Spring Haven Show Stables - Tasha Plunket

10/02/2023

Such a beautiful weekend for the 2023 CPJHSA Benefit show, and so thankful for the best barn family who helped set up, tear down stalls and trailer horses. Also, so thankful for Gwen coming along to groom for the weekend. We couldn’t have done it without your help!

Congratulations to all our horses and riders:
Shiny and Lily - grand hopeful jumper champion winning all 3 classes!
Emma and Twister - 3rd in the CPJHSA low equitation finals!
Liora and Allison - class winner over fences in the low adult hunters
Ember and Brooke - class winner in the over fences modified hunters
Winston and Scarlett - class winner in walk trot
Winston and Iris - rocked the leadline with their best trot class yet
Stewie and Gracie - good ribbons in the modified hunters
Clinto and Katie - great first horse show together - their future is bright!
Preston and Tasha - class winner in baby greens

09/09/2023

Colonial Classic 2023

09/04/2023

2023 Colonial Classic. What an amazing show for our crew!

Nicole and Hefner were champion in the modified hunter division out of 40 entries. Congratulations, Nicole! You and Hefner were amazing.

Emma Welch’s Twister competed in the professional division and the adult equitation division. He earned a score of 85 in the second round of the professional classic to end up 3rd in that class out of 40 entries. He also earned a ribbon in every adult equitation class with Emma on board. Congratulations, Emma!

Brooke and Ember were 3rd and 9th out of 33 baby green hunters. Congratulations, Brooke!

Karina and Summer were 6th and 10th out of 45 ponies in the short stirrup equitation division. Congratulations, Karina!

08/17/2023

08/13/2023

Exception to the Rule owned by Brooke Barnhart had a great first show winning 3 out of 4 classes. I can’t wait to watch this mare develop and to watch Brooke and her become a strong team. Congratulations, Brooke!

Congratulations also to Scarlett and Winston for earning reserve champion in the older walk trot division and to Abby and Tater for earning reserve champion in long stirrup.

07/30/2023

A last minute change in plans due to high temps and humidity had us headed to CJL at Radnor today instead of going to Swan Lake earlier this weekend. I’m so glad we made that choice because it was a beautiful day to show, and our team did great!

07/16/2023

We had such a fun weekend showing at the Brass Ring at Devon. I love the camaraderie that is fostered at away/over night show. Everyone helps each other, cheers each other on, works together to care for the horses and celebrates together. Congratulations to all our horses and riders. I’m very proud of you 😍

07/09/2023

For the second half of the State College Show Series, the jumper riders joined us. We had fun group dinners, a trip to the Creamery and participated in some different classes like the team challenge and the derby.

The Lion Country Results

Speedy P - .Pre-Child/Adult .90 meter jumper champion winning ALL the classes and .90 low jumper reserve champion (tie)

Shine On - Special jumper .80 meter champion winning 3 of the 4 classes and .90 low jumper reserve champion (tie)

Got Rhythm - reserve champion in the low children’s hunters out of 15 horses winning 2 of the over fences classes

It’s Just Us - champion in walk trot, reserve champion in the modified hunter pro, leadline pony extraordinaire

Twister - 7th out of 45 horses in the 2’6” low derby and good ribbons in the pre-adult equitation

Lasting Impression - good ribbons in a competitive baby green division

Again, many thanks to all my clients for their help! It definitely takes a village to make these shows run smoothly and successfully. Thanks also to Springs Equine Performance Services for helping our horses to feel and perform at their best.

07/09/2023

One of my favorite shows to attend is the State College show series. It’s a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work to go to a week long away show. Our team worked together to support each other, and we walked away with amazing results.

The Mt. Nittany Classic Results

It’s Just Us - champion hopeful hunter pro, champion walk-trot ground rails, class winner of walk-trot
Twister - champion in the Happy Valley 2’6” equitation
Lasting Impression - reserve champion baby greens
Got Rhythm - great ribbons in the low children’s hunters

Many thanks to all my clients for their help and to Springs Equine Performance Services and Sagmae for helping our horses feel their best.

06/25/2023

All hands were on deck yesterday so that 10 horses could attend the Make A Wish benefit show. Huge thank you to Laura Snavely for running a wonderful show that supports a great cause. We plan to attend every year!

