Category Archives: kids

endurance, horse, kids

THE BESTEST PONY EVER

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This post is in memory of Hedgehog Hollows American Eagle aka Huey 4/7/2001-7/23/2025.

July 23 2025

In May 2013, we moved into our current house. Amanda turned 3. A good friend told us about a Dartmoor farm in MD that was downsizing and had some ponies for sale. One of those ponies was Hedgehog Hollow’s American Eagle, aka, Huey. Huey was a stallion until 9 years old when he was gelded. His name appears in a significant portion of the American Dartmoor registry, in particular because he had a grey son that was also used as a breeding stallion (grey is a legal but less common color in Dartmoors). June 10, 2013, Quinn and Rob picked up Huey in Maryland and brought him home, designated as Amanda’s pony, because 3 is totally an appropriate age to get your first pony in this family.

Huey was the epitome of a pony. All attitude, boss of the herd, a saint at times and a terror at others. He did everything over the years and Amanda grew up with him. He was a Pony Club mount, show pony, games pony, lesson pony, trail horse, driving pony, and endurance mount. He let us know early on he was not the pony for teaching up downers and you’d better have a concept of inside leg to outside hand or he was taking YOU for a spin. Rarely did he pop into a canter without some sort of antics, usually a little crow hop. He tolerated arena work, but loved trail riding. Amanda is most proud of the 19 limited distance endurance competitions she and Huey completed together to break 500 LD miles.

Alexis and Huey
Amanda on Huey
Amanda riding Huey without help
Huey sporting a new sleazy from Just for Ponies
Amanda on Huey waiting for her dressage test
Amanda and Huey on the 3rd day
Quinn ground driving Huey around the yard
Rob driving Huey in the sleigh with Amanda riding along
Alex driving Huey in the sleigh
Amanda on Huey and Rob on Mojo ready to hit the trails
Amanda taking off Huey’s halter
Amanda and Huey practicing Pony Club games
Amanda on Huey, Alex on Dakota, and Anna on Teddy
Amanda and Huey jumping at the end of the ride
Amanda and Huey
Amanda grazing Huey
Amanda and Huey headed out
Amanda does her own trot-outs with Huey
Amanda and Huey at a grass break
Dr Nick Kohut vetting Huey for the completion
Amanda vetting in Huey
Amanda and Huey
Amanda and Huey
Amanda and Huey
Amanda on Huey and Anna on Amira
Rob and Huey

We retired Huey in 2023. Last winter Huey struggled. A few mild colics, refusal to eat consistently, we did a round of gastro guard and sucralfate for an ulcer flare. He seemed to perk up this spring when the grass came in, but then started losing weight. A LOT of weight. He stopped eating grain. He started getting cold and shaking in rainy cool weather, even with a sheet on. We did blood work and treated him for potential tickborne illness, but he continued to decline. Based on his blood work and continued decline, our vet believes he had cancer. We decided to not let him suffer and end things on a good day. This morning he had all the carrots he wanted and we let him out in the yard where the grass is plentiful. The sun was shining and we told him he was the best pony a girl could ever have. Amanda stayed with him until he was gone. We will miss that pony.

endurance, horse, kids

Firecracker Endurance Ride 2025

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Last weekend we went to the Maine Firecracker Endurance Ride. We drove up to Waterford, ME on Friday and rode 30 miles on Saturday. I put on my big girl panties and rode SA Fiona, Amanda rode JJ and Alex rode Mojo in the 30 LD. Rob crewed for us and Quinn was at home working an internship and farm sitting for us. We have been struggling to find time to condition the horses, but we wanted to get out there and go to a ride, so we took the horses and rode one day at a sensible pace.

Last year we sold our travel trailer and extra truck as both had major mechanical issues(truck) and water damage(travel trailer), so we had to rough it with some tent camping. We survived. I miss having AC after the ride though.

The vet in was uneventful and we had backpacking meals for dinner. The horses were a little unsettled with all the fireworks going on, but things settled down in ride camp around the 10 pm mark. Surprisingly, Mojo was the most upset and was pacing his pen a bit. The mares were pretty chill. Luckily we had decided to put Mojo in the hard panels we brought.

On Saturday morning the first loop was about 13 miles. We managed to get to the hold in just over two hours. We were overjoyed to find 12 shoes still on the horses. The mares have been playing musical charades with their shoes, and maybe the smaller shorter shoes we are trying are the answer. Quick, let’s knock on some wood…Mojo, still in aluminum wedges up front and loaded up on Adequan looked good even after his week in Maryland. He’s 19 this year.

