<Sycamores Ranch Diary >

TRAIL LEADER/YARD ASSISTANT (POSITION FILLED) Full time/live in position available at Sycamores Ranch Western Riding Centre. The opportunity to work in one of the leading Western trail centres in the UK. The ideal candidate will be a responsible, enthusiastic person with reasonable horse care knowledge and be able to work within a small team or on their own. Western riding experience is not necessary although a capable rider is essential. Duties will include: General yard duties including horse care, grass and stable management. Preparation and leading of Trail Rides Dealing with and assisting in the starting of young horses. Customer liaison Directing temporary/Summer staff Assisting with shows and events at the Ranch. In return the successful applicant will receive a reasonable wage, comfortable, private accommodation, a monthly fuel allowance, Western lessons and the loan of an American Quarter horse for training and occasional competition. Car Driver Essential/Non Smoker Preferred/Sorry no pets
WESTERN EQUESTRIAN SOCIETY CHAMPSIONSHIP SHOW 2007 On the bank holiday weekend at the end of August, Elaine and Usk Valley Buckaroo competed at the Western Equestrian Society National Championship show held at Moreton Morrell Agricultural College Warwickshire. The judge was Jack Drecshler from Canada and there were around 120 horses entered in the show with some of the biggest class entries ever seen in this country!! Elaine was really pleased with Buck, they did well in the Open Showmanship class and got a 7th out of 14 in the Open Pleasure this has qualified them for the Championship Pleasure Class at the 2008 show!! They also had great success when they were placed 6th out of 52 entries in the Novice Horse Pleasure Class and got a run of 66 in the Reining and came 9th out of 30! Elaine and Buck have also qualified for the Championship Showmanship Class at the 2008 show by getting a 7th out of 14 in the Open Showmanship at Hartpury!!

	NEVADA RETIRES One of our beloved trail and lesson ponies, Nevada has been retired. Nevada has been with the Ranch for about 5 years and has taught many people to ride. He is about 16 now but unfortunately has a problem with one of his back tendons which means he would be intermittantly lame. The decision was therefore taken to retire him and for him to live the rest of his possibly long life with Kathryn, the girl who rescued him from the meat man when he was a year old. We will keep in touch with Kathryn and keep you updated about Nevada's progress.

SKIPOLEICIOUS (LEXI) IS IN FOAL! Our beautiful Quarter Horse mare, Lexi has been bred to our stallion Rowden Jack to hopefully produce Elaine's next competition horse. I know we are thinking well in advance here, but there we are! Lexi was scanned a couple of days ago and the good news is she is in foal but unfortunately she is carrying twins. There is a 50% chance that she will loose both or will hopefully have one healthy full term foal next June. Only time will tell and it is in the lap of the gods. We will keep you posted of her progress.

	SYCAMORES RANCH WESTERN PERFORMANCE SHOW JULY 29TH 2007 Our show was held eventually at the end of July due to the bad weather back in June. The judge was Sally Chamberlain and there were around 20 horses entered. This was a really good turnout and the standard of competitors was excellent. We were really lucky with the weather and everyone enjoyed themselves. Prize money was gratefully received and If im not mistaken i think nearly every competitor was placed in the show somewhere. Thanks to all who helped out and congratulations to my Head Girl, Amy who in her first show managed 2nd place out of 14 in the Showmanship Class. Big thanks again to Coors Brewery who sponsored the show and for the other sponsors who supported us too. Well done everyone!

SYCAMORES JESSIE LOU Lou is now 8 weeks old and is turning heads already, seeing that she is so pretty. She is also for sale at weaning.

SYCAMORES RUBY MAY Just an update to say that our first foal is now 10 weeks old. She is a chunky little number and looks like her dad. She is for sale at weaning (See the Horses for Sale section for more information).

ANOTHER FOAL ARRIVES - UNEXPECTEDLY!! 23rd May 2007 One of our Quarter Horses, Lou, was scanned about a month ago to see if she had been caught by our stallion Rowden Jack. We were very glad to see from the scan that she was in foal and the vet gave us an estimated time of arrival, based on the size of the foal's eye. He "guestimated" around the middle of August. Great i thought, i can relax until then. Today, Amy and I went out to move a couple of horses and to our amazement there was a foal!! She is a beautiful bay filly, she is full term and very healthy. It just goes to show even the vets get it wrong sometimes - but what a lovely surprise. Mum and baby are doing well.