Thank you as to everyone from the barn that helped make the day run smoothly - Nicole and Maddie - thanks for holding, trailering, tacking, organizing and supporting everyone all day. Emma - thanks for keeping things organized at home and managing the preparations. Thanks to everyone else who came to watch, hang out and cheer us on. It was a fun day!

06/19/2023

Never a dull moment at Spring Haven! This weekend two congratulations are in order. First, Congratulations to Brooke on her new horse “Exception to the Rule”. I’m so excited to see you and Ember become a team. Many thanks to Terry Stephens Maven for selling us this sweet mare. Secondly, congratulations to Nicole and Hefner for rocking their horse show today. They won all 3 jumping classes and got a score of 78 in the handy round!

06/12/2023

Another busy, but successful show weekend in the books!

On Sunday, 5 horses traveled to Heritage Acres to compete.
*Stewie and Gracie had their best and most consistent show yet and were reserve champion in the modified hunters.
*Maddie and Rhythm were at the top of their game and earned champion in the pre-child hunters.
*Preston and Tasha were reserve champion in the baby greens. (Many thanks to Sharon for bathing him and Sophia for riding him on Saturday while Tasha was judging!)
*Allison and Liora got great ribbons in the low hunters against several professional riders with top horses.
*Emma and Twister had solid rounds and met all their personal show goals in the pre-adult hunters.

On Saturday, while Tasha was judging in Maryland, Nicole and Hefner and Liz and Vinnie headed to Bridge Acres and had a successful show as well. A huge thank you to Emma for stepping up to lead the day at the show on Saturday.

I’m so grateful that I get to spend my time with the best horses and people on these busy weekends. I love it and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else 🥰

05/29/2023

So proud and happy for all these riders and so thankful for all these wonderful horses. Days like today make all the hard work worth it💕Congratulations to:
Maddie and Rhythm - Pre-child/adult champion
Emma and Twister - Pre-child/adult reserve champion
Scarlett and Winston - walk-trot champion out of 10 riders
Allison and Liora - Low hunter champion

Thanks to Betsy Morret for hosting a lovely well-run show.

05/25/2023

Riding is probably less than 10% of my job.

‘I want to just ride’ - Say this to any seasoned professional in the game and they will look at you like ‘Oh honey’ 😂

You have to learn to be a rider, groom, horseman/women, business owner, lead a team, handle clients and alongside all this you’ve still got to muck out and pick a broom up until you can earn enough money to have someone help you do this whilst you are doing something else to earn this said money.

‘I want to just ride’ doesn’t exist and if you see someone doing that you have no idea how hard they worked to get in that position. So get sweeping my friend ♥️

05/22/2023

Loved spending the week at the Blue Rock “AA” horse show. I’m very proud of our horses and riders that competed. Lily and Shiny were back in action and in winning form. Two 1sts and a 4th place in the .70 meter jumpers earned them reserve champion out of 15 horses. Sophia and Tron also had a great show earning ribbons in every class including an 11th in the 2’/2’6” derby and a 2nd over fences in the modified ponies. Finally, Preston had some amazing jumps at his first AA rated horse show and even earned a ribbon out of an incredible group of 20 baby greens.

I also had the chance to catch up with several old friends, watch many top horses compete and listen to many top trainers as I sat by the in gates to learn. Overall, it was a great week of horse showing.

Many thanks to Gianna Egan for the beautiful braids, to Springs Equine Performance Services for keeping the horses comfortable and to Emma Welch for being a great groom for Preston.

05/14/2023

A little rain didn’t dampen Spring Haven’s spirits today at the Bridge Acres show. Congratulations to all the horses and riders on a successful day, and thank you so much to everyone who made the day run smoothly!
- Karina and Summer were awesome and earned reserve champion in short stirrup
- Maddie and Rhythm! back in action after a year off to be reserve champion in the low children’s hunters
- Emma and Twister first time showing together at 2’6” earned reserve champion in the adult equitation
- Scarlett and Winston had a great day and were champion in the older walk trot division
- Vinnie and Liz had good ribbons in the modified divisions, but more importantly they nailed some awesome lead changes!
- Last but not least, Nicole and Hef had some great ribbons and smooth, confidently ridden courses in the novice equitation division

05/08/2023

Such a beautiful day to be outside enjoying a horse show with 7 horses and an amazing group of people. Thank you to everyone for lending a helping hand and cheering each other on. It made the day fun and successful!

