Smith's old pony).
There is a new horse on the farm, a 5 year old Thoroughbred cross mare named Kaiko. Roberta, Niki and Susanne went for a drive and came home with a new friend! Mark (Niki's husband) can't seem to understand why they just can't go shopping at the mall!
Susanne has been busy the past month or so, as she has become our resident horse trainer! She has not only been riding Tess and Candle for Robb Connors, but she has also been putting some work on Austin and Edward. We know she wouldn't have it any other way!
The GMEC banquet and Christmas Party will be held on November 18. Tickets are $18 each and can be bought by contacting either Roberta or Patti Steeves.
The Drill Team clinic was once again a big success this year. There were 36 horse/rider combination, an increase since last year's clinic. Drill Team riding appears to be one of the fastest growing horse sports around. A big Thank You goes out to Linda Clark and Ann Murray for setting it up once again, as well as clinician Ruth Fowler who traveled down all the way from Alberta to teach.
After 8 years, we have come to the decision to cease the lesson program here at Ashton Ridge. We have decided to downsize our operations to simply boarding and privately owned horses. We very much enjoyed the lesson program for these past years, and have seen many faces come and go. Our success would not have been possible without our long time instructor Debbie Wilson. She will be greatly missed. Here is a picture of the last riding session held here at the farm. We would like to thank everyone who helped make our riding program a success.
Sincerely,
The Landrys
The next show on the GMEC circuit is the 2 day show hosted by the Maritime Paint Horse Association. This is a 2 day Western and English show held on Saturday and Sunday. Jodi, feeling somewhat adventurist, has decided on taking fellow friend and boarder Julie's horse Slick in both the English and Western classes! We wish them all the best!
The cattle penning finals will be held on September 7 at Broadleaf Guest Ranch. We wish Diane, Kara and Susanne all the luck at their last run of the season!
Robb Connors will once again be holding his annual trail ride. It will be held on September 24. Details to follow. Unfortunately, the weather decided to work against everyone and so the trail ride has been canceled.
The next and final show on the GMEC circuit is the Spruce Hollow Corral Horse Show held at Spruce Hollow Corral on Lutes Mountain. This is the final show to end a busy horse season and we will be there to cheer on the riders! We hope to see everyone there!
Two of the lesson horses are currently being leased out. Alana Beaulieu is leasing Sunny for the months of July and August and Madison McInley is leasing Hooker for the month of August. The girls come out and ride along with Shani and Chantalle and get a few more hours under saddle, along with their lessons. We are happy to see how much they've improved with some extra saddle time, and the horses seem happy to be put to use!
There will be a flury of activities this weekend as boarders get ready for the the Spring Brook Stables Horse show held on Saturday and Sunday. Kara will be joining Jodi and newcomer to showing, Chantalle, for the English day. On Saturday and Julie will be hauling out for the Western day. It will be a busy bathing and braiding/banding day as everyone gets spit and polished. This will be Chantalle and Bennett's first show ever and they are looking forward to it (well, Chantalle is looking forward to it, Bennett doesn't have a clue!). Kara will again be heading out on Sunday along with Diane, Linda Hooper and Susanne to ride in the drill team competition held at Spring Brook Stables. We wish them all the luck!
Congratulations to everyone who showed this past weekend! Chantalle and Bennett had a great first show, even placing in all but one of their classes! Kara is very pleased with Kola as they did very well in their English classes. Luckily, everyone made it on the trailers and were heading home before the big rain came! On Sunday, Julie came home with a 1st in her Horsemanship. Once again, a big thank you goes out to Michelle Cox on putting on such a great show!
Congratulations to the The Rockin' Riders on placing 1st in the Drill Team Competition held at Spring Brook Stables! Despite a few rider and horse switches (since Linda Clark was away visiting her daughter and new granddaughter) the team produced a great performance and came away the winners. A big Thank You goes out to Susanne Breau and her horse Tess for being Linda Clark's replacement!
