Sunday, Oct. 5th, 10 PM:

I REALLY like Diesel! I had some free time today, so I decided to go down to the barn alone and work with the big guy for a bit. This is an amazing animal! He so likes people and attention and so wants to please.

I went out in the pasture and he walked up to meet me as I carried his halter and a lead rope. Many horses don't want to be caught unless it's feeding time. No such problem with "big boy". I reached out with the halter and he seems to know how big he is and that no normal person could reach up to put the halter over his ears if he is standing tall. He bent his great big head down and actually burrowed his nose into the noseband of the halter. I was fumbling a little with the head stall, but he kept his head down until I managed to get it over his ears.

He was filthy from rolling and lying down in pasture the past week while he has been out all the time. I spent about half an hour crawling all around his massive legs and standing on the mounting ladder to curry his back and rump. He thoroughly enjoyed the attention. I got most all of the caked on mud and dirt off, but he really needs a bath - which he may get in another day or two when it warms up a bit. There was about a quarter of an inch of dirt all over the concrete floor at the front of the barn when I was done!

I took him out to the lawn and played around leading him and stopping him. This is where his eagerness to please really shows up. He's one of the few horses I've worked with that trots the instant you break into a jog yourself, with no extra encouragement. And he is so gentle and careful of people (not that he didn't step on a few Longacres riders last summer!). When I was trotting him on a lead, if I stopped and said, Whoa, he instantly comes to a dead stop. Meghan came down later and laughed when I showed her. We'll take some video in a few days and post it.

Then I did some longing. He has been lounged to the right before - he is pretty OK with that. But he doesn't understand what's expected when you try to get him going to the left. He gets frustrated and just stops and looks at me and gets a littel scared of the lounge whip if I try to use it to move him left. Going clockwise is fine.

I am really looking forward to finishing this fine animal's training next summer. All he needs is some very consistant riding and training, so he knows what we want from him.

I know that many of you found him to be very hard work to ride last summer. It's not because he is lazy or bad or the slightest bit mean. He just doesn't know what we want him to do a lot of the time.

I had fun today. This is a great animal. Thanks to Hannah, Amanda, Rachael, and the others who did like him and took extra time to work with him and train him this past summer. Your work is already paying off and we'll finish it in 2009!

- Tom (Diesel admirer!)

Sunday, October 5th, noon:

If the "Sky is Falling", it hasn't hit the ground yet!

After listening to some of the politicians and many of the commentators, we wondered if there would be any economy at all in the United States when we returned. Would all our remaining horses have to stay at Longacres all winter? Would half of you who are already signed up for 2009 have emailed and told us you had to withdraw your reservation for next summer? Would new customer prospects have dried up completely? Well, no.

Instead, when we got to the US border two nights ago and could check our email and phone messages, we found nothing but good news. Thanks to several of YOU helping spread the word, we have prospects for winter homes for every horse but Patti. No one has yet told us they need to cancel a 2009 reservation (though we know that still might happen). Best of all, we have had SIX new serious inquiries about 2009 sessions from brand new prospects!

Yesterday as we drove through Syracuse we stopped at the large Carousel Mall. We could barely find a parking spot and it was jammed with shoppers. Many of them carrying shopping bags with purchases. Maybe money is really about to dry up and people are just out spending the last of what they've got before the big crash. But our first impressions after watching the US economy supposedly disintegrate while we traveled the past 9 days are that most of us are still going about our lives managing to do the things we like to do. More carefully, hopefully, but still living and enjoying life.

So if the "Sky is Falling", really, it hasn't hit the ground yet!

Or, as Meghan said as we walked the crowded Syracuse mall after answered all our new email camp inquiries, "Depression, my a$$!"

(PS - We do not mean to make light of financial hardships and sacrifices that some will certainly endure - but many of you are doing well so far, we are glad to report!)

Sunday, Oct. 5, 3PM:

There is lots more news to report from Longacres, so check back frequently this week. Besides the good news that we had six new families inquire about Longacres this past week, we are very encouraged about next year's staff. We had some very good counselors and instructors this past summer, but we also had some turnover and a few other issues with staff that were disruptive during a part of the season.

We're already making arrangements for what we think will be an excellent 2009 staff that has a lot of continuity from this year. Experience at Longacres is very useful! Cheryl will be back for her third year running our food service. She is doing more and more for Meghan outside of her position feeding us. She's been doing more and more of our office work, handles customer relations things like giving rides to the airport, and this year she took over the job of head horse show secretary. A VERY useful person at Longacres! Joel's Maintenance Service started doing just that kind of work for Meghan two years ago, but each season he's getting more involved in other aspects of our operation and is now feeding and looking out for the horses along with all his other work. He'll be back for a third year.

We're pretty sure that Ashley will return to her multifaceted job of secretary, "horse show mom", and all around booster of morale. It will be her third year.

Taylor Murphy will return in an expanded role. She did mostly behind the scenes work this year painting jumps, helping with repairs, and anything else where she was needed. Taylor got to know many of you pretty well towards the end of the summer, and we like her attitude. She is going to be working more directly with all of you as a counselor and another responsible adult on the staff in addition to all her behind the scenes work.

Three of our best Counselors in Training from 2008, Alexa, Hannah, and Carly, have all expressed an interest in returning as regular counselors and they were each outstanding. Each of them spent a good part of this past summer at Longacres, kept their cool, had great work ethic, and were NICE! We will be offering all three jobs - we just have to work out the details.

Shelly, Mandy, and Lillian were also outstanding, of course, and would be welcomed back at Longacres, but we don't know if they are going to be available. We'll make them offers.

So, you can see that we already have a good line on a very strong staff for 2009. We feel good about this.

Thursday, late evening:

Bobert:

Diesel Gets Re-aquainted!

Try this link later tonight for a simple YouTube video of Diesel the first time we turned him back out with his friends after he had been away for a week at JoAnne's. He was having fun!

Thursday, Sept. 25th:

Lots of news today:

Noreen and Amber from Quakerfield stopped by this morning and we all had a nice visit. They are taking Brownie and they already have Merlin and Ginger, so Quakerfield is fast becoming "Longacres West"! They do a fine job with their students and we're glad to have our horses with them.

More news from Quakerfield is that Noreen's fine 12 year old gelding, "Cavanaugh Classic" (Calvin) is for sale. Noreen has done everything with this fine animal but now is concentrating on an up and coming new horse. Longacres can vouch for Calvin - we've known him for years. He will not be inexpensive, but if you know someone in the market for a first class show horse that can go anywhere and do it all, give us a call or contact Quakerfield directly. Tell them you heard about Calvin on the Longacres website.

It is the old "Roadtrip" file we use when we're traveling.

Bobert is doing well with JoAnne, the Sheriff lady who tried Diesel. She is thinking of taking a second Longacres horse. She really liked Brownie, but we had already promised him to Quakerfield. So she's thinking about Boo and Brody. Pretty soon we'll be down to just Diesel and Patti left at Longacres!

Wednesday, Sept. 24:

The horses are doing fine and we thank all of you who are helping spread the word trying to find homes for Boo, Brody, Brownie, Patti, and Diesel. A couple of friends of Longacres in our area are counting up their hay supply to see if they can give a home to one of our left overs. Two girls who used to take Brownie in the winter many years ago are coming tonight to look at Boo and Brody. Things are looking up!

Joel is doing a great job on the decorative stone walls on the sides of the creek crossing we've been working on this week. It should look very nice for you all next summer when you walk from the dining hall to the barn.

We drained the summer water system on the farm today. Once upon a time that job took a full day. We've added lots of new drain valves and now we can do it all in about an hour. The fun part will always be the same - taking every last drop of water out of the toilets with little paper cups and sponges! But it has to be done so the winter freeze doesn't break the pipes and toilets. During the next two weeks we have to put all the winter shutters up on the dining hall windows and lock all the buildings. The barn will be the last building shut up for the season, since we expect to have horses here until the end of October!

Tuesday, sept. 23, 1PM:

Below is the e-mail from Justin!

