I want to express my appreciation to the staff at Windchase, who do such a great job year round taking care of the horses and the farm – I am very lucky to have such a super bunch of people around me.  They all do a great job:  Barn manager/trainer Jineen Reed, trainers Cindy Anderson Blank and Heidi Wardle, farm hand Kenny Popkins, and the working students, Tori Rosenblatt,  Hannah Milne, Mariah BenDavid, and Meredith Hotchkins.  Thanks also to the Windchase Boarders, who are a wonderful group to have in the barn.  
     May everyone have a joyous Holiday Season.

Cheers,
Phyllis 



December 9, 2011
     It was with great sorrow that we said farewell to a good friend this week, when our stallion, Brandenburg’s Windstar, was euthanized on Wednesday due to a deteriorating arthritic condition in his spine which was causing severe neurological symptoms.  Resulting from past injury, his condition had progressed to the point where we owed it to him to make the only humane decision.
     Windstar was a kind and generous horse with great heart, and we will miss him.  His legacy lives on in his offspring.

Cheers,
Phyllis 



November 24, 2011
     Happy Thanksgiving.  Here are a few of the things I am grateful for:
     I am thankful for having a close and loving family, and getting to spend precious time with them.  I am thankful that I enjoy the Journey every day of my life, and for the good friends I have made along the way.  I am grateful for having good horses to ride, and for the unconditional love and loyalty our animals give us every day.  I am thankful that I live in a wondrous place where nature surrounds me, and for the astonishing beauty and diversity of the world around us.  I am thankful for the hard work and dedication of all of those who are a part of our team, as that is the reason why Windchase so special.
     I am thankful for the setting sun turning the mountain pink across the valley, and for how the white bark of the sycamore trees look, reflected in the lake.  For the soft cats who sit by my side, the loyal dogs who follow me wherever I go, and the one lucky duck who runs up from the lake to meet me in the evenings.  I am grateful for the feel of the wind on my face, and for horses that move like creatures from a dream.  For the sound of owls hooting in the night, and for the morning sun coming up over the Short Hill Mountain.  

Cheers,
Phyllis 



November 20, 2011
     We are happy to welcome Cindy Anderson as a trainer at Windchase.  Cindy is an accomplished rider and an excellent instructor, and we are excited to have her on the staff. 
     We finished up the autumn Event season at the unrecognized trials at Loch Moy last weekend.  We had a lovely sunny day, great weather for mid-November.  I rode Reiver in the Elementary division; it was great fun to compete this special youngster.  He placed 4th, but more importantly, went like a champ – he shows great promise for the future.
     Heidi Wardle rode Bridget Kroger’s talented 4 year old Sir Prancelot in the BN, going well and placing 4th.  She also took Black Diamond around the Intro division for an educational round; this youngster has a bright future. Hannah Milne, our working student from Scotland, successfully completed her first ever Event riding Organillero, placing 4th.  A good time was had by all!
     I am looking forward to Thanksgiving, as many of the family are coming to visit.  It will be a great time to get together with relatives, and I can’t wait to see them all.  Between family and barn staff, I expect to be cooking for about twenty on Thursday.  Should be fun!

Cheers,
Phyllis 



11/11/11
     Cool date, isn’t it? 

     Sadly, we said goodbye to Melissa Hunsberger this week.  After being a Trainer at Windchase for twelve years, Melissa is moving to Michigan and getting married. 
     Melissa first came to Windchase as a working student in 1999.  Right away she showed a talent for riding and a super work ethic, and when her time as a working student was over I hired her to stay on as an assistant trainer.  Getting mileage and experience, Melissa worked her way up through the levels, both as a competitor and a trainer.  She became an excellent rider, teacher and trainer, and a top-notch competitor.  From a green kid yee-hawing her way around Prelim courses to completing the CCI**** at Rolex Kentucky in 2007 with a clear cross-country on a horse she trained herself, Melissa has taken the journey and made it her own.

     Michelle Robbins was a star on her Irish Draught mare Little Gem; she won the BN division with a dressage score of 19.  Tara Swersie had a great go with her young horse Whiskey Tango, finishing second.  Emma Dixon also had good rides with Stella.
     Jeff Speagle successfully moved Griffin’s Echo up to Preliminary, and Dawn Zambito had a good clear XC round in the Novice with Cobble Creek.