Congratulations to Allison Bulmer and younger sister Nicole on the purchase of Teddy! Many thanks goes out to Holly Murley of Windy River Stables for taking care of him these past few months and for finding his "forever" home. We hope to see Allison and Teddy in the show ring next year!
The son of a well known Moncton instructor will be performing this weekend. Jesse Fowler, the son of Ruth Fowler who is now the Calgary Stampede team instructor (and who taught lessons at the farm), will be performing at the Irishtown Recreation Centre at 7 pm Saturday evening.
There will be three horses less in the barn next week. Kara, Ann and Diane will be heading out for a week long camp at Linda Clark's Horizon Farms in Norton. Susanne will be heading up later in the week to join Kara and Diane for their team cattle penning on Sunday. Enjoy your week away girls!
Congratulations to Kara and Kola on winning Grand Champion in the Western Versatility Novice Division this past weekend! There were 4 different classes ranging from trail, cow wrangling and popping over a small fence that needed to be completed successfully in order to earn enough points to qualify for the championship. Kara is very pleased with Kola's performance!
It was that time of year . . . . again! On some of the hottest days of the year, we all had the pleasure of unloading wagon after wagon pilled high with, you guessed it, HAY! We are happy to inform everyone that "the hay, the hay is finally in"! Of course, where there's a crew, there's food and Saturday night was no different. After unloading 3 wagons, we sat down to quickly chow down on pizza and garlic fingers (courtesy of Roberta) before unloading 3 more wagons. We would like to thank all of our helpers who gave up their Saturday and Sunday afternoons to come out and pitch hay bales with us. We'll see y'all again next year!
The next horse show on the circuit is the Spring Brook Stables Horse Show on August 12th and 13th. We hope to see you all there!
Congratulations to Shani Murray on the purchase of her first horse! "Austin" is a 4 year old Anglo-Arab gelding that Roberta and Niki first spied at Holly Murley's farm. Shani and her family had been quietly looking for the perfect first horse and Austin fit the bill. A big Thank You goes out to Holley Murley, of Windy River Stables, for bringing Austin to our attention and for delivering him to the farm!
Once again Kara, Diane and Susanne have packed up their gear and hauled out for the weekend to a cattle penning fun day/clinic. We hope they have fun and that it doesn't get too wet for them out in the rain!
Come out, come all to cheer on your fellow boarders at the Drill Team competition this Saturday (June 17)! The festivities will begin at 8 p.m. at the Princess Louise Show Park in Sussex. Go Rockin' Riders go!
Attention boarders! The entry forms for the Carmaz Stables Horse show are currently available down at the barn.
Riding lessons have once again finished for a brief, 2 week vacation for both horses and instructors. Hopefully, when they start back again, we won't be stuck in a summer heat wave!
Congratulation to Kara, Diane and Linda Hooper (and the rest of the Rockin' Riders) on their second place finish at the Drill Team Competition! The competition was held at the Princess Louise Show Park in Sussex. It began at 8 p.m. with the Rockin' Riders first to go. Five teams in total participated this year and it was a full house cheering them on. Congratulations to all the teams who participated and we hope to see them again next year!
Julie Williams and her horse Slick went to their fist horse Quarter Horse show this past weekend. They headed up to Sussex on Friday to get settled in for showing first thing Saturday and Sunday morning. On Saturday they placed third in Horsemanship and on Sunday, came home with a first in Horsemanship! All in all, Julie was very pleased with her weekend.
Emma and Lady, along with younger sister Rebecca (and the Kenny sisters, Alicia and Shelby), had a busy schedule this past week. All four girls participated in a week long camp, hosted by their Pony Club, at Upper Coverdale Stables. From taking lessons to cooling off in the pool afterwards, the girls all had a great time and learned a lot!
The next horse show on the circuit is the Carmaz Stables Horse Show on July 8th and 9th.
May has finally arrived and with it come the "official" opening of show season! The first show on the GMEC circuit is the Albert Early show on May 20 and 21. The entry forms can be found on the GMEC website.