Tuesday, Sept. 23rd, noon:

And THANK YOU! - Many of you have been making calls and putting us in touch with possible winter homes for our remaining horses. We had Bobert leave yesterday with JoAnne who had been trying Diesel. Patti might have a home with a guy who wants to just trail ride, and we have inquiries about Boo and Brody from both local people and stables that Ofelia and Laura put us in touch with. Plus Griffin's family has some ideas. Thanks to all of you! In the meantime, we are really enjoying having the horses here during this fine fall weather. I am especially enjoying having Diesel back for the fall - he is such a joy to have around. I took video of him running out into the pasture when he first returned to Longacres yesterday. We was so glad to be greeting his old pasture buddies. He jumped and bucked a bit - it will be on YouTube later tonight.

Justin' s Message!

Tonight I will also post a long letter we got from Justin, the horse. No kidding. It is hilarious and heart warming at the same time!

Mr. Skunk:

Monday, Sept. 22nd:

Hi Griffin!

Griffin lives right in East Aurora, and she has offered to help exercise horses also. Thanks, Griffin! Now all we have to do is fit everyone's schedules together and maybe we can have some alumni horse days at Longacres this fall. In the meantime,

EVERYONE THINK ABOUT Winter Horse Homes!

$50 Reward for a Winter Home!

Longacres still has six horses to place at adoptive "winter homes". It is time for us to start thinking outside the box. Put your thinking caps on and let us know if you have any ideas about what to do to find homes for some very nice horses for the winter! Just for fun, we'll offer $50 Rewards if anyone puts us in contact with a stable or individual that takes one of our remaining horses, or we'll give the reward to you if you take one yourself. $50 does not go far towards caring for a horse, but it's the idea that counts - just something new to encourage you to help spread the word that some of your good horse friends at Longacres have no place to stay this winter.

We have been feeling pretty sad about that recently, until we spoke with the owner of another horse camp that usually sends all their horses out to winter homes just like we do. They have 19 horses left with no homes right now! So it is not just us. The tough times in the national and local economies are really hurting the kind of people who usualy borrow our horses for the winter.

And I am not sure that things will get much better next year. We may be in for a few years when there are more horses available than people who want to lease them for a season. So give us your ideas. We already have good relationships with several nice show and lesson barns that take a few of our horses every year. Quakerfield and Lehman Farms are two in western New York that take our horses regularly. We would be glad to send horses much farther away if your stable is interested. Thanks to Laura and Ofelia who are both trying to talk their stables into taking one or two horses from Longacres. That's the kind of help we need!

And if you want to sponsor a Longacres horse that we have to actually pay someone to board for the winter, let us know. The horses would be very grateful! We're thinking we may have to board two to four, which will be costly for Longacres.

Sunday, September 21st:

Sorry for "updateless-ness" for three days! We worked hard around the farm on Friday and then took a trip to visit some old friends from the truck racing business today. We're back and hard at work here tonight!

Sadly, Diesel is coming back tomorrow. Sadly only because it seemed like he had a perfect winter home - we'll be very glad to see him again. Jo-Anne really liked him and tried him for more than a week. He just is still a bit too green to handel the work load she needs from a horse.

Quakerfield is likely to take one or more of our horses additionally. They already have Merlin who is PERFECT for them, and they have been trying out Ginger, who is also fitting into the Quakerfield lesson program very well. They may try out Brody and Boo this week.

Tonight is "Jaclyn Night"!!!!! Usually we are very good about responding to emails and other messages from all of you, but I just realized that I never responded to Jaclyn's generous offer of coming over to exercise the horses left at the barn. She wrote last week and told me she could do that. Thanks, Jaclyn! Let me know if you have a buddy who can come with you to keep you company and we'd love to have you work some of the horses. (Don't the rest of you from all over the country wish YOU were close enough to just drive around the corner and ride your Longacres horse friends in the off season?) Anyway, I declare September 21st to be "Jaclyn Day" to make up for me forgetting to write her back last week. We love you, Jaclyn!

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2PM:

We are still unsure whether Diesel will stay at his winter home. JoAnne loves him and said he did well at their first Sheriff's mounted division session. One of the tests for Sheriff's horses is that they have to walk up to a huge 6 foot ball without spooking. Diesel walked right up the first time, stuck out his nose as if to say, "What's this? Huh - OK, cool!" Yesterday JoAnne's 6 year old daughter was riding Diesel around the arena bareback while she waited for her school bus in the morning.

But he has not completely been accepted by the mounted division. For one thing, they are not sure Diesel exactly "fits" the image of a sheriff's horse (we respectfully disagree!!!) For another thing - well, you're supposed to be able to mount your sheriff's horse from the ground - JoAnne is still working on that!

Wednesday, Sept. 17th:

The Economy and Longacres

We are aware of the momentous events taking place in the financial world. We're working on a story about what this will all mean to Longacres. In a nutshell, we are hopeful that not too many Longacres families work in the investment banking and high finance worlds! We hope you all weather these unsettled times and are able to continue to support your horse activities.

Here at Longacres we are very glad that we have just finished a five year plan of major maintenance , reconstruction , investment in our facilities, our jumps, and our great string of horses. We are also glad that we are pretty conservative in doing business and that we've been able to do all the work over the past five years paying as we went and have no debt at all. It puts us in a very good position to ride out any tough economic times.

The immediate impact of the weak economy has so far been mild at Longacres. Last year at this time our traditional July and August camp sessions were about 90% full. We are about 75% full for those sessions next year right now, and we are actually ahead of last year's rate of early enrollment for our pre and post season special sessions. We know things could change for the worse if the country goes into a full scale depression, but we are cautiously optimistic about the future.

Tuesday, 10:30 PM:

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 9PM:

When I was a child at Longacres (half a century ago!!), we used to sing a song on camp fire night and I still remember some of the words. Maybe you know them?

"I see the moon

And the moon sees me

And the moon sees the one

That I want to see - - - "

I thought of those lyrics tonight as Meghan and I drove up from the barn under a brilliant harvest moon. We were thinking about some of the lovely moonlight rides Meghan and I shared with some of you this past summer, especially Kelly, Ruby, and the rest of you younger kids from our first session.

If any of you are checking the website tonight and get this message, go outside for just a moment and look up at that moon which sees us and will see you, too! Write in and tell me if you have a chance to share our Longacres Harvest Moon tonight. I am going outside again at 10:15 and looking up at that moon, and it will be joyful to hear that one or more of you shared the moment with me even if it is from hundreds or even thousands of miles away from Longacres, but very close in spirit.

I don't know how many of you will be checking in tonight - in the summer hundreds of you read this website every night, but vastly fewer at this time of year. Greetings if you are thinking of us!

Monday, 11PM:

Monday, September 15, 11AM:

What a difference a day makes! It was quite warm and a bit too humid yesterday, but the passage of what was left of tropical storm "Ike" last night has brought us much cooler fall like weather. "Ike" also gave us a taste of his fierce winds with gale force winds blasting through our Longacres trees for a few hours late last night. There were hundreds of small tree branches down just in the driveway to our main house this morning and thousands in the woods. It would have been much worse, but for the fact that Mother Nature sent us her tree trimming crew in the form of two very strong wind storms last winter that took out most of our weak trees and rotten tree branches.

The horses survived the storm fine, though they were all pleased to see Meghan when she showed up to feed this morning!

Canteen Refunds: We owe most of you who were at Lazy Days week small refunds on your spending money accounts and we mean to get those out to you in the next few days now that we are caught up to date on many other Longacres book keeping jobs. We mailed in our federal and state tax returns for the past fiscal year this morning. That's a load off our backs!

We are also pretty well caught up on confirming 2009 enrollment requests. If any of you out there sent in a request and have not heard from Meghan in the past two weeks, call us - we think we've spoken to all of you.

We are full for mother - daughter week and we are full for students older than 12 for the July 12 to 26th session. We do have two spots available that session for girls age 12 and under. All other sessions have two or three spots still available.

More to come tomorrow!

Sunday, 8PM:

It was a warm and humid but pleasant day at Longacres even though the remnants of "Ike" are passing close to our north in Canada as I write. We've had a good, soaking rain the past few days so our grass will be really shooting up the next week. I'll be busy on the mower!

You all know that we've still got lots of horses that need winter homes. What is ironic is that the first three we found homes for since the end of our season were the three that are usually hardest to place, ShaBang, Quantum, and Diesel. The horses that still need homes are some of our most calm and versatile. Brody, Boo, Bobert, Brownie, and Patti are still looking to be adopted for the winter by someone.