     It was great fun to watch Boyd Martin ride Bonnie Stedt’s talented young ISH Quinn Himself, one of our homebreds by Brandenburg’s Windstar.  This was Quinn’s first Training Level event, and he went beautifully.  Jineen went to watch him as well; we had to restrain her from stealing him back and sneaking him on to the Windchase trailer

Cheers,
Phyllis 



October 24, 2011
     The Waredaca Horse Trials were held this past weekend, and I rode Drifter in the Open Preliminary on Sunday.  After competing him in the rain and the mud in our last three outings, I was really excited when the competition morning dawned clear and cool, perfect Eventing weather.  The cross-country course was lovely and the footing was excellent; a recipe for a great day.
     Drifter, who can be quite grumpy at home, was in a great mood at Waredaca.  He put in a decent (though perhaps overly enthusiastic) dressage test, and show-jumped perfectly, to go into the XC well placed.  He warmed up great and came out of the starting box full of enthusiasm; we jumped the first fence at speed, setting the tone for the course, ready to go for broke and make the time.  But halfway to the second fence something went suddenly wrong; I felt Drifter’s gait change, and pulled him up – he was quite lame . He had somehow managed to twist a shoe and step down on the clip, driving it into the sole of his foot, bringing our potentially brilliant cross-country round to an abrupt and premature end.  Damn!  I had really looked forward to riding that course. 

     Other Windchase horses had more successful results at Waredaca.  Tori Rosenblatt rode Aileron in the Training level Three-day Event, jumping a good clear cross-country round to finish 5th.  Heidi Wardle placed second in the Novice with the talented Organillero, finishing on their dressage score of 27, and Carrie Trimble was 5th with RambleNRoll.  Adhara went great in the Novice for Melissa, though a slip on a turn caused a technical 20.

     On another note, I have recently been pressed into service as an Alien Hunter.  This autumn we started noticing these weird jelly-like blobs floating in the lake.  At first I thought they were masses of frog eggs, but as they continued to grow I realized that they must be some kind of alien being.  Googling ‘gelatinous blobs in my lake’ yielded over 449,000 results, with the majority indicating that each of these blobs are actually colonies of tens of thousands of small organisms, related to coral, called Bryozoans.  But they still look like aliens to me, so I have been launching search-and-destroy missions.  Armed with fishing nets, pitchforks and rowboats, we have been striving to eradicate them from the lake.  Never a dull moment!

Cheers,
Phyllis 



October 19, 2011
     Finally, we have been getting the chance to enjoy some beautiful autumn weather.  After six weeks of nearly non-stop rain, the weather has been lovely. We had perfect conditions the last two weekends at the Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy.  Unfortunately, having competed Drifter the previous two weekends in the rain and mud, he was not entered for Maryland where the weather was perfect!
     Windchase was well represented, though.  At the recognized MD HT, our new working student Tori Rosenblatt had a great cross-country run with Aileron in the Open Training, as a final prep for the Training Three-day at Waredaca.  Chloe Brownlee went really well on her talented new mare Mistica in the BN, and Heidi Wardle had a good run with Organillero in the Novice, finishing on her dressage score of 33.

     Then last weekend we had ten horses at the Loch Moy Starter trials, which made for a really fun, though long, day.  The highlights included two of our really promising youngsters, Flagship Sandy and Reiver, making their Eventing debut – they both won their division, ridden by Melissa Hunsberger and Heidi Wardle.  Heidi was also second on Bridget Kroger’s talented TB-Draft cross Sir Prancelot in his first outing.  Mariah Ben-David won the Beginner Novice with her mare Caledonia.  Michelle Robbins was second with her Irish Draught mare Little Gem, and Emma Dixon was fourth with Stella.  Ballinore made his Training level debut with Melissa, jumping boldly to finish 5th.

