SEPTEMBER 2009
September 1, 2009
I can't believe it. September. Where did summer go?
Remember our horse show on Saturday, September 5. Please get your entries in by Wednesday September 2nd at noon. Just email your horses name, riders name, owners name and classes. Click here for the prize list. I'll let you know on Thursday if we get enough entries to hold the show. Just check back here.
The first lesson for the CNU Team was today - and - it was raining ! But it didn't stop those girls. They wanted to ride - rain and all. So, they rode !!! They had a good time and Ryann really enjoyed teaching them. The team has grown from 18 to 25 which is wonderful. So, we have a busy schedule and it looks like the girls have a great team !!!
I'm off to the barn. Annia leaves today for Russia. She has to go back to renew her VISA, then she'll return to the Master's Commission. She loves it !!! She says the "kids" are WONDERFUL, the program is WONDERFUL and they all hit it off right from day one. It is such a great experience for these young people. What a wonderful way to "start their life."
Take care, and God bless.
Nardeen
September 6, 2009
Busy isn't the word for what this week has been like. I'm always VERY BUSY with Middleburg Classic this time of year. Then we had the first week of the CNU Equestrian Team, and all the new kids at the barn.
WE LOVE THE CNU EQUESTRIAN TEAM !!! What a nice, fun group of young ladies. And we have SEVERAL new wonderful horses at the barn that have been "donated" for use on the team. We are really excited about it all. I'll fill you in on more of the details tonight.
Okie Dokie - off to church. I can't wait!!!
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I'm back and I had a WONDERFUL day. I got a lot of things done that have been needing to get done. Plus we had dinner with our wonderful Ma Helen, Chuck's mom, the most precious person in the world.
Heather and Kelsey brought Rocky (At Last) and Piper (Skippa Beat) to the barn today for the CNU team. They've come to college !!! Plus - Neysa is letting us use Cowboy Troy and THEY LOVE HIM !!! He is such a good boy. And - we have Elizabeth's pony "Pony" and he is perfect. We also have Courtney's horse Bentley and her pony Jo Jo and those two couldn't be better !!! So with all of them plus the Amazing Grace horses we have a wonderful group of horses and ponies for the team.
Ryann is having the best time teaching lessons. She has really taken the ball and run with it. The CNU Team is blessed to have her as their coach. She is putting her whole heart into it. We know that God has opened all the doors for the team to be at Amazing Grace Stable and for the nice group of horses that have become available for them to ride. GOD IS GOOD !!!
You should have seen "Teddy" yesterday. Kendall jumped him over four real jumps !!! A little course. And he even cantered some of them. He is absolutely beautiful when he goes around like that. He is such a pretty horse, a beautiful mover, does perfect flying changes and is jumping good. We're hopeful that one day the light is going to go off and he's going to become "brave." Poor thing, we feel so sorry for him. Yesterday was good because Laura was riding Panache and he got to "watch" her jump. We think it made him braver. I talked to Clem about him a couple of weeks ago and he gave me some advice of things we could try. Kendall is AMAZING. She has so much patience with him and he really trusts her.
I have all the stalls in the computer for Middleburg Classic. Lots of the top riders and horses are coming!!! I'm very excited about it.
God bless,
Nardeen
September 9, 2009
We have been very blessed this week at the barn. Michaela has been coming out and helping Ryann. She's home schooled so she's been able to fit it into her schedule. She is a wonderful blessing to us. And she's the sweetest, nicest kid. What a great group of kids we have at the barn. They are all adorable. And, we have Agita (Brittany's mom) who drops Brittany off at school in the morning and then comes to the barn on her way to work and helps bring in the horses. Another wonderful blessing. Hard working isn't a good enough way to describe Agita. We love her !
My daughter is something else !!! Last night she and Hunter came over to my house and she and Brittany cooked me a going away dinner. It was absolutely delicious. It was some sort of a stew, but it was made with ground beef instead of stew meat or steak. It was really, really good and I'm not just saying that because Ryann made it. She has a really good little cookbook that has some great recipes in it. She is quite the little housewife. She and Hunter wanted to help pack my car for the trip, but it was something I needed to do this morning. So Hunter did a few things around the house for me while Ryann was cooking. It's so neat to see how those two have grown up. They are precious. I've been telling Hunter for the past few weeks that he's my favorite son-in-law ! (Ha) He's been amazingly helpful and no complaining. LIFE IS GOOD !!!
