THE LATEST NEWS... |
Starting the year off right... Annual Fina Vista Farm Ride & Potluck January 3rd, 2006 What better way to start each new year than to head out on the trails for a snowy ride and then come back to a warm tasty lunch with friends and mulled wine? Yes! Mulled wine! The new must-have for that post sub-zero horseback ride happy feeling!! It was a very overcast day, but the temperature was not too bad, so we made it around the lake sans frostbite. Lots of pretty frost on the trees made it pretty, in a gloomy kind of way, kind of like riding through a Tim Burton set. Of course, it's good that cold weather riding whets the appetite, because the highlight was the awesome spread for lunch... everything from two kinds of homemade soup (including Dana's awesome Leek and Potato), to scalloped potatoes, seafood lasagna, Jen's scrumptious Asian Chicken Chili, Linda's secret-recipe meatballs, to goodies like ginger macaroons (mmmmm...), Belgian chocolates and Virginia's fantastic Apple Cheese torte (that we're still reminiscing about). If you asked the kids, they'd probably tell you the 3-D Shrek movie was the best part (along with the bread... plain or with butter!). Happy trails to everyone in 2006! |
Paso Fino Pony Rides One of the jobs of the Paso Finos at Fina Vista Farm is to regularly give pony rides to emerging cowboys and cowgirls. Pianola (pictured at left) is our favourite Paso for introducing youngsters to the thrill of being in the saddle, and she has likely given rides to literally hundreds of kids over the last several years. January saw Pianola doing just that, as we received a visit from Willis (just turned 5) and his mom, Jude. Willis was a natural, of course, just like his older brother Robin! |
Spanish Horses Demonstration at the Orangeville Alpaca Show. On April 8th, 2006, two horses from Fina Vista Farm and their owners took part in a demonstration of different breeds of Spanish Horses. Querica and Victoria Poe, along with Mercenario and Camilla Willings, came in from the cold to participate in the demonstration. For the full story, many more pictures and even some video clips (all provided courtesy of Kate Smith, story, and Janet Grant, pictures) just click here. Pictures: left and right by Janet Grant. |
Getting out and about with our Pasos... Having one and two-year-old boys at home means that this year we will not be hitting the long roads for the Paso Fino shows in the U.S. Instead, we have been having tons of fun staying closer to home and bringing our Pasos to more local events. Victoria and Camilla have been hauling their horses in their new "classic/retro" bumper pull (aka: 'the little trailer that could') to everything from OCTRA rides, Hunter Paces, and ECPFHA Trail Rides at Mansfield/Dufferin Forest and Mono Cliffs. Sometimes we meet up with our Paso pals from Forest Gait Farm, sometimes we have to 'represent' for the breed on our own. Whichever way, we always have great rides and lots of adventure (and usually some pretty awesome food afterwards! Those Hunter Pace crowds know how to put on a spread!) We look forward to a whole summer of fun rides and happy trails! Come and join us.... Pictured at left: Our 'hunter pace gang', Helen and Jeannie from Forest Gait Farm on Franchesca and Santana, and Victoria and Camilla from Fina Vista Farm on Querica and Merenario. Picture by Janet Grant. |
ECPFHA Gaited Horse Fun Show The ECPFHA Fun Show was held July 23rd at Teen Ranch in Orangeville, Ontario. This was an open Gaited Horse show with some Paso Fino Classes and many open gaited classes. It was the first time we have used this location, and it appears the more central location was a big draw for people as this year's show saw a great increase in numbers of exhibitors (28) and spectators! The show grounds are just beautiful and the atmosphere was fun and relaxed. We are grateful to Teen Ranch for allowing us to use their lovely facility and hope they will have us back next year. Even the weather helped to make the day a success. The day was a fun (if extra long) combination of traditional classes and fun games. Exhibitors included many Paso Finos, as well as Mountain horses, Icelandics, and a very entertaining Gaited Mule. Our biggest class had a whopping 22 entries! Many thanks to our awesome, hard-working and fun-loving judge from Ohio… Antoine Purifie. Lots of terrific volunteers made the day run smoothly. Special thanks to our stewards, Janet Grant and Donna MacRae, our announcer/manager, Jan Kay, our registrar, Janet Cleave, and our photographer, Leslie Town. Lots of other folks (like Richard Roy, Lucy Goodenday, Mary Jane McElvey, Jim Christie, Emily Downey, Peter and Denise Chandler, etc) pitched in moving obstacles, manning gates, doing clean-up and more. There are more of you than I can recall and list here, and thanks to you all! A very special thank you goes to my number one assistant: Jennifer Tarrant. Jennifer not only donated prizes, engraving, and made the beautiful glass bowl that was presented as a thank you to Tony, she accompanied me on showground visits, worked the show set-up and take-down, and she also worked with me to create the special new feature of our show ring - a Sounding Board! When I failed to find any burly men to create a board for the show, she reminded me of our "Girl Power" and we set out for the lumber store, drawing in hands and power drills charged and ready. We think it was a fun addition, even if we were cursing ourselves for counter-sinking the screws, as the sun was setting on Sunday! Everyone looked great and took home ribbons, and there were lots of great prizes for first in each class. A list of the wonderful prize donors is below. The High Point Junior Rider trophy was won by Samantha Dickson (on her Icelandic, Blitha). The High Point Paso Fino and the High Point Horse of Show trophies were both awarded to Jan Belanger and her Paso Fino, FS Classique. Way to go Samantha and Jan! All the results of the show have been recorded and will be posted on the ECPFHA website (ECPFHA Fun Show Results). To see lots of gorgeous pictures by the inimitable Leslie Town, including Fina Vista Farm horses, Mercenario, Querica, Tormenta, Sofia, Dama and Rosalie, go to: http://www.townchiro.com/FunShow/. As it was my first time organizing and a first time at this location, there was a steep learning curve. Things that I would look to change next year would be: having our own sound system as the one provided mostly did not work (this has been discussed with the club before), having food and drinks available on site (the ice cream truck I ordered was a very disappointing no-show), start the show earlier and try to finish earlier, rearrange class schedule to intermingle games classes with traditional classes to maintain energy and provide variety for spectators, and have music (see sound system). Thanks again to everyone who attended, exhibited, spectated, judged, photographed, volunteered, or just sent their positive vibes from afar! We had a truly fun and memorable day and hope to see you all (and even some new faces) next year! Camilla Willings, ECPFHA Show Committee (Picture at top right, Mercenario and Camilla, photo by Lisa Dickson) |
What's new?... Gaited Horse Classes at the Fall Fairs!!! All new in 2006 are sections of gaited horse classes at some of Ontario's best Fall Fairs! This year, we made it to the Sutton Fall Fair in August and the Erin Fall Fair in October(Click here for an ECPFHA report and pics from the Erin Fall Fair). There were also gaited horse classes at the fairs in Uxbridge and Barrie. These classes were arranged by GH-Go (the Gaited Horse Group of Ontario). Not only were these shows lots of fun, but they have opened up my eyes to a whole new phenomenon... Prize Money!! Woo-hoo (LOL). Up to now I have only experienced the fun but very expensive world of showing Pasos in the U.S.A. .... lots of travel time, show fees, stall fees, gas fees, hotel fees, restaurant fees, etc. This year Victoria and I loaded up Querica and Mercenario and travelled a fraction of the time to local fairs and won back our gas money, lunch money and then some... How great is that?!? I already loved Fall Fairs... but now I have a wonderful new reason. |
