ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 4-19-08:

Denville-Kanani results at the end of this section; final Garlic Country results in the next section.

Congrats!! to Barbara on the purchase of her new horse, Voyager! Voyager is a 5-year-old, grey, large (of course!), Dutch warmblood. We'll get photos on the gallery soon.

Congrats to Margie on her 65% score at I-1--the first time ever for Kit at that level!

Congrats also to Barbara on her 63% score at PSG--the first of 2 needed to complete her Silver USDF medal.

Congrats as well to Dianne on her 60% score at Training Level--she is now a qualified riding member of CDS.

Congrats to Linda on True's 67% win at Training Level at his first dressage show ever!

Kessel is due to foal any day, so watch this space for news.

Don't forget: the B&T Farm open house is this Saturday. There will be two FEI level demo rides, a musical quadrille, a liberty training demo, a complementary BBQ, a clinic, and farm tours. The only way to get directions is call Tina or Pamela, so please do so if you haven't already. We need a head count for the BBQ, so we need actual RSVP phone calls. Thanks!

Okay, D-K dressage results:

Margie & Kit: 1st at I-1, 65%

Barbara & Largo: 1st at PSG, 63%

Carrie & Pax: 1st at 4th level, 61%

Emily & Kasper: 1st at 2nd level, 63%

Helen & Jiggs: 4th at 1st level, 60%

Sarah & True: 1st at Tr Level, 67%

Sarah & Rosie: 1st at Tr level, 66%

Dianne & Rosie: 4th at Tr level, 60%

MODIFIED BY PAMELA ON 4-19-08:

Congrats to Shae on her 74% win at Intro level with Zander at his first dressage show ever!

Garlic Country dressage results as best I remember:

Barbara & Largo PSG: 2nd place

Chauna & Quinn 3rd level: 1st place

Chauna & Diego 3rd level: 1st place

Helen & Jiggs 1st leveL: 2nd place

Tina & Tango 1st level: 5th place

Shae & Zander Intro: 1st place 74!!!

Shae & Zander Tr Level: 3rd place

congrats to all!

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 4-10-08:

For those of you who haven't yet heard, Katie's horse, Zeta, had colic surgery this morning. She came out of surgery well and is expected to make a full recovery. We wish Katie and Zeta all the best.

In the medical line, Oliver is also doing well. He has returned to light work and looks very good, if still a little bit puffy with allergies.

Watch this space for some exciting news: Carrie has been in New Jersey and Florida on a horse-buying trip for a few students and she thinks that she found a horse. Once we're sure that he passes his vet check, we'll post more information...

Ride times for Garlic Country:

sorry, Carrie & Pax had to scratch because of the trip

Barbara & Largo at PSG: Friday at 11:59. Saturday at 4:20.

Chauna & Quinn at 3rd level: Friday at 4:40 & 5:39. Saturday at 4:12 & 4:55.

Helen & Jiggs at 1st level: Friday at 8:32 & 2:11. Satuday at 1:35 & 3:19.

Tina & Tango at 1st level: Friday at 4:05. Satuday at 3:03.

Shae & Zander at Intro/Training: Friday at 3:25 & 4:20. Saturday at 8:16 & 8:52.

Please come to cheer everyone on!

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 4-4-08:

First of all, Oliver: he is doing very well and will be going back to work this week. We plan to keep him at home for a while, as we think that his allergies do better here. When he is 100%, he may return to RV. In the meantime, Satchel seems to be making everyone happy.

The response to the B&T open house has been tremendous! We hope that all of you can make it: don't forget to RSVP to Pamela or Tina so that we have an accurate head-count for the BBQ lunch. For those of you who are riding in the clinic, we would like to humbly suggest that you donate the cost of a lesson to the SPCA that day OR bid on an auction item. We are hoping to raise a good sum for the SPCA in monterey county...

Remember: Kessel's baby is due May 1st, so we will be on "baby watch" for a while until she foals. Please bear with us if we are a little bit groggy some days.

Please welcome some new and returning students to the barn: Christa and Janet. You'll see Christa at B&T Farm with her two Freisians and you'll Janet at RV in the quadrille.

We will be at two shows in April: Garlic County at Woodmyst and Denville-Kanani. We hope that you can come to cheer us on. We aren't going to any shows in May, but we plan to go to three shows in June, so keep checking the calendar for updates.

