September – Failure is a Requirement for Success

I wish summer wasn’t about to end, but it was an amazing summer. It was a summer of ups and downs. But one of the biggest things I learned this summer is that failure is a requirement for success. Tommie and I did an interview for Associated Press at Breyerfest. I did not realize it, but one of the reasons he was willing to train me was because when he asked how many times I had fallen off….I responded too many to count.
I think you learn the most when things don’t go the way you hoped. Every time you do something new, there is a chance it won’t go well or will need tweaked or you will have to practice it more.

I had a great summer, because I really challenged myself as a rider. Yes, I had setbacks. I missed my mount on Puddles in the July 4th show and fell to the ground (the crowd thought that was what was intended, but it wasn’t) I took many falls, had an occasional refusal trying to learn horse striding over 3 foot jumps and the list goes on, but the successes more than made up for the setbacks.

However, I am really proud that I challenged myself all spring and summer. I learned a lot. It is hard to believe that I jumped Rosie for the first time less than a year ago. Now I jump her over full courses bridleless. I made the ride off in my first regional equitation final. My young ponies that I broke and am training are doing really well. I put together two new acts. I taught my ponies a bunch of new tricks. I started riding and jumping more of our horses. I jumped bigger jumps and am riding and training animals that are young.

There are so many things I want to do with my horse……But I know you have to willing to try and you might fail the first time, but the important thing is to DREAM BIG…..And keep trying. You just have to take the setbacks in stride and keep moving forward to the next hurdle. It's been an amazing ride!

Lizzy

September - SBS Show - Snarky, but Kindness is Still Required

We took ten horses to Summer Breeze. My dad showed four. I rode six and showed five. Rosie was champion in the equitation and reserve champion in her hunter division. We won the equitation over fences and were first and second in the hunter over fences classes. Silver was champion in the pony hunters. Seabreeze was reserve champion. Missy was reserve champion in the baby greens. I took Jazz, but I did not show her, because we didn’t get time to get her schooled. She was pretty fresh.

At the end of the day I showed CICI (Seabreeze). CiCi is always pretty snarky. She does not like to work. She will buck, rear and carry on until she realizes it is too much work and easier to just do her job. She rode an amazing course great jumps, good rhythm and lead changes. The course in the above video was actually featured on a Chronicle of the Horse blog, as an example of a nice hunter pony. Unfortunately at the end of the course I was tired and spurred a bit hard when she wasn’t coming around the corner as readily as I thought she should…..she bucked me off. It was kind of deserved. My mom says that most of the time horses try their hearts out for us. They are usually bad because we aren’t clear about what we want. We punish them for our mistakes. I know she is right ….It is important to always asked yourself, when your horses isn’t doing what you want if it is their fault or yours

Lizzy

August - Centre County Grange Fair

Every year in Centre Hall, there is Centre County Grange Fair. They set up rows and rows of tents and rows and rows of RV’s. It is quite a site to see. It is the largest and oldest encampment fair in the country. We have not been in town for the fair the last few years, but just happened to be home this year. They have a horse show on Tuesday of the fair for residents of the area. It is free to residents of Centre County and less than 3 miles from our house. I talked my mom into letting me take a few of the young horses to the fair. We had a blast. I took Missy, Silver, Mattee and Toby. All three are five and six years old. This was the second show of the year for all three, because we have been on the road so much with performing. They were awesome. My dad rode Mattee. Mattee won the two under saddle classes and hunter over fences. Silver was second in both of her two over fences classes. Missy won the Hunter hack class and Equitation class. I showed Toby without a bridle and he was awesome. We took him along, just because he wanted to go. I dressed Toby up for the costume class. He is into anything that gets him attention and peppermint and that does not require much work. We shipped in to the fair on Monday. Stayed in our camper and showed on Tuesday. It was a really fun show, because there is such a variety of horses and it is very low key. We had a great time. Thank you to the Weaver and Yoder family for all the effort you put forth to make the Centre County Grange Fair residence show possible. Hope to see you next year!

