8/10/2010--It has been a challenging summer, with not only the heat, but also the typical ups and downs of horses. That aside, we are gearing up for an exciting fall show season with the horses: Chase the Moon aka Grace, Figjam aka Amigo, William, and students: Leighton Price, Katie Bartz, Aly Rattazzi, Beatriz Halbert, and Rose Spillane. We are heading to Full Gallop at the end of August to prepare for the AECs in September--exciting! Then to Fairhill CCI** (Pan Am Selections Trials) with William, and The Midsouth Training 3day event with Leighton Price. Check out the calendar for all competitions and dates!!
5/27/2010--Summer is here!While the boys(William and Faris) are on a little vacation the babies have been hard at work. Grace aka Chase the Moon had another successful outting at Poplar in the Novice division finishing 4th, while Amigo aka Figjam has been progressing nicely as well and finishing 6th in his novice division. Now the target is set in June and Amigo will be doing his FIRST training!!Grace will be competing in novice, and Katie and Westley are competing in the BN! Update on little Corwin--he is just fantastic and growing into a really nice youngster. Jackson is showing him the ropes!!
4/20/2010--It has been a very busy couple of months with several ups and downs. Besides having a bad encounter with the flu and a bummed knee at the end things are starting to look up again. We had a successful outting with the young horse's Figjam finishing 8th and Chase the Moon finishing 1st at their first recognized event at Poplar in March. I unfortunately went off course with William in the CIC2star which was very dissapointing since he was competing so well. But my main goal was to complete the Ocala CCI **, which we had one of our most solid dressage tests! We were 12th out of 42 and half way through I thought to myself "I'm having fun". Thanks no doubt to Karen McGolderick's help!! Then we had a brillant XC which was 9minutes!! I was very proud of how he handled himself and we made time--which moved us up to 9th. But William was a little tired on Sunday and we had 4 rails early--uncharacteristic of him on which moved us from 9th to 18th. I was very happy with his performance at the end of the day and he is getting some well deserved vacation. Now I'm setting my sites on Fair Hill CCI**(selection Trials for Pan Ams) in October for William. I also have to congratulate my student Katie Bartz and As You Wish(Westley) on completing their FIRST recognized event! They won the dressage with a 28.5 and had some greeness issues in the stadium and XC, but all in all it was very successful. We look forward to Katie and Westley, Figjam, and Chase the Moon will all be competing at Poplar May 2-3!
2/26/2010--Welcome to the Halberts and their first week at Rock Creek Farms! The arabs Amigo(Figjam) and Raja(Wysiwyg) have had to adjust to their new humble abode and are conforming well to Rock Creek's ettiquette ;)
2/24/2010-- This weather has just been insane!!The Fredricks clinic was a great learning experience for the boys and Leighton did great with Freddie. We were accomadated in her great trailer and delt with high velocity winds up to 40m/hr! The last night I went to start the generater and the string broke!!The temperature dipped down into the 20s but the boys were mighty comfortable in their cozy stalls--a thanks to Lellie Ward and Paradise Farms, and we survived! Our journey then took us to Pine Top Horse Trials which was only an hour drive from aiken. Luckily we beat the snow storm that came in Friday! Leighton and I were both concerned we would be paying to watch it snow--6 INCHES and not ride. But thanks to Pine Top and Glen they made it work! And we were able to ride. The boys however, were so, so, with this decision-- we were still nocking off the cobwebs in dressage--so we were in the middle of the pack standing wise. Stadium, William was a good boy and only had 1rail. While more drama came about with Faris. As I was warming him up, I decided to take one more jump, and I felt something funny happen with his hackenmore, the critical part of the hackenmore broke, and he was essentially free from my control. Luckily he is well trained and neckreins so I galloped back to the barn and switched to his XC bridle. He put in a fairly good effort for him and only had 3rails--progress is progress--I say! They both performed fantastic XC with William making time and finished 9th,and Faris only a second over and finished 13th! Leighton had an excellent run in her training division, and was in 1st going into stadium, but had an unfortunate last rail, which put her in 2nd! Now we are both qualified for the AEC's! YAY! Now on to RED HILLS!!
1/21/2010--It has been an incredibly tough winter, with snow and temps not getting higher than the 20's. I thought I lived in GA right? Well now we have had some nice weather in the 60's yeah!!!All of the horses have been doing well, the youngins Contessa and Sammy have been progressing nicely and are so much fun! William and Faris are hitting it hard with their fitness work and dressage--more lessons with Karen McGolderick--yay! I am preparing them for the Fredericks clinic in Aiken and then Pinetop Intermediate!! The season is already here!!!
