PSA for all Boarders & Students...

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We would like to remind EVERYONE who handles horses and rides at Sport Horse that all shared common areas are to be left clean and picked up after you have used them. What that specifically means is CLEANING UP AFTER YOURSELF AND YOUR HORSE! For example… If you utilize cross ties or the wash rack you are expected to sweep up any hair, poop and hoof pickings BEFORE OR/AND AFTER YOUR RIDE. If you walk through the isleways to/from the indoor you are expected to pick up any poop or arena sand or stall shavings you left behind as soon as you secure your horse in it’s stall. If your horse poops in the arena while you are riding or lessoning (and yes, they all do!) it is your responsibility to come back to the arena and pick it up. Nothing degrades footing quicker than organic matter left in the arena. Making a point of picking up a pile after your ride, whether it is “yours” or not is not as important as your contribution. All tools needed (shovels, brooms, stall forks) for these responsibilities are easily located in the isle-ways and arenas. If you have trouble doing so please ask for assistance, otherwise your lack of action will be perceived as irresponsible.

Lastly, please check the turn out schedule in the Main Barn “Info Box” (located right above the payment box) after your ride/lesson and turn your horse/mount out accordingly. With the majority of week day lessons beginning after 16:00 and running until 19:30 the turn out protocols are becoming increasingly difficult to implement after these hours. With the current pasture limitations most horses are scheduled to go out either daily or every other day so please be diligent about checking this schedule and turning your horse out so that they don’t miss their rotation. All horses are turned out in their respective groups for the sake of the sanity and safety of each individual horse. If you have any questions or concerns voice them before assuming! If you are the last student here at the end of the day please secure the isle guards of the indoor and main barn isle-ways and turn off all lights before leaving.

These matters apply to boarders as well as lesson students, your cooperation and efforts are appreciated! Thank you!

EquiFest Wrap Up...

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It’s been just a bit over a month ago since we traveled to the Lamplight Equestrian Center in Chicago for the first time in over 18 years! The drive along the much stressful and dreaded route combined with the sweltering heat of that week had us exhausted. The facilities were as beautiful as we recalled and even though we had no intention of waiting this long to write our summary of that visit, upon our return home life on the farm got the better of us and here we are… Better late than never comes to mind!

With the vast video selection at our disposal we wanted to summarize the competition with a creative flair so without further ado enjoy these memories we’ve created for you! Congrats to all for your efforts and we hope to visit the beautiful facility of the Lamplight Equestrian Center again in 2024!

SHi Events Calendar Update...

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The horse show schedule for the upcoming fall/winter season has been finalized. Before we update the SHi Events calendar we wanted to share the notifications settings so that additions and changes to the calendar will alert you automatically vs. having to periodically just check the calendar for updates. I have included demonstrations with a dummy google account for reference below and having completed this set up the notifications appear to be working correctly:

1. On your google calendar page find the “SHi Events” tab and hover over the three dots to the left until the shadow box appears with “settings”.

 

2. The settings page for the SHi Events Calendar will display. Select “Event Notifications”.

3. From the drop down menu select which notifications you would like to receive. You should get an email letting you know of any additions, edits or cancellations as per your specifications.

If you have not yet received an invite to this calendar please notify me with your email address and I will add you to the group. Thank you and happy planning y’all!

Waterloo Wrap Up...

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Apparently a lot has changed over the years… So says our fearless leader who’s first horse show and only visit to the Waterloo Hunt Club prior to this summer was as a groom some forty plus years ago! Fast forward to a beautiful facility once you survive the horrible 1/2 mile long driveway to get there (yes, it’s worse than Brave Horse), brief video tour enclosed. The staff and overall experience was nothing short of wonderful and we plan on making this a regular summer horse show destination!

As always, enjoy some of the memories and congrats to all of the team for their stellar efforts!

Brave Horse Wrap Up...

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We are happy to be home after a scorching week at the beautiful Ohio facility of Brave Horse. We appreciated their new GGT footing in literally every ring and the endless supply of water for riders and mints by every single in gate. Despite some of the usual struggles of showing in new environments y’all managed to fill the Sport Horse banner with ribbons. Congrats everyone and enjoy these memories :)


Kentucky Spring Wrap Up...

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The Young Jumper Trio traveled to the Kentucky Horse Park May 10-14th participating in their respective divisions of the 5, 6 and 7 year olds. The weather was more than cooperative, the show venue top notch and the courses and competition challenging and proving to be a great preparation for the finals coming up in September. Hombre finished the week winning two of his 5 year old classes, Chuck earned a 5th in the 6 year olds and Lucky a 7th and 9th placing in the 7 year olds. We’re grateful for the opportunity and the efforts by all, CONGRATS!

The need for SPEED...

