Hi everyone!!

Good afternoon everyone!!

Although this past week Ocala experienced nothing short of a small monsoon, the Rolling Acres team was able to ride during week one of the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit! Everyone did very well and we are proud of them! Here are some of the highlights from the week:

The Golden Compass and Alyson Gurney were Reserve Champ in Modified Junior Hunters division.

Mary Lisa Leffler riding Sienna were Reserve Champ in Training Hunters.

Devon Monroe competing Quastor Van De Helle Z  finished 6th in the Low Junior Jumper Classic.

Bernadette Coyle rode Lorca De Caryan and the pair finished 2nd in the Children’s Hunter Classic.

Emmy Middleton riding Delphine placed 4th in the Childrens Hunter Classic.

Kiana Fiore competing Zivago were 6th in the Childrens Hunter Classic.

Denise Clolery riding Sam Adams won the Adult Novice Equitation class.

And last but not least, Kimmy Saul riding Ufonia P. were 4th in the Adult Equitation.

Good morning everyone!

We would like to send out congratulations to Pam, who was appointed to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Equine Commodity Advisory Committee.  This means that she will be addressing equine issues on the national-level for our industry. How awesome is that?! We couldn’t be more proud to have Pam representing the equine industry!

Here are some issues that Pam has already considered:
 1) the issue of needing a CDL license when driving a truck and horse trailer
 2) getting horses put into the Federal definition of agriculture beyond just breeding
3) the impact of the Nutrient Management regulations on our industry.

Pam wants everyone to know that any other issue within Maryland or surrounding states that people would like to be considered, just give her a call or contact her at Rolling Acres.
http://rollacresshowstables.com/

Way to go Pam!! 🙂

Hi everyone!

Rolling Acres riders did a tremendous job this past week in Pensacola despite the usual cold temperatures. Here are the results!

Kevin Foster riding Quintessential were Reserve Champion in the Amateur Owner Hunters and placed 2nd in the Amateur Owner Hunter Classic! Way to go Kevin

Alyson Gurney riding The Golden Compass were Champion in the Junior Hunters and placed 4th in the Junior Hunter Classic. Nikita and Alyson Gurney were Champion in the Child/Adult Jumpers and placed 2nd in the Child/Adult Jumper Classic. Nice job Alyson!

Allison Bergmeyer competed Axtrex and were Reserve Champion in the Junior Hunters and placed 3rd in the Junior Hunter Classic! On Dolce, she placed 7th in the Junior Hunter Classic and riding Axtrex the pair placed 6th in the USEF Medal. Great riding Allison!

Brianna Sims riding Sox Appeal were Champion in the Childrens Hunters! Also, riding  riding Dolce, she won the USEF Medal. Nice job Brianna!

Mary Lisa Leffler riding Just Enjoy were Reserve Champion in the Baby Green Hunters. Competing Denicheur Van De Donkhoeve, Mary placed 2nd in two different Open 1.20 meter classes. Riding Carlot, she placed 3rd and 4th in Open 1.30 classes and 9th in his first Open Welcome. Riding Indy, Mary won an Open 1.20 class and placed 3rd in an Open 1.30 class. Way to go Mary!

Charlotte Williams riding Frontman placed 4th in the Adult Amateur Hunter Classic! Great job!

Kiana Fiore riding Zhivago finished 2nd in the Children’s Hunter Classic. Way to go Kiana!

Blair Miran competed Lariat and were 3rd in the Children’s Hunter Classic! Awesome!

Alexis Mozeleski riding Little Star finished 6th in the Children’s Hunter Classic. Great riding Alexis!

Emmy Middleton competed Delphine and placed 12th in the Children’s Hunter Classic. Nice job Emmy!

Madeline Jordan and Blue Print were Small Pony Reserve Champions. Awesome riding Madeline!

Bernadette Coyle riding Lorca De Caryan was second in the Taylor Harris Medal. Awesome Bernadette!

Devon Monroe riding Quastor Van De Helle Z  were 2nd in the Low Jr/Amateur Jumper Classic! Nice riding Devon!

Courtney Roediger riding Luigi were 3rd in the Child/Adult Jumper Classic. Great job Courtney!

