Manor Hill Farm

05/27/2026

The real horse girl:
I was watching Lynne ride today after having a double hip replacement. She has come so far and has been so patient and is trying so hard to just do the thing that lives in her blood. I personally would have used that kind of pain to give up. I would have used it as an excuse. Not Lynne. She is going to Sally Cousins lesson tomorrow. She’s only a few months out of recovery and after watching her ride today she is ready for her big league trainer.

I admire that so much. It takes guts, and true real passion to want to keep going, training, and learning. She went through months of extreme pain all so she can ride again. She could barely walk after surgery and still…. Came to see her horse. Talk about a true horsewoman.
I had to tell her what a bad ass I thought she was today … in true Lynne fashion she said…
“I can’t live my life without this. I would go insane!”
What Lynne has gone through to get here was not fun. It is almost time for that moment.
Me: “Next time… I’m going to make you jump while holding glasses of grape juice and white breeches. We might as well have fun too.”( I already know Lynne could do a full course without spilling a drop.) Lynne laughed… maybe next month. Knowing full well… I plan on doing this fun surprise eventually.

I just wish she knew in her head how good she really is. Her doubt is the only thing that shakes her. These new hips are going to take her places that would wow her when she was 15.
Good job today Lynne! You are a bad ass. My hat is tipped to you. Have fun with greatness tomorrow! And… yes. You are ready, and yes… you will be great. And yes… there will be grape juice in the future to prove that you are the G.O.A.T.

05/24/2026

Ava and Grace went swimming at the OVCTA dressage show at Ludwig's this morning. Thank you to Karen for braiding, Nicole for coaching, Zoe, and Nicole for dressage lessons, and the OVCTA for hosting. It was cold, sloppy, and wet, but we were pleasantly surprised with 63% in training 1 and 2. Not their finest test due to the wet conditions, but the judge was very kind and fair. Hopefully, one day we will get to a horse show where the weather is perfect (72, sunny with no wind is ideal). I'm proud of Ava for not scratching when both of them were not wanting to play in the rain; it takes a lot of grit to perform in the yucky conditions.

05/21/2026

Gotta love a day off on a rainy day. I want to give a big shout out to my barn worker Karen who gets here extra early, mucks the stalls, brings in and feeds the horses for me a few days a week so I can get some other morning chores done. Reliable is what she is. I’m always relieved to see her here. It’s a weight off my shoulders.

My boys missed the bus this morning. Without Karen, I would have been frantically rushing to get to the barn. I didn’t have to stress. I knew everything was in good hands.

Today it started raining and like a champ she battled through the chores and got them in before the rain . Handling horses in bad weather is a pain. My barn helpers are the backbone to this farm and never complain.

I need a few mornings and evenings off to juggle all the other things on my plate. Burn out is big. Without the help I wouldn’t be able to keep going 100% and keep things running smoothly while also being a good mom. It’s a circus of many different hats. Kids sports, trailering to lessons, juggling all day horse shows, managing the office, and house.

So much of the other stuff falls onto Mr. Luke to help me be in two places at once. He often is mucking, throwing hay, filling water tubs, turning out horses for me while I’m away. It takes away his time to mow, w**d wack, fix broken things. We rarely have a weekend to do family things or even eat food together. It’s a busy life. We are all in different places with long lists.

We can always use more helpful hands on weekends to bring in/ turn out feed and to cover days when Karen is braiding for horse shows. We can always use extra help with landscaping too. We have a long summer ahead.

Care, attention to detail, reliable help, extra eyes, extra hands. Horse knowledge. A job well done. All of it is priceless on a farm like this. We love our good helpers- they are our backbone to success. It gives us extra time to focus on our kids. They grow up so fast.

