2009 UMH Ladies Auxiliary Show - Awesome!!!

We just returned today from the Ladies Auxiliary Show held in Prestonsburg, KY. It was a great show. The women who are members of the Ladies Auxiliary have been working since last year to get the show organized, gather sponsors, recruit volunteers, and make plans for having donations for their adopted charity - the Big Sandy Abuse Center for Women and Children. There were over 190 horses and nearly 500 entries at the show this weekend. Show manager, Julie Clark, kept the show running smoothly and did an outstanding job taking care of everyone. Nancy Copland is the Ladies Auxiliary president this year and she worked all weekend with the many tasks that must be done at a show of this caliber. Cyndee Breslin is a driving force behind the show. Our hats off to her. It was great to see Laurie Quincey Friday. She came to help and took entries all day.

The city of Prestonsburg has worked hard to create a facility that is accomodating to horse show exhibitors. Every year improvements have been made to the grounds. Plans are in the works to extend the roof of the barns to keep stalls dry when it rains. The Ladies Auxilary have voted to have the show there again next year but it will be more toward the middle of June because of available dates.

Intermittent showers didn't dampen the spirits of exhibitors or the quality of competition this weekend. The horses were absolutely phenomenal! I must admit there have been few shows that have been more exciting or that have had better horses than what showed at the Ladies Auxiliary Show. The classes were large and competition was really stiff. SRF had a great time with everyone who made it. Tim and Marcia Spencer were both on hand to show and did a great job in their classes. Tim placed second on Stormy in the I Show/Should Show with me. I showed the first way and he showed the second way. He placed second in a great amateur trail class. Marcia placed third with Stormy in her Novice Trail class also. They looked great. We really enjoyed the Hickey's this weekend too. Lauren did well in her classes. I was especially impressed with her Showmanship class where she placed second with Jazzy. J.T. also did a good job with Jazzy and Stormy in his classes placing third and fourth. I was so proud of J.T.'s determination as he showed in the trail obstacle class. Lauren placed second in Juvenile Versatility and J.T. placed third woo hoo! Our congratulations to Silver and Charlie for placing first in the Adult Versatility, Robert and Jazzy for second, and Squirrel and Robert for placing third. They were awesome. Stoner Ridge Farm had a great showing in trail obstacle - Silver was first, Nugget was second, and Squirrel was fifth. Squirrel had a unanimous first place decision in the Open Four Gait class with Sandman's Taking Chances placing third. We didn't get to have Steve Heuslein with us because of the birth of his new grand son, Slade, so I rode Jazzy with Robert in the Pro-Am class where we placed first. I also got to show Silver in the Ladies Auxiliary Trail class placing first as well. Mike and Cassie did an outstanding job with Roxie winning the Pro Am Classic class. More information will be available in the newsletter and on the web site Champion's page. Our next show will be this coming Saturday at the 43rd Annual Stidham Memorial in Stanton, KY. Hope you can come and join us. We have a blast!

39th Annual North Middletown Charity Horse Show

Stoner Ridge Farm, crew, and friends attended the 39th Annual North Middletown Charity Horse Show on Saturday. We took a light load of horses since the show was combined with Walking Horses. Years ago, this show was the first to add Rocky Mountain classes when the breed first began showing. It has a strong tradition. The ladies of the North Middletown Community Club bake pies, cakes, hams and prepare wonderful homemade goodies to sell and help benefit their many projects. The weather cleared and we had a great evening to show horses. The night got started off pretty well with SRF's Silver Sundown placing second in the Stallions Trail Pleasure class. The next class was Roxie with Mike up. He did a great job and they won their class in a decisive way. Congatulations to Howard and Terry Kleier! We were glad to have Lauren & J.T. Hickey showing with us. Lauren got a 4th on Jazzy and a 2nd on Stormy. J.T. also got a 4th on Stromy in a strong 11 and under trail class. Our congratulations goes out as well to Kaylee Potts for placing 2nd in her class on little T.J. It is so exciting to see these young people doing so well. There is so much to learn and so much to think about when you first start showing. We're really proud of their accomplishments so far. Another highlight of the evening was Pepper's Capital Venture who placed 1st in his 3 yo Stallions and Geldings class. Merry Go Blue showed in the Classic Championship and placed third. We had a fun evening with everyone. It was the first one night show we've been to this year. I had forgotten how fun they can be. Next weekend will find us in Owingsville at the KMSHA show. We're going to take a few horses that would benefit from some extra experience in the ring. The other horses will have a weekend off. They deserve it - everyone's been doing well. Come out and visit with us if you can. Show time is 5:00 P.M. on Friday.

Fonzie Graham

Today, we attended the funeral services for my uncle, Fonzie Graham. He was 91. Uncle Fonzie enjoyed life - especially his family and his horses. He was married to my Aunt Nell for 64 years before she passed away several years ago. They had four children, 12 grandchildren, and 17 great grandchildren. In recent years, he was also close to a lady friend, Mavis Burton. They attended First Christian Church in Campton. Uncle Fonzie professed a strong christian faith and was a very giving man. If you ever visited him, you couldn't get away without eating an apple or taking some home grown vegetables with you as you left. Next to his family, Uncle Fonzie loved his horses. He was always anxious to show them to everyone. Many outstanding horses passed through his hands including Dock, Pete, Ben Jordan, and a horse that came to be known as Stoner Ridge Tom Cat that we were priviliged to own at one time. His herd of mares produced some great horses. He often traded back and forth with E.R. Davis. Uncle Fonzie and Vernon Stamper were also partners on several horses and worked together for years. It was through my uncle that we came to learn about the Rocky Mountain breed because he was one of the original members of the board of that association. He also owned the farm at one time where the Kentucky Equestrian Center is now located in Winchester. Bob and I began our married life together on that farm as well. His influence has been far-reaching. He will be greatly missed.

Big South Fork

What a great time we all had this weekend! If you have never been to Big South Fork, it is a place where you can truly get away from it all. . . . and that's just what we did. Robert, Mike, and Lisa headed south on Thursday to join up with Steve Heuslein at Wilderness Resort near Oneida, TN. I joined them after school on Friday. Don and Nancy Copland had planned on joining us as well but Don had to have surgery on his eye and they couldn't make it. We had a smaller crowd than usual this year but we were still able to continue some of the traditions that have been established over the years. Back in 2001, UMH folks came up with the idea to go to Big South Fork and ride together. Through the years we have a great time of fellowship riding the trails, watching the Kentucky Derby, and having games and a great meal afterwards. All the riders donate $50 to the UMH Associates Fund that goes to trainers who fall on hard times due to illness or disaster. Howard and Terry Kleier did most of the organizing and prepared our fantastic supper on Saturday. Myra Addington and Sharon Eskew prepared a great spread for our Derby Party. We all had a great time even though we did have to dodge the raindrops. We took Nugget, Silver, Jazzy, Capital Venture, and Lisa's mare Star to ride. Isn't it great that our show horses make great trail horses too. We really enjoyed Steve's company. He has to come a long way and makes a great effort to be with us as often as possible. Hopefully, next year we'll be able to have more folks join in the fun. It was great!