Virginia Appaloosa Horse Club

Congratulations to member Martha Mitchell of Ashland who’s yearling appaloosa gelding, Waps Heracles, won the Appaloosa Sport Horse Class at Dressage at Devon! The class should be posted on the Appaloosa Sport Horse Association website in the near future (www.ApSHA.com)
We hope Martha will share pictures with us soon so we can post them in our web album!

Mark your calendars for the Barefoot Clinic being held October 10 at The Gillies’ “Winning Colors” farm in stafford. The clinic will be given by Paige Poss. Paige Poss is a professional hoof care provider that enjoys teaching about horses’ hooves. Her practical, easy approach to hoof care will give you a greater understanding of balance and the simple mechanics of hoof form. Cost is $20 per member, $40 for non-member. Paige states ” I like taking the mystery out of hoof care and helping the owners become more comfortable and interactive in the care of their horses.” Space will be limited, so please contact Sharon ASAP to reserve your spot.

Also in October will be the member Trail Ride at Morven Park in Leesburg. We will have a tailgate lunch following the ride. This internationally known equestrian facility has a new trail system and we will be treated to a guided tour of some of the trails. The Date will be October 31. If you always wanted to say you’ve riden at Morven Park, here’s your chance! Thank you to Kathy Coviello for arranging our ride. You can RSVP Kathy or Sharon.

Congratulations to VaApHC member Brenda Gillies who had another GREAT year at the National Appaloosa Horse Show last month. Her super fast black gelding Potential Dream ran away with Championships in Open Figure 8 Stakes Race (which is what appaloosa folks call Barrel Racing) Non-pro Figure 8 Stake Race, and Open Keyhole Race – making Brenda and “Mitch” the National Non-Pro Champion Games Horse! On the Kelly’s Ford Trail ride, we discovered Mitch enjoys going slower than the pleasure horses, preferring to save his speed for more important events…

Saturday Aug 1st at 10am we will be having a Chiropractic Demonstration given by Dr. Jana Froeling of Full Circle Equine Services.  Dr. Froeling   integrates traditional and alternative therapies that offers a unique approach to the health and well being of your horse and she’s kindly offered her time to share with us.   After the demonstration and questions, we will have lunch and the board will hold a meeting.  The event will be held at Sharon & Ron’s Dark Starz Farm in Spotsylvania – you can email or call Sharon for more information.  The newsletter should be coming out after the meeting - so get your adds and/or any news items and information to Debbie. 

From Kelly's Ford

Aaaaaahhhhh, what a nice ride!   Those that came out to ride at the beautiful Kelly’s Ford Inn and Equestrian Center in Remington were treated to a truly enjoyable day.  Our guide Sherrie lead us through peaceful, shaded fields, cool woods and even a few  just-enough-of-a-challenge hills.  We got to ride on the grounds where they hold the weddings and it was just beautiful!  Then down to the Rappahanock river just in time to see a group of canoe’s go by – the horses watched them with quiet interest.  (We all want to go back and add Tubing down the river on the to-do list!)  We had a great lunch at their pub while the horses rested in the guest’s barn with their own lunch and a few of us even enjoyed a relaxing swim in the pool to top it all off.   Thanks Sherrie and Kelly’s Ford for being so accomodating – we’ll have to make this an annual event!  You can see some pictures of the ride under the PHOTO tab.   Scroll down and go to the Online Picture Album.

Saturday, July 11th is our trail ride at Kelly’s Ford.  We will be starting our ride at 10:00 and should be back around 1:00 to have lunch at the pub.  If you’d like to join us for our ride, we will meet and park at the upper barn nearer the pub and pool.   If you’d just like to come for lunch, we hear the food is excellent!   Our hosts at Kelly’s ford have also invited us to  enjoy their pool and will have several stalls and paddocks available for our use while we are there.    They also have horses for “rent” if you need at extra mount.  For more information, or to see their facilities and directions, you may visit their website at www.innatkellysford.com .   See you there!

YEE HAW!   A handful of adventurous riders braved the raindrops and tried our hand at Team Penning.   The nice folks at Andora Farm took the time to teach us beginners how to team pen.  We got to expose our horses to cattle and everyone did great!  Ok, so if we were timed, it might have been a bit embarrassing.   But everyone, including the horses seemed to have fun.   See the Photos on the PHOTO tab – under online photo album.   Thanks to the photographer and all you railsitters, who cheered (laughed) us on and who will  be joining us next time…. right?   Andora Farms is home to the Seay family who is doing the “Ride Across America” which will air on RDF-TV this fall.   Maybe we will join them for their “cattle drive” coming up.  Stay tuned.

It was good to see everyone at the BBQ  & meeting last sunday.  We had a good turnout, and welcomed some new members.  The Food was great (Ron can really turn those burgers) and everyone seemed to enjoy the demo on equine massage.  Thank-you Jill Deming, MA for donating her time and helping us learn techniques we can use on our horses. 

The newsletter should soon be in your mailboxes.  You can contact Debbie Conley with any adds you’d like to include in the newsletter, or any news items you’d like to share with the members.  We’d love to hear of your new arrivals, or successes. 

We’d like to give back to our members and have several clinics and demo’s in the works.  Saturday June 20 at 9am, we will be learning team penning at Andora Farm.   The farm is located on route 3 just a few miles from Magnolia Equestrian Center.   July 11 we will be riding at Kelly’s Ford.  will meet at 10 – 10:30.   We will have lunch at the pub after the ride.   In Aug we should be having an equine Chiropractic/Accupuncture demo; this fall an information session on barefoot performance.   So Stay tuned and come joins us!  As always, we have spots for everyone.

General Membership Meeting and BBQ – Sunday June 7 at 11:30 until-?  We’ll have a meeting, grill some burgers and at 1:00 an equine massage therapist will be giving a demonstration.   Bring your favorite dish, BYOB and stay awhile!  It will be at Ron and Sharon’s Dark Starz Farm in spotsylvania. 

For those of you not attending the Shenandoah-Blue Ridge Appaloosa Horse club’s spring show in Lexington on May 16-17, the Rusty Stirrups Club is having their Judged Trail Ride at Sandy Point State Forest on Saturday May 16.   For more information you can visit their website www.rustystirrups.com 

Also on May 16th, our favorite 4H’rs will be holding their annual Tack Swap at the Tractor Supply Store on Route 3 in Frederiscksburg.  Stop by and shop, or if you have things to sell contact them and rent a table.  www.stablemates4h.org

The final updates on the Division Winners for the trail ride have been uploaded (see previous post).  We will be busy stuffing envelopes to send everyone their ribbons and awards.  Congratulations to all!!

Good luck to everyone attending the SBRAA, Delaware, or Keystone App club shows for the month of May.  Hope to see many of you there, it will be a busy month. 

The next club meeting will be on June 7 at Ron and Sharon’s Dark Starz Farm.  This will be a general membership meeting and all are welcome.  We will be having a cookout, meeting, and a demonstration and hands-on learning of equine massage.  Sharon’s lucky horses will be the demo horses.  We can welcome our new members: Paul Phillips, Ashley Mcleod, and Amanda Sisson.   

Mark your calendars for club team penning day on Saturday June 20.  In July we’ll meet up at Kelly’s Ford and ride the trails and have lunch at the pub for any that wish to enjoy the day.