New Year's Eve - Riding with Jim Lowe!

We woke up early in the morning to have a few Saddleseat lessons from our trainer Jim Lowe in Somis. His beautiful barn, Mission Pacific, is like a second home and we cherish our time there. It is probably one of Dakota's favorite places too!

We always visit Sera and Khatin Around and take her for a walk so she can show off for everyone! She loves Ashley!

The lessons were fantastic. Hannah had her first saddleseat lesson on Debbie and did great. The other girls were on their second and third lessons respetively and performed incredibly well. We all can't wait for the IEL Shows to begin next year.

The weather was perfect, as was the day and it was the best way to welcome the New Year and plan for the future. Maybe this can be a New Year's tradition?

Congratulations to Our Year End High Point Winners!

A huge congratulations to our Year End High Point Champions! Each girl earned a beautiful silver buckle from Montana Silversmith and customized with sapphires and their names and horses engraved! Nice work, girls!

Division A - Jordan Parr & MCA Crimson Lace

Division B - Ashley Lane & SA Buck Light

Division D - Kristin Kulik & Poets Justice

Horse-Happy Holidays!

The Sapphire Girls stayed busy during the holidays. Some of
the young members finished up the show and gymkhana season
last month with lots of fun and success! Our last show was the
Fall Fantasy Show.

Hidden Hills Horsemen Association's President Bliss Wendelburg (and Jordan's mom!) was able to ride and enjoy the fun. Without her incredible dedication, none of the Hidden Hills shows would be possible.

The 10th Annual "SANTAHANUKHANA" in Hidden Hills was our last gymkhana in 2008. Jordan Parr brought the crowd to their feet with her single barrel run & drop in 9.6 seconds --- it was the fastest time of the day (adults included). It also helped her win the High Point Championship of the Day in Division A!

Brooke Cohen & Lola also earned a High Point Championship in Division B. It was a close race and AHASFV Youth member Julia Broome and her horse Coco were fast on their tails! Emma Nairin and Persja earned the Championship in Division C and Alexa Kramer & Poet won the High Point in Division D! It was a great, fun day!

December Mare of the Month - Ginger Snap!

December's Mare of the Month is Ginger Snap (aka Snapper). She has been so happy to come home to us after her time on the 240 acre pasture over the summer.

She has willingly packed Jessica around and won all of her classes at the last horse show. She has been undefeated in halter since we have owned her and Mandy was able to place in a huge Hunter Hack class after not riding for 3 months.

She is a beautiful, elegant mover, loves Lela, and is enjoys her trail rides in Ahmanson.

She loves jumping and always has great form and picks the perfect spots.

Congratulations, Snapper, our Mare of the Month for December!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

Hannah, Brooke and I brought Dish and the horses to Ahmanson for an afternoon ride. The ride was great. We galloped safely around the beautiful mountains and had a wonderful time. On our way home, we saw a full-arch rainbow across the hills. The rain came shortly after but we didn't care. Lilian came to join us and take pictures. We all had an amazing time!
(Once I figure out how to upload the pictures from my phone, you can all enjoy them!)

Pierce College Equestrian Team Charity Show

Emma & Julia brought Dessa and Coco to a charity event held at the Conejo Arena and organized by the new Pierce College Equestrian Team, "Boots and Saddles". All money generated at this fun event will help send equestrian team members to intercollegiate horse shows.

The classes were diverse and the girls started with English classes, watched a few Western classes and finished the day with gymkhana classes. The highlight of the day was the Team Tacking Event which was exciting and fast-paced. The girls did great and earned a second (or was it a third?).

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Our Versatile Arabians!

It seems like last month highlighted the incredible versatility
of the Arabian Horse. We started the month with an ETI show in
Thousand Oaks and our horses placed well competing with the
other breeds in all divisions; Hunter Pleasure, Western Pleasure,
Halter, and even Jumping! We did well and enjoyed our long day
there together. It was a wonderful schooling opportunity for the
Fall Fantasy Show.

A week later we were invited to ride in the Ahmanson
Conservancy. We took every horse from the barn but the baby
and even had to borrow a horse! We ended the perfect weather
and gorgeous scenery as we cantered through the oak-filled hills
and valleys. If you have never ridden in Ahmanson, you are
missing out on one of the valley's treasures. This property is as
peaceful as it is beautiful and a few minutes from the gate you
see nothing but nature. You are all invited to join us sometime!

