October 12:

You're probably familiar with the old saying, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did a tree fall?"

Likewise, if Tom mows all the grass on all the fields at Longacres so it is a luscious manicured green, but none of you are here to ride on it and appreciate it, did Tom really do anything?

Maybe or maybe not, but at least Meghan and I can drive around the farm and admire our riding fields!

Besides mowing the past two days, we had a long visit with Beck Bates over at Hasty Hills this morning and went over all kinds of things regarding next year's Summer Series shows. We also talked about some interesting news concerning horse shows and new alignments of students and trainers and how that will affect next year's shows.

We also discussed some very interesting new ideas for training programs involving Summer Series show participants. We may have some announcements soon!

More news tomorrow!

PS: It is still very much up in the air whether Claire will be working at Longacres next summer. But as I said yesterday, she and I had a very good talk and think alike about many training issues. When I'm interviewing someone, one of my questions usually includes something like, "How far apart do you set two fences for a five stride line?"

Claire gave the best answer that I can ever remember. Many people either get it wrong all together, or take a minute to think and calculate the proper answer. Not Claire. "Seventy-two feet," she answered instantly. But then she added, "Of course not neccessarily if the fences are only two feet, when it's hard for many horses to make the distance." And then she added, "I was just home recently and judged a small show where the lines were all set for 12' strides. All the trainers were coming up to me and asking, 'You're not going to take off if our kids add strides, are you?'"

That's a very thorough and proper answer to the question about striding. There is no doubt about Claire's technical qualifications for the job. We just have to get to know her a little better before we all commit to a summer working together at Longacres.

October 11:

I just had a long talk on the phone with Claire Taylor who we are considering for next year's head instructor. We have a lot in common and had a great talk. Claire is in the Washington, DC - Maryland area. I know that several of you regular Longacres people are having a get together in that area in the next few weeks. I'd love to have some of you get together with Claire for a visit to fill her in on your point of view on what you want in a riding instructor. Drop me a line if you think that might work out for you.

- Tom

October 10:

It does not look like a group will be able to get together at the Toronto horse show on November 10th. There are too many other things going on.

Griffin Sullivan and some friends are going to the Sport Horse Tournament in Syracuse the week before, and a group of Longacres girls are meeting in Maryland at the end of this month.

If any of you want us to post news about your reunion or horse related field trips, send us the information and we'll post it here.

By the way, Hannah's dad, Mike equaled Susan Sahai for a quick solution of the mountain pass "where in the world" quiz, and Tovah Abrams also came up with the correct answer (Independance Pass in Colorado).

Sept. 16, 9PM:

My favorite picture is of Danita running her big tractor! I like these informal pictures of Longacres people doing their thing at home. I was at first just going to do this album as a special thing for tonight and leave it up only a few days. But I now plan to leave it up all year and keep adding pictures as you send them in to me! Keep them coming. I can't promise that we'll use them all, but we'll post lots of them.

Poor Olivia and her mom have spent a couple of hours sending in some nice pictures, but they came through in a format we can't download for the website. Don't worry, Olivia, we'll post them when you get them to us as .jpg's!

Sept. 16, 3PM:

Hoofprints: If you're working on the trivia quiz, let's assume that in the average lesson on the field there were five horses; that the whole group worked for 20% of the time; and that the rest of the time individuals were working on a course or jumping exercise.

Speaking of lesson plans:

We are always evaluating our riding program in the off season and thinking of ways we can improve. We've thought of something new we can include in many of our lessons. As you know, our lessons often include some time where we take turns riding a jumping exercise. In an ideal lesson, between your turns to jump, you're paying close attention to the rider on course and talking with the instructor and other riders about what's going on with the active rider. But sometimes our attention wanders.

Next summer, our instructors and CIT's will be trained to include a variety of simple dressage, leg yielding, and other simple control exercises for those waiting their turn to ride the jumping exercise. These could be as simple as backing your horse three steps, standing square for a ten count, and walking forward again three steps. More challenging variations would include walking a careful circle from one end of the line to the other with smooth bending turns all the way. Also leg yielding exercises where the whole group in line move their horses a step sideways to the left or the right. These are simple things that will require you to be constantly working and paying attention between jumping rounds (gee, where have you heard that before?!?).

This lesson format will add lots of challenge and make the horses better and it will keep you from getting bored while you wait for your next jumping turn. We might not do this every single lesson or for all of a lesson. But we'll do it a lot.

We're working on your lesson plans year round!

PS - You could do this at home in many of your riding lessons. The most fundamental leg yielding and collection - extension exercises can be done with such subtlety that your instructor might not even realize that you are actively working while you are waiting a turn.

Sept. 15, 6PM:

Claire was here for the Pro-Clinics this year and is interested in one of our final CIT spots for 2008. As you can see from the pictures, she likes ponies! Annie was also here for this year's Pro-Clinics in June, is returning for five weeks next summer, and plans to be a CIT for part of that time. She sent in pictures of Bremmy, one of her favorites at home. Check out her creative jumps! Alexa is a veteran at Longacres, returning for her third season in 2008, and also interested in CIT possibilities.

Keep the pictures coming!

PS - Meghan paid me a nice compliment today. During the summer we seldom work together, since we're each taking care of different responsibilities. But we often work together in the fall when it is just us and a few helpers putting the camp to sleep for the winter. We were draining and closing up the water system with Joel today. When we finished, Meghan told me, "You didn't seem like any 62 year old man today. You were charging around in the lead and I didn't hear you huffing and puffing like you were in the spring!"

Well, Meghan is right. I did feel pretty good today and I was able to do a lot of work. I am in pretty good shape after a season of moving jumps around and helping Meghan run Longacres. I'm about 8 or 9 pounds lighter than back in May and just feel fit.

Sadly, it takes all summer now until I finally feel this good, when I used to get fit after perhaps a month's outdoor work in the spring. And it doesn't last as long in the fall as it once did! But, hey - today I was the man!

Sept. 14, 10PM:

Regarding our "Sept 15 & 16" weekend horse and rider pics album, we'd love to also get pictures from some of our new riders who are coming to Longacres next summer for the first time. Just email us a picture by Sunday night (read about it below).

As promised, below is a picture taken this afternoon on our big show field, with all the jumps put away.

New Trivia Contest:

How many individual separate hoofprints were laid down on our big jumping field during all of the 2007 season? There will be no exact correct answer, but for those of you who like puzzles and math, it presents an interesting problem. We'll leave this one open for a couple of weeks.

Send us not just a number, but your thinking in how to arrive at a good estimate. I'll bet you could do this for a math or science project or report in school.

I will be glad to answer specific questions you may have. Such as, "In addition to all Longacres lessons and practice, there were three horse shows, two small fun shows, and the Bold Jumper Derby held on the field during this season."

Have at it - it's a good challenge! (I'm just beginning to work on my own estimate!)

Sept. 14, 2PM:

News from Longacres today includes the GOOD news that Tom's hayfever season is finally winding down and he is finally feeling human again! We're busy putting things away from the summer, filing our tax returns, and starting to organize the 2008 waiting list, now that all regular season spots are filled. We will take at least two on wait list for each session, since there is always the possibility that some family plans will change over a long winter.

(Did I say "long winter"? Actually, Alexa wrote two days ago and told us that as of that moment, there were 7629 hours left until she returns for her session next summer. And it is less than that for many of you!)

I'll try to post a picture of the show field with no jumps, as I promised Hannah the other day - thanks for your updates on your riding and your favorite horses at home, Hannah!

Picture Album of you guys riding at home this weekend? If some of you can take pictures of yourselves riding or just standing with your favorite horse at home this weekend, we'll post an album on Sunday night or Monday morning. Send us some pictures!