Congratulations to Kari, who just bought a horse and plans to move him to Rancho Viejo on May 1st. Congratulations also to Niki, who bought a horse who will be living at Webb. We won't see much of Niki anymore, but we wish her well.

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 3-11-08:

We are very sorry to have to say good-bye to Hazel...she is returning to her former riding love of jumping. We wish her all the best and we hope that she comes back to visit us often!

We would also like to welcome some new (and returning) students: Grace, Lia, Celeste, Sandra, and Jillian. We hope you enjoy riding with us!

We want to congratulate Joe: he's on crutches and driving himself around. We expect to see him on a horse any day now (well, soon...).

The B&T farm open house is officially taking place on Saturday, April 26th. There will be demo rides, freestyles, a BBQ, and, of course, complementary lessons with Seven Oaks trainers. If you are interested in a space, or you have a friend who might like to try dressage with us, contact Tina directly (www.bandtfarm.com) and let her know. It should be a fun day and we hope to see you all there.

Don't forget about the RV dressage show: it's new date is Sunday, May 4th. The show is open to RV boarders and students only (sorry!), but should be a lot of fun to watch, even if you can't compete. We'll have food, prizes, an FEI demo ride at lunch, and some surprise awards. Plan on coming out to support your fellow Seven Oaks team members.

Baby watch: the first foal will be Kessel's, due at the end of this month. After that, Molly and Thea will be having their babies. Be prepared for some bleary-eyed trainers around foaling time: we nervous mid-wives stay up a lot of nights.

Shows: we have entered everyone for D-K april and are currently doing entries for Garlic country april. After that, D-K may, Garlic country may, and the next RV show.

Enjoy the great weather!

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 2-21-08:

First of all, I didn't mention one of our best horses earlier: Teddy! I sometimes forget that Teddy belongs to us, because he thinks that his real mommy is Alicia. So, here is the correct list of school horses available for lessons and showing in March:

at Rancho Viejo in Portola Valley:

Wiley, 17.1 hand Hannoverian, 4th level

Oliver, 15.1 hand Appy, 3rd level

Balou & Jasper, 2nd level

Butters & Berry, 1st level

Teddy & Stevie & Pancho, all tr level

and at Seven Oaks-SJB:

Fox, 16.1 hand TB, PSG

James, 16.2 hand TB-AH, 2nd-3rd level

Chad, 15.1 hand Mustang, 2nd-3rd level

Kevin, Satchel, Nemo, all 1st level

Bug and Trevor, tr level

Jake, intro level

You can see pictures of most of these horses on the gallery page, many of them at shows. If we've moved one of your favorite horses around, you are welcome to come and ride him at the other location.

Also, I may have gotten the date of B&T's open house wrong: it will either be on Saturday, April 26 OR Sunday, April 27. Watch this page, check our calendar & go to B&T's website to find out more details when it gets closer to time.

And, I mis-wrote when I said that Joe had a blog about his broken leg. He doesn't have a blog, just a short "blurb" to give the full story. The link to the blurb went out to the Seven Oaks' group--if you haven't gotten it and you want it, email me & I'll forward your email directly to Joe.

We completed entries for Denville-Kanani in April and we expect the following horse/rider combinations to go to the show:

Margie & Kit at Int-I

Barbara & Largo at PSG

Emily & Kasper at 2nd level

Helen & Jiggs at 1st level

Chauna on Shae's horse, Andy, at Tr level

Shae & Cinnamon at Tr level

Sarah on Linda's horse, True, at Tr level

Sarah on Dianne's horse, Rosie, at Tr level

Dianne & Rosie at Tr level

Emily & Walker at Tr level

See you at the barn!

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 2-17-08:

We are going to wait until the last minute to decide about going to the Garlic Country show in March. If the weather is good and the show has space, they have generously agreed to allow us to enter at the last minute. We plan to take 8-10 horses to Denville-Kanani in April. If you want to show with us, let me know ASAP, because I will be doing entries tomorrow and Tuesday. Remember that, because of the last-minute nature of the Adult Amateur competition, these may be the only shows at which you can qualify for the 2008 show.

