Legacy Horses

Melissa on Schumacker, 1994 Danish Warmblood Gelding

Kismo: 11 y.o. Danish Warmblood Gelding

Beemer: 1998, 17.2h Oldenburg Gelding

Radenberger: 2003 Hanoverian Gelding a.k.a. "Burger"

Willano: 16.3 hand, coming 7 y.o. Danish Warmblood Gelding

Here are some pics of some of the horses that I have ridden here at Legacy. They are all sales horses. I would say that I have ridden Willano the most. He is a very talented horse but also very sensitive. The last time I rode him Lars gave me a mini lesson on him and it was so much fun and also a lot of work! He starts off behind the rider and sucked back into a little turtle shell. Lars wanted me to kick him forward and get him in front of me. When you do this he usually lets out a little buck or spooky bolt thing and it can be a bit hair raising. But once you get it out of him he usually settles down and goes right to work but you have to stay on him about it! After I got him going and really in front of me he felt amazing! Then Lars wanted me to bring him back a little more on his hind legs and Willano gave me a beautiful passage-y trot. It was so exhilarating! Within the first month of being here one of my duties was to take him out in the field and do some light walk and trot work out there. The second time I took him out there he did a big, four feet off the ground buck landed and then stood on his hind legs. Needless to say it got my adrenaline running. Another time I was riding him the arena was really busy with lots of horses, sometimes it feels like you are in a warm up arena at a show. Anyhow Willano gets spooky when other horses come at him. He kept trying to rear and spin away from the other horses. Lars kicked my butt into kicking his butt. He's quick so you have to be quick. He's strong so you have to be strong. He's a phenomenal horse with loads of talent but can be a lot to handle. Sometimes I have to make sure I took my courage pills before I get on him. But it is amazing to sit on such a talented horse that has been primarily trained by Lars.

Burger is a really super horse. Another one I would take home with me if I could. The assistant trainer rides him the most. When I first got here he really didn't seem like much. He had a good canter but his trot seemed a bit tight and short. It is amazing to see how much he has improved in two and a half months! At the barn they believe that you can always improve the trot. Neve has been working on the cadence in his trot and getting passage like steps. He is really turning into something special! He has a really cool feel to ride. He's light and sensitive and really likes to go! He is one that you have to balance off of your seat and leg. I am excited to see how much this horse improves over time!

Beemer is a very sweet guy. Lars primarily rides him. He is schooling the Grand Prix and prior to being purchased by Lars competed in the small tour (PSG and I1). He is a pretty laid back kinda guy (when he's under saddle, hand walking is another story!) Lars really works on Beemer cantering small and getting his hind legs under more. He has an incredible trot. His piaffe, passage and extended trots are all pretty spectacular bit his canter is still improving. When Lars rode him with Rudolf they really worked on getting the canter smaller with lots of steep half passes and tempi changes. When you ride Beemer you can see his legs moving but it doesn't feel like there's as much going on as you see. He's a big strong horse but very fun to take for tack walks because he feels like a school horse most of the time.

Kismo is another really cool horse that if I had all the money in the world I would consider buying as a school master. He's currently doing the small tour and was bought from Legacy by a young rider who is now in college and doesn't have time to ride him anymore. At Legacy they make a policy that if you buy a horse from them they will help you sell them if you should need to sell them in the future. Kismo was being ridden primarily by Neve then Melissa and now Lars. They have just started actively advertising him (dressage daily) and so now it's down to business for Mr. Kismo :) He is a very point and shoot kind of guy. He does the tempi's solid and is developing a very nice passage-y cadenced trot. (I feel like a sales rep for Legacy right now!) But Lars really can get the most from this horse. When I've ridden him Lars just wanted me to work him deep and keep him steady to the bit. He has a very fun trot to play with getting more cadence in! He's another one that tends to be more on the quiet side and usually won't give more than you ask which can be nice after riding some of the hotter more wild ones where you better have your seat belt on!

I have also had the pleasure of riding Shumy, Melissa's Grand Prix horse. He is a very noble guy and has definitely been around the block. I really like how Shumy is a little go-er. He has a lot of gas in the engine but if you use your seat and leg to half halt he stays right with you. He has a very nice cadenced trot and a fun rolling canter. I have mostly worked (when I get to ride him) on getting him as deep as possible and coming back to a small trot and then forward again while keeping him deep. He can be a bit of a spit fire when he wants to but usually he's pretty predictable. He's another one of my favorites to sit on.

