Riding Pictures

Megan and Jacque enjoyed riding whenever there was a chance.  They got up at 5:30 one morning to ride, and spent some time Saturday riding double on a child's saddle.  They also got a ride in late Wednesday night.  They helped out a lot!

Billie did fine in her cart classes, but not always placing as high as she usually does.  It all depends on the judge!

The girls at the GLHA show

Here's some pictures of the grandchildren at the show doing their various events.  The littlest ones are doing the lead-line class, and Megan is riding Western at the bottom.  In between is a photo of Megan with "Strawberry" Stateside News before she entered the sale ring.

GLH Show

What a whirlwind of activities! We left for Lansing on Wednesday, packing up the trailers in the rain.  We arrived early afternoon, and it wasno longer raining.  We had beautiful weather for the entire weekend!  We spent the rest of Wednesday setting up our stall decorations, getting the horses settled, and tack put in the tack stalls.  We also had the responsibility of getting all the Futurity papers in order and getting some things set up for that event Friday morning.  Included in this was setting up the Stallion Row--of those stallions who donated a stud service to be auctioned of Saturday morning.  It seems like there was so much to attend to!  We got up bright and early Thursday--actually, it was still quite dark! The Show started at 10 am, and we had all of our single pleasure cart classes right away--reinsmanship, turnout, men's, ladies, adult novice, youth, and so on.  Jenni, our daughter, got 1st in novice and our granddaughter Megan got 1st place in youth.  The day finished with the English riding classes, which Jim rode Mel, daughter Holly rode Atta Boy, and Jenni rode Sunny.  Jim and Jenni also rode the Barrel races--in their English attire!  Each lost a stirrup or two going around the barrels!  Jim beat Jenni's time, mostly because Sunny stopped a few feet short of the finish line when Jenni lost her stirrup and couldn't be convinced to go faster than a walk!

Later, Jim and Jenni rode in the beginner Dressage class.  They waited for 2 hours for their turn!  Each rider rides alone in the arena, the arena is set up  in a certain way, and the judge sits at the end of the arena watching.  There is a particular pattern that each rider must follow, and walk and trot accordingly.  Neither Jim or Jenni had done this before, and Jenni just decided that morning to look at the pattern and give it a go.  She'd never even practiced!  Plus, she just started riding English a month ago, a first for both her and Sunny--having a combined total of 4 lessons before the show!  Jim scored 50% (Mel spooked at the corner of the arena) and Jenni scored 54.5%.  The average score is in the 60s.

Friday's show included the pleasure pair driving, which Jim and Billie got 1st place!  Also, the ride and drive, novice/youth walk/trot which Megan and our young friend Jacque rode, and the lead line class which granddaughters Stephanie, Hannah, and Makenna rode.  They were so cute!  Our show concluded with the Western riding, which Jim, Jenni and Holly rode again.  Jenni got a 4th place, Holly got a 5th place, and Jim got a 3rd and a 4th place.

Saturday was the the tack sale and the horse sale.  We've been worried about the horse sale, since the number of horses were low and the nobody seems to be looking for a horse to buy.  We were putting Mel and Stateside News in the sale, but with a reserve on the price.  We ended up not selling them since the bidding was way under.  Many horses returned home with the owner because of this.  If one had $1000 at the sale, he could've went home with 6 decent horses--some even well trained!  

Stay tuned for pictures from the show!

GLHA Show Time!

The week has finally come! We had the AHR show earlier, in September, and had a decent showing.  There were a LOT of horses showing Pleasure in our classes, and some riding classes, we didn't place.  Billie Jean and Sunny did very well in their cart classes, placing high in all of them.  She also rode him in the Western riding classes.  Jim and Mel rode English and Western, and also in pole bending, Western Reining, trail classes, and a keyhole event.  Our biggest showing was in the Gelding Pleasure Halter class, ages 5 and up, in which we placed 4th overall.  Both horses handled themselves quite well, and we had a good time.

