Braveheart Farm is located in Sudbury, MA. Trainer Katie Schaaf believes in a training environment that is warm and friendly, yet structured and disciplined.
Braveheart specializes in equitation, hunters and jumpers, with a strong emphasis on horsemanship and sportsmanship. Katie named the farm after the horse she had as a junior training with River's Edge in New Jersey. One of her trainers at the time, Gary Zook, died recently. Katie strives to bring Gary's enthusiasm, positivity and keen eye to her lessons. The farm is named in his memory.
Operating as usual
We brought the two biggest and the two smallest to the Sandy Point show. Our new teams each won a class - thank you to Jay and Meaghan for their patience and flexibility! Congratulations to Daniela & Cwilty, Caroline & Ivy, Bella & Liam, and Ari & Tori & Miles! Many thank to Sarah and Ari for keeping the horses and riders happy!
Thank you to Pico and Annie Dotoli for the most wonderful year. Pico graciously taught Bella about course strategy, counter canter and shining under pressure, while all he wanted in return was a few treats and some brushing. The second the bridle went on he was all business, and he never went to a horse show without doing everything he could to win. His outsize personality made him a true friend, making it very hard to say goodbye today. I hope his next rider treasures him as much as we did. Very few horses give their best every single day, but Pico happily does.
Congratulations to Bella Toomey on the lease of Liam! Many thanks to Nancy Murphy and Kathy Fletcher.
Photo by Emily McSweeney Photography.
Pico won't pose, but he's proud of his 8th place finish in the MHC Mini Medal final with Bella Toomey! Isabel Mishara and Swing Time placed 12th, while Grace MacShane and Diamond Rio finished 23rd! Great riding, girls! Our juniors, Emily Chae and Ellie Palmier, rode beautifully in their MHC Junior final debut. Jane Chiavelli earned top scores in the adults, taking home 2nd in the Classic and 5th in the MHC Adult final. Thank you to Sarah Bechtel and Ari Chinoporos for their hard work and patience all weekend.
Congratulations to Jane Chiavelli and Miles for their fifth place finish in the Massachusetts Horsemen's Council 18-30 medal finals!
Today Jane's first pony, Just Jack, now owned by Woodridge Farm, was awarded Pony of the Year by the Massachusetts Horsemen's Council. He has taught dozens of young riders the joys of first canters, conquering challenging courses, and competing.
Congratulations to Jane Chiavelli and Skylar Laakso, joint recipients of the Massachusetts Horsemen's Council sportsmanship award.
Congratulations to North Gate IEA for the championship at the Fall Tournament of Champions for the second year! Emily Chae led the team with the win in the Medal, and Bella Toomey and Hannah Chinoporos each won two classes!
Congratulations to Bella Toomey and Pico for winning the SEHA Mini Medal final with two rounds in the 80s! Isabel Mishara & Swing Time placed fifth in the Mini final, Ellie Palmier & Coach were seventh in the Junior, and Caroline Robelen and Just Between Friends earned third in the Short Stirrup final! Daniela Carvajal won two Short Stirrup equitation classes! Thanks to Kate Coffey, Ari Chinoporos and Allie Pugliese for their constant attention to the riders and horses during a very busy day.
Congratulations to Bella Toomey for her reserve championship in the Northeast Mini Medal Finals! Chloe Koval and Vanilla Sky were double champion in the Pre-Children's, and Just Between Friends earned top ribbons with Daniela Carvajal and Caroline Robelen.
Congratulations to Ari Chinoporos and Miles, champions of the Rhode Island Mini Medal Finals. Ari also won the Classic and was second in horsemanship. Jane Chiavelli won the Adult Classic and finished third in horsemanship. Bella Toomey earned seventh in the Mini Classic and in horsemanship!
Congratulations to all our riders at MHJ Finals, every one of whom rode beautifully! A special congratulations to Ari Chinoporos & Miles, the winners of the Children's Medal, and Emily Chae & Bastille, for their 12th place finish in the Junior Medal. Thank you to Sarah Bechtel, Jenny Duffy and Jane Chiavelli for their outstanding support of our riders and horses.