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It takes exactly 1 minute and 20 seconds at 5 mph to pull from the road to the front of the old barn parking lot. Yet last evening a white SUV managed to drive from the front of the old barn to the road in exactly 26 seconds. It is incomprehensible that anyone would feel the need to speed up and down the driveway past our residence with this much inconsideration. Yet, it happens. Again and again. Anyone who knows Brian knows that he will go to great lengths to protect his dogs and horses and we do often go for walks at night with and without our dogs (and cat). While we realize that kiddos sometimes have various “rides” from others to the barn, we also do have a very clearly posted speed limit sign. Initial warnings via text will commence, in the meantime we are considering other means of enforcing the speed limit including installing a simple farm gate and creating parking spaces up by the road directly across from our house. We would prefer neither but are simply asking for a bit of consideration for our farm and home. 1.20 is the magic number!

H&H April Wrap Up...

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Congratulations to all for putting forth your best efforts this past weekend. It may have blown something fierce, it may have sprinkled, it may even have snowed a bit but y’all managed to have a good time and put ribbons on the wall :)


WEC March Wrap Up...

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In spite of the delay of arriving at the horse show a day late (thanks Motorhome 😒) everyone put their best foot forward. It was another very busy week with many miles walked and many trips in the ring and no shortage of ribbons won! Congrats to all and thank you again for sharing your moments with all of us :)


Important Safety Update!

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We were hoping spring would arrive early and help alleviate some of the afternoon/evening traffic congestion in the isleways of the Main Barn… However based on the forecast for the next couple of weeks we are not quite there yet. We’ve had some very close calls of serious kicking incidents mainly due to horses trying to pass other horses in cross-ties and walking past open stalls doors on their way to the indoor. The cross-ties at the south end of the Main Barn isle (by the bathoom) have been taken down, they are particularly dangerous with that access to the indoor being so limiting and very very busy.

In an effort to help alleviate some cross tie traffic we have installed tie rings in all of the Main Barn and Old Barn stalls, please consider utilizing them in lieu of cross-ties. For anyone continuing to use the remaining cross-ties after 16:00 on any given week day, do not “park” your horse in the isle-way without your immediate supervision. Grooming, tacking and cleaning up of your immediate area should be efficiently done within a 15 minute window. While we do not want to impose a “time limit” we ask everyone to be considerate, clean up after yourself so the next person doesn’t start with your mess and always always consider safety around the horses!

WEC February 2023 Wrap Up...

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Congrats to Team Sport Horse for your stellar efforts this past week! And a long one it was… Arriving Monday to unload and set up and leaving mid afternoon Sunday our fearless leader wore himself out trying to keep up with all 9 horses. There were moments of brilliance, naughtiness, great efforts with and without reward and everything in between… As always we appreciate the sharing of your memories and without further ado, enjoy the highlights captured below…

Important Lesson Schedule Update...

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After a very long and exhausting week of horse showing our fearless leader is in serious need of some R&R. With this in mind all lessons with Brian are canceled for the remainder of this last full week of February. He has expressed interest in possibly teaching Saturday or Sunday, February 25th or 26th with a clinic type format pending his ability to kick the curent cooties he’s battling. We appreciate your understanding and will keep you advised of the plan for the weekend!

Important Lesson Schedule Update...

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It’s no secret how challenging it is nowadays to get one on one time with our extraordinary trainer Brian… With the lesson schedule bursting at the seams the writing has been on the wall for a while but we’ve tried to juggle it all and succeeding most days anyway. However… there are only so many hours in the day and only so many days in the week, the time to prioritize has come. Due to these time constraints Brian has after much deliberation decided to dedicate his private lesson spots to showing clients and horses in training exclusively. We will continue to match up riders in appropriate group and semi-private spots as best as we are able and appreciate your understanding and continued support. Expect emails/texts regarding any scheduling changes in the next couple of days. Thank you!

WEC January 2023 Wrap Up...

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Congrats to the Sport Horse Team with a great start to the 2023 year… Some tough rides were required but everyone put ribbons on the wall. Thank you for sharing your memories with us, enjoy these moments and see y’all at the next one!

WEC December 2022 Wrap Up...

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Yes, it’s January already and the December WEC show post is just now making its debut. It’s been an exceptionally busy month, between the holidays, the deep freeze that followed, and just plain attempting to keep up with daily operations of it all…

This particular show proved to be an emotional one…

On the first night of our arrival whilst preparing for schooling, Christina got kicked by approaching an unaware horse from behind by simply walking into the stall and placing her hand on it’s rump. Six broken ribs and lacerations of the liver, spleen and kidney, a stark consequence for such a simple gesture. Be reminded to “sleep with one eye open” or To remain vigilant at all times, especially by remaining partially awake or sleeping only lightly so as to avoid being caught off guard. Christina is healing well, although bored and in true equestrian style itching to get back to riding. We miss her smiling face around the barn and hope to see her back in action by February/March.

Thank you to everyone who shared their memories. And now without further ado, here are the highlights of the December performances… Enjoy!