On Friday we returned with Bernie, Theo, Sox, Buddy, JJ, andDiamond for a jumping  lesson from Jason before the show. The first group included Codi on JJ, Maggie on Sox, Lexi on Buddy, andJordan on Diamond. Everyone was fantastic and we all learned A TON in just a short amount of time. Then we moved on to Codi on Bernie andKristen on Theo. For those of you who know know we bought Theo from Jason when Theo wouldn’t even think about jumping a pole on the ground and with lots of time, energy, andbonding, Kristen can successfully jump Theo around a course of scary jumps and was excited to show Jason the progress. Bernie and Codi learned so much and we are all excited to put our new riding tools to use.

Saturday brought horse showing in the Green Hunters for Codi and JJ, Kristen and Theo, and Lexi and Buddy. Everyone was AWESOME! JJ was the best he has ever been and we are so close to him being the champion that he is, Theo was so brave and caught plenty of attention, and Lexi and Buddy were the STARS! Out of a huge class, against professionals, Lexi and Buddy chilled out, got brave, and kicked butt! They were 4th and 5th over fences and 6th in the flat. Way to go!

Later in the day after Maggie had a few “ah-ha” moments with Jason, she rode Sox in the Children’s Hunter Division winning a 1st and 2nd over fence, a 2nd on the flat, and CHAMPION! What an awesome finish to the day. Great job Maggie.

Sunday brought the jumpers with Jordan and her mare Diamond. They used some of their new tools from our lesson and jumped around so soft and quiet for the first time in a while! We are looking forward to future jumper shows with this pair. What a blast.

Thanks to Linda for bringing along our wonderful working students in training, Jenny, Megan, and Casey. Everyone was great help andI think it’s safe to say we all had so much fun. Let’s do it again this weekend at Randolph!

We had multiple trailers parked out in the field, our judge, Alisa Berry, under her scary blue tent, sat on top of the hill overlooking our awesome courses, thanks Kristen! All of Mane Top’s horses and ponies were perfectly behaved and the show ran as smoothly as possible. We had entries in almost every class/division, the food was awesome, thanks Lambert’s, and thanks to Yvonne McMahon we had milkshakes as a special treat!

We had pony rides, hay rides, a raffle of various items thanks to Harris Tire, Accutemp, The Animal Hospital of Lynchburg, and Y-Nots by Linda Melton, and we can’t forget our fabulous EASTER EGG HUNT! Kristen’s Aunt, Uncle, and cousins were in town to visit their mare, Laura, who is in foal with Mane Top’s baby by Paparazzo, due in July :) Thanks to them, all of the 400 eggs we stuffed with CANDY and MONEY were hidden all around the farm.

The hunt was a successs with big kids and little kids searching around the farm, everyone had a blast. What a success! Thanks to all who supported Mane Top’s Fun Festival!

We hope those of you who trailered in will join us for our future shows!

WE WILL POST OUR NEXT SHOW DATES ON OUR CALENDAR SOON

Codi showed Bon Jovi (JJ) and Better Than Red (Beryl) in the Green Hunter’s. JJ ended up 2nd and 5th in the over fences and Beryl was 4th and 6th over the jumps and 5thin the flat. They both are well on their way to being the champions that they are!

Megan McMahon picked up a sweet catch ride on Beryl for the Equitation on the Flat (14 and under) and Special Children’s Hunter’s. She did a FABULOUS job on a horse she had never ridden and had some impressive riding moments. We look forward to Megan having more opportunities to ride and show Beryl.

Maggie Kelleher had a wonderful day on her horse Sox. She was 2nd in the Equitation on the Flat (15-17) and was WON her first over fences class in the Children’s Hunter’s!!! She was 6thin the second jumping class and 4th in the flat.

Overall we enjoyed our horse show an all ran smoothly. Now on to the next! Mane Top will be covering BOTH Sweet Briar College Horse Show AND BridgewaterCollege Horse Show this weekend, 3/27 and 3/28. Look for us there and be sure to say hello!