The mid ride vet check was good. Everyone passed! Great fun!

Next, we did just over 16 miles back to camp. We slowed down a tad to account for the footing and the horses getting a little tired. Got back to camp and vetted through. Still 12 shoes! 3 completions. I’ll take that for the win. All spring we have been dealing with shoes coming off almost every ride on the mares. Maybe we finally have the right answer.

We all had fun and to finish is to win, so there you go. I even stayed on the whole ride!

A lot of the pictures in this post were purchased by us and taken by the ride photographer Wanda Clowater. Thank you Wanda!

endurance, horse, kids

Old Dominion Endurance Clinic

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At 0300 on Wednesday, June 25th, Rob and Amanda pulled out of the driveway with Mojo on the trailer headed to Maryland for a week. The Old Dominion Equestrian Endurance Organization has been putting on Junior/Young Rider clinics for quite a few years. We wanted the kids to participate in 2023, but the scheduling just didn’t work out. This year, it fit perfectly on the calendar and Amanda was able to attend.

With temperatures in the mid-90s on Wednesday, the 0300 departure was intended to get Mojo to the camp with minimal heat stress and get past New York city before rush hour. 6 hours and 45 minutes later, with only a single stop, we arrived at the Carroll County Equestrian Center in Mt Airy, MD. The facility includes 2 outdoor arenas and a pavilion. Horses camped endurance style in electric fencing and portable corrals. Some adults stayed on-site in LQ trailers and tents. The youth and some parents (including Rob) slept in air conditioned cabins at the nearby Ramblin’ Pines campground.

Hand grazing after 7 hours on the trailer
Camp set up Day 1

The clinic was 5 days of mounted work with about 3 hours in the saddle each morning. The camp director, Teri Carroll, assembled clinicians from both the local area and some who flew in to participate. There were 9 girls from 11 to 19 years old and a few adults who participated. All the youth had some amount of experience in the sport, but 2 have already done 100 mile rides. The mounted time included posture work, a ground handling session, centered riding, cavaletti work, yoga/stretching on and off horse, and some short trails.

Mounted lessons
Ground work
Rinse after working

Afternoons included “classroom sessions” under the pavilion learning about centered riding, body work, vet cards, nutrition, personal goals, a farrier presentation, and more. It was a diverse schedule with a lot of topics packed into 5 days of time. Sometimes the kids ran out of steam.

Practicing with a stethoscope
Tired Amanda

One day was spent at the Double C Farm mountain trail obstacle course.

Obstacles at Double C Farm
Obstacles at Double C Farm

There were tons of corporate sponsors for the event. Each day included a different (human) electrolyte company to keep everyone hydrated. The group got samples of various products and there was definitely some product testing happening. Due to the heat throughout the week, there were also quite a few water fights.

Amanda using the new brush from CEP
Amanda using the new hoof pick from CEP
Amanda with some hoof armor
Buckeye treats for everyone
Sore No More samples
Trying the electrolyte of the day

Our endurance riding friend Sonja drove from 2 hours away to come for a short visit.

There are tons more photos from the whole clinic on the Old Dominion Equestrian Endurance Organization Facebook page. While Amanda learned a lot through the week, her number 1 goal was to make new friends in the endurance community. Goal met.

I hope next year more youth will participate in this great opportunity.

goats, kids

Kidding Around

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Sawfish AS Tesla July 2024 as a dry yearling.

We officially started off kidding season for us last night with Sawfish AS Tesla (pedigree). Tesla was bred to Blue Farmhouse Eros (Eros pedigree). Tesla brought us triplet bucks, 9, 8.5 and 7 pounds. Number one and number two are carbon copies of Tesla, and number three was cream. Unfortunately number three was DOA, and appeared to have aspirated and we were unable to revive him despite our best efforts.

The naming theme this year is desserts, and I think one of these boys is going to be Biscotti. Until decisions are made it is “big boy” and number two. Big boy came out head first with one leg back, and Tesla needed just a little bit of assistance getting him out. She is a 2 YO FF, and looks good with an appetite this morning.

Quinn and Amanda enjoyed having baby goats again and the boys slept on Amanda’s bed for a bit. The first babies are always the ones to get a little spoiled. Maybe they will get to move out to their garage pen later this week since the weather is going to be nice and warm. For now they are enjoying being house goats.

