Reflecting on 2022

The last few years have been a roller coaster for everyone and I have seen both heartache and growth all around me.  On my end, I look back a little stunned at how far I have come. I now feel like a little look back on the last year and half is long overdue.

In August of 2021, I took the opportunity to start my own dressage business at  Haley Farms.  I was both thrilled and terrified at the idea of stepping out on my own but this facility was everything I had dreamt of and I couldn’t say no!  I am grateful to the handful of friends who pushed me to make the jump when not everyone around me was so supportive. 

We made the move in what felt like a whirlwind of excitement and emotion.  With only two clients and four horses, one of which belonged to me, it was a slow start.  The gift in this was all the time to myself to set things up how I wanted, spend time getting back in touch with the horses and getting to know my clients better as well as the new faces at the new facility.  In the beginning, I was doing all of the riding and care on my own seven days a week.  We set up a dressage court, opened our doors and little by little, made our way to 2022.  Without writing a novel, I will do my best to give you the highlights of each month below.

January

By this point I have two lovely lessons horses Nutter and Sundance and the lesson program is just getting started.  I wanted a way to grow my business slowly and the idea of a small lesson program where I could give private dressage focused lessons was something I felt we could use more of in Los Angeles.  

I also met Kim Dailey the last week of December so she was just getting started as  SBK’s first working student!  She instantly formed a bond with my lesson horse Sundance and it was clear there was room for both of them to grow.

February

I was also working with a  few horses at another barn down the street.  One of those horses was a Frisian mare named Gretchen I was helping prepare for her Keuring.  It was my first Keurig and my first time showing since covid had shut everything down.  It was great to be back in the ring and I have to say a lot of fun!

March

By March our lesson program is growing through word of mouth.  Kim has spent so much time at the barn she is now covering my Monday off!  

April

Lessons and training have reached a fairly steady pace and along with Kim we hire a full time groom!  This is also the month that I begin leasing a very special horse named Maleficent MA and she moves to my barn for the 2022 show season.  This is also the month that Patty Mayer starts to coach me for the 2022 show season.

May

It was time to get back into the dressage ring so I headed down to the spring benefit show in Temecula to represent my business for the first time with my Arabian mare CP Witching hour and the Andalusian mare Maleficent MA I was leasing.  It was a rewarding experience after so many years out of the ring because of covid!  The support of the community at this particular show was exactly what I had been missing! 

We also attended one of my favorite shows at Flintridge in La Canada.  This show was particularly special because I also had students to coach!  We really got a sense for the community we were building at our barn.

June

The horses have settled into their routines and I actually sneak away for my best friend's wedding in high school reunion!  It might not sound like much but I could not have done any of this without our amazing groom Tony.  I am very lucky to work with him everyday knowing he cares about the horses as much as I do and like they are his own.

July

The barn lesson horses are both half leased, lesson schedules are becoming more regular and the show horses are getting stronger!  We also returned to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center for a local show and felt good to get the horses out at this venue since this year's championship show was being held there.  

August

The one year mark!  I rode my first freestyle with Sweetpea at the Southern California Equestrian Center!  We fit in one more show to qualify her freestyle at The Paddock Riding Club for championships.  This show was bittersweet.  It was my first time back at the Paddock since I moved to start my own business but moving on and growth takes courage, so here we were, and we got the final score Sweetpea needed!    

My clients also participate in our first online show!  This was a great tool to get everyone motivated to put together a test and get great feedback.  I look forward to doing these events again for my barn!

September 

The USDF region seven championships are finally here and they did not disappoint!  Both Sweetpea and Maleficent had qualified to compete at first level and Sweetpea would also be performing her freestyle!  We left the show with multiple top ten placings and my dear Sweetpea in the equidome with the music turned up as loud as they would let me, broke 70% for second place!  A week or so later we received our invitations for both horses to compete at the US dressage finals in Kentucky!  I couldn’t believe all that these two mares had done and this was also a first for me!  We ultimately made the decision to stay home but what a thrill to be invited!

October

This month we recoup and enjoy time clinicing at the barn!  We host a Patty Mayer clinic for the clients at Hillside.  I am thrilled with how well they ride.  I attended two clinics at Patty’s Bailiwick House to ride with Steffen Peters and Beth Baumert.  The opportunity and feedback fills me with a kind of joy I can not explain.  

We make a few whirlwind horse shopping trips and find the perfect partners for clients.

November

The new horses arrive in the barn.  It is lovely to watch clients who had started on our lesson horses begin this journey into horse ownership!   

Princess Stella, aka CP Witching Hour, attends her first Arabian sport horse show!  This is something I have always wanted to do with my mare but conflicting dressage schedule and other time commitments had kept me from attending.  We participated in sport horse conformation, sport horse under saddle and show hack classes as well as dressage fourth level.  It was a great time to connect with the friends I had made in the seven years of owning this special little mare.  In the end, Princess Stella was: Champion Dressage Type Mare in Hand, Reserver Champion Hunter Type Mare in hand, Reserve Champion fourth level and Top five in both sport horse under saddle and sport horse show hack!

December

This month we all really took the time to enjoy what we had built around us.  Lessons were given, horses went on the walker and in turnout, manes were braided and gifts were hung on the stalls for horses.  We had brunch on Christmas Eve morning and let the new year roll in…

And as many of you have heard me say it is time to move on to the next one and in this case, on to 2023.