05/10/2026

What a day. Thankyou Lynne for starting our day off easy with beautiful dressage braids. We headed to plantation for Avas first recognized starter show. Grace and Ava gave it their all. They earned a 32.8 in dressage placing them in 3rd out of 12. They went clear in jumping and in the time. It bumped them up to second. With the rain Ava took it a bit cautiously on the hills. No studs. They were trucking their way around and had a run out. They quickly circled and cleared the table and finished within the time and came home with a 6th.
A huge Thankyou goes to Nancy and Nicole for coaching today. It was some of the best riding I have seen from this pair. The wet grass adds in a little doubt. It’s great to come home with homework. We couldn’t have asked for a better pony that constantly surprises us each time. Ava as always loved hanging out with her pony club friends and no matter what is very proud of her best friend Grace. A champion pony no matter what- even if she does hate wearing braids.

05/04/2026

Happy Birthday Dr. Jess Rexroth!!! Life is so much easier with you in charge of the gross clinical stuff on this farm. Thanks for keeping our animals happy and thriving and always being there for us in a heartbeat. We love you!!

05/02/2026

We ventured to the Trails End Farm horseshow at Ludwig’s today to just have a bit of quick fun.
We got a call from our trainer asking where we were. I did the time math wrong on counts. We missed the pleasure division we signed up for and made it just in time to do the next division in Equitation 2’-2’3 instead.
We were in such a rush that Ava forgot her helmet. Luckily, we had an extra in the trailer. We had maybe 5 minutes to groom and warm up. Ava and Grace were fantastic on a time crunch. They had perfect rounds in jumping. Came home with champion. This is why we practice. Now we know how to rush and what we need in case we need to be ready in under 10 minutes. Plus, how to calm the adrenaline of being late and getting our head in the game. Nothing flusters this pair. Everything went wrong but they still conquered the riding part.

We love the trails end horse shows. They are so nice, run smoothly and are very accommodating. Quickest hunter show around. It was a fun day of practice and learning. In and out.
Congrats on champion Ava and Grace you both work well under extreme pressure.

04/29/2026

We need sponsors for the Pickering Pony Club. Please sign up if you would like your business advertised in our Pickering hunt pony show brochure, social media and website! Every dollar helps our club. Click on the link below to easily sign up.

Linktree. Make your link do more.

04/25/2026

I need to do another congrats speech to Kayla, Ava and Riley. They studied hard, and presented their ponies today for their pony club certifications. These tests are not easy, let me assure you I would have failed the C-1 from common knowledge. It all has to be researched and come directly from the pony club text book.
Ava achieved her C-1 rating in riding and horsemanship on Grace.
Kayla got her C-1 Horsemanship certification on Dixie.
Riley got her D-3 in HM and Riding today on Dixie. As always these pony clubbers rise to the expectation and get it done even during bad weather. Luckily they postponed xc for Riley’s test. It was too dangerous to ride. A later congrats on passing that is assumed. Good job ladies. We are very proud of your ponies and achievements today!
* Thankyou Firefly Farm for hosting and Cherie Gaebel for testing.

04/23/2026

This barn would not exist without Luke. He financed the build, contracted all the workers to build it, and continues to maintain the grounds and anything that breaks or needs upgrading. Keep in mind he also has a full time job funding our equestrian dreams, while also filling in for us a barn manager on days we are away. Happy Birthday Luke! Today, you get a day off from mucking stalls, bringing in horses, or getting the list of things to do. We appreciate everything you do and the dream you have created for so many. We love you!

04/20/2026

Could not be prouder of Kayla (Jade) Jades first dressage show!!! , Riley (Dixie) , and Ava (Grace ) this weekend at pony club dressage rally. All three ponies and girls were on separate teams. These ladies bathed their ponies and loaded their trailers, labeled all their equipment and gave their best dressage effort in the freezing rain and all came out with amazing scores for horsemanship and riding! Riley got a medal for being a select few to get over a 70%! Big Thankyou to Nancy, and Nicole Ligon for coaching! And… a huge Thankyou to Zoe for prepping all three kids the day before on their dressage tests. It clearly paid off. These kids and ponies are constantly impressing me in the wow factor. Well done ladies!!! Very proud of all of you.