Temporary Longacres
Latest News Page
Click here to go to the old Òlatest NewsÓ page and Site Map
NOTE: We have been maintaining the Longacres Latest News page on an ancient ten year old Dell computer which died recently. WeÕll slowly update this new page with the Site Map info and then abandon the old page.
Available Sessions:
Bulliten – we had one family switch to a different session and we now have one vacancy for the two weeks from July 12 to 26th. We also have a couple of spots open in August and in the early June weeks. Last week in June and early July is full – thank you!
July 2nd, 6PM Update:
Check this link for a few more pictures, taken at the end of the afternoon in Sunshine, thank you very much! Our footing comes back quickly after a rain on our fields, so we jumped some real horse show like lines, and a few bigger oxers with Tracy and Heather. Both Tracy and Heather signed up for Longacres as CITÕs because those were the final two spots we had. But they are both going to begin coming to counselor meetings and would like to help teach some lessons. Nice girls and good riders. They are the kind of people we like to groom for future instructor jobs.
July 2nd, 3:30 PM:
Spending Money refund checks:
Our apologies to the people in our early June weeks for the delay in getting you your spending money account refund checks. Cheryl and Alex both work on this stuff, and they both had personal vacations in mid June. WeÕve been tabulating this week, and the first refund checks are going in the mail today and tomorrow. We should be caught up soon. Thanks for your patience1
Back at Longacres:
The sun is out again, yahoo! We watched lots of slow motion video of everyone after lunch, and they are all down at the barn getting on horses again for afternoon rides. More rain is expected off and on through mid-day tomorrow and then it will finally begin drying out. It looks like five days in a row of mostly sunny weather. The footing on our big show field should be very good on Sunday. The inside ring dries slower and will have a few wet spots, but be very rideable.
Our girls have pretty well chosen who they will show. WeÕll be practicing tomorrow and Saturday on their show horses. We wonÕt really be able to ride many full courses until the footing firms up Saturday afternoon. In the meantime weÕll work on control, individual jumps, and short combinations to get ready.
July 2nd, noon Update:
Check this link for a few wet camper pictures! Actually, they had just been in the barn doing games and a horse grooming contest when these pics were taken, and they were pretty cheerful. But they had been bummed out a little earlier. Everyone got on for the first ride of the morning and then it started to rain. They toughed it out and got soaked before giving in and going back to the barn. Some were not so cheerful. But it is a good group, and as you can see in some of the pictures, the mood was good again very soon. The rain has ended for the moment and they are tacking up to ride another set of horses.
AND – a few more pictures of some of the girls who got back on horses and experienced brief SUNSHINE!
July 2nd, 9AM Update:
Points Mistake:
For those of you from the Summer Horse Show Series who check in to this blog, note that I posted updated points last night. But I made a big mistake on the spreadsheet and it ignores all of the last show at Longacres. I will post corrected points later today. Sorry for the mistake.
The sun briefly poked through a few minutes ago. We expect another day of scattered rain today, but should get in most of our riding. We need to review the video tape taken of everyone the past couple of days, so weÕll take time for that after lunch. Even though we have missed very little riding, the on and off rain this week is beginning to add up to very muddy horse pastures and horse trails. We have to get through one more unsettled weather day and then it looks like five days in a row with mostly sun. It will be nice to dry out!
I walked in to breakfast this morning to much laughter and chatter in spite of all the mud around the barn. In fact there was great merriment at the expense of several girls (and counselors!) who had fallen SPLAT in one mud patch or another this morning.
The high spirits were partly due to a couple of food & drink spills at the breakfast table. This has been a common occurrence lately. A camp owner is tempted to ask the girls to be a little more careful with their food passing and goofing off at meals. But a wise camp owner knows that some spilled food is a small price to pay for good spirits at Longacres, and keeping our spoil sport – adult mouths shut is the better choice in this case!
My morning includes fixing the incorrect horse show points file, stopping in at the barn to watch the girls ride and see how everyone is doing, take a few pictures, and some farm maintenance planning. Now that Longacres is open and running for the season we have to turn our maintenace efforts to long term projects. There is a rotten spot on the Pixie-Oakwood cabin roof that needs attention, and an improved electric service to the wash room building. Stuff that takes time and money but which the girls never notice. Also planning where to put some new gravel on trails to get rid of some of the mud, but that will have to wait for some good, dry weather.
July 1st, 10PM Update:
The girls all seemed to have a fine time at the mall and were in great spirits during the ride back to Longacres, chattering about which horses they want to ride in the show. When we got home, I took five minutes and had each girl tell me the horses and events theyÕd like to do in the show. Everyone had good ideas and appropriate class choices. We may have to make accommodations on the choices for a few of the most popular horses, like Merlin! Lots of people want to show him. But there are lots of classes and we should be able to share the horses like Merlin. I was pleased that many riders have found a particular favorite already that theyÕd like to show, some with real challenges that will stretch their abilities. I really liked both the enthusiasm and the sense of cooperation and openness to suggestions that I got during this talk. This is a good group.
Most of you parents at home probably heard from your student today. If you have any feedback you think might be useful to us, either email or phone us. Even the smallest complaint, weÕd like to hear in case itÕs something weÕre not aware of or might be able to do something about. (If they complained about the wet ground, forget it! WeÕve got to live with that for another day or two.) Although this group appears very cohesive and in good spirits to us, if your daughter expressed any issues with another camper or one of our staff, let us know. We might not do anything openly about it, but thatÕs the kind of thing we like to know about and monitor. AND, if you want to tell us how wonderful we are, thatÕs also acceptable!
PS – Meghan and I did go to a movie. I stayed awake all the way through. Meghan did not. She is maintaining her perfect record of falling asleep during movies in the camp season. She works harder than I do!
July 1st, 4:02 PM Update:
Rain!
WeÕre outa here!
July 1st, 3:30 PM:
Oops!
The weather held through early afternoon, so we could have gotten in at least part of the 3:00 ride. But the skies are getting darker so our decision to take a break this afternoon may still look good by the end of the day. The girls will get their cell phones at about 4:30 so you might hear from them or you could call them between that time and about 8:30 this evening. Most will go to a movie along with getting dinner at the Galleria. A cute picture of Alexa arriving is posted at this link along with one of Ruby and her Òwedding plannerÓ gang!
July 1st, 2:30 PM Update:
Welcome Alexa!
Alexa Riddle is back at Longacres for her fourth year, and her second as a counselor and instructor. Alexa arrived late this morning after attending a leadership training event that conflicted with the first two days of our Longacres session. Glad to have you back, Alexa, and it will help everything continue to run smoothly at Longacres this summer having one more person on the staff.
Our luck with the weather was at least interrupted late this morning when it rained in the middle of the second morning lesson. Our girls are tough chicks, though! They continued the lesson right through a pretty decent rain shower.
Now comes another test this afternoon. Will we look smart or will we look dumb? With an eye on the weather, weÕve been planning since yesterday to let Cheryl our cook have her night off tonight and take the girls out for one of our weekly mall/movie/dinner outings. We usually wait until near the end of the first week of a session to do any kind of field trip, but with the off and on rain this week, we thought it would give the girls a nice chance to get cleaned up and dried out and rested if we took a break on what is supposed to be another rainy day.
So the rain that dumped on the girls at 11:45 this morning helped us look smart. Surely, wet riders would appreciate a chance to check out ÒcivilizationÓ this afternoon. But right at this moment, the sun is shining again. We will look a little dumb if we drive out from the barn this afternoon during gorgeous riding weather! But help may be on the way from mother nature; as of 2:30, a line of thunder storms is showing up on radar coming this way. With luck, there will be impressive rain when itÕs time for us to leave for the mall and weÕll look like we planned well!
