Stone Hollow Sport Horses

08/03/2025

Seems we missed a lot of good stuff on our short trip to East Coast! Lots of our friends had some good rides and good wins! We went down just for the jumping day(way too much going on at home to stay longer!)and despite the heat we had a good show! Our 3 horses did their fair share of winning and I was real pleased with how they went and the improvements that were made despite some errors-hey its all about learning! Special thanks to Lucky Day Arabians for their sponsorship and nice garment bags to the winners. Also thanks to the crew at the ring-judge, Bonnie and Lindsey working the gate and the cheerful and timely announcer! They were all so patient with waitingfor riders to change horses and allowing everyone to get their horses and riders hydrated. It was Amazon rain forest hot and humid! Congratulations to Alysha who earned a Top 5 in equitation to complete her qualification for the Ric Desiderio equitation class at SHN. Bayview Farm graciously lent her a horse since her guy is recovering.
We had Dr Theresa Astera out for the monthly bodywork sessions and horses and dogs love it! If anyone wants her to come to their barn let me know and I will give you her info.
Mike Jarvis from Voltaire saddlery came out to check some fits and to fit our newest rider,Giada, with a new saddle for her new best friend, Quinn! Very exciting to introduce a new young person to Arabians. We plan on having this duo out next year in JTR sport horse and hunters.
Fun to have now, 4 junior riders with us. these girls are having so much fun learning to ride and care for the horses and some of these have never been so clean as they are primped and polished for hours on end! I think we may also have some future braiders coming up!

07/14/2025

Region 15/16 was once again a wonderful experience and a big effort to bring the show to its former glory with lots of fun activities and lots of horses! It was like old home week seeing so many friends we havent seen for a while and what nice horses they have!
Our crew were also in the nice horse category as they brought home lots of garlands with good rides by all!
It was very hot and humid with some storms which didnt cool things off! We all survived it though with lots of baths, fans running and the delicious smoothies from the ice cream truck! As a huge fan of the London Fog beverage, the lady at the coffee truck sure knew how to make a really yummy one! (It is the simple things ya know!)
East Coast is next with four hunters and getting SHN entires ready. That is a BIG check! :-)

06/22/2025

Home from one show then right back to the Pa Arabian Games and another great show! We took 5 and everyone did so well! First of all my dressage riders (yes, I know, not my normal jam but we are learning!) Karen and player have been working very hard to change from hunter to dressage and wow, what progress they have made! They are concentrating on T3 to make it good before moving up to first, and wow, and that move up is right there! Nice, competent tests with the last ride a 68! The team also won a couple of SHUS classes in the dressage gear! They we have Cindy and Summir and oh my goodness the rides they had! Soft, and round and relaxed! The topper was the unanimous win in the PB limit SHUS class!
A big highlight for all of us at Stone Hollow was Jocelyn, a junior rider, first ever horse show. Karen's sweet mare Charm was her partner and the two acted like they were doing this for years! Steady and clean Intro a and b test and winning one with nice scores! Showed in hand for the experience and though the scores weren't high the judges complimented her handling skills. did a couple of w/t rail classes that included a win in equitation!
My big buddy Liam was, well, Liam. He won his in hands with nice scores, won the Prix Caprilli with Caitlyn-her first ever time in the dressage ring! Got distracted in the open SHUS and blew a lead but came back for the win in the atr. I leant his big self to Brille for the equitation since she needed a qualification and they did great, including a pattern! Judges made the riders earn their placings! His favorite thing besides cookies is standing in front of the fan!
Kudos to Shari and Axel for good rides in dressage and first time in a rail class! Brianna and Lux won in SHUS and in hand and some good scores in first level!
Nice to see our friends doing so well on some very nice horses! This show is a fun time and more people need to get into the fun!

