Our week down in Wilsonville at the Early Summer Classic was a successful one. The weather was sunny and beautiful the whole week. A few of our highlights were: Remy Reserve Champion Green Conformation Remy and Nicole Reserve Champion Children's Hunter 14-17 Gilli Champion Training Hunter Gilli and Mali Reserve Champion Short Stirrup Hunter Horse Casabella and Hannah Reserve Champion Equitation 16-17 Colby Reserve Champion Large Hunter Maggie and Payton Champion Small/Large Pony Hunter Skye and Ana 5th in the Mini Prix

We would like to award Briteney with the most improved for consistency!!

Also, a shout out goes to Melani and Kelsey for making a solid transition into the jumper ranks. Some great clear rounds from both of them over Linda Allen's technical courses.

A special appreciation goes out to those who coordinated our delicious dessert (Strawberry Shortcake) for the Progressive Aisle Party. In particular Bob & Lisa Kerslake and Barb Mercer.

Continue with your practice, no stirrup work and your workout routine in the club house. Country Classic and Bend is just around the corner. Happy Horse Showing!!!

We're Horse-showing again!

Show season is in full swing, with the Pacific Northwest Show being our fourth in two months. We are competing again in Monroe, at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. The weather has been wild, with some surprising sights on the ground too!

This 'little' guy (with a group of friends) is sharing the Fairgrounds with the riders this week due to the PBR Professional Bull Riding exhibition in town at the Comcast Arena in Everett.

Special mention

Clare has officially bestowed MOST IMPROVED to our star of this week in the Professional classes.Remmington (aka Remy). Owned and loved by Nicole. He has worked very hard all winter and we are very excited to see all his hard work (with a bit of help from Corey) pay off.

Way to go Remy! Come out to Monroe and visit us as we watch more 'stars' compete!

Comments on our clinic

Comments are coming in from the participants of the Jeff Cook clinic this past weekend... Natalie writes:  I had a blast during the Jeff Cook Clinic!  I felt that the clinician combined both fun excercises and great advice to make the clinic a beneficial experience for everyone!  Personally, the clinic really helped me push through a door with my new horse.  It really raised my confidence level to make me feel ready for the April shows that are in just a couple weeks!  Thanks Jeff Cook and Archway for putting on this great educational experience!

Jill explains: "I had an excellent time at the clinic. I think Jeff was a very positive and knowledgeable clinician and I'm particularly excited to work on the flatwork ideas he demonstrated.”

Here are some photos.  Enjoy.

Simply, thanks.

The Archway staff would like to thank everyone who attended and/or participated in the Jeff Cook clinic here at the farm this past weekend.  We all feel it was a great success and one of the most productive clinics we have hosted. We are in the process of going through the photos and quotes from the clinic.  We invite you to check back often this coming week as new blog posts should show up every other day.  A great way to keep up on all the news is to subscribe to our blog.  That way you will be alerted immediately of a post.

A big thank you to all the parents who volunteered, baked, supported and just plain showed up for moral support!. Archway riders and those who couldn't participate in the riding portion, but were invaluable as jumper crew, concession stand volunteers, clean up and set up crew, and all our employees who worked overtime!  Our concession stand had enough yummy homemade treats to last an entire extra day!

Kudos to Corey and Krista for transforming our lobby into a tack store, literally OVERNIGHT!  We had some wonderful gently-used clothes, boots, equipment and extras beautifully presented with a fabulously original poster by Ana.

Please remember to thank Lisa and Jacquie for all their hard work creating the breakfast/luncheon/snack items for our Archway Cafe.  Thanks also to Mali for creating the lovely menu.

It was a huge success and someone overheard our clinician explaining to a rider "go all the way down to the other end of the arena, past the restaurant!"   We will update the progress of our Scholarship Fund soon too.

Whoo hoo!

2010 Journals

Calling all clients (you know who you are!).  We are waiting on some new pics before we can finish up our 2010 Journal.  I know some of you have new horses that I'm sure you would love to get added.  Please email in your jpegs directly to me via email at jtmoore2@me.com.I REALLY want you to get the photos published that you want, but unfortunately, we are already past deadline so please remit them before March 5th.