PS: Cindy, my cupcake was delicious! I donÕt know how you knew that white cake with chocolate frosting was one of my favorite things. – tsk
Check this link for a few more pictures when we post them later today.
July 1st, 11AM Update:
One more day of Ò80% Chance of rain – one more morning of fine riding weather at Longacres. I know our good fortune is bound to run out, but so far we are lucking out again!
We jumped higher this morning! The girls had a chance to choose their own height (within reason!) for the video session this morning. Check the pictures at this link.
Thanks to Katie JrÕs mom, Cindy, for dropping off cupcakes for the girls after lunch treat today. ItÕs handy when one of your parents lives so close by.
WeÕve got a field trip to town planned for late afternoon and this evening, so you at home are likely to hear from your loved ones at Longacres. They will have their cell phones for the afternoon, probably from about 4pm until 8pm.
June 30th, 9PM Update:
90% Chance of Rain, my foot!
OK, it did sprinkle a little at the beginning of the 11 oÕclock ride. But we got in all five hours of riding today, mostly in plenty of sunshine and improving footing all day. Evening ride just finished. And, guess what? We jumped Diesel. I mean REALLY jumped him! Petra was riding him and he respects her since she is a pretty strong girl. She trotted over a couple of X-rails at first, knocking them down as he so often does. But then I worked with her, got him to canter, and helped Petra get him really listening. We set up a small vertical jump, got Diesel lined up and in a good canter, and he jumped it beautifully! Just to prove it wasnÕt a fluke, he did it again just as well. I swear that Diesel will jump a full course before the end of the summer!
Check this link for more pictures taken just an hour ago this evening.
AND – It is 15 hours and 14 minutes until Alexa gets here!
Alexa is our third instructor this summer, but she only just finished school herself, so she arrives tomorrow for the rest of the summer. We are very pleased with Destiny and Katie and the great work they have done opening Longacres and running our June programs. But Alexa brings three years of previous Longacres experience and a great personality. She will really be a help and add something to Longacres. We canÕt wait until tomorrow!
June 30th, 5:30 PM:
We must be doing something right!
Thank you, mother nature, for one more lovely sunny hour. We just finished the 3 and 4PM lessons in lovely summer weather. Not bad to get in four lessons with only a short shower on the second lesson when it was supposed to be 90% rain today! Radar shows no rain close by, so we may get the evening ride in also. If not, weÕve done well today already.
I just got back from the barn where I taught Drisana, Tracy, Sophie, Leslie, and Natasha a part of a lesson. We talked about the theory of setting fences for a course and figuring out striding, then did a two stride combination and took video for later analysis. Sophie and Natasha did especially well on Bobert and Horatio.
I forgot to report another piece of good news from the vet. Quantum has been tossing his head more than he used to lately. I thought it could be just a new habit when he is up during a serious ride. But I wondered if he had a tooth problem that was bothering him with the bit when the rider picked up a little contact, so we had the vet check him out. Sure enough, there were a couple of very rough spots on his teeth, so he was tranquilized and had his teeth filed. I am hopeful that this will cure the head toss problem and make him a happier horse. ItÕs nice when you find out there is a reason for a mysterious behavior!
June 30th, 4PM Update:
Another fine hour of riding! There was nothing but bright sunshine for most of the 3pm ride and all the trail rides and lessons ran on schedule. Drisana sat out for a shower which she said revitalized her and felt wonderful after getting wet this morning! Sophie rested for an hour and hung around the barn with Meghan and Drisana. They were all laughing and having fun when I was there a few minutes ago. Five hours a day is a lot of riding and the girls are encouraged to sit out and relax now and then if theyÕre feeling tired.
The weather radar picture looks very promising for the final ride of the afternoon, and we might even get in the evening ride in this ÒbubbleÓ of rain free conditions. The sun is still shining as I write at 4:11 PM.
The vet came for a routine visit this morning and mostly confirmed observations we had made on our own with various horse conditions. One piece of news is not so good, and Meghan is bummed to know that good old KingsleyÕs bowed tendon is acting up and that his already light work load should be cut even more. We bought Kingsley two years ago knowing that he had a history of tendon problems, but his personality was so great that we bought him anyway. He has done very, very well for us with light work. He is an old horse, so it is not surprising that the tendon problem is worse at this point. WeÕll be giving him more time off completely and even lighter occasional work. Stay tuned, but not great news about one of our very useful beginner horses.
Besides that, we got what I call good news on ShaBang, who has been very slightly off for several weeks. The vet and our farrier agree that he has no serious problem, but some soft tissue bruising, most likely caused by an injury from another horse in the pasture. The vet advised another week or two of complete rest. I am concerned about the horse losing all muscle tone if he gets no exercise, so we are likely to give him a little light work and monitor his condition. We had the vet look at HoratioÕs warts under his eye, which heÕs had for a couple of years. They are no worse, and there is a treatment you can go through which will remove the warts, but it makes the skin yucky for a couple of months. We probably wonÕt do it this summer, but will give whoever takes him for the winter the option of doing it in the fall. It doesnÕt bother him. We checked ZaneeÕs respiration because she has been coughing when ridden hard. As we expected, there is some respiratory impairment (heaves ). We got some medication that will help quite a bit. Zanee has been happily jumping and feeling good between occasional coughs. So thatÕs the most up to date news on the various Òolder horse ailmentsÓ. Nothing we didnÕt know already, with the better analysis of KingsleyÕs tendon problem the only thing that will really affect our use of a horse in a serious way.
The above is balanced by the very good news that our newest horses, Lincoln and Chesney, went wonderfully this morning and are ahead of schedule in their Longacres training program. They are the new additions who will be very useful for us for a long time as some of the older horses must have their work loads cut or be retired. Too bad horses arenÕt like cars, where if you really like an old car, you can cut out the whole rear end and go get a new one and keep the car running forever!
June 30th, 1PM Update:
Not bad;
We just got tacked up for the second lesson when it started raining pretty hard for a few minutes. We ducked back into the barn briefly, but it soon let up and we were back out in just some light sprinkles riding and jumping. By the end of the lesson, the sun was out again. (See the pictures at this link for proof!)
Jamie did a great job on Quantum and will be riding him again. She is a small girl and I didnÕt know if he would respect her, but he seemed to like her light weiht on his back and he was very responsive to her. She rode carefully and made him behave. It was a good session for him. There are pictures in this morningÕs album.
I especially liked two other horse – rider comboÕs from this morning. Tracy rides Horatio very well and did some good jumps on him. Griffin rode Chesney and put in the best jumping lines IÕve seen from this new and promising horse all summer long. Fine job, Griffy!!!! She will be showing him this weekend! Enjoy this morningÕs pictures.
June 30th, 11AM Update:
So far, so good:
Considering that we have a 90% chance of rain forecast for today, weÕre off to a good start. It rained heavily last night just as the girls were done with all their barn chores and heading for bed. The only thing that got canceled was a surprise ÒCookie CakeÓ party in the bunks – Meghan would have been drenched if she took the cake to them. It will be tonight instead.
It was drizzly when we got up for horse care this morning, but it cleared up nicely with the sun poking out for our first ride this morning. Everyone got to jump, taking care in the corners because of the wet ground. They are tacking up for the second morning ride as I write, with darker clouds close by, but some sun still peeking through. Good chance that weÕll get in the second morning ride without resorting to plan ÒBÓ in the barn! For this afternoon, we can only hope for the best. Most of the rain is over to our southwest right along the lake Erie shore, and perhaps it will stay there – but perhaps not. IÕm not complaining – the weather at Longacres has been way better than forecast during the first two days of this session! And it will begin improving significantly on Thursday. Just one more real iffy day to go.