September 13, 1AM:

Good to be home!

September 4, 3PM:

11 PM:

Some big changes in the 2008 Roster just since this afternoon! Check below for the updated roster.

In the meantime, here is a tentative roster for 2008, to give you a good idea of who will be here in each session. A few of these might change, since the following include second choice sessions for some of you, and some may not be able to come at these times. We are trying to email everyone today with an acceptance for 2008 or to tell you that you will have to take a second choice of sessions.

Please note that we have had to decline a couple of requests for the June 22 session even though we do have a spot open for a student age 10 to 12. It is very important to us to keep a quota of spaces open for younger students each year. They are the future of Longacres.

June 9 Pro Clinic Week: Maggie H; Annie H; Hannah S; Regan D; Diana & Ruby D; Kay & Kellie H; Katherine S -

June 16 Mother - Daughter Week: Annie & Paul H; Martha & Ofelia E; Debbie & Shelly K (CIT); Sanna & Robyn L; Kay & Kellie H; Regan D (Hannah?)

July 6 Regular Camp: Hannah S; Emily R; Ofelia E; Andrea B; Shelly K (CIT); Jaclyn S; Robyn L; Griffin S; Laura F; Peyton U

July 23 Second Session: Shelly K (CIT); Robyn L; Rachael E; Michelle K; Alexa R; Carly F; Marta T; Peyton U; Maddie & Amanda R

September 3, noon:

Hi everyone. We hope you're all enjoying a fun holiday. We've had a nice four day break and are feeling much better rested. If it weren't for the fact that this is one of my worst hayfever seasons in many years, I'd be feeling pretty darn good right now! Meghan says she feels like a new person after four days of taking it easy and vacation!

So now it's back to work. We're beginning to put all the jumps away for the winter in the barn. A BIG job! Just from the Jumper Derby decorations, we have 60 bales of hay and the pine boughs from three large trees to move off the field! If I have time today, I'll take a "before" picture of the show field, and then next week an "after" picture after the field is cleared. It's always a sad moment when the final jump leaves the field - we know that the season is over then.

We're also busy back in the office evaluating everyone's 2008 enrollment requests. Some will be very simple. But there are a few sessions in July where we are going to have to look up who registered earlier last year. We're working on it. Also, SOMEONE sent us an express mail over the weekend. We weren't here, so it wasn't delivered, but when we get it tomorrow, it will count as though it was here on September 1st, whoever you are!

We've been behind on answering your emails the past couple of days. Thanks to Peyton for her message - you're going to have to wait another day or so to find out, Peyton! And to Jaclyn who is already worrying about what to pack for camp next summer and who reads the website every day!

And to Hannah who is working on making "RJ" more adjustable. And to Peggy, who is back sleeping to the sounds of midtown Manhatten and hoping to work something out to be at Longacres next summer. And to Robyn and her mom, who have put Ginger in a new barn. And t Ofelia's friend, Emily, who hopes "her spot" in July is safe! And to Mike, who always checks the website and hopes to see pictures of pond day. And to Kim Schwartz from Texas who would be glad to give Quantum a good home for the winter if trucking did not cost so much! And to Uncle Billy who is such a good friend to us and Longacres that he keeps us sane when it seems the world is spinning out of control. We had our first "post season" dinner with Billy last night! And to Emmy, who misses "Q sooooo much" and has watched the online video of herself jumping 4'3" "a few" times! - - - and, yes, Meghan is getting ready to be her "ahem" self - - - - and, NO, Tom is not out of hey-fever-land yet :(

News on formal enrollment acceptances will begin coming soon.

August 31, noon:

We have mucked out the RV from all the hay, horse manure, and junk it collected during the summer transporting you all to horse shows, the mall, and "KONE KING"!! We're heading out for two days at New York State Fair this afternoon. For the first time in five months, we'll be at an event where we have no responsibilities. We just plan to see things and have fun.

We'll be back here Sunday night or Monday and will dive into the pile of 2008 reservation requests. We'll be able to tell you by next Saturday if we are able to give you your first choice of 2008 reservations.

Remember that Quantum has no home. Talk to your friends if you know someone who might want to board him for the winter. Several of you would be excellent prospects, but you already took other horses home when we thought Quantum was going to Tovah where he spends every winter until now.

More news coming Monday.

August 29, 9PM:

Meghan and I did not do much useful work today, besides taking care of Kingsley. We got up late, went out to lunch, and went to a movie. (The one Carly wanted to see - some of it was hilarious, but both of us slept through parts of it, as we always do when we see movies during and immediately after our summer season!)

Quantum:

A stunning change in Tovah's plans may make it impossible for her to take Quantum for the winter, which is what we have been planning on all summer. If her arrangements fall through, Quantum has no winter home, and not everyone is qualified to ride him. If you are interested in having this great horse to ride over the winter, get in touch with us right away. This is a real monkey wrench thrown in our winter horse plans at the last minute.

Hey Peyton,

Nobody told us about the lovely letter you left us at the barn on the day you left until we found it in the office today. Thank you for the nice thoughts! We miss you.

2008 Enrollments:

To give you an idea of where we likely are based on requests with deposit checks already in our office, here is an unofficial list of 2008 availability:

August 28, 1PM:

Meghan is out and about closing up the farm and sending lost clothes home. Tom is trying to cope with a really crummy allergy week :(

August 27, 10PM:

August 27, 4PM:

Nearly all the horses will be gone to their winter homes by tonight. Only Kingsley will be here for a couple more days.

We are very glad to announce that Merlin is going to spend this winter with our good friends at Quakerfield Stables in Orchard Park. If any of our new readers live in the western NY area, we highly recommend Quakerfield for their lesson program. They are outstanding with younger riders and offer great training for all levels of riding. Merlin will be well loved while he is there!

Emmy sets 2007 Longacres Jumping Record!

Check the picture above this article! On her last day at Longacres, Emmy rode Quantum Leap over a 4'3" oxer, the highest any Longacres horse jumped in 2007. A nice end to a summer of great work from Emmy.

August 25, noon:

Everyone has left - sniff, sniff. Carly was the last to pull out a few minutes ago, just behind Andrea. Peggy, Emmy, Meghan, and Tom are the final ones at Longacres. We're busy shipping horses out to their winter homes today and tomorrow, and we'll be packing up all the jumps over the next week. Soon Longacres will be just a memory until we open for the 2008 season at the end of May next spring.

This has been the best season ever at Longacres in many ways. We miss all our 2007 students already. Keep the emails and calls coming!

Emmy will be here until Tuesday morning helping close the barn. Tuesday, Tom and Meghan will sleep - maybe go to a movie - and SLEEP some more!

If you forgot something, email us and we'll see if it's turned up. Final refunds of unused spending and horse show money will be sent out during the next two weeks. Watch the website for the availability of CD's or DVD's of pictures from the summer. And remember that registration for the 2008 season opens in earnest on September 1st. That would be next Saturday, one week from today.

August 23, 7PM:

Tomorrow is the fun show at 11am. We'll see some of you there. Then Longacres is all done for 2007.

August 23, noon:

Our great luck with the weather this week finally ran out. We finished horsecare and mounted for the morning ride, but just then heavy thunder came too close and we got off just before the rain and stormy weather hit. We'll be having a discussion of all we learned in the three guest clinics this week at the barn before lunch.

The rain is supposed to end by three pm, so we should get in afternoon and evening rides.

August 23, 9am:

Our luck with weather continues - severe thunder storms passed just to our south this morning and we heard the heavy thunder, but just got a few drops of rain here. We may still get a line of storms through later this morning.

