Montclair Stables: News

	news

	2007 didn’t get off to a great start with Ralph Hill’s accident back in March. We are happy to report that Ralph is making good progress and we look forward to seeing him at a show sometime soon. You can see reports on Ralph’s recovery at www.carepages.com. We all wish him a speedy and continued recovery. April saw the arrival of Wolfie (Running Wolf). This 3 year old KY bred gelding had run in his first race the week before arriving at Montclair and had shown absolutely no talent as a race horse. Luckily for us his owners decided to let him move on to a different career. Wolfie has made great strides this summer and has enormous potential as an event horse. June saw the much awaited return of Charlie (Charles In Charge) to Montclair Stables. Charlie had been turned out for 8 months after sustaining a tendon injury. We are all thrilled to have him back at the barn and look forward to seeing him competing again this Fall. Welcome home Chuck!! July 4th saw the arrival of Wendel and Uniek. These two were imported from Holland Phyllis and Nicky’s parents went on a horse shopping trip. With the expert help of Nicky’s friend Janet who lives in Holland the trip proved very fruitful, even if Phyllis had to ride her butt off for four days trying horses. Wendel and Uniek Arrive at Montclair Nicky Introduces Wendell to His New Home The two horses traveled really well and have settled into their new home nicely. Many thanks go to Janet for organizing the trip and also to Humberto at HFR International Horse Transport for his attention to detail and wonderful customer service. And a special thanks to my Mom and Dad for finding Wendel and to Phyllis for riding him and ultimately picking him for me! We have had a busy year at the barn todate. All our eventing prospects have grown into themselves and have started to mature very nicely. We have several students looking forward to riding in their first recognized horse trials this Fall while others have their eyes set on moving up a level or competing at an FEI event. Adam (Fly N Bayou) and Goldin (No Such Bling) both began their eventing careers this year with several good showings at Novice before moving up to Training in May at the KY Horse Park. Adam exceeded expectations and won the dressage while his older barn brother showed that he could behave in mixed company. Up until this point Goldin had thought that when he left Montclair it must surely be to return to the track! In August Nicky decided to head North to escape the blistering 100+ temps, so Nicky, Joe, our two dogs, and Adam and Goldin headed to Michigan to compete at the Richland Horse Trials. We cannot say enough wonderful things about this event. The Mike Etherington Smith XC course was absolutely wonderful. The volunteers were fantastic and the organizers went above and beyond to make sure everyone had a great time. With all that said there was one slight problem. Mother Nature! A severe storm rolled through on the Thursday evening which blew down the temporary stabling. Richland After The Storm Richland Temporary Stabling Luckily the show officials knew it was coming and gave everyone atleast an hours notice. During that time all the horses were loaded onto their trailers. We sat in the truck and watched as 65mph winds took down the stabling, the horses didn’t seem to worry at all about what was going on around them. When the storm had passed and the all clear was given we began the all night task of taking down what was left of the stabling and then replacing it with a new awning. Everyone, competitors, volunteers and staff pitched in and sometime around 1am the horses got back in their stalls!! It was quite the team building exercise!! The Fall show season has got off to a great start for the barn. With a group from Montclair competing at the Pine Top September Horse Trials. A special mention must go to Katie Nelson and Stoli (Absolut V). They were winners of the Junior Training division. Katie's Dressage at Pine Top Katie Jumping at Pine Top We are so happy for Katie and Stoli they have really worked hard and it was a much deserved win. Mentions must also go to the following … 6th place for Mandy Knarr and Jake (Master Loot) in the Junior Novice division. 4th place for Lisa Morrison and Nathan at their first Beginner Novice event. Phyllis and Uniek proved the trip to Holland was well worth the effort with a win in the Novice Horse Divison at the Jumpstart Horse Trials in Kentucky. Phyllis with Uniek & Nicky with Wendel back to top