Lizzy

August - 4-H Districts

4-H District Horse Show had its high points and low points. We qualified for districts in two classes working hunter over fences and working hunter under saddle. I had the choice at round-up to show equitation on the flat and hunter hack or equitation over fences and the working hunter at three foot. I chose to compete in the more difficult classes. I just started riding Rosie two days prior to round-up last summer. She had been sold, but it did not work out. While away from the farm she was over faced when jumping. As a result, she came home underweight, very nervous and with a mean stop at the jumps. We have spent the last year working putting weight back on her and reschooling her. She is doing great, but I am just learning the horse stride. Rosie does not have a big stride, so I have to land and flow, than settle to jump out of the line. Needless to say, we had a refusal at district at the first fence of the working hunter class. It did not help that there was a large pile of construction materials that was spooking most of the horses including Rosie, but Rosie had a stop none the less. We did come back and win our under saddle class. I was disappointed that things did not go well in my over fences class, but Rosie schooled amazing. I was really proud of myself for entering the more difficult classes. My mother says you often times learn more from your failures than your successes. I love Rosie so much ……..and we just keep getting better and better!
Lizzy

August - High Hopes Farm Summer Camp

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I spent a week with my friend Gabby at the camp that is run, where she boards her pony. It is an awesome camp. It is run by Perry and Katie Fitzpatrick. At camp, we swim ponies, ride cross country, ride side saddle, go to a reining farm and all kinds of cool stuff. We swim and cook out. We sleep on Perry's front proch. It is an awesome camp. Can't wait to go again next year. It is cool getting to spend the weel with Gabby.

Lizzy

August – Quentin EPPHSA Horse Shows

We showed at two back-to-back rated shows at the Quentin riding club. We took the big Imperatore horse van with our little camper behind. We just purchased the camper a few months ago. It was really cool to have at the show. We woke up really early, schooled horses and than took a nap. We also had an air conditioned spot to each lunch. It was awesome. I showed Rosie and Jazz. I did not keep Rosie in front of my leg in our first class and we missed a lead change. I fixed the problem and we won the next over fences class. My friend gabby hacked Rosie to a second place finish in the US. We were reserve champion at the first show. Jazz was consistently in the ribbons, but she was a star on Sunday. I qualified for the EPPHSA year end equitation final. I rode Jazz and we were in the top four. This was the first equitation final I have ever ridden in…..it was really cool. Jazz was great. She also won the hack the second day. They were both really good. We had a great time at these shows.

Lizzy

August - Photo Shoot with Barry Bland

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Barry Bland from Barcroft media in London came to the farm to take pictures. Barcroft distributes and produces media of all kinds all over the world.

To Discovery Channel International…..in case you are reading this…..Tommie and I are ready to go to work to for you in a variety show about horses. We have all kinds of great ideas.

We rode a bunch of horses. Barry shoots all over the world. He travels extensively. Barry was amazing. He took some fantastic pictures. He had some of the fanciest camera equipment that I have ever seen. He has a really cool cat book that he just shot, that is going to be released to the retail market soon. I hope to have the opportunity to work with Barry again sometime. He was a really talented photographer. Barry…if you are reading this…..Thank You Again for the Amazing Pictures1

Lizzy

August - Visit with Vernon Brewley

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Vernon brewley from Hill Shepard marketing spent a day with us at Carousel Farm. Vernon has worked with some of the top horseman in the country to produce educational videos, set-up tours and design websites. Vernon’s firm does a lot of work for “The Road to the Horse”. "The Road to the Horse" is a competition run in Tennessee, where they bring in three top trainers. They are than given a very limited amount of time to break a young horse from scratch. I would like to compete in “The Road to the Horse" some day. We worked horses all day and Vernon took pictures throughout the day. Vernon was really nice. It was really interesting talking with him. We look forward to the possibility of working together on some projects in the future. Thank You for Taking the Time to Visit us at the Farm!

Lizzy

August - Heritage Horse Show

We have not been showing much this summer, because we were doing so much traveling. We took Jazz, Mattee and Addy to Heritage. They were all fresh to start, but settled well for their classes. It was a really nice day! We haven’t been to a Heritage show in quite a while, but really like these shows, the ring footing is good, jumps are nice and food is free.