They say this is a very special day. Apparently 09/09/09 won't happen again for - I don't know - hundreds of years or something like that. I guess I could take a few minutes and figure out how long it will be but I don't wanna !!! 9/9/9 are suppose to be very "lucky" numbers for (I think) the Chinese people. So - for what it's worth - today should be a great day for everyone. Come to think of it, so far so good for me. It was one of those days when everything just fell into place. Even though I was VERY BUSY it was peaceful. It was very easy packing the car for my trip to Leesburg, the traffic was good, and it has been a great day. I contribute it more to starting the day with prayer and asking for "favor" and "blessings." Isn't God great !!!
We love Rocky and Piper. Ryann rode them to see what they are like so when she teaches the girls she knows a little more about them. She loved them both. They are going to be perfect additions to our already perfect group of horses.
I'm at the hotel in Leesburg and it took about 3 1/2 hours to get here. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. There are two ways to come from our neck of the woods. One way is like you're going to the Warrenton Horse Show and then following the signs to Leesburg and staying on Rt. 15 for about 45 minutes. The other way is to stay on 95 North and then taking the Toll Road. I don't know about that way because I've not done it, but some people think it's faster if its not rush hour.
The show is looking great. I only know about the First Year Green horses right now and at last count there were 21 of them. That's a pretty good number - especially for this year. I left all the entries with Debbie and she and Neysa are starting on them tonight. I'm sure as soon as they get them in they'll post them at www.horseshowsonline.com .
Tomorrow is a BUSY day for me at the show grounds. I have the trailer coming for the horse show office in the morning, plus all the tents from Virginia Tent Rental. Delivery of lots of things like the ceramic awards from Frederique, ribbons, table cloths, banners, coolers, etc. I don't physically put up the tents but I need to be with them this year since it is a new place and they don't know where I want things to go. So hopefully that will go smoothly. Since we are putting "horse tents" up near the ring and the patrons' tent, they are considered VIP Stabling. In order to be in those stalls the barns must decorate and stay decorated all week. Being close to the hospitality tent is a plus !!! I've requested, and requested and requested for the tents to be white - so we'll see tomorrow what we ended up with. I just don't like the look of the striped tents - especially that close to the ring. That's the only thing I don't like about the cover of the prize list this year. That dumb striped tent is in the background. It looks like a circus to me. Anyway - I sure hope the tent company put up the white tents because I will be so sad all week long if they didn't.
Here's a good verse I read today. Philippians 4:6 - I will not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests) with thanksgiving, continue to make my wants known to God. Isn't that a wonderful verse. That's what got me through my day today, not the numbers 9/9/9.
Have a blessed and wonderful day,
Nardeen
September 10, 2009
Today was one of the nicest days I've had in years !!! I spent the day at Morven Park setting up the Middleburg Classic with Scott Nunnally and his crew from Virginia Tent Rental. Everything just fell into place. Well - sort of. The day started out with me getting a phone call from the driver of the office trailer that was suppose to be delivered this morning. They told me last week that it was coming first thing in the morning - one of the reasons I was here last night. The driver asked me if the grounds were dry enough for him to set it up without getting stuck. Well - I didn't know because I wasn't at the show grounds yet. Anyway, I told him to give me a few minutes and I'd call and let him know. When I got to the show grounds everything was fine - but - I got a feeling I received that phone call for a reason. Soooo - I was a bit nervous about having enough electric in that area to run the office. Since no one was at Morven Park yet - and despite the fact that we had discussed having the office trailer in that area - I decided to call Ralph Stevens because he is doing our sound on Monday. He told me that we had enough power to run the trailer, but not enough to run the air conditioning in the trailer ! Well - there is no way Debbie would go for that. If you've ever been in the horse show office when Debbie is working it is absolutely freezing. I'm not that cold natured and when I'm in the office with Deb I'm usually wearing a jacket. Sooooo - I canceled the trailer. The office will be in the usual little building up on the hill, and it costs about 1/2 to rent than the trailer was going to cost. A BLESSING !!! Usually something like that would have totally un-done me. But - thanks to our wonderful God, and a morning of prayer, I accepted it and it all ended up turning out great.