The weather is turning very hot and humid today - but guess what? Today is our scheduled day for swimming the horses in the pond, so what could be better but a hot day?

It will be hot and sticky for our fun horse show tomorrow, so we may finally be impacted by weather, but this has been a fine week for riding considering the forecast we were looking at back on Monday.

Hard to believe we just have two days left of our 2007 season and that we have to face up to the unpleasant task of telling a few of you we don't have space for you in 2008 at least in your first choice of sessions. We're up to 20 paid deposits for 2008. Be sure to get yours in by Sept. 1st if you want to be considered for a space next summer.

August 22, 9:30 PM:

This picture album is especially noteworthy for the pictures of ten year old Kelly having a reunion with Merlin. Kelly was here with her mom for a week back in June, and fell in love with Merlin then. Kelly's mom gave Kelly the surprise birthday present of a lifetime by flying the two of them all the way from Dallas, Texas just to see Merlin on Kelly's birthday this week!!

In other news, some of us had a special "trotting only high jump" where you had to trot up to the fence and you were eliminated if you cantered more than two strides, knocked the jump down, or had a refusal. Quantum and Ebony tied for the win a 3'3"!!!!! Carly rode Quantum and Hannah rode Ebony. Great rides!

August 22, 1PM:

August 22, 11am:

The big event today is the Becky Bates / Jaime George clinic at 2PM. The girls have been looking forward to this for a long time! Becky is owner and trainer at Hasty Hills show stables, and her daughter, Jaime, is one of the leading professional riders in New York State. Jaime won the high section of the Longacres Jumper Derby a few weeks ago. This should be a fun clinic.

August 21, 9PM:

And on it goes - -

This week was supposed to be pretty rainy, but has been dry instead. We got in five hours of riding today, including the guest clinics and an evening ride where lots of people had a chance to ride Patty, Quantum, ShaBang, and the other difficult horses. One of the features of Lazy Days week is that we're using our best show horses a lot more in regular lessons since we don't have to "save them" for any more shows.

Casey jumped Peppermint Patty, Brianna rode ShaBang, and many others got on horses and ponies they might not normally ride in a lesson. It was a fun night!

I taught a good lesson this morning and part of another with Emmy this afternoon. But I left the evening ride under Meghan's supervision since I'm having a pretty crummy hayfever attack tonight. I took a hot shower, extra medication, and I'm tuning out for the evening. I hope Meghan gets the extra pictures posted for you, and I'll check in with you again with tomorrow morning's "Update".

Weather looks even better tomorrow when Becky and Jaime Bates are giving their guest clinic. More then.

- Tom (cough, sneeze, wheeze!)

August 21, 3PM:

Still no rain - we got in two hours of guest instruction from Barb Glica this morning and the girls are mounting up for the afternoon ride now.

August 21, 11am:

Good luck with weather continues! We had a bareback ride after dinner last night before all heading to Kone King. It is a grey day out now, but no rain and the Barb Glica clinic is right on schedule. She's teaching two small groups this morning. I just got back from the barn where I worked with Jen, Hannah, Jaclyn, and Regan and Carly on "elevated cavaletti". We raised our long line of trotting poles (see yesterday's photo's) about 8 inches off the ground and trotter through them. Brody took to it right away. The rest were all kicking poles and tripping at first, but by the time we did a variety of extension and collection exercises, every rider made a perfect pass through! We had a good time with that exercise! More later - maybe only a few pictures today, since the heavy cloud cover makes for poor photography.

August 20, 4PM:

OK, we are a little damp now! The heavy rain continues all around Longacres, to the south mostly, and we have still not had more than sprinkles here. But they have become continuous, and we got a little wet doing the guest clinic this afternoon. But do it we did! Diane gave a good lesson, and we have lost no riding time yet today. We'll wait and see what happens after dinner, though. We might end up with an alternate activity for the evening. (Kone King, anyone??!??)

Actually, Diane has stayed after the riding portion of the guest clinic, and she and Meghan are leading a discussion on careers in horsemanship after the horses are put away for the afternoon.

The weather for the rest of the week looks promising. There is 70% chance of rain overnight, but then only 30% each day for the rest of the week. We should have no trouble getting in most of our scheduled rides and guest clinics.

August 20, 2PM:

Really weird weather! But so far to our advantage. Radar shows moderate to heavy rain in every direction now - BUT not here at Longacres. I suppose we're bound to get it soon, but our afternoon guest clinic begins in just 30 minutes, and it looks like we're going to get in at least part of the schedule! Keep your fingers crossed - we've had better luck than we could hope for so far today!

August 20, 11:30 AM:

With luck, the weather will hold and we'll get in our guest clinic this afternoon.

We jumped some pretty good size oxers in the lesson this morning (check out the Dakota picture!). The girls are taking advantage of the unexpectedly good weather (sun is actually poking through as I write) to go on an extra trail ride after this morning's lesson.

All the girls (and guys!) are doing well so far. The group is getting along well together and after watching the video last night of everyone, we're getting a good idea of what each rider should be working on this week.

- Tom

August 19, 4PM:

Lazy Days is under way.

Hi Diane,

If you're reading this, your Quakerfield students are representing you well! Casey and David are fitting in just as you said they would, and Andrea and Jaclyn are mischievous as usual between rides, but working hard in their lessons!

Regan drove in to Longacres herself in her convertible, and Hannah and her dad arrived at the same time. Tom just got back from the airport with Brianna, and she is getting on with everyone else for the afternoon lesson as I write. Jen and Emmy are getting used to doing things without Mandy watching over them.

I've been at the airport for several hours, but Meghan tells me everyone was bonding very well at lunch, and as I walked into the barn a few minutes ago, I was greeted by squeels of fun and excitement as a large "sword fight" with crops was just winding down before the afternoon ride. High spirits, indeed!

More later!

August 18, 1PM:

Most of the girls from this past session have gone, though Emily and Peyton are hanging around an extra day to help us over the weekend. Carly arrived a few minutes ago, to hugs and shouts from the girls who knew her last summer!

Uncle Billy is taking us all out to a Pizza Hut dinner tonight and we may have a big bonfire when we get back to the farm - it's going to be a cold night, and the fire sounds good!

The horses from the Quakerfield crew are arriving to get used to their stalls in an hour or so, and their riders will be here tomorrow, along with the rest of the "Lazy Days" crew. Except for Peggy, who will be coming in on Monday. And we have a surprise visitor in the middle of the week coming from FAR away just to prove she belongs in the ILMFC!

Meghan and I do get to relax a bit this afternoon before charging ourselves up for one more great week at Longacres before we put all the jumps away for the winter.

Oh, yeah - one more thing: How lucky do you think a girl is if her parents show up at Longacres on the last day to pick her up and say, "Well, sure, we could take your favorite horse home for the winter." Carolyn is taking Brody home for the winter to continue the good training she and the rest of you gave him this summer. Brody will be spending the winter about 50 miles north of NYC. Way to go, "C.C."!

August 18, 8AM:

Check the new picture at the top of the page with all but two of the ribbons from the fair up. Today is "goodbye day" for most of you. The only thing that keeps it from being too sad is that many are returning for next year. We already have 16 paid deposits on file for the September 1st opening of the 2008 enrollment season.

We likely will not post here again until Sunday evening when our new students for Lazy Days week are all here.

August 17, 10PM:

We had a fun last day, with all the girls jumping pretty big this morning, and then an EXCITING (Carolyn and Marta!!!!!) pond riding afternoon! We just got back from a final trip to the fair with no horses - just for fun on the midway and at the exhibits.

