I finally have a minute to post about Lenny’s Derby Debut at the Amwell Valley Hounds Hunter Derby Show held on October 28 at The Ridge at Riverview.  It was a beautiful day and after spending the morning watching Anna and Burntwood take home 2nd place in the Low Derby, it was Lenny’s time in the ring in the Medium Derby.

The focus for the day was keeping him calm & focused while maintaining rhythm throughout the rounds to give him confidence in a new and exciting environment. While there is lots of room for improvement, I’m very happy with this horse. He is honest and kind and tries so hard to please. I was pleasantly surprised to be in the ribbons, placing 8th out of a field of 12 that moved to the handy round and extra happy I got to wear my beautiful shadbelly that’s been hanging  in a closet for 20 years.  

Lenny started his warm up feeling very unsettled by the amount of activity all around him. We took our time and let him soak it in while keeping his feet moving, letting him stand when he wanted and getting out of the warm up before it got too chaotic. 

He stood mostly quiet at the ingate area before his first round. I was happy with our first round - it was a lot to look at and take in and while he got a bit strong, it was nothing I couldn’t manage and he was doing his best to listen. As soon as we finished that round, he completely changed. He settled and it was like he realized he wasn’t there to run… he was there to jump. I could feel him start to relax under me. He stood quietly on a loopy rein the rest of the time between our rounds.   

For a horse that ran 90 times in his career on the track, it’s understandable that it’s going to take time for him to achieve relaxation at events. While he’s been off the track and with us for three years, he hasn’t been to that many shows. Lenny is a special kind of horse and I'm in no rush. I want him to be the best that he can be and while I may have certain goals I want to achieve, if I have to alter them because he isn't ready, so be it. 

I read this post recently on social media, "Takes a full year to get one broke, it takes two years to train one to a discipline, it takes another 3-5 years to season one and it takes 10 years to truly finish one. Training a horse is not a weekend endeavor." I am not sure who said that originally but I saw that quote posted by a few horse folk…You can pay for the young horse and pay for the training… or you can pay more for the finished horse. In the end, it’s all the same, just depends on ‘how’ you want it. Trust the process”.  I understand that the process for me may take longer because of our busy life and my many other responsibilities. Because of this, I try to put quality work into the horses each time I'm with them because I often don't have the quantity of rides that many other people can put in during a week.

Being aware of the time that it takes to produce a horse also makes me choosy about what we do with our horses and where we ride them. If I break a horse, I have to start over with a new one, likely one right from the track. I can't afford to go out and buy one that is made or even started in training - even green ones are expensive. I realize horses get hurt. Sometimes you have no control over this but I try to stack the cards in my horse's favor when and where I can.

I try to always remember to trust the process and to stay grounded in a place that puts the needs of each individual horse first. Horses take a lot of time and I'm doing the best I can with the amount of time I can dedicate to the care and training of them. When I got back into riding after a 15 year break, the goal was to have fun. Keeping my horses happy and having fun with them is what matters most. 

A flood of emotion set in as the three examiners recapped the three day test letting us know there was one passing candidate. It was me.  We all knew where we stood as we moved through each block of the test and even though I didn't feel great about the last discussion block of the test, I was pretty sure I had made it through. Regardless, the relief of passing sent me over the edge and my face was flooded with tears. They were tears of joy, they were a relief of stress and but mostly they were tears of achieving a goal that for 22 years I had regretted not being able to attain.

I took the H-A certification the summer I turned 21 (in the year 2001). That was also the year I competed in CCI** at the NAYRC and so my studying was... well not the priority. I remember driving out of state to the testing with two other pony clubbers. I vaguely remember the whole test. I remember not doing well on the lunge, I remember not being able to age the horse I was assigned, I remember doing my shipping bandage (which was probably the only thing that went well that weekend) and I remember all 3 of us failing. The fail was absolutely warranted because of my lack of preparedness but it was a bummer. Back in those days, there were no retests on any section. I couldn't redeem myself and I aged out of pony club feeling like I missed out on achieving something I knew I could do if I had another chance.

Fast forward to the year 2020. After a fifteen year break from horses, I bought a 5 year old draft cross to ride alongside my children who had recently started riding. Getting back into horses was just going to be for fun. Lots of trail riding with my children around our farm in New Jersey.  When the pandemic set in, riding became the one activity we could do. By the end of the summer of 2020 we were riding every day and I knew if my kids were going to continue, I wanted them in pony club. We joined Somerset Hills Pony Club and my kids immediately started with lessons and trail riding with friends. It was an amazing horse community of kids the same ages as my kids and like minded adults I desperately needed. Shortly after my kids joined, it came to my attention that adults could join as members in pony club too. 

When 2021 approached, I was asked to join as a joint DC and since I had expressed interest in joining myself, I would be in charge of adult activities and coordinating with our adult members. In 2021, we had several adults join, including me. When I rejoined as an adult, my certifications from my youth transferred over and so I still held my “B” and (now) “H-B” certifications.  I was excited to start this pony club journey as an adult, to help support our youth and adult members as a Joint DC but I also had this little voice whispering, “Now you can get your H-A”!

It took me a couple of years of getting back into the swing of having horses. My goal of just having “fun” quickly escalated to buying a total of five off the track thoroughbreds in a matter of 18 months. The goal was simply to have nice horses for myself, my husband and my kids that I could produce without spending a fortune. Being busy with producing those horses along with running our farm, working part time and homeschooling my kids took time so it wasn’t until the start of 2023 that I felt like I could make the time to fully prepare and attempt my H-A certification. Fully supported by family, my co-DC’s and good friend, neighbor and national examiner, Lindsay Wyglendowski, I took a leap of faith and signed up for an August testing at Firefly Farm in the Eastern Pennsylvania Region.

Studying for the H-A takes a lot of commitment. Trying to fit in quality book studying as well as the lunging, bandaging and teaching practice with my real life adult responsibilities was no easy feat. I spent hours going through the pony club website printing off every H-A supplemental resource listed and created a binder that kept all the different parts of the test organized so I could easily reference. I made flash cards, wrote notes on every disease, nutrition and conditioning. I had my daughter draw me every system of the horse and then I labeled every part with the description and function. I stood with my horses as I filled water buckets going over anatomy. I practiced bandaging for hours in my barn and took the time to relearn and practice lunging all of my horses. 

I attended an upper level prep in the Eastern Pennsylvania Region in February which offered great advice on getting the stable management and design plan as well as the conditioning plan done well before the testing date. I also attended the New Jersey Region Upper Level Testing in July which provided great hands-on experience with national examiners on knowledge, bandaging, lunging and working the triangle. I took as many lunging lessons as I could and taught a couple lessons at our pony club’s annual summer camp. 

The H-A certification is a big commitment and you have to fully commit to not only studying the material but being able to apply and use the knowledge in real life scenarios. In my lunge lessons with Lindsay she kept saying to me, “You’re the trainer. You have to decide why you do or choose something and be able to defend it.” I honestly had a hard time with that. It took me a while to take ownership of being the “trainer”. It had been so long since I identified as a trainer and since I reentered the horse world, I often felt like an imposter in a place that I once felt so confident in.

Once at the testing, I realized that getting through the certification was going to take exactly what I was struggling with, confidence. I had to be confident in why or how I was doing something and be able back it up with the book knowledge I had studied. I had to be the trainer. 

All of my work and commitment paid off and I am beyond proud that I hold the H-A certification and to be considered a trainer. I am fully committed to making sure the standards for all levels are maintained and look forward to helping youth and adult pony club members prepare for certifications in my club, my region and beyond. 

​This process has created a passion in utilizing the pony club curriculum alongside natural horsemanship techniques to attain mental and physical balance in the horse as well as producing safe and effective riders. 

A flood of emotion set in as the three examiners recapped the three day test letting us know there was one passing candidate. It was me.  We all knew where we stood as we moved through each block of the test and even though I didn't feel great about the last discussion block of the test, I was pretty sure I had made it through. Regardless, the relief of passing sent me over the edge and my face was flooded with tears. They were tears of joy, they were a relief of stress and but mostly they were tears of achieving a goal that for 22 years I had regretted not being able to attain.

I took the H-A certification the summer I turned 21 (in the year 2001). That was also the year I competed in CCI** at the NAYRC and so my studying was... well not the priority. I remember driving out of state to the testing with two other pony clubbers. I vaguely remember the whole test. I remember not doing well on the lunge, I remember not being able to age the horse I was assigned, I remember doing my shipping bandage (which was probably the only thing that went well that weekend) and I remember all 3 of us failing. The fail was absolutely warranted because of my lack of preparedness but it was a bummer. Back in those days, there were no retests on any section. I couldn't redeem myself and I aged out of pony club feeling like I missed out on achieving something I knew I could do if I had another chance.

Fast forward to the year 2020. After a fifteen year break from horses, I bought a 5 year old draft cross to ride alongside my children who had recently started riding. Getting back into horses was just going to be for fun. Lots of trail riding with my children around our farm in New Jersey.  When the pandemic set in, riding became the one activity we could do. By the end of the summer of 2020 we were riding every day and I knew if my kids were going to continue, I wanted them in pony club. We joined Somerset Hills Pony Club and my kids immediately started with lessons and trail riding with friends. It was an amazing horse community of kids the same ages as my kids and like minded adults I desperately needed. Shortly after my kids joined, it came to my attention that adults could join as members in pony club too. 

When 2021 approached, I was asked to join as a joint DC and since I had expressed interest in joining myself, I would be in charge of adult activities and coordinating with our adult members. In 2021, we had several adults join, including me. When I rejoined as an adult, my certifications from my youth transferred over and so I still held my “B” and (now) “H-B” certifications.  I was excited to start this pony club journey as an adult, to help support our youth and adult members as a Joint DC but I also had this little voice whispering, “Now you can get your H-A”!

It took me a couple of years of getting back into the swing of having horses. My goal of just having “fun” quickly escalated to buying a total of five off the track thoroughbreds in a matter of 18 months. The goal was simply to have nice horses for myself, my husband and my kids that I could produce without spending a fortune. Being busy with producing those horses along with running our farm, working part time and homeschooling my kids took time so it wasn’t until the start of 2023 that I felt like I could make the time to fully prepare and attempt my H-A certification. Fully supported by family, my co-DC’s and good friend, neighbor and national examiner, Lindsay Wyglendowski, I took a leap of faith and signed up for an August testing at Firefly Farm in the Eastern Pennsylvania Region.

Studying for the H-A takes a lot of commitment. Trying to fit in quality book studying as well as the lunging, bandaging and teaching practice with my real life adult responsibilities was no easy feat. I spent hours going through the pony club website printing off every H-A supplemental resource listed and created a binder that kept all the different parts of the test organized so I could easily reference. I made flash cards, wrote notes on every disease, nutrition and conditioning. I had my daughter draw me every system of the horse and then I labeled every part with the description and function. I stood with my horses as I filled water buckets going over anatomy. I practiced bandaging for hours in my barn and took the time to relearn and practice lunging all of my horses. 

I attended an upper level prep in the Eastern Pennsylvania Region in February which offered great advice on getting the stable management and design plan as well as the conditioning plan done well before the testing date. I also attended the New Jersey Region Upper Level Testing in July which provided great hands-on experience with national examiners on knowledge, bandaging, lunging and working the triangle. I took as many lunging lessons as I could and taught a couple lessons at our pony club’s annual summer camp. 

The H-A certification is a big commitment and you have to fully commit to not only studying the material but being able to apply and use the knowledge in real life scenarios. In my lunge lessons with Lindsay she kept saying to me, “You’re the trainer. You have to decide why you do or choose something and be able to defend it.” I honestly had a hard time with that. It took me a while to take ownership of being the “trainer”. It had been so long since I identified as a trainer and since I reentered the horse world, I often felt like an imposter in a place that I once felt so confident in.

Once at the testing, I realized that getting through the certification was going to take exactly what I was struggling with, confidence. I had to be confident in why or how I was doing something and be able back it up with the book knowledge I had studied. I had to be the trainer. 

All of my work and commitment paid off and I am beyond proud that I hold the H-A certification and to be considered a trainer. I am fully committed to making sure the standards for all levels are maintained and look forward to helping youth and adult pony club members prepare for certifications in my club, my region and beyond. 

Hilary Murphy resides in New Jersey where she and her husband along with their two children raise goats, sheep, pigs, poultry and livestock guardian dogs. Hilary serves as a joint DC of Somerset Hills Pony Club where they currently have 71 members. Approximately half of their membership are adults.  Hilary is passionate about utilizing the pony club curriculum alongside natural horsemanship techniques to attain mental and physical balance in the horse as well as producing safe and effective riders. To learn more visit www.murphysporthorses.com

We had a great year!! 

* Highlights *

Anna took the ride on OTTB, Burntwood (Burt). They achieved together TIP prelim jumper champion at a few local shows, competed in Dressage pony club rally at USET and Show jumping pony club rally at HPNJ. Had a 5th place finish in the $1000 Hunter Derby at Essex Fox Hounds Show and competed at the Colonial Classic at Devon Showgrounds. Anna also achieved her D3 Hunt Seat Equitation and C1 Horse Management USPC ratings.

Aiden and Talulla met their goals of competing in the prelim jumpers, placing in the top 3 at several shows. They competed in Dressage rally at USET and Show jumping Rally at HPNJ and competed at the Colonial Classic at Devon. Aiden also achieved his D3 eventing jumping rating this year!

PJ and Masterio had a great first show season! Finishing in the top 3 at several TIP prelim jumper classes and finished 7th in the Amwell Valley Hounds $1000 Hunter Derby!

Hilary and Belly Dancer (Lenny) had fun competing in some local TIP jumper classes. She enjoyed competing Burntwood at the USET on an adult dressage rally team for pony club! Hilary also piloted Enkidu successfully in some dressage shows and (baby) jumper shows, in his first year off the track. The future is bright for this horse and we are looking forward to what comes next for him.

We are looking forward to setting new goals for ourselves and our horses, getting to compete more, learning and having fun in 2023! Thank you to everyone that supports us, helps us and comes along for the ride!

How do we feed our OTTB’s?
Creating a feeding program that worked for our OTTB’s took time and some trial and error. Once we figured out what was working, we made sure each individual was getting what they needed and now the horses look and feel great from the inside out!
We mix our own feed for all the animals we have on the farm. We buy in bulk ground corn and ground soybean meal from a local farmer. We mix a 3 to 1 mixture of corn to soy to produce a 16% protein feed.

We buy large square bales of 2nd cutting hay for all the animals and the horses get as much as they will eat. Grazing on grass is ideal and we do that as much in the height of the season. Rotating pastures and strip grazing the bigger fields to make sure we have grass all spring, summer and into the fall is essential to keeping the grass and soil as healthy as possible.

All four of our thoroughbreds get fed twice per day the following:
1-1.5 pounds of Stablefeed’s Sainfoin pellets (soaked first)
2- 2.5 pounds of ground corn/soybean meal mix 16% protein
1 oz of Purina’s 12:12 Free Balance Horse Mineral
Enki - 3 biscuits of Stablefeed’s Carrot/Chia supplement, Manna Pro ShoFlex & ShoHoof
Lenny - 3 biscuits of Stablefeed’s Papaya/Chia supplement and Manna Pro ShoFlex
Burt- 3 biscuits of Stablefeed’s Papaya/Chia supplement and Manna Pro ShoFlex

Check out these benefits of feeding Stablefeed’s Sainfoin pellets:
This information and more can be found at www.stablefeed.com
Non-gas producing to support horses prone to gas colic
Bypass protein for improved protein utilization
High in condensed tannins to naturally inhibit parasites
High in Omega-3’s for natural anti-inflammatory support
Longer chewing time to support salivation, production of digestive enzymes and increased water consumption.
​
If you have questions or would like to hear more, let me know!

Enkidu ran in his last race one year ago today. We took him home a week later.
When I think about where he was this time last year, I’m reminded at how far he has come in the 9 months of training I’ve put into him. I am proud to say I have put every post track ride on this horse.

​Anna hopped on Lenny the other night for the first time. I’ve been working with him since June - focusing on relaxation and rhythm within his gaits and in transitions. In the last couple of weeks I’ve been working on connection and straightness through the outside rein. He’s a lovely horse - he’s eager to please, super smart and has a great work ethic.
Lenny (JC name Belly Dancer) last raced August 2020 and we took him home from TRRAC - Thoroughbred Retirement, Rehabilitation and Careers in September of that same year. With 90 starts, this guy knows how to work but he was uncomfortable and wouldn’t gain weight - no matter what we tried. After having success with putting Burntwood (Burt) on Sanfoin pellets from StableFeed to help ease his hind gut ulcers and put weight on (it also helps Burt’s sensitive skin from breaking out in the summer… bonus benefit), I put Lenny on the same feeding regimen. We started noticing a difference in his demeanor on the ground and under saddle and within a month he was noticeably starting to gain weight. He’s been steadily gaining weight and muscle mass since. (I’ll post a side by side picture of before and after)
I’m looking forward to getting this guy out more and doing more things! And maybe now Anna can help in riding him some during the week

We had a great day at the Colonial Classic yesterday. Aiden and Talulla competed in the Itty bitty jumpers in a class of 42 others while Anna and Burt competed in the prelim jumpers in a class of 36.

Anna conquered her nerves jumping around the big Dixon Oval ring and did an awesome job. She ended the day on a high note nailing her speed round! (Side note: Burt has only been off the track since July 2019 and was not properly started off the track until we got him In October 2020. Our 12 year old (who has only been riding him for 5 months) just competed him in a big show in a big ring jumping 2’6/2’9. While there’s always room for improvement, as far as I’m concerned, they won it all yesterday. )

Aiden and Talulla had 3 great rounds making some super turns and only missing the top ten in their speed class by half a second!
​
Big thanks to Jennifer Cassidy for coaching the kids and navigating all the courses and last minute ring changes! They’ve made big improvements this past year, thanks to you!
The best part of the day for me was watching my kids return from their rides being so thankful and appreciative of their horses. Making sure their horses were cooled out properly, braids out, hosed off, watered and fed and telling them they are the best horses in the whole world.