Newberry, Fl: Three year old Balmullo’s Mr. Peeps (C. R. Roaringwater Bay X Tullymor’s Shandora) and Cassie Gaissier ventured out to a second dressage show, this time the Alachua County 4H show at Canterbury Equestrian Showplace. They came home with two blue ribbons for their introductory tests! Their scores were a 70% and a 69%. Barbara Beckford, riding her Balmullo’s Swamp Fox (Seven Hills Grey Ghost X Ballywhim Candace), received a 67% and a first place for their Training Level Test 2.

Balmullo’s Mr. Peeps

Balmullo’s Swamp Fox

Orange Park Acres, CA: Kathy Lucas wrote the following account of the miraculous training of her two wonderful Blue Eyed Creams, Village Pearl (Castlestrange Fionn X Canal Loretta [ by Callowfeenish Mairtin]) and Blue Ridge Honeymoon (*Hayselden Perseus X Moxley Cream Soda [ by Aladdin]). Kathy bought the two (one a granddaughter of the famous Village Laura) at great BEC prices as they are guaranteed to produce duns when bred to her bay stallion, Cashel Rock of Ages (by Custusha’s Cashel Rock). Her kids won’t let her ride the young ponies anymore so her vet recommended the Cowboys for their training. This is what Kathy had to say:
“Day one: Cowboy Kenny and his assistant young cowboy Daniel took the girls out of the horse trailer and hand trot them to the bull pen to make sure they are sound. One at a time they wore them out in the bull pen with Kenny on a pony horse and the little pink girls in just a halter, put the saddle on (no bucks), took them both directions at w-t-c (no bucks). The smaller of the cowboys (Daniel) got on, Cowboy Kenny led them around w-t-c gave the lead line to Daniel and said ‘remember to keep her head up!’ Daniel rode both ponies, one at a time, at w-t-c in the bull pen for about 10 min. (no bucks) and put them away at opposite ends of the farm because they were to herd bound to each other.
Day 2: Daniel saddled the BEC's one at a time and rode in the arena with Kenny on his big grey next to each pony for 20 min both at w-t-c. (no bucks) and put them away.
Day 3: Both girls had a little swelling at the girth so no saddle, bare back riding and today a bridle, snaffle bit. Rode the girls around the ranch, next to Kenny for 20 min. (No bucks)
Day 4: Swelling gone so saddles back on and down the street they went with a group of four other horses… just like they had been doing it all their life. Very busy street too. Both were calm and just walked with nose wagging a little back and forth in the rhythm of the walk.
Day 5: I went out to the ranch to see how the girls were doing. Kenny had been calling me everyday and I thought I should go check it out for myself. They were both saddled and bridled in the cow pen alley with cow girls on them. Cowboy Kenny and Cowboy Daniel were in the roping arena teaching some green city cowboys how to head and heel the steers. Then a cowboy would chase the steer out the gate, where Honeymoon and Pearl would take turns herding the steer back into the shoot with the cow girls on board. Steer turns the wrong way, the cowgirls would turn the ponies and canter after it and bring it back!
As I sat on the fence with both my mouth and eyes wide open, Cowboy Kenny calls to me ‘Hey Kathy, got any more of them ponies?’ The BEC Girls will be there for 25 more days. Training paid in full at $250.00 each! As Kenny says ‘its all about keeping their brain too busy to let their hind end think about buckin!’ I smiled the whole 30 min home. So simple and yet amazing!”

Richmond, VA: Three year old Summer Fraughnaugh and her nine year old cousin, Zeta Bogan, dressed up 23 year old Courtney’s April Frolic (Cushtusha’s Cashel Rock X Aillte Mhuire) as Peter Pan and rode in the Mechanicsville Halloween Horse Show.

Summer was Tinkerbelle and Zeta was Wendy.

Bloomfield, IN: Erin Lemrow sent this lovely Fall photo of 20 year old Tre Awain Miss Muffett aka Maggie (Tre Awain Donoghoo X *Maggie of Abbeyleix) and future equestrian, Roseanna Lemrow. Maggie is the mother of Willow’s Lord of the Dance, by Landsdown Willow’s Harbour Boy.

Lexington, KY: The sport of Combined Driving is said to be a great equalizer. Horses and ponies of all different shapes, sizes and colors compete in the very same arena. “The 2008 Lexington CDE Classic had Friesians and Fjords, Arabians and Appaloosas, Saddlebreds and Shetlands, Dartmoors and Dutch Harness Horses, Haflingers and Holsteiners, Paint crosses and Percheron crosses, Lipizzans, Thoroughbred crosses, Quarter Horse crosses, and many, many more.” INCLUDING CONNEMARAS! Nearly 70 entries started the event at the Preliminary, Intermediate and FEI levels. Janelle Marshall of South Carolina took first place in the Single Pony class with a score of 97.13. Her partner was a five-year-old Connemara gelding, Cap’t Jack Sparrow. They received the best dressage score, 45.78 penalty points. Several of the intermediate-level drivers received dressage scores in the mid-40s, but of those , Kimberly Stover of Smyrna, DE, and her seven-year-old Connemara/Thoroughbred-cross, Laughlin, received the lowest score, 44.44 penalty points.