I am about to head back to the barn to help Jamie try out Quantum. She has shown good control and a secure seat and is one of the first three riders this session to get on our big guy, after Tracy and Heather. WeÕll try to get some pictures. Check this link later this morning or at lunch time.
June 29th, late night:
Check this link for a YouTube video of Heather jumping Quantum over a pretty big gymnastic combination ealier this evening. Pretty nice!
June 29th, 9PM:
Thanks to Emily for the following email about ÒWaiting for your camp session at LongacresÓ!
hi tom and meghan,
save me from this horrible condition!
LONGACRES SESSION- WAITING SYNDROME!
13 more days until i can be saved. what am i supposed to do? I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH.
13 more days..... i can do this......
emily
p.s. i have checked the website 8 times today. 8. that is ridiculous.
OK – Tom took advantage of the great footing and nice weather after dinner to school some of the girls over jumps a little bigger than we were doing during our early Òget acquainted with the horses ridesÓ yesterday and today. It will be fun to review these videoÕs tomorrow if itÕs raining out. Heather rode Quantum and did a great job schooling him on the flat and then over a three jump gymnastic. She jumped pretty big! We may put it up on YouTube later tonight.
Check this link for a couple of pictures of Ruby and Katie jr. making check lists for the Òhorse weddingÓ – Ruby has quite a plan with different horses being led by all our students in a horse wedding ceremony, to be completed during a rain period tomorrow or Wednesday.
June 29th, 7PM:
Following is an email we got from Kellie this morning. Kellie was at Longacres for the past three weeks, her third summer with us. She left in the middle of the night early Sunday morning to catch a dawn flight home to Texas. (ThatÕll explain the ÒyallÓ.)
hey yall,
the morning i left it was soo sad taking one last look at all my new friends i made sleeping. i couldnt stop crying after that, but i fell asleep to shut myself up! right now i am in the car on the way to my beach house. man it is hottt in texas!! anyways i cant stop thinking about you guys its insane. if its not about longacres, its about merlin. if not merlin, its ebony and the possibility of taking her for the winter. dang i really do belong at longacres. if there was webcam on emails, my face would be red and wet with tears. not dandy. i rlly loved the counselors this year. they are trustworthy, good teachers, and most of all, hilarious!!! we had soo many inside jokes its insane. katie and destiny, yall HAVE to come next year! i'd die without u guys. i thought i would get better this year about leaving u guys at the end of my session but it just got worse!! probly cuz the couselors, my new (and old) friends, merlin & ebony, and tom and meghan!!!!!! well i just arrived at my beach house so ill try to keep the emails comming and care packages arriving. i love yall so much and im going crazy i miss yall so much!!!
have a dandy summer;)
Kellie
June 29th, 6PM Update:
Lake Shadow!
Heavy rain and thunder storms have rumbled through western New York all afternoon, but not a drop here at Longacres, where we got in all our scheduled riding in great conditions! Thanks to ÒLake ShadowÓ, a term well known to regular readers of this blog. When the winds are from the southwest, Lake Erie has a big effect on our weather in the immediate vicinity of Longacres. In the winter, those SWwinds pick up lots of moisture from the lake and we have heavy snow. But in the summer, the cooler breeze off the lake stabilizes the atmosphere passing well inland from the lake, and we often have rain free periods when it is raining and generating thunderstorms to our north and south. That was the situation today.
Tomorrow, unfortunately, we are in for a much more widespread rain event. But at least weÕve lucked out into pretty good riding conditions for the first two days of this session. And tomorrow weÕll make the best of it, riding between rain showers and even using our plan ÒBÓ and riding in turns inside the barn with some mounted games and exercises.
(As I write, it is getting darker outside. Whether or not we have a dry after dinner ride is in question!)
Check this link for more pictures from MeghanÕs camera to be osted after dinner.
June 29th, 4PM Update:
The weather has been wonderful all day and weÕve done lots of jumping and some trail rides for our new students to explore more of the farm. Everyone had a chance to do a small course on the big show field. All the girls were eager to do that, some chomping at the bit last night and asking, ÒWhen can we jump the big course?Ó Many found out that there is a good reason why we take our time preparing new riders to jump that course. Everyone did ÒokÓ, but there were lots of bad turns, poor approaches to jumps, and some run-outs. I think we are now going to have more understanding of the need for step by step preparation! A little ÒhumilityÓ sometimes does wonders. But they had fun, and we got it all on video, so there will be good chances to review it and learn more.
Lots of new pictures from this morning now posted at this link. No captions, since we are pretty busy today.
June 29th, 6:30 AM:
Promising weather for this morning. ThereÕs some sunshine poking through early this morning and only a 30% chance of rain today as of the latest forecasts. We should get in a full riding schedule even if there is a scattered shower. The weather pattern for the rest of the week is becoming a little clearer. Tomorrow looks like the day with the most rain when weÕll have to use our ingenuity, and then gradually improving conditions with scattered rain the rest of the week. The NOAA weather forecast discussion suggests that rain showers will be more numerous later in the day the next two days. If that forecast is the same by tonight, we may get up very early the next two days and get in a couple of early morning lessons. WeÕll monitor the weather closely (as we always do!!!).
Watch for pictures at this link by lunch time. With the likely good weather this morning we should be able to get some nice jumping pictures!
Thanks to Debra H, Sam, and Sydney for their nice note yesterday and to Kellie for her email to all the camp this morning. We miss all of you from last session very, very much, and Longacres is less dandy without you!
June 28th, 10PM Update:
And courteous, too!
This sessionÕs kids are coming together fast, with lots of joking and good spirits. A picture is worth a thousand words, and todayÕs album shows the girls having a good time! When they came up to the house tonight to watch the video we took this afternoon, there was a lot of horsing around and rather loud talk in the video room while we waited for the final group of riders to come up from the barn. I braced myself for the possibility that we would have to chastise one or more for not paying attention while we reviewed the video – that happens sometimes.
But they were great. We did quiet everyone and explain the rules before we started, but then they paid close attention to the video and to my comments. They laughed when it was appropriate but were very attentive when I had something to contribute. It was the way it should be and I enjoyed the session. After the video session several of the new girls asked me for suggestions on certain things about their riding. I have a good feeling about this group, especially since there are more than half first time Longacres students here this session.
June 28th, 7PM Update:
Not bad, so far!
The weather and all. After some drizzle this morning during which the girls got in plenty of riding, the sun came out for our afternoon ride and is shining brightly as I write just before a late dinner. Most of the girls will have been on five or six horses by the time they go to bed tonight. ThatÕs more than we do most opening days, but we wanted to get in every hour we could because of the showers expected on and off for much of the week. We have a head start.
We also took video of everyone this afternoon and will watch it at the main house after turning the horses out for the night. IÕm already getting a good idea of what each rider ought to work on, and weÕll soon find out who wants to really concentrate.
I am enjoying the sunshine coming in through my window as I write this in front of the computer, with a weather radar display on the monitor showing another line of thunder storms heading our way about sundown.
June 28th, 4PM – Bonding time!
Sometimes it is quiet for a while at the beginning of a new session before the girls really get to know one another and they bond into a group. Sort of a Òcalm before the stormÓ – a storm of laughter in this case. It was a bit quiet at the beginning of our first meal together (late afternoon lunch), in spite of PetraÕs best efforts to fill the quiet. (Yes, Petra told us the minute she arrived that she Òtalks a lotÓ – and, yes, she does! I have been kidding Petra a bit about how much she talks, and she has taken it in good humor. I made a joke at lunch about putting a Ògong show buzzerÓ under the table we could press when Petra passed her allotted talking time – a joke which Petra enjoyed, and caused great merriment to everyone else. That broke the ice – they all started competing to get a few words into the conversation and string of jokes. Check this link for pictures taken just a few minutes ago of everyone having a fine time and bonding into the next Longacres ÒteamÓ!
