Exciting things are always going on around the place, and this is the spot where we can share a few of those accomplishments.
Meet Marci. She is quite a woman. Marci makes every negative, like cold weather, and snow, a positive.
She maintains a large stable, teaches young & old Dressage while raising her son and keeping her family happy. I would say that is a full plate, but Marcie is involved with everything Dressage going on in Canada.
Even I benefit from knowing Marci. Our E-mail on Robert’s website, and my blog has made us good friends. I feel so lucky to have met Marci.
A Royal Success !
Ark Equestrian took to the road taking two horses to the prestigious Royal Winter Fair this year. This was a combination of fun, stress, anxiety and laughter, as these big events always are ! Stephanie Cook, my staff and right hand gal, once again brought her Stallion, Half Moon Romance to defend his Grand Champion title. Which of course he did. He is always such a gentleman who is glad to show his stuff in the ring ! Also this year we brought Vintage Match, who is owned by first time horse owner and Ark client, Erinn-Bre Sweeney. Erin did a great job containing her nerves, and getting her beautiful mare all ready for the ring. Vintage was expertly handled by Stephanie Cook, to an exciting second place finish ! So a big congratulations to both owners and horses !
We had great support from many of the Ark gang who came along as grooms and assistants, so thanks to Leila , Celia and Caleb. An extra thanks goes out to Shauna who travelled all the way from Ottawa to lend her experience. We couldn't have done it without you all.
We were fortunate enough to once again welcome Mette Rosencrantz to come and work with us . This was her third year here, and now that she knows our riding and horses , she expects more and more from us ! It was much work and much fun ! It is so valuable to recieve that push we need to achieve our goals. This year , as previously, Mette stressed that our geometry in the ring needs to be improved. Geometry and more left bend seemed to be a continual theme between many of the riders. Mette has a fantastic way of teaching, through use of humour, illustrations and just plain expectations from the riders. We all worked hard and the auditors also learned so much. Thank you again Mette ! We all love you !
More information about Mette can be found here http://www.metterosencrantz.com/
We are always proud of Caleb ! But sometimes he just out does even himself. Caleb won buckets full of prizes in the Equimania, a quiz put on by the Univerisity of Guelph.
In the fall of 2006 Catherine Haddad came to Ontario and taught some clinics. I was fortunate enough to ride at Cameo Equestrian with her. I had only had Gus for maybe three weeks before the clinic. What a wonderful boy he was. He tried very very hard. Catherine had nice things to say about his canter and his effort to please. Catherine is an amazing teacher. Very few people can accomplish what she has riding, but even fewer are the numbers that can elloquently pass that knowledge along. I feel very fortunate to have the chance to work with her.
After the clinics were complete, we all had the chance to socialize at a dinner by the lake with Catherine. She shared news from the dressage scene in Germany.. Catherine has her own barn, but schools each morning with her big tour horses in Rudolph Zeilingers barn. Catherine also brought videos of her schooling and competing with her horse Maximus. We are WAY to snooty and quiet at dressage shows here in North America. Crouds whooped and hollered with loud crazy music playing at her upper lovel competitions. We really have a LONG LONG way to go. Maybe more people would be interested in riding, or heck... sponsering dressage if it were as much fun in our country ! That is one of my motivators for our shows this summer, to have non-snooty fun !
The Can-Am with Stacy Westfall was amazing. Bunny and Ethel were SO super ! Our stalls were bedded with Streufex, which is an amazing pelleted straw bedding. The horses loved it ! They were relaxed and comfortable. They were often flat out snoozing in their soft bedding. Pretty amazing for public stalls on concrete floors. 
The clinics were awesome. Stacy and her husband Jesse are a wealth of horsey knowledge. They had us doing ground work, riding around cones, doing exercises to improve our spins, and even playing mounted games with a giant ball. This was Dales first outting with his new horse, and she was a star. What a great girl !
In March of 2006 I had the pleasure of being the demo rider for the clinics with Lynn Palm in London, Ontario at the Can-Am Expo. The experience was one I will never forget. To ride with someone as well known as Lynn was amazing, let alone doing that in front of thousands of people. Lynn has a heart for Quarter Horses for amateur dressage, because of their trainable easy going nature. I would have to say I agree whole heartidly, and as a QH owner I appreciate the work she is doing for the breed and the sport. You can often find articles by Lynn in the popular magazines, and rather than speak to the 2% riding at upper levels, she directs her comments to those struggling to get through training and first level. Lynn has some amazing exersizes for both horse and rider, her emphasis is on balance and proper position so that the aids can be used correctly. I had to do some crazy hard things with my body, not to mention in front of alot of people. At one point I was riding with no reins, and my knees over the front of the saddle, just to emphasize how much you need to swing in your seat to affect the horse.
Baby Bunny ( Ima Blue Tabu ) was simply perfect. She definately did the breed proud to show how wonderful a QH mount can be in dressage , and a pony sized one too boot ! Look out 17h warmbloods, my little 14h QH is comin' thru !! Bunny was quiet and confident the whole Expo, other than a close call with a horse eating train ! ( Thanks Meg for saving us !) By the end, the little pony in pink had developed quite a following. All in all it was wonderful. We learned some great things from Lynn that we all will be working on .
This Fall we headed to Troika for the Canadian Sport Horse Inspection with the Tb Stallion "Half Moon Romance" When we arrived we were star stuck by all the fancy trailers, professional handlers, and beautiful warmbloods dressed up in their matching duds. The day was long and emotional, and Romey was a perfect star. We started with a vet check, then trotting out , then the work on the triangle and conformation evaluation, and finially the free jumping and work at liberty. All in all it was a wonderful experience and a terrific outcome. Romey passed as a Canadian Sport Horse PREMIUM Stallion, with the second highest score of the day. The judges commented on his super walk and canter, great hindquarters and that his top conformation had allowed him to race until the age of 10 and remain sound. It is wonderful to see a Canadian Thouroughbred added to the CSHA stallion ranks. More information for bookings to Romey can be found here http://www.scsporthorses.com
Again in November Half Moon Romance did us proud at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto Ontario . We had hoped for a good placing in the Thoroughbred classes, but Romey overwhelmed us with his sweep of Grand Champion Tb, Jockey Club award and Reserve Champion CSH. It was fantastic to have a horse of his calibre to show at a venue as well known as the Royal Winter Fair. Now, we can hardly wait until next year, to have his babies out and showing.
Romeo will make a wonderful cross on your sport horse mares. His temperment is one in a million, super easy to work with and eagar to please. His exceptional walk and canter will improve the gaits on any preformance horse. You can watch for Romey to be shown in Dressage this summer, just to add to the already amazing career this boy has !.
