Dressage Horses Arrived to Luxury in Aiken

We have arrived for our winter in Aiken at Fernanda Kellogg and Kirk Henckel’s recently renovated FoxFrolic Farm. Kyymy, the dressage horses and I arrived a week ago and were astounded by the improvements that they have made since last year! While we were there last winter everything was under construction; now everything is finished and it’s outstanding! The barns are like the Taj Mahal! The arena has great mirrors and the horses are in heaven. We can’t thank Fernanada and Kirk enough for giving us the chance to work out of their beautiful farm. We’ll be there until the middle of February and then we’re going on to Wellington, Florida.

It’s also a lot of fun working with Nick Meyers the farm manager and also a rider. He has one wing of the barn and we have another wing. Bonnie Stedt is also there with her horses  (pic of Clancy Himself) – and it's great having her around too!

This weekend Kymmy and I are heading to Ocala for our first show of the season – stay tuned for updates! 

-Silva

Residence and Stables

The Cottage

Bonnie Stedt's Clancy Himself grazing in the pasture

Pastures

Southern Charm!

Foxes at Fox Frolic

The arena is lovely

Neat and Tidy Tack Room

Reflections on 2012

London 2012: (L-R) Boyd, Otis and Silva

With 2012 behind us and 2013 staring us in the face it’s a great time to reflect on the highs and lows of the past year and the exciting moments before us.

We had a fantastic 2012, for the first time running our business out of our very own facility in Cochranville, PA. In the past we’ve been lucky enough to rent some of the best facilities around, both in Australia and in PA, but it was a huge achievement to get our own place. Being land owners is not without obstacles but we’re in a great location for training dressage and event horses to the highest standards possible right in the heart of Pennsylvania horse country.

On the whole 2012 was a very successful year for both the dressage and event horses. Without going into every performance, obviously the moments of brilliance for Silva include her total domination at Dressage at Devon in the fall, and for Boyd the opportunity to represent the United States the Olympic Games for the first time. 

We are very grateful to the owners who have supported us and their horses over the past year. On top of that we have a fantastic group of sponsors backing us. Without this support we truly would not be where we are today. We would also like to give a huge thanks to our staff and working students, who have devoted a great deal of time and energy to keeping our horses looking, feeling and performing their best.

We both took huge satisfaction from assisting the younger riders that we coach. While this is not the main focus of our business at the moment, we do take great joy and pride in helping people achieve their equestrian goals. At the top of the list would be our assistant riders, with KymmyPullen showing successfully in Prix St. George dressage and Caitlin Silliman riding at the Three-Star level of eventing.

Hunting with Cheshire in 2012

Beyond eventing we both enjoyed our first year as members of the Cheshire Foxhounds. In the months of November and December we thoroughly enjoyed the thrills of riding through the beautiful open spaces with our neighbors and members of the equestrian community.

We can’t say how fired up for 2013 we both are right now: without question we have the highest quality of horses that we’ve ever had in both our careers. Both of us feel like we are still very much on the upward curve in improving our riding and training of these great horses.

We’d like to wish everyone the best of luck for the coming year and as we get ready for the ups and downs in the roller coaster ride of equestrian life!

-Boyd and Silva