Castle Farm has had another busy month in August. We had several returning students, a couple of new students and a couple of new horses.

Paetra Muller and Clarke Glendenning have both really missed riding lately. Paetra is off to school at the prestigious NC School of Science and Math, and Clarke starts her freshman year at Meredith College. Both girls had been unable to ride with Castle Farm for quite a while, however, they were dying for a little horse-time before embarking on their new endeavors. We hope to see more of them again soon! Rachel Mason is also making a comeback. After her first few years at ECU, she is ready to commute back and forth to ride when she can. Those of us who are horse crazy understand the lengths to which you will go to ride a horse .

Castle Farm also welcomes two brand new students - Emily Szaflarski and Belinda Swaringen. Emily is a young girl who is pretty new to riding. She lives in Tennessee permanently, but visits her grandmother here in NC. She had such a great time when she came out that she plans to ride whenever she is here in NC. Belinda is not a newcomer when it comes to horses. She has owned and ridden horses for many years. However, Belinda has come to Castle Farm to take up a new aspect of horses - carriage driving! She seems to thoroughly enjoy it so far and looks forward to tons of fun with the driving ponies.

Finally, Castle Farm would like to welcome two new horses - Foreign Authority, aka Emmett, and Easy Effort Ace, aka Ace. Emmett belongs to returning Castle Farm student Jenna Evenson. She adopted him from a thoroughbred rescue organization. Emmett is a big, handsome, thoroughbred gelding who is very sweet and very willing to please. He will be used in the lesson program, and so far, he is proving to be a lot of fun! Ace has come to Castle Farm for training and sales. He is a QH/appendix gelding who also seems to be very sweet. He should make a nice hunter as he gets back into shape and ready to work.

This month Castle Farm will be attending the CCDC Fall Driving Show at the fairgrounds, and the Hillcrest Horse Trials in Mocksville. Come on out and help cheer us on!

Castle Farm headed down to Southern Pines this past weekend to compete in the first event of the NCDCTA Timex Eventing Series. Heather King and Cassidy, Gabrielle Navarro and Cisco (aka "Partner in Crime" this time), and Dominique Major and Sandi attended the show. Heather and Cassidy competed in the Open Beginner Novice division. They started the day off with a 34.8% in dressage and first place. They went double clear in XC. They had one refusal in stadium, but still maintained the lead through all three phases. They finished 1st out of 3. What a great way to start of the series! Gabby and Cisco competed in the Sr. Maiden division. They started their day off with a 38% in dressage and 6th out of 10 riders. They had a couple of time penalties in XC (probably had something to do with the fact that 12 jumps just weren't enough for Gabby, who decided to jump an unmarked jump before circling around and jumping the correct flagged jump ). They went double clear in stadium, and finished the day with a score of 44.8%, and 7th place out of 10.

Unfortunately for Dominique, Sandi came off the trailer very colicy, so they spent the day with the vet trying to help Sandi feel better. They didn't get to compete, but Sandi has been feeling MUCH better since the day of the show, and the pair can't wait to compete in the next show of the series - the October Fenridge Horse Trials!

Castle Farm headed down to Southern Pines this past Saturday with 3 horses and riders for their July horse trial. Heather King competed her lovely mare, Cassidy. Ashley Godfrey competed her lovely (and recently purchased!) mare, Annie. Gabrielle Navarro competed her trusty steed, Cisco (aka, The Flying Purple People Eater). This was Annie and Ashley's first show together! Ashley purchased Annie about a month ago, but recently had to give her around 3 weeks off due to a hoof abscess, and had only just started back with her riding the week before the show! This was also Gabby's first full horse trial (she competed at TTC with Schuyler a little over a year ago, but XC was canceled that day due to rain), and Cisco's first ever horse trial!

Heather and Cassidy started the day off in the open beginner novice division. They earned a 31.5% in dressage, with several 8's on their test, including their straightness down centerline (which they've been working VERY hard on since the last show)! After dressage, they headed over to XC, where Heather actually remembered her course this time (and also remembered that jump 12 comes after jump 11, not jump 3 ) and went double clear! They also went double clear in stadium, which kept them in the lead throughout the entire competition! They ended up winning their division, placing 1st out of 5, and finishing on their dressage score. Way to go Cassidy!

Annie and Ashley rode closely behind Heather throughout the day, competing in the Sr. Beginner Novice division. They had a great dressage test - Annie really knows how to turn it on in the show ring! They earned a 34.8% in dressage, which put them in 1st place out of 3. They headed over to XC (probably Annie's favorite discipline!), and sailed over all the jumps. They incurred a couple of speed penalties, but what can we say - this mare loves XC! They went double clear in stadium, and it was obvious that Ashley had a GREAT time on her new mount! In fact, we even heard an "I love you!" from Ashley to Annie after one of the jumps in the middle of her course! This mare is definitely a change from Ashley's previous horses! They finished the day in 1st out of 3rd, with a final score of 40%! Not bad for their first competition together!