06/16/2025

Well are schooling show was rained out- big surprise-not! Off we went to WEC in Ohio for the Region 13 sport horse show. O,E, and Zeke, who have only been ridden outside a couple of times nor have jumped lines out there due to rain, were stars! All 3 were fabulous and each brought home a bunch of roses! Very proud of the crew!
Our next venture will be the Arabian Games, always a fun show! Perhaps we can get out in the full dressage ring once before we go!

05/18/2025

Good Sunday morning everyone! Still waiting for actual nice weather! Plans to ride outside are thwarted by rain every time! Horses are all going well and havent yet complained about being in the indoor!
Disappointed that the NJ show had to cancel the working hunters due to lack of entries! Where is every one? Our smaller shows are going to be gone if we cant get horses there! NJHAHA is a nice show with good judges, rings and stalls. Managment is the best and there are fun extra events happening too. First year we have missed this show in over 20 years!
Excited to announce that Caitlyn is going to be leasing Zeke from Brielle for this year! They will have fun together doing the greens and the atr's. I will be busy keeping track of all these horses in the hunters!
Our next trip will be hopefullly up to Jodons hunter show then on to region 13. Arabian Games is in our sights too and am excited to be bringing a new junior rider!
I will use this page to continue to ask for donations to the Ric Desiderio equitation class at SHN. OUr goal is $800 for the sponsorship and thanks to those who have already donated!

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05/04/2025

Rain and storms just when we started to ride outside! Dang! At least the temps are good!
Sad to have to say good bye to Amber and Rio as they move east down near Hershey. Ambers dad's work has pulled them away. We all wish the best for amber and Rio and much success.
We also welcome two young working students, Jocelyn and Autumn. These young ladies are sponges for learning and love the horses so much!
Since Rio is leaving we have a stall opening up, something we havent had for a while! If you wnat to join our team of fun folks, contact me!

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05/04/2025

HEAVY IN THE HAND?

The unschooled or young horse initially uses his head and neck (and the reins) to balance himself, and it is only through systematic, thoughtful schooling that he will become sufficiently strong and confident enough to transfer the balance back onto his hindquarters.

To do this, you need to work on a combination of correctly ridden transitions, circles, and lateral exercises, all while making use of the half-halt.

These exercises help to encourage the horse’s hind legs to step further forward underneath his body and to carry more weight on his hindquarters rather than on his shoulders, relative to his level of training.

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NOTE: We would also like to add that this has nothing to do with the horse's head position. Trying to artificially raise the horse's head will not fix anything. It's the hind legs engaging and stepping under that lift the horse's forehand.

A horse can still work in a long, low frame and not be heavy in the hand, as long as the hind legs are still pushing and engaging.

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04/13/2025

Just returned from our first show of the season, Blue Ridge Arabian in Lexington VA. We had a great time and all the horses went extremely well despite the fact no one was able to really put work in on them due to the funky weather! Some had even not been ridden outside and the hunters hadnt even jumped a line! Didnt matter as they all started off where they left off last year and everyone earned at least one blue ribbon! We played in the sand box as well with great improvement and better scores as well as helpful comments.
So nice to see friends we havent seen in a while and meet some new ones! One of my favorite things about horse shows!

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03/30/2025

Morning everyone! Really busy week here which included coggins, well checks and first round of spring vaccinations and Mike Jarvis from Voltaire to check saddle fits and bring us things we ordered. Apparently Caitlyn felt Liam needed a new martingale!( I thought is old one was fine!) Happy that Mike said Voltaire would donate some prizes for the Ric Desiderio class at SHN!

03/24/2025

Spring has sprung! Well, kinda! Busy prepping for the start of show season, inspecting trailers, digging out all the show stuff,, coggins, spring shots, updating memberships, etc. Love it!
We will have very fuzzy horses when we get to Virginia in a few weeks despite lots of currying and rubbing! We will only be a small group since we have had a couple minor injuries to a horse and a rider but they should be back on track for May.
Looking forward to seeing everyone and their horses,new and old and hopefully meeting some new ones!

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