Congratulations to:

Brooke and Monte - champion in a big modified hunter division
Nicole and Petri - champion in .90 meter jumpers
Preston and Tasha - champion in the baby greens
Allison and Liora - good ribbons in a competitive group of low hunters
Sophia and Tron - good ribbons in the big modified hunter division
Stewie and Gracie and Katie and Acorn also showed and had good learning experiences in the modified hunters and the itty bitty jumpers.

04/23/2023

It was a lovely spring weekend for horse showing. Congratulations to Preston for earning the reserve champion out of 10 horses at Hollyhurst in the baby greens and to Nicole and Petri for earning reserve champion at the CJL horse show in the .90 meter jumpers. Scarlett and Winston also had a good show and earned ribbons in every walk trot class at Hollyhurst.

04/05/2023

Interesting study. I currently ride at home in a KOne helmet (ranked # 34) and show in a Charles Owens AYR8 (ranked # 7). ***I realize the link says football, but if you click on it, it takes you to riding helmets***

https://helmet.beam.vt.edu/equestrian-helmet-ratings.html #!

Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings - Football helmets have been tested to evaluate their ability to reduce brain injury risk.

04/01/2023

Congratulations to Scarlett and Winston for earning reserve champion out of 8 riders in the walk trot division today. Scarlett did a great job navigating the busy ring, and Winston was a perfect pony 🥰

03/19/2023

It was a great day for all our horses and riders at the Brass Ring show. Scarlett and Winston were reserve champion in walk trot. Karina and Summer had great rounds in the short stirrup equitation and hunters and got better each trip. Leah and Liora and Nicole and Hefner both competed in a huge modified hunter division with 19 horses. Nicole and Hefner had solid rounds and showed growth from their last show, and Leah and Liora earned 2nd and 6th over fences and 3rd under saddle. Special thanks to Deb Eidemiller for her help today and to Lisa Glenn for coming along to cheer us on.

03/12/2023

Congratulations to Nicole and Petri for being champion in the .80 meter division today at the Swan Lake “A” show. They won all 3 classes. What a great start to the show season for them!

03/11/2023

A quick trip to the CJL show was successful. Preston was champion in the baby greens. A huge thank you to Taylor Willever for the beautiful rides. And Brooke and Monte had their most consistent show yet and tied for reserve champion in the modified hunters.

02/12/2023

Super proud of all the horses that showed at Swan Lake today. They were very well behaved, tried hard, and made progress. Congratulations to:

Preston - champion in the training hunter pro division
Stewie and Gracie - training hunter junior division ribboned in every class and won the under saddle out of 11 horses! This was Stewie and Gracie’s best show yet.
Twister - 2nd over fences out of 15 in the low performance hunter division

Huge thank you to Nicole and Emma for all their hard work and help today.

02/09/2023

Grateful to have Sagmae on our team. Their expertise in saddle fitting helps our horses perform their best!

01/25/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100063471372677/posts/637851635007210/?

“Unless you have several horses to ride and jump often, don’t underestimate the value of practice over poles on the ground. You can incorporated them daily with your flatwork with little or no impact on your horse in comparison to jumping. If you have access to cavaletti practice over them will give you a little more feel of a jump and emphasize a distance mistake more clearly than a pole. Even a low will be sufficient, and again be minimal stress on the horse compared to jumping higher fences.
Imagine if you practiced 25 poles daily, 4 days a week. That’s 400 times in a month you have practiced seeing and executing a distance in addition to the amount of jumps you may have jumped. Now that’s progress!”

To view exercises to improve your eye on Equestriancoach.com go to 👇
Exercises to Develop a Better Eye: Part 1-A http://www.equestriancoach.com/content/exercises-develop-better-eye-part-1
(Look for Part 1-B and 2 under the part 1 video)

Eye Exercise Tips 👇
http://www.equestriancoach.com/content/eye-exercise-tips

Winning Eye Exercises by John French 👇
http://www.equestriancoach.com/content/winning-eye-exercises

Cavaletti Safety Tips 👇
http://www.equestriancoach.com/content/cavalletti-safety-tip

01/24/2023

Sending a huge congratulations to Scarlett and the Elliott family on their purchase of Harry, now known as Winston. A million thank yous to Renee Elliott for connecting us to this amazing pony and to Buckwild Farm for selling him to us. You made this little girl’s dreams come true 💕

12/19/2022

Cold, but fun start to the new show season!

*Two riders moved up to new divisions and did well. Scarlett and Summer showed in short stirrup for the first time and Gracie and Stewie showed in 2’ modified hunters for the first time.
*Brooke and Monte, Liz and Vinnie and Nicole and Hefner all competed in the modifed hunters and earned ribbons out of 16 horses!
*Tasha and Preston had a successful show in the 2’6” baby greens

Congratulations to all the riders on a successful show and thanks to all our horses for being kind to us even on cold, dark and long show days!

12/08/2022

Good article!
I love the 2nd point “Horses learn from the release of pressure”.

Whether you’re in an intense jumping lesson with your trainer or casually hacking on your own, we teach our horse every time we sit on it. What’s important is that we use this super power for good! It’s just as easy to train your horse bad habits as it is good ones, and these often […]

11/21/2022

Super proud of all the horses and riders who showed at the Partridge Run Fall Classic “A” show at Swan Lake this weekend. Lots of great ribbons and lots of goals achieved. Congratulations to:
Nicole and Petri - 1st, 2nd, 2nd .80 and .90 meters
Alli and Oslo - 3rd and 4th .80 meters
Brooke and Monte - 2nd, 4th, 8th modified hunters
Allison and Liora - 3rd, 4th, 6th, 6th pre-adults
Sophia and Tron - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th in large pony hunters

09/28/2022

We are proud to introduce Emma Welch as our new full-time barn manager. We are so grateful to have Emma here to provide the highest level of care for our horses and to help keep the barn running in a smooth and organized manner.

Emma grew up in Lititz, PA and started riding at age 8. She has been a part of Spring Haven for almost 4 years as both an employee and rider.

Emma graduated from Warwick High School in June 2022 before making the shift into the horse world full time.

She is passionate about horses; she has an incredible work ethic, and she has a strong desire to continue to learn and grow as a horsewoman. We are lucky to have Emma as an integral member of our Spring Haven team!

09/28/2022

This past weekend four horses attended the CPJHSA benefit show at Swan Lake. We had a fun time, and everyone did a great job.
Sophia and Tron - reserve champion in the large children pony division, 5th in the green glen medal finals, and 3rd in the classic with two scores of 78.
Brooke and Monte - under saddle winner and great ribbons over fences in the modified hunters.
Scarlett and Summer - this was Scarlett’s first rated horse show and she did a great job in walk trot, and Summer looked adorable in her braids.
Finally Preston was a really good boy for the baby greens.

08/15/2022

Yesterday was a fun and busy day at the Bridge Acres show. Lots of riders had their personal best show, a few horses did the derby in the field, and everyone hung out and enjoyed the beautiful weather and horses. Congratulations to:
Karina and Summer - younger walk trot champion
Leah and Liora - clean sweep and champion in crossrail hunter
Scarlett and Summer - older walk trot reserve champion
Liz and Vinnie - baby green reserve champion
4 year old Blossom was a rock star doing leadline with Ceci and her first crossrail derby in a field with a Maddie
Nicole and Hefner had their best show ever at 2’ foot with smooth and consistent rounds and even earned a 2nd out of 12 riders.
Brooke and Monte had good trips and ribbons in the modified hunter division
Gracie and Stewie had their best show yet and won a class in beginner rider.
Thanks to everyone who pitches in to make things run smoothly and efficiently. We couldn’t do it without your help 🥰

07/28/2022

Preston looking adorable in the Dixon Oval at the Brass Ring horse show. Photo credit: Hoof Print Images

07/18/2022

2 of 2 post “ Brass Ring at Devon” Results

A huge congratulations to all of our horses and riders for their success this weekend. All seven horses walked away with a least one ribbon which is an amazing accomplishment. Here are the results:

Brooke and Monte were phenomenal together and earned champion in the local pleasure division out of 45 horses with 2 firsts under saddle and a 3rd over fences.

Allison and Liora were reserve champion in the 2’6” pleasure division winning the over fences class with one of their best trips ever.

Leah and Liora, a new partnership, earned 2nd and 3rd in the beginner rider division out of 27 entries. They were great at their first show.

Abby and Tater competed in the local pleasure division and made it to the top 12 out of 45 entries. They got better each class and rocked the jumping portion.

Liz and Vinnie looked like seasoned pros in the developing hunter and baby green divisions. They earned 4th and 6th under saddle and two 2nds in the over fences out of 27 and 23 horses!

Nicole and Hefner competed in the modified adults and earned a 4th out of 27 in the under saddle.

Marilu and Vista competed in the pre adults and earned 6th out of 24 in the second over fences class.

And last but not least, Preston, in his baby green year, marched around the Dixon Oval unfazed by the atmosphere and won his under saddle class in the green hunter division.

Thanks to Emma for all her hard work grooming and caring for the horses and for helping to keep things organized.

Thank you also to Chris and Nicole for trailering and to Gianna Egan for the beautiful braids. Thank you also to Sagmae for fitting a our horses with top quality saddles so they can perform their best!

07/17/2022

1 of 2 posts “Brass Ring at Devon”

What a fun weekend! We are blessed to have an amazing unrated show at a special historic venue with friendly staff, great judges, top notch footing, wonderful prizes and a high level of organization. This show was truly a pleasure to attend, and it is now one of my all time favorites. Thank you Brass Ring Horse Shows.

It was also fun because we have an amazing barn family! I’m so grateful for the sense to teamwork and camaraderie that was seen throughout the entire weekend. Everyone chipped in to help out with holding a horse, doing barnwork, grooming for another rider, bringing snacks and drinks, etc. We wouldn’t have been as successful and things wouldn’t have run as smoothly without everyone’s help. Emma and I were very grateful! Also, everyone cheered eachother on and celebrated together and so many people who weren’t showing came to support the riders. The dinners were filled with laughter, and the group night checks were amusing. My heart was full, and I loved every minute of this weekend. This is what horse showing should be about. Thank you to each and everyone one of you for making it a perfect show 🥰

07/11/2022

We took a quick trip to the Cross Road show on Sunday with a small, but mighty team of Spring Haven riders. Endless love and gratitude for Summer who continues to make kids smile while she gives them safe first show experiences and super proud of Acorn who acted like an old pro at his second show.

I’m also very proud of all the riders! Scarlett was champion out of 8 riders in the novice walk trot division; Karina was champion out of 12 riders in mini-stirrup, and Katie won an open walk trot class. Congratulations to all of you for a fun and successful show.

06/26/2022

Today 9 horses attended the Make A Wish Benefit show Millstone Stables, LLC. It was a beautiful facility and a well-run show with amazing prizes. Best of all, it benefited a great cause.
Here are some highlights from the day. Thanks to Mya Graybill for the amazing pictures.

Ali and Poppy won the 3’ jumper stake class at their first show together.
Katie and Acorn were reserve champion in the open walk trot. It was Acorn’s first show ever, and Katies’s first show in 20 years!
Mya and Danny and Liz and Vinnie rocked the derby that required them to jump out the ring and jump some fences in a field. They earned the 6th and 7th place ribbon.
Liz and Vinnie were also stars in the baby green division and earned champion, while Preston and Tasha were reserve in that division.
Nicole and Petri won a class in the jumpers, and Karina and Summer won a class in mini-stirrup.
Finally, Alli and Oslo won good ribbons in all 3 jumper classes, and Brooke and Monte earned good ribbons in the low hunters and won a class in the pleasure division.
Great job to everyone who showed, and thanks for everyone who came to help and cheer us on. It was a fun day.

06/13/2022

Super proud of all our horses and riders who competed this weekend. Lots of great ribbons, but also lots of personal bests and goals achieved.

Congratulations to:

Heritage Acres - Sunday
Marilu and Vista - champion in the pre-adults. This was Marilu’s first show in 7 years, and she rocked it!
Allison and Liora - reserve champion in the pre-adults winning the under saddle class.

Bridge Acres - Saturday
Gracie and Stewie - champion in beginner rider. This was their best show yet, and they made many improvement from the last time they showed.
Addy and Chance - reserve champion in crossrail hunters. Addy has spent a year training Chance, an OTTB, to jump, and it was awesome to see them canter their first course at a show!
Brooke and Monte - did a great job competing in their first show together and got ribbons out of a huge group of 16 modified hunters.
Nicole and Hefner - had their personal best courses over 2’ fences and earned a 3rd place in the under saddle out of 16 horses in the modified hunter.
Maddie and Blossom - Maddie successfully piloted 4 year old Blossom around her first 2’ course. The pony was great and gained confidence and experience.
Scarlett and Summer - Scarlett competed in her first horse show ever in the walk trot division and earned ribbons in every class out of 13 riders.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in and helped to make this weekend run smoothly and successfully. It certainly takes a village, and I’m so lucky to be surrounded by the best one 🥰