B & T Farms will be having their open house on Sunday, April 27. Everyone is invited to come! We plan to have a catered lunch, demo rides, our version of a petting zoo, and lessons with the Seven Oaks trainers. You will be receiving a mailer or an e-mail soon with more details.

Joe is in great spirits. I hear that he has started a blog, but I don't know how to find it, so I'll send out an email when I have more information.

See you at the barn!

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 2-7-08:

News about Joe: as most of you know, Joe and James parted ways last Friday. Joe broke his femur (!), poor guy, and had surgery to set it the next day. He's doing well and should be home any day now. However, it's going to be quite a while before he's back on a horse and we all feel terrible about that. If you want to mail or email him your good wishes, call Pamela for the addresses.

On to business: B&T farms is planning an open house at the end of April (probably the last Sunday in April). At this point in time, we are thinking about a day of demo rides, with a BBQ, as well as complementary lessons with Seven Oaks staff. The lessons will be by invitation only and are designed to introduce local dressage riders to the barn, so let us know if you know of someone in the south San Jose area who might be interested. Everyone is welcome to come, audit the lessons, watch the demos & eat for free. Watch this page for more details.

We have added some shows & removed some shows, based on your feedback. In particular, we hope to have three schooling shows at RV, so check our calendar page for dates and let us know what works for you. Also, Keira from the Garlic Country shows is setting up her March show and wants to know how many stalls we need. Are you interested in going to that show? There will 2 1-day shows (Fri & Sat), with schooling on Thurs. If enough people are interested, we'll go as a group. Let me know asap so that I can reserve on-site stabling for the Seven Oaks crowd.

The weather has been great lately and we're all happy to be out & riding.

See you at the barn!

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 1-24-08:

The weather has been rotten, but at least it gave me a long-planned opportunity to update the website. I've made changes to every page, so please check them out & let me know if I've made any mistakes...thanks! Also, if you have anything that you would like me to add (or subtract, I suppose), let me know.

In particular, you should check out the locations page, where I've added a section on Tina's new farm, "B & T Farm." They have a website in progress and I'll put a link to the site as soon as it's up and running. We hope to have an open house event: probably a schooling show with FEI demo rides, costume freestyles, pony rides for kids & adults, and a lots of good (free!) food. The barn is just on the boarder between San Martin and Gilroy, about 30 minutes north of our San Juan Bautista location. There will be two barns on 10 acres, with 2 dressage arenas and a round pen. There are plans to cover at least one of the arenas in the future. We also hope to start holding shows there and there will be on-site stabling.

Other exciting news: we finally completed the purchase of the additional 2.25 acres adjacent to the current 2012 School Road farm. We plan to create our own trail course, after a fashion, so that the horses can have start having their trail riding day be on our property. This acreage will also provide a buffer for our arena, in case we end up with some new neighbors. We will have a "move the fence line" day soon--if you want to join us for a day of hard labor (and a credit on your bill), let Pamela know.

Some news about our horse-rider combinations: Margie & Kit had such a good season at PSG that she plans to move up to I-1 in the spring. Tina will show her new horse, Diego, 3rd level. Look for Donna to bring Frankie out at 3rd level, as well. The newest youngsters, Andy & Alex & Sebastian, should all be debuting at training level. Karolina is now in full training on Oliver, with plans to join us at shows this summer. Unfortunately, Oliver himself can't go to shows, but Karolina plans to hone her dressage skills on one of our best schoolmasters and then take her knowledge to another horse for shows. Romy and Cristina have been in full training on Wiley, another schoolmaster whose health makes it impossible for him to show, so we are working horsey substitutes for the show season. To that end, Romy has been trying out James. Lisa has taken over Balou full time and Sarah has moved on to a very special horse, Butters. Sarah is sharing Butters with Margaret, so look for both of them to take him to shows soon. Sarah will be joined by several others planning to compete at Juniors this year: Shae & Cinnamon, Hazel & a school horse, Olga & Heinrich, Emily & Kasper. Emily will show Kasper 3rd level; everyone else will be showing at Training and 1st level. Caitlin & Eric will be moving up to 3rd level, Katie & Zeta to 2nd level, Helen & Jiggs to 1st & 2nd level. Look also for Barbara on Largo & on Quinn, Tina on Tango, Dianne on Rosie, Linda on True, and Patsy on Karl or one of the school horses.