We would like to extend a big Thank You to Holly Murley of Windy River Stables for taking our resident pony, Teddy, to her barn to be leased by one of her students. Teddy went to his first show this past weekend and did very well.
Congratulations to Ashton Ridge on the purchase of a new horse! While out helping a fellow student, Shani Murray, look for a horse, Roberta (and Niki) ended up finding one for themselves! He's a 3 year old solid Paint gelding with lots of chrome and flashy movements. "Edward" has since settled in nicely while Niki gears up for training mode. . . . again.
Attention all Boarders! Don't forget to get all your junk. . . er, your stuff ready for the Yard sale held at the farm on May 27. Tell all your friends and family to come out and see what's to offer. There'll be everything from miscellaneous horse stuff to baby gear. The fun begins at 8:30 a.m.
The next GMEC meeting will be held at Pizza Delight at 7 p.m. on Thursday May 25. This will be the last meeting until September so we hope to see you all out there.
The next show on the circuit is the Albert Paint show hosted by the MPHA on June 3. Once again, the forms can be found on the GMEC website.
Happy Birthday Cimmaron Dude! "Hooker" celebrated his 30th birthday this month and all the horses at the barn were cordially invited to help him celebrate this milestone. Kara made a horsey cake that Hooker quickly gobbled up, much to the delight of his young Cavalier riders!
Welcome back Linda! We would like to extend a warm welcome back to Linda Hooper. Linda was a boarder with her horse Swift Classic Pine before she sold Classic and pursuit other interests. Despite this, horses never left her system and she has since come back as a boarder. She was a relief rider for last year's Drill Team competition and helped out whenever she could. Thanks to Robb Conners for lending a horse, Candle, for Linda to ride. Linda is currently taking lessons along side her old riding partners Kara Greenwood and Diane Thompson with Linda Clark. She will also be participating in this year's Drill Team competition as one of the Rockin' Riders!
There are a few boarders who are getting ready for the upcoming Jeff Temple Clinic held at Carmaz Stables this weekend (April 22-23). Kara and Kola will be riding in the clinic once again. Julie will bring her horse Slick and ride him in the mornings and Shelby will hop on in the afternoon. Chantalle and her horse Bennett will also make an appearance. It will be the first trailer ride experience for Chantalle since the mare came to live at Ashton Ridge. We wish everyone safe rides and we hope they enjoy themselves!
Congratulations to Shani Murray on passing her Rider Level 1! Shani had a very good ride and stable management test, and we would like to thank Debbie Wilson and Niki Stevens on helping Shani prepare herself. A big Thank You goes out to Ann for taking her Saturday to test Shani.
Happy Birthday Landon! Landon celebrated his first birthday today! The entire family went out to eat on Saturday and on Sunday, finished up with a 3-tierd carrot cake baked by proud mum, Niki.
We would like to extend a warm welcome to Roberta's newest helper, her Co-Op Student Jessica Odell. Jessica took lessons here at the farm and has progressed to working with the horses through her school. Welcome Jessica and we hope you enjoy your time here with the horses!
Riding lessons have finished another sessions and have halted for the March break, giving everyone some much deserved time off. Once lessons start up again, there will be a few more riders getting ready for their Rider Level 1. We wish them all the luck.
The next GMEC meeting will be held at the Pizza Delight on Coverdale Rd. Once the business side of the meeting in adjourned, Ann Murray will present a video concerning helmet safety. We hope to see many of you there.
Happy New Year everyone! It's January again and lessons have started back up here at the farm after the 3 week Christmas break.
Congratulations to the Laffoley girls, Emma and Rebecca on the purchase of their new horse. Lady is a 16hh, 18 year old chestnut Thoroughbred mare who's been there, done that and has the experience to prove it. We hope to see them in the show ring this summer but for now, Emma and Lady are having some fun rides while they figure each other out. A big Thank You goes out to Janna Hemphill, of Story Book Stables, in answering all the endless questions about Lady.
GMEC meetings have also started back up. The first monthly meeting will be held at the Agrena this Thursday at 8 p.m. We hope to see everyone there.