To finish out our day, Gabby and Cisco competed in the Sr. Maiden division. They earned a 38.5% in dressage - definitely their best dressage score together yet! After dressage, they headed over to XC, where Cisco was a CHAMP! Believe it or not, this pony was FLYING on the course! (I guess he felt the need to live up to his show name that day!) Gabby and Cisco also had a fantastic stadium round, making much tighter turns on the rollbacks than anyone else had been able to so far! They finished their first horse trial together in 2nd place out of 10. Way to go Gabby and Cisco!

Look out for all three teams (along with other horse and rider teams from Castle Farm) to compete in the Timex series this fall! The first show of the series is the August Foxtrack, and you can bet we'll all be back for more!

Castle Farm has been very busy for the last two months, and we have several new additions to our "family" - horse and human!

Brianna Heydlauf has recently joined us from Pennsylvania. She has moved down here to go to school at UNC Wilmington, and is spending the summer with her aunt. She is a talented rider in eventing, and is looking to continue the pursuit of this sport while she is here in NC. She has also been a great help around the barn, volunteering her time to help groom horses and other farm duties as necessary. Rashonna Webb has also volunteered with Castle Farm, despite only being here for a week or two. She has no previous horse experience, but is a quick learner and eager to help out. She joined us at the Foxtrack HT this past weekend, and got a taste of what to expect in the future. Joanna Bertram won a lesson package for Castle Farm at a silent auction. She had never ridden before, but has really been enjoying her experience so far.

On the horse front, we have 3 new horses to welcome to the farm: Nolita Marie, aka Nolita, is a 2 year old paint/QH cross who has come here for training. She was barely started under saddle, and her owners just wanted to increase her mileage at the walk and trot. She has come along beautifully! Okee's Silk Stockings, aka Silky, has also come to Castle Farm for training. She is a 9 year old paint/arab cross and is well started, but needs conditioning and finishing for the show ring. She is also for sale, so check out her info on the sales page. Last but not least is Max's Beautiful Babe, aka Panda. She is an 8 year old registered paint mare (as you can see, we've added a lot of color to the pastures!). Her owner Lauren Buslinger, is interested in getting Panda started over fences in the lesson program. She seems very sweet so far.

Coming up in August is the first competition of the NCDCTA Timex Eventing Series at Foxtrack Training Center. Look for several of Castle Farm's finest to be kicking butt!

Castle Farm held it's second week of summer camp last week! This time, the campers ranged from a little experience in both jumping and cantering up through several years experience jumping and cantering. The following campers attended:

Intermediates (Appllejacks)
-Camille Sullivan on Dover
-Grace DiNardo on Patti
-Alexis Hartman on Jett

Advanced (No Name Necessary)
-Gabrielle Navarro on Cisco
-Katie Powell on Cheerio
-Elizabeth Hilmar on Gypsy

The theme for camp this week was "Castle Farm Sporting Days." All week long, the campers played various non-horse sports on horseback. Sports included soccer, hockey, jousting, fencing, water basketball, and minigolf. They also worked on team performances. The Appllejacks worked very hard to come up with a Pas du Trois - a synchronized dressage test for three horses and riders. NNN worked very hard on a synchronized Prix Caprilli test (a dressage test with jumps). In the middle of the week, we had a scavenger hunt. The results follow:

-Team 1: Camille and Gabby - 1st place (free lease ride and a $5 gift card to Triangle Horse Sports)
-Team 2: Lizzy and Grace - 2nd place ($5 gift card to Triangle Horse Sports)
-Team 3: Katie and Alexis - 3rd place ($5 gift card to Triangle Horse Sports)

We also had a sleepover Wednesday night, and ordered pizza and stayed up watching horse movies. We hope to incorporate this into future camps.

Friday, we had a camp-wide competition. We started the day off with the team demonstrations - the Prix Caprilli and the Pas du Trois. Then the games began. The results follow:

Soccer - Tie
Jousting - No Name Necessary
Hockey - No Name Necessary

Final: No Name Necessary - Gold, Appllejacks - Silver

Everyone (horses and riders!) had a great time at camp and we can't wait for camp to start again next summer!

Castle Farm headed out to Hillsborough a couple of weekends ago for our favorite hunter schooling show - Sharon Oaks! The following horse and rider teams attended:

Camille Sullivan and Jett
Zoe Downey and Schuyler
Randie Rowland and Boomer
Gabrielle Navarro and Boomer
Heather King and Butch (schooling in the warm up ring)

Heather King and Butch started off the day with a brief riding session in the schooling ring. This was the first time Heather has ridden Butch away from home, and even with a pony mare in the ring with him, he was very well behaved for this first time out! It was a great confidence booster for both horse and rider!

Camille and Jett started off the show with her debut in the walk/trot/canter (12&under) division. Zoe and Sky competed in the walk/trot (12&under) division. Gabby and Boomer competed in the walk/trot (open) division. Also, Randie made her Castle Farm show debut competing in the leadline division on her pony Boomer.