Also, Rolling Acres had quite a few Circuit Champions!
-Just Enjoy and Mary Lisa Leffler were Baby Green Circuit Champions
-Sox Appeal and Mary Lisa Leffler were Pre Green Circuit Champions
-The Golden Compass and Alyson Gurney were Junior Hunter Circuit Champions
-Blue Print and Madeline Jordan were Small Pony Circuit Champions

On the home front back in Maryland, Sgt. Pepper and Connie McRill were Reserve Champion at the McDonogh Winter Show. Way to go Connie!!!

We are so proud of our riders!!

Hi everyone!

Hope you are staying safe in the snow. We wanted to do a quick blog to let you know of some mixups with the results we posted yesterday. Rolling Acres has so many wonderful riders that compete and are always in the ribbons, it’s hard to keep them all straight sometimes!

MaryLisa rode Zivago in the USHJA National Hunter Derby, Frontman in the Special Hunters and Delphine in the Special Hunters.

While many of our riders are down in Florida, on the homefront, here is a cute picture of one of our customers, Katie Kranking, as she is being “groomed” by our Trainer, Melanie Wright’s child Peyton.  Katie said that she even got a carrot for being good on the cross ties!   Picture by Katie.

Rolling Acres riders are continuing their strong start to the 2014 show season in Pensacola, Florida at the Mid Winter Classic II competition.

Results are in and the riders rode wonderfully!

Kiana Fiore placed 7th twice riding Zivago in the Child Hunter 14 and Under division. Also On Zivago she placed 4th in the Taylor Harris Insurance Services Children’s Medal, 6th in the NAL WIHS Child 14 and Under Hunter Classic, and 3rd in the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby. Great Job Kiana!

Bernadette Coyle placed 2nd twice in the Child 15-17 Hunter division on Lorca De Caryan. She also placed 1st in the Taylor Harris Insurance Services Children’s Medal, 3rd in the NAL WIHS Child 15-17 Hunter Classic division and 7th in the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby all on Lorca De Caryan. Nice riding Bernadette!

Allison Bergmeyer rode Axtrex, owned by Paulexi LLC, in the Junior Hunter division and won 2nd, and in the Junior Hunter Classic where she placed 9th. On Dolce, owned by Marion Lowry, she placed 7th in the Junior Hunter division, 8th in the Junior Hunter Classic, and 10th in the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby. Way to go Allison!

Kevin Foster competed Quintessential in the Amateur Owner Hunter 3’6” division finishing 7th and 2nd, and in the Amateur Owner Hunter Classic where he placed 5th. Excellent riding by Kevin!

Addie Jabin won 1st place in the Training Jumper 0.95 m II division, and both classes of the Training Jumper 1.0 m II division aboard Luigi.  Awesome job Addie!

Courtney Logan rode Luigi, owned by Addie Jabin, in the Non Restricted Child Adult Jumper 1.0 m II2b division and placed 6th. She also placed 5th in the Child Adult Jumper 1.10m II2b division on Luigi. Way to go Courtney!

Charlotte Williams riding Frontman, owned by Kasperson, LLC, competed in the Adult Amateur division and won a 4th and a 5th place. In the Special Hunters 2’9 division they won a 2nd and in the NAL WIHS Classic the pair finished in 3rd. Great job Charlotte!

Emmy Middleton rode Delphine to a 1st and 4th place finish in the Child 15-17 Hunter division. On Delphine she also got 2nd in the Special Hunter 2’9” division and 1st in the NAL WIHS Child 15-17 Hunter Classic. Nice riding Emmy!

Alexis Mozeleski placed 8th twice in the Child 15-17 Hunter division on Little Star. She also placed 6th aboard Little Star in the NAL WIHS Child 15-17 Hunter Classic. Wonderful job Alexis!

Charlotte Williams competed Frontman, owned by Kesperon LLC, in the Adult Ameteur division where she placed 5th and 4th. She also placed 2nd on Frontman in the Special Hunter 2’9” division and 3rd in the NAL WIHS Adult Amateur Classic. Way to go Charlotte!

Brianna Sims placed 3rd in the USEF Pessoa Hunt Seat Medal on Dolce, owned by Marion Lowry. Nice job Brianna!