Big jumping went well, and convinced us more than ever that when Quantum has to retire as our top-gun jumper, we have worthy replacements in Brody and Horatio. Brody and Horatio both jumped between 3'9" and 4', and they made it look effortless. Horatio could easily have jumped 4'6", but I did not want to push him since he has been so wonderful this summer. Same with Brody - - I am sure he can jump well over 4'.

Quantum and ShaBang also jumped the big heights. How many summer riding camps can boast at least four solid 4' jumpers in their string of horses?

Pond riding was exciting as always - first Marta lost her balance trotting through deep water and rode out of the pond hanging on around Merlin's neck and with one foot hooked over his back like a trick rider! It was hilarious! She let go and fell gently after she was safely back on dry ground. Carolyn knew that Brody might jump in suddenly, and sure enough, he did. She went off with a big splash and came up out of the pond scum with a big grin on her face shouting, I have first dibs on the showers!!!!!!

The girls are doing a good job on the four cabin placques to hang permanently in the dining hall. One for the girls who were here in May and June early bird weeks; one for the July sessions; and one for each Esserress and Pegasus bunks for this session. The girls here next week for Lazy Days can add their names and finish them off.

It was a full and exciting last day of our regular season. It's sad to be saying "goodbye" to 11 girls tomorrow and Sunday, but we're looking forward to a relaxed and fun filled week coming up. The Quakerfield Crew is moving in over the weekend, and we welcome back Peggy, Hannah, and Regan from the beginning of the summer, along with Carly from last year, and one new student. Sounds like a fun week, with lots of special rides, and three Pro Guest Clinics. Diane from Quakerfield will be here Monday; Barb Glica from BZG Stables on Tuesday, and Jaime AND Becky Bates on Wednesday. We expect some rain on and off, which we desparately need, but no total washouts on any one day.

August 16, 11PM:

A new Record!

Longacres won 62 ribbons at this year's Erie County Fair, 7 more than ever before! Great riding, girls.

Following is a list of the various ribbon winners at the three day show, thanks to Carolyn for the reporting and typing!

August 16, 1PM:

A quick mid-day bulletin from the Fair:

Longacres OWNED the jumper ring this morning! We won three out of the four jumper classes we entered, and with 52 ribbons on the banner, we're within a handful of breaking our all time record of 55 set last year. We had five classes to go when I came home to get the tack trailer a half hour ago, so there's a good chance of a new record.

Peppermint Patti is Beginner Jumper champion one more time, winning two 1st's and a 2nd in her division. Way to go, Robyn!

Jen Levy had a great show, but some bad luck with a rail falling here and there the first two days. Not today - she won her first class on ShaBang, then came back and won her second on Quantum! You go, girl!

More news to come later - I have to get back to the fair.

- Tom

August 15, 7PM:

We had another great day at the fair. We've won six blues, six seconds, and many more ribbons. I think 32 in all for two days of showing. We may not break out all time high of 55 or so set last year, but we should come very close! We're in a good position to win at least the Beginner Jumper Championship, and perhaps more.

We'll try again to post a smaller picture album here later tonight. Keep your fingers crossed that I get it right!

August 14, 9PM:

We just finished a laughter filled video session, watching the tapes of today's show. There were serious moments as we studied today's jumping mistakes in slow motion. But there was plenty of light hearted banter and good spirits! We should be ready to go first thing tomorrow morning at the show. Everyone is getting to bed early tonight, so we'll also be better rested than we were today. More tomorrow!

- Tom & Meghan

PS - pictures coming soon tonight

August 14, 7PM:

Just last night - which seems like forever ago - I was writing to you about how nervous all our horses and riders were their first night practicing at the fair. And about how I said aloud to myself, "Maybe this just won't be our year at the fair." Brody and Horatio were the worst last night, with Brody scooting all over spooking from everything new, and Horatio just terrified of the whole fair experience.

But I shouldn't have worried. We put lots of special effort into schooling Brody and Horatio as well as all the other horses. And wouldn't you know it, today Brody and Horatio were two of our biggest stars!!!!! Other stables and trainers were asking, "Who are those two neat new horses you have at Longacres?"

Brody won two seconds, one in a hunter class and one in a BIG jumper class, with Carolyn Costa - GO "CC"!!!!!!!! Horatio did not win ribbons, but was superb in both the hunter and jumper rings with Emily Petermann. Honest to goodness, people were asking us where we got these two horses!!!!

Oh, Yeah - Robyn won a first in Jumpers on Peppermint Patti - About the millionth blue in Patti's long history. And Peyton won blue on Brownie in pleasure horse. We'll post the rest of Longacres' wins in a couple of hours.

All in all, another GREAT show day for Longacres riders!!!!!!!!!

August 13, 11PM:

Things are looking up as I write this. The horses were a little nervous when they got to the fair this afternoon as they reacted to all the people, all the noise from the midway, and all the other hundreds of new horses around them. And our riders were very nervous! The combination made for some bad rides when we first mounted up, and I said to myself, "Oh, my! This year may be a disaster at the show for us."

But I remember saying that to myself almost every year when we first get to the fair. But we try not to panick. We patiently work the horses around and around and trot over fence after fence until the horses and riders both calm down and realize that all we're doing is more of the same thing we've trained at all summer long. It's jsut that the surroundings are very different. And slowly at first, and then more easily, everyone begins to calm down and ride.

Horatio was the worst. He was absolutely trembling with nerves and fright. We put Jen on him, and I worked with her closely for almost an hour. By the time we were finished, he was almost back to the honest, bold young thoroughbred he is at Longacres. Peyton got back on and had him go pretty well, and then Emily rode him some more. Emily finally put in a terrific round jumping him at the end of the evening.

The same with most of the other horses and riders to a lesser degree. Most started rough, and finished relaxed and smooth. Things look promising for the first day of the show tomorrow!

We won't be surprised if there are some rough edges the first day. But I fully expect everyone to have good rides and success before the end of the show on Thursday! More news coming tomorrow - I predict some ribbons, even at this big "A" show!!!

- Tom

August 13, 3:30PM:

Great excitement as the first load of horses and riders pulled away in the horse vans a few minutes ago. The Erie County Fair is one of the largest fairs in the USA, with just over or under 1,000,000 people coming through the gates during the 12 day fair! There is too much to see and do to possibly experience everything in the few days we are there, but the girls will try.

Tom put a little extra pressure on Meghan and the girls today, by insisting that we finish the traditional cabin plaques this week that we've been putting off again and again until "next week" all summer long. Those of you who have gone home know what I'm talking about - - - the signs on the walls of the dining hall with the names of everyone who was here each year, along with a themed bit of art work. We took the bare wood plaques to the fair and I am insisting the basic art be penciled in while we are at the show. We'll finish painting and decorating when we get back on Thursday. It is an extra thing to have to schedule time for the next three days, but everyone will be very glad that we did when they are done and when you come back to Longacres to visit in future years.

We are doing four plaques; one for those of you who came in May and June; one for the June 24 to July 19 sessions; and one for each bunk this session. (I wish "artists" Hannah and Regan were here now to help!!!! They're good at art work! They will be here for Lazy Days next week, and perhaps they can add something when they get here.) If any of you at home want to contribute, take a little piece of card stock, 1 inch by 2 inches, put your name on it and any art wqork you can fit, and send it in this week. We can glue your contribution onto the plaque for your session!

- Tom

August 13, noon:

We won't have time to give you long updates during the fair the next three days, but I will try to post some pictures and a very short bulliten about midnight every night after we get home from final horse check in the barns at the fair. A few of the girls will be staying at the fair in the motor home every night so they can get up early to feed the horses.

The rest will get up early to take care of the horses still here at Longacres and then ride over with Meghan or I to the show. It takes some complicated scheduling!