As a treat for the young Summer Camp Staff, we planned a
trip to the beach! There is only one week out of the year when
the beach in Carpinteria is accessible and all of the beaches in
Santa Barbara county have been closed to horses. We were
fortunate enough that week, the perfect "tide-day" fell on a
school holiday. Julia Broome took her mare Coco and Hannah
brought her Half-Arabian, Angel for a spectacular day of
cantering on the beach and wading in the water.

Whether our horses are in the show ring, on the trail, running
the barrels, or experiencing new adventures with their kids, our
horses prove every day the incredible depth, intelligence, and
versatility of the Arabian Horse!

Fall Fantasy - Our "Last" Show of the Year...

Jess & Snaps win the halter, Grils walk the course.
Rain delayed the Fall Fantasy Show the first time and fires and poor air quality threatened to postpone it again but the air at the Simi Valley Equestrian Park was crystal clear and it was the perfect day for a horse show. We arrived on time, thanks to the help of our great haulers Sharyn & Alex! We had a full load with 12 horses and even more kids in tow! Lela and Meaghan were there to help which made the day run smoothly.
Julez & Coco and Alexandra & Persja, jumping
The order of the show was interesting - we had our halter class in the morning (which they created just for us - thank you, CVAHA!), then jumping - and then Liberty! We ended scratching horses that were tired from jumping and skipping some jumping classes because the horses weren't tired enough.

Hannah & Jade jump, Jordan on Crimson
For the kids, the jumping classes are the best, for the parents those are the most nervous. Liberty is every one's favorite though. Gracie put on a show but took even longer to get caught! What a joy to watch with our Liberty Champion at age 24!

Gracie, our 24 year old Liberty Champion!
Dru was the winner and she put on a show - running & bucking (too bad she could not have played before her classes!). Bella was beautiful too. She was surprisingly easy to catch and is so pretty in motion. We can't wait to ride her. :)

Our pinto Half-Arab Liberty horses!
All of the girls did a great job jumping their courses. The hunter hack class was the starter and everyone placed - what a great warm-up class it was.

Pictures by Lilian & Jordan
Lilian came bright & early and was smart in the shade and captured all of our most precious moments. Julia and Hannah felt that Coco and Jade were too tired after all the jumping so they scratched their flat classes and practiced judging the show.

Emma & Dessa win at their first show.
It was a great opportunity since the Reichman's brought their mare TJP Eroika and Jill Contreras brought her mare WC Haley. Both mares were national quality and a joy to watch and judge.

Pictures by Jordan Parr
Crimson was bucking (more than normal) so we decided to scratch her classes. Jordan was devastated but still took Dessa in the cross-rail class to humor me mostly. She spent much of her day with the camera and captured outstanding pictures of the girls and horses (some which can be seen here).

Mandy & Snapper show in style.
Mandy took the train up to show Snapper and presented her beautifully. She had not ridden since June and did a great job and they placed well in their classes. Jessica showed Snapper in the walk-trot and won all of her classes and earned the High Point of the Day Award.
Kate, riding Dru for the 2nd time, did great!
Kate made a cameo and took Dru in a jumping class but wasn't feeling well so Brooke offered to show her since she felt like Lola was also tired from the jumping. They did great! Dru really likes Brooke.

Brooke showed Dru & Lola
Dessa had a full day and started showing with Grace. They looked beautiful and did well. After her classes, Grace was Jordan's art director/photographer's assistant/model.

Jordan & Crimson, Grace & Dessa
Emma showed Dessa in the Walk-Trot division and was just as spectacular. She is ready to show in the canter so for the "Walk/Your Favorite Gait" class, she opted to canter and it was a good decision, since she won this huge class!

Alexandra & Persja, Spidey & Jess. Hunter Hack Class.
Alexandra and Persja had a great show too. I don't think Alexandra realizes how good she is and I was so proud of her for remembering and jumping a full course at her first away show. They had fantastic rides.

Alexa & Poet move up to walk-trot-canter.
Alexa and Poet have moved up to the walk-trot-canter classes and did an amazing job hanging with the big girls! Alexa even showed in the Hunter Hack Open class and did a great job.

Kristin & Gracie and Lily & Persja
The best part of the day was watching Kristin and Lily showing in the big leagues! Those girls are so cute and they both rocked their classes!

Lily & Persja. The girls come home.