Sunday, Sept. 14th:

So far so good - Diesel is trying to put his best (big) foot forward during his trial at his possible winter home with sheriff's lieutenant, JoAnne. She gave us an update and told us he was perfect in the trailer on his way home with her. They groomed him, put "show sheen" on, and played with braiding his mane. They tell us he is easier to handle than some of their mini horses! He is a good guy. He did get in a little mischief this morning knocking over a temporary fence while he tried to get at some especially yummy hay. I hope they forgive him for that - he DOES like his food! We'll put together a little picture album and video tribute to Diesel in the next day or so.

Saturday, 6PM:

This has been a great day at Longacres, but a very sad one at the same time. We do think we have found a very appropriate home for Diesel, and he left a few minutes ago for a week's trial. We can't imagine a better use for Diesel than as a "good will ambassador" for a County Sheriff's mounted division officer! They do all sorts of special events where there are crowds and people come up to them and pet the horses. Diesel will love it, as all Longacres regulars know!

But it is hard saying "goodbye" to him even for a few months. I deeply respect and care about horses like Brownie (greatest pony in the world), Merlin (perhaps the most versatile and talented Longacres horse), Patti (greatest all time record as a show jumper of all Longacres jumpers, and there have been many!), Quantum (what more can be said about THIS great jumper!!!!!), and more of them. But something about Diesel has really grabbed me this summer. Most 2008 students know how much joy I got watching him each time he learned something new. And the past few weeks when we've had half a dozen horses left here from the summer, there's not a day that goes by that I don't visit the barn and say "hi, Big Boy"!!!! This is one horse I will enjoy visiting during the winter.

I find myself almost hoping that the Sheriff's officer doesn't like him after all and sends him back so we can enjoy him a while longer this fall!

- a sad Tom, already missing Diesel!

Saturday, Sept. 13th:

Some of our horses have new "loves". We visited Becka and Quantum last night and she definitely has fallen for him in a big way. It is now confirmed that Quantum will be staying with Becka for the winter at Brookfield, one of the nicest new stables in western New York. Really nice place! Becka is a very soft rider and a good fit for Quantum. She will be working him on the flat six days a week and will take jumping lessons with a good trainer twice a week. Just about the perfect work load to keep Quantum in good shape for next summer!

And this afternoon we had visitors from another stable. They came first to look at Bobert, but when they got here they all fell in love with Diesel. They all road him and the first thing each one said when they climbed up the stump and got on was, "Whoa!!!!!" Diesel was great both with adults and with little kids. If they take him for the winter he will be both a farm pet and he will work in a Sheriff's mounted patrol - we think he will like that!

Friday, Sept. 12th Update:

6 Horses Still NEED Winter Homes!

Help!

Do you know anyone who might be interested in a free horse loan for the winter? Spread the word at your stable or consider taking one of our remaining guys to keep your horse company! Brownie, Brody, Bobert, Boo (all the "B's"), Patti, and Diesel are still here at the farm with no winter home prospects.

This is the first time in 25 years that we've had horses with no homes for the winter by the middle of September. It is an interesting insight on the state of the economy in western New York. More upscale families that own their own horses are generally doing fine and certainly are keeping their horses. But the middle class families who often take advantage of our offer of a "free" horse loan for the winter have largely vanished from the horse world in our part of New York. We have now spent almost three times as much advertising for "winter horse homes" as last year, but few people even call for information. One family that considered taking a horse talked with us and said flat out that not putting the money into taking a horse for the winter would pay for Christmas and a vacation for the family. They couldn't afford both.

So pass the word. These are some of our best horses left. If we don't find loan homes for them, we'll be looking for opportunities to board the remaining horses someplace during November through mid April. So if you know a stable with lots of pasture and even just run in shelter so the horses can live mostly outside over the winter, let us know. Cost is a factor, obviously, if we have to pay to board four to six horses!

Thursday, Sept. 11, Update:

Working on Jumps Already!

Joel and Meghan were busy checking out each and every jump stand when they were put away last week. They set aside 18 of our old stands that had loose or worn "feet" which made some of the jumps uneven or wobbly. This week Joel made new foot pieces for all 18 of these jumps and we'll have them repaired to like new condition before winter sets in. We'll begin next season with all our present jumps in great shape AND we plan to build many more new jumps next spring. We're ordering 20 new jump rails this week so they'll be able to dry out over the winter and be ready for paint in the spring.

"What Goes Up Must Come Down - Eventually!"

or

"It's All Derrick's Fault!"

We're talking about model airplanes here. For two years radio control model planes were a big time part of my life and my main hobby outside of Longacres work. But I set them aside about a year ago after busting up one of my favorite planes in a hard crash.

Fast forward to this year when one of our favorite students, Danita, brought her brother to our special "Lazy Days" week. Turns out Derrick is really interested in radio control planes. So I figured it would be nice to get one of my old slow beginner planes out of storage, charge up the batteries, and give Derrick a flying demonstration while he was at Longacres in August. Just one flight, of course, and then put the plane away in the attic again.

Well, that's not what happened. I got hooked again! That's why what happened yesterday and today is "Derrick's fault".

Not only did I begin practicing with and flying my old beginner plane, but I got out all the broken parts of my high performance plane and glued them back together. Then I began flying that for more practice and THEN I went to my favorite Hobby Shop and bought a really, really fast high performance plane (brushless Stryker, if any of you readers follow this stuff).

I was doing pretty well flying all three planes. I did have one "hard landing" with the new plane. And flying the old high performance plane is tricky since it weighs about half again what it should with all the Epoxy glue and tape repairs I've had to make over two years of learning to fly through the school of hard knocks. It is like a brick to get going and barely flies if I am careful. So it is not surprising that I made a turn too wide up near the small show ring and the plane went into a clump of trees in a neighbor's back yard.

First I used a bow and arrow with a bow fishing line attached. That's a good way to get planes out of trees usually. You shoot the arrow up over a branch near the stuck airplane and it pulls a heavy fishing line behind the arrow so you can shake the branches causing the plane to fall back to the ground. But the plane was stuck so high in this tree that I could barely reach it with the bow and arrow. So we got the tractor high lift and Meghan picked me up in the air about fifteen feet and I tried with the bow and arrow again. I got close several times and we shook the tree branches like a storm would - but the plane was stuck tight. Then we tried throwing apples at the plane! No kidding, and I hit it twice. But it was stuck tight. Then I got mad and tried shooting arrows with no fishing line at the plane, thinking that if I got a direct hit, it would surely knock it down. Well, I "wounded" it, all right, but the plane stayed in the tree with an arrow stuck sticking out of the fusilage. Finally Joel brought tall ladders from the shop and he was able to get about half way up the tree and standing on the top of the ladder (dangerous!) he reached out with three pieces of plastic pipe he fastened together and was able to move the plane slightly, just as it got too fark to work safely. We gave up for the night, and then Joel brought a lighter, longer plastic pipe from home today and he was able to finally knock my plane out of the tree.

By this time, between myself, Meghan, and Joel, we had invested enough valuable labor time for me to just go out and buy a new plane and leave this one in Norm's tree over the winter as a decoration. So much for sensible time budgeting!

Other Real Work

We have done some real work this week. We're concentrating on our farm roads and drainage after enduring quite a wet season. At least we know where all the mud puddles form! We have the spot where the main camp road crosses the little creek between the dining hall and cabins all torn up as we prepare to pour concrete over the drain culverts. And every morning after breakfast I'm driving to the building supply place in town and bringing home a truckload of gravel to fill in a new drainage area next to the office driveway. As usual, quite a bit of our annual budget is spent "under ground".

AND just for Fun!

Meghan and I did do something this week just for fun. We drove all the way to Wooster, Ohio to see one of our favorite country music groups at the Wayne County Fair. (The Oakridge Boys) We also had a chance to see the Budweiser 8 horse hitch - we think our Diesel is just as gorgeous as the Bud Clydsdales!

Wednesday, September 10th:

It's been a busy day at Longacres as we finished up our 2008 accounting and dropped our tax info off at the accountant's office. Phew!

Welcome to Andrea who sent in her 2009 enrollment today! We've got a great group planning to be here for the second half of the summer and the big shows! We've got a few more spots open in August if YOU are interested.

Tomorrow we're beginning to work on the creek crossing down near the big creek on the road from the cabins to the dining hall. Lots of concrete forms to build and cement and stone to lay down. This has been a big year for bridges, road building, and landscaping at Longacres. More to come.