The weather looks great for the week. Mostly sunny skies with lower humidity and steadily dropping temperatures, mostly in the 70's and down to a high of only 70 by the end of the week. Possibly a scattered shower, mostly at night Tuesday night and Thursday night. All in all, fine fair weather!

A Big Thank You to Quakerfield!

Thanks to all the customers from Quakerfield Stables who were sponsors of all the horse show divisions at this year's Summer Series Awards Party!!!! Thanks to Quakerfield for loaning us some of their jumps for the Derby. And especially to Diane, who tirelessly keeps Quakerfield the friendly, relaxed place that it is. You guys have all been great partners in the 2007 Summer Series and we look forward to showing with you all again next year. I was returning jumps to Quakerfield this morning and watched Diane do what she does so well - - work with really young riders who will be showing with us before you know it in the coming years.

Longacres closes before Labor Day. Quakerfield is open all year round, and we highly recommend their lesson program for any of our readers who live in the Buffalo area. They often have a waiting list, but get you name on it! They run a fine operation in Orchard Park!

- Tom Kranz

August 12, noon:

And here are results of our very impressive showing effort at the Derby:

More News Later Today!!!

- Tom

August 10 , midnight:

Many other Longacres riders did VERY well, and we'll discuss them in tomorrow's update. There are many great stories from the day. One of the most impressive statistics is about the success of the NYS Team Jumping Championship that was part of our program. We had 28 horses entered in the one class, probably the largest single jumper class in Western New York in many years!!!!!!

More details and winners names tomorrow.

Good night.

- Tom & Meghan

August 9, 11PM:

Don't expect any news tomorrow, but we should have lots of pictures, and with some luck, news of Longacres girls winning Derby ribbons on Saturday. During the day on Saturday we'll take a deep breath, a short rest, and dive into preparations for Erie County Fair coming up in just a couple more days! Yikes, what a week!

August 8, 9PM:

August 8, 1:30 PM:

Of all the luck, I came down with a nasty sinus infection yesterday morning. It knocked me right down yesterday and especially last night. But I quickly got on medication and I am feeling better all ready. I managed to climb out of bed and teach the girls a Derby prep lesson this morning, with a lot of joking about watching out for my judgement because of all the drugs I'm on! Meghan is being magnificent, as always, handling all the arrangements setting up for the Derby and watching out for the girls while I rest to try to get in shape for the big Show.

August 7, 7PM:

Longacres wierd weather experience for 2007 continues. Widespread rain crossed western NY today, but we had only widely scattered showers. Barely enough to soften the ground and green up our grass. We hope we get some more over night. The girls rode all day. They were in great spirits just before dinner. Meghan went down to the barn to give them a message, and as she walked down the hill to the barn, loud, funky music was playing. She turned the corner in the barn door, and there were seven of the girls in a circle on the cement dancing their hearts out!

August 6, 10PM:

Just got home from a WILD trip to Kone King! Talk about "sugar highs!!"

Great spirits all the way around in spite of some difficulties riding the course in tonight's practice. More coming tomorrow. Be sure to read the above weather discussion if you are considering coming to the Derby.

Aug. 6, 5PM:

- Tom

And in riding news, I report that we're at the time of year when we have a real balancing act to pull off. We try hard to give our students as close to the promised five hours a day as possible. But in this second session, we put a lot of importance on numerous special events like the Derby this week and the Erie County Fair show next week. There is often a need to rest and preserve horses for these big events. That's why we have nearly two horses for every rider at Longacres. We're doing more trail rides, more training sessions with the young horses, and more drills on certain skills for each individual this week.

Last night the girls were up very late watching their horse show videos, so we let them sleep in this morning and skip the first ride. The decision was very popular with the girls, but Meghan always worries when they don't get their full schedule of riding in. Meghan is especially sensitive to any suggestion that we don't deliver everything we promise in our advertising! So cut her a little slack if you sense in our daily news that we haven't ridden a full five hours. The girls seem happy and we are trying to keep them and the horses from wearing out with all the special events this month.

And there will be many more special events in the coming weeks. The Derby, Erie County Fair, Big Jumping day, pond jumping, and much more. Stay tuned.

Aug. 6, 2PM:

Hope you all enjoyed Meghan's big picture album from last night. Pictures will be a littl sparce this week, since we are working dawn til dusk getting ready for the show. We'll try to post an update at least daily.

We've got the Derby course set up now and will be doing our dress rehearsal ride tonight after dinner. Everyone practiced little bits of it this morning. Meghan and her team of helpers will be doing lots more work dressing up and decorating all the jumps every day until the show.

Check the red announcement above: looks quite likely that the show date will change due to weather.

Aug. 5, 5:45 PM:

The girls are back from town and we had some good talks. Everyone wants to stay here and has pledged to follow the rules. We will be offering a little tighter supervision over the next few days to reinforce those good intentions.

Derby horse assignments will be given out at dinner. Nearly everyone will ride in at least two Derbies and will be on horses they have done well with this week.

Aug. 5, 2PM:

The sun will still come up tomorrow and the world will still go around if two teenagers get caught sneaking a cell phone where they're not supposed to have it. No big deal about using a cell phone.

The big deal is trust, and at a small family farm like Longacres we rely heavily on trust that the older girls will be cooperative with our policies and set a positive example for the rest of our little family. It is a big deal to Meghan and I when that trust is broken.

We dropped the girls off at the laundromat, explained the problem without naming those who are suspected of breaking the rules, and asked them to have a group discussion after they started their laundry. Robyn just phoned us and said that, "The two girls who used the phone wish to speak to us when we pick them up in two hours." We will evaluate what they have to say.

Parents should take note that our no cell phones between field trips policy is fully explained in our welcome packets. We have had parents in the past who really wanted their kids to have their phones with them while they are here. We make no exceptions to this rule for any reason.

Aug. 5, noon:

2) This afternoon will not be the most cheerful at Longacres. We are a family and we pride ourselves on letting the kids have fun and simply enjoy their summer around horses. But we are also educators, and when the fun goes too far and some of the girls lose sight of the ground rules for running a good and safe program, we need to go back to basics and set the limits more clearly. That will be done in a half hour and the girls will be given the afternoon to think about the next two weeks. - - - and to consult with their parents if they feel they need guidance. This is a good group of girls who try hard and get along well with each other. But I will expect them to do better at a few things for the rest of the summer.

As you may guess, there is a specific rules infraction that lead to this moment - but it is more than the two or three involved in this one situation. We are a family at Longacres, and all members of the family bear some responsibility if some go astray. I will give you more details later, but want parents at home to have a heads up that morale may vary during this afternoon's phone calls.

August 5, 8am:

August 4th, 11:30 PM:

More tomorrow!

August 4th, after midnight:

We just got back from running the Monster Truck show at Cattaraugus County Fair - something we once did often, but now only once or twice a year. It was a huge success! Thanks to Shelly, Emily, and Peyton for coming and helping us - they got free rides in a Monster Truck and lots of souvineers.

We had no messages from Mandy about any problems so we assume all went well on the farm today. We'll get the details on the way to the show tomorrow morning. We'll give you folks at home a report on the show tomorrow evening.

Good Night.

August 3rd. noon:

August 2, 11:30am:

August 2, 9am:

Then it's off to air conditioned mall and dinner out! Tomorrow the temperature and humidity let up just a little and we will be over the worst of this heat wave. Lake Erie breeze also helps us out the rest of the week.

August 1, 1PM:

It's a hot one today! We got both lessons in this morning, including everyone practicing the bank jump for the Derby. We'll be going to Kone King after lunch and then watchng a lot of video from the past two days in the air conditioned video room. We'll have a relaxed ride to the hunt course later this afternoon and ride again after dinner.