Next Scott (Virginia Tent Rental) called and told me they wouldn't be getting to the show grounds until around 10:30 or 11:00. Instead of getting upset I used those three hours to scope out the show grounds, decide AGAIN where I wanted the tents to go and some other work. My car was my office . I listened to a wonderful Christian CD that Ryann gave me and just spent some quiet time at beautiful Morven Park. It was the most wonderful start to the most wonderful day. Scott is such a blessing to work with. He is so laid back. I can not imagine doing this show without him putting up the tents. It was so cool to watch the tents go up from start to finish. And it is amazing how they do it. In five hours they put up the entire hill - which is the Patrons' Tent, the Hospitality Tent, the Prep/Storage Tent, the Trophy Tent, two tents at the entrance for the Lion's Club Parking Attendants, and the Blacksmith Tent. They will come back on Monday and finish up with the In-Gate Tents, the People/Horse Tents, the picket fence for wherever needs it, and the sidewalls for the judges and announcer stands.
I am so excited about how beautiful everything looks. And - yes, the stall company put up WHITE TENTS !!!! Amazing. It is a totally different look with the white tents.
Sooooo - it was a wonderful, blessing of a day for me. Just watching the show grounds being transformed into the Middleburg Classic touched my heart. I can't wait for Scott, Caroline, Bob and Suki (our Board members) to see it. I think they are going to LOVE IT !!! It looks exactly how I hoped it would look. AMAZING !!!
Before and After !
You know, I think my day today went so good because God sees me growing with my patience (I'm getting better guys) and he just wanted to bless me for not letting a couple of "little" inconveniences annoy me.
Remember this verse from yesterday: "Philippians 4:6 - I will not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests) with thanksgiving, continue to make my wants known to God. " Boy, how true this is.
I can't wait for tomorrow.
God bless you,
Nardeen
I just read this and want to share it with you.
The youth of our world are our future. 33% of the baby boomer generation (people in their late 50s) are Christians, which is about 20% less than their parents’ generation. Less than 4% of today's young adults are Christians. What a scary world we are going to be living in if those numbers don’t change. These are the leaders of our future !!! Think about the moral decline in our world in the past twenty years. Think about how the divorce rate in our world has risen in the past twenty years. And think about how God is being left out of more and more. And that is from a generation who 33% of were Christians. What is going to happen when only 4% of our leaders are Christians. The youth of our world are our future. We need to all be responsible in doing our part to let them know about Christianity. In the Bible Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the father except through me." John 14:6. Yes - good deeds are wonderful, but good deeds alone will not get us into heaven. Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is the only way.
September 13, 2009
It has been pretty laid back and quiet around here. We haven't been able to do too much on the show grounds because of the Dressage Show. It's actually been really good for us to be able to see the grounds with a show in progress so we can know things we want and don't want to do. One thing we definitely won't do is allow the trailers to park up around the barns. It is so "messy" looking. We - as we always have done in the past - will have the trailers moved out to the field after they unload. I'm actually very surprised that Morven Park allows them to park all around the barns like that because they are pretty strict about everything. I'll tell you this, there are lots of dressage horses and riders here. It is packed.
J.P., Mike Belisle and two Feregrino brothers are here this weekend getting the temporary stalls wired, plus unloaded the jumps and the shavings. On Friday we moved all the stuff from our Warrenton Storage Unit to Morven Park and we are going to keep it all in PODS. We decided that will be the easiest way to do it. This way the POD company can deliver them back to us each year "wherever" our show is held. Unless something very unusual happens, it looks like to me this will be our home "forever." We all absolutely love everything about it. We love the show grounds and we love the town of Leesburg. And everything is so convenient. Whatever you need is only minutes away. It's made it so nice for J.P. to get to Home Depot and anything else we may need without having to drive thirty minutes like it use to be when we were at Great Meadow. Convenience - a very important thing.
