I am officially a resident of Chester County, and so is Patrick! We moved Patrick to a full service hunter jumper facility in July and I moved into my (still under renovation) farmhouse with the family in August.
Since we’ve been here, we’ve been focused on settling in and getting the house done so we can move on to the barn and farm renovation. This month I finally feel that we have the house under control. We have more painting, decorating and finish work and organizing to do, but the place is pretty functional at this point. The key is not to stop the work until we are actually done.
I have gotten into lessons with the same riding instructor I started riding with when I was seven. She has retained her gift of being able to explain concepts really well, and as a result, I’ve been able to improve a couple aspects of my equitation since I’ve been riding at the farm. Most of the time, I ride in an all-adult group lesson, which is fun.
I have gotten a chance to show in two Chester County Horse Show Association (CCHSA) shows since I’ve been here. The first was a local day at the Devon Show Grounds in July. It was one of my favorite shows ever. My former regular trainer/good friend Julie came up from Maryland to help me. Patrick did great on the grounds and we ended up Reserve Champion in the pre-adult hunters, 5th in a special two round hunter classic and he won both of his hacks with about 20 in the class. It was a beautiful, well run show. That historic, baby blue show grounds adds an air of class, even if you’re just there for a schooling show on a Wednesday.
Since we’ve been here, we’ve been focused on settling in and getting the house done so we can move on to the barn and farm renovation. This month I finally feel that we have the house under control. We have more painting, decorating and finish work and organizing to do, but the place is pretty functional at this point. The key is not to stop the work until we are actually done.
I have gotten into lessons with the same riding instructor I started riding with when I was seven. She has retained her gift of being able to explain concepts really well, and as a result, I’ve been able to improve a couple aspects of my equitation since I’ve been riding at the farm. Most of the time, I ride in an all-adult group lesson, which is fun.
I have gotten a chance to show in two Chester County Horse Show Association (CCHSA) shows since I’ve been here. The first was a local day at the Devon Show Grounds in July. It was one of my favorite shows ever. My former regular trainer/good friend Julie came up from Maryland to help me. Patrick did great on the grounds and we ended up Reserve Champion in the pre-adult hunters, 5th in a special two round hunter classic and he won both of his hacks with about 20 in the class. It was a beautiful, well run show. That historic, baby blue show grounds adds an air of class, even if you’re just there for a schooling show on a Wednesday.
My second show was an indoor show at Wyndsor Farm. We earned some seconds, thirds and fourths. I made some minor mistakes over fences. In particular, we had some repeated late lead changes in the more enclosed space. I don’t like to over-school lead changes on a horse that knows them, but I have been schooling Mr. Lazy on them a bit lately since I’m not sure he got the memo that they are mandatory, not optional, even if your course is over and you are just doing your courtesy circle. Hopefully, the next time we show in a smaller ring, we will do our changes better. I also had a harder time than usual with distances in the lines. There was no problem getting down the lines, but I’m not sure if the lines were set “normal” or not (the course diagrams weren’t marked). For me, two of the lines rode pretty regularly while one rode so short we left out a stride once! I admit that I wasn’t entirely happy with my hack placings, because Patrick was great, you couldn’t ask for a better mover or a better behaved horse, and I’m not sure what the issue was, but hey, that’s showing. Oh, and I’m not biased at all!
In any case, it was a pleasant, confidence building show. I warmed up my own horse, and it was a successful first time out with my new coaches. Patrick was a very good boy and added to my confidence. On videos, I can see that he was a bit sluggish at times, so I might have to try lighting him up a bit next time. I think we can handle it. There are so many lovely horses and riders in Chester County. I welcome it. Doing well in a show class means so much more to me when I know we are in excellent company, and my little horse fits right in.
In any case, it was a pleasant, confidence building show. I warmed up my own horse, and it was a successful first time out with my new coaches. Patrick was a very good boy and added to my confidence. On videos, I can see that he was a bit sluggish at times, so I might have to try lighting him up a bit next time. I think we can handle it. There are so many lovely horses and riders in Chester County. I welcome it. Doing well in a show class means so much more to me when I know we are in excellent company, and my little horse fits right in.
Patrick will be staying at the boarding stable until the facility at my home is up and running. I think that should be late summer or early fall but we shall see. For me, the farm is my family’s (hopefully) forever home and renovating it is a marathon, not a sprint, but must be done right. Some parts of it, like the historic barn I intend to last longer than my lifetime, no pressure!
We are going to try to finish out the barn inside and out over this winter and I intend to post updates on this blog. My husband, Will, intends to do most of the work himself. He is very talented at building and fixing things but this is a tall order. I have no doubt he can do it…the question is how long will it take? Hubby also has a day job which he has to do to fund aforementioned farm as well as general horse stuff. We also plan to install the fencing, which will be black, tensioned vinyl 3-rail Ramm fencing. I am really excited about that because I know the fencing will transform this place into look like a real farm.
We are going to try to finish out the barn inside and out over this winter and I intend to post updates on this blog. My husband, Will, intends to do most of the work himself. He is very talented at building and fixing things but this is a tall order. I have no doubt he can do it…the question is how long will it take? Hubby also has a day job which he has to do to fund aforementioned farm as well as general horse stuff. We also plan to install the fencing, which will be black, tensioned vinyl 3-rail Ramm fencing. I am really excited about that because I know the fencing will transform this place into look like a real farm.
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