Mother daughter pair Camellia and Porsche are due Friday, so stay tuned for updates. Camellia was US with 3 plus, Porsche is carrying twins. We bred Camellia to Carolina’s son from last year hoping to add a little length and a wider escutcheon and straighter teat placement to her strong frame. Porsche was bred to Apollo for a fun outcross (and Amanda would like some not black goats). Let’s think pink, especially since none of Amanda’s 4-H projects carried does last year!

Camellia eating her breakfast

Time to baby clip Camellia! Her udder is slowly filling, she usually goes on her due date.

endurance, horse, kids

JJ’s Leg Injury

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WARNING! POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC PICTURES!

Well, if you think it’s been quiet on the horse front, it really hasn’t been quiet. We had some plans to make it to some late season rides, but JJ ended up with a massive leg wound at the end of August. Today, with Amanda home from school, was the first ride JJ has had since the injury.

On August 24 we were going to take JJ and Mojo to a WGHA local ride and JJ came out of the pasture with her leg looking like this:

So, instead of going riding we called our vet out to sedate JJ to be able to clean and assess the wound. It took 2 shots of dorm and three people to be able to clean, debride and bandage her up. The following gallery is a collection of photos over the next two months while this injury was healing up. We initially were able to stuff two pieces of wet gauze inside the void in her leg. By some miracle the tendons were not involved and she was never lame. After that we used honey and dry gauze as the tissue started to fill in the wound. For the first two weeks it took three of us, one holding a feed pan of stress free, one holding her other back foot and one person cleaning and wrapping her wound. She got better after that and as a bonus I am now able to wrap her legs on my own.

During these two months of healing we had a few set backs, as you can see, JJ developed some excessive granulation tissue or proud flesh, and we treated it with two phovia treatments and equiaide and the proud flesh got much better. BUT, as we continued to use equiaide it crusted over and allowed an infection to brew, and we ended up debriding the wound again. I started using a microcyn hydrogel and wonder dust and scrubbing the wound for a few days and it dried up again. A few weeks ago we tried to stop bandaging a little too early apparently and JJ’s leg swelled up and got hot again. A thorough cleaning, some bute and more bandaging later, we were finally able to stop bandaging this week. Her leg is a little scuzzy from being wrapped for so long, but has stayed cold and tight all week. So Amanda got to go for a short walking ride today. This is what the leg looks like now, pretty much all covered in skin.

How did she get this wound? Our guess is, she rubbed her butt on a batten that split and pierced her vulva, sending her flying and scrambling, using her hind shoes to rip up her leg. We found the batten at the right height and a wound under her tail, and she was in heat, so that’s the story for now.

Hopefully, fingers crossed, healing goes smoothly from here. Life with horses is never dull.

goats, kids

Big E 2024

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Thursday 9/26 through Sunday 9/29 was our annual pilgrimage to Springfield, MA with a herd of goats. On Thursday afternoon, Quinn and Amanda checked in at the Big E with 9 goats for the 4-H portion of the event which includes milk test, showmanship, fitting, breed competitions and more. Rob was a chaperone for CT young men and stayed in the dorms at the Big E with all the kids. This was Quinn’s final event in 4-H based on aging out.

Friday morning was the showmanship competition which focuses on things such as goat knowledge, correct handling of the goat, and understanding of the scorecards. After lunch, the kids went in the ring again for a fitting competition that focused exclusively on the preparation of the animal. There were a total of 53 youth present this year from the 5 of 6 New England States (none from VT) which is an increase from recent years. Quinn placed 3rd of 12 in showmanship and was in the bottom half for fitting. Amanda was 2nd of 14 in showmanship and also in the bottom half for fitting. Clearly our kids prefer the knowledge portion over the time required to do well in fitting.

Quinn and Carolina in showmanship
Amanda and Porsche in showmanship
Amanda 2nd in showmanship
Quinn and Carolina in Sr Showmanship
Quinn and Carolina in Sr Showmanship
Amanda and Porsche in Showmanship

On Saturday, the goats were shown in breed classes. Unfortunately, there was only 1 other junior Lamancha present (Carolina’s kid from last year) so there wasn’t much competition. That said, the goats looked great. Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene took Champion Senior doe, CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina took Best of Breed, and Sawfish AS Tesla took Champion Junior Doe. This trip to the Big E was Phaylene’s final show as she is being retired at the age of 9. The real win of the day was when CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina was chosen as Best Senior Doe in Show out of the ~75 seniors.

Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene
Sawfish QS Bali
Sawfish AS Tesla
Sawfish QS Ferrari (left) and Sawfish AS Tesla (right)
Sawfish AS Tesla – Champion Jr Lamancha
CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina – Best Sr Doe in Show

At the awards ceremony, Quinn was presented with the Ruby Morris 4-H Scholarship for $2000 towards college.