Now, we are ready for the GLHA show in Lansing!  We leave this morning, with 2 trucks, a horse trailer, a  covered hauling trailer, 4 adults, 2 tween/teens, and 2 toddlers, plus 4 horses and tons of tack, harness, buggies and carts!  It'll be a caravan for sure!  We are bringing Sunny, Atta-Boy, and Mel to show, and are also planning to put Mel and our yearling filly, Stateside News, in the sale on Saturday.  

We are showing in many, many classes!  everybody coming with us will be showing in some way, so our 3 horses will be getting quite a work out!  We have 3 horses in English and Western riding classes, 2 horses in ladies' and men's cart classes, youth cart classes, walk/trot riding classes, lead line classes, and Mel will also be trying the dressage class this time!  We will be so busy!  Hopefully we can post some video or some pics soon.

We have 4 pictures posted here of Mel and Stateside News that will be framed at the show for all to see.  These were designed by our daughter who has a blog showing her creative skills:  Whimsicalblessings 

Come on out to the show and see us!  HaflingerFest is all day Thursday and Friday, Futurity Friday morning, and horse sale on Saturday at the MSU Pavilion in East Lansing.

Melroe CVA

Haflinger Gelding: 7 year old, "Melroe CVA", AHR Registery #17457-01

Asking price: $6000

1. Working with a Professional Tainer
2. English & Western Pleasure--Successful in Open Shows
3. Dressage moung-Great Potential
4. Trail Rides
5. 2008 "Supreme" County Fair Champion Draft Horse
6. 2008 "Supreme" County Fair Champion Pleasure Horse
7. '03 AHR National Grand Champion

Mel is a glistening copper chestnut, with a strip, double white mane, full white tail, and stands 60" tall. His sire and dam are both Dutch imports.

Mel will be at the AHR SHOW, September 10-13 and the GLHA Show, October 9, 10. He has been in OPEN SHOWS this summer performing both English & Western disciplines a well as Halter classes--and doing very well! Mel was the '08 Supreme Champion at our County Fair in both the DRAFT and PLEASURE Divisions, and was the 2003 AHR National Grand Champion!

Jim and Mel have been working wiht a Professional Horsemanship Trainer to:

• disengage hindquarters
• move the front end
• leg yield
• forward motion
• lateral and vertical flexion
• achieving lightness and responsiveness to rider's seat and legs

They will be working on:

• counter bends
• haunches-in
• shoulders-in
• half-passes
• lead changes
• rollbacks
• spins

Mel is GREAT on the TRAILS--crossing creeks and jumping logs! Check out video at the top of blog.

He has a quiet disposition, balanced confirmation, and flowing movement. He stands very well for trimming, shoeing, washing, spraying, clipping, and loading.

E-mail: jnewsted@ncats.net

Haflinger Yearling Filly: Stateside News

Our filly is for sale! Registered Haflinger AHR Reg. #3001-07, "Stateside News"
Asking Price: $1500

A beautiful blonde chestnut with white mane and tail. Should mature to 58". Her sire was the '03 AHR National Grand Champion, "Melroe CVA". Her dam is the daughter of the 1995 WORLD Champion, "Amadeus". She has nice barn manners and has been handled twice daily since birth. Stands for spraying, trimming, clipping, washing, and loading. Very quiet, easy going and fun filly to work with and be around! Working on Ground Training, Round Pen training, and Line Driving! E-mail with questions: jnewsted@ncats.net

More Horse Shows, More Pictures

Well, well, well! A flurry of activity this weekend and 2 horse shows! The Newaygo County Fair went on all week long, and on Friday they hosted an open Horse Show for all horses. We brought Sunny and Mel (It was just Jim and Billie Jean showing) and all we can seem to handle with just 2 of us is 2 horses! Anyway, we entered them into Halter classes, and put them in the Pony division. Mel won first place and Sunny won second place! They went on to enter the Grand Champion Halter Class, and Mel won Grand Champion Supreme! Out of all the horses there, he showed the best at Halter! Jim rode him English & Western Pleasure and Horsemanship (at a walk/trot class), and placed well in all of them. Actually, placing higher in English than in Western! There were Many horses here!

