Mack Hill Blogosphere

Oakrise Two Phase-- Dressage and Jumping

2009-06-03T07:47:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to the five Mack Hill riders who competed on Sunday at the Oakrise Two Phase Competition. All of our horses and riders performed beautifully. It turns out that western pleasure training is a fantastic foundation for dressage. Participating riders included Kelli, Megan, Erin, Tori, and Mercy. Special thanks to Molly who helped all day long. Mercy and Megan won day-end Championship on Cash. Erin and Kelli won won day-end Reserve Championship on Blaze and Gilligan respectively. Great job ladies.

Let's Hear It For The Old People

2009-05-25T15:26:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to the Over 40 Souhegan Riders who had a very successful day of competition at the Oakrise Pleasure series: Walk Trot Pleasure Champion Sue O'Connell (Toby); Green Horse Reserve Champion Cory Welch (Razzle); and Co-Reserve Champions for Novice Adult Pleasure Wendy Welch (Jet) and Scott O'Connell (QT). You may not be able to teach these old dogs new tricks.... but they can ride.

"We Are Family.... I Got All My Sisters With Me..."

2009-05-25T15:15:00.007-04:00

The Souhegan Riders had a terrific day at the Oakrise Pleasure Series yesterday. Team members competed at all levels with terrific results. The rain showers during the middle of the day did not dampen anyone's spirit. When the day end awards where announced, it was full of Souhegan Riders. Congratulations to Coach Mercy and all the riders for an outstanding day.

Click here for links to pictures from the day.

Out to Pasture....

2009-05-14T07:17:00.003-04:00

So one of the benefits of giving the front field its annual spring time rest...... its a great place to ride. For the past month, our riders and trainers have been using the hills in the front field not just for a mini trail ride but to build the hind end of the herd for show season. The quarter horse got its name for its incredible speed in a quarter mile race. The speed comes from the strength of its hind end. Working them on the hills gives them that beefy and strong look that is so typical for the breed. And it a lot of fun too.

Mack Hill Takes on Oakrise Schooling Jumper Show

2009-05-11T07:08:00.004-04:00

Riders from Mack Hill had a spectacular first day of competition at the Oakrise Schooling Jumper Show.

Click here for pictures of the day

Souhegan Riders Spring Team

2009-04-13T15:50:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to our spring team members!

Krista Albright, Corki Barlotta, Erin Johnson, Mae Johnson, Julia Kenney, Ally Martin, Katie O'Connell, Emily Schnebel, Emily Stone, Alex Torcia, and Allie Withee.

Practices begine this Thursday April 16th at 4pm.

Cash whispers, "Don't forget the dress code."

Spring Show Team is here!

2009-03-26T11:37:00.002-04:00

The spring schedule has been set for The Souhegan Riders Competitive Riding Team.

Here are the details:

Dates: Thursdays APril 16th- June 18th from 4-6pm

Shows: May 24 at Oak Rise, Pleasure Show

June 14 in Georgetown, MA, North Shore Horseman's

Association Hunter Jumper show

Cost: $450 for the term includes horse use and trailering to shows

*class and show fees are the riders' responsibility

Try-outs: Thursday April 9th at 4pm

Please wear boots, britches, collared shirt tucked in, and have hair up in a hairnet.

Be safe! Get your safety vest for riding at the Stone Pony.

2009-03-13T08:33:00.002-04:00

Mack Hill Riding Academy and The Stone Pony are coming together to offer a special discount shopping night. Linda, the owner of The Stone Pony, is offering Mack Hill students a 15%-20% discount on the purchase of a body protector when you come and shop on Thursday April 2nd between 5 and 7pm. Linda and her staff will be on hand to properly fit the vest for you.

Get your vest now before we start our cross country schoolings! You may contact Mercy for details at mercycarr@hotmail.com.

Mack Hill On FaceBook

2009-02-18T07:58:00.003-05:00

Stay connected with what is happening at Mack Hill. Visit our page on FaceBook and become a fan!

Click to visit the Mack Hill Face Book Page

Think Warm! Summer camps dates have been scheduled.

2009-02-06T15:37:00.006-05:00

Blue skies, green grass, come on, think it with me! Even though it is winter out, it isn't too early to plan your summer! Mack Hill's ever popular summer camps have been scheduled. The three sessions will be as follows:

Session 1: June 29 - July 3; 9am -3pm

Session 2: July 13 - July 17; 9am -3pm

Session 3: August 10 - August 14, 9am -3pm

You can download the forms here or check our homepage very soon and find them there.