     Jineen and I managed to slip away from the farm for a day to go hiking in the Shenandoah National Park at Skyline Drive.  Though it was rainy when we left in the morning, by the time we arrived it was clearing, and the scenery was spectacular, with the autumn colors at their peak.  We hiked to Mary’s Rock and sat on an outcropping, looking down at the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Later we watched the sun set over the Shenandoah Valley. 

Cheers,
Phyllis 



October 4, 2011
     This past weekend was the Morven Park Horse Trials, always one of my favorite Events on the calendar.  I was over at Morven on Friday as one of the judges for the Future Event Horse Championship, which was actually a lot of fun.  I walked the Preliminary course in the afternoon, and I was really excited to be riding Drifter there the next day.  After raining pretty much the entire month of September, the weather had finally cleared up, it was a lovely afternoon, and the footing was perfect.  I went to bed Friday night full of anticipation. 
     When I woke up Saturday morning, it was raining.
     Again.
     And it was forty degrees.
     After getting thoroughly soggy doing dressage, I almost didn’t go to jump.  But Drifter had done a nice test, and I thought oh well, it will be too wet to go cross-country, but at least the Show Jumping is in a sand arena, so I might as well go give it a go.  When I went down to the arena the wind was blowing the rain sideways, thoroughly miserable.  But Drifter jumped great, and never came close to touching a fence.  Unfortunately my foot hit the standard on the narrow fence and knocked it down, but that was my error, not Drifter’s.
     It actually stopped raining for a few minutes about the time I finished jumping, and someone said the footing was holding up well, so I decided to go XC after all.  Of course the rain started again as I got to the start box, but by then I was committed.  Setting out on course I thought the footing really wasn’t all that great, but Drifter handled it well and jumped a good clear round - though with the deep going and slippery footing I went fairly slowly and had some time penalties.  But Drifter and I both had fun, which after all, was the point.
     On Sunday, Melissa was rode two of the good young horses, Ballinore and Adhara, in the Novice.
     It rained.
     A lot.
     But both horses went great, and Ballinore actually ended up winning the Open Novice division.  Also in the Novice, Ashlynn Riefenrath rode Cobble Creek to a good clear XC round, and Megan Delgado-Mitchell had an excellent go with her feisty Quarter Horse mare Miss King of Kings.
     It was raining today . . .

Cheers,
Phyllis  



September 28, 2011
     Is it ever going to stop raining?  This has been the wettest September I can remember.  In fact, it has been just about the wettest month I can remember!  Literally, I don’t think there has hardly been a day this month when it has not rained.
     We went to the Middleburg Horse Trials this past weekend.  It rained.  Walking the course on Friday (in the pouring rain), I seriously doubted I would jump my horse, but on Saturday it stopped raining for a while and the sun actually came out briefly.  Though the ground was wet and slick, it held up better than I had expected for show jumping, so I came back Sunday morning for cross-country.  It was raining, of course.  But not too hard, so we all gave it a go.  Drifter went great in the Open Preliminary; I went fairly slow because of the wet footing but still finished 9^th out of a large division of around 35.  
     The star of the day was our working student Ashlynn Riefenrath, who completed her first Intermediate with her little mare Arden.  Ashlynn rode great and Arden went like a champ, and they jumped around XC in great style to finish 10^th.  I am very proud of them both!  Melissa rode Castano in his first recognized Novice, where he also went well with a clear cross-country round, and Jeff Speagle had a good ride on Griffin in the Training.

     Here is the current weather forecast:
Today – Cloudy with showers, thunderstorms likely.
Tomorrow - Partly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms.
Friday - Partly sunny with chance of rain.
      Pretty much the same forecast it has been all month!  By the way, it is pouring rain as I write this . . .

Cheers,
Phyllis 



September 21, 2011
     I had a nice trip down to Atlanta, Georgia for the American Eventing Championships earlier this month.  Heidi Wardle qualified in the Novice on Kilronan Farm’s Irish Draught mare Little Gem, and owners Larry and Michelle Robbins were nice enough to fly me down for the competition.  It was the first time I had been to this lovely facility or to the AECs, and it really was an amazing competition.  Little Gem performed well and we all had a lot of fun.
     Autumn has arrived.  I love the cooler temperatures, and the leaves are just starting to show a hint of their fall colors.  The horses are feeling fresh and we have good competitions coming up just about every weekend through September and October.  We have had an inordinate amount of rain over the last three weeks and I would welcome a bit more sunshine, but I love this time of year and so I am not complaining.  
     Last Sunday Jineen and I were given tickets to go see the Redskins play at FedEx field, and we had a blast.  It was a very close and exciting game and the ‘Skins barely managed to pull off the win - let’s hope they can keep it up!

Cheers,
Phyllis 



September 7, 2011
     It’s September already; hard to believe.  
     Windchase’s Event season got off to a good start, with Heidi Wardle winning the Open Novice at Loudoun Horse Trials riding Michelle and Larry Robbins’ good Irish Draught mare Little Gem.  Our summer working student from Bulgaria, Veronika Iskarov, placed 4^th with Organillero de la Galerna.

     Then last weekend, Drifter and I went to Seneca Valley.  Drifter was very happy to be competing again; he can be quite grumpy at home, but loves to go to the Events.  He ran well and jumped great, to finish 6^th in the Open Preliminary.  
     Melissa had a nice ride on the promising youngster Ballinore to place 6^th in the Novice, and Heidi Wardle was 5^th in the BN on Castano.  Look for these excellent youngsters on the Horse for Sale page.  
     Ashlynn Riefenrath had a great run on her clever little mare Arden to finish 2^nd in the Preliminary Rider division.  Also, our working student from Texas, Megan Mitchell, had a successful Novice debut on her Quarter Horse mare, Miss King of Kings.

      I have had a great visit the past week from my niece Stacy and her daughter little Phyllis.  Though only six, Phyllis is already showing great ability in the saddle, and we enjoyed many long trail rides together.  Great thanks to Mary Hallisy for the loan of her kind mare Lilly, making this possible.

Cheers,
Phyllis 



August 25, 2011
     Earthquakes, Hurricanes – what’s next, maybe a volcano?
     Virginia was rather famously hit with a 5.9 earthquake this past Tuesday; apparently it was a big news item, but it seemed pretty unexciting from our viewpoint.  I was riding and didn’t feel a thing, but Jineen was sitting in the gazebo teaching and noticed it shaking; she wondered if the plane flying over had caused it.  The working students in the tack room thought it was just Drifter kicking his stall walls again.  On the whole we were surprised the press made such a big deal of it; must have been a slow news day.
     But Hurricane Irene looks like a different matter.  According to the Weather Channel she is 430 miles wide, and although there are various different models tracking where the storm might go, all of them show her passing close to Windchase.  So we will be battening down the hatches and preparing for high winds and torrential rains.  It doesn’t look to good for the horses that are supposed to run at the Loudoun Horse Trials on Sunday!  

Cheers,
Phyllis 



August 21, 2011
     When you are away on vacation for a couple of weeks, it always seems to take forever to get caught up again and get everything on track.  Melissa did a super job of keeping the farm going while Jineen and I were away, but I am still catching up on the paperwork!  (This is my flimsy excuse for being so tardy in posting on this website.)
     The horses are going great, and we are having fun over the summer schooling up the young ones.  We have sold quite a few horses this summer, which is exciting – but even more fun is how that gives us the chance to work with the new batch of up-and-coming youngsters.  And we have a really exciting group of those!  I was schooling in the arena this morning and watching my staff riding the three and four year olds, and I was really struck by the outstanding quality of the homebreds and horses in training.  There is nothing better in this life than riding good horses.  (Wow, that was profound – I may have to use that in the Windchase Quotes column!)
     A few of our horses went to Waredaca last weekend; Melissa rode the talented NZ horse Hendrix to 6^th place in the Open Preliminary, and reported he was just a cross-country machine.  Heidi had a good run with Little Gem in preparation for the AECs, finishing 3^rd in the Open Novice, and she also competed Mistica in her first recognized event, placing 5^th in the BN.  Melissa also had a good BN run with Castano for his first sanctioned outing.
     So we are enjoying life at Windchase and preparing for the autumn Event season.  August has been a lot cooler than July, and we are finally getting some much needed rain.  And I can’t wait for those September competitions!