Vioen is doing really well. She has progressed so much in the past two and a half months! Sometimes it's hard not to put your own goals on your horse but she is always good about telling me when I am pushing for to much to fast. The main thing that I have been focusing on with her at the moment is building her fitness and confidence. She's come back from nearly six months off, had two babies and traveled across the country. She's been through a lot! Right now my work schedule with her is to work her 3-4 days in the arena and then a light day, either hacking or off. Sometimes I will warm her up walking up and down the hill (they have a man made hill for building fitness, every barn in white fences has one) and then trot her over trot poles in the field and then do some finish up work in the arena. Other days we just stay outside and I'll warm up over the trot poles and then canter her up the hill. In the arena she is really coming along and Lars and Melissa both have been commenting on how she looks. She is getting more confident and steady in the connection/contact and stronger in her topline. She is maintaining a steady tempo in the shoulder-fore/shoulder-ins and getting better and better in the leg yielding. My goal is to continue to give her time to get fit and maintain her eager attitude. That is why I like to take her out in the field if I feel she might be getting a little sore or if mentally she needs a break. She is definitely opinionated when it comes to distractions. She would much rather slam on the brakes, stop and look and gets a little resentful when I try to keep her working but she learning. For a barn of this caliber it's quiet but from what we're used to it's pretty busy and there's a lot going on all the time! Her canter is really coming along and she's getting more swing in the trot. I can't wait to see where we're at in another two and a half months! I would really like to show her while I'm down here, maybe not this season but for sure next season!

My mom is coming to visit me and I can't hardly wait! Her flight gets in late tomorrow night and she leaves on Tuesday. It's not long enough but I know she has horses and a life of her own and I mostly just can't wait to spend time together! Suzanne is also coming the same weekend so I am very fortunate to get to see them both! I am looking forward to showing them what I have been up to and sharing stories with them! I have seen so much but can't tell you how nice it will be to see some familiar faces!!! Hope everyone at home is well and haven't been washed away by all the rain!

Happy New Year!

We took this pic right before the clock struck twelve!

From left to right: I don't know the blond lady, Robby, David, Kim, Todd (behind her), Sofie, myself, Tanya, Juan and Kirsten

Enjoying a day at the beach in Lakeworth!

Hello All! I am writing this as a very tired Christy Pearl. It was such a long day today. It almost felt like it would never end but at the same time I was committed to working until every last thing got done. I have no life :) We had a full day and two less people working and we had to show three horses to potential buyers in addition to settling in a new Young Rider client and her horse so there was a lot to pack into the already busy schedule. Tayna and Sofie took the day off together so Sofie could see Miami. We have two new girls working for us, that makes a total of seven all together so hopefully we will be able to take days off together a bit more. It's hard when you don't know anyone or know your way around to go out and be adventurous so this is better for those of us who want to see some things while we are here! Since Tayna wasn't here I sort of took charge of running the schedule today, imagine that, me taking charge! Anyhow I was running around all day trying to do everything and at one point someone had to tell me to go take lunch because I wasn't thinking about anything else other than everything that was going on. You can start to feel the craziness of the show season starting to kick in. We still have atleast seven more horses coming in!

I hope that everyone enjoyed the holidays. I had an ok Christmas. It was really hard being away from home but I guess of all years this was the year to not be in Washington considering all the snow and the fact that my mom was traveling overseas. We all went to Lars and Melissa's place with all of their clients and had a somewhat traditional Christmas Danish dinner that Lars cooked. It was so good! His specialties were the duck and brown potatoes. In Denmark they make "brown potatoes" by baking small red potatoes in butter and brown suger. They were so delicious and went really well with the duck! Melissa went shopping for us all and got us all Christmas gifts which was super sweet! At the end of the day it really just didn't feel like Chrismas without being with family but I was thankful to do something with everyone here at the barn.

New Years was a total blast! All of us who live here on the property enjoyed a delicious meal that Tayna cooked, did night check and then met up with another Danish girl named Kirsten who used to work for Lars. Her and Tayna are good friends. Kirsten's place was very near the club that we were all going to for the big celebration. At Kirsten's place we pre-funked for a little while. It was cool to meet other people from outside of Legacy and from different parts of the world. We then went to The Player's Club to go dancing and have fun. The Player's Club is in Wellington and is apparently where all the "horse people" go out to have fun. It was a bit odd going to a club where you knew that everyone there was involved with horses in some way or another but very fun none the less. We all danced and drank to much and had a very good time.

I think this new year is going to be the year of change and learning for me. My new year's resolution is to evolve into more of the person that I want to be. I think that moving to a new place where you don't know anyone puts you in a whole different mind set. You have to learn more about who you are and who you want to become. I feel lucky that I have been able to put myself in a situation that is all about following my passion and my dreams and I am fortunate to get to meet so many people from different walks of life. We all are on our own individual paths but at the same time connected by the same thing, the horse.