Leslie, Max, and family did arrive safely a short while ago and Max is getting situated in his stall. Everyone is mounting up right now and riding a couple more horses before dinner, horse care, some video, and an early bed time tonight.
We are off to a good start for this session. (But we MISS you guys from last week very, very much!)
June 28th, 3PM Update:
Almost everyone made it - - -
And Leslie & Max are on their way! For those of you keeping score at home, everyone scheduled to be at Longacres today has arrived safely. Except poor Leslie. She is bringing her own horse to Longacres from Pennsylvania and her van broke down this morning three hours from here. But they met someone nice with a truck who hooked onto the trailer and is hauling them all the way to East Aurora. There are good Samaritans still out there! Leslie and Max will be here in about an hour.
Jamie, Natasha, and Petra just arrived a little while ago from the airport. They will be riding horses right after a lunch break. Everyone else has ridden three horses already and will ride more after lunch. Heather arrived early and has ridden four horses already! Check this link for some slightly blurry iPhone pictures around the farm this morning. WeÕll get better pictures of everyone riding this afternoon.
It has rained off and on today but not hard enough to stop us from riding. As I reported above, weÕre getting on plenty of horses and everyone is jumping already. WeÕll post more pictures at this link about dinner time!
The Ògoodbyes?Ó – DonÕt ask! Meghan broke down and cried last night after everyone went to bed for their last night at Longacres during mother – daughter week. She knew that it had been a wonderful week for everyone. But she kept telling me, ÒOh, I wish I had spent more time with this person, and that person, and that person!! And now I wonÕt see any of them again until next year!Ó But thatÕs not quite true. Laura and Ofelia are returning to be CITÕs later in the summer, which means we will see Sharon and Martha again. And others are talking about maybe returning later in the summer to at least visit, and some, perhaps, to return for a session later in the summer. It was a very good week with ÒThe Dream TeamÓ!
June 28th, 7AM Update:
The Plan:
OK – we wonÕt lie to you. The weather forecast for this week is pretty crummy. But weÕre committed to doing everything we can to keep our string of four straight weeks of happy students and customers going for the first week of the July sessions, in spite of mother nature. So we have a plan,
Sometimes if we have an especially rainy day during a regular session weÕll do off horse activities and resume riding the next day. But not this week. With many first time students and scattered showers every day through Thursday, weÕre going to ride in some way or another every day as much as possible.
Today we will be playing musical horses with very short rides so that everyone will get to know as many new horses as possible. WeÕre going to try to get every new student on four or five different horses today just for short, get acquainted rides.
Then, beginning tomorrow, we will stick to a full riding schedule, with as many as possible on horses every scheduled riding hour of the day. If the showers let up even for a short time, we will have everyone out riding in the sand ring and other safe riding areas. If there is a light mist, everyone will be riding in the rain. If it rains harder, into the barn we go to try imaginative new mounted games and riding tests inside the barn. ItÕs not an indoor arena, but the main aisle is 180Õ long and weÕve ridden inside many times in past years. WeÕll have three or four horses that donÕt kick tacked up at all time and keep taking turns doing mounted games and even low jumping in the aisle.
This is our ÒPlan BÓ for getting in as much riding as possible this week in spite of the weather. WeÕll also have a discussion with all our new students after dinner tonight and see what ideas they bring from their home stables for similar riding exercises that can be done in confined spaces or even in the rain.
AND – Ta Da – maybe the weather forecast is too pessimistic and maybe it wonÕt rain so much, after-all. Actually the forecast is only for 40% to 60% chance of showers most days this week. Not sunny and cheery, but not a washout.
ThatÕs the plan, folks!
June 27th, 4PM Update:
Hi everyone,
Thanks to Northfield Farm for a great show today! All our girls had fun and won ribbons. Kellie was Champion in the lower hunter division on Merlin! WeÕll announce many other results tonight. There will be pictures at this link.
We canÕt wait to meet all our July session students tomorrow morning. See you all very Soon!!!
June 26th, 9PM Update:
We were busy getting ready to go to the Northfield show today, so thatÕs why we havenÕt posted an update until now. But we have lots of new pictures at this link. Some are from the great discussion session with visiting professional horseman, Peter Anderson, yesterday. Some from the Òfun pretend horse showÓ last night!
We canÕt quite believe that our week with ÒThe Dream TeamÓ of mothers and daughters is almost over. Deb, Sam, and Sydney have to leave right from the show. Most of the rest will join us for one final group dinner at PasqualeÕs after the show and then they are off to all corners of the country from Texas, to Iowa, to New Jersey and New York.
And then itÕs on to the first week of traditional summer camp where we will welcome about an even split of returning Longacres riders and first time students. Quite a change from this week where everyone has two to five years of previous Longacres experience!
I had an interesting talk with 14 year olds, Laura and Ofelia, both of whom are doing our CIT program this summer (Counselors in training). Laura and Ofelia have four or five years of experience at Longacres and have always been here as part of the Òyounger girls groupÓ. Not that there is much difference at Longacres between age groups – we all work together on pretty much everything.
But I did ask Laura and Ofelia how it felt to be Òthe older more experienced girlsÓ at Longacres this year. They both smiled, and said, ÒIt feels pretty good!Ó They have both showed good leadership this week and both taught good practice lessons. Thanks, girls! Both are going home for a few weeks now after being here for mother – daughter week. Laura returns in just two weeks to stay for the rest of the summer, and Ofelia will be back for the month of August. August is going to be a fun session at Longacres this year!
June 25th, 6PM Update:
Check this link for the YouTube video we posted showing our riders during an informal after dinner ride last night.
The moms are enjoying MeghanÕs annual mother – daughter week ÒHappy HourÓ party at the house right now while Destiny and the girls take care of evening horse care before we go out to dinner. Three of the girls had a short late afternoon ride after Peter AndersonÕs guest talk, but most had absorbed so much horsemanship from PeterÕs talk that they just wanted to just relax before evening horse care. (See, I told you the talk was good!)
June 25th, 4PM Update:
Peter Anderson has been talking to the girls (and moms – girls – whatever!) for almost an hour now, and Meghan reports from the barn that it is one of our best ever guest lecture sessions at Longacres! Most of the rain has passed over us and we were planning to try to get on horses at 4, but Meghan says the question and answer session is going so well that she wants to just let Peter and the girls talk as long as possible. Thanks so much, Peter. WeÕre actually glad it rained and that we put in this talk session!
June 25th, 3PM Update:
The Òsevere thunderstormsÓ that almost were:
As our regular readers know, we are close watchers of all things weather related. Tom was actually the weather man for the cruising fleet in the northern Bahamas for two years. So weÕre very aware when there are watches and warnings. Quite suddenly about 1:45 this afternoon a line of severe thunderstorms popped up across northwestern New York in the Buffalo area and a severe weather statement was issued with a warning that the storms would cross East Aurora in about 18 minutes. We quickly gathered everyone together at the barn and watched the lightning approach. Fortunately, the severe storms weakened and the most active cells passed just to our south, as so often happens at Longacres. Right now (3:11 PM), the severe warning is canceled and only light rain is falling with distant thunder to our south now.
