Horse Riding Activities HolidayHorseCare.com Bozeman

HHC Rides in Logan Hunter Pace

Several riders at HolidayHorseCare.com (HHC) are members of the Bozeman Dressage & Combined Training Club. We recently took part in the club sponsored Hunter Pace, at Bob and Pat Green's beautiful ranch in Three Forks, Montana. A Hunter Pace is set up like a mock fox hunt. We will hopefully have pictures to add soon, but in the mean time, hats off to Jennifer Allain on Poker Dude and Rosi Slater on Tauren for taking 1st place in the Hilltoppers group. They also received the award for the best turned out pair. Jessi Sparkman on Bonny and Nina Shaffel on Reno took second in the Hilltoppers and I think they were equally dashing in their English attire and equipment!

The Hunter Pace was loads of fun! The course covered 8-miles of diverse terrain with field jumps positioned along the way. The weather couldn't have been nicer and we had a wonderful time. It was so much fun to walk, trot and canter across the fields and trails and you could tell the horses loved it, too. And, we only saw one rattlesnake!

Our thanks goes out to Bob and Pat Green and the many volunteers who made this fun day possible for us to enjoy! A huge thank you to Wendy Cochran for being the inspiration and workhorse of this event.

103 riders, with several of us from HHC, took part in the Eaglemount Poker Ride. It was a little rainy and blowy, but nothing could dampen our spirits while riding in such a gorgeous area. The ride was fantastic and the volunteers were all so nice and helpful along the way. We truly enjoyed the 8-mile poker ride put on by Bob and Pat Green and can't thank them enough for opening up their property for this fundraiser.

The BBQ at the end was delicious and our own Jessi Sparkman actually won 3rd place with her full house poker hand. She won a ride in a restored WW II air plane and is going to be taking that adventuresome flight this coming weekend.

It was a great day for both horses and riders. We are looking forward to the upcoming Poker Ride put on by the Back Country Horsemen. They are anticipating a turnout of around 200 riders to their Bridger Ski Area event. I'll report back on the HHC crew and hopefully we'll have even more luck with our poker hands!

In the mean time, get out and ride!

HHC Season Highlights Riders from HHC competed in several local events, including:

Monday Night Barrel Racing Series at Circle L and Gallatin County Fairgrounds

Bozeman Dressage & Combined Training Club Hunter Pace Series

Bozeman Dressage & Combined Training Club Tri-H Show

Eaglemount Poker Ride in Logan

Back Country Horsemen Poker Ride at Bridger Bowl

Trail Riding Fun

In addition to the Hunter Pace and Poker Ride, we have also enjoyed several other outings with our horses. We have gone up Hyalite for an afternoon trail ride as well as to the Cherry Creek park for a training ride for my young 3-year old Dutch Warmblood.

Hyalite was really pretty, but there were lots of hikers, a couple bikes and even a stroller on the trail! We rode up the trail at the end of the lake past the falls. The parking is good, the facilities were clean and it was a nice place to picnic when we were done.

We have also done a day-ride up at Porcupine, in Big Sky, several shorter rides up the Bridgers, as well as trailering to the Fairgrounds to get the horses used to a wide variety of experiences. We are fortunate to have so many great places to ride our horses that are so close by.

HHC Rides in Epona Hunter Pace

Several riders from HolidayHorseCare.com took part in the Hunter Pace at Epona Stables. Sponsored by the Bozeman Dressage & Combined Training Club, the Hunter Pace series included three paces this year. The first having been in Logan at Pat and Bob Green's gorgeous ranch in June.

The Epona Hunter Pace was July 19th and we enjoyed a beautiful day and a really great ride. Connie Sparks put forth a wonderful course which really reflected the nature of fox hunting and all the riders had a really great day. Rosi Slater, Jenn Allain, Jessi Sparkman and Nina Shaffel rode as two teams from HHC and took both 1st and 2nd place in the event for the Hilltoppers.

The final pace was scheduled for Bohart Ranch on August 16th, but wet weather postponed the event. Riding at Bohart Ranch is truly exceptional and we have been up there several times this past month trail riding. We have taken this opportunity to get Rosi's 3-year old Dutch Warmblood, Bellini, more worldly. The up and down trails have really been helping her learn where her feet are!

The HHC Team took top honors at the BD&CTC Hunter Pace Series. Jenn Allain, Jessi Sparkman and Rosi Slater scored high points in the series and were awarded beautifully embroidered saddle pads from the Treasure State Hunt. A huge thank you to Wendy Cochran for organizing the series.

HHC Finishes the Series in Style at the Bohart Ranch Hunter Pace

We didn't know until the last minute who was going to be riding at the last BD&CTC Hunter Pace because of the rescheduling. The date change to September 13th caused a lot of schedule conflicts, but after all was said and done, the ride was gorgeous and we had tons of fun. The team of Jessi Sparkman and Kim Alberda tied for first place in the Hilltopper group and Rosi Slater and Jenn Allain took third. With their previous first and second place finishes, Rosi, Jessi and Jenn ended up with high points all around.

A huge thanks to Bohart Ranch for opening their fantastic trails to us for this event and to Wendy Cochran and crew for running such an enjoyable series. And we would also like to thank the Treasure State Hunt for donating the lovely embroidered saddle pads.