Over the Fence

Please come help us work around the barn on July 10th or 11th! We’ll be organizing and cleaning the barn area up!!

Let Katie Cole, JJay or Bev know if you can come on Saturday, Sunday or both days!!!

1.) We would like to send out a huge welcome to Cheryl! She had her first lesson on Bud on May 30th! Looked like a great ride and perhaps the start of a wonderful friendship!!

2.) Rowan discovered that Dusty can climb creek banks –Even steep ones!! Good job sticking to the tack!!!

3.) Julia learned how to canter on Dusty!!

4.) Bev won first place in her division at Wheeler Green on 5/29/10!

“All I pay my psychiatrist is the cost of feed and hay, and he’ll listen to me any day.”  ~Author Unknown

Everything I know about myself I have learned from a horse.
If I was harsh, he softened me. 
If I was wrong, he showed me who was right. 
If I was impatient, he slowed me down. 
If I was arrogant he taught me humility. 
If I was stagnate, he kept me moving… 

The horse has a way of carrying us in more ways than we will ever know.

They have an uncanny ability to comfort us when we are down.  Even when we are down because we have fallen off, they give us “that” look!  That look that says, I don’t know how you ended up down there, but get back up and it will be ok!    JJ talks about the love that we have for them being (as she likes to quote Mr. Spock) completely illogical.  But I think the more amazing thing is the love and comfort they give to us when we need it. It’s not illogical, it’s magical.

Every person, young or old, should have the opportunity to experience the thrill of the horse, feel his muzzle on the back of your hand searching for a treat and learn the lessons he is willing to share.

“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” ~Winston Churchill

This year it was only MJ and myself who went.  Luckily, we had clear skies for the drive down, unlike many of the international competitors who had erupting volcanoes disrupting their travel plans.  It took some riders 55 hours of travel to get to Kentucky!

Leading up to Rolex there was a lot of buzz surrounding Oliver Townend who was favored to win.  Having already won the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, he will earn the “Triple Crown” of eventing if he takes Rolex Kentucky, too!  On top of the general excitement of Rolex, this year had an extra special energy!  We had the opportunity to watch some of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Test Events!  The FEI WEG’s are coming to the Kentucky Horse Park in September…do I see another field trip in our future?

Thursday and Friday were spent volunteering, shopping and watching dressage with ponchos overhead and umbrellas in hand.  We saw stunning rides put in by Oliver Townend, Karen O’Connor, William Fox-Pitt and Allison Springer.  It was fantastic to see Allison wearing a helmet during her dressage test, even though she says it wasn’t a statement, I hope many other riders took note.  Thursday night we splurged for stadium seats to take in some of the FEI Freestyle Dressage.  Seven exquisite rides later MJ and I wiped the drool off of our chins and swore that we are going to learn to ride like that! 

A special highlight of Rolex, we made sure to stop by the United States Pony Club Prince Philip Cup Mounted Games exhibition.  On Friday afternoon, some of the world’s best riders joined the Pony Club members, and attempted to tackle the challenge that is known as “riding a pony”!  Much laughter ensued as we watched the likes of Cathy Wieschhoff and Gina Miles master their feisty ponies!

Saturday morning we woke up to cloudy skies and prayers that it wouldn’t rain, AGAIN!  With the threat of severe thunderstorms, the lunch break was cancelled in an attempt to beat the rain.  But the riders lucked out and as the first rider went off, the  clouds parted and we were blessed with sunny skies for the duration of Cross Country!  The footing was fairly dry, and most of the riders put in solid rides, ten of them being clear!  Not 30 minutes after the last rider finished, the skies opened up and the thunder rolled.  The Trade Fair was subsequently closed early due the weather, so the search for breeches, bits, bridles and boots was put off for another day.

Sunday morning MJ drove through Lexington on our traditional Sunday Morning Bluegrass Tour and then it was off to the stadium to cheer on our favorites!  Two withdrawals, seven eliminations and five retirees on course narrowed the field from 52 riders to 39 going into Stadium Jumping.  We watched the Leader board continue to shuffle with each and every ride.  As the last riders went, we crossed our fingers that it wouldn’t rain, and that our favorites would do well!  William Fox-Pitt held on to 1^st to become our 2010 Rolex Kentucky 3 day event Champion!!!  Phillip Dutton placed 2^nd and Becky Holder finished 3^rd! 