We had a Peter Anderson clinic scheduled for this afternoon, and he is on his way over now. HeÕs going to do an indoor question and answer session first, and then it looks like the rain may have passed by at 4PM and we might be able to ride after-all. WeÕre keeping our fingers crossed.
WeÕre scheduled for a dinner out this evening on the cookÕs night off, and then I expect weÕll watch a bunch of video that weÕve taken at the recent show and in one of this weekÕs clinics. The weather report for tomorrow and Saturday still looks very good.
June 25th, 10AM Update:
Weather reports, etc
Our luck with the weather continues to be pretty good this summer if you can ignore the fact that we had to postpone a pretty big horse show here at Longacres last Saturday and lost a lot of entries. But even in that case, our own students got to all show either Friday night or Sunday in the make up show sessions. The only loss for us was money – so, life goes on!
Our lessons have rarely been rained out this summer, and this week it looks like our luck will continue. Today had been forecast as a washout, but the cold front has slowed and we have only scattered rain likely for later this afternoon. The serious rain will come overnight tonight when we could use it, and tomorrow and Saturday look to be great riding weather once again. We love it when rain comes at night.
June 28th Arrival Weather!
The only fly in the ointment is that it looks like a grey day and some rain Sunday when our new session students are arriving, quite a few for their first time ever at Longacres. No horse farm or camp ever looks itÕs best on a dreary, grey day. SO, you folks planning to arrive at Longcres for the first time Sunday, spend some more time on our website looking at all the lovely pictures of Longacres in good weather and keep those memories in mind if you arrive during a rain shower and have to spend your time in the bunk and the barn your first few hours here. Things will get better! If you have good ideas for rainy day horse activities, bring them with you and tell them to Meghan, Katie, and Destiny.
The weather for early next week is a mixed bag. The bad news is that there may be several days with cloudy skies and occasional showers at the beginning of the week. The good news is that temperatures will be below normal for the beginning of July, which will result in very comfortable riding weather!
We are excited about our first away show of the season this Saturday at Northfield Farm (9AM start – note the change from 11). It looks like we will be taking eight or nine horses!
Peter Anderson comes to Longacres again this afternoon for a guest instructor clinic. WeÕre all looking forward to that.
ÒHelloÓ to Laura from the adult clinic and Stephanie from the past two weeks. We loved hearing from you guys via email and thanks for the nice words about Longacres. Stephanie was here for the first time, coming to us from Chicago. She reports that her two weeks at Longacres were her best ever horse vacation, and she has ridden a few other places! Thanks, Stephanie!
June 24th, 6PM Update:
There should be some decent pictures at this link later tonight. WeÕll try to get some smiling close-ups since youÕve all seen plenty of jumping pictures the past few days.
WeÕre looking forward to the Summer Series show at Northfield this Saturday at 9AM (changed time). The weather is looking good at this time, with some rain tomorrow and then nice weather Friday and Saturday. Most of the girls and some of the moms are planning to show!
WeÕd like to thank David Laks from Quakerfield Stables for coming over to be a guest instructor at Longacres this afternoon. He was a lot of fun for the girls and the moms. Thanks, in case I forgot, to Quakerfield for their usual great support of our show on Sunday.
WeÕll have one more update later tonight.
June 23rd, 11PM Update:
Oops!
I made a mistake on the link to the 100 new pictures from the clinic and tonightÕs ride. This link should work. Sorry!
Modern Technology:
We gave the girls their cell phones during the Kone King trip. Not many calls home, since the moms are right here. But Meghan nudged me at one point and we noticed that six different smart phones including three iPhones were all connected to the Longacres website reading the update and looking at all the pictures while the girls slurped down their ice cream – and got it all over themselves – and spilled water on each other accidentally AND on purpose! Another good night at Longacres.
June 23rd, 9PM Update:
Check this link for the ÔPicture of the DayÓ!
ItÕs Laura jumping Quantum pretty big over the Butterfly jump. NICE JOB, Laura! Many more riders did nice riding jobs today and you can click this link later tonight for another big album of pictures from the Kathy guest instructor clinic and various lessons during the day and this evening.
Kellie jumped Horatio pretty high tonight, Destiny jumped Quantum down the road line with the final oxer at almost 4Õ, and lots of other good stuff.
We are off to Kone King in ten minutes to finish off another fun day at Longacres!!!!!!!!
June 23rd, 3PM Update:
Not bad!
ThatÕs how things are going at Longacres in 2009 – not bad! Meghan and I had a chance to go out to lunch together in town today. It was one of the first times in a month that weÕve felt we could take even 90 minutes away from the farm. We (well, especially Meghan!), have been working long hours to do our best at making Longacres all it can be this season. Well, guess what? Hard work pays off!
The first month of our season has been one of the best in years. As far as we can tell, all our customers have been very pleased with the horses, jumps, and the instructors. Especially the instructors. Katie and Destiny are the best pair of instructors too start a season at Longacres without having worked here previously in many years. They are right up there with Mandy and Lillian, two of our most experienced Longacres instructors in recent years. Katie and Destiny are doing so well partly because they are fine young women with good personalities and great work ethic. Their success is also partly due to the many hours Meghan spent with them in the pre-season and their first couple of weeks training them and explaining step by step what we expect and how we get things done at Longacres. It has paid off. Meghan, Katie, and Destiny work together well and are a good team to run a riding program.
As IÕve written recently, we have the ÒDream TeamÓ of students this week, with five families of mother – daughters, all with previous years of experience at Longacres. Many of the daughters are likely future Longacres instructors. Especially Laura and Ofelia who are both junior CITÕs this summer, getting their toes wet with practice teaching and learning the ropes of what it takes to be a staff member. It is DestinyÕs day off tomorrow, and Laura and Ofelia will be stepping in to help with some lessons. We have great confidence in both of them – both with many years already at Longacres!
We look forward to the rest of the 2009 season. Usually when things go this well for the first month, it carries over to the rest of the summer. The staff have confidence, we have confidence in them, the horses are getting well trained, and we are all having FUN! We canÕt wait to see the rest of our 2009 students in the coming two months!
Enrollments for 2010:
Longacres traditionally is full almost a year in advance for the following season. We are full this week and for the next month, with just a few spaces open in August. But we are down about 14% on our total enrollment this season, partly because of the recession and partly because we had some staff issues last year and did not get as good a return rate for our older girls – and some of our older girls just outgrew summer camp.
But with a great season shaping up this summer and the economy looking a little better, we are very likely to fill early for 2010. If you had a good time in your session this year and want to return next summer you should be thinking about your plans. We accept enrollments at any time but will not confirm any until September 1st. Check our schedule page for details. Sessions next year will be almost the same dates. Our prices will have only a small increase next year to cover likely inflation.
June 23rd, 1PM Update:
LOTS of pictures from this morning at this link! Everyone jumping the Butterfly Jump and other riding pics. WeÕre starting to think about the horse show this weekend, just four days away. (Remember, it begins at 9AM, not 11 as previously advertised in our news pages.
June 22, 9PM Update:
Check this link for a few more pictures from the past two days around Longacres. There are some nice pictures of Ruby at the horse show yesterday! Also some informals Meghan took at the barn this evening. Enjoy.
Everyone got in lots of riding today. Our returning students had a chance to ride some of the new trails we put in over the winter. They liked the view from the trails overlooking the steep ravines and the brooks. Laura got to ride Quantum. Ofelia will be riding Dennis tomorrow. Everyone tried several different horses during the afternoon and evening rides. It looks like weÕre going to have great weather for most of the week. Maybe a little rain Thursday, which would be about the right time to water our grass again!
