2019 Archive
9/15/19: Another day, another horse trial! As the eventing season winds down (we only have 2 events left!) and the mornings get colder and dewey-er, we've moved squarely into fall and I love it! Crunchy leaves, that crispness in the air, fresh horses with a little too much energy - what's not to love! Today was the Stone Gate Horse Trial. Stone Gate's facility was in top notch shape and the cross country course was so cute all dressed up in fall and Halloween decorations. We had a fabulous day, and for the very first time ever, all six starter riders placed, earning themselves a rainbow of pretty ribbons!
9/8/19: Well, the mini trial today at South Farm was rather (too) eventful! Because we haven't gotten rain in so long, the ground was incredibly hard and quite slippery. Kelly's mount Charlie slipped while turning a corner in Cross Country and fell all the way down. Kelly came off hard and hit her head, prompting an ER visit to check her out for a concussion. While at the end of the day everyone wound up fine (a week off for Charlie to recover and a week off for Kelly with no riding) it was pretty scary and really reinforced the necessity of wearing a good quality cross country vest and helmet! WRF had 14 horse/rider combos compete. Of note, this was Gina's first event competing at Novice and she rocked it, earning a pretty third place ribbon.
8/25/19: Much to our delight, Chagrin Valley Farms put on a mini trial for the very first time! CVF is practically in the backyard of the North WRF crew, so we were happy to take 12 horse/rider combos to support their first ever mini trial. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they someday held a full fledged HORSE TRIAL at CVF?! In the meantime, we'll gladly attend any mini trials the CVF group puts on!
8/18/19: What absolutely fantastic weather we've had for the mini trials this year! This Sunday's mini trial at the Bath Pony Club was no different - bright blue skies, a gentle breeze, and plenty of sun! The WRF Eventing team took 15 horses and riders, all of whom did spectacularly. What a great day!
8/3/19: We're home from the Central Ohio Haflinger Show! What a great weekend! WRF always enjoys attending breed shows - it pushes us to be as well rounded as possible. Our team competed in Dressage, Trail, Games, Halter, Showmanship, Driving, Cones, Western, English, and Jumping. WRF took sixteen haflingers, who were simply fantastic all weekend long. As always, a HUGE thank you to all the fabulous and devoted parents who make everything possible!
7/22/19: What a PHENOMENAL weekend!! The Penny Oaks Horse Trial remains one of our favorite Horse Trials each year, and we have such a fun time trekking out to the Hoosier Horse Park in Indiana. We had two riders take home blue in their respective divisions (out of some HUGE divisions!) and another six of our riders placed within their division and took home some pretty ribbons. ALL ELEVEN riders completed all three phases, with not a single rider getting eliminated. And most importantly, we had a GREAT time!!
7/17/19: Warm summer nights call for cross country schooling fun! The WRF eventing team is getting tuned up for the Penny Oaks Horse Trial in Indiana next weekend.
7/2/19: What a wonderful time we had at the Buckeye Haflinger Show! A HUGE thanks to the show committee for all their hard work and dedication. WRF had 17 haflingers attend and over twenty (!!) riders and drivers. A big thank you to all the parents who chipped in over the weekend, you ROCK!
6/25/19: What a busy weekend! The WRF show teams were busy competing in TWO different states this past weekend! First, the WRF Combined Driving team left Thursday morning to head to the Metamora CDE in Michigan. Heather entered the single pony training division with Straightshot of Excellence ("Scotty") and Lou entered the training pony pair division with Glinda RVM and Gretchen RVM. Both drivers had fantastic weekends and enjoyed some excellent drives with their favorite horses.
The WRF Eventing Team competed in the Stone Gate Mini Trial on Sunday. Eight horse and rider pairs enjoyed a beautiful sunny day. Megan and Excellence Defined HOF ("Belle") took home a blue in the Beginner Novice division and Nicole and Melody of Excellence took home a blue in the Starter Division! The rest of the riders also had phenomenal rides, bringing home a nice assortment of rainbow ribbons and having a wonderful time hanging out with their teammates. Enjoy some pictures below!
6/15/19: Heather took Straightshot of Excellence ("Scotty") to an HDT at Windy Knoll over the weekend. Scotty is turning out to be quite the combined driving horse! Heather and Scotty, and Lou and his team (Gretchen RVM and Glinda RVM) are headed to Michigan for the Metamora CDE this upcoming weekend. Wish them luck!
6/1/19: What a fantastic day! The weather was (mostly) beautiful for the Combined Test at South Farm. It was sunny and warm right up until the very last ride of the day. Leah had one remaining dressage test to go when we started to hear faint rumblings of thunder. As she took her courtesy lap around the outside of the dressage arena a rather enormous lighting bolt touched down nearby. The show was immediately halted and poor Leah trekked back to the trailer. All dressed up and no place to go! We debuted a new horse at the show! Heart of Gold HOF ("Sundance") is our newest addition to the WRF Haflinger family. She was fantastically behaved, taking everything in stride. Sundance was primarily a broodmare in her prior life. I wonder what she thinks of her new job as a performance horse?!
5/27/19: The WRF Eventing Team took 6 Haflingers to May-Daze in Kentucky over the weekend and it was HOT! We're definitely not used to 90+ degree weather yet. A fabulous time was had by all, and some of our team members even snuck in a tour of a Bourbon Distillery! Our friend Taylor, who rides on the High Flying Haflinger Drill Team, brought her OTTB, Maddie, and crashed our Haflinger Party! The girls and their horses had some really fantastic rides over the course of the weekend. Enjoy some pictures below!
5/19/19: Whew! What a BUSY weekend! Did you get a chance to catch our Wizard of Oz performance at HorseFest?! Check out some pictures below:
5/12/19: We really lucked out with the weather for the Winona Horse Trials. It was supposed to rain the whole weekend, but we saw the sun ALL day Saturday. In fact, most of the team ended up with sunburns by the end of the day! We took 11 Haflingers from the farm to compete and had a fantastic weekend!
5/4/19: It was just a weeeeeee bit wet at the Combined Test at South Farm today. 9 horses and 10 riders braved the elements to put in some fabulous rides and have fun with their teammates!
4/19/19: In case you didn't get to see the video of our Fantasia performances, here it is! We had an absolute blast performing, and can't wait to do it again!
4/7/19: We're getting ready to leave for EQUINE AFFAIRE!! We'll have twenty horses there this year, so swing by our aisle and say hi!
4/1/19: The WRF team has been busy! This past weekend we took 11 horses to the Chagrin Valley Dressage Show. The riders and their horses did spectacularly. Enjoy some pictures below!
2/17/19: Welcome to 2019! You might notice that the website got an overhaul - hopefully you like it! One of my new year's resolutions is to keep this space updated in a more timely fashion. Fingers crossed!
2/3/19: The WRF Eventing Team attended a Jumper Schooling Show at Chagrin Valley. Enjoy some pictures below:
