Sarah Braun Named Best Groom of the Year!

HBE is so proud to announce that our very own Sarah Braun is the 2014 Christine E. Stafford Groom of the Year! This prestigious honor was established in 2005 for the U.S. Eventing Association to recognize the vital role played by the groom, who works countless hours behind the scenes to make sure their horses and riders are healthy, happy, and poised for success. Nominations are made by their employers, reviewed by the USEA Awards Nomination Committee and awarded at the Annual USEA Convention. This award could not have gone to a more deserving individual and Hawley along with every member of the HBE Team is grateful for the hard work and dedication that Sarah has shown. We could not do what we do without her and feel very fortunate to call her a member of HBE!

Hawley Bennett Selected as Guest Speaker and Clinician for USEA Clinic at Aspen Farms!

USEA Hawley Bennet Clinic

Jan 11-12th (Sunday and Monday) 2015

Sponsored by Area VII

USEA Area VII is proud to offer the opportunity to ride with one of Canada’s top riders.  Hawley has a wealth of team experience, representing Canada in multiple Olympics, as well as winning team silver at the the CanAms  and the World Equestrian Games.  She completed Badmitton, Burghley, Rolex, and Pau CCI****’s.  Hawley will be our guest speaker at the annual meeting held on Jan 10^th, in Olympia, WA.

The clinic will be 2 days of group stadium jumping sessions (cross country fences if weather permits in the outdoor), with a maximum of five riders per group. Open to all riders and horses with some jumping experience.

The clinic and stabling will be held at Aspen Farms in Yelm, WA,  www.aspenfarmseventing.com

DISCOUNT FOR ATTENDEES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING.  Clinic cost is $250 for those attending the Area VII annual meeting in Olympia – All others $275. Single day only may be available, cost will be $150 per day.  Stabling $25 per night, Auditing -$15 per day includes lunch. Cancellations before December 20th will receive a full refund.   Cancellations after December 20th will be refunded minus $50.00 if your spot is filled.  Cancellations that are not filled will not receive a refund.

 Send entry form, release form, and all checks to organizer  Devin Robel, 34817 Matthews Rd. Eugene OR 97405 devinrobel@hotmail.com www.blueriderfarm.com

Download link to entry form HERE

HBE Makes Sweet Oaks Ranch New Home

Hawley Bennett Eventing is proud to announce our move to a much-anticipated new location, Sweet Oaks Ranch! Located directly across the street from one of the top international events in the country, Galway Downs, we will offer full board and state of the art amenities for new and current HBE clients beginning November 1st, 2014. 

Complete with a stunning twenty-stall barn, gated entrance, two large arenas with covered viewing areas, grass turnouts with shelters, a eurosizer, round pen and much more, this stunning facility is one you have to see for yourself. Hawley is so excited to make this a new home for her business, horses and clients. Sweet Oaks Ranch really has everything she could ever want in a facility, and with it being across from Galway Downs, schooling opportunities, trails, and locations to ride are truly endless!

For more information and pricing please contact Hawley at hawleybennett@hotmail.com

High Duty Conquers the AEC's

Hawley had a blast taking High Duty around his very first Novice Championship at the AEC's in Texas! HD proved he was up for the challenge with a very obedient dressage test, scoring a 34.5. He followed this up with a double clear cross-country round on one of the more difficult tracks he has encountered. In addition to a great show jumping performance, with just one unlucky rail. Hawley is grateful to have the ride on this beautiful 5 year old, and is very excited to take him up the levels. Thank you to The Hawthornes for this wonderful opportunity!

LAX-->AMS--> Maizey Manor

From Sarah:

LAX-->AMS--> Maizey Manor 

After two weeks of packing and repacking several times, it was finally time to head across the pond. We had to make a quick stop down the street from KingsWay before departing for LAX with Ginny. We went to pick  up "Quinberry", ridden by Bill Norwood, who will be representing Australia in Reining at the World Equestrian Games. Once all the equipment was loaded, we headed to LAX to drop off the horses at JetPets for the night, before flying to Amsterdam Thursday afternoon.  

We arrived at Jet Pets late Thursday morning to board Ginny & Quinberry onto the pallet, and then we were off to the airport. Once boarded, and 10 hours later, we made it to Amsterdam! Bill and I walked to the KLM cargo port, and waited patiently for the vets to arrive before we could take the horses off the pallets. Once the vet check was complete I was able to put Ginny in a stall to rest until Jessica Phoenix and her groom Sandra Andresen, and Selena O'Hanlon's groom Anne-Marie Duarte and their horses arrived. Finally, after just over 6 hours of waiting, we loaded all the equipment and horses onto the lorry and we were off to England!

We arrived around at Maizey Manor somewhere around 1AM, where team training camp will be held for the next week before heading to Normandy. We unloaded the horses and equipment, tucked in the ponies for the night and were finally off to bed after a long 2 days of travel. 

Our alarms came way too quickly the next morning! With just a few hours of sleep and a little jet lag, we got up and took care of the ponies who all looked great and happy to be here. Once we met our riders at the barn and everything was cleaned and organized we headed into the little town of Barborough for an English breakfast. 

While the horses were turned out in the luscious green grass fields for a few hours (which they very much enjoyed) the team discussed a few things for the coming week and our team gear was handed out. 

Hawley, Selena, and Jessie set out on finding jog outfits, while a few of us had a cup of tea and an afternoon nap... 

It's beautiful here in England, and the horses all look great, lessons and gallops are planned for the week, and some team activities as well!

Part of Team Canada in Amsterdam

Ginny on the lorry headed to England

We have arrived!

Rebecca Farms and the Road to the WEG

From Sarah:

As the countdown to the World Equestrian Games began, Gin & Juice spent some time at her Auntie Robyn Fisher's while Hawley coached Area VI at Young Riders. Since Hawley had to head straight from Kentucky to Rebecca Farms in Montana, Chloe and I packed up the trailer and made a quick pitstop in L.A. to pick up Ginny and meet up with Robyn's crew. By midnight we were on the road with three trailers and ten horses. 24 hours and a layover in Salt Lake City later, we arrived at the prestigious Event at Rebecca Farms. Our precious cargo arrived happy and healthy. Hawley's first ride of the weekend, High Duty, ran the N3D and put in a beautiful dressage test to put them in the lead, which they held onto throughout the weekend to take home the blue!

Rebecca served as Ginny's last prep run before a little show in France A.K.A. The World Equestrian Games. To prepare for dressage day we tried a technique recommended by Uncle Buck- of lunging, which seemed to have paid off, as Hawley and Ginny led the CIC3* division after dressage! Since this was Ginny's first cross-country run since Rolex, Hawley's focus was to make Ginny rideable and get her 'feet wet.’ Their run put them into third going into show jumping after incurring a few time faults. The show jumping arena was packed with spectators and Ginny entered the arena fired up on Sunday. She unfortunately took down a handful of rails but still ended the weekend with an exciting fourth place finish!

We packed up, loaded the horses, and began the long haul home on Sunday afternoon, driving through the night before stopping at our halfway point. We finally arrived home at 1:30 AM on Tuesday from what was simultaneously an exhilarating and exhausting trip to Rebecca Farms!

After a few days of recuperation time for the horses and ourselves, we headed to a local jumper show the following weekend for some practice and fine-tuning. Now, with less than a week left before we head across the pond, the Juicer and a few of her friends went up to L.A. for some "round and fluffy" dressage lessons with Robyn Fisher. Only days away from takeoff and with less than three weeks until the start of competition in Normandy, it's time for the final countdown to begin.... Gulp!

ROLEX CCI**** 2014

Thank you Sherry Stewart for these amazing photos!

Hawley's Interview after Cross Country!

Please help Sarah Braun and Candy!

On march first Sarah Braun's beloved young rider horse Candy underwent a very serious colic surgery and although she is insured, there are still overwhelming costs totaling over 10k! please consider helping this great girl save her amazing horse.

From Sarah: 
I've had candy for 6 years and she has taught me everything I know about riding. Two years ago she took me to the North American Junior Young Rider Championships and won a team gold medal. She has taken me farther than I ever thought possible; she owes me nothing, but I owe her everything. I love her more than words can describe and a life without her is not one I want to imagine. Insurance only covers $8,000 and I don't have the funds to cover the remaining costs. Please help give Candy a fighting chance. Anything will help and mean more to me then you will ever know...

Please click on the link below to donate! Anything helps!
http://www.gofundme.com/7857nw

New Family Members and Ponies at HBE

One of the newest families at HBE was kind enough to write the following blog for us this month. We look forward to welcoming them into the HBE family and feel fortunate to have them at the barn:

An act of sheer luck brought Hawley and my daughter, Elise, together. My husband and I were driving along all the horse ranches near Galway Downs in search of a new riding stable for Elise. We saw a lone rider on the side of the road and we asked her if she knew anyone who would teach a 7 year old. She told us that she taught lessons and she gave me her name. Being new to the eventing world, I had no clue who she was. She had to spell her name twice for me! One thing I learned very quickly about Hawley is that she’s very humble and down to earth. She didn’t give us a list of all her achievements, and she didn’t snub us because we didn’t know who she was. She just accepted us and brought us into her world. And what an amazing world she has shown us!!

Elise began taking lessons from her shortly after our encounter. Hank (Livingstone) was her lesson horse!  She was such a lucky girl!  Hank was amazing.  He took great care of her. He responded well and was very patient with her. You could see it in his big, beautiful brown eyes that he knew he was carrying precious cargo. Elise liked Hawley right away.  She’s a fantastic instructor and she earned my daughter’s trust and respect immediately. Elise fell in love with the sport and was convinced that she wanted to be a champion eventer, just like Hawley. That’s when our lives changed.

Shortly after that, Hawley told us that she found a great pony for Elise. Hawley told us that the pony was a sweetheart and would take Elise to the next level. I trust Hawley immensely, so I knew that this was the right move. Five days later, there was a beautiful Connemara pony waiting for my daughter. Hawley knew exactly how she wanted to present the pony to Elise. The great thing about Hawley is that she remembers what it’s like to be a little girl in love with horses. All the girls at the stables created a beautiful, blingy sign that said, “Congrats on your new pony, Cookie.”  (Elise wanted to name her dream horse, “Cookie.”)  They decorated the stall with streamers and balloons and put a large pink boa and bow around Cookie’s neck. Hawley brought Elise over to the stall and….SURPRISE!!! It was a day our whole family will never forget. Hawley was right. Cookie is one of the sweetest horses I’ve ever encountered. She’s such a good girl. Elise is in love!!!

All of the girls at HBE (Sarah, Holly, Chloe, Jordan, Ashlyn, Emilee, and the rest of the HBE crew.) went above and beyond to make that day special for Elise. They are dedicated, hard workers and they are always willing to lend a helping hand.They are wonderful role models for my daughter and it’s so much fun when we get to see them ride. They are all so talented! Elise also receives lessons from Sarah, who is wonderful. We spend almost every day at the stables and love every minute of it. We are surrounded by nice people and GORGEOUS horses. We are excited to see what the future holds for our daughter.  We’ll be happy no matter what she decides to do. But as far as Hawley goes, she will always be our friend we found on the side of the road.

Thank you everyone for all your support!

http://eventingnation.com/home/thoroughbreds-canada-emerge-as-big-winners-in-en-awards/