News and Events - 2010
December - MERRY CHRISTMAS! Congratulations to Pam Schneider on her purchase of Wiebren fan Mirns!
November - Age is catching up with me, as there were a couple omissions in October! Some late congratulations to Anne Burke and Achaean Ali Thea+. They evented at King Oak Farm Beginner Novice level for the first time ever at took second place. The event was October 24th at the fall schooling show. Their dressage score was 33.5 and they received a "9" on their free walk!
I rode Wiebren with Heike Kemmer, Olympic Medalist and German Dressage Team member, at Cutler Farm's sponsored clinic. Heike was very helpful with some position adjustments and had many compliments for Wiebren.
If the rider's heart is in the right place, his seat will be independent of this hands. - Piero Santini
October - Warm weather extended a great teaching and training season with dedicated students. Judging at the beautiful and impressive Pineland Equestrian Center was fun and comfortable in the heated indoor. The Neda Symposium with Steffan Peters provided world class training and fun. Witnessing Steffan's expertise and dedication to correct training was inspirational. Catching up with friends was equally rewarding. Attending the Neda Banquet to collect Wiebren's Third place finish in the Fourth Level Open Division closed the competition season nicely. Now is a good time to reflect back and look forward to new goals.
September - Leslie logged over 3,000 miles on the road between teaching, judging and competing. Wiebren put in a solid test in tough competition at the Region 8 4th level Championships finishing 5th overall. The Saltbox Farm crew then traveled to Dressage at Devon where Leslie and Wiebren put in two harmonious and error free tests placing 5th (64.773%) in 4th Level 2 and 2nd place (65.366%) in 4th Level test 3. Gary and Betty provided the cheering section and support at this big competition. Visits to Town Hill Farm and Dragonfly Farm for monthly clinics were fun and relaxing. Heather Lawson had a great show at the Fall CVDA competition placing 3rd in Training-2 (62.5%) and 5th in Training-4 (61.6%).
August - A busy month with judging at THE FARM and Bradford Equestrian Center Schooling shows. These shows provide wonderful facilities and organization. They are a great show environment, whether you bringing a young horse, moving up a level, or are testing your training in a new enviroment.
Leslie competed at Dressage on the Seacoast where Wiebren won his 4th level test 3 with a 66.098%. Congratulations to Heather Lawson who placed third in a large class at Training 2 with a 62.174% at the CVCDA Summer Show. Katie Murphy and First Glance had a fantastic 5th place finish with 33.6 penalty points in the Preliminary Division at Millbrook, a very large and tough event. Lu and Gus Normand added a promising young morgan mare named Willow to their herd of girls!
July - July proved to be a most difficult time in my life. Over 20 years ago my Dad was diagnosed with Progressive Supra Nuclear Palsy which is a disease in the Parkinson's Disease family. My Dad was amazing for many reasons and excelled in everything he did while remaining humble and a nice guy. He never complained or was bitter about his disease. As his human condition slowly deteriorated, my Dad accepted all the challenges with patience, courage and determination. He lost his battle with the disease on July 14th and is now resting peacefully with our Lord. I want to thank all my friends and family for the help and support they have given me during this difficult time. God Bless.
June - June was a busy month for Leslie with judging, clinics, and showing: Judging on June 13th at Beland Stables; a clinic at the beautiful event barn Town Hill Farm in Lakevill Connecticut; and competing and coaching at UNH.
A belated congrats to Katie Murphy and First Glance (Fitty) on their win at Open Training at UNH in May. They finished on their dressage score of 32.7% (which translates to 67.3% for you dressage folks). Katie and Fitty will be competing at the Preliminary Level this year which means the big fences!!!
UNH Dressage show was a great success for several students. Kat Williams-Barnard debuted with her new horse Metrical, scoring well at both training and first level. In fact, she secured her first levels scores (61.333% and 61.143%) in her quest for a USDF Bronze medal and this was her first show with Met!
Heather Lawson scored 66.957% in a large and competitive class, placing third at Training Level Test 1. Her young Irish horse, Dempsey was a star and was well behaved at his first sanctioned show.
Leslie and Wiebren had a great day, taking home high score at 4th level both Saturday (Fourth Level 2 at 68.409%) and Sunday (Fourth Level 3 at 67.317%). Thank you UNH for the beautiful prizes of hand made pottery!
Audrey Barr Humphries and Elated traveled to the Cutter Farm schooling show. Elated performed relaxed and obedient tests with a little help from Leslie, scoring 63% and 69% with great comments from the judge.
May - The month of May has brought some eventful changes with Apple Valley Farm being sold to Abbey Lombardi. Abbey and her farm manager Susie Symmes will continue to run the farm, now know as Elysium Farm, in the same high standard it has know for over 25 years. They are experienced and knowledgeable horsemen as well as dressage riders, and fun people too.
They hosted a Ride-Critique-Ride on May 22nd at the farm, which filled quickly. Leslie provided the judging and comments to the participants of the RCR and the weather was beautiful. Leslie will continue to teach and train horses at Elysium and they will host another RCR on August 7th. All are welcome.
Good luck and thank you to Mary Compton for 5 wonderful years of teamwork and devotion to all the horses and owners. Mary has a young daughter and will now have more time to devote to family life while still riding her fantastic mare Pamela at the newly named Elysium Farm.
April - Clinic and show season are in full swing now that Spring is officially under way. Leslie travels monthly to Rose Arbor Farm in Paris, Maine to work with a dedicated group of dressage riders. Rose Arbor is a brand new facility owned by Jenna and Scott Smith devoted to outstanding care and training for all levels of horses and riders.
Town Hill Farm in Lakeville, Connecticut also hosts monthly clinics with Leslie at their world class Event barn. This facility has a beautiful cross-country course, outdoor arenas and phenomenal care for their client's horses.
Wiebren and Leslie were selected for the NEDA Spring Symposium with Bettina Drummond and thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic learning opportunity. Bettina is a classically trained Dressage Master and offered many helpful comments for Leslie and Wiebren.
Leslie and Wiebren competed at Mystic Spring dressage show with good placings. In Fourth Level Test 2 they won the class with a 64.4%.
March - Congratulations are in order for Katie Murphy and both her horses, Infinite Skye and First Glance. "Skye" was Champion USEF Silver Stirrup at Training Level and "Fitty" was Reserve Champion in the same division. As last year progressed, Katie moved Fitty up to Preliminary Level and was Champion USEF Silver Stirrup Award at that level. Katie is a talented event rider that balances full-time work, graduate school and her riding!
February - Winter is in full swing but this year seems mild and snowless compared to the last couple of years. Leslie traveled to Paris, ME to teach a clinic at the newly-opened Rose Arbor Farm. Rose Arbor Farm is owned by Jenna and Scott Smith. Their facility is beautiful and extremely well run. The weather was raw and snowy, but there was a fantastic turnout of auditors and enthusiastic riders. All the horses were lovely and fun to work with and Leslie will be returning for their bi-monthly clinics.
January - Happy New Year to everyone! Although the December was a very cold and snowy month, everyone has continued to ride and train bravely despite the weather. Linden Woods Farm in Durham NH is now hosting monthly clinics and I enjoyed working with all the participants and their lovely horses. I traveled to the USEA Area 1 Annual meeting with Katie Murphy and Melinda Marston, which was fun and informative. I was able to bid on Celtics tickets 5 rows back from the bench for a really cheap price and surprised Gary when I arrived home!
Stay warm and be healthy!
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