We are going to set up the Indoor Ring for ticketed warm-ups. It may be useful for the exhibitors that are getting ready to go to indoors. We plan to build the main hunter ring first thing Monday morning, then ring 2 then the Indoor. Hopefully we will be able to run Ticketed Warm Up classes on Tuesday. We'll see how it all goes.
I'm off to church. I found an Assembly of God only a few minutes from my hotel. I'm looking forward to it !
Take care, and God bless,
Nardeen
September 14, 2009
The show grounds look GORGEOUS !!! I love it here. We should have made this move a long time ago. It is so much fun watching it transform into "Middleburg Classic." We have tried so hard to make it look exactly the same and I think we've accomplished it. Right down to the canopy over the in-gate. And that Kristin Heider is unbelievable. Kristin is our landscaper - who flies in from Texas every year to do our show. It is absolutely beautiful. She is even putting sod in the island in the ring. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow.
Glenn was "overwhelmed" by the size of the ring when he got here. The ring is ridiculously large. It is so big that this weekend for the dressage show they had three dressage rings set up in it. And Loudoun splits it down the middle and makes it into two rings. I'm not really sure what they were thinking when they made it that big because it really is too big. I think it is 300 x 240.
Vinny Card and Mike Belisle are J.P.'s assistants and what a blessing those two are. We are so fortunate to have those three guys working this show. They are all three incredible. Vinny has been driving the water truck or tractor all day today. He really hardly stopped at all. And that Mike is the nicest, most helpful guy you could every ask for. The entire crew are wonderful. God has sure blessed us with all the right "team" players.
This will be the first year in a long time that Lynne and Sheri haven't done the ribbons and trophies. I'm sure going to miss those girls 'cause I love them both. We've been blessed with having Jessica Baker take their place. I got to work with Jessica this July at the Old Dominion Horse Show and I loved her. She's a great gal and we're happy to have her become part of our "team."
We are truly blessed with having the very top professional riders in the country here. This is a tough show competition wise. It is the only show in Virginia that has all these great riders. Upperville doesn't even get this many top hunter riders. It is very exciting. If you get a chance you should come out on Wednesday and Thursday and watch them.
I have had the best time all week long. The beauty part of Leesburg is you have the wonderful ambience of "Old Town" Leesburg OR the conveniences of the big city. When you leave Morvan Park you take a right. If you stay straight you go to beautiful, relaxing Old Town, OR you can go to the left and get on the by-pass and you have the big city and every restaurant, hotel, mall, etc., etc., that you could ever want. It is absolutely the best of all worlds !!! I hope you're coming to the show because I can't wait for you to see it.
God is wonderful how he has let everything fall into place this week. There is nothing like feeling His peace and grace. I thank Him and give Him all the glory for this wonderful week.
God bless,
Nardeen
September 15, 2009
What a very busy and very wonderful day. This is always the most hectic day of the horse show. But for the most part it went quite well and very smooth. I got a few pictures today but I forgot to bring my camera into the hotel room. I'll try and post some tomorrow. Everything is BEAUTIFUL. The exhibitors are LOVING it. We have a HOME !!! We hope to stay here forever and ever.
Dick Varge flew in from California to display our trophies. Jessica and that precious Diane Wade (who by the way is volunteering her services) were amazed with how beautiful he made the trophy display look and how quickly he got it done. He is AMAZING. Dick flies back from California, rents a van, drives to North Carolina to pick up the trophies from the engraver, then delivers them and displays them at the horse show. How wonderful is that. Then his nice lady, Judy, who works for him in Middleburg, is coming on Monday to pick up the trophies to take back to our storage unit - then next summer she will get them and take them to the engraver in N.C. What a blessing that is for us. God has been so good to us that "OUR TEAM" all came with us to Leesburg. Our security man, Jerry Affell is still with us. Dick Varge with the trophies. ALL our WONDERFUL crew. Kristin Heider who comes from Texas to do the landscaping. Steve Sarafin our announcer from South Carolina. Gene Paxton - our blacksmith - who changed my life years ago when he started being the blacksmith for me at the horse shows. And Doc, Hunter and the other men from the Lion's Club who work the entrance and do our parking. I love all these people who work so hard to make the Middleburg Classic the special show that it is. We are so blessed !!!