Sunday, Sept. 7th:

A quiet day at Longacres and, yes, Meghan slept well last night after I took her out for Pizza and a glass of wine to celebrate getting ALL the jumps put away neatly in the barn in just one long day! We're still working this afternoon on accounting, since our taxes are due at the end of next week. But we're watching some football, playing with my new model plane (which I crashed for the first time this morning!), and other things to relax a bit. We even picked up a Sunday Times on the way home from breakfast to relax with over the next day or two. We don't even think about trying to read the Times during the summer!

Taylor is working today doing a really good clean up of the barn, cleaning all the bridles and bits, and other stuff to put Longacres "to bed" for the off season.

Brownie is getting a head start of his own preparing for winter. He's already growing in his winter coat! Meghan tells me he has a cute little patch of white hair coming in over his left eye.

We have the mattresses in the bunks all stacked on one bed to keep them out of reach of the mice, and the the mattress cover sheets are collected for the laundry. There's lots to do, but we're enjoying the more relaxed schedule of the fall.

Saturday, 7PM:

Saturday, September 6, 1PM:

Meghan has a really good system. I am always amazed that with just a few good helpers she can get all our jumps put away in one weekend. In fact, she may be nearly done by the end of today. And it's a rather dreary, overcast day at Longacres - but good for heavy work, I guess.

I guess. You see, I am banished from the barn for this project. Meghan always has considered me too old and frail for this job, and especially so since my "false alarm" health scare a couple of weeks ago. So I am not supposed to show up at the barn today except to take pictures for the Blog.

But I have tricked Meghan and I'm getting some good exercise behind her back! I'm starting a project to improve drainage along the driveway to the office and it requires a 12" deep ditch across the road for a new drain pipe. It's hard digging since I have to cut through gravel that has been packed down for 60 years from vehicle traffic. Every time I drive down to the barn or back to innocently take pictures of Meghan and her crew working, I stop and take 10 or 12 good swings with my pick axe on the ditch project. I know that she'll figure out what I'm up to soon, but in the meantime I'm having fun digging up the driveway!

We'd like to send out a Longacres welcome to Shaina, a friend of Alexa's who has just signed up for "Lazy Days" 2009. We're glad to have you as part of the Longacres family, Shaina, and we liked you note with the enrollment.

Meghan wants me to report that Bobert has a nice home for the winter with a family that has been working on his stable for two weeks getting ready for him, and has collected some toys for his stall. After Bobert leaves, we'll have only Brownie, Brody, Boo, Patti, and Diesel left here waiting to be adopted for the winter. Just in case we do not find homes for all of them we're beginning to look at the possibility of keeping our barn open all winter this year, or at least through Christmas. We'd probably put up a little extra fence around the back of the barn and partition off about 40' at the back of the barn so the horses could run in and out as they pleased for shelter but live mostly in pasture. But we prefer to find everyone a good "winter horse home" so they get daily personal attention from some loving family.

Friday, Sept. 5, 3PM:

Thursday evening, 9PM:

"It's Like Riding a Bicycle" update - It's been two days now since I jumped Quantum - my thigh muscles are still pretty sore! How long does this last, guys?

Thursday, September 4, 4PM Update:

Hi again,

We've had some pleasant days this week and are beginning to feel well rested after the summer action! And we're getting busy again. We do relax for a while every morning and then enjoy taking care of the horses that still don't have homes for the winter. Pass the word if you know anyone who might like Brody, Boo, Brownie, Patti, Bobert, or Diesel. They are all getting lots of rest and LOTS of feed. Except for Patti and Bobert, they are looking fat as little pigs (BIG pig in Diesel's case!)

We're still working to keep the farm mowed and trimmed, so if you are interested in stopping by to look at Longacres, you're very welcome. I even mowed inside the pasture today so that the healthy grasses would grow in better after I cut down some of the weeds.

Meghan and her crew are working this weekend to take down the big jump course and put the jumps away in the barn for the winter. We'll be working from about 9 AM on Saturday and again on Sunday. Feel free to stop by and give us a hand if you like! Or just stop by to say "goodbye" to the Longacres jumps until next year.

We continue to hear from returning and new students daily and we're getting our confirmation messages out this week for those of you who have reserved 2009 sessions.

Mother - Daughter week is full for 2009 and we now have only one spot in the July 12 to July 26 session, available for a student age 9 to 12. We have no space left for older teens in that session.

Most other sessions have several spots still open. Some of our "regulars" have told us they plan to attend next year, but have not sent in registrations. We are not counting any of those folks in our formal 2009 roster yet.

I have been taking time most days to fly my model airplanes. Derrick may be interested to know that I have had two major crashes, involving a LOT of Epoxy glue! I have successfully flown the new and very fast Brushless Stryker five or six times being very careful. No crashes with that one YET!

Joel has spent most of the week doing concrete and stone work on the old swimming hole bridge and dam. It is looking much better and should now last for many more years even if we get a major flood. We'll publish a list of some of our other maintenance projects for the fall as soon as Meghan and I can face writing the list - it is pretty scary how much we plan to try to get done.

September is also the end of our accounting year and Meghan and Cheryl are busy with book keeping and tax records so our accountant can file tax returns at the end of next week. We're also reviewing our website and planning on some changes here and there, as well as finishing this year's new "Meet the Horses" page.

Lots to do. But plenty of time to do most of it now that the farm is closing down for the fall.

Tuesday, Sept. 2nd, Midnight:

"It's like riding a bicycle!"

OK, here's how it started out this afternoon. We were making arrangements for Quantum to leave for a week's trial with Becka, who may give him a winter home if she gets along with him. (I think she will!)

It will be the first time Quantum has ever spent the winter with someone who is not a regular Longacres rider. We are happy for Becka and we think she's a good rider for Quantum - but we were feeling a little sad about Quantum leaving. And it got me thinking. In the almost 8 years I've owned this great horse, I've never once been on his back. I don't ride much anymore and when I do it's usually a casual walk on a trail or a very specific and controlled training exercise or demonstration. I haven't jumped a real fence in almost 15 years.

Well, there I was on the back of this great horse, and I said to myself, "You know what, Tom - this horse isn't meant to be an easy chair, he's a jumper. You once upon a time were pretty good at that jumping stuff. Maybe it has been 15 years since you jumped more than a cross rail, but how hard can it be?"

So we rode up the hill to the field, picked up a little canter and popped over a cross rail. Kinda fun! Meghan was following along with the camera,

"Just like Riding a Bicycle!"

That's what I told myself as I walked across the road to the big field, picked up another canter, and - - - - - -

And, do you know what? I wasn't half bad! My heels weren't down over the jump, and I got a little ahead of the motion for a couple of strides after the jump. But I felt my leads without looking as I approached the jumps, and I saw my spots clearly (riding conservatively for close spots four times and seeing the longer more forward distance to my last fence.) I was kind to the horse with my seat and hands and felt in good control. It was good to be on a horse again with wind in my face and feeling him reach under me and settle into the bit.

I really kind of think I could do this again if I set my mind to it! It helps that I'm in better physical condition than I've been for a few years. And it helps to have just watched 61 year old Ian Miller ride in the Olympics for Canada!

Oh, I don't think I could still show at five feet like I used to on China Heart, Yorke Springs, and Tip-Off. But I think maybe I could jump at 3'6" like we do around this part of the country these days. I felt fine jumping the 2'6" or so I did this afternoon and I thought of doing 3" or 3'6" which would not have felt any different on this fine horse. But he is missing a shoe, and I didn't want to send him over to Becka tonight foot sore.

Tuesday, Sept. 2nd, 10PM:

Hint:

"It's like riding a bicycle!"

An interesting update will come very late tonight or tomorrow morning. Check back later - you may enjoy it.

That said, Meghan and I drove home from the State Fair in Syracuse today in really lovely late summer weather. It was one of those days when it's just great to be alive and in the outdoors! We went to lunch on the porch of the Roycroft when we got home to East Aurora, and then did some horse business. And had some fun.

We are able to confirm that everyone who was a student this summer and who put in a deposit for 2009 will get the session you requested. Most sessions now have two to four spots left. We heard from Maggie, Michelle, Catherine, Rhiannon, Deb, Sydney, Sam, and several others in the past two days who were not sure until this week that they could return for 2009. Keep those enrollment messages coming!

First choice on 2009 sessions goes to this year's students until the end of this week. Then we will confirm the requests of first time students with the same priority as returning students. (Those of you who already sent in deposits to come to Longacres for the first time in 2009 ARE confirmed now.)

