June 29, 2008

I'm so proud, that I just have to share with you about the success of our Youth Team at the Region 2 Youth Team Championships last weekend at Paxton's. Some of you have probably already seen me floating around the barn beaming about our team's success, and you may have had to stand around and listen to me go on and on about it as well...sorry, but I'm just so very proud of our girls. So, I wanted to share this wonderful information with the rest of you who might not have heard about it yet.

Last weekend, our Dancing Horse Farm Youth Team won the Region 2 Youth Team Championship at the Paxton Farm Cincinnati Summer Dressage Classic. The DHF team was comprised of Amber Adcock riding both her Appaloosa gelding American Baroque and Wendy Hyland’s American Paint Horse Association pony gelding, Captain Gus. Amber was also named Individual Champion of Youth Division A with a high score of 74%! Our other team member was Sarah Wheeler who rode one of Dancing Horse Farm’s pinto lesson pony mares named Snickerdoodle DHF. Sarah successfully raised her scores by 6 points throughout the show and since this was Sarah’s first recognized show and Snickerdoodle’s first show ever, this feat represents a huge accomplishment! Sarah and Snickerdoodle also earned sixth place overall in the inaugural National Pony Cup junior division. The entire DHF family is incredibly proud of the accomplishments of our very talented young riders. What a fantastic way to begin the show season!

We appeared to be the smallest team, with only two riders, but our little team had the biggest overall percentage for both divisions with a 65% average! We surmise that we probably also had the least expensive horses on a team since we had a little ranch pony from Texas, my little lesson pony who was just a trail pony before I bought her, and a lovely, but not expensive, Appaloosa. This is just proof that the cost of the horse doesn't necessarily determine its success in the show arena and that hard work and determination do count for a lot We were certainly the only team who didn't get the memo that we should have had matching team apparel designed for each member, but that didn't stop our girls from going out there and putting in their very best efforts in the show arena. Certainly, next year, we will have very nice matching team shirts and cool stall decorations! Since this was Amber's last year to be on a youth team (the age limit is 21) we are excitedly looking toward next year and will be actively looking for new team members so we can go back to defend our title =)

DHF clients also had many other successes at this show, as well. The highlights are that DHF's eventing instructor and Assistant Barn Manager, Lindsay Lechner, won the First Level Open Championship title for earning the highest percentage in a first level test for the weekend. And Lisalotte and I earned the coveted and rare score of "10" for our entry in a Training level test judged by "S" judge Michael Poulin. Everybody involved had a great time and successes both in and out of the show arena.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. Your support is greatly appreciated.

-Jennifer