So - tomorrow is the first day of the show. I can't wait.
Take care and God bless,
Nardeen
September 16, 2009
The first day of the Middleburg Classic was FABULOUS !!! Perfect fall weather. Everything went quite smoothly. I'm exhausted so I'll hopefully update you with more tomorrow.
God bless,
Nardeen
September 18, 2009
I have been so busy - and having sooooo much fun - that I haven't had time to update the web site. I'm sorry you guys. I've gotten lots of phone calls and e-mails telling me to "get on it." So here goes.
The show grounds look absolutely beautiful. Glenn has done a great job with the courses - especially for this being our first year here. The size of the ring - which I've told you is "ridiculously" big - presents quite a challenge. It didn't turn out exactly like my vision of it, but it is still beautiful. What happened was Glenn and J.P. decided to put the judges stand "in" the ring to take up some space and move the jumps closer to the Patrons' Tent. Well - the judges stand ended up being too far in the ring. It took up too much of the area that I visioned as the space for the "extra jumps" that would only be used for the Handy Hunter and Stake classes. Glenn - being Glenn - worried about it all night long on Wednesday night, and on Thursday he changed the configuration as much as he could. He couldn't move the judges stand because it was landscaped - to perfection I must say ! Anyway - all is well - and it is still beautiful. Now that we all know the exact size and the layout of everything it is going to make 2010 a piece of cake !!!
Yesterday was a bit drizzly and FALL like ! But it actually helped Mike our water truck driver's day go easier. And it helped the footing in the rings. Ring two and its schooling area is pretty much straight gravel dust - which requires a lot of water, and so that light rain helped. Plus - the main ring has some inconsistencies in the footing. Scott Stewart told me when he was here for Loudoun that it got "funny" and after they had a hard rain that it seemed to make it better. Soooo - even though I would have preferred beautiful sunshine, for the sake of the footing the light drizzle was just what we needed.
The horses here are incredible. The best of the best !!! It is amazing. As I've been saying, if you get a chance to come to the show you should try to make it.
I have a couple of prayer requests please from you guys. Please keep Talmadge, Debbie and Neysa in your prayers. Talmadge's mother passed away and today is the funeral. I know this will be a tough day for everyone.
Also, please keep Jason in your prayers. He's going through a rough time.
Gotta run,
God bless and have a WONDERFUL day,
Nardeen
September 23, 2009
I have so much to write about and I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start with recent events at the barn.
Ryann has been a busy girl with the CNU girls. She absolutely loves teaching them and is doing a fabulous job. She has set up so many fun things for them to do. This Saturday we are having a Horse Show Clinic which will be a wonderful practice before their first show on October 3 & 4. The two shows are held at Goucher College in Maryland. I'm going with her this time so we can both meet everyone in our region. After that she will be taking the girls on her own. Then on Monday she is having a "Video Clinic" for all the girls to watch the Maclay Finals from a few years ago when one of the judges did a commentary. It is an excellent teaching tool and we feel the girls will get a lot out of it. Then next weekend will be the first horse show. So, we have a lot to do in a short period of time. There is "talk" of the CNU/William and Mary Show being held at Amazing Grace Stable. I'm not sure if this is a done deal yet, but we are certainly open to hosting it if that is agreeable with the William and Mary Team. Typically the show is held at Carlton Farm in Williamsburg. So we'll see what happens with that.
Next - Middleburg Classic. WOW - this was without a doubt the easiest the show has ever been for me. There are several reasons why I think it was so easy.
#1 - Morven Park is a great facility. The only problem we encountered was having enough electric. They have a wonderful staff who were there for us whenever we needed them. Thankfully - that wasn't too often - because we have the most wonderful "crew" in America. There a few questionable places in the footing - but hopefully that will all be taken care of for 2010.