MOHEIGANS EESKINIM (KOTI) Congratulations to Stephen McDonnell who purchased one of our home produced Quarter Horses a few weeks ago. Stephen is in training with Lauren Jolly so Koti and Steve have a bright future together. We will really miss Koti but we know what a fantastic home he has gone to. GOOD LUCK !!

		A NEW BABY HAS ARRIVED!! On the morning of Wednesday 9th May a little Filly foal was born to our Quarter Horse, Holly. She is by our own stallion Rowden Jack. She is beautiful and we have yet to name her, but she really has the cutie factor dont you think?!

PEMBROKESHIRE PONY CLUB WESTERN RALLY 26TH APRIL A few weeks ago i was asked to do a Western Rally for the Pembs Pony Club and gladly accepted. At the time i wasnt sure how many "takers" there would be - but surprisingly ended up with 10 riders and 8 parents! The day was kicked off in our tack store with an explanation of the different Western tack and equipment and lots of questions were asked about it all by the group. I then did a short demo on my Quarter Horse Buckaroo, covering Pleasure, Trail and a few Reining Maneouvres, spins, rollbacks etc. Then I rode my little cob Indiana to show people that you dont necessarily need	a Quarter Horse to ride Western. I also wanted to proved to the Pony Clubbers that you dont even need a bridle to ride your horse in Western, to which they were amazed when i took Indiana's bridle off and rode him with just a neck rope. I then split the riders into two groups and each group had a lesson on the basics of Western riding.	The kids also had a go at riding one of our Western Quarter Horses which they loved so much, many of them had more than one go! They all really enjoyed the day and admitted that Western riding was more technical and refined than they had originally thought. Many said they would use the western techniques they had been shown to improve their English riding horses. It just goes to show even the Pony Clubbers think Western riding has something to offer them! Well done kids!!

	The weather over the last few weeks has been fantastic. Lets hope it continues. I have spent the last couple of weeks re-designing our brochure and having 60,000 copies of it distributed for the season, so keep a look out for it in your nearest leaflet outlet! As you can see everyone in the picture is very chilled out in the sun, but Button our dog doesnt think much of an inquisitive Peppy!

DRESSAGE CLINIC WITH BHSAI VALERIE BRADLEY The Dressage clinic with Val was a complete success. During the first part of the morning the riders had a couple of hours group tuition. Val paid great attention to each horse and rider combination and their 'way of going'. She subsequently tailored her teaching to each 'duo'. One horse in particular was a bit slow responding to it's riders leg cues in it's upward transitions. Val gave her tips on correcting this problem and at the end of the session the horse was pinging off the riders leg immediately, to the great delight of the rider!		Everyone improved tremendously and after a short break for tea, biscuits and a quick rest for the horses, we continued with individual dressage tests. Val judged the test in the afternoon which was Prelim 18. After the test had been ridden by all, the horses were put away and everyone retired to the cafe area for more hot drinks and cream cakes to mull over the test results. Everyone really enjoyed the day and they are all looking forward to the next one!!

THE AQHA UK (American Quarter Horse Association FUN RIDE

On the morning of Saturday 17th October around 20 horses and riders turned up at Sycamores to enjoy a fun ride organised by Susan George of Rockfield Quarter Horses. The ride was led by Sue on her Quarter Horse mare in Western kit but many of the riders were on English horses, so it was lovely to bring the two types of riding together. The ride was nice and sedate and took them through woodland, quiet lanes, streams and the river all around the village of Llawhaden.

On their return they all went into our cafe area for a hot meal of chicken curry and all the trimmings or a Mediterranean vegetable medley which was most appreciated. Compliments to my husband Nick for his culinary expertise!

Again everyone enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to the next fun ride in January 2007. Well done too to Susan who raised a nice amount for Charity too.