June 22, 2PM Update:
ItÕs great working with people you know and trust. Everyone worked together to come up with a bunk assignment solution that worked for everyone. Laura and Ofelia were looking forward to bonding with their momÕs this week, so they are in esseress bunk with the adults. Kellie and Ruby who are ENJOYING being independent whipper snappers (thatÕs an old folks term!), are in a mostly kidÕs cabin with Sam and Sydney and a counselor.
Everyone rode this morning after getting settled in. Check the pictures at this link. More pics coming later this evening.
The Northfield Farms horse show next Saturday begins at 9AM – some newsletters incorrectly called for an 11am start. It is 9AM. Pass the word.
June 22nd, 10AM Update:
Everyone has arrived safely and I wish I had a dollar for every hug exchanged! As I wrote last night, weÕve got all veteran Longacres families here for Mother – Daughter week and we know them all well. Not that we donÕt have to do problem solving even with our oldest friends! IÕm up here safe at the office doing this update while Meghan juggles the housing preferences of the momÕs & daughters who really want to bunk together this week for the Òmother – daughter ambianceÓ, vs. the wishes of some of the daughters who would rather have their independence and enjoy their momÕs more at armÕs length. IÕm curious, myself, to see how it turns out!
I forgot last night to thank all the folks at yesterdayÕs horse show who volunteered to help raising and lowering the jumps. Especially the Donnan family, all four of them, who seemed to magically appear on the field whenever the jumps had to go up. Who was holding you guysÕ horses, anyway?!
It seems like weÕve already had half a season of horse shows here at Longacres, even though we havenÕt really had a full show yet. We had the informal fun show over a week ago, then with the rain this weekend we had half a jumper show Friday night, and then the five hour postponed show in both rings yesterday. So thatÕs three days with some kind of horse show activity here in just a short time. WeÕre psyched to get off our farm and move on to showing at other members shows. On to Northfield next Saturday the 27th!
Thanks, also, to Leigh Fischer from High Time. On short notice after our show was rained out Saturday, Leigh brought two jumpers for the outside course and a couple of horses for the inside ring, AND helped us find our last minute replacement judges so the show could go on Sunday. Thanks, Leigh!
June 21st, 11PM Update:
OK, I now have over 100 pictures posted from todayÕs show. I only have a couple of Kellie and none of Ruby, since I was running the outside course and the jumper show. There are some of Katie riding Quantum, and he is looking good. Katie was leading in one of the schooling jumper classes for a while, but Gibson and Bethany were also in that class, and they were just too fast. There are some nice pictures here of our exhibitors, and you will recognize some of them at this link. Bethany Scarlata is a good friend of Longacres, and she had a very good afternoon, going fast as always, and winning at least one of the classes. Gibson Donnan was blazing fast!
Thanks again to everyone who came out to the show today. We had a very good turnout in the jumper ring, and MeghanÕs inside show ring was busy as always. The show ran until 7 PM in both rings. We had no hunters for the outside course, which is probably a good thing – we would not have had time with all the jumpers that went. The footing on the outside course was first class! The inside ring was still a little wet, but there is a lot of sand on the corners and under the jumps in that ring, so it worked out ok.
We will get plenty of pictures at the next show at Northfield Farms next Saturday.
It is hard to believe that we are now entering the fourth week of the 2009 season at Longacres. It is one of the best beginnings to a Longacres season in quite a while. Instructors Katie and Destiny have been very popular with each session and we are very pleased with them. After having some unplanned staff turn-over during last summer, it is a joy to be working with two horse women who we like and respect as we do these two! And Alexa will be here in just over a week to bring her years of experience at Longacres to this yearÕs staff.
And the students!!!! Most years there are a few who just donÕt click at Longacres, and that might still be true later this summer – after all, Longacres is a unique place! But so far we are thrilled with the people who chose to ride with us this season. WeÕve had lots of riders during June who are here at Longacres for the very first time. Meri, Renee, and Laura were all new at adult week, and they were wonderful as students and as women who we and the instructors enjoyed working with around the barn. And for the Clinic Weeks, Katie2, Katie3, Jessica, Stephanie, and CHristien were all here for the first time and all seemed pleased with their stay at Longacres. (Christien had some business stuff come up and didnÕt have time to ride so much during her second week, but her daughter, Stephanie made sure she put in her riding time for the family!) All in all, we have rarely had so many new students during the early June weeks who did so well and who we liked so much at Longacres. Wonderful.
BUT – not quite as wonderful as what weÕll have this week. Over the winter, Meghan would keep referring to the 2009 Mother – Daughter week as ÒThe Dream TeamÓ! Mother – Daughter week 2009 was full more than a year in advance as some of our very favorite moms and their daughters from the past five years all signed up very early to come for this week in 2009. Moms, Kay, Diana, Martha, Sharon, and Debra are all GOOD friends to Longacres and this is going to be more like a week long reunion with old friends than anything else. And their girls, Kellie, Sam, Sydney, Laura, Ofelia, and Ruby are all girls with multiple years of experience at Longacres and are great kids. We think this will be one of our favorite weeks ever at Longacres. Meghan and I canÕt wait until tomorrow morning when everyone arrives!!!!!!!
June 21st, 9PM Update:
Thanks to everyone who came to the show today. Both rings ran until after 7PM, and a good time was had by all! I will post some nice pictures at this link later tonight and a longer update. WeÕre exhausted and heading out to dinner with the girls who stayed between sessions. Kellie and ruby both won lots of ribbons today!!!! More in an hour or two.
June 20th, 3PM Update:
The full Longacres show, both rings, will begin at 3PM Sunday afternoon.
The outside course will begin with the jumpers. The inside ring will follow the normal schedule, per the prize list. Because of the change of date and it being FatherÕs Day, we assume we will have a smaller than usual show. If so, we should finish before dark. If it is big – well, we will do our best!
We will be staying off the rings as long as possible tomorrow to allow some drying. It poured here today! Schooling will begin promptly at 2PM in both rings.
= = =
Kelly and Ruby who did not show in last nightÕs jumper show will both be showing tomorrow. At Longacres we had a good time watching the video of last nightÕs rounds in the jumper division. Kelly did a great job in her first time running the good video camera.
The girls are having a relaxed time today as the Clinic Weeks end. Kelly, Ruby, and Diana are staying on for Mother – Daughter week beginning Monday morning. Jessica and Katie are staying over an extra night tonight and driving home with their family tomorrow. We said a sad Ògood byeÓ to Stephanie before lunch. You did a great job in your two weeks, Stephanie! Write to us!
June 20th, 8:30 AM Update:
The ground is soaked and more rain is falling off and on and is in the forecast for the rest of the day. The Longacres show is postponed or cancelled.
We will plan to finish the jumper division, at least, at 3PM Sunday. Check back this evening to see if we have found a judge to do the small ring classes. This just wasnÕt our weekend.
9AM Update: It appears that we will have judges available for both rings tomorrow at 3PM. We will try to run all classes, at least as long as the light holds out. We will begin with jumpers on the outside course and then go back to the hunter classes, probably n oearlier than 4 PM on the outside course. The inside ring will run in normal order as per prize list.
Because of the last minute changes, the judges will be people who know some of the exhibitors. We trust them to do their best to be impartial. If you are picky about judges, you are advised in advance!
June 20th, 6:30 AM:
Check back at 8:30 AM as planned for a final decision on todayÕs Longacres horse show. But it is unlikely that we will run the show today. There has already been enough rain so that there is water standing in much of our small ring and the grass on the field is very wet. There is only light rain at the moment, but more heavy rain is on the radar coming this way. If that continues and it starts raining again, the show is postponed.