Lizzy

August - Tony

For the last few decades Carousel Farm has many young horses. In the over twenty five years of breaking horses, my parents had only one young horse that seemed to continually fall through the cracks. The farm delegated his training during several periods of time. He is not a mean horse, but he is very timid and can become quickly defensive. Several young rider/trainers offered to assist in the process only to fail. In addition, his allergies to flies and propensity to get minor injuries have also contributed to the difficulty in getting him into a program. My mom has always had a great relationship with Tony, but my mom has to be careful, because she had major back surgery 5 years ago. Tony is now 6 years old and 17 hands. Knowing that it was now or never to get Tony into a program, my mother asked Tommie if he could get on him and really sack him out, so my mom could proceed with his training. Tommie agreed. He put three sessions in on him. Mom and dad have been riding him ever sense. It is amazing how his personality has blossomed. He comes right up to you and hangs his head in the aisle. He seems to love having a job. My mom has grown to adore him. He follows my mom around like a dog. She has him doing liberty and following her with no halter and lead through our sensory course. My mom mostly supports mine and my dad’s my riding now, but she has claimed Tony as hers. It is so nice to see Tony enjoying having a job and it is nice that my mom is getting so much enjoyment out of working with him.

Lizzy

August – Playing at Home with the Horses

I love to travel, but I also like to just play around with my animals when I am home. I will play with the cats. I like to stroll around the farm, feeding all of the horses peppermints and taking pictures of them. We have a sensory course in our indoor with all kinds of obstacles. It is like a big horse playground. If I am tired or the weather isn’t great, I like to just play with the horses in the indoor with the sensory course. They love it…..and it is great training for them. Cecil likes to spook at everything. She also can be really snarky to ride. She doesn’t like to work. As much as she likes to spook…..she likes attention even more. It is amazing what she will do, if you are giving her attention, but not demanding that she work very hard. She will put up with just about anything under these circumstances. We call her “carrot top” With all of her antics; she is an incredible affectionate pony on the ground!

Lizzy

July - Chincoteague

We arrived in Chincoteague Sunday evening. We took are little travel trailer. It was a tough week, because we didn’t have hook-ups. It was hot, humid, wet and buggy, but we made the most of it. Monday, we went to the pony penning. Tuesday, they do selection on which ponies will be buying back to be returned to the island. Wednesday, they swim the ponies across the bay. Thursday is the auction.

Tommie was invited to be ambassador for the Beebe ranch and was asked to present Nightmist’s Legend, a Misty descendent. The entire Equine extremist Team shipped in Sunday night and set up camp at Beebe ranch. Beebe ranch was home to Misty and Stormy. Our week at Beebe ranch was challenging. We had limited electric, mud, mosquitoes and bad thunder storms. We were determined to make the best of it. We spent time at the ranch, attended some scheduled activities, signed some autographs, did a radio interview and attended the swim activities. We did a lot of biking. My mom and I biked all over the island and wildlife sanctuary. We also spent some time at the beach.

On Wednesday, the day of the swim, I watched the swim from a boat. My mom was given the job of taking ground footage. She had to hike through really deep, smelly marsh. Then she waited at the shore line in black sand with jelly fish. She said she was not sure what she was doing there until the ponies appeared.

Once the ponies appeared, she new it was something really special. She was less than 30 feet away from where they were. She shot wonderful video of them coming onto the shore. When the ponies are in the water you see all their heads just bobbing in the water. In is really a neat thing to get to see.

One thing we were very curious about prior to making the trip was how the ponies were cared for….The care was acceptable, but had room for improvement. They were all penned together two days prior to the sale. There was some fighting throughout the pen. The pen was rather muddy, but the horses seemed to have access to unlimited hay and water. There was a veterinarian in attendance at the sale. The handling of the ponies was a little rough, but the ponies aren’t broke.

I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to see the swim, attend the sale and visit Beebe ranch. When the ponies come..... swimming across the bay, it was a moment that I won’t forget. There are challenges with everything we doing. Anything worth doing is often challenging. You have to embrace the journey.
Dream Big

Lizzy Traband Reporting

July - 4-H Round-up

I had a tough decision to make for round-up…..should I ride the easier classes and increase my odds of qualifying for state in more classes or do I challenge myself. Well I am an Equine Extremist……I decided to go for the challenge. My mom says you learn more when you put yourself outside your comfort zone. I decided to ride the equitation and working hunter over fences at 3 foot. We won the hunter class, but did not qualify in the equitation class. We also won our working hunter under saddle class……so we will be competing in two classes at districts. It is hard to believe, that I just started riding Rosie two days prior to round-up last summer. She had been sold, but it did not work out. While away from the farm she was over faced when jumping. As a result, she came home underweight, very nervous and with a mean stop at the jumps. We have spent the last year working putting weight back on her and reschooling her. She is doing great, but I am just learning the horse stride. Rosie does not have a big stride, so I have to land and flow, than settle to jump out of the line. I had hoped to qualify for the equitation and hunter over fences class. I was really proud of myself for entering the more difficult classes. I love Rosie so much ……..She has come so far over the course of the year!