The featured riders of the day ar Cara and Carolyn, who have been doing a good job riding Harmony and Brody respectively. I kept them both after the morning lesson finished and set up a good size line with solid three foot jumps. They both did very weel, getting the striding right their first try. They may show these horses in one of the high Derbies! Check the picture album from today.

July 31, 9PM:

Longacres sends out a "hello" to Nadine Rappaport Pillinger, an alumni from 1972 - 73 who wrote in a "do you remember me?" tonight. I do for sure, although for a moment I had her confused with another Rappaport (Octavia) from about the same period in Longacres history. We've had a run of Longacres Alumni messages recently including old pictures from Joanna Schaefer and Dena Merlin, also from quite a few years ago. It is strange to remember these young girls - girls who were teens when I was quite a young man myself. I am now old, so that makes them - - what would we say, "in the prime of their lives?" Nadine, Joanna, and Dena, you will always be vibrant young teenagers to me!

- Tom

PS - Nadine - I only just sold the old Corvette last fall!

July 31, 11am:

POSSIBLE VACANCY: One of this session's students may be leaving early this weekend, which would open up a spot for the final two weeks of the season. If any of our readers out there are in a position to make plans quickly to come for a two week session including the Jumper Derby and Erie County Fair, give us a call. If we fill the spot, we can give the family with changed plans a refund, and help them out, along with offering a fun two weeks to someone else.

We've had great riding weather here for most of the summer, but this is shaping up to be our first really warm week, with temperatures in the 90's expected for Thursday. We're toughing it out today with our full riding schedule. Tomorrow we'll shorten our mid day rides a little and have a longer evening ride with more jumping after dinner. Thursday we may go to a "plan B" day, getting up very early for a cooler before breakfast ride, and we have a long planned field trip in the hot afternoon already, as luck would have it.

July 31, 8am:

The younger girls from Pegasus bunk had a special ride last night under a brilliant full moon. They had a chance to canter and to jump a small white cross rail that seemed as bright as day in the moonlight. Some of the older girls may have a chance to do the same thing tonight, but for the older girls, a little more sleep is sometimes more attractive than the night rides!

While on the subject of vacancies, we welcome Andrea who has just signed up to return to Longacres for a second time this summer. Andrea will be joining us again for the Lazy Days week. That leaves us just two more spots for that week in August.

July 30, 6PM:

How many jobs or places around Longacres can you describe where we have made a repair this season that is underground, part of the ground, or new ground (gravel or dirt put someplace)?

I am betting on Mike and Hannah to come up with an impressive list! Winner to be announced in two days.

July 30, 2PM:

We're also beginning to do quite a few two and three person "buddy trail rides" this week, once the girls get to know the trails and the horses well enough and we feel we can trust them to ride safely.

July 29, 9PM:

We had a very relaxing day at Longacres, with some of our new girls doing their laundry by themselves for the first time in their lives. I cracked up listening to older teenagers calling their moms and saying, "HELP! - Can I put my britches with my colored load?" The girls who've been here and are Laundromat experts helped the newcomers and everything worked out. We went to "Town Day" earlier than usual and got back with plenty of time to relax and a few went creek swimming. They were in fine spirits after dinner. Meghan gave them an earlier than usual curfew, so we should be well rested to begin the new week tomorrow morning.

Derby Day, August 10th:

A number of you are planning to visit Longacres for the Derby Day festivities and Summer Series horse show Awards Party. It's a great time for parents to experience Longacres, with a very special Jumper Derby horse show and lots of pageantry. We have a Bagpipe band for the ceremony, and a country music band for the party. It is a BIG social event in the western New York horse world.

If you come, bring a few extra dollars in "play money". We hold a Calcutta Auction with one of the high jumping classes in the evening, where we auction off the winners rights of each horse. All the money goes in a jackpot, and if you were the high bidder on the winning horse, you get the pot! Families often band together in "syndicates" and share the bidding cost and split any winnings. It's a fun part of the night, with the winner usually taking home well over $1000.

If you can make it, we'd love to have you see Longacres at it's most exciting time!

July 28, 10PM:

We had a laughter filled traditional dinner at Pasquale's and then came home to watch the videos. Meghan is serving a "Cookie Cake" party downstairs right now as I write this update. Many of you have talked with your students on the phone tonight when they had their cell phones, and a couple of you even exchanged real time emails with a couple of the girls who used my iPhone at the restaurant!

More coming tomorrow!

- Tom

July 27, 8PM:

We've had more of Longacres' 2007 good luck with the weather. We heard thunder passing all around us, but no thunder storms hit here, and only a few brief light showers. The show is on as planned at Quakerfield tomorrow. We will post something again late tomorrow night after the show and our traditional "show day dinner" out at Pasquale's. Wish us good luck!

July 27, 9AM:

Except for the pictures coming soon from the party, we won't be taking so many today. First of all, we really spoiled you all yesterday! And second, it is going to be a rather dreary day today. The good news is that most of the rain will have moved through overnight, and we expect decent weather for the horse show tomorrow.

If we were to get this weather next week, we'd probably head for town in the afternoon for a movie and some civilization fun. But it's only the third day of this session, so we'll stay at Longacres to get all our new students more fully settled in and if it rains too hard to ride, we'll hold some seminars on horsemanship, and perhaps hold the barn olympics that we planned last month.

More later.

July 26, 8PM:

The skies are already brightening to the southwest, so I think the worst of the rain has passed through. The fire is all stacked with a tarp over it, so Smores are still in the cards!

July 26, 6:30 PM:

Hey, Andrea and Jaclyn,

If you're reading this, we're still planning the party, even if it rains a little. We'll only cancel it if it is raining hard right at 8:45 to 9 when we're planning to start the fire. If the rain is tapering off then, we're having fire, smores, and CHOCOLATE!!!!!!! See you guys in a couple of hours! (Rain is coming in as I write this, but there is a good chance it will be over by 9PM.

July 26, Noon:

We had good lessons in both rings this morning with Tom and Mandy working together to further evaluate our new second session riders while giving a few challenges to the girls who have been here all summer. Some of the more experienced riders did an exercise jumping with no reins right before and over the jump - harder than you might think!

Cara is planning to begin working with the young thoroughbreds and the new grey Percheron mare soon.

July 25, 11PM:

July 25, 10PM:

We finished watching today's videos just a little while ago and said "good night" to the girls as they walked back to the cabins under a bright moon. Everyone was connecting with someone at dinner and during evening ride. Some of the jitters of the first ride on new horses at a new place had worn off by tonight, and I saw some nice riding as I sat on my tractor and watched both lessons after dinner. Meghan and I feel good about this session. We do miss the little girls we had last month. Andrea, Kate, Olivia, and Laura gave us great spirit and enthusiasm. Except for Michelle (who is nearly a teen), all the girls this session are older.

July 25, 1PM:

July 24, 10PM:

Well, we enjoyed a day and a half of rest, but now back to work! We drove the girls up to Niagara Falls today for a quick look. We didn't do any touristy stuff - just watched a lot of water go over a cliff!

A business friend of mine is a manager at an amusement park near the falls, Fantasy Island. I had to stop for a short meeting with him on the way. When I told him I couldn't stay long because I was driving 6 kids up to the falls, he said, "Oh, here's some free passes." Great. So on the way home from the falls we stopped back and the girls spent an hour going on free amusement park rides and so forth!

We can't wait to see the three girls who are first timers at Longacres tomorrow, along with returning students Alexa, Michelle, and Cara.

