There are certain times in your life that you will always remember as a high point.\u00a0 This past weekend was one of those times for me.\u00a0 Our horse show was amazing!\u00a0 I\u2019m so overwhelmed that I\u2019m not sure where to start or stop.\u00a0 I\u2019ve listed some of the things that I am thankful for.<\/p>\n
Thank you to my family.<\/strong>\u00a0 Lee, Luke, Izzy, Jacob and Beka, I really could not do this without you. Thank you, kids, for getting up at 5:30am to help feed the horses, so that all of our students can ride.\u00a0 \u00a0Lee, how many husbands would spend 2 days helping with a horse show?….. you don\u2019t even like horses!!\u00a0 You continue to humor and support me in my, more than full time, \u00a0job that makes no money.\u00a0\u00a0 For those of you who I have not told.\u00a0\u00a0 We did our taxes for 2011 and the final \u201cincome\u201d for the year was\u00a0negative\u00a0$100.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While that sounds awful, we (I) feel so blessed with the time that I get to spend with horses and people who love horses.<\/p>\n Thank you to my boarders.<\/strong>\u00a0 It was so fun to see you enjoy your horses.\u00a0 You all work so hard to keep your horses fit, continue to educate yourselves and work to pay for your \u201chabit\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of you work outside jobs and some of you work here at BrownHill.\u00a0 Thank you for sharing the ring with our lesson students, and the wonderful way that you great and welcome everyone who comes thru the front doors of our barn.\u00a0 Thank you for being an important part of our\/my family.<\/p>\n Our Students,\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0you are wonderful!\u00a0\u00a0 You all rode well!\u00a0 Yes, there were mistakes, but you all did your very best and were wonderfully supportive of each other.\u00a0 \u00a0And, no one fell off!!!\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Results will be posted, in the barn, within the next week<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>There were 44 students riding this year, not counting parents and siblings in the leadline classes.\u00a0 This is the most students we have ever had show.\u00a0 There were 17 of our regular students who were unable to show this year, we missed you and hope that you\u2019ll join us in the spring for our Dressage show.\u00a0\u00a0 A special note of thanks to the students who were willing to switch horses so that no horse was overused and everyone got to ride.\u00a0 There were at least four riders, who I can think of (I\u2019m sure there are more) who rode horses on Saturday for the very first time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Family\u2019s and Guests of our Students,<\/strong>\u00a0 I\u2019ve had years where parents have yelled at me!\u00a0 You all supported your riders, sat for hours waiting for their classes and cheered on other riders.\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you to every parent &\/or child who helped hand out ribbons, park cars, move jumps, hold horses, running after food that we needed, clean up afterwards and the many other jobs that need to be done to make our show successful.<\/p>\n My heavenly \u201cweatherman\u201d,<\/strong>\u00a0 what wonderful weather.\u00a0 Yep, I agree, it was cold.\u00a0 But in the past, we\u2019ve had shows where it rained the entire time, we\u2019ve gone to outside shows where it was so hot that we thought we\u2019d pass out, we\u2019ve had days where we couldn\u2019t see from one end of the ring to the other because of the dust.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019ve raced to the barn because of lightening and we\u2019ve shoveled for days to be able to ride in a small circle.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Really, this was wonderful weather for a show!!<\/p>\n The Raffle\u00a0<\/strong>is always fun.\u00a0 Thank you to those folks who donated items.\u00a0 (I thought the items were really great this year) thank you also to those who purchased tickets.\u00a0 We earned $243 to be used toward our Club House for 4-H, pony parties, and camps.\u00a0 The results of the raffle are posted in the barn.<\/p>\n Our Judges<\/strong>, Jennifer and Deb, sat over in the shade for hours on end.\u00a0 It\u2019s not easy to choose a winner sometimes and since we group students together with\u00a0 other riders at the same level, sometimes it\u2019s just a matter of what they see in the few minutes that a class is in the ring.\u00a0 Thank you for giving it your all, I know it\u2019s exhausting, you did a great job!<\/p>\n The food stand;\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>thank you so much to all who donated food and drinks and to those who purchased their\u00a0 meals here.\u00a0\u00a0 We appreciate it more than you may ever know.\u00a0\u00a0 We were able to raise $337 to be used toward the Club House.<\/p>\n Thank you to\u00a0my Parents,<\/strong>\u00a0Paul and Margaret Allison.\u00a0\u00a0 My father sold a gun to help my mother and I purchase our first horse, Dexter.\u00a0\u00a0 He recently loaned me the money to purchase Mr. Darcy.\u00a0\u00a0 My mother supports BrownHill Stable in more ways than I can count.\u00a0 We have been riding together since 1985, starting together at Bridge Acres Stable in Lancaster and later purchasing our first 3 horses together.