Some other horsey news: Bean is weaned and seems pretty easy-going about the whole idea. Annabelle is loudly eager to go back into training. Marco is doing much better--he'll repeat a year of baby training, but we're keeping our fingers crossed. Look for Zoe & Meg & Gracie to spend some time at Rancho Viejo this summer. Eli and Minty will get their chance to be "real" horses--they go into baby training in the spring. We are also awaiting three new arrivals: Kessel is in foal to Ijseelmeer (baby mid-april), Molly is in foal to Gavilan (baby end of June) and Thea is also in foal to Gavilan (baby end of august).

Well, that's it for now. Before you know it, the rain will be over & we'll get to complain about the heat...

Stay dry and healthy.

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 1-14-08:

Hello, everyone, and Happy New Year! I've returned to the living, more or less, but I've been too sick to collect any news, so you will all have to get back to me with more items.

What I do know: Sandra and Lia have returned to ride with us--hard to believe, but Lia is 8 years old! Tina's farm is almost ready to start accepting boarders--it looks fantastic and the footing is going to be great. Caitlin has officially started with Seven Oaks full time, so look for her to be teaching at all 3 locations. Good-bye to Nancy, who is moving to LA with her husband, Chris.

We are starting to gear up for the horse show season. I've put some likely shows on the calendar, so look at the dates and let us know what shows you would like to attend. Remember that we need to send entries about 2 months in advance, so be sure that you are a member of all 3 organizations (USEF, USDF & CDS) and that your horse has a USDF number. We are no longer going to take students who are non-members, so think about going to 1-start shows (CDS membership only) if you don't want to join everything.

Be patient with the weather--it will be spring before we know it.

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 12-18-07:

First of all, some very exciting news:

Tina and Bizarro were Reserve Champions USDF all-breeds at Amateur Training Level and placed 3rd in the Open Training Level division.

And, Tina and Bruce are opening their own barn early in 2008--look here for more details as things progress. They plan to have stall-paddocks, excellent footing, room for 20 horses, all of whom will be Seven Oaks' riders.

We have lots of other year-end winners--here are the CDS Year End Award winners (and riders who would have been award winners, but either they or the horse's owner wasn't a CDS member at the timeP:

Margie & Kit--PSG

Juliet & Cory--PSG

Chauna & Pax--4th level

Margie & Kit--4th level

Barbara & Largo--4th level

Carrie & Maggie--4th level

Patsy & Karl--3rd level

Chauna & Pax--3rd level

Caitlin & Eric--2nd level

Emily & Kasper--2nd level

Chauna & Zeta--1st level

Caitlin & Eric--1st level

Katie & Zeta--1st level

Helen & Jigss-1st level

Carrie & Chad--1st level

Emily & Kasper--1st level

Barbara & Kasper--1st level

Tina & Bizarro--Tr level

Shae & Cinnamon--Tr level

Chauna & Meg--Tr level

Helen & Jigss-Tr level

Sarah & Balou--Tr level

Carrie & Chad--Tr level

Pamela & Balou--Tr level

Pamela & Kevin--Tr level

Pamela & Chad--Tr level

Jenn & Jasper--Tr level

Sarah R & Cinnamon--Tr level

Caitlin & Jasper--Tr level

Cailtin & Darla--Tr level

Lisa & Balou--Tr level

Tina & Berry--Intro level

Hazel & Teddy--Intro level

Dianne & Rosie--Intro Level

Alicia & Teddy--Leadline

Tina & Tango--freestyle

Shae & Cinnamon--freestyle

congrats to all!! we look forward to an exciting 2008 with everyone above, plus our new for 2008 show season combinations:

Olga & Heinrich

Holly & Charley

Sarah R & True

Sarah S & Butters

Linda & True

Tina & San Diego

Carrie & Pax

And the newest "babies" ridden by Chauna, Carrie, Caitlin, Sarah or Pamela:

Andy, Alex, Sebastian, Trevor, Bug, Nemo

Other news, both good & bad:

We are very sorry to say good-bye to Bizarro and Sunny, both of whom passed away recently. We do want to welcome San Diego, Bizarro's replacement, to the barn. San Diego is a dark brown Hannoverian who was showing PSG and I-1 in Europe until about 6 weeks ago, when he arrived in the USA. Look for Tina to be showing him this summer. We are also sorry to bid Jenn L good-bye, although not for good! She has moved back to her home in Germany, but plans to return and ride with us in April. We want to extend our sympathy to Margaret, who rode with us for years before she moved to Southern California. Margaret's cancer has returned and she is facing at least one more surgery. Please think good thoughts; contact Pamela if you would like Margaret's email address so that you can get in touch with her. Finally, please welcome "Nemo" to the barn--our newest school horse.