June 19th, 11PM:
Scroll down below the Horse Show Update for news from the camp for tonight! Check this link for a few pictures from tonightÕs show.
June 19th, 9:40 PM:
Read the Horse Show Update below and scroll down for my rant on the uncertainty of the show business!
June 19th, 8:30 PM Horse Show Update:
Although the weather is fine this evening, the forecast still calls for 90% chance of heavy rain tomorrow. We will make a final call on whether or not to run the horse show at 8:30 AM Saturday morning. If it has not rained overnight and there is no rain on the radar close by, we will try to run the show. If there has been heavy rain overnight and/or if there is rain close by coming our way, we will postpone the show. Odds are about 70% that the show will be postponed.
If postponed, we will run much or all of the show at 3PM on Sunday. We will be looking for a judge for the hunters???? Anyone?????
Thanks to all the jumper riders who stopped by tonight to get in some of their rounds. We ran jumper classes from 5:30 pm until near dark.
Longacres Student News from Friday night:
The Blog gets hijacked a bit around horse show time for the benefit of western New York horse show exhibitors. But this newsletter is mostly for the benefit of Longacres students and their families, so hereÕs the newds from today that you want to hear. The girls had a great time tonight. Five of them showed. Ruby did a ÒRuby special exhibition rideÓ, and Kellie is showing next week and was not quite ready for the jumpers on the outside course, so she kindly volunteered to take video of everyone else. THANKS, Kellie! The girls were excited with their horse show rides, but they were just in fine spirits in general. They all helped set up the new jumps for the show and after they all pretended to be horses and had a track meet jumping over all the horse jumps. They were very ÒupÓ tonight!
Meghan and I were very busy with horse show stuff so we didnÕt take as many still pictures as usual. There are just a few at this link to give you an idea of how things looked. The new Light House Jumps look amazing!
RANT!
OK, IÕm human too. MANY of you have phoned today to ask about our plans for the horse show tomorrow. And 95% of you understand that we simply wonÕt know the weather conditions for sure until the last minute. Most of you have been understanding and commiserated with us over the bad forecast.
But a few have had a little attitude, almost as though they thought we had planned this uncertain weather situation to make their lives complicated. I am polite as can be on the phone, then I hang up and shake my head. If a horse show exhibitor is frustrated at not being able to make solid plans for their weekend, I would hope they might try to imagine how Meghan and I feel. We have worked for weeks and weeks preparing for this show. We are just as frustrated as anyone not knowing what the weather will be for sure during show hours tomorrow. AND, we stand to lose several thousand dollars this weekend compared to what the show would have been like in good weather.
We donÕt want to get everyone here for a horse show, have heavy rains come, and everyone have to go home wet and wasting a day.
Neither do we want to cancel the show for sure tonight and have it not rain at all tomorrow. That sometimes happens!
So we do the best we can. Meghan and I are paid to deal with adversity cheerfully, to have a plan ÒBÓ, and to give the best customer service we can. WeÕll be up until 2 or 3 AM tonight putting the finishing touches on preparations for a show tomorrow that may very well have to be postponed anyway. But we will be ready to run it if the weather turns out better than forecast.
How will we decide tomorrow morning whether to run a show?
It is not rocket science. It will not be a whim determined by which side of the bed we got out of!
If it has rained heavily overnight and the place is a swamp, the show will be postponed.
If it has rained moderately overnight and it is still raining in the morning, and more rain is on radar coming our way, the show will be postponed.
If it has not rained overnight or only rained lightly, and there is no rain on radar coming our way at 8:15 AM, then the show is on.
If it has not rained, will not rain for a few hours, but they ÒthinkÓ rain will come by 2 or 3 PM, then we may gamble and run the show hoping for the best.
If it has not rained overnight but there is heavy widespread rain on radar coming our way, the show is postponed.
The tough call will be if conditions look good in the morning, no rain is due for a couple of hours, but they still say Ò90% chance of rain by noonÓ. Then we will flip a coin.
Many thanks to the 95% of you who have been so understanding and are waiting patiently to see what happens! We at Longacres are just as curious as the rest of you about what mother nature will bring over night. As of ten minutes ago, the leading edge of the coming rain had just appeared on radar headed our way from Michigan.
By the way, to the parents and friends of our Longacres students, most of the girls rode in the early jumper classes tonight and did especially well in the Puddle Jumpers! Colorado Katie was F-A-S-T!! Jessica did a fine job with one of our green horses. Instructor Katie was great on Horatio and did a schooling round on Quantum, putting him over his first full outside course of the year. He was WONDERFUL! He is BACK!!!!!! Thanks to Kelly who took video of the other girls when they rode. And to Ruby for her Òexhibition ride on Brownie! And to Stephanie for a fine job on her first jumper courses, besides the fun show.
June 19th, 2PM Update:
Horse Show Update:
The forecast for Saturday continues to be poor. We will make a call on postponing SaturdayÕs show at 8PM tonight.
We will be running at least the jumper classes over the weekend with an option of when you show. You may come to Longacres anytime after 5PM tonight (Friday) and ride any or all of your jumper classes. (The sun is out at Longacres right now. ) The judgeÕs cards will be left open. If the show tomorrow gets postponed, we will show at least jumpers and maybe more beginning at 3PM Sunday to finish the jumper division.
June 19th, 9:30 AM:
Keep checking back here for show updates. We are VERY likely to do the jumper part of the show over the weekend, holding the score cards open. If the weather holds today, the course will be opened about 5PM today for jumper classes. If jumping is not practical Saturday, we would finish the jumper classes Sunday afternoon. Final decision after lunch.
We are still holding out faint hope that the show can be run as planned tomorrow for all other classes, but check back later today for a decision.
June 19th, 8AM:
Jumpers this afternoon?
I canÕt do this for hunters since I wouldnÕt have a judge. But check here at lunchtime. Some jumpers are already planning to be here this evening for schooling or to stay over. I may let jumpers do their courses this evening and hold the score cards open. If you have a jumper and are interested, check back at lunchtime. (It could still rain even this afternoon, but if not, this could help a few people!)
June 19th, 7AM Update:
Our luck with the weather continues to be just dandy for today – not so for the show tomorrow!
Today we expect little if any rain at Longacres and should have no trouble getting in all our planned riding and guest clinics. We will also be working all day to finish preparations for the horse show scheduled for tomorrow here at Longacres. Everything will be set and ready in case the forecast changes for the better. (Stop by tonight and at least look at the beautiful courses!)
The forecast for tomorrow only gets worse with the passing of each hour. They are now calling for 100% chance of rain, heavy in many places. We are NOT calling off the show just yet. We will update this information at lunchtime today, and make a formal call probably at 8PM tonight. If it is possible to run a show tomorrow, we will.
Otherwise, there are limited options. We might consider running the jumpers and some other classes on Sunday afternoon if the weather improves as forecast. I can judge the jumpers. But neither of our judges are available for Sunday, so we would be scrambling for a hunter judge. Anyone available?? If we donÕt run a show Saturday or Sunday, we will run a probably non points show here Tuesday from 4PM to dark when the weather looks great. After all, weÕll have everything set up, so we might as well let those of you who could get here on Tuesday ride the nice courses! ThatÕs plans ÒBÓ and ÒCÓ!
Stay tuned and hope the weather forecasts are wrong – but they are probably correct this time.
June 18th, 11PM Update:
Check this link for a few pictures Tom took this morning at the barn during horse care. The girls were in great spirits after their movie and dinner at the mall. We think the extra sleep they got this morning came at a good time.