\u00a0 Mum (Grandma to all the BrownHill Students) cleans all 8 stalls every Wednesday and then takes a lesson.\u00a0 (All in 3 hours)\u00a0 She supports the raffles, food stand, name-a-trail and numerous other \u201cbrain storms\u201d of mine.\u00a0 All of this while hunting with my father, visiting my other 4 sisters, and caring for her mother.<\/p>\n Staff here at BrownHill Stable.<\/strong><\/p>\n First thank you for everyone who covered the work that needed to be done to keep the horses fed, stalls clean and show prep done as our family mourned the loss of my maternal grandmother, Zelma Hoar.\u00a0 She passed away late last Friday (5th<\/sup>) and the viewing and funeral were Monday and Tuesday of this past week.\u00a0 While she lived many happy years (almost 97), her husband, George passed away 5 years ago and she was very ready to join him.\u00a0\u00a0 She passed quietly as my mother (Super Grandma) sat holding her hand.<\/p>\n Thank you to our\u00a0Instructors,<\/strong>\u00a0Amy, Mindy, Paula and Jr. Instructors, Beka and Brianna.\u00a0 You are amazing and I\u2019m so thankful for all that you do.\u00a0 You stand up in that ring in all kinds of weather for hours on end to insure that our students stay safe, have fun and learn lots.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If we take students to a show off the property, Amy and I have 3-6 students to help.\u00a0 Imagine the huge job of insuring that 44 riders are mounted properly and in the ring at the right time!!!\u00a0 I love to watch how protective and loving you each become with your students.<\/p>\n When is last place not losing?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ribbons tell stories, some good, some bad.\u00a0\u00a0 This weekend I had the privilege of receiving a 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0place ribbon.\u00a0 Last place, actually, but a ribbon that will hang in my office so that I will see it every day.\u00a0\u00a0 I had the honor of riding in a family class with my mother, Margaret Allison. (Riding CC for only the second time), my daughter, Beka Brown, riding Dixie (a horse who had been ridden for a total of 30 days and had sustained an injury due to a fall on ice prior to Beka purchasing her a year and a half ago).\u00a0 My niece, Sarah Houck, who has ridden for a whopping 3 months and my niece Libby Falcone who joined us for camp this year for two weeks.\u00a0\u00a0 Five of us trying to stay together\u2026.it was interesting!!<\/p>\n What stories do your ribbons tell, did you move up a division this year, was it your first canter class, your first jumping class?\u00a0 Was this a class that you remembered\u00a0 to check your diagonal?\u00a0 Write on the back of your ribbons, how many were in the class, who you rode, the date, the class name and a high point of the class. \u00a0\u00a0We joke, in our family, that some of Beka\u2019s ribbons cost $75-$100. (In the outside shows if you\u2019re not in the top 6 places you don\u2019t get a ribbon.)\u00a0 But what is the real value of those ribbons, in life lessons, education, sportsmanship????<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Heading into Fall:<\/strong><\/p>\n As we head out of our super busy time of the year, we look forward to the cooler weather (ideal for riding) and the coming Christmas season, please\u00a0 see your instructor with questions about winter riding.\u00a0 While there are some challenges with winter weather, fall, winter and spring are wonderful times to ride, don\u2019t miss out on these delightful seasons.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>HOW LONG IS MY LESSON?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0All lessons are 1 hour long.\u00a0 For leadline students (age 6 and under) and new students in their first or second month of lessons, that hour includes learning how to groom, tack up and untack your horses or pony.<\/p>\n Current students over the age of 6 need to arrive at\u00a0least 15 minutes before\u00a0the start of their lesson and\u00a0remain for 15 minutes after their lesson.\u00a0 This will give you the time that is needed to get your horse tacked or untacked.<\/p>\n If circumstances do not allow you to do this, we will need to have someone tack and untack your horse to keep the lessons fair for all of our riders.\u00a0 In order for us to have someone do this for you, we will be charging an extra $5. per lesson, to be paid with your lesson block.<\/p>\n There are times when the horse\/pony that you are riding is being ridden before your lessons.\u00a0 In that case, use the time to figure out if there needs to be a tack change. (There is usually someone to help with this or a note left for you by your instructor.)\u00a0 Or come up to the ring and watch the lesson before you.\u00a0 (There\u2019s always something to learn.) \u00a0\u00a0Or do some stretching exercises (there is a poster with suggestions on the tack room door), trampoline or ball work.<\/p>\n If you are dropping off a child (under the age of 9) and there is no one in the barn, either stay until someone arrives or come up to the ring and find the instructor.\u00a0 Please always feel free to come ask your instructor!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are certain times in your life that you will always remember as a high point.\u00a0 This past weekend was one of those times for me.\u00a0 Our horse show was amazing!\u00a0 I\u2019m so overwhelmed that I\u2019m not sure where to … Continue reading