Camp will include a daily riding lesson, un-mouted instruction and pool time weather permitting.

A $200 deposit is required to hold your place. The balance of $225 is due no later than the first day of camp.

See you then!

Click here for more details, forms and pictures from 2008!

Game on! Broom ball is a smash!

2009-02-01T11:13:00.002-05:00

Mercy's Saturday morning riding lesson took a break from the usual and tried their hands at broom ball on horse back. It was a success. After desensitizing their horses to the brooms and ball, the riders did a little moving of the ball down and back the length of the arena. Barb McCosh and Emily Stone were made team captains. Mercy got on a horse to even out the teams, three and three. It is not recommended to play this babreback, notes Mercy.

Barb had Katio O'Connell and Ally Martin on her team and Emily had Mercy and Mae Johnson. They scrimmaged for about 20 minutes and the final score was 3 to 2, Barb's team won.

It was really fun and we were chatting about making this something we do more often! Who's up for it?

Axe to the Equestrian Tax

2009-01-27T18:56:00.004-05:00

Today the New Hampshire horse community showed up in force at the Legislative Office Building in Concord to oppose House Bill 427. During the hearing before the House Committee charged with investigating the Bill, its sponsor-- Representative Skinner-- effectively withdrew the Bill from consideration. Specifically, she asked the Committee to declare that the Bill was "Inexpedient to Legislate." Informally, several Representatives were heard to say that the Bill was going nowhere. The Chairwoman of the Committee indicated that the horse community had effectively communicated their concerns which were heard loud and clear by House members.

New Hampshire Legislature Considers Annual License and Registration Fee for Horses-- YIKES

2009-01-22T18:06:00.007-05:00

Attention all horse owners or boarding facilities. The New Hampshire Legislature is considering a new law that will affect all of us in a negative way. In general terms, each horse would need a license for an annual license fee of $25. Proof of rabies vaccination is required before the annual license can be obtained. The program will be adminstered in the town in which the horse resides.

I believe this will be first step that will empower local towns to take further adverse action against horse ownership. Many towns already are hostile to horse owners and this will provide tools to the municipality to take further action or impose further regulation and restiction. My wife and I oppose this and plan to contact our Senator and Representative to let them know.

Click here to read the bill

ATTEND THE PUBLIC HEARING AND REGISTER YOUR VIEWS

Public Hearing: 1/27/2009 1:45 PM Legislative Office Building Room 303, Concord

CONTACT COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO REGISTER YOUR VIEWS

Committee Members
Judith Spang; Frank Tupper; Henry Parkhurst; Marcia Moody; James Aguiar; Pamela Hubbard; Susan Kepner; Yvonne Thomas; Carol Williams; Jim McClammer; David Russell; Andrew Renzullo; Chris Christensen; Christopher Ahlgren; L. Mike Kappler; Jayne Spaulding; Peter Bolster; Thomas Howard; Jeffrey St. Cyr.

This is what our Democracy provides. Open forums in which the views of the governed can be heard. Please take advantage of this precious right.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...

2009-01-20T17:39:00.003-05:00

Who said horseback riding was just a fair weather sport? Not Alicia and Jess. They used the new powder to take Button and Jay out for a spin to make new tracks.

Aren't They Cute as a "Button"?

2008-12-22T15:28:00.003-05:00

Fox Brook Farm Bed and Breakfast welcomes Alicia Weisman and her mare Button as its newest boarders. Those of you following the Oakrise jumping series will remember pictures of Alicia and Button flying around the course and jumping to the sky. You will see them betwixed and between the two farms. Say hello.

Holiday Vacation Camp at Mack Hill

2008-12-08T13:51:00.005-05:00

Nothing to do over the break this month? Mack Hill is offering half-day camps Monday through Wednesday December 29-31. The cost is $60 per day. The hours will be 10am until 2pm. Riders are to bring their own lunch.

These camps will cover lessons on the horse as well as off. Be ready to enhance your horse knowledge with our enthusiastic Mack Hill Instructors. Sign up at the barn. Space is limited and first come is first served!

Jump on in to the winter riding team.

2008-11-30T10:39:00.002-05:00

The Souhegan Riders riding team will have an off-season term beginning this Thursday December 4th through January 29th.

The cost for this term is $300 and the team will meet form 4pm until 6pm. There wil be no practice on December 25th and January 1st.

This term will focus on un-mounted topics and lessons like anatomy and confirmation, equipment use and fit, and lungin. There will be a field trip to an equine veterinary facility.

Please email Mercy with any questions: mercycarr@hotmail.com.