Saturday, we arrived early at another show, called Sunset Riders Open Show, near Muskegon. We've been here a few times in the past, and it's usually quite busy, with many horses and riders. We received the bad news that this is the last year this show will take place, as the property will be developed into a soccer complex! The halter classes here are organized by Registered Quarter Horse, Registered Stock horse, Registered Pleasure Horse, and Unregistered horse. We entered Mel in the Registered Stock Horse (At the judge's suggestion), and he placed 2nd!

We have a few pictures from this show, but not available yet. These pictures are still from last Sunday. 2 pictures are labled, the middle 2 pictures are Jim riding Mel in the Western riding class.

Some other classes at the Fair

We had 3 entries in Western Riding: Billie Jean riding Atta-Boy, Jim riding Mel, and our daughter Jenni riding Sunny. We took 1st (Billie Jean), 2nd (Jim), and 3rd (Jenni) places. Our granddaughter, Megan, helped us in halter for the best of 3 head (we got 2nd place), and she showed Sunny.

Newaygo County Draft Horse & Pony Show

Wow! What a fantastic Day! We brought home more ribbons than I could stop and count! And 2 large trophies! The show only required one fee per horse, with unlimited events that you could enter. So, of course, true to fashion, we entered all we could find! We also invited our granddaughter, Megan, to show with us, as well as our daughter, Jenni. Our grand-niece, Destiny, also showed up with her grandparents, and she, too, showed for us. We brought our 3 geldings, Sunny, Atta-Boy, and Mel. We entered them in halter classes, showmanship classes, and best 3 head from a farm, and best 2 head of a farm. We placed in all of these, with Mel taking 1st place in gelding ponies/Haflingers, 4 years and older. He went on to win champion of all geldings, and then won GRAND CHAMPION HAFLINGER/PONY of the show! I promise, the trophy was at least 3 feet tall! He was so showy and flashy! Definitely a standout!

These pictures are all of Mel and Jim. I especially like the one of them standing together by the fence...after one of their events, they stayed to watch Megan & Destiny's riding class. I just couldn't resist clicking a few of these photos of their backs. It looks like the 2 of them--cowboy & his horse--have become best buds!

Melroe Video

We've posted our video of Mel at the bottom of our blog! Scroll down and press play to watch. I uploaded it to Google Video today.

After much deliberation and debate, we decided to geld Mel. Because of how the horse market is, we thought that Mel would be more desirable as a riding horse, family horse, and show horse this way. We are taking Mel to his first horse show at the Newaygo County Fair Draft Horse show this Sunday. Come check us out if you're in the area! It's all day long. At the end of the day, we're going to do the Wagon 8 again, just like last year. We'll be using our team, Sunny and Atta Boy for this. We'll be taking lots of pictures of our day, so check us out next week for some updates!

Mel and children

The more we work with Mel, the more we fall in love with him! He is such a willing and gentle horse! A few weeks ago, when our trainer, Jamie was here, he brought his wife and 2 of their horses, and Jim and Billie rode Mel & Sunny for a trail ride. Up to this point, we were uncertain how Mel would react to outside horses and working side by side with them. He has been, of course, fine around any of our horses, mares included. Mel turned an interested head towards the new mounts, but never tried to pull out of Jim's control. For our trail ride, we rode down our dirt road about 1/4 mile to the township property. This property has several trails weaving through it, as well as a crick that borders the far edge. We rode through the trails, with the crick as our destination. We've ridden our horses back here before, but this was Mel's first time. He crossed the crick with no problem! He even had to walk over a rather high log that was across the trail in one spot. We've taken some video of this event, and are currently working on making a DVD of Mel.

This scrapbook page is of two of our granddaughters, ages 3 1/2 and 18 months. All of the grandkids love visiting with the horses and love riding them. Here, you see the two girls being friendly with Mel (large picture). Hannah is hoping to grab a handful of grass and feed it to him. As you can see the girls and stallion are not the least bit afraid of each other. The second, smaller horse, is Makenna trying to get close to Atta-Boy, and they are just looking at each other. I bent down to Makenna's height to take this picture, and boy, do these horses seem much bigger from this angle! You should try it sometime! To read the journaling, just click on the picture for a larger picture to come up.