Marylisa Leffler had a busy week! She placed 4th and 8th in the Performance Hunter 3’3” division on Dolce, owned by Marion Lowry. On Quintessential she had two 6th place finishes in the Performance Hunter 3’3” division. In the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby she placed 2nd in Round One, 5th in the Handy Round, and 4th in the Overall, all aboard Quintessential. Mary had three 1st’s and one 2nd on Soxappeal, owned by Winsome Farms, in the Pre Green Hunter division. She also rode Soxapeal in the Pre Green Hunter Under Saddle division and placed 3rd. In the Non Professional 2’9” division she had two 2nd’s, and in the Open Hunter Prep division she won 1st, both aboard Soxappeal.  In the Baby Green Hunter division she rode Just Enjoy, owned by Connie Mcrill, and had two 4ths, a 2nd and a 1st giving her the Champion Ribbon! Way to go Mary!

On Just Enjoy in the Baby Green Hunter Under Saddle division she placed 1st. in the Open Hunter Prep she also placed 1st with Just Enjoy. In the Special Hunter 2’9” division she rode Zivago, owned by Kiana Fiore, where she placed 1st. She had two 3rd place finishes on Indy in the Open Jumper 1.20 m II2b division. In the Open Jumper 1.30m II2b division she placed 1st with Indy. On Carlot she placed 1st in the Open Jumper 1.20m II2b division. Riding Denicheur Van De Donkhoeve, owned by Paulexi LLC, she placed 2nd in the Open Jumper 1.20m II2b division, and 3rd in the Open Jumper 1.30m II2b division. In the Open Welcome II2a.b division she rode Quastor Van De Helle Z, owned by Paulexi LLC, to a 5th place finish.

Well, the first week of Pensacola is in the books, and what a start it was!  It was supposed to be warmer weather (at least, that’s what they tell me) but the “Arctic Vortex” had other ideas!  Heavy coats and toe warmers were quickly unpacked and used.  The horses, who hadn’t been out in days because of the bad weather at home, thought they would show their rodeo moves-they felt really good!  Sheryl had plenty of blankets to keep the horses toasty in their “slightly” chilly southern stalls and everyone settled in quiet nicely.

The beginning of the show week was cancelled because of the cold weather.  The footing, not to mention the pipes, were not used to single digits!  I guess they were wondering how much further south they needed to go to be warm!  (In this case, a long way)  Everyone stayed bundled up and waited out the weather.  Then, just to show her ultimate power, Mother Nature decided to throw in a Monsoon for good measure.  And the show was again delayed while sheets of rain poured down. Finally, clear skies shown again and the competition was able to start for real this time.

This is Mary on the first day in Pensacola.  They called her “Gnome”.

Hi everyone!

Today we are sharing an article with from WTOP. This is Eric Steiner and he used our farm (and our horse manure) for his project on compost.  It’s interesting to see his results, so be sure to check it out!
http://wtop.com/1228/3535958/Turning-waste-into-money-A-compost-story

Steiner drives out to his compost piles at Rolling Acres Farm in Brookeville, Md., on Sept. 15 after picking up a load of used coffee grounds. The trip takes about half an hour from the Chevy Chase Starbucks. (Courtesy Heather Brady)

Happy Monday!

Well…winter is definitely here and has been “killing us!” We spent Friday digging out from the five inches of snow (forecaster said 1”…clearly, he was wrong) and the howling winds that kept blowing the snow back over the driveway.  I would plow, it would drift.  I would plow again, and it would be covered as fast as I would plow.  So we tagged teamed!

Dad plowed, I followed behind in the Gator and when it was clear, I jumped up and down in the field to signal to the guys at the bottom of the driveway hill to head up with the equipment.  I must have looked like a nut.  But it worked!  We got the equipment out and headed to Florida.  Then on Saturday, we had two tractor trailer loads of horses leave.  Everyone at the barn pitched in and we loaded blankets, trunks, and 19 horses, and tack! Then, off they went to Florida!  I tried to sneak in a trunk, but they wouldn’t let me!

We’ll spend the next couple of days getting ready for the arctic freeze forecasted to happen tomorrow.  We had several tractors who went on strike when the temperature was 2°.  Can’t say that I blame them!  We’ll hook them up to heaters to make them more willing to work.  And we’ll be ready for the horses as well.   We’ll have plenty of hay & grain, plus lots of shavings to keep the horses happy.   Then, let’s hope the weather man was wrong again for Tuesday!  Whatever the weather brings, we’ll be ready for it.

Only 75 days until Spring!!!

Whew!

Hi everyone!

We want to send a special congrats and good luck to Patty’s daughter Ashley, who will be heading off in five days to start college at Auburn University!! We couldn’t be more proud of her and can’t believe how fast the time has flown! It seems like just yesterday she was this little: