Kendall's Ponies
Samantha was Kendall's
first pony, and is still first in her heart. Samantha is a Shetland
pony, and is more of a pet than a riding pony, (although she has been
taught to ride and drive). This photo was taken when Kendall was four,
on the day that Sami became ours.
When Kendall was
six years old we were able to buy Lauren Deneve's wonderful pony, Nikki.
Nikki taught Kendall so much about riding a big pony. Nikki was in her
twenties, and was just the right 'speed' of horse for Christy to trust
her with Kendall. In 2003, Nikki succumbed to the infirmities of old
age. RIP, sweet Nikki!
Christmas Day 2003
brought a new pony to a very excited Kendall. "Miss Nikki Six"
was a wonderful Quarter Horse mare who had been Pony Clubbing for several
years. It was amazing that another "Nikki" had come into our
lives!!
Kendall and Nikki had fun showing at local schooling shows their first
year together. At their very first show, they were both Green as Grass
and Intro level Champions. At the end of 2004, they were awarded the
Houston Dressage Society Green As Grass Year End Championship, and continued
their successes through early 2006, when Nikki moved on to teach another
young rider to begin her riding and showing career.
For the first six
months of 2006, Kendall was lucky enough to borrow Fiona Jones' mare,
Hannah, to begin her U.S. Pony Club career. Hannah helped Kendall earn
her D1 and D2 rating. These photos were taken at Pine Hill Farm, Bellville
Texas.
In March 2006, Kendall
found her new partner, a 15 year old Thoroughbred gelding, Lexington.
Kendall and Lexington had a very successful first year together. They
won the 2006 HDS Year End Championship at Intro level, and had a great
time participating in their very first US Pony Club Dressage Rally in
October 2006.
In early 2007, Lexington
began having trouble with navicular syndrome, and Christy's student,
Debbie Fullilove, generously offered Kendall the ride on her fantastic
Irish Draught mare, Piglet. Kendall and Piglet competed together at
the 2007 Pony Club Dressage Rally and Pony Club Eventing Rally, where
their San Jacinto team won first place overall. They also competed in
several schooling dressage shows at Training Level in 2007. At the end
of the year, they were named HDS Junior Training Level Champions.
Piglet also helped Kendall to achieve her D3 rating for the U.S. Pony
Club in 2007.
In 2008, Kendall
and Piglet continued to compete in Dressage, Combined Training, and
Pony Club Rallies. They were champions with their San Jacinto Team at
the 2008 Rio Grande Region Dressage Rally, where they qualified for
the July 2009 Pony Club National Championships to be held in Virginia.
Also in 2008, Piglet helped Kendall achieve her U.S. Pony Club C1 Rating.
In 2009, at the ripe old age of 20, Piglet continued to show Kendall a good time over fences! She has now moved on to be the schoolmistress for yet another younger Pony Clubber.
Also in
2009, Kendall began showing Alyce Rowland's wonderful German Riding
Pony, Farewell B, at USDF recognized dressage shows. They qualified
and were looking forward to competing in the USDF/SWDC dressage championships
that fall, but tragically, sweet "B" foundered and could not
recover.
August 2009... Kendall
bought a new eventing partner, "Gus", aka "Las Vegas",
a very talented 12 yo Thoroughbred gelding for Kendall to compete in
the novice division, and hopefully move up the levels in the next few
years.
Early September
2009...Kendall and Gus were schooling some novice fences at
Pine Hill, a few weeks after beginning their partnership.
Kendall and Gus
having fun over some novice and training level fences,
Thanksgiving Weekend 2009.
Check out the "barn news" page for more recent stories of Kendall and Gus' adventures and accomplishments! :)
Kendall and "Donovan Z" her 3 year old Dutch/Irish cross born here at home. He is out of our Dutch mare "Pavanne" and by Debbie Fullilove's Irish stallion, "Braveheart RID". Donny will leave for Texas A&M University with Kendall in the fall of 2012, and be her stress reliever and future competition mount!