WeÕre pleased that the rain the second half of this week has come at off hours, except for this afternoon, and that even this afternoon we got in both our clinics in light rain with a very accommodating guest instructor – THANK YOU, Lindsay! We have lost almost no riding time to the weather this week, and tomorrow looks to be dry most of the day. Our horse show prospects for Saturday? DonÕt ask! But we are still hoping for a slight change for the better in the forecasts. Just to give you an idea of how big a show it might be if the weather holds up, we ran into people at the movie theater tonight who walked up and said, ÒArenÕt you guys from Longacres? WeÕre all riding in your show on Saturday!Ó If there is one - tsk
June 18, 5PM Update:
Check this link for some late afternoon pictures from MeghanÕs camera.
Alex Update:
Alex is back from ÒBonnarooÓ, which she says was one of the awesome experiences of her life, she went to many of the concerts, including Springsteen (one of the few bands at Bonnaroo that even Tom likes!), spent MORE money than she had planned, and is already making plans to go again next year. Alex thanks you gals from adult week who wrote in asking how she made out. She says it was better than she dreamed! She has one more quick family trip and then will settle down as a nearly indispensable Longacres staff person. The only sad thing about AlexÕs great trip is that I guess we already have to start maing plans for how weÕll get along without her again for a week next speing!
The Clinic:
Thanks to Lindsay Cornell from Hunters Ridge Stables for the fine clinics in the rain this afternoon. Lindsay taught good, cheerful lessons all afternoon in a light drizzle. We owe you, Lindsay.
June 18th, 2PM Update:
My Day so far:
7am – woke up- checked weather on computer and fretted about the show
8am – breakfast, read paper, checked weather in the paper and worried about rain for the show
9:45 am – posted website update
10:30am – drove over to GinaÕs to pick up the light houses and admire her work!
11 am – helped katie2 longe Quantum
11:15 am – gave Katie2 a private lesson on Quantum (fun for me)
11:45 am – checked the weather and fretted about the show
noon – spent 15 minutes planning a new jumper course for the show
12:15pm – had lunch with Meghan and the girls – complained about a bad stall door latch
12:30 pm – measured how much wire needed for PA system for show
unrolled speaker wire needed back at the shop
drove to the barn to double check my wire length
12:45 pm – welcomed Alex back from her trip!
1 pm – wrote this update and posted to the website
still to do:
1:30 PM – nap????
2:30 pm – hook up pa system for the show, get a head start on tomorrowÕs show prep
3:30 pm – check weather again and decide how hard to work on show prep that might be wasted work
4 pm – work on horse show newsletter
5pm – drive our girls to the mall and movie theaters
6pm – have dinner with Meghan & Uncle Billy
7pm – sleep through a movie
9pm – drive the girls home
10 pm – check the weather, and, well, you know what!
June 18th, 10AM Update:
There has been a little light mist this morning, but conditions are not bad. We easily could have gotten in both our morning rides, but many of this weekÕs students have now been here almost two weeks and they are showing signs of being physically tired from all the riding and barn work. We offered a Òsleep inÓ morning which they joyfully accepted! They started horse care after breakfast and will have one ride at 11, then guest clinics this afternoon, and a field trip to the mall, a movie, and dinner out. That should get everyone well rested for the show this weekend (weather permitting!!).
Colorado Katie is going to ride Quantum this morning. His training and conditioning are coming along well.
I am off in the truck to GinaÕs house to pick up the small Light Houses which are all painted and ready for the show.
Show Status:
We just donÕt know yet. It is tough to have hundreds of people all ready to come to what looks like a big show and still be hostage to an iffy weather forecast. We will post online which way we are leaning at 1PM Friday when the weekend weather forecast will be more accurate. We will update the show status at 8PM Friday, with a pretty good idea of what the Saturday weather will be. We may not make a final call on holding the show until 8AM Saturday morning. Check here then or call our phone 716-652-9495 and we will also have a recorded message with Ògo or no goÓ on the show.
July 17th, 7PM Update:
Longacres luck is holding for the moment. It poured rain during dinner but has just let up in time for a bareback ride and mounted games for evening ride time. We got in all five rides today in spite of off and on showers. Maybe our luck will continue and Saturday will be better than the official forecasts??!?!?! DoesnÕt hurt to hope!
We may have one more small album of pictures at this link when Meghan comes up from the barn.
I am still in a pretty good mood after finishing ÒThe Dark StrangerÕs Loop TrailÓ. Our students returning this summer who were here last year are going to have many new riding areas to enjoy. On a rainy day like this, the sand ring is one of the nicest additions! Diana, Katie, and some of the other girls were really pleased with their ride in the rain in the sand ring this afternoon. They said the footing and drainage were excellent.
Let me see; we now have Hill Top warm up area, the new Sand Ring, Avenues warm up riding area, the dressage ring, the smaller show ring, and the big Outside Course, plus the lawn in front of the barn as 6 or 7 separate riding areas. And out on the trails we have the Creekside Loop near the barn, the Powerline trail loops, the new Maple Grove loop near the powerlines, the Dark StrangerÕs Loop, Galloping Field, Cantering Lane, the new trails by the old junior barn including Ridgeline, and the Old Hunt Course. ThatÕs a LOT of different places to ride for nine students on 95 acres! Meghan and I took an ATV ride around some of the trails this afternoon so she could see our progress with the new ones. It took us 20 minutes on an ATV and we only got to about half the trails.
July 17th, 4PM Update:
Happy Birthday, Sharon!
WeÕll see you in about four days. Hope the whole family is treating you like a queen.
The rain has moved in, but we got in all our morning rides in nothing more than a few sprinkles. And most of the girls went out on trail rides in light rain at 3PM. And right now, during the 4PM ride only two are sitting out – everyone else is riding in the rain! It looks like a break in the rain is showing on radar that will move in after dinner in time for us to hold a fun gymkhana event.
Not sure when IÕll get to show everyone the video we took yesterday.
I finished the final work clearing what will now be known as ÒThe Dark StrangerÕs Loop TrailÓ before the rain got too heavy. I had to grab Meghan and take her for an ATV ride to show her the cool new trail. It parallels the main trail leading past Dark Stranger cabin and on up to the main hosue and galloping field. By turning off next to Dark Stranger, you can make a circle in the old growth forest with trails branching off to all the other main riding areas. And it is very pretty, as it winds along the top of the ridge between two streams.
Check this link for a few pictures taken with TomÕs camera this morning while we were doing the X-country jumps.
July 17th, 1PM:
A bunch of pictures from this morning at the Farley Bridgeman clinic and TomÕs X-country jump lesson. Click this link.
July 17th AM Update:
Weather for Saturday Horse Show NOT looking good:
We are ready for a great show, with lots of calls from stables bringing horses, judges, secretaries, ring crew, ribbons, new jumps, and trophies all ready. But chance of rain for Saturday is now up to 70% and may go to 100% by later today. We will stand by right up to the last minute ready to go, but a betting person would put their money on our Saturday show being postponed or canceled.
Does Anyone Want a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday Longacres Show?
We have other shows coming up later in the summer, and we can deal with canceling this show completely. But if some of you are chomping at the bit to ride our courses and would like to come Sunday, or even Monday or Tuesday for a show when the weather is better, give us a call. (716-652-9495) WeÕll consider it if there is enough response.
And we WILL run on Saturday as scheduled if it is at all possible. Stay tuned. We wonÕt be doing any more guessing about postponing the show until Friday afternoon. Check back here or on the shows page then.
June 16th, 10PM Update:
We just finished the first camp fire of the 2009 season and, yes, there were smores! Check this link for a bunch of pictures from MeghanÕs camera today, including the camp fire. And do your Òanti rainÓ dances – the forecast for our show this Saturday is not looking great.