Lizzy

July - Associated Press Interview

Thank you to ….for the associated press article. While at Breyerfest, I spent quite a bit of time with …who wrote a really nice article for the Associated Press. They took a bunch of photographs as well. Toby really hammed it up for one of the photos. The article appeared in many publications across the country including USA Today. It was really cool seeing the article in so many different publications. Thank you to Kathleen Fallon, publicist for Breyer for contacting the Associated Press and ….for writing the article and Associated Press for carrying the story.

Lizzy

July - Breyerfest

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Breyerfest was amazing. It was super busy, but really cool. Rosie did a great job with her bridleless jumping routine……and I rode Toby bareback & bridleless in his little routine at Breyer. He did a great job. Tommie and I closed the event with me riding on his shoulders on blade. We performed twice each day. I signed autographs, did a whole bunch of interviews and attended scheduled activities. I met all of the saddle club girls. They were all really fun. My best friend gabby went to Kentucky with us. We took our bikes to bike all over the horse park. One day we rode the ponies on the Rolex course. At night Gabby and swam with lots of other kids attending Breyerfest and staying at the hotel.

The hospitality by everyone at Breyer was impeccable. Our suite was amazing. All the amenities, including breakfast made to order, horsdeorves every night and the special dinner Breyer hosted for everyone performing was awesome. Having Toby made into a Breyer horse was so amazing. I still can’t believe that he is a Breyer model. It was really fun walking around the hotel seeing Toby in so many of the judged window displays. Thank you again to everyone at Breyer for putting on such a great event.

Lizzy

July – Toby is a Breyer Model

Toby is a Breyer model….Toby is a Breyer model……Toby is a Breyer model…..Really……It’s not just a dream. All I can say is DREAM BIG I did and it worked!

Lizzy

July - Centre Daily Times Article

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Thank you to Ed Mahan for the amazing article in the Centre Daily Times. The Centre Daily Times called about doing an interview. Ed came out with a photographer and spent most of the afternoon at the farm. I was quite surprised to see that the article was almost three full pages with almost the entire front page. My dad made the front page a few years ago. …..so mom….whats taking you so long….only kidding mom. Anyway, I was really surprised at the article. Thank you to Ed and The Centre Daily Times for such a nice article!

Lizzy

July - And Then There were Seven….Cats that is!

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When we were in Sterling, we did a lot of trail riding. My dad and I headed out one day and found two stray cats. They were really sweet, so we took them back to the farm with us. The next day we were showing my mom where we found them. One jumped from the tree onto her shoulder. She couldn’t ride with the cat, so my dad and I went back later that night. We found five more kitties. They were all really sweet. We brought them all home to State College. I was supposed to get them home after they were vetted. But instead I play with them every night. They love people….love to be held….and love to play. My mom finally agreed to allow them to be permanent residents at Carousel Farm. Since we found them all on the weekend while performing in Sterling, Illinois, we named them Saturday, Sunday, Sterling, Silver, Showtime, Seiko and Sneaky. They are the coolest cats I have ever met.

Lizzy

July - Night of Amazing Horses

The July Night of Amazing Horses was challenging for me. I am taking three acts to Breyerfest…….two of them brand new. I put together a new act on Puddles and Rosie. We reworked both acts a lot while in Chicago. We did not do a formal rehearsal for the July 4th show. I had to make some additional adjustments after actually doing the acts in front of a crowd, but it was a great time to get some of the kinks worked out before Breyerfest. The horses can react very differently with an audience, bright lights and loud music. Puddles is always super quiet. I found out that he lights up in front of a full audience, so I will have to prep him a little more for future performances. Rosie does not like jumping towards the audience. We modified her routine slightly and it rode much better. All and all, it was a great weekend. I love to perform. My horses were really great about everything.

