Keri, who first joined us this spring through the Freedom Recreation Services riding program, has now started taking lessons on a regular basis.  Her first day at the barn she was nervous and only wanted to ride the smallest horse we had, Rannita.  Now she rides Geronimo (our biggest horse at 17hh!) for her lessons.  We are so proud of what Keri has accomplished.  She has written us an essay about riding and I’d like to share it with all of you…Enjoy!

“At first, before I got the hang of riding Geronimo I was afraid to get on him.  But when I got on him I wasn’t afraid to get on him.  Also after getting on him he made me happy and also he made me feel brave.  When I have lessons and when they are over I can’t wait until the next lesson.  And so when they are over I give him a treat to eat to tell him he did a good job.  Now we are at the end.  Here’s how much I really enjoy Geronimo…he’s a funny horse and he is a lovable horse. I really love him!” 

Lily aboard Ransom in Leadline with Claire

On Sunday July 13th we attended the Canterbury Horse Show in Cazenovia, NY.  Lily showed Ransom for the first time in Leadline and came away with a hard earned 5th place ribbon!  Nikki rode beautifully in the Novice divisions on Lucky.  Breanne also competed on Ransom for the first time in the Maiden Walk Trot division.  She took a 3rd in Equitation, 4th in Under Saddle, won the Pleasure class and came in Reserve Grand Champion!  Congrats to all riders and THANK YOU to Lizz for being so generous with Ransom and to Pat for letting us take Lucky as well! 

Breanne and Ransom!

Team Affleck is pretty in pink! Chris and Shadow, Betsy and Chance, Claire and Geronimo, Lizz and Ransom, Jeff and Mason. 

On Saturday July 12th, “Team Affleck” attended a Limestone Creek Hunt ride hosted by Hobbit Hollow right here in Skaneateles.  Despite the heat,  we all enjoyed a wonderful ride with wonderful people.  Lizz joined us for the first time on her darling horse, Ransom.  Jeff took his sweet horse, Mason, on his maiden voyage with us as well.  This was also Betsy’s first LCH event!  After the ride, we were all treated to a lovely brunch.  Thanks so much to Hobbit Hollow for being such generous hosts!  We are really looking forward to more trail rides, hunter paces, and, of course, hunts, courtesy of LCH. 

Most horse crazy individuals, like me, read everything we can get our hands on if it remotely has any thing to do with horses! To keep us all in the loop on good horse reads, I’ve asked my riders to do book reviews on any horse books they recommend.  Elise, one of my most dedicated riders, has just finished reading Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan.  She HIGHLY recommends this book! Read her review and if you would like to purchase Paint the Wind click on this link:  http://www.amazon.com/Paint-Wind-Pam-Munoz-Ryan/dp/0439873622

Enjoy!

Paint the Wind Review
 
In the beginning there was a horrible accident which had a bad ending. Death!! Therefore, this girl named Maya had to go to her Grandmothers house to live and she got the best life that her grandmother wanted for her. However, she never new her mother that well because her Grandmother did not like her. She had to change schools a lot and had so many house cleaners in her life. Then one horrible day it changed. It started with a heart attack by her Grandmother and it ended up with her DEATH!! In between each chapter there was another story happening and it will go together in the end. However, it was about a horse named Artemisia. She had two foals the first one died at birth the other survived. Then she took care of him and called him Klee and he never left her. She took him to the herd and was greeted with joy. 
Since Maya’s Grandmother died she went to live with her uncle, grandfather, and aunt. There names were Aunt Vi, Uncle Fig and Grandfather Moose. They took her in like her parents wanted. Then they took her to there camp called Sweetwater it was lovely out there and she found out she had a cousin named Payton he had 3 brothers. He loved to play pranks on everyone. Maya took riding lessons there and they loved to have her there. She wanted to leave at first but after a while, she loved it there. She found out that her mother had a horse and it was free so she wanted to see her and when she did, she saw the baby. She thought that they were so cute and the herd. Then people came to gather horses and the herd ran. Then after they noticed that Artemisia and Klee were not there. Therefore, they went looking for them and they did not find them at all. Then one day Payton fell and lost a tooth and Aunt VI took him to the Dentist to get it fixed.
Maya was left alone at the camp and when she looks in the desert to see if she could spot the horses she did. Therefore, she mounted up to go after them. When she got there the ground began to shake it was a earthquake!! Therefore, she fell and her horse ran but Artemisia stayed with her when it was over she saw Klee on the ground dead he was attacked by a mountain lion. She noticed her arm was cut badly and she broken her ankle and couldn’t move. After the 7 or 6 day, she was able to get on Artemisia and rode to camp.
When she reached there was nothing there so she went to the other campsite by foot and left Artemisia at the old and found everyone there. She was taken the hospital and was treated for her wounds. After a month, she was better and she went back. Her Aunt and her went for a trail ride and Maya new that Artemisia wanted to be free so she let her go when she let her go she said “ We will see each other again I promise”
 
THE END
 
Read and written by
Elise Morgan
 

Every fall upstate New York hosts one of the most prestigious equestrian events of the year…The Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament.  The show is ran by John Madden, famous trainer, horse show manager, and of course husband to Olympic Show Jumping Gold Medalist, Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY.  The competition hosts a Grand Prix show jumping competition, the ASPCA Maclay Equitation Finals, and this year will be hosting the classes formally held at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden.  With that, I am proud to say that Dr. Robert Kiltz’s CNY Healing Arts Wellness Center and Spa will be a major corporate sponsor of the event, which includes having a team of riders on Friday evening’s big Corporate Challenge jumper class.   I am so excited that we will get to be a part of supporting this great equestrian happening!  I am also thrilled to announce that Chris and Jeff have generously sponsored a ringside VIP table at the show for Claire Affleck Training!  I can not thank them enough for their support of myself and the barn.  

Beezie Madden aboard Authentic

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.

 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!