And, yes, I am back at work. The grass is looking great with the rain we've had recently, so I decided I better have it all trimmed for tomorrow and I ran the mower until after dark. Back here to the house where Meghan is making "lists", and I'm sitting here updating the website.

July 24, 7am:

This is one more example of the great team work in the Summer Series in western NY, especially between Longacres and Quakerfield. There is a huge group of great customers and staff at Quakerfield that has supported the Summer Series in every possible way this summer. Just check the Sponsors page on the show news web page - it is almost all Quakerfield people! And they are always out in force at all the shows, riding great and showing good sportsmanship. Good people to have in a show series partnership! And we are all good friends off the show field. The whole Quakerfield crew is coming to Longacres Thursday night for a bonfire and smores party! See you guys then!!!!!

NOTE: If this show is moved and becomes a Longacres show, we plan a non-points fun show at Quakerfield late in the week of August 18 to 25th.

July 23, 11am:

Check out the great picture of Jen and ShaBang at the top of this page! 

Well, ok - I couldn't stay away from the computer for a full day! The girls are on their own relaxed schedule for three days. All they have to do is feed the horses when they choose and sleep as late as they choose. I'm driving them over to the Border's Plaza and movie theater this afternoon when they tell me, and we're all having dinner at Friday's with Uncle Billy tonight. Tomorrow another "BIG SLEEP", then maybe a quick trip to Niagara Falls. At least three of the girls have never been there. And then on Wednesday we get to meet our new crew for second session and two new horses!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday night is a joint bonfire and smores party with Quakerfield Stables, then just two more days until the next horse show on Saturday.

- back to relaxing now for me!

July 22, noon:

Sad "goodbyes" have been said to Olivia, Danita, Laura, Andrea, Kate, and Maddie. You guys were wonderful at Longacres and first session 2007 will always be remembered with you as part of it. We do not plan to update the website regularly during mid session break over the next three days - it will include a lot of SLEEPING for all of us! I will probably have withdrawal symptoms and post something from time to time, but the next regular update will be Wednesday night when our second session students arrive.

Also, a special "hello" to an old friend from my younger days at Longacres, Laurie Christiansen, who was at Longacres in a memorable way in 1971 to 1974. She saw us on the internet and called to say hello and share old memories. Thanks, Laurie!!!!!!

- Tom

Special: Longacres - Quakerfield bonfire and Smores party here Thursday night!

July 21 midnight:

It was a LONG day of horse show! We left first thing in the morning and did not get home until after dark. Many of our riders did great things! Olivia, Kate, and Andrea all did jumpers for their first or second time ever. There were lots of jumper courses to learn in a hurry. The girls did a fine job learning their first course, but there was confusion by the time we got into our second or third rounds. Still, we won lots! Jen and Shabang won a big Schooling Jumper class with lots of competition!

July 20, 10PM:

July 20, 7PM:

After practicing for the show this afternoon and many of them jumping Patti, ShaBang, and Quantum this morning, the girls were in a GRAND mood at dinner tonight. Shelly's dad, Rick, was visiting and he was a very good sport about all the hooting and hollering and other exuberence in the dining hall!

They ar down at the barn now having mounted games to relax them before the show tomorrow.

We worked with Andrea and "Dakota Gold" ( see picture above) this afternoon doing all kinds of things to make him want to run out on the practice jumps while Andrea rode her hardest to keep him from running out. She got it done pretty well. I told her that tomorrow in the Pony Hunter classes, she is supposed to ride at every jump imagining Tom standing in front of it jumping up and down and waving his sweater in the air! Hopefully that will give her the Gr-r-r-r-r she needs to have clean rounds with no refusals.

July 19 - 1PM:

During this second ride, we had our annual chance for some of our younger and smaller less experienced riders to get on what Laura and her mom call, "The Big Three", Patti, Quantum, and ShaBang. Laura rode all three of them! So did Jaclyn, Olivia, and Danita rode Quantum. Andrea, Kate, Peyton, and Maddie will be riding them tomorrow. (Maddie already rides them some, but will get an extra chance tomorrow before she leaves.)

How tough are Longacres girls? 11 year old Jaclyn came to visit just overnight and through noon today to get to know us a little before she returns for Lazy Days week in August. With the dreary weather and the horse care work in the rain this morning, I was worried that Jaclyn's first taste of Longacres would be tempered a bit by the bad weather and she might have second thoughts about coming back for Lazy Days. I shouldn't have worried. When I showed up at the barn in the rain between morning rides, Jaclyn came up to me and asked, "Can I stay here with you guys all day today?" Our answer was, "Yes", of course - Jaclyn is our kind of horse person!

July 18th - 11PM:

July 18, 10PM:

WE welcomed Jaclyn today for a short overnight visit to get acquainted with everyone before she returns for Lazy Days week in August. She already seems right at home. She should - like Andrea, she shows at Longacres all the time and lives nearby!

Tomorrow morning we'll have a special chance for the less experienced riders to get on "the Big Three" as they have come to be known. Quantum, ShaBang, and Patti will show their stuff to riders who do not usually have a chance to be on this kind of horse! There is excitement in the air! You can bet that our cameras will be there!

July 18, Noon:

July 18, 11 AM:

I am especially pleased with the progress of Danita, and Kate rode very well this morning. The others, also, but special mention of Kate and Danita - check out Kate on the BIG horse!

July 17, 8PM:

We're getting some needed rain this evening. We got in a full day of lessons and the girls were just beginning the after dinner ride to finish today's in camp combined training event as the drizzle began.

I hope you''ll forgive us for not posting any pictures today - we put up a ton of them yesterday. I spent this morning taking video instead. I taught for two hours in a row this morning and was able to work extensively with all the girls. We did a fun timed ride over a serpentine course, as I video taped so they will later be able to analyze their form while they are riding hard for time. It was also an exercise in leads.

The weather here will be unsettled for the next three days. We expect only spotty showers tomorrow and should get in most of our riding. We likely will be able to ride Thursday morning, as well. Thursday afternoon looks like the heaviest steady rain period. Fortunately we had already scheduled a field trip that afternoon to see the Harry Potter movie, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that it pours while we are out of camp anyway. Friday will be a little better, and there is a good prospect of nice weather on the weekend for the next show.

After working with the kids all morning, I spent the afternoon getting caught up on office and computer work. That stuff continues to go on while we run our riding program.

We also manage the South Towns Summer Series of horse shows and we keep track of all the points and plan the high score awards party. Meghan spent the afternoon checking points for all our leading riders on the circuit. Busy day! You see why there aren't any pictures!

More tomorrow! (See you tomorrow PM, Jaclyn!)

July 16, midnight:

Everyone has been in bed a while now, except us. It's been a long day, but a good one. We feel blessed that Longacres is doing so well, with so many happy girls here and so many families at home eager to make plans for next year. As you regular readers know, we've made many improvements around the farm this year, and it is a joy to us sometimes to take a late night drive around the farm after everyone is in bed, just looking at the results of all the work we've put into the place. It is rewarding.

July 16, 1PM:

Expect more updates today and lots of fun news this week. This is the last week of the first half summer session, and we're piling on a lot of special events. We'll have pond riding, a combined training event, and this morning we had a high speed gymkhana out on the galloping field where the girls had a chance to really turn their horses loose!!!! Fun, wow, whooo-hoooooo!

For the Events, we have two ability groups, temporarily called the "Speed Merchants" and the "Death Riders"!

In today's timed event they ran 100 yards leading their horses, mounted, trotted back 100 yards without cantering (or a five second penalty), then turned and GALLOPED 100 yards to the finish!

