Beautiful coverage of the February UPHA Winter Tournament by Mary Beth Alosa Photography

I had a wonderful time last Sunday officiating at the UPHA Winter Tournament horse show held at Cater Stables. Kristen, David and Mary are great hosts. There was a great turnout and Mother Nature blessed us with mild temperatures. I had great fun working from the center of the ring with ringmaster Gary Saccocia, Jr. who many of your know is half of our amazing dental team of Dad and son. Gary Sr. and Jr. are the finest professionals and wonderful friends.

Mary Beth Alosa photographed the event and proofs can be seen at http://www.alosaphotography.com/

"MB" worked so hard all day to get it all right: the timing, the light, the emotion, the moment that we all love to see captured (especially Moms and Dads- I can say this as a horse show Mom!). You can lose yourself in all of MB's beautiful images, take some time to check out her portfolios.

Check out the future of equitation! All of these tots were able to tell me where their heels are supposed to go, what those funny silver things their feet go into are called, and what color their horses were. More than a couple looked at me like they were surprised a grown up didn't know what color their horse was, which was unexpected and made me laugh!

Maggie has everything in place perfectly! Mom & Instructor Kim Timmons of Afterthought Farm brought several riders out who showed equal form and poise.

Johnny Lettre showed us all how hard he has been working on his posting this winter. Mom Sarah looks on- in a rare moment of holding still! Sarah does a phenomenal job organizing and coordinating the Chapter 14's Winter Tournamnent Series.

All business!

All photos are courtesy of Mary Beth Alosa and Alosa Photography. http://www.alosaphotography.com/

Oh except for this one below of "Baby Girl" Cater! I took it. Hence the tail only half in the photo. Horse show fans, do you remember the tiny days old abandoned kitten found abandoned out behind one of the back barns during Big E 2008? Kristen adopted her and literally brought her back to life. As Mrs. Spann explained to me that she's become "half dog and half human". She is a member of the family, is thriving and adorable!!!!!

Fun with the NVS Ladies

If you haven't made it to Ladies Night here's what you missed! Please join us at the next one, taking place on March 19th. We've been having a great time, improving our riding in a supportive fun environment, working on strength and balance exercises to launch us ahead for show season and trail riding days ahead.

Jaclyn from Nutrena speaks to an enthusiastic crowd.

Ladies Night featured a seminar with Jaclyn Gallant, our Equine Nutrition Specialist at Nutrena. She explained the choices we make for our horses and the superiority of it over other programs based on predispositions and needs of performance show horses. Jaclyn offers us wonderful support. One of the services she offers is testing the quality and composition of our hay, which we appreciate. Kit took home information shared by Jaclyn. A majority of our Ladies Night participants are horse (and donkey!) owners, who not only keep them here but set up horsekeeping at home.

Every one very much enjoyed the information she shared with us on Thursday and left with all of our questions answered.

Gretchen is all smiles after her ride!

Shanafelt. Caity Shanafelt 007.

Jane had a blast & did not complain even one time about the english saddle.

Patti & her 4 legged friend both have their ears up!

Jaclyn and Tiffany were pretty as a picture.

Annie not only found time to laugh, ride and have fun but cater the party with her delicious Cajun sweet potato and crab bisque.

Kit and I discuss if there is life without donkeys...

Trust me, you don't wanna know.
There was a red wine spill here moments earlier. In yet another educational moment brought to you by NVS Ladies Night we learned to assist in cleanup pour a little (eek!) white wine (trust me it was a sacrifice) on top of the red wine to dilute it and you're on the road to NO stain!
See you on March 19th! Advance reservations are required, email Sharon @ villastables@gmail.com or call: 860-535-1038.

And we close with the smoooooth sounds of Mr. Zac Casey who popped in to serenade us. It takes a brave man to drop in on Ladies Night, ground where even Nicholas fears to tread. Enjoy!

www.wagonteamster.com

This is about the saddest thing I've heard in a long time.

A man named Bob Skelding, from Deerfield, NH where we travel frequently to horse shows, went off last fall in a custom made wagon and 4 Percherons to travel across the country. He was struck by a tractor trailer in Mississippi yesterday, two of his beautiful horses were killed & the other two trapped in the wreckage for some time. Bob is in critical condition and family members are lucky to be not severely injured.

Here's a link to some of the news footage: http://www.mahalo.com/Bob_Skelding

and a link to his blog, which is entertaining as well as inspiring. Chillingly it ends abruptly on 2/9.

http://www.wagonteamster.com/index.html

Get well, Bob and our prayers are with you.

This weather! Don't leave home without this!

Girls, don't head to the barn without this. As a former Burt's Beeswax lip balm fan, I'm onto something far superior- it's like a pamper and a spa treatment each and every time you use it! We're all miserable in this humdinger of a winter but do we need chapped lips on top of it? I don't think so!

Smith's Rosebud Salve