Water!

Kate and Buddy had the most fun in the water! Buddy thought this was way more fun than going over ditches.

Wally and Kate

Kate and Wally show a nice jump too! At Indian Creek.

Charlie and Jessica

Charlie and Jessica jumping in fine form at Indian Creek.

Indian Creek weekend

Saturday was a schooling show at Indian Creek, that beautiful place on Hwy. 46. With lots of horses and riders going, it was a busy fun show. Jumping happening in the jump arena and dressage in that beautiful arena down by the road. The jump course was challenging to just remember it! but all managed to get around. Everyone came home with ribbons. The dressage went well also, with Kim and Sirrak getting their best scores ever. Donna and Santiago keeping up their good scores too. Hannah and Pistol, Courtney and Wavish, Cassie and Sunset also gave it a try at new tests/levels to earn good scores and ribbons. Wally and Kate did their first test and scored great. Pam and Beamer tried a new venue, a little dicey at first, but finally settled to ride and excellent second test.
Sunday was fun as it was schooling cross country day. Charlie and Wally were the newbies at this, and both did surprisingly well. Both horses jumped as high as ever and did the scary things like water (which they both thought was a blast) and ditches. Buddy with Kate didn't think the ditch was so fine, but the water was! Cassie and Sunset booked over lots of stuff, as did Courtney and Wavish. Hannah and Pistol were going their first time out too, and Pistol showed himself as brave as the best. Mary and Fargo continue to get more confident about stuff too. And Trisha and Lady looked great!
Those "oldies" of Kinswood will remember Melissa and Clyde - they drove down from Austin and met up with us at this show and did great. Won their dressage rides, jumped stadium too. And schooled over some great cross country jumps. It was good to see them again and hope we see them at future events.
Pictures will follow everyone when they come rolling in.

Doggone Dogs!

Once again, everyone, leave your dogs at home. Today someone's "nice, he never does anything wrong" dog killed a farm chicken. That means the resident animals this month have been terrorized by dogs more and more. Have had dogs go after the resident cats, Samson! and now, killed a chicken. YOUR dog is not a farm dog, and it's wholly unfair that the animals that live here aren't safe at their own home. Leave the dogs at home!

April Liberty Hill

The show this month at Liberty Hill was lightly attended by the Kinswood Farm riders. Beamer and Pam had the best ride ever, relaxed and pleasant despite the deer bounding around the outskirts of the area. Karen and Dominic continue to get really good scores into First level, they are well on their way to greatness. Donna and Santiago are truly "getting" it, with scores in the 60%'s now. Kate and Buddy did well with no comments about not being "on the bit". Yipee!
Julie brought Gabby and Force to their first show and they earned a reserve championship ribbon for the walk/trot division. Cassie also rode Force and had a great time. Brittany and Sirrak had some excellent rides as well, and SaraBeth took Wally to show in her first show to a third place ribbon!
Well done guys.
Lily was dragged to the show too. Her first outing. She proved to be quite the lady in all things. Stood at the trailer quietly, was nice when Heather hacked her around. And schooled well in the arenas. Think it's show time for real next time.

Polo's home

Polo arrived back at the barn yesterday afternoon. He looks surprisingly well considering his ordeal! He needs hand walking and grazing several times a day for his recovery. Sure that Judie (his owner) would appreciate any and all help in that direction. Talk to her if you'd like to do this, Polo is on a specific schedule so Judie can keep track of what's happening and give you the low down.

Saddle pads

Hey everyone...
Kim is trying to get us moving on getting saddle pads embroidered with the Kinswood logo. We just need to order some saddle pads, since that's not something the company keeps around. Strange that, huh? Anyway, someone out there willing to get a bunch ordered, or people organized or something to get that started??
Here's what Kim says:
“How cool would it be to all have saddle pads with the Kinswood logo on them for shows and trail rides? The logo would be the same as we have on our shirts and would cost about $7.50 if you provide the pad. Kim would like to gather up the pads by the end of April (like maybe at the Indian Creek Show) from anyone who is interested. So please let her know and give her the pad(s) you would like to have embroidered. Thanks.”
and....
Here is the link to a website that has Roma quilted saddle pads in white w/ royal blue trim for $12.95 if anyone is interested in having the trim match the barn colors.

Summer job opening

Starting June 1st, we need a new turn out person for the morning weekdays. This job starts at 9:30 and takes a couple hours. Just taking the horses in the barn to the fields and bringing in the field horses to feed them. Monday thru Friday. Anyone interested, come see Diane.

Polo update

Judie reports:
Hi Everyone -
The best time for the hospital and Polo seems to be 1-3 pm, so that is what I have been doing.
He tried to go down again this afternoon, but he rallied after a pain shot. The surgery is not a problem - he is recovering nicely. He is not recovering from the ulcer in his tummy-
he just won't eat, so I stayed in his stall (very large and nice and they moved him to a "room with a view") and hand fed him. He ate all of his Neutrena and whatever else and at least 1/2 of the alfalfa and coastal. His heart rate, liquid-intake and blood work are all good, so if food is the only problem, I will hand feed him..They say that "stall depression" is a problem too, so maybe me being there is a good thing. I like to think so anyway.
Keep the prayers going. My truck is now on autopilot to Retama and can make it in under an hour -
JA

Dry again

Wednesday we are back at work. Arenas are all dry and we are all happy to ride again!

Tuesday, aaaaaahhhhhhhh

Tuesday morning is STILL wet! Obviously we had more rain overnight and things are still too wet to ride. The dirt arenas are slippery sucky mud, the sand arena sloppy wet. Nothing is rideable. Horses are getting turned out tho - it's a bit slick, but everyone's tired of being locked up and you can still walk around, mostly, kind of, sort of....

Slow going...

Well, it's Monday and the rain has moved off. We will be turning out the horses today - except for the bottom field again, it's still really wet. There is still a layer of mud around, and doesn't look like the sun will shine all day. That means it will dry/soak in really slow. As of Monday morning, the arenas still have standing water in them.

Rain again!

Once again the weekend is doused with rain. This time topped by freezing temperatures. No riding this weekend everyone. Horses are staying in and so should you!

Best Wishes

Sad news... Polo was taken to the Retama Equine hospital last night very sick. Looks like surgery this morning. Best wishes and prayers for a successful outcome to Polo and Judie. We all love this horse!

Show results

The recognized dressage show at the Rose Palace was a success for our Kinswood riders. Karen and Dominic did their first big show and we were completely pleased with Dominic - he seemed to enjoy the busy atmosphere and showed really well, except for the few "playful" bucks he threw in occasionally. Karen and Dominic qualified for the regional championships with this show!
Pam and Beamer rode better than ever. Came home with some of the best scores they ever earned and some blue colors....
Heidi and Cajun also pleased with Cajun's first big recognized show. She brought home some nice scores she can hopefully use for the Saddlebred registry.
Congratulations!

Dried up

Arenas are good to ride in again everyone. See ya out there as it may rain again soon!