Quinn receiving the Ruby Morris scholarship
Quinn receiving the Ruby Morris scholarship
Quinn receiving the Ruby Morris scholarship
Amanda and Quinn
CT 4-H delegation

Once awards wrapped up, some of the youth left while new herds came in for the Open Show on Sunday. We received Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili’s awards for winning Recorded Grade Best of Breed twice at the Nutmeg show from May. Chili approved of the mugs.

The Open show was quick and fun. Luck 4-Leaf Red Hot Chili took second in her class of 2yo Recorded Grades. We are hoping she continues to mature as we expect and think she will be a competitive 3yo.
Fox’s Pride had some very nice 2yo does in milk that took Champion and Reserve, and Carolina was second to CH Argonne’s Khaos in Best of breed.

In in the Junior Show, Sawfish QS Mina swept the competition as the youngest junior doe to earn herself a restricted leg towards her championship as Junior Lamancha Champion.

Quinn showing Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili
Quinn showing Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili
Amanda showing Sawfish AS Porsche
Sawfish QS Mina in the Junior Best Doe in Show lineup
3 Sawfish Lamanchas in the Jr Champion Lineup
Sawfish QS Mina in the Junior Best Doe in Show lineup
Sawfish QS Mina – Champion Jr Lamancha

At the final awards ceremony, Amanda received the Lamancha Premier Breeder plate based on the number of points her does acquired throughout the day!

kids, random observation

Amanda starts High School

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How is it possible my baby is starting high school today?

Wowsers.

Amanda is attending the Marine Science Magnet High School of Eastern CT this year. Following in the foot steps of her siblings, Amanda earned a spot at the school in the lottery. There are only about 271 students at the school, usually around 70 freshmen. MSMHS was the number 1 high school in CT in 2023 and has an impressive number of AP and ECE offerings, along with some unique class offerings in the marine sciences and aquaculture realm. The school boosts an 11 to 1 student to teacher ratio and we hope Amanda has a great first year of high school.

endurance, horse, kids, Uncategorized

A step in the right direction

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Two years ago in February we bought SA Fiona in KY. She’s been a bit of a challenge. She is 11 this year, but had never been broke to ride. She is sensitive and was very herd bound when she first came, making it a challenge to even work with her safely without another horse present.

We started riding her in October of 22, but the weather shut us down, and last spring we started again and she did most of her 100 miles walking trails and learned to walk and trot in the arena. We had some saddle fitting woes, and worked extensively on reducing her reactiveness to anything touching her, bugs, saddle bags, legs, plastic bags, ropes, scary things and did a lot of long lining.

Quinn has been riding her more since getting out of school in mid May, and taking Fiona on longer and longer trail rides. Last weekend Alex and Quinn did 8 miles in Pachaug. Exposure to dirt bikes, cars, screaming camping children, mountain bikes, is all a part of riding in Pachaug State Forest. Our property backs up to the forest and offers hours of trails straight out the back.

This morning Quinn and I loaded up Amira and Fiona, and headed over to Arcadia management area in Rhode Island. It was the first time putting Fiona on our trailer since she came. She loaded right up behind Amira with only the slightest bit of hesitation. Unloading at the Horsemen’s area, we discovered she really didn’t want to back out, so Quinn let her turn around in the tight space ( she was in the third stall of our four horse slant load). It spooked Fiona a bit, and she quickly exited leaving Quinn behind, but luckily I caught her on her way out. In hind sight, I should have collapsed the rear tack to make things easier and more open.

Fiona settled pretty quick with some grazing ( Amira is a good role model) and we tacked up tied to the trailer. Then we went into the large grass arena and walked on foot before mounting and riding around another few minutes. Fiona seemed to take it all in stride, so we headed out on an 8 mile ride down to midway and back. We walked and trotted and it was uneventful. Even with mountain bikes that didn’t stop and loose dogs, no one died.

Back at the trailer, we realized we had never sponged Fiona before…just rinsed her with the hose at home. Lots of things to work on. On the way home we flipped the position of the horses and loaded Fiona first, so she would have more room getting out. Amira prefers to back out anyway. We will work on some trailer loading and teach Fiona to back out should she ever have to ride in a straight load.

Quinn was very happy with Fiona today and it was certainly a big step towards Fiona becoming the horse we want her to be. We will continue to expose her to new things and plan to do a camping outing with the horses soon.