Pat and Breanne were real troopers this weekend at the Bridle Path Manor Horse Show at the NYS Fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY.  Both riders kept their cool in the 90 degree heat while competing their horses. 

Pat had fabulous hunter rounds over fences on his beautiful mare, Suki.  She is jumping great, getting her lead changes, and we are really looking forward to competing her more seriously in the jumper divisions in the near future.  Pat is doing an excellent job brining this green, but fancy mare along in her training!

Breanne showed Rannita in the walk-trot division and came away a 3rd and two 4th place finishes.  Breanne showed great horsemanship skills in the ring because she not only had the extreme heat to deal with but she also had to deal with Rannita accidently cantering on her! Oops! Breanne rode through it, got her back to a trot, and finished her class. Nice ride!

We all survived the heat, learned alot, had great rides, and are looking forward to the next Classic Series show on July 13th at Canterbuy Stables in Cazenovia, NY.

Anthony loves Geronimo!

Micha and his new best friend, Rannita!

May 31st was the first of 4 spring sessions of horseback riding for children involved in the Freedom Recreation Program of Auburn, NY.   Claire Affleck Training is the lucky host of this wonderful program.  All of the children had great rides on our saintly horses; Rannita, Thunder, and Geronimo. 

A big ”THANK YOU!” goes out to the owners of these horses, Daryll Wolford (Rannita’s owner), Traci Uyehara (Thunder’s owner), and Dr. Robert Kiltz (Geronimo’s owner). 

We welcome volunteers to join us each week. Thank you to the volunteers that helped out the past two weekends…we all had such a great time and couldn’t do it without you!  

Some of the kids have participated in the riding program for years and for others it was their first time in the saddle.  We were so proud that the new riders all were brave enough to climb on board! 

Skaneateles Talk wrote a great blog post on our program! Thank you!

http://skaneatelestalk.com/2008/06/15/freedom-riders-at-claire-affleck-training/

Also featured on http://mindbodysmile.com

Breanne leads Thunder with Heather holding Robyn on for her first ride!

Elise gives Selena a ride on her favorite horse, Rannita!

 Look no hands! Elise and Keri having fun with Rannita!

Jared taking Geronimo back to the barn for water after a hot ride. 

Traci and Nikki, both volunteers, take a break on Thunder in the shade.

June 1st we attended the first horse show in our local Classic Series, hosted at Smoke Tree Farm in Baldwinsville, NY.  Lily rode Rannita in Leadline and came away with a beautiful purple 7th place ribbon!  Breanne showed Rannita in Walk Trot and came away a first place in Equitation (her first blue in walk-trot!), and two 2nd place finishes!  Nikki competed on Lucky and was Grand Champion Novice Hunter and Reserve Grand Champion in the Novice Equitation!  I was so proud of our great results and of the great sportsmanship that everyone showed.  All of the riders were very encouraging and supportive of one another. 
Next weekend is the second horse show of the Classic series.  This one is at the NYS Fairgounds and hosted by Bridle Path Manor.

 We have just returned from showing at the Devon Horse Show in Devon, PA.  Our ever classy filly, Iamlucia, competed in the Thoroughbred 3 year old in-hand class and recieved 3rd place honors!  We could not be more proud of her.  She was fantastic and what an experience going to Devon was for all of us.  We look forward to future Devon Horse shows and are excited to see how this young filly’s show career continues to develop…  

On Saturday May 17th Claire, along with Chris Lego and Rick Signor attended (and ended up winning the 5 mile division)  the Limestone Creek Hunter Pace in Cazenovia, NY.  Claire rode Geronimo, a Friesian cross owned by Dr. Robert Kiltz.  Chris rode her pony Shadow and Rick was on Chance, Chris’s new Connemara/Thoroughbred cross!  It was a beautiful morning for a ride and the views of the upstate NY hills were spectacular.  We all had a great time and are looking forward to more LCH events!