Remember - "It's like riding a bicycle!"

Friday, August 29, 1PM:

Hello everyone. Monday is September 1st and we will be confirming our early 2009 enrollments then. We will confirm the enrollments of students who have sent us their deposit checks over the summer, with preference given in the order that deposits arrived. As of today, Mother - Daughter week is full and most other sessions have between 2 and 4 vacancies. This counts only firm, paid deposits, and does not count any of the "the check is in the mail" messages we've been given. If everyone who has said they plan to sign up actually sends in a deposit, we will be full or nearly full in most sessions. We have some enrollments in all sessions, including the early Clinics in June and Lazy days, but those sessions have the most openings.

Several of you have switched your first choice of sessions since you sent in your deposit check. On Monday we will be confirming enrollments based on the last we heard from each of you. If you are in doubt, call us right away.

Wait List: We will soon have a wait list for at least some of our 2009 sessions. Last year several people did get a spot at Longacres after being on the wait list, and we expect that to happen again this year. It is a long time until the 2009 season and we are in a tight economy - some people will change their minds. Don't be discouraged if we are already full for your first choice session.

Horse News:

Thursday, August 28, 3PM:

Repeating the story from last night, I feel fine. And in fact, I am getting through "Meghan's flu bug" quicker than she did. I am much better already today after an uncomfortable night. Meghan and I are really both very healthy people, but we get worn out by the end of our four month summer season and our resistance is lower.

We're planning to visit State Fair this weekend just to have some fun as tourists - no responsibilities at all!

We hope you are all getting ready for a FUN school year! You are probably shopping this week for school. Write and tell us about your riding plans for the winter.

We are already getting inquiries about Longacres 2009 from new students, and some of them are asking to talk with experienced Longacres families. If you have time to take a call now and then, let us know. We don't publish phone numbers, but give them out on a limited basis if there is a serious inquiry from a new student.

Wednesday, August 27th, 10PM:

Out of an abundance of caution, we drove to the emergency room and spent all day today having needles poked in me, stress tests, every kind of cardiac test, and special X-rays and scans. After all that, I have a clean bill of health and a very sound heart. Best guess of the doctors is exactly what I expected - a tight chest because of all the stress from the tooth extraction and the exhaustion of the summer season. But better safe than sorry.

Thanks to some of our friends in the area who gave us advice on Cardiologists just in case. Glad we're not going to need them soon! I wouldn't even mention all this, except that several of our friends in the area were aware of my hospital trip and I did not want anyone hearing only half the story and worrying about me unnecessarily. I am fine (except for Meghan's crummy flu bug!)

Our apologies to those of you who we did not call back or meet for your horse appointments. Now you understand why.

Tuesday, August 26, 10PM:

Hi everyone,

First Meghan got the flu the day after our season ended (good timing!), then Tom went in to the dentist for a simple filling and ended up having a wisdom tooth extracted today. Ouch! Fortunately, Meghan is feeling quite a bit better now that Tom is out of commission for a day or two. We've been trading off expressing sympathy for one another!

We are rather having fun taking care of the horses all by ourselves this week. Slowly they are finding winter homes. Becka is coming tomorrow to try Quantum a second time, and may take him for the winter. She is a soft rider with good hands and would keep him at a very nice stable.

ShaBang left today to spend the winter with Sara, who Alexa met when she came to ride him the last day of our season.

We have Brownie, Bobert, Kingsley (who has a home and will leave in a few days), Quantum, Patti, Diesel, Boo, and Brody still here at the farm. It's funny to watch horses learn new routines. During our regular season, of course, we bring all the horses in from pasture to feed them and ride. But with just Meghan and I to take care of them all, we are feeding them in pasture and leaving them turned out all the time. We move quickly along the side of the pasture with a wheelbarrow of feed and put little piles just inside the fence. The first two days there was a lot of fighting between the horses as they challenged each other for the "best" piles of feed. But by tonight they were figuring out the new system and quickly found their own special pile of feed and quietly ate. The first horses to get to a pile were the more dominant ones. Patti, then Quantum and Brody, and very last was Diesel! Amazing that the biggest and strongest is the least aggressive.

We took the gate off between main and little pastures so the remaining horses can go back and forth as they please. The days and nights are cool this week and the horses seem very content. They are getting LOTS to eat!

August 25, 11AM:

ZZ-zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzz

We have several people coming to try horses as winter horse loans this afternoon, but generally this will be a very quiet day.

- Tom

August 24, 8PM:

Meghan is still sick with a flu like bug, but she's working away. I'm forcing her to go to bed early tonight and sleep most of the day tomorrow. We're hoping she'll feel well enough to take a vacation trip to the State Fair later in the week!

August 23, 6PM:

August 23, 5PM:

And so it was, looking not much different than she did ^%%$&#@ years ago! I said, "Of course I remember you."

Janie said, "How could you remember from so long ago, you do not!"

And then I told her, "Your hair is almost exactly the same as it was back then." Which amazed her, but she and her husband confirmed that indeed, her hair now is much the same as it was in the 1970's - oops! - I guess that lets the cat out of the bag about how long ago Janie was here. We talked about her favorite horse, "Tarball", and other Longacres memories and sent her off on a walk through time.

At one point, Janie practically jumped up and down as we remembered some event, and said, "I was SO HAPPY here!" Well, that always does it for me. And perfect timing, too, as we just finished our 2008 season today with many sad farewells. It is really fitting to be so clearly reminded that what we do here at Longacres is often remembered and valued for a lifetime. Thank you for those words, Janie!

Janie and her husband now live in Ossining, NY, and were in the Buffalo area to drop her son off at college this weekend. Janie will try to find time to write up her impressions of her visit to Longacres.

August 23, 3PM:

We said an early "goodbye" to Derrick and Danita who had to leave before dinner yesterday. Then it was "farewell" to Deb, Sydney, and Sam who drove out after Kone King last night.

Now it's only Meghan, Peggy, about half the horses, and me left at Longacres! Meghan has had a constant stream of people in and out of the barn trucking horses to their winter homes, trying out horses they might want to board for the winter, and closing up the barn. Taylor is there now stripping stalls.

First to leave this morning was Jenn and Kate headed back to Montreal. Then it was David, then Carly, then Alexa, and finally Casey. Many tears were shed as everyone realized Longacres is done until 2009.

Casey, his mom Debbie, Jaclyn, her mom, Martha, and Peggy went for a trail this morning on their own horses. It was the first chance for Deb and Martha to see the "back side" of Longacres.

We have a dozen or so horses still in the pasture. Some of them, like Horatio and Rocky, have winter homes and are just waiting to be trucked to their winter riders - good Longacres riders like Hannah, Laura, and Sharon. But others have no winter home yet. If you know a stable looking for excellent school horses or a friend who's looking to lease a horse, have them call us. Quantum, Brody, Boo, Brownie, Bobert, Diesel, and perhaps one or two more still have no homes. We're finding that in this year's tight economy, families that would normally be interested in leasing a horse for the winter are often saying, "Gee, that money could pay for Christmas for the family instead". We need a few more die hard horse lovers.

You'd think Meghan and I would just be sleeping this afternoon. But actually, I feel very empty with nobody here who needs checking on, and no need to plan an evening ride or offer a trip to Kone King. It's more comfortable to keep busy than to sit around or take a nap. We've been cleaning up and organizing everything and planning fall maintenance projects. Joel just left for the building supply store to get sand and concrete to finish the stone work by the old pool dam. We have roofing repairs to do, more concrete work, and then we have to take down all the jumps and put them away for the winter. THAT is a depressing job! Maybe we'll make it more interesting this year by doing a time lapse movie showing the jumps disappear during the course of a long day!

Once again, thanks to our Lazy Days students for giving us a great final week of the 2008 season!

August 22, 11PM:

Thanks to the Bennett family for hosting a great pool party this evening after Kone King. Everyone had a grand time!

Some of our crew from this week are already on the road to home, and the rest are all leaving in the morning. By 1PM, nobody will be at Longacres but horses, Tom, Meghan, and Peggy for one more day.

Several of our local families are bringing their horses over tomorrow when they pick up the kids and going on a trail ride through our woods. It should be fun!

We may not post updates every day the next few days as we get some long overdue rest. On the other hand, I might just keep on updating daily - I am already feeling withdrawal symptoms! We will certainly be writing some longer articles commenting on the ups and downs of the 2008 season and letting you in on some of our new ideas for 2009.

