I received an email from Linda Burke, Show Secretary, and the classes from last night’s cancelled evening session were started this morning at 8am.  Results for those will be included with tomorrow mornings report.  For the Morning and Afternoon sessions results go to the “New England Results” post.  I updated them this morning.

It’s true the Tuesday night session was canceled, as you can see from the photo there was massive flooding.  At this point they are planning on starting at 8am tomorrow with tonights session.  Above is good samaritan Mark helping to unplug the drain as a fellow barn was flooded.  Pray to the weather gods for us!

Linda Burke, the show secretary, just emailed me to let me know that the Tuesday Evening session of the New England show was canceled due to a torrential downpour.  She said for us all to hope for drier weather for the rest of the week!

Check it out below - Northampton is in the center of this image.

Remember, way back at the beginning of the year, when you were surfing the internet and happened upon a new little weblog dedicated to Morgan Horse Shows?  There were a few short posts about various winter Morgan events, some posts about horse related health issues and some personal ramblings and insights written by a Morgan show crazed woman named, BlackEyeBeth.  As the winter wore on, BlackEyeBeth was joined by other Morgan horse enthusiasts and more of you began to frequent AboveLevel.com, tell your friends about it, join the BlogRoll and even a few of you advertised.

Well, my fellow Morgan horse people, let me tell you, AboveLevel.com is no longer a little weblog. When I started, I hoped that a few people would show up and participate a few times, maybe comment or even post something new.  Every time someone registered, I would get so excited I would call my husband and tell him about it (I interrupted many business meetings).  Then, after a short amount of time, some brave people started interacting and posting pictures, information, and a video or two.  It was so cool to watch things take off.

To date, we have been active on the Internet for 6 months.  To attest to all of your wonderful help and support, we now have over 200 registered users, 567 posts and 841 comments to posts. We have also had close to 52,000 page hits (yes, that is THREE ZEROS!!).  What is even more impressive about that number is that it doesn’t include the times I, as the blog administrator visit AboveLevel.com.  That number is all of you! The daily visits are also steadily increasing and are averaging 500-600 page visits per day.  New people are arriving all the time so we hope to see this upward trend continue.  We still have an international audience, too, with visitors from countries such as Germany, Japan, Latvia, Great Britian, Australia, and Cuba.

So once again, my hats off to you!  AboveLevel.com definitely wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is right now without all of you showing up and making this such a great community.  Thanks, once again.

Here are the first results from New England. Thanks to Linda Burke, Show Secretary for getting them to me. I will update them as they become available.

(updated: 07/22/08 - 10:25am; 12:30pm)

Judges:
Euchee Matthews, Alachua, FL (Stallions and Mares In Hand, Park Harness, English Pleasure, Road Hack,
Classic Pleasure Driving, Roadster, Futurity)

Mr. Daryl Hopson, Walla Walla, WA (Specialties In Hand, Hunter Pleasure, Western Pleasure, Trail, Stock Seat and Hunt Seat on the Flat, Hunt/Western Seat, Leadline and Walk and Trot, Miscellaneous, Futurity)

Mrs. Lisa Cunningham Waller, Heiskell, TN (Geldings In Hand, Park Saddle, Pleasure Driving, Classic Pleasure Saddle,
Saddle Seat Equitation and Saddle Seat Equitation Leadline and Walk and Trot, Futurity)

Mrs. Macy P. Hill, Amelia, VA (Carriage Driving)

Ms. Beth I. Stoltz, Redding, CT (Hunters, Jumpers, Hunt Seat Medal over Fences)

Ms. Pamela Wooding, Hope, NJ (Dressage)

Sport Horse in Hand–Open
1 DRF Sea Hawk (Tim Morrell, rider; Carol Ramsey-Rice, owner)
2 Michabou K.T. Marilynn (Lori St Hilaire Cash, rider; Lori St Hilaire Cash, owner)

Western Pleasure In Hand–Open
1 Charlestown Blue Moon (Hanna Welch, rider; Alison Chickering, owner)
2 Winterset Rhyme Thyme (Roger Brown, rider; John & Janice Vieira, owner)
3 PLK Shamrock Spirit (Lindsay Perry, rider; Carol S Rog, owner)
4 Seaway St Lawrence (Susan Evans, rider; Bob & Roberta Marshall, owner)

Classic Pleasure In Hand–Open
1 C’est la Vie (Kirsten Johnson, rider; Adam Lewis, owner)
2 Whispering Bellavante (David Sproul, rider; John Macklin, owner)
3 Rare Obsession (Shirley Haas, rider; Bill & Shirley Haas, owner)
4 Ultra’s Now and Forever (Toni Watkins, rider; Toni Watkins, owner)
5 Townshend Holly’s Man (Nancy Caisse, rider; Townshend Farm, owner)

Hunter Pleasure in Hand–Open
1 Riverside Rhapsody (Charles & Judy Dorr, rider; Charles & Judy Dorr, owner)
2 Legendary and Noble (Kirsten Qua, rider; Jackie Ross, owner)
3 Equinox Romeo (Kerry Wolfe, rider; John & Kerry Wolfe, owner)
4 Elmhurst Quinlee (Katherine Speer, rider; Ross Speer, owner)
5 Ultra’s Americas Rising (Annette Smith, rider; Stephen D Smith, owner)
6 Taproot Flag Ship (Kayley Qua, rider; Jackie Ross, owner)

Specialty in Hand Championship
1 C’est la Vie (Kirsten Johnson, rider; Adam Lewis, owner)
2 Charlestown Blue Moon (Hanna Welch, rider; Alison Chickering, owner)

Read the rest

Does anyone know who is the photogapher at the show? It is not Bob Moseder or Howard S. It does not say in the prize who is covering the show.
Gael Jaeger
Flintlock Farm

If you are at New England this week and happen to get some video and/or pictures, those of us that are stuck here at home would love to see them! I know it is hard to do while at the show, but save them up and post them when you get back. If you need help, just email me and I will lend a hand. I will also have video after the show is over via Mocha Mom so I will get that up as soon as she gets back.

Rosevale Leggo is a beautiful 16h black Morgan stallion with a penchant for dressage. I bought a breeding for $1000 and would be willing to pass it on for much less. My mare did not take and is getting too old to breed. This is a great opportunity for someone with a nice mare.

Best wishes to everyone going to NE…..see you there!  Looks to be the traditional hot, humid & rainy weather we usually have.  Ride hard and have fun!

Here is a second Judges answer to the Hunter Full/Double Bridle Question:

Question:

Back when I was little & in walk-trot, a bridle was a bridle. But now I am starting to notice more things. Lately I have noticed that 90% of the hunters use a double/full bridle. I always thought they were for saddle seat or high levels of dressage! I guess not. I do think that it would give you more control of the head.

I have been using a pelham in hunt seat equitation. But as a judge, which do you prefer? Do you think a full bridle is too much? I have no clue.

Judge 2:

This is a fully acceptable bridle for the Morgan hunter to wear. When finished properly it allows the horse to be soft and carry the head in a comfortable position.  Excessive length of curb should be penalized, IMO, as it shows the horse is not accepting to the job at hand. 
 
A pelham is also an acceptable bridle and if your horse is most comfortable wearing this then that is what you should use.  As a judge it does not have any bearing on my placement of the class especially in equitation where you are judging the rider, not the horse.