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 11-19-07:

Results for Denville-Kanani:

Pamela & Chad--Tr Level -- 62%

Shae & Cinnamon--Tr Level--59%

Olga & Heinrich--Tr Level--72%--1st --Highpoint Tr Level!!!

Tina & Tango--Tr Level--61%--1st show!!

Jenn & Jasper--Tr Level--61%

Lisa & Balou--Tr Level--64%

Sarah & Balou--Tr Level--65%

Chauna & Meg--Tr Level--64%

Pamela & Kevin--Tr Level--63%

Helen & Jiggs--1st Level--62%

Katie & Zeta--1st Level--64%

Emily & Kasper--2nd Level--64%

Barbara & Largo--PSG--2nd place

Congrats to all!

Other news:

Holly is keeping us posted on the weather and such in France. We miss her and her horses miss her and I think that she misses all of us, as well. Tina & Shae are keeping busy with their brand new home and barn--we'll have lots more info soon. Biz is, unfortunately, not doing well. However, Tango, Andy & Cinnamon are all going strong. Joe has been riding Meg on Saturdays, which is lots of fun. Margaret is riding Rusty and we are doing are best to make James a good riding prospect, as well. Rosie & Dianne have to suffer with the time change and weather change and we're proud of Dianne for riding in the cold and dark so often. Margie got sick and couldn't show Kit--it would have been his first time out at I-1--she' better now and looking forward to showing in the spring. Katja should be a mom x 2 any day now--news, anyone? Patsy is back from Japan and Karl is on the road back to his normal life. Ula should be returning to RV soon, with a long lay-up (sorry, Sarah!), but an excellent long-term prognosis. Jenn will be leaving us soon to return home to Germany and we will all miss her!!!, especially Jasper. Sarah, Hazel, Shae, Emily and Olga are all well on their to qualifying for Jr Championships. For the adult amateur championships, already having at least one score towards qualifying: Katie, Lisa, Tina, Helen, Caitlin and Margie.

I'm sure that there's lots more, but I'm off to deal with water, our well, and other fun stuff. Have a great Thanksgiving!

ENTERED BY PAMELA ON 10-22-07:

First of all, in case you didn't get my email, Kerry is home and doing pretty well. He is looking at a heart-healthy diet (we all should, let's face it), but nothing worse than that. Thanks to all of you for your understanding--it was wonderful to leave in the middle of the night and be gone for 4 days and know that everyone and everything was okay!

Second, thanks to Joe and Donna, the gallery has some new photos. We would like to make sure that everyone is up on the gallery. If you aren't there or if you aren't on the horse that photographs best with you, please organize a few photos and email them to me. If you have a cute caption, I'll do my best to add that, as well.

Bean and Thea are doing fine. Molly (formerly Tegwin), Kessel and Thea are all -- as of now -- pregnant, so we hope to have three foals this spring and summer. Kessel's baby is by Ijseelmeer, Ula's sire. The other two mares are pregnant with Gavilan foals.

The riding program at San Juan Bautista should be up and running in the late spring. We'll try very hard to clean house & farm and (finally!) have a house-and-farm-warming party for everyone, including pony rides.

Our next show is Denville-Kanani in November. As of now, we expect the following horse and rider combos to show:

Margie and Kit at Intermediare I

Barbara and Largo at Prix St Georges

Emily and Kasper at 2nd level

the following at 1st level:

Tina and Tango

Katie and Zeta

Helen and Jiggs

and the following at training level:

Shae and Cinnamon

Chauna and Meg

Lisa and Balou

Sarah S and Balou

Sarah R and Ula

Olga and Heinrich

Pamela and Kevin

Please come and cheer everyone on!

See you at the barn!