And it is just 9 days until we formally accept enrollments for 2009. We have 23 paid deposits already. The requests for 2009 sessions are quite evenly spread out through the summer at this point, with some enrollment requests for each session, but a few spaces still left in most sessions. (Mother - Daughter week is sold out.) We'll keep you all updated.

Many thanks to all who contributed to a rewarding and successful 2008 Longacres Riding Camp. Thank you.

- Tom & Meghan

August 22, 5PM:

Goodbye, Danita and Derrick!

Our final show and our final rides of the 2008 season are done. Danita and Derrick's dad drove up to watch the show and brought the horse trailer to take their private horses home - so we had to say "goodbye" to these two fine students this afternoon. Deb, Sydney, and Sam are leaving late tonight after "Kone King", and the rest tomorrow morning. The horses are also beginning to leave for their winter homes. Jack left a few minutes ago.

Some of us are going over to Andrea's house for a pool party after dinner and Kone King while the rest pack their things for the trip home.

Even on the final night of Longacres 2008 season there's lots to do!

David won the "high Derby" on Quantum, with Kate also putting in a clean performance, but with a few time faults. Alexa had one rail down, as did Carly.

August 21, 9PM:

Tom, Carly, and Alexa are in charge tonight while Meghan and the adults head to town for "Ladies Night Out". I'm sure they'll have fun while getting home in time to be rested for the horse show tomorrow!

By the way, if you are reading this and planning to come to the show tomorrow, show clothes are "OUT" - it's wacky rding attire day at the fun show!! Anything goes! Decorate yourself with imagination; baling twine is a good theme!

August 21, 2PM:

No pictures yet today - we're just enjoying working with a great group of people! Maybe tonight. Farley Bridgeman arrives for a special clinic in an hour.

August 21, 10 AM:

With the horse show tomorrow, today is the last full day of our 2008 season for riding lessons. We're in a panic because we have so many special horses we want various people to have a chance to ride and some unfinished business on what we'd like to teach. It's part of having such a fine group of students - it makes us want to give them all our best and more. I wish this group could suddenly, magically have another week suspended in time before they have to go home to school and work!!!!!!!!

August 20, 11PM:

When things are going well at Longacres, it's a very rewarding occupation. After building the fire for the smores party, I just sat for a half hour and enjoyed the good spirits and happy chatter and the charm of the fire on a cool, still night. I wasn't quite ready to call it a night when I left the girls, so after updating the website I drove down to the barn with my good camera and experimented with moon pictures. It was just pleasant to be out and about on a night like this, and playing with photography was icing on the cake for me.

August 20, 10 PM:

Everyone is still down at the campfire circle roasting marshmellows and making "smores". Or at least eating chocolate and graham crackers like me!

Did I say already that this is a great group? Yes, I believe I did, but it bears repeating. Everyone is on the same page and trying to help each other all the time. The older kids are looking out for the youngest just the way they should. Our adults are acting like "kids going to horse camp" which is exactly what we want. A very good week.

Derrick and I went to fly one of my radio control planes this afternoon and he took a turn at the controls. I haven't been using my planes much lately even though it was my most avid hobby two summers ago. But I flew again tonight over the barn. Thanks, Derrick - - - you're getting me hooked again!

Tomorrow is Thursday, which means we have only two more full days of Longacres Riding Camp for 2008. We will miss it when it's over - especially this group!

August 20, 5PM:

August 20, 3PM:

Leslie Anne McCullough and "Finis" visited this afternoon and it was nice to see her riding on our show field again. We showed her a bit of our trails also. Maybe we'll have a trail tour on Friday after the fun show for some of our visitors at the show.

August 20th, 8AM:

MY GOSH, IT'S WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

This week is flying by, with only three days left in our season now. With three adult students, three young girls, and three teen boys, you'd think this would be a really tough group of students to work with. But it's been perhaps our favorite week of the entire season. The adults are all good friends of Longacres, the boys are wonderful, and the young girls - well, we just love the fresh enthusiasm for EVERYTHING that they bring to Longacres!

It was great fun giving the young girls and their moms the moonlight ride last night!

Linda Reading (Reading Thoroughbred Farm) visited us last night and she and I worked together teaching David on Knight and Kate on Eva. These young thoroughbreds are really getting it now! It's been fun for some of us to watch them relax and progress over the summer. At first they were simply hard work. But the reason we take in young horses for training every year is to give us the opportunity to see how a young horse responds to consistent training and slowly but steadily learn to be a real horse.

We have lots planned for our final three days. A short trip to town tonight for Pizza Hut and "KONE KING", then a smores party and bonfire, more jumping, maybe another moonlight ride for the older kids, the fun horse show on Friday, "girls night out" for the adults, and more.

Oh, the weather. You haven't heard me talk about the weather much this week. It's b-o-r-i-n-g! Just perfect every day. Maybe a little warm by Friday after last night's near record cold.

Friday Horse Show, 11AM:

We might add or change a class, but here's our tentative class list for the Friday show:

1) Partner lead line barrel racing!

2) Walk - trot equitation

3) Swat the can race

4) adult equitation on the flat

5) cross rails jumping

6) barrel racing

7) pole bending

8) Junior with an adult pair tandem hunter

9) Outside course eq. o.f. (open)

10) short course jumper class

11) pleasure horse

12) pairs class pleasure horse (walk - trot)

13) pairs class pleasure horse (W-T-C)

14) On & Off the horse obstacle run!

15) Side by side Trot Serpentine Sprint Eliminations!

16) Surprise!

17) Jumper Derby Redo - three heights, one class!

August 19, 7PM:

We've got wonderful weather this week! We were out with the horses and the riders all day with good jumping lessons and great trails. (Well, after a few trails got LOST finding their way back to the barn!)

Later tonight the younger girls and their moms are going on a moonlight ride on the field. Kate, Sam, and Sydney should enjoy that so long as they dress very well - it is going to be in the 40's tonight.

David and Casey are doing very well working with Knight. They both really like his smooth gaits. David is riding him tonight for his owner who is planning to visit. Kate is getting her first chance to ride Eva, also.

August 18, 9PM:

Everyone is finishing up horse care right now and then heading up to the house to watch video we took of them all riding today. When we're done with that we'll watch some of the Olympic Team Jumping event that I recorded during dinner.

David really likes Knight! He did a good job working with him tonight.

August 18, 2PM:

My group worked on planning striding for offset lines of jumps and bending lines, as well as a "ten stride" turn to a jump. Kate, Alexa, Carly, David, and Casey all did very well!

August 18, 11AM:

Hi everyone. It's a very busy first day of a completely full week of riding camp, but I have a few minutes for this update while the horses eat before the first lesson. I'm headed down to the barn to teach a lesson in a few minutes. I'll be doing more teaching myself this week than last session, partly because we're less busy with planning for big horse shows this week than the last few weeks.

Ashley is working in the office closing out spending money accounts for the last session, so if you have a refund coming, it will be mailed out soon, along with some of the stuff (lots) that you left behind.

More to come later.

August 18, 9AM:

We're under way with "Lazy Days" week, 2008! We officially begin the week at 9am. Casey arrived at 8:30, but he has a good excuse - his horse was dropped off last night and he needed to be here for horsecare - AND Casey is always helpful and welcome early at Longacres! Kate arrived at 8:59 and one half!!!!!! Not wanting to miss a second of Longacres!

August 17, 10 PM:

Welcome "Lazy Days" Riders!

We're posting a YouTube video of the Friday pond riding in a few minutes. Scroll up this page just a little for the link!

We'll have another update late tomorrow that should have pictures of everyone in Lazy Days.

August 17, 11AM:

We'll have a couple of real over fences classes for both hunter and jumper, some game classes, several adult only classes for the mom's, pairs class and tandem hunter class!

THEN we'll have a redo of the Derby at multiple heights from beginner on up, all judged as one class, so if you missed the Derby or want to try the course again, come on out. The Derby will start not before 1PM. We have left over Medals from the team jumping last week and we'll give them away along with ribbons in the Derby event.

August 16, 7PM:

It looks like a week of nice riding weather for "Lazy Days" students. There's a chance of scattered rain Monday afternoon and evening, but then a long streak of great weather through the end of next week. The remnants of Hurricane "Fay" may impact us by next Saturday, but that's a long way off and the storm system may stay in the southeast. Looks like a good week!