Lizzy

July – Puddles Jumps Fire!

I think it is really cool how Tommie jumps fire. I recently taught Puddles to jump fire. I haven’t decided how, but I am hoping to work it into an act for him. I think it looks really cool. The toughest thing is that you have to have ground help to set the jump and light it. Once lit, it will only burn for a short period of time. Puddles does not seem to care about the fire.

Lizzy

June - Cooks Forest

Mom and I went to Cook’s Forest to film Tommie in the little colt breaking challenge that they had. Josh Lyons, Tommie and Richie Winfield participated. They all did a really good job. Tommie and Josh had harder animals than Ritchie. Josh spent a lot of extra time to work through his colt’s issues. Tommie went for broke and chose to sack his colt out as soon as he had the opportunity. Most people aren’t as athletic as Tommie and would not be successful in this approach, but Tommie is very strong, balanced and has great intuition around horses, so he has the talent to do this. I would like to compete in a colt challenge sometime. I break and train my own animals (with my mom’s help) I am breaking Vinny right now…….I am ready, willing and interested for anyone who is willing to let a kid compete!……..I learned a lot watching the guys work there colts. We went swimming, tubing and canoeing, while at Cook’s Forest, as well. Thank you to Ray Smith and family for their hospitality.

Lizzy

June - Jodons Horse Show

Our farm went to Jodons Horse Show. The farm had a great show. My dad was champion on two of his mounts and reserve champion on his third mount. Two farm clients, Jillian Woolridge and Danielle Rush, competed that day as well. They were both reserve champion in their divisions. I showed Rosie, CiCi and Silver. I had an amazing horse show two weeks prior, but I didn’t do so well at this show. My mom figured, since all my horses and I rode so well at the last horse show, that I could handle my own prep, so she worked really hard prepping my dad’s horses and Danielle and Jillian’s horse. It is tough at a horse show, when we have a bunch of horses all showing at the same time to be there for everyone. I thought I could handle my prep, as well. I was totally happy that the farm did so well! But I personally learned, that I still need my mom. Sometimes I think I know exactly what I need to do, but I made a few decisions, that with my mom’s assistance I would have done differently, that led to some difficulties. Jodons is a small ring with deep footing and a spooky surroundings. I rode a few lines too quiet, missed some lead changes on the ends and had some problems with my green ponies spooking. I am very proud of my riding, but my mom still has some great input, as to how to best ride some of these courses. There are some simple things I could have done to round out the problems. My animals are no worse for wear, but I definitely made some rider errors that resulted in my animals not be shown to their fullest potential. I like knowing my animals were given the best ride possible! Thank You mom for helping me!

June - Best friend Gabby Visits at the Farm

Gabby came to visit the week after school let out. We had a blast. We rode every day….all day. We packed our lunch every day, so we wouldn’t have to leave the barn to eat lunch. We groomed Sassy and Sparkle. We rode all the ponies and all the horses. At night we played with the horses even more and jumped on the tramp. I wish gabby lived closer. We have a great time hanging out together. I am hoping she will be able to go to Breyerfest with us!

Lizzy

May – Training at Elizabeths

Training at Elizabeth’s is always fun. My mom and Elizabeth are really funny when they are together. We have fun spending time together. As for riding, Elizabeth is the best rider I know. I really want to show in the big equitations. I have a lot of work to do. I just started riding horses versus ponies a year ago. I have learned so much this year, but have a lot more to learn. Luckily, I have great riders helping me!
Lizzy

May - First Ever Equine Extremist Games

We concluded the equine extremist clinic at Carousel Farm with the first annual Equine extremist Games. We had the following games:

Horse Soccer
Obstacle Dribble Course
Freestyle Obstacle Course
Best Trick
Bareback Dollar
Can Race

The freestyle activities were awesome. Ron won the freestyle obstacle course. Chuck was grand champion over the entire games. At one point he reached down to pick up a ball and flipped off. It was unintentional. He did not get hurt, but it was really funny to watch. He also attempted some bareback bridleless jumps. He was really intense and very entertaining. Everyone made great progress throughout the clinic. The Equine Extremist games were a blast. Tommie……we should make it a competition at expos. I have never participated in anything like it! It was a blast!

Lizzy