This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi,
Just wanted to jot a few lines from our neck of the woods (Eugene, OR) to tell you what we did last weekend. The Oregon Horsemen's Association held their annual convention and awards banquet at Seven Feather's casino in Canyonville. The president of OHA for the past several years has been Jim Havelhurst, one of our NFHR head evaluators. Jim has always been great, offering opportunities for us to promote Fjords to this organization and this year was no exception. Hestehaven, owned by Rune & Catherine Lassesen, is located about 20 minutes from where the convention was held. Catherine, despite the fact that she had just had surgery 3 weeks prior, opened her facility on Sunday for the OHA att endees for clinics and demonstrations. An equine dentist put on a very interesting demo and presentation about proper dentistry for our horses. The fellow who presents 'Cowboy Dressage', Eitan Beth-Halachmy, put on a clinic with a gorgeous Saddlebred palomino stallion. AND THEN THERE WAS THE FJORD DEMONSTRATION! It really displayed the versatility of our Fjords! Linda Bezedeck (know I have not spelled that correctly) brought a young filly and her trainer. She rode a Dressage pattern and then did some jumping. Amy Evers drove Catherine's stallion while another gal rode one of Catherine's fillies Western. Then Hopes from Eugene, brought 3 geldings and demonstrated their packing skills, complete with chain saw, etc. Then came our Fjord family from Field of Dreams. We brought 5 Fjords and rode a little pattern that we've put together for just such occasions. We ended with Dusty's Freestyle Reining routine, which, by the way, garnered a compliment from Eitan. Whew! One of my advanced students, Sue Grantham and her Fjord, Thomas, have been working on cantering on the diagonal with lead changes. That is always a crowd pleaser as well as Dusty's extended trot and spins. These types of movements always open folk's eyes about the athletic ability of Fjords! A huge thanks to Catherine for all of the work she did to make this happen and for opening her home and barns to us!! Can't believe she did all of this so soon after surgery! As they say, [EMAIL PROTECTED] happens! One of our gals got the creeping crud soon after we arrived and spent nearly the entire weekend embracing the 'porcelain throne' so was not able to ride with us. Fortunately, one of the other gals that had come with us had brought her black jeans for 'just in case purposes'. GOOD THING since she was able to ride Betty's mare for her in our demo. We all dressed in matching outfits, black bridles, glitzy vests, black hats, black pants, and black blankets. We did look good, even if I do say so myself! Got lots of compliments. A good time was had by all (except for poor Betty!) and is just another example of a unique way to introduce non-Fjord people to our great horses. Thanx again to Catherine for making it happen! Gayle Ware Field of Dreams Eugene, OR www.fjordhorse.com