August 16, 2PM:

This afternoon will feature a trail ride to condition some of the horses that weren't used during fair week. Then we're all going out to dinner together tonight, and then RELAXING time all day tomorrow, with maybe another informal trail ride.

Meghan and I will sleep late tomorrow, then maybe go over to the fair on the final day just for fun with no responsibilities!

The farm looks lovely for you folks coming in Monday.

A Tribute to the Butterflies!

Gina, we've thanked you before for all the work you put in painting the incredible Butterfly jump. Thanks also to Martha and Shannon who gave helping hands. You know how many people have complimented the gorgeous paint job - we've passed on many of the good comments.

But here's something you may not have been told. Meghan and I go out for breakfast most mornings early. But instead of turning left out our driveway to go to town the past two weeks, we turn right and go down to the barn entrance. We drive in the driveway and go part way back to the barn. Then we just stop - - - and sit there looking at your Butterfly Jump! We soak in the fact that Longacres really has such an incredible jump and then we turn around and go to breakfast.

AND - we repeat that ritual just before dark every day before turning in for the night. We're sad that we'll only have one more week to enjoy the Butterfly Jump and the rest of the Derby jump course before putting the jumps safely away for the winter.

One more nice Butterfly Jump story; Gary Husted did the wood work building the Sunburst and Butterly jumps. He dropped them off with us in early June unpainted. He stopped by today for the first time since they have been painted. He is amazed and pleased with the way they turned out!

Thanks, Gina!

August 16, Noon:

Goodbye!

Only a couple of girls are still waiting for their families to pick them up. Camp seems empty! But not for long - we'll be completely full again Monday morning for our final session of the 2008 season, Lazy Days.

We've already found a few things some of you have left behind - call us if you forgot something and we'll try to send it to you.

We are pleased that even some of our older girls who may be too busy to return to Longacres for a full session next year are thinking about us. Marta and Michelle both signed up for Lazy Days week, 2009 before they left today.

August 15, 11PM:

As we approach midnight, it is truly the end of the 2008 regular season. Most sessions we would be enforcing "lights out" and curfew by now even on the final night of a session. But with all teenage girls this session, "forget it"! Meghan is down in one of the bunks chaperoning a last night cabin party. I doubt lights out or sleep will come anytime soon. Expect your kids to be tired when they get home tomorrow!

Although there are scattered bands of cloudy sky, it is mostly crisp, clear, and cool under the full moon with not a breath of wind - a fine night for the end of camp. (except for Lazy Days - we're not forgetting you guys!) Many of the girls enjoyed a fine moonlight ride.

August 15, 9:30 PM:

Robyn and Shelly just finished watching the last part of the video from the fair while everyone else has been on the big show field under the light of a nearly full moon. Maddy and Peyton were "clean" from dinner and Kone King and chose to stay that way, but everyone else rode in the moonlight. What a great final memory of Longacres 2008! We'll miss the girls from this session when they're all gone tomorrow.

All except Alexa and Carly who stay on as full junior counselors for Lazy Days week, along with Mary and Peggy as adult staff. We're looking forward to seeing a full crew of riders for next week's relaxed and hopefully fun and achievement filled week of riding. We know everyone who will be here next week either directly as former students or as the "mom" or "brother" of a former student. You are all friends and we welcome you back to Longacres on Monday!

Speaking of Junior Counselors, they are one of the real bright spots of our 2008 Longacres season. We have had several senior staff changes during this season, some planned in advance and some not. But our 2008 Junior Counselors and CIT's have been wonderful. We would love to have all of them back in more responsible positions next year, and several of them have already indicated an interest. We are off to a good start in planning the 2009 staff!

August 15, 2PM:

OK - You knew this was coming - - -

If you're a regular reader of this blog or a frequent visitor to Longacres, you knew this moment would come sometime this summer. You've watched Tom nursing his flowers - you've seen him pre-occupied with the landscaping - - you've heard him talk about it now and then in a wistful way.

NO - we're not retiring and closing Longacres!

August 15th, 8 AM Update:

August 14, 11PM:

The girls got home from the fair a little while ago in high spirits. Lots of bags of cotton candy and other goodies from the midway came with them! We'll have a late sleep-in tomorrow morning to get rested up from all the excitement of the week. Tomorrow will be a pretty laid back day with lots of chances to take short rides on different horses to have a chance to say "goodbye" to all our favorites until next year.

There was a bright near full moon out tonight. We considered a moonlight ride tonight, but it was quite late when we got home. We'll hope for a clear night tomorrow night and maybe have a short moonlight ride for those who never did one before.

Speaking of the moon, Meghan and I had 20 minutes of peace and enjoying mother nature's bounty after the girls went to bed. Much of the year, that's a regular part of each day and week - it is one of the fringe benefits of farm life. But we get so snowed under with work during the summer season that sometimes we take the beauty around us for granted for weeks at a time. Not tonight.

As we sat on the show field talking after dropping the girls at the barn we noticed the bright nearly full moon to our east, and two separate lightning storms well off to our west. I was quite a contrast. And so soon after this afternoon's unusual weather when it rained quite hard during our big jumping ride while the sun was still shining brightly on us!

August 14, 8PM:

Tomorrow we'll do some pond riding, some more special rides on horses that are a little above each riders normal limit, watch the video of the fair, then have a Pasquale's final dinner and final Kone King. Then this regular camp season will be over - - - but NOT for us! We have one more very fun week which we call "Lazy Days of August" for good reason. We just have fun this week. We get up a little later than regular camp, have some good lessons, some small intimate trail rides, a field trip or two, and much more. We can't wait to see our many good friends arriving on Monday - we know everyone who is coming except Danita's brother, Derek, and we have met him. It is going to be lots of fun next week!

August 14, 3PM:

Everyone who was so nervous the first two days of the show settled down today and rode their best. Christina who had a tough time jumping the first two days got on Merlin and won a 2nd and a 3rd jumping! Alexa on ShaBang WON a big jumper class!!!!!!!! Marta had a great day on both Karen and Merlin.

Amanda is one of my favorite stories from the whole second session and especially her fine job at the fair with "Boo". We bought Boo this spring with almost no jumping experience. Many riders had a hand in training Boo this summer, but Amanda really put the work into him leading up to the Derby and the fair. She had him completely relaxed and bending around his turns at the fair and winning ribbons almost every time out! Meghan is very proud of this horse and rider combination, since she chose the horse when we were horse shopping in the spring. Boo will be a valued member of the Longacres show team for many years, thanks in a big part to Amanda's good riding and training!

More news later.

August 13, 6PM:

Bulliten: Marta wins Blue on Karen in under saddle class!

August 13, 3PM Update:

It has been a difficult show for all of us some of the time, and some of us more of the time. I am especially proud of Christina and Michelle who chose to try a very challenging show that includes difficult jumping. They have had some tough rides over fences. Fortunately they both have won ribbons and done very well in their flat classes.

We did not win a class today, but we did win lots of ribbons. In fact we are on pace to tie last year's all time record of 66 ribbons at the fair! Alexa was spoil sport enough to point out that the fair did not offer 7th and 8th place ribbons last year, and we have a few of those in this year's total. Boo, Alexa! But the girls are riding well and getting ribbons.

We finished a little early today and sent the girls out on the fair with the counselors to just have fun and forget any riding challenges for a few hours! Then we'll get to bed early and all be ready for a good final show day tomorrow.

Robyn has a shot at Training Jumper Champion - she is leading in points!

August 12, 10:30 PM:

Usually we do things all together as a group, but we're split into smaller sub groups this week. Some are staying overnight at the fair, some are taking showers and heading to bed early, and four were at the barn late cleaning up. Meghan and I had an urge for a "Micro Kone King" trip, so we piled Peyton, Carly, Christina, and Marta into the truck with us and headed out for a small group Kone King trip. Yummy!

August 12, 8 PM:

Meghan called from the fair and said that everyone is in good spirits and shrugging off some of the memories of riding problems from early in the day. We're all looking forward to doing our best tomorrow and Thursday.

August 12, 6PM Update:

I just got home from the fair, but Meghan is still there feeding the girls, horses, and organizing for tomorrow morning's show.