Cheers,
Phyllis 



July 29, 2011
     Botswana was fabulous, and Jineen and I had a super trip - in fact, we wished we could stay another month!  We spent the first two weeks at two different lodges in the Limpopo Valley, the Tuli Lodge and the Mashatu Tented Camp, where we went out on driving safari each day in Landrovers.  The second week we had the unique privilege of getting to experience Africa from horseback, with Limpopo Valley Horse Safaris.  It was a mobile safari; we rode 6 to 8 hours per day, camping in a different spot each night.  We were able to explore places where no vehicles can go, and to get closer to some animals than you could any other way.  We slept in the open some nights, and could hear the lions calling less than 100 meters from our beds.  It was an amazing trip - we made new friends and collected memories to last a lifetime.  

     I took thousands of photos!  When I get time, I will write up a much more detailed journal of the trip and post it on this website with photos – but as always after being away, I have a million things to catch up on, so it will take me a while to get it done.
     Much thanks to the Windchase barn staff and working students, headed up by trainer Melissa Hunsberger, for taking good care of the farm while Jineen and I were away.  They did a great job, and everything was in good shape when we came home.

Cheers,
Phyllis 



July 8, 2011
     Jineen and I are off to the airport in an hour, for the coolest vacation ever.  We are going on a horseback safari in Botswana.  We have been looking forward to this trip all year, and are really excited to be going.  On hearing about the trip, my cousin’s advice was, “Don’t feed the lions!”

Cheers,
Phyllis 



July 4, 2011
     Happy Fourth of July!
     I think I am always happiest when things are the busiest, so if that is true then the month of June has been sheer bliss.
     After three busy competition weekends in a row, Windchase hosted an Assessment (testing) for the USEA’s Instructor Certification Program.  As I was also one of the Assessors, it made for a hectic week.  It was great to work with Jim Graham and Sue Hershey, and we saw some very talented Instructors during the course of the testing.  Much thanks to Windchase’s students and friends who participated as demo-riders.
     Then it was time for the 2011 Dawson Family Reunion.  My mother and I, accompanied by Jineen (who is an honorary Dawson), headed down to Lynchburg where my brother George was hosting this year’s party.  We had a super time, with great food, excellent music, fun and games, and photo opportunities for the family to get a portrait done with Gramma Grace.  I am very lucky to be part of a large and close-knit family, and it is really great when we all get together each summer. 

     My niece Heather and her kids Gracie and Chipper spent the following week with us.  It was super to get to spend time with them, and amazing to see how much the kids have grown.  They both like to ride, so many hours were spent on lead-line trail rides.
     My mother’s little yellow cat Goldie delivered four darling kittens at the beginning of June, and they are the most fun.  I am absolutely a sucker for kittens and puppies, and Goldie’s litter is a source of endless delight.  They are four weeks old now and just beginning to romp and play.

     This past Saturday we took a bunch of young horses over to Sharon White’s Last Frontier Farm for the Jumping Derby.  The classes were a combination of show jumping and cross-country, with the entry fees going to help fund Sharon’s trip to Burghley this autumn.  The atmosphere was informal and educational, and a very vocal cheering section of kids and spectators wearing Sharon’s trademark orange helped ensure that everyone had a lot of fun.

     Emma Dixon won the Baby Novice class with her excellent mare Stella.  Daniela Theurel, from Mexico, had a great go on Windchase’s young mare Adhara, and our new working student from Bulgaria, Veronika Iskarov, had a successful ride on Organillero de la Galerna, owned by Pedro Gutierrez.  Heidi Wardle did a great job with several of our youngsters, Mistica and Keep on Dancing.

     On a very sad note, we were sorry to say goodbye to Charles Hutchings’s lovely Irish mare Shamrock.  She was a generous and talented horse who helped teach many of Windchase’s working students.  Sadly she was lost in a pasture accident last week, and we will all miss her.