#2 - Caroline and Alex - who wore several different hats throughout the show - and did it with the greatest of ease. Whenever Caroline takes on a project she puts her heart and soul into it and you never have to worry about a thing. She totally handled the "Hospitality Tent", the "Middleburg Classic Boutique", the "Silent Auction", the "Vendors", the "Flowers" for the Office, Trophy Tent and Hospitality Tent, and she and Alex ran any errand that came up. Plus - they totally set up and ran "Pingo." AMAZING. And, the best part of having Caroline help is when she sees something that needs to be taken care of she just takes care of it. No questions asked. She's an amazing person - and I love her dearly. The Middleburg Classic is so blessed to have her on board.
#3 - Jessica Baker - who did a FABULOUS job with the ribbons, trophies, awards, and officials lunches etc. And Diane Wade - who was our wonderful volunteer. Both girls were "amazing." And of course having Dick (Rico) Varge come in and set up the trophies is always incredible. Then Judy, his wonderful assistant came in on Sunday evening and picked up all the trophies so we didn't have to transport them back to storage.
#4 - Storage - another blessing from Caroline and Alex. They gave us the "Pingo" trailer to keep stuff in at Morven Park . Then we rented two "PODS" that are in "Pod Cyberspace" until 2010. I wonder what they do with PODS.
#4 - And, last and certainly not least, our wonderful God, who was there from the very start. Remember this that I wrote about on September 10:
"Philippians 4:6 - I will not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests) with thanksgiving, continue to make my wants known to God. " Well - that was the reason everything fell into place, and there were lots of things that were definite "God" moments. I'll tell you more about them later.
So - that's about it for tonight. I'll tell you more tomorrow. I'm ready for bed.
Take care, and God bless,
Nardeen
September 25, 2009
I spent the entire day yesterday teaching riding - and I LOVED every second of it. Those college girls are soooooo much fun. They all ride good - and are so eager to learn. They're adorable. We LOVE having them at the barn. Ryann has the tack room set up perfectly for them.
It was so nice teaching my regular Thursday evening lesson. I've missed them. That Laura - the nicest girl you'd ever meet. She is riding so good and such a pleasure to teach. And Courtney - improving with leaps and bounds. She's so precious. Haley and "Paris" did several lead changes tonight. Hooray. Those lead changes are quite challenging for "Paris" and Haley tries so hard to do everything right. Lead changes are so hard if they don't do them automatically. It takes a lot to properly set a horse up to do them. And - each horse is different. What works with one, doesn't necessarily work with another. In my opinion, lead changes are the hardest things to teach a horse. If they don't have some natural inclination to do them it is a challenging project, which causes lots of frustration and takes a lot of time. Actually - several years ago we decided we wouldn't even consider buying a horse that didn't already do them. It is such a long, hard process - and very difficult to do. This summer I suggested they send "Paris" to Peg, and she had her for a couple of weeks. Even though I'm sure Peg was able to do them with her, they are still very difficult. I just got them to have her hocks injected and hopefully that will "help." However - from what I know from past experiences, they are going to be quite "challenging". But that's okay - we're going to work at it and conquer it !!! Haley is a good student and a hard worker, and I know we can get through this. It's just going to take time. Katie rode "Coach" and he is the bravest thing to the jumps. And - he jumps really good, does lead changes and is a good mover. He's funny about picking up his right lead - but that's from racing. Hopefully that will get better. We have so many people at the barn that ride good and they are having fun with "Coach" and "Bob." "Bob" is the cutest thing. We love those two horses and are happy that we were able to "rescue" them.
Oh my goodness, you won't believe it when you see "Teddy." He's jumping the entire course - and beautifully. That Kendall - she is doing such a FABULOUS job. Our goal is for him to show in the Baby Green next year at Middleburg Classic !!! I can see it happening too if things keep going like they're going. We love Kendall. The ultimate goal is for him is to be Courtney's Junior Hunter. I believe it will happen. Let me tell you - a lot of what is happening with Teddy is answered prayer. One day, Courtney was riding him and a group of us were out at the ring and we decided to pray for him. It was Ryann, Kristy a bunch of the kids and me. A few days later Kendall started riding him. Answered prayer! I think his show name should be "Believe." I DO believe he's going to make it.
