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Elizabeth & Artisan lesson with Deb –  2/10 New!

Elizabeth Johnson / Urbana

Woodside Dressage 2009 YR PSG
Katie Johnson and Millenium owned by Pam Schachter

Its a new era for us. Katie is settled in in Germany, the barn at home is busy and we are looking forward to the upcoming season. We survived the tornado warnings (of all things) here in El Cajon. Only lost a tack shed but all of its contents were dry!!! I felt so sorry for the horses. The wind really scared them. The amount of rain was amazing but we are back at work which makes a lotof happy horses. The last 2 clinincs were cancelled due to weather and related damage. I hope we can get back to them next month. I am not sure how to handle the lack of travel after the hustle of the holidays and Katie being gone, but am enjoying the daily rhythem of the barn. I welcome a new working student, Raquel. She is replacing Jenna who needed to persue her education and work. Heather also joined us a couple months ago cleaning a couple days a week. Without the help of these two and Ellie I am not sure how I would do it all! I enjoyed sharing the training video of Pam’s mare Urbana who is learning her changes. Its so hard to coordinate the man power to get these videos done! We plan on showing her at the Dressage Affaire in March.

Merry Christmas to everyone. Cozy by the fire, wrapping presents leisurely, sipping cider………….Yeah right…..Every horse owner’s dream if they have them at home! More like, out in the rain, slogging through mud, making miniature nile rivers, checking blankets for dryness and waiting for the footing to dry! All for the love of our big friends that work so hard. So bring on the coffee to have the energy to do it all!!

As we prepare for our early thanksgiving feast the reality is becoming clear that not only is my daughter leaving for an undetermined amount of time up to a year, but my friend, riding partner and wonderful daily eyes on the ground are too! She will be arriving in Germany on Thanksgiving day, and travelling by train to Northern Germany and being picked up in Oldenburg.  The farm’s name is Gestut Nymphenburg. Here is the site address for those wanting to see her destination. They have quite a few lovely sale horses! http://www.gestuet-nymphenburg.de/index.php?id=10&L=1

Other news!!

Check out the article in Dressage Daily December issue, about 3 Top Young Riders! Katie and Milo are featured in it and it tells about her journey to Prix St Georges! She said good by to Milo a couple days ago. At this point Pam still owns him and is having a blast with him!

Clinics: I will now be going to Palos Verdes and taking over Katie’s lessons up there. I had a chance to meet most of her students a few weeks ago and am looking forward to teaching them! I still go to Ramona once a month as well.

My horses: It seems Meeko is determined to make a come back! My word of wisdon: Take white line disease seriously and really think outside the box  when determining what is making your horse sore! I have a new white line treatment I hope will keep his feet healthy. Artisan is doing well, just daily training to keep the sites on 4th level. Some injury setbacks have gotten in the way but he is back on it! Santayo, the 2 year old colt is looking and moving gorgeous. Off to be broke soon. He is a doll to deal with. Our older gentleman Burrito is still around doing a couple lessons a week. At almost 26 he is amazing! He could go do Junior Championships if I had the right kid!!! He is available for 1/2 lease if you know of anyone. And Oreo, Katie’s pony, is STILL here.  We got Oreo when Katie was 4 and she is now about 33 and looks like a healty 18!

Our Boarders: I have 4 great boarders who make up the barn family. Ellie has a relatively new horse, Garrett, an Oldenburg gelding. He is doing well, working training-first level work. Tiffany still has Fiesta and is looking forward to starting a new job and will have more time to ride! She has been doing lessons with Katie and working hard. Carol has Lance, a running quarter gelding. I have had Lance in full training for a few months. She had an accident and shattered her wrist a few months ago but has started to ride again and he is happy to have his mom back. He has excelled in his work amazingly and is getting his changes!  Our new additions are Samantha and Lucjan. They moved in a month or so ago and are working hard. Lucjan is looking so fit and is healthy and his work is super. Bana is at Hazy Meadow but I am very tied to her and her owner Pam. I have had her in full training for about 3 months and have made fantastic progress. She is an extremely talented dutch mare with a big heart. Pam has started to ride her again as well but wants to continue Bana’s work with me too.

Congratualtions to Jenna and M’liss! Jenna has been my working student for a year and just sold her adorable quarter mare to and old friend and student M’liss. A perfect match! As Jenna focuses on school more I will miss her daily help.

Working student: If you know of someone interested I might be needing help soon.

I hope everyone has a family filled Happy Thanksgiving.   Elizabeth

Things are moving along here at a quiet but busy productive pace. Katie is enjoying Artisan even though he does test her periodically! Meeko is hoping to go back to work lightly tomorrow! I am not sure which one of us (Me or Meeko) is happiest, He is SO bored. I have had Pam Tarrel’s Urbana and Carol Surprenant’s Lance in full training for a couple months and they are excelling fabulously! They are a couple of gems. Both learning their changes and super collection. Yeah!! Carol’s shattered wrist is healed and getting stronger, almost time for her to try out her new horse in Lance. Samantha Hoffman moved her boy Lucjan to our barn a couple weeks ago and they have settled in and fit in well.

Katie is fininshing her college classes this week and then  will start to prepare for real for her journey to Germany. She leaves the day before Thanksgiving. Still not sure just how I feel about the move. The barn where she will be working is called Gestut Nymphenburg http://www.gestuet-nymphenburg.de/ Her clinincs in Palos Verdes are full and I will be taking over when she leaves. I look forward to meeting them all. Meanwhile I continue to go to Ramona each month for a nice group of riders as well as teaching in the local area.

So Katie and Milo had to forgo the State YR Championships. Unfortunately Milo had an ‘iffy’ spot on his leg and we decided that it was best to rest him than push him. So he is still here for a short while more. His big whinney and playful face will be missed in the barn.

Artisan and Meeko….(yes Meeko) are getting to take center stage in the barn. Meeko seems to have made a remarkable recovery from his foot resection that caused bad imbalance in his foot and shoulders. We thought his days were over but with creative thinking and actions and he is back. Thank you Chad, our shoer. What a happy worker he is!!!!! I think Artisan will primarily be Katie’s mount until she leaves so she can work with her skills on a less trained horse. How many people would like to have to go back in training to perfect their skills!

I am taking a deep breath after 3 years of intensive work with horses and kids travelling. Lets all pray for our economy to stabilize so showing and clinicing can be part of life!!!

Well we seem to have hit a status quo on our horse life for at least a short time. Katie is home and is working with many horses and busy with lessons. I personally am loving having her here and she has been such a help with my horses. Her eye and timing have developed to be so refined. In finding herself without a job (outside of teaching and training locally) and not having a horse to compete on at the next level she applied for a job in Germany…. and got it!!! So it looks like in November she is off to Europe for a year to ride and work in a private barn in Germany. This fulfills yet another of her dreams for riding. She and Milo will split up next weekend after they compete for three days at the Southern Calif. Jr / Yr Championships in Los Angeles. This will be hard for both of us as he has really stolen a huge piece of our hearts. What he and his owner Pam have done for Katie is amazing and he will never be forgotten. We pray the right person finds him and enjoys his big heart as much as we have. I will be posting the times for the show next wknd as soon as they are available just incase anyone can come up for the “farewell tour”.

Elizabeth