Connecticut Equestrian Center

08/17/2025

Our second Cross-Country Derby is coming up next Sunday 8/24. This is a fun event, with levels for all from Leadline to Novice, with the option to ride a practice round before your judged round. We will run from 10am to 1 pm, starting with the Leadline and Ground Pole divisions. Entries should be in, with payment by Venmo, Paypal, or Zelle, by 6pm Friday 27th. Entry link: https://forms.gle/6aX3qsX43igamfEW9
Hope to see you there!

08/01/2025

Super Trooper is our honorary Horse of the Month for August here at CEC! Although he is now retired, he deserves the spot light for being such an amazing horse for the past decade he’s been here.
Trooper has the MOST interesting lore! He is a Knabstrupper - a Danish breed similar to our Appaloosas. He was born in Germany on 06/16/2005 (originally named Helios) before being imported to the US in 2006.
After being deemed a handful, he was then traded for a truck at Gates Nissan. At the time they claimed that they would take ANYTHING in for a trade and, well, they held true to their word.
In 2014, Athene Von Hirschberg purchased him, bringing him to CEC. He had been renamed Trooper by his previous owner, and Athene changed it to Super Trooper after the ABBA song.
Despite him being wily at first, he developed into a very true and trusted lesson horse. He has a sweet personality, and took very good care of his students. He’s enjoying his easy retirement here at CEC, so make sure to give him some love when you see him!

07/09/2025

Meet Gustav, our lesson horse of the month. He is a 16 year old Belgian Trakehner cross standing at a mighty 17.2 hands high! His owner is Dan Bergin, head of our lesson program here at CEC.
Gustav loves jumping, trails, and has won many awards in dressage. He’s also great in parades! His hobbies include long trail rides, doing tricks like smiling and gaslighting you into giving him more cookies. Although let’s be honest, he really does deserve them.
He’s an excellent teacher and makes great riders. He might be part chinchilla, with how fluffy he gets in the winter, but the judge is still out on that one.
He’s just a cool dude with charisma for days and a lovable personality.

06/30/2025

We had a fabulous start to our Cross-Country Derby season today. It was a great pleasure to welcome new riders as well as many of our regulars and our own CEC students. The course looked fantastic thanks to Richard Von Hirschberg and Amy Rohne, and there were some memorable rides out of the 50 trips around the course. Many thanks to Morgan and Allison Sigler MacKenzie for timing, Daniel Bergin, Amy Rohne and Alexa Johnson for preparing their students so well, to George Podgorski, Zoey Rohne and Lila Nahabedian for keeping everything running smoothly, and as always to Martha Weis Photography for her exceptional photographs. Here are just 4 of the hundreds she took today. Look for yours at Martha Weis Photography over the next few days. Our next 2 Derbies are on August 10, and September 14.

06/30/2025

What a fabulous start to the Cross Country Derby season at Connecticut Equestrian Center! I'll be working on pictures over the next few days and will give updates here as I post pictures. Check back often!

www.marthaweisphotography.com

06/23/2025

Our first Cross-Country Derby is coming up this Sunday 6/29. Levels for all from Leadline to Novice, with the option to ride a practice round before your judged round. We will run from 10am to 1 pm, starting with the Leadline and Ground Pole divisions. Entries should be in, with payment by Venmo, Paypal, or Zelle, by 6pm Friday 27th. Entry link: https://forms.gle/6aX3qsX43igamfEW9
Hope to see you there!

05/19/2025

We had a successful and enjoyable Dressage Show today at CEC. Many thanks to our judge Holly H. Whitney, scribe Trish Johnson and secretary Alexa Johnson. As always, I was really proud of the CEC horses and riders, many of whom moved up a level, and showed with skill and enthusiasm thanks to instructors Daniel Bergin, Amy Rohne and Alexa Johnson. Our CEC team today included Maciel Dum, Alexa Biron, Morgan MacKenzie, Mac, and of course George Podgorski and our photographer Martha Weis. A sample of Martha's photos appear here and more will be appearing soon on Martha Weis Photography. We now move onto our Cross-Country Derby season with events on 6/29, 8/10 and 9/14, followed by our final Dressage Show on 9/28.

05/07/2025

Entries for our second CEC/CDA Dressage Schooling Show on May 18th must be in 6pm on Monday 12th. Here is the entry link. Payment must be received with the entry via Venmo, Paypal or Zelle (860-942-3942). https://forms.gle/6aX3qsX43igamfEW9

05/06/2025

Meet ✨Golden Nugget✨ our lesson horse (pony) of the month here at CEC. He is a Connemara pony whose 18th birthday is coming up this June! He is owend by the wonderful Valerie, and we are so happy to have him in our lesson program.
He’s goofy, he’s sweet, and he’s just happy to be here. We have yet to come across a kid who doesn’t fall in love with him. He also doubles as an excellent hand warmer in the winter with his extra fluffy coat!
Nugget is a great team player and can do no wrong ☺️ He is an amazing sport and we just absolutely adore him 🥰

04/14/2025

Our Dressage Show season got off to a fine start today, despite the chilly conditions. Many thanks to our judge Doris Carlson, whoc gave excellent feedback and advice, to our loyal scribe Karen Herrick Lendvay and to the CEC team who worked so hard.
Please note that our 2nd show of the series in now on
MAY 18, not June 1. We hope to see you then.
Here is a sample of photos from our photographer, Martha Weis. Look for yours at Martha Weis Photography over the next few days.

04/06/2025

For our April horse of the month, we have the lovely Phoenix. This paint is truly the salt of the earth. Not only is she beautiful, but she also takes great care of her riders, and has a soft spot for children. Pheonix has personality, and loves to work. She’s always willing to do whatever you ask of her. She’s got a loyal following amongst the students, and the quickest way to her heart are some tasty treats.
Show us the best pictures you have of her 🤩

04/05/2025

Entries are for our April 13 Dressage Schooling close at 6pm on Monday! Come and have fun! No formal attire required. Leadline, Western Dressage, Eventing tests are all available, in addition to the USDF tests. Entries should be made via this link

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