Okie Dokie - I'm off to cook. We are having "Thanksgiving Dinner" tonight. My nephew Josh, is leaving on Sunday for Afghanistan. He told me he doesn't mind going because that's what he's trained to do. But he said he was going to miss our delicious Thanksgiving dinner ! Sooooo - we are having "Thanksgiving Dinner" tonight. The whole family is coming. So please, keep him (and all our troops) in your prayers.
Take care, and God bless you!
Nardeen
September 26, 2009
Our "Thanksgiving Dinner" with Josh and the family was wonderful. And just like the day after Thanksgiving, I'm stuffed ! The food, as always, was delicious. Before leaving Ryann said a wonderful prayer for Josh for his safety, peace, wisdom and strength. It was heartfelt and beautiful. Josh was very appreciative of us having "Thanksgiving" just for him. It meant a lot to him. Please keep him in your prayers.
HORSE SHOW UPDATES
The October 3, 24 and November 7 shows are canceled due to shows with the CNU team. Plus, I will be in Wellington, Florida the end of October and first of November. So - we will pick up with horse shows sometime in November and hopefully have several shows during the winter as long as the weather is nice. No point in being at a horse show if we're not having good weather and fun !!!
So mark your calendars for October 10 at 9:30 a.m. Hope to see you there.
Be blessed,
Nardeen
September 29, 2009
This has been such a busy month at Amazing Grace Stable. With the start of the CNU Equestrian Team, the Middleburg Classic Horse Show, and the day to day running of the barn - WE'VE BEEN BUSY !!! We have quite a few new customers at the barn and Ryann and I love them all. It is such a nice group and we feel very blessed. GOD IS AMAZING !!!
I gave Neysa her lesson yesterday morning and that is always a pleasure. She rides so good, and that Troy is just the best boy. We love him and what a blessing it is for us to be able to use him for the CNU girls. He's a perfect lesson horse. Neysa rides great and there are only a few little things we ever need to work on. It's so much fun teaching her.
Kendall rode "Teddy" again yesterday and he jumped all the jumps in the ring ! Even one or two new ones that he hadn't jumped yet. He is absolutely beautiful to watch. He leaves the ground so slow and jumps so beautiful. AMAZING ! I just can't sing Kendall's praises enough. She has done a remarkable job with him and in such a short period of time. I love that girl. And she's the most pleasant person in the world to be around. She is always happy, always supportive of everyone, and just makes life FUN !!! What a blessing for us to have her at the barn everyday. She and I were talking on Sunday about how "peaceful" it is at Amazing Grace Stable. It just feels good to be there. And I give God the glory for that. He has brought all the right people into our lives at all the right times. He's so smart !!!
Last night we had the "Video Party" at Ryann's house. She really wanted the CNU girls to watch a video that was very important in her life when she was showing. It's from 1997 and it's the AHSA (now USEF) Finals at Harrisburg. Cynthia Hankins and Ronnie Beard were the judges and Cynthia critiques most of it. It is a wonderful video. Ryann plans to show it again to the girls that weren't able to attend last night, so if you'd like to see it just let us know.
Have a blessed and wonderful day,
Nardeen
September 29, 2009
Another great day at the barn ! Everyone rode so good and "Teddy" was fabulous again. I told Kendall that I feel the same about her that "Teddy" does. Totally confident !!! You can tell how much he trusts her and how secure she makes him feel. He loves Kendall just like all of us do !!!
We are really excited because "Sydney" - one of our favorite horses - is moving in on Thursday. We love that horse - and we love Denise. So - another wonderful addition to our Amazing Grace family.
That Emma Claire is just about the cutest little thing you can imagine. Today she learned how to make "Jack" go forward by riding from her lower leg and independent of her hands. She couldn't believe how fast he was trotting. "Jack" only does what he has to do. No more, no less. But once the kids learn how to make him do his job he does it. He is the most perfect school pony in America. We are so "blessed" to have him. Actually - his show name is "Blessed" and very deservingly so. Emma Claire also jumped a three jump course today and was very good. She is so smart. She learned how to ride the turns and not worry so much about the jumps. She is so much fun to teach. She's been riding twice a week for a few months now and the improvement in her riding has been incredible. Her "grandma" gave her the lessons as a present. Thanks Granny.
Well - I'm off to bed.
Many blessings and lots of love,
Nardeen