Cheers,
Phyllis 



June 24, 2011
     We ended up the spring Event season at Seneca Valley this past weekend, with most of the horses going great, and a few of them putting in less than stellar performances.  The training of young horses is always interesting, and some of them are a work in progress.  It reminds me of something I saw on the internet the other day:

Four Rules of Eventing:
1.       Leave together and come back together 
2.       Don't scare the spectators 
3.       No crying in Eventing (unless it’s with sheer joy in the moment) 
4.       Nobody cares on Monday  

     Two of the youngsters making their Recognized Event debut at BN were stars, with Willmore placing 5^th with Ashlynn Riefenrath and Ballinore ending up 9^th with Melissa Hunsberger.  Both of them went great, and will go Novice next time out.  Melissa also had a good go with Hendrix in the Preliminary, placing 8^th.  Look for them on the horses for sale page.  

     Windchase always has its own special magic, and every day brings splendid beauty.  Out hacking the other day I saw a red fox, two mother deer with newborn fawns, and a turkey hen with about 30 tiny chicks.  Later, standing by the lake, I watched an osprey dive and catch a fish.  An evening storm blew up with a brief and windy downpour, followed by a brilliant rainbow; living at Windchase is better than any pot of gold at the end of it.

Cheers,
Phyllis 



June 8, 2011
     Waredaca is always one of the best organized Events on the circuit, and their Horse Trials last weekend was no exception.  But after all of the wet weather and deep footing we have had this spring, it came as somewhat of a shock to run on rock-hard footing.  I had a nice run with Drifter in the Preliminary to place 8^th.  Jeff Speagle also had a good Prelim round with Maungatautari.  Heidi Wardle placed third with Larry and Michelle Robbins’ mare Little Gem in the Training division, and Karen Eichert was fifth in the BN with Lochcarron.  My homebred mare Adhara moved up to Novice with Melissa Hunsberger and went great, placing third.

     It was with mixed feelings that I said goodbye to my two fancy up-and-coming homebreds Starbourne and Polaris.  I will miss riding these two talented youngsters, but I am thrilled that they have both gone to Boyd Martin’s stable.  One of Boyd’s students has acquired Polaris to hopefully take her to the four-star level in the future, and Starbourne, now renamed Quinn Himself, will be for Boyd to ride.

    Boyd had seen Starbourne a few weeks ago and been very interested in trying to put together a syndicate to buy him.  But then he had his tragic barn fire.  A few days later one of Boyd’s supporters, Bonnie Stedt, contacted me and arranged to buy Starbourne for Boyd.  Wanting to lift Boyd’s spirits, she kept the purchase a secret, until I delivered him to Boyd on Sunday at Waredaca.  Boyd came by my trailer, still completely in the dark, and I took the horse off the trailer and handed the lead rope to Boyd, and said "this is a present from Bonnie."  It was a great moment!  Later Boyd said that the moment he received the horse was a turning point for him emotionally in recovering from the tragedy of the fire.  

     We celebrated my mother Grace’s 91^st birthday on June 3 with and old fashioned potluck party and cookout on the lawn.  It was great to get together with friends, some of whom we see often and some we haven’t seen in years.  And then yesterday, mom’s little yellow cat, Goldie, presented her with four kittens!

Cheers,
Phyllis 



June 1, 2011
     Spring seems to have sprung, and summer weather has arrived, with temperatures in the high nineties this week.  Our busy season continues, with the older horses competing well and the youngsters getting valuable experience.  
     Windchase working student Ashlynn Riefenrath had a great run with her athletic little TB mare Arden in the CCI* at the Virginia Horse Trials, finishing 7^th in the Young Rider division.  Dana Bivens also had a good ride with Happy Go Lucky, jumping clear around the cross country.  Dana is returning to school, so we will miss her here at Windchase.

      The young horses have continued to progress well at Elysian Hills, with Mistica winning in the BN division with Dana, and Melissa riding Ballinore to second place in the Elementary for his first competition outing.  Check them out on the Horses for Sale page.

     On a much sadder note, our hearts go out to Boyd Martin and all of his crew up at True Prospect Farm in PA.  As you may have heard, his barn burned down early Tuesday morning, and some really nice horses were lost.  I thank my lucky stars every day that when our barn burned in 2008 no horses or people were injured.  Check the Eventing Nation website for details on how to help Boyd and his team.