Results for the show follow:

Randie & Boomer:
-Leadline 1st out of 2!

Camille & Jett:
-WTC Eq 4th out of 4!
-WTC Hunter 3rd out of 4!
-WTC Pleasure 1st out of 3!
-WTC 75% payback 2nd out of 3!
-W/T ground poles 1st out of 2!
-W/T ground poles 1st out of 4!

Zoe & Sky:
-W/T Eq 3rd out of 3!
-W/T Hunter 1st out of 3!
-W/T Pleasure 1st out of 2!

Gabby & Boomer:
-W/T Eq 3rd out of 6!
-W/T Hunter 5th out of 6!
-W/T Pleasure 2nd out of 5!

Castle Farm hosted Week 1 of it's first ever split-level summer camp the first week of August. The first week of camp catered more towards riders who have never ridden before through riders who have ridden but have not cantered or jumped yet.

Our beginners for the week were:
Emily Powell on Dover
Allison Keys on Jett
Cassidy Narron on Cisco
Kayla Petroski on Schuyler
Randie Rowland on Boomer

Our intermediates for the week were:
Allie Powell on Patti
Zoe Downey on Schuyler
Katherine Zinn on Dover
Kacey Rodier on Gypsy
(and sometimes Randie Rowland on Cisco, but only when Boomer was being a brat

The theme for the week was "Fun at the Circus." All week long the campers worked hard on perfecting their circus skills on horseback. These skills ranged from "aerials," vaulting, clowning around, balancing acts, and strong-man acts. At the end of the week, the campers put on a circus performance for their friends and families. To start the event off, the campers presented their horses in the costume parade. They'd worked hard all week long on making their horses the best they could be in the following disguises:

Jett (Kayla, Allison, and Zoe) - a jet plane
Gypsy (Kacey, Allie, and Katherine) - a pirate
Schuyler (Emily, Cassidy, and Randie) - SuperSky (the super pony!)

After the costume parade, Heather, who was dressed as a ringmaster - special thanks to her dressage instructor, Suzin Daly, who let Heather borrow her coat and tails!- started the events for the Castle Farm big top.

Everyone had a great time during camp and during the final performance. We can't wait to see all the campers back for camp next year!

Castle Farm headed out to Mebane, NC the first day of July for a fun day filled with XC schooling! The following horses attended:

Annie (with rider Ashley Godfrey)
Cisco (with rider Gabby Navarro)
Cassie (with rider Heather King)
Butch (no rider, just there for the experience!)
Shadow (with rider Heather King - no jumping, just there for the experience)

And...Jo! Heather's former show horse, Jo is actually boarded at Fenridge, and her new owner wanted Heather to school her over a few XC fences before hopping on and trying them out herself. What a great way to start the day! After Heather and Laurie schooled Jo, Heather (this time on Shadow) and Ashley and Gabby headed out to school. Gabby passed her XC audition (allowing her to show at the Foxtrack HT at the end of this month), and it was Ashley's first time schooling XC with Annie as her new owner. Both horses and riders did great and had a blast! While everyone was cooling off, Heather headed back out on the course - this time with Cassidy! Cassidy was feeling exceptionally brave, and they had a great time schooling the course. The event was a great confidence booster for Cassidy! She even jumped the scary ditch (her arch nemesis) in the woods on the first try!

Finally, while everyone was packing up, Heather hand-walked Butch around and he played over some of the jumps as well. Look for him on course in the next couple of years!

Everyone had a great time and we can't wait to head out for the next event!

Castle Farm headed down to the Moss Foundation in Southern Pines the last weekend in August for a much deserved trail ride! Two trailers packed full of horses made the trip. The following horse and rider pairs attended:

Heather King and Cassidy
Lois Mercer and Patti
Amanda Guffey and Sandi
Ashley Godfrey and Annie
Gabrielle Navarro on Cisco
Jordyn Dunson on Shadow
Elena Freedman-Scott on Jett
Katie Powell on Cheerio
Elizabeth Hilmar on Gypsy

Everyone had a great time on the trail ride. It was a GREAT change of scenery, as the only horse who had been there before was Cheerio (before he came to Castle Farm), and NONE of the riders had been there before. Despite getting 'lost' and having to be 'rescued' by park staff, and despite riding for two hours longer than we'd intended, we can't wait to head back to the Moss Foundation to explore more trails! However, you can bet that we'll be making our OWN map next time . Also, we'd like to thank Gregory Scott (Elena's dad), for hauling the second trailer!

Castle Farm would like to offer a huge congratulations to veteran rider Ashley Godfrey on her purchase of Anastasia! After deciding her last horse wasn't cut out for the thrill and speed of eventing that Ashley desires, she decided to sell him and look for a new mount. After about 6 months of searching, she finally found the perfect horse, and believe it or not, Ashley decided to buy a mare! Annie is a 9yo Thoroughbred mare who has evented up through training and been schooled up to prelim. Her dressage is fabulous, her jumping is just what Ashley's been looking for, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for this pair!