Robyn and Quantum were the big winners for Longacres today, taking first place in a very competitive jumper class at 2'9". They were FAST! Alexa on ShaBang and Amanda on Boo were also very good, with just one or two mistakes each, and figure to do really well tomorrow. Amanda got two 4th's in jumpers.

In the hunter ring we were a little nervous at the first day of this big show and there were mistakes. Most of the girls won ribbons in the 3rd to 6th range, and I am sure we will do better tomorrow. This is a big scary show with all the distractions of the fair.

When I got back to the farm I stopped at the barn to see how Shelly, Carly, Maddy, and Peyton were doing. They are not showing and they came back early to ride and take care of the horses. They rode this afternoon and may again tonight. But just when I drove in, they were all laughing and trying to untangle the bailing twine ball. They had been throwing it around and it slowly "accidentally on purpose" came undone and got wrapped around tree stumps, up in the branches of the pine tree, and probably all around people! It looked like fun, but they were having trouble getting it all out of the trees.

More news to come later tonight. Our big hope is that Robyn and Quantum can win the Training Jumper Championship after winning the first class.

August 11, 6PM:

August 11, 2:13 PM:

We are about to pull out the driveway to go over to the fair. We'll update you later with first night schooling news!

August 10, 10PM:

We just finished a careful review of the Derby video as preparation for the Fair horse show. The girls all had a chance to see this video at the Awards Party the other night, but this was an ptional extra where we ran a lot of tape back in slow motion. The girls had the option of getting to bed early or coming up and watching tape. Hannah, Alexa, Carly, Robyn, and Shelly chose to review video and we learned a lot!

Now junior counselors Hannah, Carly, and Alexa are working downstairs with Meghan organizing horse medical records and filling out entry forms for the big show this week.

Above: Junior counselors Alexa, Carly, (then Meghan), and Hannah work together tonight doing the entries for the Erie County Fair. Get used to these faces. Some of these fine hard working junior counselors will be back as the core of our 2008 senior staff next year!

August 10, 12:30 Update:

Here's an interesting phenomena for you weather junkies who share my interest in unusual weather events. All morning a nearly stationary and very tight low pressure system has been hovering just to our northwest. Intense heavy rain has been falling along a very narrow band just 8 miles to our west. More than two inches came down in the past two hours and another inch may be still to come. There is widespread local flooding. Here at Longacres we've had only a few showers so far. We may still get the heavy rain, but maybe not. Fingers are crossed - we haven't really had any flooding here since early June.

August 10th, Noon:

It's a good day for our weekly "day of rest" for the girls and the horses. They slept in yesterday after the Derby and did get some rest. Then they rode all afternoon and evening. But we're all still tired in that deep down kind of way from all the emotion of putting on the Derby and the big awards party after. We have an off and on rain day today, which is good. It will promote a restful afternoon and evening.

We do have to finalize all our plans for another HUGE week coming up as many of us show at the Erie County Fair. We'll be up late tonight filling out entry forms. Then tomorrow after lunch we're off to the fair with nine horses, at least.

It is an odd session this month at Longacres for showing. We have several girls who love horses and riding but just aren't into the pressure of big shows. More are sitting out the fair this year than in any year in the past decade. That will make it quite nice for the eight girls who are showing. They'll have lots of help and we can really concentrate on getting good photo's and video of all of them, as well as preparing them well for their events.

But it presents us with a scheduling problem since we also owe a good riding experience to the girls who have chosen not to go to the fair show. We have three good junior counselors who are not showing themselves, so we will be able to staff Longacres back at the farm while we also coach the girls at the fair. Meghan and I will be flitting back and forth.

All of us will go to the fair tomorrow afternoon to set up the stabling and enjoy the excitement of the fair. Then we'll likely all spend a good part of Tuesday cheering on our riders during their first day of showing. Wednesday some will spend the whole day at Longacres and others may choose to watch the show half the day and ride at Longacres the other half.

I had a meeting with the girls this morning after horse care and told them to try to each pick some special project or goal that would make this week special for them, especially if they are part of the group choosing not to show. Maddy, for instance, will have exclusive use of Eva and Jack to train and ride for the week and Eva's owner, Linda Reading of Reading Thoroughbred Farms, will be coming every evening to give Maddy a private lesson on this young thoroughbred mare.

We're setting up time for Shelly to have some long semi private "buddy trails" at the end of the week before she goes back to Maryland. Peyton's special request was "lots of sleep in mornings!". Our other non-showers are thinking up good ideas and we'll try to work them in. We might book a good outside guest instructor for one of the days we're at the fair.

It's going to be an interesting week.

August 9th, 9PM:

Today was "Emily and Hannah Day". These two very hard working junior counselors knocked themselves out helping to build the Derby course and help us run the Derbies. Neither of them officially rode in the Derby, so today we all worked to set the course up for them and they both rode Brody around the course. They both had clean rounds!!!!! The pictures at the above link include shots of Emily and Hannah doing some nice riding. We also scheduled both of them to ride nearly every hour today as a "thank you" for all their hard work the past week. Thanks again girls. You have been wonderful!

August 9th, 1PM Update:

More good memories are coming back as I get to feeling a little more rested on this relaxing "post Derby" day. Meghan and I had breakfast, went to the barn to clean up some of the mess from the party, had a meeting with the girls about the Fair show next week, and then we took a half hour drive in the country. Very mentally refreshing.

Amanda was another of our riders putting in an excellent performance yesterday on "Boo". We just bought Boo this spring and his training for english jumping has been progressing slowly but surely over the summer. He was always willing, but spent a lot of time looking around and not paying attention to where he is going. Amanda has been working hard with him and it really paid off at this show! He never won a class in the two days of the show, but he was solid and looked very willing, making only one small mistake in each class. Amanda is showing him at the fair next week and I expect some good results after he gets used to all the distractions at the fair.

Rachael also put in excellent rides on Justin and Zany. When Rachael really puts her mind to something, she is VERY competitive! Good riding.

More news later.

11AM, Saturday Update:

I am only slowly waking up and fully remembering everything that we've done in the past two days! We'll post full results of the Derby later, but I need to add another special credit to Carly for her outstanding performance. Carly is a third year Longacres student, has her own horse at home and is a good rider. But she had a small accident with her horse at home this spring and was pretty cautious about riding when she arrived at Longacres a few weeks ago. Not only has she gotten her boldness back; not only has she got a good fold and release; but she WON both of the first two Jumper Derbies yesterday on Ginger! Carly is one of the big Championship Cooler winners and I am very proud of her riding this entire summer as well as yesterday - Bravo!

8AM, Saturday, Aug. 9th:

We'll try to keep posting updates over the coming week, but we are shifting into an even higher speed if that is possible after "Derby Week". Today will be low key to rest up after the frantic pace of the two day Derby and the big party last night. We'll be doing casual trail rides and training our young horses. But then we go, go, go as we head to the "A" rated Erie County Fair show on Monday. We have a couple of girls who prefer not to show at this exciting, but stressful event. We'll try to work out a plan that will allow us to be in two places at once and balance the girls desire to be at the show to support their friends, while still getting in at least a reduced schedule of riding.

So forgive us if we don't update this website every day! We will post a few pictures and a quick report late at night when we can.

We'll get all caught up next weekend, and should be back to regular updates during the much more relaxed and well named "Lazy Days of August" clinic the following week.

We will post lots more pictures from the past two days today and tomorrow. See the links below. Only the first two work now.

11 PM, Friday, August 8th:

We'd like to share some of the images from the past two days of showing with you all at home. But where to start? We took almost 800 pictures the past two days! We'll soon upload some or many of them. Try these links. I'll post at least a few in the next hour, and many more tomorrow.

I'll close for tonight by telling you about a talk I had with the girls this afternoon. I don't know how many of them really "got it", but I meant it from the bottom of my heart. I had Meghan gather all our girls together near the end of the show this afternoon. And I asked them if they understood what a fine riding job they had done as a whole - as a group and as a team. I told them that many fancy show stables would be proud to field a team of even four riders who could do the kind of challenging jump course that we hold at the Longacres Derby. Here at Longacres, we aren't really a "show stable" - we're a kids summer camp. But a very special summer camp. Here at Longacres nearly all our students took part in the Derby and they did either respectably well or superbly well. There were other very fine riders, including professionals competing. Our girls not only "held their own", but kicked some serious butt! Shelly and Robyn were awesome, and Alexa on ShaBang rose to the occasion and put in great clean jumping rounds over the very difficult course. I was and am very prou