More shopping Sunday afternoon and a visit to the Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop and Pony Club Office (with more shopping of course) on Monday morning finished out our trip.  We started our 10 hour journey home already making plans for next year!

-Katie-Cole (the TMB’s new Ghostwrider) (<–look JJ!  I made a pun!)

HA! It worked! We have successfully imported the old blog into the new blog. (And you were so scared it wouldn’t happen. See how silly you were?)

Hello, TMB followers! Apparently, we have fallen quite behind on our website and blog. We have upgraded our blog application, so please excuse us while we learn how to use it! Hopefully, we will be able to transfer our archives from our old system to the new one. This change should allow us to post more pictures and mini-videos, which makes it much more fun!

Spring is just around the corner. (Really, it is! The horses have started shedding…) We look forward to warmer weather, but not the mud that comes with it. We will be updating our website in the next week and will start including upcoming events, including horse shows, clinics, and other fun things to do. Please let us know if you would like to see something specific.

Until next time…

     Nine years ago The Mounting Block was created as a BUSINESS but I wanted a close relationship with the horses who came here and the people who love them.  There have been quite a few changes over the years.  We have lost several of our original mounts mostly to old age and a few to illness or catastrophy.  The people have pretty much stayed the same until this year.  I guess if I were keeping score that’s a good record.  Reasons for leaving a barn are numerous but reasons for staying this long are hard to explain even for me and I own the place!  Could you please tell me why all of you do it?  lt is, as Mr. Spock would say, "totally illogical."   JJ

     Yesterday I almost bought a horse.  The owner had logical reasons for parting with him.  The cost, lack  of time, the cost, lack of time etc.  However logic doesn’t always apply to horse ownership.  Most of us do it for illogical reasons that can’t be explained to  someone like Mr. Spock.  In uncertain times when we worry about so much maybe it’s just nice to be around something that truly lives in the present and only demands "I want my carrot –NOW!  Anyway the ending, happy or not, is that the owner decided to keep the critter for the best of illogical reasons–She loves him.

Hi everybody,

It’s been a while since we’ve updated and I apologize but there is a lot of news to catch up on barnwise.  Horses deal with a lot this time of year.  Changes in the weather call for blankets and sleazies which need to be examined and replaced.  Luckily we have the "Queen of Bargains" searching the universe for quality at affordable prices.  Our goal is for each beastie to have two blankies which can be doubled or swapped as needed to keep them cozy and warm throughout the fall.  Just in-the sawmill in Brockport says the lumber to put rails around the outdoor is ready for pickup so we should have it installed by the end of October.  It will make the ring look a lot better and I am warning every horse/pony on the place that I will perform tooth removal on any equine found chewing the new rails!  We have a new truck named "Detroit" with a dump box so we can haul gravel and sawdust.  It replaces the old blue duelie that sat in the front yard.  I love it when useless things go away and make room for useful things that actually run!  JJ

…the tough expand! At least, that’s what we are hoping to do. Those of you who are members of our barn know that we have good horses, a productive lesson program, and a dedication to continuing our education to pass our knowledge on to our students.
Right now, we are only limited by our current facility. Built in the 1800s as a dairy farm, our buildings are not set up for horses. We have done what we can to make them safe, airy, and suitable for our equine friends, but there is only so much we can do. Occasionally, we get remarks from people visiting our facility that are simply based on our looks, not our program. I suppose we invite those opinions since we are considered a business, but it’s hard to hear them when we work so hard to keep what we have going.
The upside is that once our students start spending time around the barn, they stay (sometimes too long, according to their parents!) We don’t just teach riding at our farm, we teach horse management, elements of training, and theory. So hopefully, if we can give our farm a “facelift”, we will have more opportunities to help people enjoy horses for years to come.
We are not lacking in space. Our farm is 35 acres, which gives us plenty of room to spread out our operation. We are looking at putting up a new indoor and a new barn, provided we can get the finances.
So I challenge all our friends to do some research and tell us what they’d like to see at our farm. We may not be able to use all your ideas, but everything helps as we start the initial planning process.
We are sincerely hoping that those of you already involved with our farm will be pleased with our upcoming changes. We also hope that this will give us the opportunity to meet new faces and incorporate them into our barn family as well.