Thanks to all the parents for their support and contributions at the show!

We will be changing to a monthly membership. Basically moving from 6 lesson packages to 4 payments that will be due the first lesson of every month.  The months that offer 5 weeks for certain days will be offered to boarders at the discounted monthly price or to non-boarders at the individual lesson price.  Cancellation is required 24hrs in advance in order to make up your lesson.  Of course, in emergency situations we will try to be as accommodating as possible.  Kristen will be offering make-ups mostly Thursday and Sunday and Codi will be offering make-ups on Wednesday and Sunday.  If the cancellation is due to weather or Mane Top, you will be guaranteed a makeup without restriction and in extreme prolonged periods (unpredictable circumstances) a discount on the following month’s membership fee will be applied.  Please call if you have any questions or concerns.

The new prices are as follows:

1 private lesson: $55             

1 group lesson: $45

1 pony ride: $35

1 private lesson once a week (4 lessons for month): $210

2 private lessons a week (8 lessons for month): $410

1 group lesson once a week (4 lessons for month): $170

2 group lessons a week (8 lessons for month): $330

1 pony ride a week (4 lessons for month): $130

2 pony rides a week (8 lessons for month): $250

We value your business and deeply appreciate your support. Thank you Thank you!

**If your package is up before March 1st you may pay $29/group or $39/private per lesson until the end of the month or if you have lessons left over, you will be credited $29 or $39 for each remaining lesson toward your membership.

You can see a few more shots on our flickr account so check them out! We also awarded the Best Turned out pair, Jenny Melton and Dixie Charm, with a $100 Gift Certificate for Dover Saddlery, generously donated by our judge for the day and good friend of Mane Top, Ms. Jana DiCarlo. Lets not forget to congratulate the high point winners of our Summer/Fall Fun Show Series who received trophies for their efforts!

We went on to compete the following weekend Oct. 24th and 25th at the Fall Festival held at Randolph College Riding Center. Both trainers were stoked to show off the fancy ponies we love so much at their old stomping grounds.

The show was held in the outdoor arena which we were all VERY excited about. If you have not been to the riding center you should check out the facility at least online at http://wildcats.randolphcollege.edu/riding/ (if you look close enough, the riders in the picture at the top of the page are from left to right: Betsy Christianson, Codi Lambert, and Kristen Ackerson).

It was POURING during the Pony Equitation. Megan rode her pants off on Miss Charlotte (whom she was put on at the last minute after her awesome pony Hershey Kiss decided he couldn’t stand a little cut getting rubbed under his saddle pad, poor baby), Jenny made Mane Top VERY proud riding our Dixie Charm through the mud and getting some great ribbons, and Burke rode Mojo for their debut and made her trainers very happy. She showed off how slow and quiet and fancy that pony really is. Everyone has a few things to work on for finesse but watch out SWVHJA Finals here we come!

We brought a trailer load of ponies and started the day off with Reilly and Remy competing in the Beginner Equitation division where she WON her first walk/trot class! Tina rode Charlotte in the Hopeful Hunters and had many BIG improvements jumping around. We hope to sell that fancy pony for Ms. Lauren Lenfest in the near future but will hate to see her sweet face go! Grace and Slippers looked beautiful as always in the Intermediate Hunters where she was second and third over fences! Mackenzie and Remy had the most FABULOUS hunter course A in the small pony hunters and got a second in course B in a very competitive class. Megan and Hershey (together as a new pair to watch out for) ended up WINNING the SWVHJA Pony Medal! And with a change of heart, Megan Trum let her sister Tina show her fabulous pony, Connor, in the Large Pony Hunters and had some very impressive catch rides! Great job to all and we look forward to our next show, House Mountain, at the Virginia Horse Center on October 10th and 11th.

Also coming up is our series ending Fun Show on October 17th where we will be giving out high point awards and announcing the big news for our Winter Show Series where we will be offering CASH prizes and great door prizes with the support of sponsors from the area and some high class judges as well!