Thanks so much! Jacquie

President's horses

photo: President William Howard Taft

In honor of President's day here are some fun facts involving our President's and their horses.

George Washington was one of our greatest horse loving Presidents of all time.  One of his favorite pastimes was fox hunting. One of his favorite horses was named "Nelson" and went with him to fight many battles.  Nelson made it through the fighting in Valley Forge and came back to Mt. Vernon to pass away of old age in his thirties.

For George Washington's inauguration he had 6 white horses he wanted to participate.  To prepare these horses for the inauguration his groomsmen washed them in vinegar, wrapped them entirely in bandages and the following morning unwrapped them, brushed them and they were gleaming white!

Jefferson always rode a bay horse.  He owned Morgans.

John Adams found that if he didn't ride every day he would become ill (possibly from being inside).

Many great President's loved horses. Theodore Roosevelt had very bad asthma and he asked to learn to ride as a youth, believing it would make him stronger.  He rode western style.  His sons, Archie & Quentin had a pony named Algonquin.  Once when Archie was very sick he became bedridden for 3 months. His younger brother brought the pony into the White Horse and up the elevator to cheer him up.  This made Algonquin famous as being the only pony to ride in the White House elevator.

A most surprising horse loving President was Bill Clinton.  He didn't own a horse of his own but he would borrow the park police horses.  He and Chelsea would ride often.

Ronald Reagan joined the Calvary, where he learned to ride.  He landed many acting jobs in Westerns because of his riding ability.

Some additional interesting facts:

George Washington brushed his horses teeth. Thomas Jefferson would wipe his horses back off with his handkerchief to see if it was clean before he would go for a ride.

Those of you interested in learning more fun facts, check out this book Horse's of the President's by Leah C. Taylor at amazon.com

Congratulations riders. Photos from the Banquet

We attended the year end awards banquet held at Meydenbauer Bay in Bellevue Saturday evening.  Presented by the Washington Hunter and Jumper Association, the festivities began at 5pm with a silent auction.  After catching up on winter news with all the other barn members we moved into the dining room for dinner at 6pm. The girls were excited to not only pick up a ribbon or two for themselves, but were gracious helpers, making sure they picked up the ribbons for our riders who couldn't attend.P.S. Congratulations Clare on winning the prestigious President's Award.  You Deserve it![youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP-5R8Jji1U]

Book selection // our own Dr. Salewski, DVM authors

Picture 18Our dedicated Vet Dr Mike Salewski has written a Novel "Barn Politics"  under the pen name of Philip Marshall. I started reading it last weekend and I am hooked!! It is a great mystery set around the horse industry. Who would have guessed we had such a talented storyteller in our midst!! I am anxious for the time this weekend to finish the book and encourage everyone to run out and buy, I know it can be purchased on Amazon , Olson's and  the Gift Horse have some in stock, I believe he has scheduled some signings at the stores; enjoy reading now that the days are shorter and Fall has arrived. You can even write  a review on Amazon so get on out there and pick up your copy.Congratulations Mike and I will be waiting for the next one!!!

Clare

Notes on Germany // September 8, 2009

I absolutely love this part of Germany. Hannover is a beautiful blend of the old and new. Our hotel was accross the street from the train station, an amazing mall where people from all over Europe converge. We visited many beautiful country estates and the girls rode incredible propects. Hopefully we will be adding three of those horses to our barn very soon! The highlight of my trip was visiting all the villages, meeting the locals and sharing an evening with a wonderful German family at their country farmhouse. We were served an absolutely amazing meal! Thank you Clare, Corey and Kareen for the most perfect adventure and memories we will cherish forever. New Family Member02 *post by Bob Kerslake 9-8-09

Germany trip // September 5, 2009

Today, we visited a beautiful breeding and training farm where we were treated to 'the running of the foals'. At the end of each day, the mothers are led out of the pasture and their foals run free after them to the barn. The trainer refers to the rowdy ones as 'gangsters'...they buck and play, happily taking the long way back to their stalls. Hannah and Melani were real troopers in the afternoon as they tried a big bay mare outside in the wind and rain...the perfect test for Northwest conditions!*authored by Leslie Thornton