Congratulations to Ellie Palmier and Coach, today's winners of the Open Eq and the SEHA Junior! Thanks to Jay Sargent for lending Mattie to Jane Chiavelli for the MHJ Adult, in which they picked up the blue.
In addition to bike riding at Northampton, we did some riding of horses as well. Bella Toomey earned the championship in Novice Eq, won the 2'6" hunter classic, and was second in the 2'6" eq classic! Ari Chinoporos won top ribbons in Novice and Children's eq, as well as completing some jumper classes. Emily Chae continues to improve with Bastille, showing successfully in all three rings. Many thanks to Kate Coffey, Nanu Mehta, Miles, Pico and Bastille for their hard work in stifling heat.
In between classes, Braveheart goes bike riding.
Congratulations to our gaggle of girls at Head of the Bay, and thank you to Grazing Fields for their gracious hospitality. Bella Toomey and Pico took home championships in the Child Special Hunters and the GFF 14 and Under Equitation, as well as the win in the GFF Mini Medal Classic! Isabel Mishara won the MHJ Mini and was third in the derby with the top first round score. Emily Chae won the MHJ Junior, while Ellie Palmier won the MHC Junior. Jane Chiavelli won the MHC Adult. Grace MacShane, Cate Swan, Ari Chinoporos and Rena Repenning all pinned in their derbies. We had a marvelous time. Thank you to our dream team of grooms: Skylar Laakso, Sarah Bechtel and Kate Coffey!
Congratulations to Bella Toomey for winning the GFF Mini Medal Classic!
Mini medal champions 2020?
Thank you to Mel, Tanya and all of Grazing Fields for hosting the best event of 2016. Braveheart's three teams won (or tied for the win) in three of four games! Congratulations to GFF's Team Optimism for the overall win!
Happy birthday to Diamond Rio, who celebrated with a championship in the Child/Adult hunters at Cornerstone (and also with cupcakes at home). Get Crackin' and Allie Pugliese earned the reserve championship in the same division. Isabel Mishara and Swing Time won the MHC mini, and Jane Chiavelli qualified for NEHC on Monica Hunt's awesome Whisper.
Congratulations to our riders at Herring Brook, and thank you to Herring Brook for their beautiful facility and stress-free show. Emily Chae and Bastille won the MHC Junior, notching their first blue together. Tori Khaghani and Stakilot earned the Ch/Ad Hunter championship, with Miles and Ari Chinoporos picking up reserve. Ari also won the Marshall and Sterling, while Tori won the MHJ Children's Medal. Isabel Mishara and Swing Time won the MHJ Mini. Just Between Friends picked up championships in Short Stirrup Eq and Hunters, with Caroline Robelen and Daniela Carvajal, respectively.
It was a perfectly lovely day at Sandy Point. Congratulations to Maya Ron and Get Crackin', whose diligent work paid off with a sweep of the Modified Adult Equitation! Tori Khaghani made her debut with Stakilot, winning the RIHA Mini Medal, Child Eq flat and Child Eq reserve championship. Caroline Robelen and Just Between Friends won four Short Stirrup classes! Rena Repenning and Benvolio earned good ribbons in the junior medals, improving with each trip. Miles, who loves to go to Sandy Point, won the M&S and Child Eq championship with Ari Chinoporos, and the RIHA adult with Jane Chiavelli. We'd like to congratulate our friend, Maddie Ahern, on her wins in the RIHA junior and NEHC!
This pic sums it up: we had a great day at Norfolk! Congratulations to Caroline Robelen for her win in her Short Stirrup debut with Bear, and Victoria Lesser for her win in her Maiden debut! Bella Toomey and Pico won both Novice classes, and Ari Chinoporos and Miles won the M&S. Ellie Palmier and Living the Dream earned second in the derby. Daniela Carvajal and Grace MacShane picked up great ribbons as well. Thank you to Ari, Kate Coffey and Jane Chiavelli for getting us through a busy and very hot day!
2016 IEA national champions, middle and high school. Congratulations North Gate!
Congratulations to Emily Chae and Ari Chinoporos for their outstanding results in the IEA Nationals horsemanship competition. Emily placed sixth among middle schoolers and Ari won the overall written test and practicum!
Congratulations to Grace MacShane of the North Gate middle school team for earning reserve national champion in Novice Flat!
These mini medal
horses make life so easy! The girls are delightful too.⭐️ Congratulations to Grace MacShane and Diamond Rio for their win in the Marshall and Sterling, Bella Toomey and Pico for winning the SEHA, and Ari Chinoporos and Miles for winning the RIHA. Thanks and congratulations to "course designer Emily" Chae for her debut in the juniors with Bastille.
Barney dropped in to check on horsemanship class. He's always welcome.
Congratulations to the North Gate IEA team: Zone 1 champions for middle and high school!
First, congratulations to Jane Chiavelli on qualifying for IHSA Zone Finals! Back in New England, her horse, Miles, was busy winning the SEHA Mini with Ari Chinoporos at Sandy Point. Emily Chae was champion in the children's hunters with Jay Sargent's Holy Moly, while Grace MacShane picked up lots of mini medal points on Diamond Rio. Bella Toomey and Pico won the MHJ and RIHA Mini Medals, as well as the Children's Eq championship!
Everyone at Braveheart Farm wishes the best of luck to Skylar Laakso and Jane Chiavelli tomorrow in their IHSA championship shows. Jane is competing at Regionals in Intermediate Flat, and Skylar is competing at Western Semi-Finals (not a typo)! Congratulations also to Skylar on her recent election to Captain of the Centenary hunt seat team!
Hats off to the North Gate IEA team, qualifying both the middle and high school teams for Zones! Congratulations to our individual qualifiers: Kate Coffey (Open Flat), Garrett White (Intermediate Fences), Emily Chae (Future Intermediate Flat and Fences), Grace White (JV Novice Fences), Ari Chinoporos (JV Novice Flat), Allie Pugliese (JV Novice Flat), Grace MacShane (Future Novice Flat and Grace Annino (Future Novice Flat). For the second year in a row, Emily Overton earned the Regionals sportsmanship award. Emily will receive a copy of the new George Morris biography courtesy of Karen Robertson Terry. Also, two horses important to the Braveheart family were recognized as Best Horse, which gives us great joy. Jane Chiavelli's first BigEq horse, Paris, now owned by Lindstedt Show Stables, was Best Horse at region 5 & 6 finals, and Century Mills' Cupid, who was Skylar Laakso's large pony hunter, was Best Horse at region 3 & 4 finals.
The North Gate girls are hearty, resilient and stars! Team Raleigh won the reserve championship at the Tournament of Champions, taking North Gate into the lead for the series standings. Kate Coffey led the way winning open flat and the TOC Medal, and being named Most Outstanding Rider. Blue ribbons also came home with Ari Chinoporos, Bella Toomey, Bridget Annino and Allie Pugliese.
Thank you to Lia Chafee and Mary Beth Magee of Herring Brook Farm for their warm welcome! Thank you also to Meaghan Monahan, Sarah Bechtel and Kate Coffey for keeping our crew on track! All of our girls moved up and/or rode new horses competently and proudly. Ellie Palmier won the MHJ Junior Medal, her very first class with Coach. Bella Toomey and Pico won the MHC and SEHA mini medals. Grace MacShane and Diamond Rio were reserve champion in the child/adult hunters, and picked up great mini medal ribbons. Ari Chinoporos and Miles were champion in the child/adult hunters, a new field for Miles! Daniela Carvajal won short stirrup eq on the flat, and Caroline Robelen won the hack!
Pony Finals pics arrived, and they are gorgeous. The pony and rider are beautiful, many thanks to Skylar Laakso for turning them out perfectly.
999 Concord Rd
Sudbury, MA
01776
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