For the "Speed Merchants", the total times, including a warm up trotting only race were as follows:

Emmie on Quantum - 97.88 seconds

Robyn on Ginger - 100.91

Shelly on Jenna - 103.66

Mandy on Brody - 109.08

Maddy on Ho-ho - 110.05

Jen on Aleeta - 115.08

Emily on Patti - 116.94

For the "Death Riders":

Olivia on Ebony - 101.44

Kate on Merlin - 119.34

Laura on Rocky - 125.34

Peyton on Brownie - 131.93

Danita on Bobert - 134.26

Andrea on Dakota Gold - 135.88 )penalty for cantering)

Great job to all!

July 15, 10PM:

This was a quiet relaxing day at Longacres, with the horses having the day off while we did town day and our laundry. We got together after dinner to watch the video's from the show yesterday. I was really impressed by the riding level - even more watching it on video tonight!

We have a good week ahead of us, with cool, pleasant riding weather all week and just a few scattered showers in the forecast.

Meghan is out collecting the garbage for tomorrow's trash pickup as I do the website update. I actually went out and mowed the "galloping field" with my tractor headlights on after watching the video with the girls, so I've done my share of outside work today, also. I have in mind perhaps letting the girls have one of our rare real "galloping sessions" this week, and I want the long field smooth.

It also gives me a head start on all the grass trimming we'll be taking care of this week as we prepare for the mid season break. It seems hard to believe that the 2007 season will be two thirds over this coming Sunday, as we get ready for the mid-term break and the arrival of our second to last group of students. The group coming in next week are all here for a solid 3 1/2 weeks and will be working mostly towards "Derby Day" here at Longacres and the Erie County Fair. Then one final week with many good friends and a few new students for "Lazy Days", and we are done until 2008.

July 14th, midnight:

And there was plenty to cheer about. We'll post results tomorrow when we have more time, but Longacres kicked some butt. Shelly and her own horse, "Devil Horns", were the stars of the show, winning several classes and Championship ribbons. And Jen was outstanding at remembering her courses and riding very, very well in the bigger jumping classes on ShaBang.. Way to go, girl!

Robyn and Emmie both did well on Quantum, Maddie continued to ride above herself and was very pleased with Horatio. Emily was the hit of the show for most of the crowd with her very vocal rounds on Ginger, and Andrea earned the right for the whole camp to go to Kone King by sitting up well and getting Ebony around a full course with no refusals!

Congrats to Sugar Brook Farms and High Time Stable for one of the biggest and most successful jumper shows of the year! Zillions of jumpers in all classes, especially the high jumping events!

Many stables are planning to come to Longacres for Derby Day on August 10th - hope some of you at home will join us for the festivities!

Much more news to come tomorrow. We need SLEEP!!!! We go to bed now!

Night - night

July 13, 11PM:

We just finished a video session an hour ago (quieter this time!) We went over the arrangements for the special High Time Stable jumper show tomorrow afternoon. Seven riders are showing in this jumper only event. The rest of the girls will be getting full lessons tomorrow morning before we all go across town to the show. We hope to have time to update the website again tomorrow night with our results, but we might not get to it until Sunday morning.

(Mandy: If you are checking in on us, SHAME on you! You are on vacation and should be resting or having FUN!)

Mandy is on a two day mid season break for well deserved R&R.

Danita and her own horse, Magic, are the story of the day. Danita is a first time Longacres student this year. She's an eager to learn beginner - intermediate rider who thirsts after all kinds of horse knowledge. Danita is 18, and older than most Longacres students, but she has been welcomed to the Longacres family and everyone enjoys watching her progress. She did well in the show yesterday on Longacres horses, winning a trophy and a number of ribbons.

Danita also brought her own horse to Longacres, hoping to get some help in teaching him how to jump. She spent the first two days this week just getting him used to riding near all the colorful Longacres jumps.

July 13, 2PM:

An old fashioned standard of behavior.

That was the lesson to be learned after lunch today. We love to see our girls having fun, and being exuberant and cheerful. But we are also a bit old fashioned in demanding that children show a proper respect for adults.

We were showing the video's from yesterday's horse show, and the girls were in fine spirits, laughing and joking as they watched each other have good moments and not so good. I am there to comment on the video and play certain sections in slow motion so our riders can learn from their mistakes. During my first couple of comments, some of the girls kept chattering while I tried to comment. The third time this happened, I quieted everyone and calmly told them I didn't want to have to tell anyone again to be quiet and listen if I began to make a comment.

Moments later I started to make another comment on the video and a couple of the girls kept talking. I quietly got up and left. Meghan went back in and stopped the video and told the girls there would be another opportunity later today for students who wanted to pay attention to come back for the rest of the video.

These are tough little situations to handle well at camp. The girls were in great spirits and not meaning to be ill mannered. I know that I dampened their spirits by making an issue of this. But I believe one of the most important rules of parenting or of supervising children is to be absolutely consistent in following through and enforcing a rule or sticking to a decision, if you decide to make one in the first place. Many of the problems young people have today come from very inconsistent application of rules and consequences of breaking them.

I never raised my voice above a conversational tone this afternoon. But I'm sure I made the point.

We have a great group of kids who are having a grand time. They can still have a good time, while treating older gentlemen respectfully.

July 12, midnight:

This group really hit it's stride tonight as they celebrated after the show at Pasquale's restaurant and then at the barn party. What Meghan and I especially like about this group of kids is that they are widely separated in age, yet all joke, laugh, and work together seamlessly. The youngest at ten is Kate, and she holds her own with the 15 to 18 year olds just fine. And the older kids are great with the four youngest. At dinner tonight every single one of them was joking and talking animatedly with all the rest. It was one boisterous after show dinner, I'll tell you.

Below is the list of winners from the show, typed in by two of our great CIT's, Emily and Jen.

PS - Yes, we got up at the crack of dawn; Yes, it is now nearly 12:30 AM and we're still working posting these show results. Some of you call in and ask us what keeps us going?

Well, look at the smiles on the girls' faces in the pictures, and try to imagine the joy we saw among all the girls at the victory dinner tonight. - - THAT's what keeps us going!

- Tom & Meghan

July 12th show winners:

July 12, 10:30 PM:

It was a FANTASTIC horse show! Good riding all the way around the table. We just got back from the barn where Meghan hosted a "Cookie Cake Victory Party!" Yummie.

More coming later.

- Tom

July 11, 11PM:

Even though we did most of the course setup on Tuesday, we're still working putting together the weekly Show News, getting the ribbons ready, organizing entry forms, and all the rest of what goes on producing a horse show. Hopefully the girls are all sleeping now, but probably not quite yet in Esseress Cabin!

Everyone had a good practice today, and we're expecting great things in the show. Jen is happy because her favorite, ShaBang, was lame much of the week and seems better tonight. She plans to show him tomorrow.

Robyn Low jumped Quantum higher than she has since the Big Jumping day after the fair last summer, and looked rock solid doing it. She may get to try Special Jumpers tomorrow. Robyn and Quantum are leading in points for Jumper Horse of the Year on the STSS circuit by one point over Windullah and Meghan Fuller from Fuller Stables near Rochester. Keep it up, Robyn!

Emmy did a good job schooling Quantum earlier in the day, and will show him in Schooling Jumpers, as usual.

AND - ROLL OF DRUMS - our two tiniest riders this session, Andrea and Kate, will be trying out Puddle Jumpers for the first time ever on Ebony and Merlin.

There's news about the rest of our riders, but I'm getting tired. We'll post news after the show tomorrow night!

July 11, 5PM:

July 11, 5:30PM:

June 25, Noon:

June 24, 8PM:

June 24, 1PM:

June 23, 5PM: