End of Summer Approaching!

Well the month of July has been a busy one!!  We have been collecting new students and a few new horses too.  We have four new girls of the middle school and high school age who are all just as horse crazy as all my current students!  We also have an adult rider joining us and possibly another one in August.

I am also looking at bringing in another new school horse to help with the larger workload now!  Big thank you to Tory and Sarah for letting me fill in some extra rides on their wonderful horses, Willow and Dylan.  Hopefully by the end no August you will be seeing a new face in the barn. At the end of August, the beloved pony Sugar is coming to stay at Sherwood Forest!  We are looking for some little girls to sponsor her through the Iron Horse Program and also just beginner little girls who want to start lessons on an adorable white pony! Spread the word that we have a great beginner pony and are looking for more beginner students!  She will also be available for Birthday Parties while the weather is still nice! Call of email with any questions or interest in our fabulously cute white pony!

This month also brings some interest in leasing horses in the near future and also maybe looking at purchasing a horse.  I am currently looking for not only new school horses but horses that would be available for a half lease with another student.  If you might be interested in a long-term half lease, let me know and we can find great horses for everyone looking. We also still have our student’s horse, Dylan available for half lease or a sponsorship through the lesson program.  He is a very sweet boy who loves attention.

Of course our school horses are available for sponsorship and Dublin will be available for lease!  Dublin has had a sponsorship for the month of July but will once again have two spots available in August for more sponsorships or a half lease. In general if you are looking to sponsor, lease, or buy a horse, please come talk to me and I can help you through the whole process!

Sherwood Forest EC is hosting a variety of activities to showcase the barn and bring in some extra interest. Here is a list of events happening:

After Hours BBQ: The After Hours BBQ is an Open House for the barn and all are invited to come meet new people not only from the barn but from the Oregon Horse Community as well!  It will be on August 24th, which is a Tuesday.  It will start at 5pm and go until roughly 7pm.  Feel free to join us!

Painting Party: Another Weekend in August or September we will be having a painting party to give all our jumps and poles a fresh new look for the up coming year!  We have a nice set of fences that will get painted in sets to be our show set and then another set for everyday use!  Food and beverages will be provided and it’s usually a great time!  Please invite everyone who can pick up a paintbrush to come out and help!

October Festival: Last year we hosted a small Halloween/October Show for the barn and this year we plan on doing it again but with a different twist.  We will be cooking up some great food and snacks to celebrate Halloween while anyone interested can participate in the fun games.  It will wrap up with a great Costume Parade!  Anyone of any age is encouraged to participate!

This month I will be starting to give Quarterly Progress Cards that show each student how they are progressing through our curriculum.  The Progress Cards are divided into levels according to which level you are riding in (Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced). Every 3 months each student will get an updated Card and for Beginning and Intermediate levels, you can track how close you are to moving on to the next level.  If you want to see what is in the levels you have already mastered, just ask and I can send you the other levels Cards.

Horses and More!

This summer I plan on holding two summer camps, July 19th - 23rd and August 9th - 13th.  I'm of course always happy to have interns and camp helpers available to help out all our little campers.  Information about the camps is on the website under 'Services'.  Just let me know if you would like to help out.  But not only do we like having interns around for our camps, I can always use help around the barn with daily chores!  Interns learn what it takes to care for our school horses and everything that comes with them.  We do a lot of event prep for our horse shows in the summer but interns are rewarded with trail rides or lessons for all the hard work they do!  Interns also all get an 'Intern Shirt' to let everyone know what you do!

I am also going to be attending at least one show a month with my horse, Bren, and invite anyone along that would like to come; either to compete too or just to help out and watch fun shows.  I will post which shows I plan on attending on the Facebook page as well as on the Show Calendar on the website.  Any home shows that we have, I high encourage my students to come watch and help out at the show.  Its always a good time!

Last month I let you all know that Willow, our school horse, was up for sale.  I'm happy to let everyone know that our student, Tory, has purchased her.  She will be around for a few more lessons and will be available for a half lease eventually if anyone is interested.  She is a sweet little mare and we are extremely happy that she has such a wonderful new mom and she gets to stay at the only barn she has ever lived at!  She of course will welcome any and all treats as usual.

So with Willow stepping down as one of our school horses, we welcome in a new horse in her wake, Dublin.  I know Dublin from years ago when he lived at the Lake Oswego Hunt Club.  He has been semi-retired and his mom would love to see him get more attention and exercise.  He is a tall flea-bitten gray Thoroughbred (a little bit like Aspen for those who knew Aspen) and has been there and done about everything.  He will be in for the next month for his trial.

Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center is hosting a Jumper Night, May 22nd at 5pm!  If you are interested in competing, let me know and we can figure out which classes would be best.  I will be riding Bren and maybe another horse in it as well as volunteering.  They can also use volunteers and I encourage any students that are available to help out to come down!  It is a lot of fun to watch and fun to be part of the crew that makes it all happen!  Jumper Nights are also very fun to just watch and I invite everyone to come out and to invite everyone they know to come watch.  There will be food and drinks and a good time!

Planning Ahead!

Check out the NEW PHOTOS of some of our students riding and competing at the Oregon High School Equestrian Team Meets! Just hop over to Flickr from the Gallery page!

A reminder that the price changes in lessons is in effect for the month of April.  You can still pay for each lesson individually or as a group package at the beginning of the month.  The package is for 4 lessons, regardless if there are 4 or 5 lessons that month (ends up being an average of about 5 FREE lessons a year).  For price details check out the Services page.  If you have ANY questions regarding these changes, please talk to me soon!

This month brings the news that one of our school horses, Willow, is going up for sale.  Her owner has decided that she would like to pass her on to her next owner as she is too large for Willow and has never ridden her.  The good news is our student, Tory, is buying her!  She will not be a lesson horse anymore but she is staying in the barn so everyone can still say hi and give her some loving!  I am looking at some possible horses to bring in as school horses to replace Willow when her lease is up at the end of the month.  Don’t worry!  We’ll have a new and equally awesome horse in for those lessons!  Willow will be available for half leasing if anyone is interested (Just contact me about it).  The new horse will also be available for a School Horse Sponsorship or Half Lease.

The fun events start!  Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center is having an open house on Sunday, April 18th, from 2pm to 5pm!  It will be a fun chance to meet and greet the great group of trainers available at Sherwood Forest as well as find out our plans for course development, shows, clinics, cross country playdays, Jumper Nights, and Camps!  They will be offering tours of our ever developing cross country course, trails, arenas and barns for anyone who has not been out there yet or family members who are curious.  Refreshments will be available as well as some fun activities for the kids!  It is open to the public so I encourage EVERYONE to invite anyone you know to come out and learn about our great barn!  It will be a great event for our barn!

Bren and I will be attending one show a month this summer and any others that my students wish to attend.  There will be home shows, however, I am not sure of that schedule yet.  I will let everyone know as soon as it comes out!  If you are interested in showing this summer, you can either Sponsor or Lease a School Horse or lease/buy another horse.  If you are interested in leasing or buying a horse this summer, let me know so I can help you find the perfect one that you will enjoy!

Eventually, the Eventers would also like to redo the room at the end of our aisle to be our lounge/mini-club room.  Right now it is being used for storage but as soon as the weather gets a little nicer we will be getting started on that!  It will need quite the work to make it nice but we already have some of the furniture that will go in it at various people’s houses.  It just needs to be insulated (for those cold winter days), painted, flooring put in, maybe a ceiling?, and decorations!  It already has a window looking down to the indoor arena for those parents that want to stay warm but watch lessons.  It will have a mini-refrigerator and microwave along with a TV and DVD player so we can record lessons and shows to watch later.  Things will be finished off with a couch and small coffee table along with good horse books and magazines.  Other ideas are welcome as it will be a work in progress for a while once we get started!  Volunteers and donations are also welcome so that we can have a great little room to hang out in!

Spring is Coming!

First news is that I didn't get the newsletter out for February so the lesson horse use fee will NOT go into effect until APRIL. The website and all my forms have already been updated so you can take a look at what is coming in April. The Lesson Fees have been divided into 'Own Horse' and 'School Horse' categories. The 'School Horse' Fee includes the $10 fee that covers my cost of the horses and allows me to keep nice horses around! The Group Lesson rates are being REDUCED for everyone. All prices have bee updated on the website so let me know ASAP if there are any questions. Anyone Leasing or Sponsoring a horse pays a rate based off the 'Own Horse' Fee. I will be offering Partial and Full Training packages soon and what those include will be posted on the Services Page.

As for Sponsorships and Leasing of horses, Ochico is available for Sponsorship ONLY (2 at a time) and Willow currently is not available as she is half leased and has a sponsor. Willow's lease will be up at the beginning of either May or June. At that time she will go back up for a Half Lease or Sponsorship. If you are interested in sponsoring or leasing a horse please let me know soon so we can be thinking ahead. Willow has a lot of interest already so let me know if you are serious about her. If anyone is looking to find a horse to lease or purchase, contact me about helping you find that perfect horse!

One of our students, Tory, is currently in the horse market (no hurry though!) and don't be surprised if you see a new horse face around begging for attention and treats! I am also going to be trying two horses currently in the barn for potential lessons horses. I will be putting students on them eventually to test their ability as school horses.

If Sherwood Forest EC puts on any Combined Tests or Horse Trials this summer, I will be looking for help in getting ready for those and volunteers to help run them. It is a great opportunity to get your feet wet in the horse show world and fun to watch close up the action going on! Any students who are interested in showing will be required to help out at least ONE show this summer (again IF any get put on). I am also looking to put on a clinic with Kevin Freeman (Eventing Hall of Fame and Olympic Rider) and I encourage all my students to ride or watch!