Frame-able Haflingers

The picture on the left is of our gelding, Atta Boy News. It was taken on his way from the pasture to the barn/pen. I love how this captures his flowing movement as he rounds the gate! The picture on the right is taken of our stud, Mel (For Sale!!). He is penned closely to our other horses, and stays fairly calm. Right now, he's watching the other horses coming in from the pasture. This time of year, his coat is just so beautiful! It glistens in the sun, smooth as velvet, taking of the rich chestnut tones characteristic to Haflingers. Jim has been riding him daily, and has ridden with the trainer for several weeks now. Jim comments often, "The stuff I'm learning is like common sense!" Jim has been working with horses since he was a teen, and working with his own Haflingers since the early '90s. Our trainer, Jamie, has a philosophy of training riders to become great horsemen, so that they, in turn, can teach their horses the learned skills. Some of the skills that Jim has been learning have to do with teaching the horse to yield his head on command. With the slightest touch of the reins, the horse with pick up these subtle cues from the rider, hold his head in proper tucked position when being ridden, and will be unable to run away with its rider. The best part of the training that Jim and Mel are doing is that Jim is able to take these techniques and use them on the other younger horses he is working with. Currently, that would be a 3 yr. old gelding, and a 3 yr. old mare.

Last Ride

I came across these pictures of our daughter Holly riding Peeky before the GLHA show last fall. Shortly after this, Peeky was sold, which, of course, we were hoping for. When you put so much work and attention and so much of yourself into a horse, it's a little bittersweet to see them go. Our other daughter, Jenni, created this digital scrapbook page of Holly and Peeky. To get a closer look, just click on the picture, and it will load up larger.

Mel at the Beach

What do you think about this picture? Unfortunately, we've never ridden

horses on the shores of Lake Michigan. This is just a photoshop trick, Ha, ha, ha! Looks pretty convincing, right? The journaling on this scrapbook page reads, "...it's a dream of all of ours to go for a horse ride down the beach with the waves crashing at our feet." Wouldn't that be great? By the way, the beach scene is a sunset from last summer on the shores of Lake Michigan in Muskegon.

Giddy Up!

We've surely been busy here at Rocking Horse Farm this spring! We are training and working with Melroe--our registered Stallion that is for sale. Jim is riding him almost daily! Mel will walk, trot, and canter on command, and yields his head beautifully! Jim currently is working with a trainer on a weekly basis to further Mel's training and potential. The way that Mel picks up his feet and floats on the ground reveals what a wonderful dressage horse he could be! At our place, he is being ridden under Western saddle, worked in the round pen, trail ridden through woods, fields, and streams, and ridden extensively in the arena. We'll be posting a new video and still photos soon! Promise!

Here is a scrapbook page of our granddaughter, Hannah, age 2. She is riding trusty Sunny, Billie's gelding.

Melroe: All the Details

Melroe: All the Details

HAFLINGER STALLION: Melroe CVA

– A 6 yr. old AHR Registered and Licensed. Reg. # 17457-01

Sire & Dam are both Dutch Imports.

He is rich copper chestnut in color with abundant white mane & tail. Stands 60” tall.

Mel was the 2003 AHR National Grand Champion Draft Stallion! He has a winning Disposition, Confirmation and Movement. Mel also drives and trail rides down the road, through the woods, crossing creeks and walking down river. He walks, trots, and canters. He stands very well for trimming, shoeing, washing, spraying, clipping and loading. Mel has thrown many beautiful foals. He is an easy/quick breeder. Mel is a very pleasant and easy Stallion to handle!

This is Your Chance to Add this Champions Touch to Your Breeding Program !!!

This is just a single picture--the links don't work yet. But it kinda looks cool!

Melroe slideshow

This is a slideshow of still pictures taken of Melroe. Most of them were taken last fall. He is for sale, owned by NewWay Farms, of which we are part owner of.