12/7/2009--It was Contessa's 3rd ride and she was great, W/T/C and went on a short trail ride!Hard to believe I could barely touch her 30 days ago!
12/2/2009-So... it has been nice giving the boys a little vacation, the time has allowed me to really focus with the babies. I have spent a huge amount of time working with Contessa aka Tess. She has really been progressing in this past month, gaining weight and muscle, as well as her gaining my trust.
She has overcome several hurdles--I can now pick up all for feet, she leads and is good about putting on her halter, she has been lungeing great--and even better about the circingle. It was "interesting to say the least, the first couple of times I put it on her, as she is VERY girthy and managed to jump out of the ring a couple of times--then come trotting towardsme like "Did you see that moutain lion on my back?!! It was really scary!" But she has really progressed and is learning to accept it. I was even able to put a western saddle on her with very little resistance. On top of that she even let me sit on her!!She was very relaxed and since she had gained so much weight and muscle I felt she was okay. It was a HUGE moment and I was so proud of her! Also had the vet out and he said it was because of her teeth being so bad--she could not chew properly, and once her teeth are correct--there should be vast improvement on her weight gain. But for right now she is still on her 3-4 feedings of senior and dac oil and her soaked alfalfa cubes. More updates to come!
Picture 1--Tess November, Picture 2--Tess December
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11/17/09--Just got back from a gorgeous weekend at Poplar Horse Trials. Both boys did great, with William winning the dressage and Faris in 2nd--and their first INTERMEDIATE!!William was fantastic around the XC and only had 1.2 time penalties. He was fantastic as well in the stadium,jumping a clean round and really came through for me--he really is a classy horse!Faris too did great on XC, although he is still captivated by the crowds he too only had a little time, but unfortunately was distracted in the stadium and dropped several rails!He still finished 5th, and William WON!!!I was very proud of them both. Now they will have some well deserved vacation, and I get to focus on the babies...Yay....
11/08/2009-It is with sad news that Good For Me aka Goody had to be euthanized due to complications with colic on 11/06/2009. This is a huge loss to Team Wallace and his owner Lela Wulf.
10/27/09- This past month has been especially busy!I was very proud of the boys, Good For Me and William as they competed at the Midsouth One Star. The weather was not out of the ordinary for us this season with RAIN but the boys did fantastic--the bubble wrap worked! Goody ended winning the Long Format we put in one of our best dressage test with 7 NINES from the judge at B.!! He definitely had his jumping shoes on and I was very proud of him going double clear around A,B,C,and D!Stadium was a walk in the park with him and it felt like we were jumping into the clouds--he has definitely matured during this event and really came into his own. William put in a very respectable 6th in the Short Format out of 29, he was incredible around the huge XC course and really proved himself!They were both stars!A big thanks goes out to Beatriz who was my groom for the week and did a fantastic job, also to the Wulf pack and Lela--there would have been no way with out you!! Now the boys have had some vacation, it is time to go back to work and gear up for Poplar's Intermediate. William, Goody, and Faris will be attending and it will be all of their FIRST Intermediate!Check out Good For Me's win www.useventing.com/competitions.php?id=2147
9/13/09-It has been a tiring couple of months, with the Midsouth One Star and Poplar's Intermediate looming, I have been trying to get William and Good For Me prepared. Besides the fact I wish I could keep them in bubble wrap, both have been progressing in their flatwork, and had great performances at Full Gallop with both William and Goody placing 4th! Faris is also progressing--getting more ridable and loving his hackenmore! !He jumped CLEAN in the prelim stadium at Full Gallop. Thank you JOE FARGIS--the clinic was more than worth it! I was so proud of Faris I cried, it was his first clean stadium ever! He ended up 7th with just a few time faults on XC. He will be competing at Poplar in September in the Prelim division--hopefully we can stay consistant!
7/29/09-Corwin is growing up fast!While in his turn out in the arena, he proceeded to gallop and jump over the cavalleti!!He was very brave and inquisitive, he defenitily shows his potential and his great bloodlines!
7/27/09--Horses performed great at Wills Park(Billy the Kid, Emily, Jewels, and Westley) and I couldn't be happier with their performances. Thanks everyone for your support and help!
7/23/09-- We had a beautiful dark bay colt born at 3am,by the stallion Cor Magnifique aka Camden and out of my Dad's mare P.S. I Love You aka Autumn. His name is Corwin(means from the heart) and he is already showing the talent that his parents passed on to him.