Please download the form below and submit with your fee by the beginning of the first practice.

Thanks so much!

teamform.doc

Double Clear Farm Jumping Show

2008-10-19T18:35:00.005-04:00

The Souhegan Riders equestrian team competed today at the Double Clear Farm Jumping Show in Warner, NH. All of the practice this year paid off with a lot of top finishers. This was a challenging course with a lot of intentionally "scary" things. Yet our horses with their great riders rose to the challenge. Krista Albright gave us all a scare with her hard fall off of Waldo. We are pleased to report that she is doing well with nothing broken and nothing damaged (except her helmet-- which is why you always should wear one). And her smile is as big as ever.

Congratulations ladies on a terrific day. For pictures, click here.

Mack Hill Fall Show 2008 is a Huge Hit

2008-10-13T19:18:00.005-04:00

The Mack Hill students really put on a show for all of the spectators today. Through 20 classes, the students competed with their best efforts. And was it impressive. Pictured from left to right are the Champions (red and blue rosette) and Reserve Champions (red and yellow rosette) for the day (Krista, Anna, Lauren, Katie, Libby, Julia, Emme, Emma and Charlotte). Congratulations to all who competed. Many thanks to the parents who helped with critical activities all day long. We had fun and we hope you did too.

For pictures of the day click here

Look Who Is Learning To Jump... QT

2008-10-11T16:14:00.004-04:00

Our western pleasure star-- Just Call Me QT ("QT")-- is on to new things. This dead broke push button Palomino Quarter Horse was showing signs of boredom with his regular routine. So, we tried something new. Hitting the rails. Much to our surprise, he is a willing jumper who is eager to please and learn. While it may be true that old dogs don't learn new tricks, this horse is. Stay tuned for updated on how he progresses.

Meet Fox Brook Boarders Jess and Jay

2008-10-10T11:16:00.001-04:00

Jess and Jay have been together for about 6 months now and have come a long way together. Jay was primarily a western trail horse from Florida when we met him but we fell in love with his “goofy” personality. He is a sweet natured horse with a little bit of attitude when we ask him to work on his dressage. You can see them weekly walking Jay over from Foxbrook to Mack Hill for our lessons.

Schooling show, Monday October 13th, be there!

2008-10-01T20:10:00.006-04:00

It is that time of year again. With all the hard work our students have done, we finally have an opportunity for them to showcase it in a low-key horse show atmosphere in the coziness of our beloved Mack Hill Riding Academy.

The show will start at 10am with the jumping first followed by the flat classes and finally some fun classes. There will be food available for you to purchase as snacks and lunch.

We will need some volunteers for some admin work with the entries on the morning of the show and a handful of helpful folks to help run the food booth. We would certainly love to have one of your dishes available at the food booth so if you can help out, let Mercy know.

Follow the links to the class list and the entry form. There is a flat fee of $65 for the day which allows you to enter three classes of your choice. You are welcome to enter more at $5 each. The entries are due at the barn by October 9th to avoid a post-entry fee of $10.

We are really excited and hope to see every one of you there!

Fall Schooling Show Class List.doc

Fall Schooling Show Entry Form.doc

Souhegan Riders Compete at Oak Rise Pleasure Show

2008-09-21T18:44:00.002-04:00

The Souhegan Riders Equestrian Team competed at the Oak Rise Pleasure Show. Krista Albright and Katie O'Connell were awarded day end Champions in their divisions. Everyone on the team performed exceptionally well. A lot of hard work helped shape today's success. Special thanks to all of the parents and siblings who came to cheer on the team. I would call great "athletic supporters" but you might be wrong image.

Happy Birthday to Nora Zaveri (Coach Mercy's daughter) who celebrated her third birthday with the team today. The girls are better riders than they are singers.

Click here for pictures of the day.

Souhegan Riders Fall Team

2008-09-08T12:41:00.007-04:00

Congrats to the following ladies who will make up our fall team:

Emily Stone, Alicia Weismann, Katie O'Connell, Allie Whithee, Krista Albright, Julia Kenney, and Mae Johnson.

This term, we will attend a pleasure show at Oak Rise farm on September 21st and then jumper show in Warner on October the 19th.

Practices start this Thursday the 11th at 3:30. Be sure you have your shirt tucked in, a belt on, and your hair neatly contained!

See you then,

Mercy

Oak Rise Jumping Show-August 2008

2008-08-25T07:56:00.003-04:00

Another great day for the Mack Hill Riders at the final Oak Rise jumping show for the season. Click here for pictures of the day

Here Jess S. takes Liam over the rails